Jiang Shaoxing first sent Fu Zhi back to the Fu residence, and then returned to the Jiang residence.
He was never a kind-hearted person, but this time he made an exception and gave Fu Zhi a ride. Although Fu Zhi was a little confused, she knew that he definitely didn't have any other thoughts about her.
Regardless of the reason, they had finally grown a little closer, which made Fu Zhi very happy.
But she simply couldn't bear another failure. She also didn't want Jiang Shaoxing to suspect her of having ulterior motives again.
She had used up all her courage in front of Jiang Shaoxing. She finally became the one who dared not cross the river again.
She took a deep look at Jiang Shaoxing's figure walking in the rain with an umbrella, forcing herself to calm down and stop overthinking about him. At the very least, she should hide her feelings.
Whether such concealment was effective or not is debatable, but it is true that after this incident, Jiang Shaoxing gradually grew closer to her.
The incident began when he came to return the umbrella. He heard that Fu Zhi was having trouble choosing a birthday gift for her father. Since he happened to have nothing to do, Jiang Shaoxing said that he might be able to offer some suggestions.
He had a good eye, and the birthday gift he chose was very much to Fu's liking. Fu Zhi gave him a gift to express her gratitude, and made it clear that it was out of thanks and that she had no other intentions. Jiang Shaoxing probably felt that since things had been said to this extent, it would be a bit inappropriate to refuse again, so he accepted her gift for the first time.
The two met less often, but gradually they talked more than before, and occasionally, when they had nothing to do, they could spend the time of a cup of tea together.
Fu Zhi felt both happy and apprehensive.
She was happy to be so close to Jiang Shaoxing; yet she was also uneasy because she worried that Jiang Shaoxing might discover her feelings at any time.
She knew that once Jiang Shaoxing discovered her feelings, he would immediately treat her indifferently, just like before.
Overwhelmed by a jumble of emotions, Fu Zhi even fell ill.
After recovering from her illness, she thought, "I can't go on like this anymore."
She was willing to give the choice to Jiang Shaoxing, whatever it was, as long as they didn't have to keep deceiving each other.
At the end of July, the gardenias in Yujing City were in bloom.
Green leaves and white flowers, clustered together like snow.
Fu Zhi used to love gardenias because she was born in July. When her mother gave birth to her, she smelled the fragrance of flowers outside the window, so she named her Zhi.
But no one knew that ever since she met Jiang Shaoxing, Fu Zhi only liked magnolias.
That night there was a lantern festival, and Fu Zhi thought about it for a long time before arranging to meet Jiang Shaoxing at the lantern market.
After receiving a positive reply, Fu Zhi redid her makeup, which took quite a bit of effort, so much so that she was already late when she left the house.
When she arrived at the place where she had arranged to meet Jiang Shaoxing, before she could even prepare what to say, she saw a young woman standing in front of him.
The young woman was beautiful with flowing hair and a lovely face, while Jiang Shaoxing smiled gently and elegantly. Standing opposite each other, they looked like a perfect match.
Fu Zhi recognized the young woman; her surname was Pei, and she came from a family of generals. She had heard that General Pei was choosing a husband for her, and Jiang Shaoxing was one of his preferred candidates. Miss Pei seemed quite pleased with this as well.
The two of them were standing together, and even a fool could guess what was going on.
Fu Zhi looked at Jiang Shaoxing with a sour expression.
He had never smiled at her like that before.
How annoying! She sniffed. She was the one who had an appointment with Jiang Shaoxing, but now she felt like an outsider.
Seeing that Miss Pei seemed to be pointing in her direction, Fu Zhi pursed her lips, and the next moment she saw Jiang Shaoxing walking over with a lantern in his hand.
She gave him a polite smile and called him softly, "Lord Jiang."
Jiang Shaoxing nodded slightly.
"I think I just saw Miss Pei there too? Lord Jiang and Miss Pei..."
Jiang Shaoxing smiled and said, "I ran into her by chance and we chatted for a bit. Have you been waiting long?"
“No,” Fu Zhi shook her head and smiled at him, “Is it Lord Jiang who has been waiting for me for a long time?”
She smiled, yet tears streamed down her face. At first, tears simply welled up uncontrollably in her eyes, but then she began to sob uncontrollably. Afraid that Jiang Shaoxing would become impatient and leave, she spoke to him between sobs:
"In my heart, sob, I really like you, Lord Jiang. These days I've been so worried that you've seen through my feelings, sob sob sob, but I'm also afraid that you've seen through it but pretend you haven't, and I'm also afraid that you won't see it at all..."
Her words came out in a jumbled mess, completely contradicting Fu Zhi's own thoughts. In the end, even she herself didn't know what she was saying.
Sadness, grievance, bitterness, and hopelessness—all sorts of emotions surged forth from the depths of her heart like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm her.
She cried for a while, her fingertips tugging at Jiang Shaoxing's sleeve, and continued, "I know you don't like me at all, and you even think I'm annoying, waaaaaah, but I really won't bother you anymore. I'll wish you happiness, waaaaaah..."
She wanted to say a lot more, saying that she didn't know why she liked Jiang Shaoxing so much, that she had always only wanted to be closer to him, but had never made any assumptions about the ending, and that she understood for the first time that liking someone means wanting to become a better person...
But in the end, she couldn't say anything. She could only hold up her bandaged fingers for him to see: "I... I heard that men like girls who are good with their hands. After I met you, I started learning embroidery. My fingers are being pricked by needles so much, waaaaaah, they're like sieves!"
She cried so hard. She was a young woman in the prime of her life, with a wealthy family background and good looks. She usually traveled in luxury cars and was surrounded by beautiful maids, showing off the high and mighty style of a noble lady.
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