It was already evening when I returned from the airport. It was cold in early winter, and even in Kyushu, which is near the southern tip, the wind was still chilly. No one wanted to stay outdoors for long.

Outside the long ventilation shaft in the entrance hall, a figure stood there, blending into the darkness. It was unclear how long he had been standing there, and the marble pillar next to him was piled with cigarette butts.

The oppressive aura of the past has vanished, leaving the area feeling somewhat exhausted.

Xu Yanzhi's smoking habit was to smoke only occasionally. When he missed his mother and felt so disgusted with his father's behavior that it became intolerable, he would often exile himself for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.

But it was only one, and now who knows how many there are.

So much so that when Meng Jiuyi approached, he noticed that the man's eyes were bloodshot amidst the swirling smoke.

"Senior Brother Xu, what are you doing here?"

Xu Yanzhi waved away the smoke with one hand, looked at her, and said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"I knocked on the door but no one answered. I figured you'd come back sooner or later, so I decided to wait here."

He didn't just wait; he didn't let anyone follow him and stayed there all afternoon.

Meng Jiuyi felt a little guilty.

"So if I don't come back tonight, are you planning to stand here forever?"

Xu Yanzhi smiled, his breath hot and deep.

"Have you had dinner yet? Come for a walk with me."

Meng Jiuyi agreed.

I was in college when I rented this house. It was very close to the school, less than a kilometer from the university town's food street.

The stalls were lined up one after another, and the students moved between them. Meng Jiuyi wasn't hungry at all, but she was still attracted by the roadside snacks.

Xu Yanzhi asked, "Is this food street newly opened?"

"It's been around for many years, and you haven't even known about it after being at Zhihua University for half a year?"

He was carrying the crepe that she had glanced at twice, and he smiled faintly, his tone even and gentle.

"Sorry, I have absolutely no recollection of it."

Meng Jiuyi teased, "Then what do you remember? You haven't even forgotten where the school gate is, have you?"

"Do you still remember—"

Xu Yanzhi gazed at the tree-lined path not far away, which appeared tranquil and profound under the night sky, and his eyes were slightly dazed.

"The library at the Zhou Shan campus, the long bicycle corridor, the running track along the lakeside road..."

He smiled and said almost to himself, "Because there's always a little tail following me in these places. She thinks she's hiding well, but I actually noticed her the first time. I just wanted to see how long she could keep up."

Meng Jiuyi was slightly taken aback. These things happened so long ago that she had almost forgotten them herself.

She walked ahead, her tone light, "Since you noticed so early, you should have chased me away sooner—"

Before she could finish speaking, a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around her from behind and pulled her into their arms.

Meng Jiuyi did not turn around, and could not see that his jaw was clenched and his eyes were red.

Am I hopelessly stupid in every way?

Meng Jiuyi struggled but couldn't break free, not knowing why he said that.

"...Senior Brother Xu?"

Xu Yanzhi hugged her so tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones.

"Back then, I had countless opportunities, so many that I didn't even need to bend down or reach out, to realize my own feelings."

In fact, the images of stopping bicycles and secretly switching the gentle voices in his earphones have never faded from his memory.

It's like a pebble falling into the deep sea; the surface is calm and still, but the deeper you go, the more turbulent the waves become.

He simply couldn't control himself after returning to China.

Xu Yanzhi vowed not to follow in his father's footsteps, but he went to the other extreme, easily concluding with prejudice and indifference.

He easily lent her the title of boyfriend back then because of a simple favor, which was like a knife to her heart when she had just been rejected.

Xu Yanzhi thought he could explain and make amends.

But on those rainy days over the years, it was he who personally took away her umbrella.

"When you mentioned my ex-girlfriend last time, did I not give you a proper explanation yet?"

Meng Jiuyi covered her ears.

"I don't want to hear it anymore!" What's past is past, she didn't want to bring up old grievances again.

I want to tell you.

Her body was turned around, and Xu Yan's jaw was clenched as if carved from stone, but his tone was still as gentle and even.

"I have to tell you this once: Su Ning and I were never together."

--

“When Senior Brother Xu was in Zhihua for six months, my father was in charge of his research and study. Actually, we had only met a few times before. You know the aura he had, right? It made people feel ashamed and afraid to get close.”

Su Ning stirred her coffee and laughed, "Then at that time, I had just ended my previous relationship. I guess I was too young and didn't know people well. He felt that I had deceived him and wanted to take revenge on my family."

Su Ning's parents are both highly respected professors at Zhihua University, with extremely high social status. It's easy to imagine how intricate and interconnected their family relationships are, given that even they cannot compete with them.

The two professors had no choice but to ask Xu Yanzhi for help.

“At that time, I was about to go to study in the UK. Apart from helping me deal with that scumbag’s harassment and finding me some tutorials and introducing me to a tutor after I went abroad, there was no other contact between us. As for the story of picking someone up on a rainy day that you all talk about, it was actually my ex-boyfriend who came to harass me that day and injured my leg. He was just helping out.”

Su Ning's smile slowly faded, her eyes unfocused. "Maybe I did have fantasies, especially when I was abroad, feeling isolated and helpless and wanting to find someone to rely on. But he was the gentlest and most polite person I've ever met, yet he rejected me so thoroughly that he left me with no room for illusions."

The same explanation can no longer be uttered by Xu Yanzhi; it's like the echoing sound of a wooden mallet striking a clock.

Meng Jiuyi thought she would be sad, but the resounding bell rang across the water without leaving a ripple.

“Senior Brother Xu, you don’t need to explain these things to me. I also think you did nothing wrong back then. If you had chosen not to help, you might not be the person I knew back then.”

If he could offer comfort to her when she was depressed and withdrawn, he would naturally extend a helping hand to others as well.

The calm smile on her face almost hurt his eyes, so much so that his hands trembled when he pulled her into his arms; it was a throbbing pain that came from his heart.

“I did everything wrong, terribly wrong.”

He always did things that seemed like helping at the wrong time, but without exception, the knife always ended up stabbing her.

Meng Jiuyi is not such a petty person.

"I'm not the type to hold grudges, and it's easy for me to make amends. Right now, I just want to eat the rose egg yolk pastry from Ruijin Mansion. Can you buy it for me?"

"good."

He now wants to give her everything, without asking his intentions or reasons.

They had walked there. Xu Yanzhi led her to a taxi parked by the roadside, and they hurriedly passed through tunnels and overpasses in the neon-lit night, arriving at Ruijin Mansion.

However, they didn't get to eat the rose-flavored egg yolk pastry; they bumped into Xu Yungan, who was about to leave, at the door.

The handwriting on the sycamore tree on the lawn came from Xu Yanzhi. Xu Yungan could tell that he must have a girl he loved, but he learned about the girl's family background by asking others.

Who would have thought that she would meet the real person when she came out, and Xu Yanzhi was holding her hand.

The man in front of her had an overwhelming aura. She squinted for a while, then shifted her gaze from their clasped hands to Meng Jiuyi's face.

Meng Jiuyi's face turned pale instantly, and she tried to pull her hand away from his palm.

But he held on tightly, unmoving. When she turned her head, she could only see his calm and unwavering profile, his gaze and expression showing no fear.

Xu Yun glanced at him coldly, "I came here because I thought you would be here."

"Could you please come over here?"

Xu Yanzhi said calmly, "This is my girlfriend, Meng Jiuyi." He turned to look at Meng Jiuyi, his eyes filled with tenderness.

"The person opposite me is my father."

Meng Jiuyi certainly knew that the two of them had a striking resemblance.

So she tugged at her lips.

"uncle."

Xu Yungan did not respond, and Xu Yanzhi's tone was not very polite.

"Didn't you hear her greeting you?"

To avoid losing face in public, Xu Yungan nodded and said, "Hello."

He turned around, his voice devoid of emotion, and said, "I'll wait for you upstairs."

He didn't mention a time, but it must have been immediately. Xu Yanzhi was unhurried and even accompanied Meng Jiuyi to the restaurant to finish the pastries before personally escorting her back to Ruijin Mansion.

It immediately became an hour.

Xu Yungan upstairs was so angry he almost had a stomach hemorrhage. Every time he tried to ease the tension, he always encountered setbacks.

"What did you mean just now? Is this a belated rebellious phase, or do you just hate me and specifically find someone to go against me?"

"You think too highly of yourself."

Xu Yanzhi remained expressionless, his face grim as he spoke coldly, "Do you think I'm like you, using feelings as an excuse for cowardice? In my entire life, she's the only person I've ever been serious about."

"Then I understand you even less. Of all the women I arranged for you before, you never gave a second glance. Which one of them was better than the woman you chose? I thought you had high standards. Turns out you were just lustful. So you picked an illegitimate daughter whose family background is not even clean. Did you really think I would let you marry her?"

It was at this moment that Xu Yanzhi suddenly understood why she had made such an abrupt request tonight.

He also understood her purpose in getting close to him.

His heart was breaking, but his expression remained cold and no one could tell.

"No one can decide their background at birth. Some people look noble, but do disgusting and despicable things behind the scenes. She is gentle, kind and lovely. She will lend a helping hand when she sees her friends suffering. She has been able to take care of herself so well all these years despite having no one to rely on. Where do you get the confidence to make such comments about her?"

"Whether or not you marry me is not up to you. If you really can't stand me, just replace me. Let your unborn children be the group's heirs, and I'll just marry into the family."

--

Goodnight, pickled cabbage, tomorrow!