If someone were to ask the people in the room who had just been thinking about “Bei Jiao’s cousin is here,” what they thought upon seeing “Bei Jiao kissing his cousin,” the only word that could describe it would be: grass.
They were all scared out of their wits.
Song Die was the first to react. Rarely caught off guard, he still remembered the principle that “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” So with a long stride, he stepped directly onto the table.
Zhang Liang exclaimed “Aiyo!” and, together with the equally shocked Zhao Kexian, grabbed him from either side and dragged him down.
Amidst the chaos, Bei Jiao used one hand to clamp the woman’s chin, preventing her from escaping.
He didn’t care who was watching or what those watching might be thinking…
He had been tortured enough today.
His tongue was nimble and skillfully forced her mouth open, getting straight to the point.
Jiang Ran was initially somewhat panicked, but upon realizing that her surprise and resistance only led to deeper kisses and more determined invasions of his tongue, her tense shoulders relaxed… Her hand on his chest loosened its grip, then climbed to his shoulder and pinched his earlobe.
Allowing him to rob her of all her breath.
The atmosphere turned intimate, the scent of alcohol from his mouth completely transferring to her olfactory senses. It was then she realized that even just tasting whiskey from another person’s tongue could make one’s head spin.
It was truly amazing.
Nearby, Song Die kicked over a bottle of alcohol, which shattered into pieces when it fell. At that moment, Bei Jiao finally released Jiang Ran.
The arm that had been snaking around her waist loosened slightly, and she took half a step back. As the distance between them widened, he looked down at the woman in his arms.
She raised her hand and gave his cheek a light slap.
“Behaving foolishly.”
It didn’t hurt at all.
Bei Jiao’s tongue pushed against his cheek, revealing a ferocious grin—the kind only someone who had narrowly escaped death could muster.
Nearby, Zhang Liang and Zhao Kexian were still desperately holding onto Song Die, who was struggling to break free.
Zhang Liang: “She slapped him! Slapped him! Did you see that? Not completely together, you still have a chance!”
Zhao Kexian: “Even if they are together, you still have a chance! As long as you’re rude enough, you have a chance even without a marriage certificate! Don’t get excited, be good!”
It sounded like they wanted Jiang Ran to slap Bei Jiao again for the sake of world peace.
…
Jiang Ran was so busy that day she couldn’t even keep both feet on the ground.
At 8:10 a.m.
She was still in a lazy state.
At 8:20 a.m.
She habitually dialed someone who refused to answer the phone three times a day. She found his phone was completely unreachable… At that time, they were on their way to the Songbei Snowfield in Jilin to attend the opening event.
Just like the Guangzhou Rongchuang, where you pay a fee to use the site for lessons, in winter, formal ski resorts also require a site fee for teaching, and then the resort provides an ugly day-glo teaching vest for instructors to show they are legitimate teaching staff.
But unlike Rongchuang, where you can pay and use the site, in Jilin, you must not only pay a site fee and wear the teaching vest but also have a national vocational certificate and be affiliated with a formal club.
Jiang Ran, Qiu Nian, A Ju, and Li Xingnan were all registered under the same club. They hadn’t contributed much to the club throughout the year, but they still had to attend the opening event under the club’s banner.
It was basically just recording some skiing videos, taking a group photo, and shouting a slogan.
On the bus, Jiang Ran was already in a bad mood from waking up early. When she found she couldn’t reach Bei Jiao on the phone, she was so angry she wanted to throw her phone out the window: “How long is he going to be in a bad mood? I told him I had to attend an event in Jilin. His event is an event, but I have to drop everything and fly over to watch him play basketball? Does that make sense!”
She was so irritable that everyone in the club turned to look at her.
Qiu Nian tried to cover her mouth but was too late. A skater from the club in front laughed: “Ran Jie, what’s going on? Is your son in a hurry for parent-teacher conference?”
Everyone on the bus burst into laughter.
A Ju sighed: “Don’t shout, is it worth it?”
Li Xingnan leaned against the window, pulled his cap down to cover his face, and pretended to sleep.
Still, Qiu Nian couldn’t stand it and reminded her: “I think the little dog isn’t that spoiled, but he is stubborn… Could it be that he was actually hinting at something and you didn’t understand? Why don’t you think again if there’s another reason today? Maybe it’s your half-anniversary, 100 days since he became your student, or the one-month anniversary of your first kiss?”
Jiang Ran glared at her.
Qiu Nian: “…What’s his zodiac sign again?”
Jiang Ran frowned, a bit confused about why she was asking this: “I don’t know, Scorpio maybe—”
She stopped herself mid-sentence, as if realizing something, and scrolled up her chat history. Previously, when she bought him a ticket for the Rongchuang Snowfield in Guangzhou, she had asked for his ID number…
A minute later, Jiang Ran stared at the string of numbers in the middle of Bei Jiao’s ID number, 19981113, for a long time. She then checked the current date on her phone screen, which read November 12, 2019, and fell silent.
Qiu Nian leaned over, clicked a few times, and showed Jiang Ran an afternoon flight departing from Changchun to Guangzhou that would arrive the same night.
As a result, just before November 13, 2019, Jiang Ran showed up at the “Wuwo” bar with a cake.
At midnight.
The bar owner smiled, turned off the lights, and lit the candles on the cake. At that moment, she felt a sense of relief, as if she had accomplished a great task.
At 12:01 a.m.
For the first time in twenty-one years, Bei Jiao blew out the candles at midnight, made a wish, and then cut the cake.
A group surrounded him, insisting on knowing what his wish was.
He refused to say. When asked repeatedly, he finally said: “I wished that Song Die would successfully pursue Jiang Ran.”
There was a few seconds of silence. For a moment, everyone looked at Jiang Ran, wanting to ask if she was really called Jiang Ran, otherwise why would the person who had just kissed her passionately wish for someone else to pursue her.
Before they could react, they heard Song Die curse from across the table, “Go to hell!” Everyone looked up to see the same tall, handsome young man with a face as dark as a pot bottom.
Bei Jiao was delighted: “Unfortunately, wishes don’t come true if you say them out loud!”
Everyone: “…”
They almost forgot that before cutting the cake, Bei Jiao had been drinking alone in the corner and was already quite drunk. At this point, what logic could you discuss with a drunk person? It was already great that he could hold the cake knife steadily.
At 12:05 a.m.
Jiang Ran got a piece of cake. She had ordered the cake herself, and since it was for a boy’s birthday, she didn’t ask for any floral decorations. It was a simple design with a few fresh cherries scattered on top.
Now all those cherries were on her piece of cake.
Bei Jiao had used his two fingers to pick up each cherry by the stem and carefully placed them on her large slice of cake.
For some reason, Jiang Ran suddenly recalled a conversation she had with Jiang Huaimin long ago—
“You should find a man, don’t look for anything unrealistic or impractical. What’s the use of having so much money! Just find someone who treats you well!”
“…What does it mean to treat you well?”
“He doesn’t need to be rich, but if he has ten yuan, he gives it all to you. That’s treating you well.”
At 1:03 a.m.
Jiang Ran stood by her car, facing off with Bei Jiao.
“I have to go back to Jilin tomorrow,” she tried to reason with him. “The apartment at the ski resort hasn’t been cleaned yet. You know how many dead ladybugs you can sweep out from the window frames after a summer? There’s also electricity, water, and heating bills, plus some club work to finish… You can come to see me during the Christmas and New Year holidays.”
“Are you crazy?”
Leaning against the car door, the boy’s thin lips curled—he wouldn’t have believed he was drunk if she hadn’t just seen him drink a little more. After all, his voice sounded calm and decisive.
“How long is it until the end of December? Your math is bad, do I need to calculate it for you?”
“Who told you I’m a college student? Don’t you have to study?”
“Fine, I’m a college student—but the dormitory is closed now. The college student has nowhere to go tonight.”
“…Who told you to act so familiar in front of so many people?” Jiang Ran said expressionlessly. “What will they think if you come back with me now?”
“They can think whatever they want,” Bei Jiao said, a bit confused by her words. “Am I an idol voted out by everyone? Do I have to hide my relationship?”
“…………………………No! Wait! Who said we’re dating?”
“You did.”
“Bullshit!”
“If we’re not dating, why did you come here tonight? I waited a month for your answer. Did you come tonight, right on time with a cake, just to tell me you don’t want to?”
He said, “You could have just said it on WeChat. Why go through the trouble of flying back just to tell me you don’t want to?”
She couldn’t argue with him and finally watched helplessly as he happily opened the passenger door of her car, climbed in, and carefully fastened his seatbelt.
If she hadn’t seen him patting the seatbelt in front of him as if soothing a baby, Jiang Ran would have suspected that his apparent clarity of thought and speech after drinking was just an act.
…
When they arrived at Jiang Ran’s house, Bei Jiao was as comfortable as a fish in water. After changing into slippers, he found a corner of the sofa and curled up, as if the previous intellectual battle had used up all his energy.
Jiang Ran had only come back for a day and was leaving tomorrow, so she didn’t have any luggage to pack. She simply removed her makeup and prepared to take a shower.
When she went in, she saw Bei Jiao curled up on the sofa with his arms around himself, pretending to rest with his eyes closed, looking like he was very uncomfortable from the alcohol.
She felt reassured and went in to shower.
After the shower, when she opened the foggy door, she found that the person who had been lying on the sofa had moved to the side of the bathroom door. He was leaning against the wall, and when she opened the door, she was almost scared to death.
“What are you doing?”
The boy leaned against the wall, not answering.
His dark pupils calmly swept over the woman’s collarbone.
She hadn’t washed her hair, but some strands were damp. A few wet strands dripped water down her tank top nightgown, leaving a wet mark.
“To go to the toilet,” he said slowly. “I’m in a hurry.”
Jiang Ran looked up into his flickering eyes, not seeing any urgency in his expression. She cautiously moved aside to let him into the bathroom…
He smiled at her and indeed slipped into the bathroom.
Soon after, the sound of the shower being turned on and the water rushing could be heard, likely him taking a shower after using the toilet.
Jiang Ran found a towel to dry the wet ends of her hair. Sitting on the sofa, she finally had time to open her phone and check the important messages she hadn’t had time to deal with all day.
As she was looking down to reply to a message, she suddenly heard someone calling her from the bathroom. She stood up and turned around, only to hear the bathroom door open and a wet head peek out, looking very serious: “No towel.”
Jiang Ran stood up. The towel was in the guest bedroom. To reach the guest bedroom, she had to pass through the corridor in front of the bathroom.
She took a few steps and cautiously stopped: “Turn around.”
Bei Jiao hesitated for a moment, then snorted, muttering, “Who’s the one not wearing anything?” Still, he obediently turned around and even closed the door.
Jiang Ran shuffled down the hallway in her slippers, opened the drawer, and pulled out the towel she had washed and stored in the cabinet at the end of summer. She walked back to the bathroom door, hugging the bath towel, and lightly tapped the door with her toes.
The door opened at the kick.
The scent of shower gel mixed with alcohol and the boy’s masculine hormones rushed out, making her take a step back—
In the mist, she saw him still facing away from the door, even sideways, revealing only his back.
His hand extended from behind his back through the crack in the door, palm upturned.
Jiang Ran held the towel, staring at his broad shoulders and the clearly defined back muscles that had become taut due to the hand-behind-his-back gesture… What should have been a flawless back now showed a long scar.
The scar was fresh, the raised, newly formed flesh indicating its newness.
In the strange, silent atmosphere, Jiang Ran, almost unconsciously, stepped forward and reached out to touch his back…
Perhaps because she had heard that even after a scar has healed, it can still ache faintly in hot weather or a hot environment.
That question, “Does it hurt?” hadn’t even been asked yet.
The hand extended from the crack in the door suddenly grabbed her wrist. The towel in her hand fell to the floor, and she was pulled into the bathroom.
…
Her back was against the cool sink counter, which still had water droplets from the steam. Her nightgown was soaked by the dampness.
He radiated heat, staring down at her with his eyes lowered. As his gaze swept over her pale lips, which were tightly pressed together from tension, his Adam’s apple dangerously rolled.
“What are you touching randomly?”
He spoke, his tone cold, yet his voice was huskily terrifying.
Jiang Ran’s hair stood on end. She really wanted to explain that she didn’t do it on purpose, but at this moment, saying such things was completely useless.
His long leg was wedged between her legs, pinning her tightly between him and the sink, unable to move.
The bathroom was brightly lit, the steam swirling but completely failing to provide any cover. She was so embarrassed she wanted to die, every pore on her body screaming, “Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger! Danger!”
Yet she couldn’t utter a single word.
He smiled at her, then, in her wide eyes, his reflection drew closer and closer, then he lowered his head and kissed her again.
It was as if just a taste, like a greedy carnivore playing with today’s captured dinner. In the empty bathroom, the sound of their lips and tongues meeting echoed—
Damn the echo, making the sound infinitely amplified in her ears.
She felt the air rapidly leaving her lungs. This time, the suffocation came faster than ever. Her thin skirt pressed against his tense thigh muscles, separated only by a layer of fabric, she felt as if that skin was about to catch fire…
And—
More.
“Please put on some clothes?”
She seized the brief moment he let go of her, her embarrassed and nervous voice tinged with a sob, not really wanting to cry… Well, no.
Actually, she might really want to cry a little.
On the ski slope, those who called her “Ran Jie” with their mouths would never imagine that one day, the person who could scold them speechless with a few words would speak in this voice.
Without anyone saying anything, she felt like she could suffocate herself.
Resting his forehead against hers, looking at her moist, wary eyes trembling in their sockets… He chuckled softly, his chest vibrating, causing the person in his arms to instinctively retreat further.
He didn’t let her escape far, easily following her backward movement, just bending lower, making the contact between their lower bodies even more intimate.
Realizing this, she dared not move.
The boy’s high-bridged nose slid to her ear.
Like a large feline animal that loved to nuzzle and stick close, his gaze was deeply dark.
“My wish is that one day, you will be mine.”
The boy’s Adam’s apple rolled as he whispered his birthday wish in her ear.
She raised her hand to cover his mouth but was caught by his wrist. His lips then kissed her palm.
Her entire body was soaked, maybe from the steam, maybe from sweat. She blinked heavily, her lashes weighed down by droplets.
…
Three minutes later.
Jiang Ran stood in the corridor with her back to the bathroom, staring at the ceiling.
She turned around, looking at his reflection as he leaned against the door with one hand, bowing his body outward. Through the frosted glass door of the bathroom, she seemed to hear a heavy sigh from the other side.
She was startled, taking three steps back.
[“My wish is that one day, you will be mine.”]
Her face burned, and she raised her hand to rub her face hard. She turned and fled to her bedroom like she was escaping.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage