Chapter 55 The Sum of All Celestial Bodies
Jiang Meng returned home and couldn't wait to start picking out clothes.
The wardrobe was opened, and a batch of colorful summer shirts had already been replaced. The autumn atmosphere was restrained, less vibrant, calm and composed. Jiang Meng liked autumn, the season for beautiful women to play dress-up games.
"Hehe, you just wait—wait for what?"
As Jiang Meng changed her clothes, she waved her finger at the mirror and said, "Jiang Meng, you just wait, I'm coming to kiss you to death in a minute."
She wore a black casual suit, paired with black stockings and high boots, her hair styled in a feather bun with a hair clip, and carried a small, shiny silver handbag.
Stand in front of the mirror.
It's too much of a solitary aesthetic; that won't do.
Jiang Meng hurriedly took off her clothes and tried on several more outfits.
Finally, she was left with a high-slit, silver-white long dress, with thin straps draped over her snow-white shoulder bones, and her straight collarbone lines flowing smoothly out.
Jiang Meng admired her own beauty, clicking her tongue and shaking her head: "How can I be so beautiful?"
She adjusted her hair back and forth, admiring herself for a while, then laughed and said, "You're not a man if you don't kiss me until I faint, Chen Jizhou."
Jiang Meng's smile vanished when she glanced at the cat beside her, and her face turned cold—"Xiao Jin, you can't just lie there like a pig all day. Daddy's coming, can't you cheer up?"
Xiao Jin expresses his happiness by walking up to the scratching post.
It smacked and scratched fiercely a few times.
When Chen Jizhou arrived, he politely knocked twice on the door, even though he noticed the lock was unlocked. Jiang Meng, sitting at her vanity, called out towards the door, "The door's open, come in!"
He was wearing a gray shirt, the same one Ralph Lauren had worn at the bar. He had unbuttoned two buttons, which made the shirt lose its refined style and reveal the air of a leisurely and aristocratic young master.
Chen Jizhou came in and closed the door behind him: "You've been leaving the door open like that? You're really too careless."
Jiang Meng: "This is for you. The security here is pretty good—don't stand at the door, go inside."
“What if it wasn’t me who came?” Chen Jizhou did as she asked, went to her table, and placed a small box there. His voice was much closer to her ear in the future, “Be more careful next time.”
Jiang Meng glanced at the box he brought. He had told her yesterday that he had bought a pair of earrings and wanted her to try them on. She was carefully applying eyeliner, not having time to look closely right now: "Yeah, I'm just that careless. I need a bodyguard."
Chen Jizhou wasn't fooled and smiled faintly: "Sure, if you find one, introduce one to me too."
Jiang Meng raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly: "Hey, shouldn't you volunteer yourself?"
Chen Jizhou started putting on airs: "I stopped doing hard labor a long time ago. Now I sit on a dragon throne at work."
Jiang Meng laughed and said, "I don't have a dragon throne for you to sit on, so you'll have to condescend to stand."
He looked around.
There really was nowhere to sit.
The space was too small. There were only two chairs. She sat on one, and the other was covered with clothes she hadn't had time to put away. Jiang Meng had decorated her bedroom, put up a rug, and bought a small sofa, which was also covered with clothes. There wasn't even room to sit; if there were any more things, he wouldn't even have room to stand.
Chen Jizhou didn't need to look closely to easily see the many things he had given her.
The dreamcatcher is his, the Ace of Hearts is his, and the watch is his.
The paper airplane on the table is also his.
It was completely sealed off from all sides.
Such vivid memories piled up as if she were living with him.
He picked up the mechanical watch from the corner of the table, slipped it onto his bare wrist, but didn't tighten the strap. He just glanced at it and said, "I still have it."
Jiang Meng glanced at the watch as well: "You said your heartbeat is faster than normal, so I've been wearing it all this time. Every time I count your heartbeats, it's like you're with me."
Chen Jizhou was slightly taken aback.
He frowned briefly, then relaxed, a bittersweet smile curving his lips. He patted the top of her head and teased softly, "Just kidding, aren't you silly?"
Jiang Meng did not ridicule him.
She watched as he placed the watch on the table, making a soft clinking sound.
“I took it seriously,” she whispered.
This person doesn't seem to realize how important they are.
If each person's life is a microcosm, then in Jiang Meng's universe, Chen Jizhou is the sum of all the luminous stars. When she lost him, her vision dimmed, deepening with each passing year, one light after another, layer upon layer. Extinct, extinguished, in the vast darkness, she drifted aimlessly with the current.
She rotated more independently and regularly, but lost the guiding light.
He is that important.
The silence that had lasted for about ten seconds was broken by a cat's meow.
Jiang Meng immediately put down her makeup brush and fished out Xiao Jin from under the table.
When Chen Jizhou saw Xiao Jin, he felt a little embarrassed. He couldn't find a store to buy cat food on his way here, and he was in a hurry to get over, so he didn't buy any canned food for it.
Jiang Meng said good-naturedly, "No need, look."
She picked up the chubby little Jin.
Little Gold: "Meow."
Jiang Meng: "Dad!"
Little Gold: "Meow."
Jiang Meng: "Dad!"
Jiang Meng tilted her pretty face and smiled at him: "See? You don't need to bribe it at all. It remembers you. Blood is thicker than water, okay?"
Chen Jizhou looked at her, overjoyed, and said with a smile, "You're so cute."
"Of course! Cats are the cutest animals in the world." After a moment's thought, Jiang Meng handed him the kitten. "Huh? Are you talking about me?"
"I'm talking to you two."
Chen Jizhou had already taken the cat and was happily playing with it. Jiang Meng looked back and realized that he really had nowhere to sit. She pointed to the sofa and said, "You can throw your clothes on the bed."
Chen Jizhou cleared a space, picked up his clothes and put them aside. The sofa and carpet were slowly revealed, and he saw a pair of shoes placed at his feet.
They are Jimmy Choo high heels.
It's his too.
He bent down to pick up the shoes, then paused uncertainly before asking, "How old are these shoes? Are they still wearable?"
Jiang Meng looked at him in the makeup mirror: "Sure, I'm planning to wear it today."
Chen Jizhou said, "If you like them, I'll buy you another pair."
He probably felt that as time went on, even the most valuable things would become old and expire.
“It’s different.” Jiang Meng’s solemn and serious voice rang out.
Chen Jizhou didn't touch the shoes. He sat down on the sofa, put the cat on his lap, and asked her casually, "What's different?"
“You can buy me lots of shoes, but this one is different to me, and I will keep it.”
Jiang Meng spoke softly, but her words carried considerable weight, like a verdict. The emphasis struck deep into his tender heart, revealing a hidden and gentle memory of bygone days.
"You are important at eighteen."
"It cannot be replaced."
Chen Jizhou lowered his head, his fingertips tracing the cat's soft fur, and met Xiao Jin's blank gaze.
After a long silence, he said, "Do you still remember what I used to look like?"
"I remember."
Jiang Meng thought to herself, she remembered it all too well. No one would find it unforgettable to meet someone like that, right?
"Full of vigor and radiance. Loved by all, and admired by all."
Chen Jizhou laughed, his tone lazy and a little arrogant, revealing a proud smirk: "Such a high evaluation? I didn't know I was so charming."
Jiang Meng said, "Charming is charming, but it's like a wild goose flying by without leaving a trace, not a single leaf clinging to it, not caring about anyone. Maybe everyone is like that, liking people who are elusive. So there's a word for it, what is it? Unruly, everyone wants to conquer that kind of person."
He gave a leisurely "hmm," nodded in agreement in a good mood, and then asked, "And now?"
Jiang Meng smiled smugly: "It's not like that now. Now you've descended to earth, but you're even more charming, because you're mine~~~"
Chen Jizhou chuckled: "So I'm yours?"
"This means that I now have the right to use you."
"For example?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I want to touch your abs, can you refuse me?"
"reject."
He showed no mercy.
Jiang Meng was about to apply lipstick when she heard this. She immediately put down what she was holding, clenched her fingers, and revealed a lecherous smile: "Then I'm going to force myself on you. You can scream your lungs out and no one will come to save you."
Chen Jizhou spread his arms wide and smiled generously: "Come on."
This expression conveys a sense of provocative pleasure, as if watching to see who can outdo whom.
Jiang Meng lunged forward, her eyes and hands moving swiftly as she tried to lift his shirt, her movements displaying a life-or-death duel intent. But how could she be a match for him? Chen Jizhou, even quicker, grabbed Jiang Meng's wrist, his other hand pulling her around her waist, and shoved her onto the sofa.
Beneath him, her long, brushed eyelashes blinked ten times in three seconds.
I was both panicked and ashamed.
And so he pinned her down.
"Where is your bow? Where did it go?" He asked with a half-smile, his gaze falling on her, each word striking the thin drumhead of her heart.
Jiang Meng pretended to struggle: "Let me go! You bully!"
Chen Jizhou's smile deepened: "I think you should just give in to the bully. No matter how much you scream, no one will come to save you."
She screamed, "Ah!!"
He mimicked her: "Ah~~~"
"..."
Jiang Meng shut her mouth tightly in anger and stopped moving.
He slowly stopped laughing, his gaze gradually falling to her lips, which were only lightly coated with lip balm.
As the man's lips descended upon hers, the light above Jiang Meng's head grew increasingly dim.
But soon, a scream came from below: "Meow—!"
Jiang Meng also let out a scream and sat up, hooking her arms around his neck.
Chen Jizhou instinctively protected her, and looking down, he realized that he was pressing down on Xiao Jin's tail.
The cat leaped out quickly.
Jiang Meng was startled, her heart leaping again after just relaxing. He placed one hand on the back of her head and the other on her waist and below, lower still... a little lower, so that it would be easier to pull her onto his lap. Although their hands weren't pressed too tightly and didn't cross any lines, Jiang Meng almost instinctively jerked away.
After it bounced off, she immediately regretted it; every thought shifted rapidly—
The arrow was on the bowstring, but she broke it herself.
Why are you hiding?
Jiang Meng awkwardly turned her back.
Her nimble dodges were somewhat reminiscent of how they interacted when they were children.
She wasn't rejecting him; she was just a little shy.
Chen Jizhou rubbed his forehead with his palm. The silk of her dress was smooth, and the feeling of it lingered in his hand. He felt a lump in his throat and needed to clear it. Then he stood up and said in a low voice, "Aren't you hungry? Hurry up and go eat first."
Jiang Meng picked up the lipstick, absentmindedly applied it twice, and said, "Okay."
Chen Jizhou enjoys collecting antiques and jewelry. The earrings were bought at an auction. Although he has an appreciation for them, he doesn't have the space to wear them. Having a girlfriend is nice, as he can let her try out any interesting finds he finds.
Jiang Meng put it on; it was a green pendant. She didn't know if it was jade or emerald, but she shook it and said excitedly, "It's so pretty! I love it. I feel like my net worth has increased to four figures."
Chen Jizhou stood at the doorway again, leaning against it, looking doubtful yet believing: "You really like it?"
"Would I lie to you?"
He laughed jokingly, "Who knew you'd learn to talk to people like that now? Can you believe a single word you say?"
Jiang Meng laughed uncontrollably: "So you know you're really that awful, huh?"
Chen Jizhou was not at all reserved: "How can you be charming if you're not wicked?"
She looked up at him; his tall, imposing figure stood out powerfully against the low eaves of her room. No man other than Chen Jizhou had ever entered her room. His presence here exuded an irresistible charisma, making her, despite her shy, evasive movements, feel an irresistible, burning desire to take things further. Jiang Meng blinked, brushing away the layer of desire-laden air, and looked at him again. Her youthful smile revealed a flamboyant spirit, enough to convince and forgive his narcissism.
As Jiang Meng put on her crystal shoes and was led out the door by him, the night was already perfect from that moment on.
She could sit in the front passenger seat tonight and enjoy passenger treatment. Jiang Meng put a song in the car and listened to it quietly for a while. Chen Jizhou drove quietly. She thought about some things and suddenly said, "Every time I see my father, I think of you."
Chen Jizhou didn't understand the connection between them, and smiled slightly, saying, "What abilities do I have? I'm on par with your father."
Jiang Meng said, "Maybe it was during that time that you were by my side."
Besides learning his ability to speak to people in a way that suits them, she actually learned a lot from him.
How to pick things up and put them down, how to make yourself strong and powerful, how to be resilient and independent, how to accept yourself, and how to live a joyful life.
More important than any of the gifts he gave her was the strength he left her with, which had already flowed into her blood.
She belatedly realized how fortunate she was to have met someone who guided her at a very young age.
Jiang Meng thought of something else and muttered, "Oh, besides you, there's someone else who has a crush on me, but I still don't know who he is."
Chen Jizhou looked at her calmly.
My memory returns to a snowy night during the Lantern Festival many years ago.
Jiang Su came to pick her up that day.
Jiang Meng did not get into her father's car.
As Chen Jizhou and she strolled back together, they stopped talking about movies and books, and no longer discussed their favorite anime characters. She asked him a weighty question: "Chen Jizhou, do you think there is such a thing as a love that never ends?"
He remained nonchalant, dismissing everything as trivial and carefree, and tapped her head: "I think? I think if you keep thinking like this, you'll soon attain immortality."
Jiang Meng chuckled and scolded him, "You're always being so indecent."
"Okay, I'll answer you seriously." After saying that, Chen Jizhou paused, "What kind of answer do you want to hear?"
Jiang Meng lowered her head, her steps heavy as she walked on the dark pavement. After a long while, she finally replied, "I don't know either."
Chen Jizhou stopped and waited for her to look up at him. He looked back at her and said, "I also want to ask you a question."
"Okay, go ahead."
"If I weren't here today, would you go with your father?"
Jiang Meng cried silently, covering her eyes with her palms.
She couldn't answer at all.
Chen Jizhou stopped pressuring her, as if he had understood many things from her silence. He gently stroked her hair and said, "Rest well and have a good dream."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com