Chapter 101 Chapter 101: if extra 50%

05

As the cold winter wind blew, Jiang Mingxu's muddled mind gradually calmed down.

He felt something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It's strange. He's not the kind of person who would suddenly become kind. In fact, his past experiences have made him cold and aloof. It's already a limit for him not to kick someone when they're down. Why would he bring a strange girl home late at night?

Jiang Mingxu frowned, feeling that he was probably possessed.

On the other side, Jin Ran changed her clothes and saw the boy "standing as punishment" under the street lamp through the window, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Seventeen-year-old Jiang Mingxu is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He appears indifferent to everything, but he will actually help a girl who is alone in the park and will politely avoid her when she is changing clothes.

She knew that he didn't know her yet, and she wouldn't force him to treat her with the same care he would in the future. Most of the time, it was just out of habit. But she was still worried about him getting cold, so she opened the window, stuck her head out, and called down, "Hey, Jiang Mingxu, are you planning to stand down there until dawn?"

The girl's laughter was exceptionally clear in the quiet night, carried by the wind with a touch of playfulness and gentleness.

For a moment, Jiang Mingxu actually had this idea.

But then I thought, this is his house, so if anyone should be leaving, it should be the other person.

Jiang Mingxu returned to the rented room with a cold face.

At that time, Jin Ran was already very familiar with the room, wearing the gray-white sweater that had been lent to her, which made her skin look as white as snow.

Jiang Mingxu realized for the first time how big the sweater was; it was big enough to easily cover a girl, with the hem hanging loosely down to her thighs, revealing a section of her slender ankles.

"I'm hungry." She stopped at the kitchen doorway, turned around, and her eyes sparkled.

Jiang Mingxu suddenly looked away, threw the key on the table, and the metallic clanging sound rang out crisply in the silence. He pretended not to hear her words, squatted down, and struggled with the knot of hemp rope on the stack of old documents in the corner, his brows furrowed as if he were solving some century-old problem.

"Jiang Mingxu," Jin Ran called him again, "I want to eat plain noodles."

Jiang Mingxu took a deep breath, utterly baffled as to why she could be so assertive with a stranger: "I can't cook."

To everyone's surprise, Jin Ran saw through her lie without even thinking: "You're lying."

Jiang Mingxu finally gave up on arguing with that intractable problem. He stood up and walked up to her, his expression cold: "Who said I was lying?"

Jin Ran tilted her head, water droplets dripping from the ends of her hair onto the floor: "Because you did it for me in the future."

It's that same sentence again.

For no apparent reason, a surge of anger rose in Jiang Mingxu's heart.

The fire ignited him, and in an instant, it spread from a few scattered sparks into a raging inferno. He didn't know who she had mistaken him for, or if it was all a deception from beginning to end.

Jiang Mingxu suddenly felt very bored.

He took a step closer, and Jin Ran instinctively stepped back. He continued forward, eventually trapping her between himself and the wall. A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips, but there was no joy in his eyes. "Since you say you're my future wife, then you should understand what it means for a girl to run to a boy's house in the middle of the night?"

Jin Ran slowly raised her face.

The two were so close that their breaths brushed against each other's faces, creating a warm, humid mist in the cold winter rented room. This feeling reminded Jin Ran of the days they spent together at the Yushan Hotel many years ago.

"I know."

Jiang Mingxu chuckled and took another step closer. He bent down slightly, his forehead touching hers, their lips almost meeting. The boy's deep voice, husky and resonant, entered her ears, like the sound of a suppressed drum:

"You really know?"

The expected panic or shyness did not occur. Jin Ran remained calm as always, her clear black and white eyes fixed on him without blinking, her gaze unwavering.

Suddenly, the girl raised her hand and gently touched his forehead with her fingertips.

Does it hurt?

Her eyes were filled with undisguised tenderness.

Jiang Mingxu paused, but did not push her away.

06

That night, Jin Ran finally got to eat the familiar taste of plain noodles.

Xiao Jiang and Lao Jiang are equally skilled in cooking; in fact, Xiao Jiang is currently at his "peak cooking period," and the plain noodles he makes are even more flavorful.

Jin Ran secretly remembered this and decided that she would definitely urge Lao Jiang to cook more often in the future.

But when it was time to sleep, she was still ruthlessly made to sleep on the sofa.

She knew in her heart that Jiang Mingxu might back down in other aspects, but even the young CEO Jiang had his own principles and bottom line on this issue. So, after confirming that the other party would not change his mind, she decisively gave up, said goodnight, and lay down on the sofa fully clothed.

The sofa was probably an old item left by the landlord; it looked a bit worn. Although Jiang Mingxu had put a cloth on it, it was still hard and uncomfortable. Jin Ran was curled up, trying to find a comfortable position, when the bedroom door suddenly creaked open.

Jiang Mingxu walked out with a stern face and threw a pillow at her: "Go to bed."

Jin Ran was taken aback at first, then her eyes curved into crescents: "Jiang Mingxu, I knew you were the best!"

And so, Jin Ran was able to settle in with Jiang Mingxu.

Jiang Mingxu had to go to school during the day, so Jin Ran stayed home alone.

At first, she felt a little uncomfortable, but then she thought about it and realized that since taking on the position of dean of students, she had been busy most of the time except for winter and summer vacations. Now she could treat it as a vacation for herself.

Even after school ends in the evening, Jiang Mingxu is still busy. He needs to work at a bar and wait tables at a restaurant. But before that, Jiang Mingxu will go to the market to buy groceries with Jin Ran, who is waiting for him at the school gate.

"I want to eat braised eggplant today, and I also want to eat seafood. Do you have cod? How about steamed cod?"

Jiang Mingxu didn't reply, but he walked straight to the eggplant stall and picked out two fresh purple eggplants.

Jin Ran stood next to him listlessly. Her family used to go to supermarkets, but this was the first time they had been to an open-air market like this. Her eyes darted around the vegetable stalls. She was hungry and wanted to eat everything. She shook the boy's clothes and ordered: "There are green peppers here. I want to eat stir-fried green peppers with meat."

Jiang Mingxu: "..."

There are quite a few things I want to eat.

The vegetable stall owner smiled warmly, naturally wanting to sell more vegetables. She could also tell at a glance that although the young man seemed to be in charge, the woman was actually the one making the decisions.

"These green peppers are so fresh, young man, why don't you buy some to cook for your girlfriend?" the proprietress said as she deftly pulled out a plastic bag.

Jiang Mingxu's expression froze, his lips moved as if he wanted to explain, but the proprietress was already busy packing green peppers into the bag, clearly her words were just a casual remark. If he were to explain, it would only seem like he was taking it too seriously.

Even he himself had a feeling that he couldn't quite explain.

Turning his head, he saw Jin Ran skillfully haggling with the proprietress, her practiced manner suggesting she had done this many times before. In fact, he went to the police station the next day, but her identity couldn't be found in the system; in short, Jin Ran was truly an unregistered resident who had "appeared out of nowhere."

Jiang Mingxu recalled what the girl had said when they first met: they would be husband and wife in the future...

In a fleeting moment, a thought flashed through his mind.

If it's true, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

But soon, he shook his head again, thinking that time travel was impossible.

The two left the market carrying five or six plastic bags.

On my way home, I passed the park where we first met, when a few shady-looking thugs suddenly blocked my way.

"Hey, isn't this Jiang Mingxu?"

The leader, a thug with blond hair and ripped jeans, was shivering in the dead of winter, his shoulders and neck hunched over like a bald chicken being strangled. He spoke in a sarcastic tone: "Haven't seen you in a few days, and you've got a girl by your side now?"

"So even good students can pick up girls? He acted so high and mighty at the bar, I thought he was some serious person!"

He then looked Jin Ran up and down with ill intent: "Beautiful lady, it's no fun being with someone like this. I'm just reminding you, Jiang Mingxu is no good. He's definitely lying to you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingxu clenched his fist tightly.

His eyes hardened, his gaze fixed on the blond-haired man, who flinched slightly upon meeting his eyes. Realizing what he was seeing, the latter became even more enraged: "What are you looking at? An orphan with no parents..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jin Ran suddenly stepped forward and slapped him.

"Smack—"

No one expected her to make a sudden move, and they all stood there stunned. Jin Ran, however, immediately hid behind Jiang Mingxu after hitting him and whispered, "He insulted you, so I'll help you hit him."

Yellow Hair: "..."

Jiang Mingxu felt the force gripping his sleeve and suddenly smiled.

"Yes, thank you."

However, he wouldn't let the girl stand in his way.

07

Jin Ran recalled that a fire had occurred at a bar in Yushan.

However, the fire didn't affect Jiang Mingxu much, so even after traveling back to more than ten years ago, she never took it to heart. It wasn't until Jiang Mingxu suddenly returned early one day and she heard the news from him that she suddenly realized what had happened.

"It was the same group that stopped us last time. They were drinking during work hours and accidentally set the sofa on fire while smoking."

"Is that so?"

Jin Ran shook her head, thinking that there were indeed unreliable people like this in every era. Suddenly remembering something, she asked nervously, "Will that implicate you?"

Jiang Mingxu was peeling an apple, the red peel forming a perfect spiral in his hand. He handed her the peeled apple before answering, "It won't have a big impact, except I might not be able to continue my part-time job at the bar."

"Oh, it's alright. You're taking the college entrance exam, so this will save you some time to study." Jin Ran took a bite of her apple. She had been staying here for half a month. Since the police station hadn't found any clues, Jin Ran had been staying at Jiang Mingxu's house.

Their relationship is, how should I put it, ambiguous, yet they still maintain a final bit of distance.

Because Jin Ran knew better than anyone that she ultimately did not belong to this time and space, and that she would leave one day, at which time Jiang Mingxu would become a person again.

She hasn't been idle these days; instead, she's been constantly trying to find a way back.

Just as Jin Ran didn't know how she got there, she also couldn't find a way back.

One day, Jiang Mingxu suddenly asked Jin Ran a question: "What kind of person is he?"

Jin Ran looked puzzled: "He is you in the future."

"Hmm, so what kind of person will I be in the future?"

Jiang Mingxu in the future?

A nostalgic expression crossed Jin Ran's face as scenes flashed through her mind. After a moment, she smiled and said, "...very smart and decisive. He single-handedly built the most powerful Mingji Technology and treated his employees very well, but everyone seems to be a little afraid of your future self."

"And to you?"

"He wouldn't dare to treat me badly."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingxu looked puzzled.

Jin Ranran blinked, then suddenly stepped forward and lightly tapped Jiang Mingxu's chest with her index finger: "If he dares to treat me badly, I'll take care of him beforehand."

Now that seventeen-year-old Jiang Mingxu is gone, thirty-five-year-old Jiang Mingxu naturally has no way to bully people.

Jin Ran was just joking, but Jiang Mingxu could sense the familiarity and trust she had for the "future Jiang Mingxu".

Those were years I couldn't participate in.

The boy lowered his head, his longer hair falling over his forehead, obscuring the emotions in his eyes: "Then you're going back to find him?"

This time, Jin Ran fell silent.

Of course, she wanted to accompany the boy in front of her on this journey, but in the future, there were also people waiting for her to return.

The girl's silence made Jiang Mingxu understand something.

Unexpectedly, he wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled and said, "I understand. In that case, I'll look forward to our future reunion."

Although he couldn't intervene in that experience, isn't this encounter a unique gift? The future is long, and he believes time will provide the best answer.

I hope that by then, I will have grown into a sufficiently outstanding person. I hope that their reunion will also become a memory she cherishes forever.

Jin Ran laughed too.

As expected, no matter her age, Jiang Mingxu is an extremely gentle person at heart.

How fortunate she was to meet him and briefly participate in his adolescence.

She reached out her hand to the boy in front of her, and Jiang Mingxu paused for a moment before pulling her into his arms.

It's like embracing the whole world.

In the second semester of his senior year, Uncle He, who sponsored Jiang Mingxu, underwent a minor surgery. Although it was nothing serious, he needed to rest in the hospital for a few days.

Over the weekend, Jiang Mingxu bought a fruit basket to visit them.

Jin Ran went along with them.

On their way back, the two took a shortcut through a secluded residential area. Yushan was originally a small, third-tier county town, but this residential area was exceptionally elegant, with its beautiful and refined Chinese-style courtyards with white walls and black tiles, a stark contrast to the backward and dilapidated Yushan.

Jin Ran even had a feeling that she had stepped into another world.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew Jin Ran's hat off. Jin Ran bent down to pick it up, but an orange figure darted past their feet, snatched the hat, and then nimbly slipped into the wrought iron gate of a house.

Meow~

When Jin Ran and Jiang Mingxu caught up, in the courtyard, an elderly man with white hair was bending over to feed a cat. Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the sycamore tree, dappling his body and outlining a familiar silhouette.

The old man seemed to sense something and slowly raised his head.