Chapter Seventy-Seven: Mrs. Jiang
Jiang Chuan opened her palm upwards and silently wrote a string of numbers in her warm palm. "Remember this!" He looked at Lin Yu with a fleeting smile.
"What is this?" The answer was obvious, and Lin Yu blinked nervously.
"Bank accounts, securities accounts, private safe deposit boxes... and phone passwords." Jiang Chuan's eyes shone brightly in the morning glow, staring intently at me.
"You even have a safe?" Lin Yu teased. "Is there some little secret inside that would get you killed if you found out?"
"I only have a few properties and a little emergency cash," Jiang Chuan said with a smile, admitting helplessly. "It's not much, but it should be enough to support my family."
Over the years, Jiang Chuan has invested most of his liquid funds in the real estate and stock markets. The few properties Lin Yu knew of were all rented out, so she hadn't had a chance to visit them yet.
But the feeling of suddenly becoming a landlady was indeed quite pleasant. Lin Yu's heart trembled slightly, but her smile carried a hint of teasing.
"You're so generous!" Faced with such an offensive, it was hard for her not to be moved.
"You flatter me." Jiang Chuan reached out and gathered her stray hairs. "I think it's a good deal to exchange these for a Mrs. Jiang."
Lin Yu never had any romantic fantasies about marriage. The shadow of her family of origin made her feel little sense of sanctity towards the word "home".
The tangled web of family relationships and suffocating ethical constraints made her instinctively resist. But deep down, she always longed to be loved and chosen without reservation.
Every moment spent with Jiang Chuan brought Lin Yu joy and peace of mind. His tolerance, his experience, and even the numbers in his bank account were all sources of her sense of security and stability.
But it is precisely these elements that piece together the complete person before us. What she loves may never be a single isolated shining point, but rather the unique soul woven from all these qualities.
The memories she shared with Chen Guang were being gradually eroded and covered by Jiang Chuan, with painful recollections being replaced by happiness. He was indeed an impeccable partner, always putting her first.
Did she love him? Perhaps she did. Lin Yu couldn't explain what love was, or what kind of person deserved to have love. Perhaps obsessively seeking the answer was the origin of all misfortune.
At this moment, all she wanted was to hold onto this comforting warmth, even if there was an abyss ahead.
She seemed to have already begun to envision her new life. Here, there was no wavering, only a single, relentless path forward.
Lin Yu remembered the birthday gift she had prepared for Jiang Chuan, which was still lying quietly in her bag. She pulled her handbag from the back seat, took out an exquisite box, and stuffed it into Jiang Chuan's arms.
"Birthday present, let's open it and see!"
Jiang Chuan quickly unpacked the package and saw a pair of platinum wedding rings inside. He took the rings out and examined them closely in his palm. Inside the simple band, each ring was set with a smooth opal gemstone.
His ring was red, while Lin Yu's was green. Both rings had "L&J20190214" engraved on the inside, like an unshakable vow inscribed on their relationship. It was tacky, but it deeply pleased Jiang Chuan.
"Wait..." Lin Yu smiled and stopped Jiang Chuan, who was about to slip the ring onto his ring finger. "You wear a wedding ring on your ring finger, silly."
She took his left hand and slowly pushed the ring onto his middle finger. The ring fit his slender finger perfectly.
Lin Yu held his hand and examined it repeatedly, nodding in satisfaction. It was as if only a ring he had personally crafted was worthy of such exquisitely beautiful hands.
"Red men and green women, just right."
He looked up and met Jiang Chuan's burning gaze. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and his voice carried a hint of amusement.
"I thought you were proposing to me!"
"Dream on."
Lin Yu smiled and held out her hand, playfully waving it at him. Jiang Chuan understood and took out another ring, gently slipping it onto her finger, then kissed it.
The two intertwined hands wore identical rings, as if a silent connection and vow. Jiang Chuan liked this gentle restraint, especially since it came from Lin Yu.
"Do you like it? It's a custom-made piece!" Lin Yu looked up, his face full of anticipation.
"Of course." Jiang Chuan looked at her quietly and held her hand even tighter.
“Opal gemstones may not be valuable, but each one is unique.” After saying that, Lin Yu stretched out his hand and showed Jiang Chuan the red blisters on the back of his hand.
"It's hard, so I had to use a file to polish it little by little. My hands got calluses from all that polishing."
Jiang Chuan lowered his head and kissed the blisters on her hand, gently stroking the tiny scratches on her fingertips. "So you can only marry me..." he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Having given so much, wouldn't it be a loss not to get it back?"
Lin Yu rested her chin on Jiang Chuan's palm, staring at him with her watery eyes. "Then this time, I'll give you a deadline."
Lin Yu's eyes flickered, and she looked at Jiang Chuan with a slight smile. "If you're still by my side on New Year's Day, we'll get married."
"Okay!" Jiang Chuan's answer came out without hesitation, almost overlapping with the last syllable of hers.
I didn't know what else to say; it seemed that even one more word would be superfluous. In the sunlight that had completely broken free of the clouds, all words were transformed into a kiss that landed on her lips.
The rain stopped and the sky turned a clear blue. The two did not immediately go down the mountain. Instead, they held hands and strolled on the grass in the gentle breeze.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, and she wore a pale yellow floral dress, the hem of which and the chestnut-brown hair behind her shoulders fluttering gently in the breeze.
Jiang Chuan followed behind her, hands in his pockets, gazing at her silhouette outlined in the sunlight. More and more tourists were arriving in the mountains, but their world seemed to remain frozen in the moment she slipped on the ring.
A little girl with pigtails ran towards Lin Yu, laughing as she pulled on a kite string. As she passed Lin Yu, the hem of her red skirt brushed against his bare calves, causing a slight tickle.
The girl ran as hard as she could, trying to make the kite fly higher, but the wind on the mountaintop wasn't very strong, and the kite eventually wobbled and fell down, landing right at Lin Yu's feet.
Lin Yu bent down and picked up the colorful butterfly kite, and the little girl skipped back.
She was about three or four years old. Her round face, tanned dark red by the sun, had two rosy cheeks like ripe apples.
The missing front tooth made her smile broadly, and her clear, childlike voice called out, "Auntie! Auntie!"
The mother, who had rushed over from a distance, grabbed her daughter's little hand. "Niu Niu, you should call her 'sister'!"
“Auntie, haha!” The girl pointed at Lin Yu and repeated it again.
The woman smiled apologetically at Lin Yu. "This child has just learned to speak, and his vocabulary is pitifully small. He probably hasn't learned how to call me 'sister' yet!"
Lin Yu squatted down and patted her head, gently wrapping the kite string around her chubby wrist. She waved her hand dismissively and said, "I was born in the Year of the Rooster, so I'm almost thirty. Calling me 'Auntie' isn't wrong."
"My goodness, you're the same age as me! I can't believe it!" The young mother exclaimed in surprise, brushing aside her wind-blown hair and glancing at Jiang Chuan, who stood silently behind Lin Yu.
"Your husband must treat you very well. I wish you happiness." With that, she took her daughter's hand and ran towards her husband, who was waving from the picnic mat. The kite soared back into the blue sky, tracing a joyful path among the clouds.
Jiang Chuan approached, naturally wrapped his arm around Lin Yu's waist, and asked, looking down, "What are you talking about?"
Lin Yu watched the family's retreating figures and said with a faint smile, "It's nothing. She thought you were my husband. I wish us happiness."
The mountain breeze outlined Jiang Chuan's tall and straight figure. He nodded, tightened his arms, pulled Lin Yu into his embrace, gently rested his chin on her hair, and looked into the distance with her.
"Yes, Banban! Wait for me a little longer!"
Lin Yu didn't press him for his vague response. She simply leaned back, her fingers tracing down his arm and slowly locking onto his left hand, which was adorned with a ring. The metal was slightly cool, but it gradually warmed against the temperature of his fingers.
On the way down the mountain, Jiang Chuan suddenly had a whim and began to question Lin Yu's driving skills.
During his last high fever, although he was not fully conscious, he vaguely remembered that Lin Yu had hit his head on the car window several times on the way home.
Lin Yu smiled awkwardly, hoping to let the matter drop, but Jiang Chuan persisted, found an open, flat road, parked the car, and let Lin Yu drive.
Having not driven for a while, Lin Yu found herself in a flustered situation once again as she sat in the driver's seat. Jiang Chuan, however, was extremely patient with her, unlike Chen Guang's impatience or the bad temper of the driving school instructor.
Lin Yu seemed to have inexhaustible time and patience, guiding her through a dead-end road, practicing repeatedly.
"Remember, as long as you don't step on the gas, always keep your foot on the brake." Lin Yu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and shakily drove the car onto the road.
Two hours later, after Jiang Chuan's repeated explanations, she finally mastered the basic skills of reversing into a parking space and parallel parking, and excitedly demonstrated them to him.
Jiang Chuan watched her carefully park the car in an empty parking space on the side of the road, then looked up at him excitedly and said, "How about it? Am I your smartest student?"
Jiang Chuan reached out and gently placed his hand on Lin Yu's head. "I don't have that much patience! You're enough for me."
He was thinking that after a while, he could take Lin Yu to pick out a car, so that even if she lived with him, she could save some time on her commute.
On the way back, Lin Yu insisted on giving Teacher Jiang a material reward. She drove into the county, bought a small cream cake on the way, put it in the back seat, and then started the car and drove towards the homestay.
Back at my lodgings, I happened to run into my friends, a couple who had just returned from shopping, busy in the kitchen. The free-range chickens in the backyard had become the main dish on the table, stewed in a clay pot until golden and tender.
Several people sat around the table, and the simple birthday ceremony was performed without fail: blowing out candles and making wishes. Jiang Chuan dutifully tasted two bites of cake, while Lin Yu and the proprietress ate most of the rest.
After dinner, the four of them sat around in the courtyard, sipping hot tea and chatting. Their friend spoke of the slow pace of life in the village, which Lin Yu found incredibly enviable.
Their friend's wife suggested they rent a courtyard house nearby, saying they could stay together in the mountains. Amidst the fragrant tea, Lin Yu and Jiang Chuan exchanged a smile.
Before leaving, my friend specially packed a freshly killed free-range chicken and two bundles of wild vegetables still covered in dew into the trunk of Jiangchuan's car.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the car slowly drove away from the village, carrying the gifts of the mountains and the lingering tranquility, and drove back to Shanghai.
In the rearview mirror, the outline of the guesthouse gradually disappeared into the lush green mountains.
A few dark clouds crept up from where they couldn't see, spreading silently like ink stains on rice paper, adding a shadow to the climax of this prelude to happiness.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
