Jiang Xia was still a little confused as she watched her mother calmly leave the bedroom.

Although it's unclear what she imagined in those few seconds she was in the bedroom, it's obvious that her father's attempt to tattle had failed.

A little while later, Xia Shanshan took a cell phone and went back into the room.

"Here's your phone back, but I have one condition: if your grades drop even slightly in the next exam, I'll not only confiscate your phone, but I'll also take you away."

After saying that, he left.

Jiang Xia stared blankly at the flip phone on the table, her eyes full of confusion.

What does it mean that Mom gave him back his phone at this point? Isn't she worried about affecting his studies? I've thought about it a lot, but I still can't figure it out.

He held the snow-white flip phone in his hand and played with it. In this era, feature phones could only make calls and send text messages. Although they could also access the Internet, the 2G/3G speeds were maddeningly slow, and the photos they took were blurry. For him, a person from a later era, they were almost useless. However, it was better than nothing, which was a good thing.

Clicking into the album, the few photos are some landscape pictures he and Wang Ming took during their training at the art studio. Thinking back now, they are full of youthful memories from back then.

With a sigh, I put my phone aside and picked up the storyboard again to continue working on the original animation.

It wasn't until 1 a.m. that he finally packed away the thick stack of drawing paper, quickly washed up in the bathroom, and went to bed.

As weariness set in, he dreamt of Tom and Jerry, which became a huge success and won the Best Animation Award in China.

Just as he was giving his acceptance speech, the trophy in his hand suddenly turned into a ring and was put on Lin Yanwan's left ring finger.

◇

In the latter half of the night, a rumbling sound gradually rose in the sky, silver lightning streaked across the night sky, and large raindrops began to fall.

The sound of rain outside the window continued. Lin Yanwan was startled awake by a sudden clap of thunder. She instinctively reached out to hug the person next to her, but found nothing.

She suddenly realized that she and Jiang Xia had separated after her rebirth.

Thinking back to the old days, even during the Cold War, Jiang Xia would habitually cover her ears with his hands whenever there was any loud noise while sleeping at night.

Although she often says that she sleeps very soundly at night and can't hear thunder or firecrackers, she actually has someone she can rely on by her side, and she feels very safe just by holding them.

The darkness outside the window was suddenly illuminated by electric light. Lin Yanwan immediately leaned against the wall and shrank into the quilt, knowing that a thunderclap was about to explode.

She has been afraid of thunder since she was a child. She would worry about being struck by lightning even when walking in a thunderstorm with an umbrella. She is also afraid of the dark. No matter what is in front of her or behind her, the slightest sound will make her shudder.

A stormy night like this, mixed with the sounds of cats meowing, was a nightmare for her.

The night was long, thunder rumbled outside the window, and the rain grew heavier. Lin Yanwan suddenly missed Jiang Xia, wondering if he was asleep and if he was thinking of the past like she was.

She pulled her phone out from under her pillow, looked at the lit screen, and saw that her contacts only contained her parents' and Shen Ying's numbers. As if possessed, she entered Jiang Xia's number from her previous life and dialed it.

She wasn't sure if she could get through; her heart was pounding with anxiety.

Beep beep beep...

The call went through, but no one answered.

She suddenly remembered that Jiang Xia didn't seem to have a cell phone, which meant that the cell phone was probably with his parents.

Lin Yanwan immediately wanted to hang up, but a sweet remark that followed made her heart flutter with joy.

"Baby?"

"Um……"

Jiang Xia was fast asleep when the awards ceremony in his dream suddenly turned into his wedding with Lin Yanwan. Just as the two were about to kiss, his phone suddenly rang.

He was wondering who would call him at this time when he picked up the phone and saw that it was an unfamiliar number that he could recite by heart.

"What's wrong?"

"It's thundering, and I...I can't sleep."

Lin Yanwan answered weakly, huddled under the covers. Perhaps it was because of the stormy night, but her emotions took over, and her voice was softer than usual.

Jiangxia looked out the window; dense raindrops were pattering against the glass, and the night was occasionally illuminated by lightning.

There will be heavy thunderstorms tonight.

Jiang Xia understood, considering her past boldness. However, given their current relationship, she hadn't expected her to take the initiative to call.

"Then I'll talk to you."

"Um."

The faint light emanating from the phone screen illuminated the girl's cheek, and the thunderous roar in her ears seamlessly switched to Jiang Xia's voice. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and suddenly she was less afraid.

Looking back, when the two were dating in college, they seemed to talk on the phone all the time, just like they do now, which made their roommates very envious.

"Jiangxia".

"Um?"

"You haven't said anything for a while, I thought you were asleep."

"No, I just remembered something."

"What's up?"

“When we were dating, we would talk on voice chat until late every night. My roommate would often scold me, ‘You’re always showing off your love, don’t you let single people get any sleep?’”

"Pfft..."

Lin Yanwan couldn't help but chuckle: "If it were me, I might not be able to resist hitting you."

"I was trying to chat with you, and you hit me?" Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow.

I was referring to that time!

"You were my girlfriend back then. If we weren't dating, I wouldn't bother talking to you."

"And now?" Lin Yanwan suddenly asked.

Jiang Xia was silent for a moment: "This is different."

"How are they different?"

He took a deep breath: "I will answer any call from you, anytime."

"Um."

She responded softly, feeling inexplicably happy: "By the way, am I disturbing you by calling you at this time?"

"It's alright, after all, I'm still young and can handle it. If I were that age in my previous life, I would probably be yawning several times by now." Jiang Xia said, yawning.

Hearing the yawn coming from the receiver, Lin Yanwan frowned slightly: "What time did you go to sleep?"

"It seems a little past one point."

"So late?!"

She glanced at the time subconsciously; it was just past four o'clock, which meant he had only slept for less than three hours.

Although I guessed he was busy with his own career, this is a bit too much.

"It's okay, I can handle it, and it's worth it." Jiang Xia smiled, her tone full of confidence.

"Speaking of which, do you remember what our first argument was about?" she asked.

"For taro balls? You're allergic to cat hair, so I said I'd give them away, but you disagreed, and then we had a fight. You were still sulking with me then."

Lin Yanwan couldn't help but show a nostalgic expression.

After a long while, she spoke slowly, her voice barely audible in the stormy night.

"Jiang Xia, let's make up. Let's put an end to our marriage..."

...

(I'm in a bad mood because my good-for-nothing younger brother had another fight with the family, so I'll skip this chapter for now. Sorry.)