Chapter 150 -

Until we parted ways and boarded the plane.

Shi Miao sat in her seat, pursing her lips and enduring the heat on her cheeks and ears, as a flight attendant handed her a glass of water in a gentle voice.

She took a sip.

The water was icy cold, rolling into my mouth and flowing over my burning tongue, which had been repeatedly kissed and entangled.

My dizzy head finally seemed to cool down thanks to this glass of water.

Shi Miao gulped down the water in her glass in two gulps, stared at the last drop of water on the rim of the glass, and secretly dipped her finger in it, drawing a pattern on the porthole glass.

-

She took out her phone, took a picture, and sent it to her pinned contact.

[Shi Miao: You.]

After a while.

Jiang Yingxu replied to the message.

[Jiang Yingxu: You.]

The accompanying picture is of a car window.

On the slightly white mist, a round little cat head and a pair of pointed cat ears were drawn by fingertips. The lower half-circle was obviously the cat's body, and the long line behind it was a big tail trailing behind.

A simple line drawing of a cat.

vivid.

Shi Miao held her phone, zooming in and out of the picture, a sweet smile playing on her lips, while pretending to be fierce.

[Shi Miao: Am I that fat?]

Jiang Yingxu readily accepted the suggestion and sent over a simple, thin cat drawing.

Shi Miao stared at it for a long time.

Finally, type it out carefully.

[Shi Miao: I think the first version is better.]

Jiang Yingxu: Hmm.

[Jiang Yingxu: My favorite cat is still the best.]

-

The state of mind of high school seniors seems to be frozen.

Shi Miao took a trip to the capital and felt that a lot had happened, but when she returned to No. 1 High School and Class 1, it felt as familiar as if she had just gone home for a weekend.

The desk was always piled high with test papers, the students were always taking naps during breaks, and Niu Chongtian was always the loudest student in the whole grade.

Shi Miao didn't even need to readjust before she was easily pulled back into the rhythm of endless test papers and reviewing countless wrong questions.

But there are still some differences.

As I left the school, a banner fluttering at the school gate celebrated that four students from No. 1 Middle School had been selected for the International Olympiad team this year.

When I returned to the neighborhood, the elderly folks on the first floor would peek out and ask, "Young lady, did you rent the Jiang family's apartment on the third floor?" "Oh, let me tell you, that Xiao Xu is really successful! The other day there was a news report about some competition, and he got a direct admission to Tsinghua University!"

While doing her homework in the evening, Shi Miao rested her elbows on the dining table, which had been converted into a desk, and asked Jiang Yingxu a question on the other end of a video call on her phone.

"My completion rate has increased by another 1%, it's now 76%. What are you doing?"

"The last increase was the day you entered the Yan family. I guess it was considered that you had taken back the family, and they added 5% all at once."

Considering Jiang Yingxu's injury, Tsinghua University provided him with a double room on the first floor. It wasn't a bunk bed that required climbing up and down, but a separate single bed across the aisle.

He was still sleeping alone.

A long strip of light above the desk shone brightly and softly, illuminating the desktop and him clearly.

Jiang Yingxu leaned back in his chair, holding a pen in his left hand and resting his right hand naturally on the table.

He had a pen in his hand from the moment the video call connected.

Jiang Shen, who is usually quick-witted, spent more than ten minutes making a video, occasionally tapping the draft paper on the table with his pen, leaving small ink dots as if he was thinking, but the test paper in his hand was still blank, without even a single line of formulas.

He simply stared intently at Shi Miao, who was moving around in front of the camera, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hearing Shi Miao's doubts.

Has it increased?

Jiang Yingxu thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because I ran into Yan Shuli."

The day Shi Miao returned to Ningcheng.

Jiang Yingxu agreed to Yan Zhaozhou's request and went to Yan's house for dinner that evening.

As they got out of the car, they happened to bump into Yan Shuli hurrying out of the old house. He collided with them, looking surprised and caught off guard.

Yan Zhaozhou subconsciously called out to him, "Brother Li?"

Yan Shuli glanced at Jiang Yingxu, lowered his head, and his voice tightened involuntarily, barely managing to remain steady.

"I'm sorry, the housekeeper said they packed up my things and asked me to come back and get them."

If it were something valuable, Yan Shuli wouldn't have returned.

After all, it was the Yan family's money, and it shouldn't belong to him.

But the photos the housekeeper took of him clearly showed the ugly scarf that Ji Cailing had crocheted on a whim, the amulet that Yan Xingrong had gotten for him at a temple while traveling, and the little wooden trinket that Yan Xingtai and his wife had given him after their trip.

There's even a medal that Yan Zhaozhou gave him when he won an Olympiad prize in elementary school.

It's just bits and pieces, not very valuable.

It truly carries the genuine emotions accumulated over so many years.

After hesitating for a moment and confirming that only the old man was at home, Yan Shuli thought that he should come and leave as soon as possible so as not to disturb anyone.

Unexpectedly, the butler chatted with him for a while longer, and they bumped into Jiang Yingxu.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Jiang Yingxu again.

The boy's expression was indifferent, and his gaze was calm.

The person standing behind, helping to push the wheelchair, is an assistant that the family recently went to great lengths to hire.

Yan Xingrong and Ji Cailing were surrounding him, presumably introducing the old house, when Yan Shuli suddenly appeared. After a moment of surprise, the gentle smile on his face turned into embarrassment.

After all, he's a son I've raised for so many years; the bond can't be broken overnight.

Furthermore, Yan Shuli behaved quite appropriately after learning the truth: he moved, returned the valuables, resigned from the company, and even took the initiative to apologize to them.

Yan Xingrong was always soft-hearted, and seeing the bewilderment on Yan Shuli's face, he subconsciously opened his mouth, "Today is also your birthday..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Cailing pinched his arm hard.

Ji Cailing blinked her sore eyes, a hint of hesitation and reluctance flashing across them before she quickly made up her mind.

She said gently, "Shuli, today is also your birthday. Happy eighteenth birthday."

That's all.

Her usually gentle voice carried such a distinct sense of distance for the first time.

Yan Shuli nodded, his face expressionless, thanked him, and quickly turned and left.

"--Um?"

Shi Miao rested her chin on her hand, somewhat surprised, "That's not how the plot was originally written."

In the original book, after Jiang Yingxu was recognized and returned to the Yan family, it was his birthday.

But Yan Shuli was surprisingly present at the birthday banquet that evening.

The Yan family explained that Yan Shuli, as the de facto heir of the group, might cause unnecessary turmoil if he suddenly resigned. Moreover, the family is wealthy and raising two children is not a problem at all.

Jiang Yingxu lowered his eyes slightly.

"Perhaps because they heard those words with their own ears."

Jiang Yingxu had no intention of playing the victim.

But the few lines on paper were not as impactful as hearing the head of orthopedics' regretful words in person.

Ji Cailing still vaguely remembered the days of hardship. Having experienced hardship herself, she could better understand Jiang Yingxu's past, and therefore felt more guilty and resolute than Yan Xingrong.

And Yan Zhaozhou goes without saying.

That's just how young masters are; they instinctively gravitate towards familiar people, but once both sides are familiar, their rationality kicks in, and they know what's right and wrong.

If it weren't for following the plot.

Jiang Yingxu thought that he would rather live his life quietly with Shi Miao.

"Oh, right."

He tapped the page with the tip of his pen and asked in a low voice, "Miaomiao, could you ask the system to send me a copy of the subsequent plot?"

Shi Miao hesitated for a moment, not really wanting him to see those things.

That was likely what he would have encountered anyway: injustice, indifference, and ridicule.

"What's the matter?"

The kitten tilted its head, blinked, and tried to play innocent to get away with it, saying, "No need to rush the plot, there's still plenty of time, we can take our time."

Jiang Yingxu's fingertips, resting on the table, curled up imperceptibly.

He felt a little tempted to pinch those soft, white cheeks.

He couldn't help but recall that early morning when, during a chaotic kiss, his fingertips touched her slender waist.

Her shirt was slightly lifted by the way she tilted her head back.

A light touch with the fingertips revealed a delicate, warm, and soft texture, like jade.

There seemed to be a pair of small, round dimples on her lower back, which I caught a glimpse of when she turned over, swaying under her clothes.

I didn't dare touch it too much back then.

Now I recall it in my dreams every night—

Who told us to be forced into a long-distance relationship right after we started dating and even kissed?

Jiang Yingxu's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. He picked up the cold mineral water on the table, took a sip, and then calmly answered.

"I think the attitude shown by Yan Zhaozhou and the others is somewhat disconnected from the plot you described."

"If the plot is correct, then the current experience is also correct."

"Is it possible that... someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes?"

For example, he happened to run into Yan Shuli when he first returned to the Yan family.

For example, after dinner, the servant took him to see his lodgings, but Yan Zhaozhou asked him suspiciously why Yan Shuli's room had been prepared for him.

If Yan Xingrong and Ji Cailing's current heartache and guilt are genuine.

That makes no sense in the original book, where, faced with Jiang Yingxu, who was more seriously injured and had a more difficult life, they were completely devoted to Yan Shuli.

Jiang Yingxu calmly said, "I have a suspicion that needs to be verified by referring to the original plot."