Chapter 46 Qingyun picks up my wife and takes her home.
In the bathroom, Jiang Mingxue stood under the shower, carefully washing her body. She had walked over 30,000 steps on campus today, several times the amount she usually did at the clinic, and her legs were a little sore from standing while showering.
But I have a skydiving appointment with Cheng Ying tomorrow, so I can't rest yet.
The thought of skydiving made Jiang Mingxue pause in her hair-rubbing motion.
She hasn't told Rong Chengzhou about this yet.
Actually, he didn't know many things about her, but she didn't deliberately hide anything else; he just hadn't asked.
This was the only thing she never intended to let anyone know, not even her family.
Skydiving was the only peaceful haven she found during her lowest point, a way for her to escape and relax, but not everyone could understand her adventurous behavior.
Jiang Mingxue stayed in the bathroom for a long time, thinking about many things.
She thought about Rong Chengzhou's reaction when he found out she would be skydiving; she thought about whether he would stop her from continuing to skydive after he found out; she also thought about whether, if she didn't tell him, he would be as angry as she was when she found out that Yan Ze had kept it from her.
She didn't dry herself off until her fingers were white from soaking in the water, and then went to the study to call Rong Chengzhou to take a bath.
After they finished washing up, they went to bed.
Even with the lights off, neither of us could fall asleep. We were lying in the same bed, yet both of us were preoccupied with our own thoughts.
On Tuesday morning, Jiang Mingxue met with Cheng Ying as agreed.
Cheng Ying, sitting in the passenger seat, asked her, "How did the lecture go yesterday?"
Jiang Mingxue, driving, replied tactfully, "Yes, it's better than expected."
I talked to Cheng Ying before, and she was satisfied as long as she didn't make any mistakes during the presentation and everyone didn't fall asleep.
Cheng Ying clicked her tongue in amazement: "What do you mean by 'better'? Director Jiang's lectures are the best of the best. Even scalpers are attracted to his free lectures. Yesterday, the post on the Beijing University of Medicine's official WeChat account got 100,000 likes and thousands of reposts. Even the recruitment posts didn't get as much traffic as your lecture. If I could take another day off, I would definitely go to see it in person."
Jiang Mingxue smiled and said, "You're exaggerating. I don't have that much influence. But because I'm a senior in the same department, the juniors give me face."
Cheng Ying: "Alright, alright, humility makes one progress. I'd like to see when you'll ever be arrogant."
Jiang Mingxue smiled helplessly, then, thinking of something else, slowly composed herself: "I plan to finish the jump today and then go back to talk to Chengzhou about it."
Cheng Ying was scrolling through her WeChat Moments when she heard this and looked up: "Why did you suddenly see the light?"
Jiang Mingxue: "There's no particular reason. I was just a little angry a few days ago when I found out that Yan Ze had been hiding his true identity for two years. I thought about it for a long time last night, and I felt that the relationship between husband and wife is not as stable as that between family members, so I should talk to Rong Chengzhou about it."
Cheng Ying nodded: "Tell me about it. I don't think your husband is the kind of person with feudalistic ideas."
In most people's eyes, engaging in extreme sports is just asking for trouble, especially after so many news reports of accidental deaths.
But everyone lives differently. Some people come into this world to suffer, while others live to live a peaceful life. But there always has to be someone willing to take risks in order to discover more possibilities in the world.
Jiang Mingxue hummed in agreement. She had thought a lot about it last night and felt that she was mentally prepared for any reaction.
But Jiang Mingxue never expected that things would not develop as she had anticipated.
--
Upon arriving at Huzhou Gorge, the two changed into their gear and were so skilled that they no longer needed an instructor.
Jiang Mingxue took off the ring, placed it inside her skydiving suit, and zipped it up.
After changing her gear, Cheng Ying immediately took out her phone, turned her back to the cliff of Huzhou Gorge, took a selfie, and shared it on her WeChat Moments, setting it to be visible only to her skydiving friends.
This was her habit, so that if she were to die unexpectedly one day, she could still have a complete portrait taken in her memory.
After checking their equipment, the two jumped off the cliff, controlling their posture and direction.
They finished jumping around noon, and the two of them found a restaurant near Tiger Leaping Gorge to eat and rest. They had another jump in the afternoon.
At 2 p.m., the two returned to the top of Huzhou Gorge to make preparations again.
Jiang Mingxue had just put the ring in her pocket when Cheng Ying's surprised voice suddenly rang in her ears: "Yan Ze, what are you doing here too?"
Upon hearing this, she looked up and saw a familiar face with a tall, fair, and slender figure.
After a few days apart, his face had regained some color, and he seemed to be slowly learning to accept his new identity.
They didn't call out to him when they came out today.
Yan Ze, dressed in a gray tracksuit, said in a cool voice, "I saw your post on WeChat Moments."
Cheng Ying: "...Oh, no wonder."
She looked at Jiang Mingxue apologetically, knowing that the two had fallen out because of Yan Ze's concealment of his identity.
It's her fault; she forgot to add him to the blocked group.
Jiang Mingxue remained relatively calm and gave her a reassuring look.
She zipped up her coat, walked over, and asked, "Did your family agree to let you out?"
Yan Ze gave a faint "hmm": "If you listen, you can come out."
His expression was calm, and his sharpness seemed to have been smoothed out, or perhaps hidden away, ready to be unleashed.
No one knows how much hardship he endured, but at least he was living towards the sun.
Seeing that he was alright, Jiang Mingxue was relieved.
Yan Ze looked up at her and asked, "Can I come with you?"
Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Okay."
We just can't be friends, but it doesn't mean we'll never see each other again.
Even if they run into fellow umbrella enthusiasts from the group today, they will still go together.
A glimmer of light appeared in the man's eyes, and he said sincerely, "Thank you, Dr. Jiang."
--
Meanwhile, in the private room of the entertainment club on the other side, there were Rong Chengzhou's university classmates, all of whom were active-duty air force pilots or high-ranking personnel who had retired from the military and changed careers.
The private room is very large, with a pool table, mahjong table, board game table, and a bar for drinking. It can accommodate a dozen or more people playing games.
Only Rong Chengzhou seemed uninterested, sitting alone on the sofa.
I didn't watch them play, nor did I use my phone.
He casually toyed with a pool ball, leaned back lazily on the sofa, crossed his legs, and lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
A moment later, he took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Mingxue:
[CZ]: What did you guys do today?
I didn't check my phone for about two minutes, and still hadn't received a reply.
He posted another message:
【CZ】: I'm at Mingtai Club, feeling a bit bored.
Five minutes passed, and still no one replied.
"Hey Zhou, come play cards! We're one short, just waiting for you!" a male classmate at the card table called out to him.
Rong Chengzhou glanced down at his phone, still no messages, then listlessly put it away and got up from the sofa: "It's here."
--
On the cliff top of Tiger Gorge, the three people stood and organized their equipment. The two of them had become a group of three, and Jiang Mingxue and Cheng Ying were more used to it.
Because for the past two years, the three of them have been together.
Not far away, several men in sportswear walked arm in arm toward the top of the cliff.
Leading the charge was Yu Feijie, who hung up the barrage of calls he received on his phone, turned it off, and complained to his colleagues: "The manager is a real jerk. I just adjusted to the time difference yesterday, and he wants me to fly back tonight. To hell with him, I'm not doing it."
"Exactly, this kind of thing has happened more than once or twice. They really treat us like slaves, letting whoever wants to do it do it. If that old man is so capable, why doesn't he do it himself?"
"What a joke. If he could do it himself, he wouldn't have been a manager for so many years. He'd probably be dreaming of flying a plane."
Several colleagues complained, saying that they had been fed up with the manager's constant nagging and that this team-building activity was a last-minute decision.
Yu Feijie, bowing his chest, said, "You guys are really loyal. I'll pay for today's bungee jump. Don't try to take it from me."
"Okay, okay, Brother Yu can handle it!"
The group chatted as they walked along the wooden bridge toward the top of the cliff.
"Tiger Gorge is no ordinary altitude, so any of you who are afraid of heights should... Oh my god... Wait a minute!!"
Yu Feijie walked at the front, glanced ahead casually, and suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence, blocking the people behind him from moving forward.
He stood there, his eyes wide like plums, staring intently at the middle of the three people changing equipment at the edge of the cliff.
He...he couldn't be mistaken, could he? That person looks so much like my sister-in-law!
But that's impossible. My sister-in-law should be at the clinic or at home right now. How could she be at Huzhou Gorge, wearing her parachute clothes?
He must have been so angry he'd lost his mind and misread it, right?
I've never heard Rong-ge mention that his wife can skydive.
"What's wrong, Brother Yu? What did you see that scared you like that?" his colleague asked, puzzled.
Yu Feijie hurriedly took out his phone from his pocket and turned it back on: "...Don't ask now, let's jump later, you guys go wait for me over there."
The colleague, puzzled, scratched his head and stepped aside, saying, "Oh, okay."
"Ugh, why is this crappy phone taking so long to boot up today?"
Yu Feijie got so frustrated waiting for his phone to boot up that he almost smashed it.
It took a full half minute to log into the system, and the first thing that popped up was dozens of missed calls from the "dog manager".
In a fit of anger, Yu Feijie blocked the "dog manager" and hurriedly opened his camera, taking a picture of the cliff edge.
It wasn't the weekend, and only a few people preparing for skydiving, bungee jumping, or wingsuit flying were scattered along the cliff edge of Huzhou Gorge. There were no obstacles among them, making it easy to take photos of them.
The other person was turning their head to check the seatbelt in the back, and the photo just happened to capture her profile.
Yu Feijie thought it looked somewhat similar, but he didn't dare to recognize it.
So he took a picture and sent it to Rong Chengzhou:
Hey Rong-ge, I went bungee jumping at Huzhou Gorge with my colleagues today, and I think I ran into your wife.
But I'm not sure. Look at the woman in the middle, isn't she my sister-in-law?
After sending the message, he and a few colleagues went to wait in the back, worried that if it really was his sister-in-law, bumping into her would only embarrass her.
--
Mingtai Club.
Rong Chengzhou had only played a few rounds when his phone, which was on the shelf next to the card table, buzzed three times in a row.
Thinking it was Jiang Mingxue's reply, he stopped playing the cards: "Wait a moment, I'll get back to you."
Upon opening WeChat, I found several messages and photos sent by Yu Feijie.
His eyes flickered slightly when he saw the first two messages.
Is Jiang Mingxue in Huzhou Gorge?
Then I opened the original photo that was sent last.
Slide two fingers across the image to zoom in little by little.
His gaze fell on the fair and beautiful profile of the girl in the middle. Even though she was looking down and wearing a protective helmet that covered half of her face, he could still recognize her as Jiang Mingxue.
The military has specialized parachute pilots, and he himself needs to practice daily, so he can recognize at a glance that she is wearing parachute equipment.
Her eyebrows lifted slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
She can even skydive.
With a light tap of his fingertip, he zoomed in further, staring at the girl's indistinct eyebrows and eyes in the very center of the photo, and a slight smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
"What news is it that makes you so happy?" a classmate at the card table asked in confusion.
Another person answered confidently, "Who else could it be but Brother Rong's wife?"
There are quite a few henpecked husbands in the class, but this is the first time I've seen someone who is henpecked still able to laugh.
Rong Chengzhou was still looking at the photos and ignored their conversation.
He only slowly pulled the photo back when urged by another person.
Just as he was about to close WeChat, his gaze suddenly fell on another person next to Jiang Mingxue.
That man had skin as white as a woman's and was as thin as a stick.
It was clearly Yan Ze.
The curve of his lips instantly vanished, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his originally gentle features suddenly turned as cold as ice.
They went out, taking Yan Ze with them.
Moreover, Yan Ze was also wearing a parachute suit.
This wasn't their first time skydiving together.
Her husband, however, learned about her skydiving skills from someone else.
The initial surprise vanished instantly.
He lowered his eyes slightly, his deep gaze fixed on the two people in the photo. His well-defined fingers unconsciously clenched, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged as if they were about to burst.
The relaxed atmosphere at the card table instantly plummeted to freezing point. The others looked at him, bewildered, wondering what had happened.
After a moment, Rong Chengzhou put down the cards in his hand and slowly stood up.
"Hey, what's wrong, Rong-ge?"
The man continued walking outside without stopping, his voice as cold and flat as icy metal.
"To pick up my wife and take her home."
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