Chapter 33 "Your husband is looking for you".
When Su Cheng returned to the restaurant, she happened to see a strange woman holding a mobile phone walking up to Jiang Muzhou.
The woman had neat, short hair that reached her ears, with slightly curled ends. She wore a silk shirt with wide-leg trousers, exuding the competence and sophistication of a modern urban woman.
Four years later, the same thing happened again.
In this fast-paced era, few people still lay out letter paper and write down their thoughts stroke by stroke.
Take out your phone, scan a QR code, and you can connect with a stranger in a second.
She slowed her pace, giving them space, just as she had done four years ago, simply watching from afar.
Jiang Muzhou stood up, shook his head, and his lips moved.
She looked up, he looked down, and their gazes met briefly.
The distance was too far, and Su Cheng couldn't hear what he said.
She guessed it would probably be another polite "thank you" or "sorry."
The woman glanced at her casually, then turned and said something to Jiang Muzhou before leaving.
With no obstruction, those eyes stared straight at her, and she almost couldn't withstand it.
The person in front of me overlapped with the shadow from four years ago. The once cold gaze has now settled down, like a thawed stream in early spring, less distant and more tender.
Was that the look he used to reject someone just now?
The surrounding noise suddenly faded into the distance, leaving only the sound of her pounding heartbeat.
She traversed the cracks of time, approaching him step by step.
He naturally pulled out a chair and waited for her to sit down before returning to his own seat.
The light shone on his face, making him both the same and different from the boy in my memory.
The process of recalling is like gently peeling a part of reality out and stuffing it into a transparent glass jar.
The clearer those memories are, the more the person in front of you seems to be seen through a layer of fog, becoming unreal.
It's like a cloud that's far away, free and detached, suddenly landing in your palm one day, light and airy, impossible to grasp.
Although the wet feeling on my hands proved that it had been there, it still made me wonder if it was just my imagination.
A strange feeling welled up in Su Cheng's heart.
Every choice we made in the past is like a tiny gear, inconspicuous, yet quietly changing the trajectory of our lives.
She thought of the younger female student and the sophisticated urban woman from earlier. If she had also mustered the courage to join the wave of confessions, perhaps she would have ended up like them, forever locked out of his world.
She was lucky; under the guise of friendship, she could rightfully stay by his side.
She was also unfortunate, because the longer you spend time with someone like him, the more you fall for him.
A few rose petals are scattered on the white tablecloth, a romantic touch specially prepared by the restaurant for Qixi Festival.
She was living a pipe dream from which she didn't want to wake up.
In order to prolong this dream, she must carefully conceal her true feelings.
She imagined what people who disliked him would be like, probably the complete opposite of herself.
When she's sad, she has to force a smile; when she's nervous, she has to act calm; when she cares, she has to appear completely unfazed.
"Did I come back at the wrong time?" She patched up the few holes in the window paper and smiled brightly. "Luckily you wore a mask during the live broadcast, otherwise you would have stolen Xiaoxue's thunder."
Jiang Muzhou's eyes were somewhat complicated as he said calmly, "I told her I was waiting for someone."
What is said is true, but it's hard to say how people who don't know the truth will interpret it.
"Is she using me as a shield?" Su Cheng muttered under her breath. "But it's fine, after all, our on-screen couple is on the rise. If you cause a scandal, I won't be able to explain myself."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Muzhou swallowed back the words that were about to come out.
He originally planned to take it slow, create more opportunities to spend time together, and gradually express his feelings to her, at least to get her to consider him first.
But the panic of possibly losing her surged up like a raging flood, causing him to lose his mind for a moment and almost blurt out something.
But upon hearing her words, he realized with a start that he had almost been blinded by selfishness.
He knew better than anyone that rescuing stray animals was a dream she had held onto for many years.
He saw all the effort and hard work she put into the video account. She had finally gained some weight back a few days ago, but now she has obviously lost weight again.
Those words praising her creativity and sincerity were not just empty flattery, but as a newly established account, her ability to attract fans independently has not yet been fully built up, and she still relies on the traffic brought by her co-stars.
If she were to confess her feelings now and be rejected, given her personality, she would definitely choose to completely distance herself from him and cut off all contact with him because she doesn't want to owe him a favor.
As a result, her painstakingly managed account will face a serious loss of traffic.
He was willing to wait, but he would never let his own selfish desires hinder her from realizing her dream.
He took a sip of lemonade, his gaze falling on her loose hair, and changed the subject, "Why did you let your hair down?"
Su Cheng smiled wryly and opened her palm, revealing the hair tie that had broken in two. "The quality is too poor. It broke with just a gentle pull."
Surprisingly, her current hairstyle is exactly the same as the one she had when she took her graduation photo.
Back then it was a fake, but now it's the real deal.
The waiter served appetizers: crispy beef tongue and cheese crepes and the signature lemongrass salmon and shrimp salad.
The special couples' set menu for Qixi Festival is a fixed combination. Su Cheng glanced at it briefly, but still asked cautiously, "These dishes don't contain alcohol, right?"
The waiter smiled and explained, "Don't worry, all the dishes are alcohol-free."
Su Cheng felt relieved and handed Jiang Muzhou a small dark blue bag, saying, "This is a gift for you."
Jiang Muzhou was taken aback, somewhat surprised.
He untied the ribbon, lifted the lid of the box, and inside lay a pair of silver cufflinks.
A few days ago, Su Cheng washed and dried Jiang Muzhou's shirt, and was about to fold it neatly and return it to him when she suddenly realized that one cufflink was missing.
She looked up the brand of the last cufflink and found that it was the same brand as Jiang Muzhou's fountain pen. When she went to the store and asked, she learned that the original model had been discontinued several years ago.
She was looking for a pair at a similar price when her eyes were drawn to another pair in the display case.
The silver circular cufflinks are inlaid with azure gold sandstone in the center, like the starry sky seen through the eyepiece of a telescope, with countless points of light twinkling in the sky, deep and dazzling.
Although the display items cannot be purchased directly, the salesperson said that the same item could be pre-ordered, and it just arrived at the store today.
"Why are you suddenly giving me a gift?" Jiang Muzhou's eyes shone with anticipation, more dazzling than the gold dust on his cufflinks.
Especially on days like Qixi Festival.
"I accidentally lost your cufflinks, this is my apology," Su Cheng explained softly, bowing her head. "Also, thank you."
This "thank you" carries too much meaning.
Whether it was intentional or unintentional, whether he knew it or not.
“You might not remember, but a long time ago, you borrowed a piece of clothing from me.” Su Cheng said seriously, “That should have been the first time you spoke to me.”
Although Su Cheng now knows that it is just a normal physiological phenomenon and she will not feel embarrassed or hot-hearted.
But a fifteen-year-old girl is in her adolescence, sensitive and fragile. A casual joke from a classmate can take her a long time to process before she can let it go.
It was his kindness that protected that little bit of self-esteem in her heart.
"Is this considered a Qixi Festival gift?" Jiang Muzhou smiled, then suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "But I haven't prepared a return gift yet. Can I owe you one?"
"You have already given me the best gift."
She stole a glance at him, his image reflected in her clear eyes.
This was indeed the only and best Qixi Festival gift she had ever received.
His gaze fell upon them.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if burned, and she hurriedly looked away when their eyes met.
"Today's live stream went very well." She suppressed the emotions surging within her as she unlocked her phone and opened the short video app.
When she first started operating her video account, she couldn't help but refresh the page repeatedly to check if the push was successful, and she kept an eye on the changes in views and the increase in likes.
The anxiety of watching the seedlings grow almost eroded all her patience, and she even became somewhat obsessed.
She later realized that frequent checks would not increase the data, but would instead drain her energy. Now she only checks the data once an hour and once 12 hours after it is published, and only reviews and adjusts when she encounters abnormal situations. Her mindset has become much more peaceful.
Today was her first live stream, and she was unsure of herself, so she planned to check the data after she got home.
I just received a message from Wendy saying that even the pre-orders for her merchandise have sold out.
She then opened the video app and found that there were many notifications tagging her in the background. When she clicked on them, she found that her fans had made a lot of funny fan-made videos using the live stream recordings, which unexpectedly sparked a wave of popularity.
She opened a video, pushed the phone in front of Jiang Muzhou, and said with a smile, "The Goddess of Ferry, who never appears on camera, gave me her first time."
Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with innocence, completely unaware of the ambiguity in her words.
Jiang Muzhou pondered her words, a slight smile creeping onto his lips as he looked down at the screen.
In the video, his interaction with Xiaoxue was accompanied by a creepy background music from the TV series "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," and Xiaoxue was given eight fluffy tails as a special effect, and was given the name "Nie Xiaoxue."
The second video was a clip of Su Cheng's first appearance, accompanied by Sailor Moon's transformation lines. The screen was instantly flooded with comments like "goddess," "baby," and "wife," with fans screaming all over the place.
Jiang Muzhou frowned slightly.
Those affectionate terms that slipped out were like a dense thorn, piercing the soft flesh of his heart and giving rise to an irritating jealousy.
He's going to register a new account.
Swipe up to play the next video.
It was the instant Su Cheng approached him and reached out to lift the hilt of his sword.
The footage was noticeably shaky, and you could see that Lin Yang's hand, who was filming, was trembling slightly.
Is it because of a lack of photographic talent, or because you see someone you like looking at someone else?
Perhaps, just like when he first met Lin Yang that afternoon, he felt both sour and bitter.
As the background music of "Babydoll" plays, the camera work, enhanced with shaky camera effects, moves in rhythm with the drumbeats.
Su Cheng moved closer and closer to the rhythm, and although they were actually quite far apart, the camera angles made them look almost touching.
He curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.
Well, Lin Yang also has a real talent for photography.
When the lyrics reached "Don't leave me alone," his deep voice rang out: "I'm old, but I can still be caring."
He smiled slightly. The phrase originally used to describe Xiaoxue, paired with this ambiguous scene, was surprisingly fitting.
Older men are really good husbands.
He silently noted down the blogger's name, planning to go back and give him a thumbs up using his main account.
He was about to continue scrolling down when his phone suddenly vibrated, and a new message popped up:
[Honey, are you home yet?]
His smile froze on his lips, and his face darkened.
The other person's nickname is Love.
The veins on his forehead throbbed, and he clenched his teeth. A strong bitter taste spread through his throat and into his internal organs.
A mix of emotions surged in his eyes as he returned the phone to its rightful owner.
She cleared her throat and said in a deep voice, "Your husband is looking for you."
Author's Note: Mu Yichengzhou is real: Wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife wife
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