Snow from the previous night had piled up along both sides of the road. I drove cautiously following the flow of traffic ahead, wheels crunching over icy gravel. Only after reaching the suburbs did I slightly accelerate.
Upon arriving at the destination, Jian Wei hadn’t shown up yet. I walked down to the river embankment, cleared the snow off the railing, leaned on it, and stared absentmindedly at a few leaves resting on the icy surface. Today, the riverside seemed far quieter than usual. Fortunately, the snow had stopped falling; otherwise, the sense of chaos would have been unavoidable.
After a while, I heard the sound of footsteps crunching through snow coming from the embankment. Instinctively, I turned around and saw Jian Wei entering my line of sight. But this woman, who always neglected her own well-being, was still wearing only thin business attire despite the freezing snowy night.
She wore high heels, which made walking down the embankment difficult. So I walked toward her and extended my hand. She grasped it, clearly quickening her pace once she had support. However, she overestimated the extent of my ability to protect her. Her foot slipped, and she fell into me, causing me to fall onto the snow as well. We looked at each other in embarrassment.
Finally, she said, “Sitting here on the snow like this, we seem to have blended in quite harmoniously with the surroundings, don’t we?”
Looking at her in her white business suit, I indeed saw no sense of disharmony with the scenery around us. I glanced at my own white down jacket and smiled at her. Then I stood up and helped her up from the snow. However, the melted snow left wet stains on her clothes.
Worried she might catch a chill, I cut straight to the point and asked, “Why did you invite me here to meet you?”
Jian Wei countered, “What do you think?”
“It must be something personal.”
Jian Wei nodded, her expression complex, so she didn’t immediately say anything further. I urged her again, “Hurry up and tell me. Your clothes are already wet. Don’t catch a chill afterward.”
“It’s okay.”
Looking at her, I noticed a single white hair standing out among her black tresses. I said to her, “You have a white hair!”
“How could that be possible!!” she replied with great doubt.
“There really is one… Should I pull it out for you?”
Jian Wei looked at me for a long time before finally nodding. I parted the strands of black hair, pinched the white one, pulled it out with a quick tug, and then placed it in her hand, saying, “See? There really was one.”
Jian Wei gazed at the white hair I had pulled from her head, her expression complicated. She remained silent for a long time. I knew that for a meticulous woman like her, it was unbearable to find gray hairs at her age, so I comforted her, saying, “Have you been under too much stress lately? Maybe you should take a vacation. Once you relax, you definitely won’t get any more gray hairs.”
“Am I getting old?”
Her question caught me a little off guard. But sometimes women are just this sensitive and fragile, and Jian Wei was no exception. Looking at her, the years had not left obvious marks on her face. However, the mature aura she now exuded made it impossible for me to associate her with the girl in pink sportswear from our college days. She had indeed “aged,” and so had I. We could no longer return to those days when we felt satisfied just running together in the evening. Nor would we ever again argue for hours over which shoes to buy. Now, we were mostly adrift in the deep and endless sea of business, struggling with all our might. Most of the time, people called her General Jian, and no one called her Weiwei anymore. Even Yan Yan had stopped using that affectionate nickname.
Finally, I said to her, “Actually, we’ve all grown older… both our bodies and our minds are aging, but this is inevitable, right?”
Jian Wei sighed, letting the white strand slip from her fingers into the moat with the wind, and gave a wistful smile, saying, “Sometimes, we really can’t tell the difference between maturity and aging… Is it too early for us to talk about aging? After all, we’re only twenty-seven.”
“Right, you’re absolutely right. We’ve matured, not aged… Compared to a few years ago, you’ve actually gained a more intelligent and steady aura.”
Jian Wei finally smiled: “But I don’t see that in you… Or maybe you only seem more composed in your actions, but your heart is still stuck in that passionate era?”
I was silent for a long time before responding with a smile: “Let’s not talk about these sad and helpless topics anymore… Come on, tell me, why did you ask me to come here?”
Jian Wei turned her back to me, gazing across the moat at the new city district, and spoke in a low voice: “…I want to transfer the two properties I bought in Shanghai into your name.”
Her words shocked me. I stared at her with wide eyes, my tone involuntarily rising several octaves: “Why would you want to transfer your properties into my name?”
“Zhaoyang, the money for the houses came from my advertising company. It’s clean money, with nothing to do with my family… If something unfortunate ever happens in my family one day, these two properties will be my last resort for survival. Do you understand?”
Her words left my mind in chaos, and it was a while before I could ask, “Your mom is a high-ranking government official. What kind of misfortune could possibly happen to your family?”
Jian Wei’s expression suddenly became calm, and she replied softly, “I’m just making a hypothesis, a precaution… I remember for a while you always liked to say: Behind human nature lies an unpredictable future, and no one can foresee what will happen tomorrow. It’s always good to have some protection. Even a hare has three burrows, so why not a person?”
“But why do you want to transfer them into my name?… Aren’t those properties safe if they stay in your name?”
“Other than you, I don’t know who else I can trust… I just want to temporarily transfer them to you, and when I need them, you can give them back to me, okay?”
I never expected that this was the reason Jian Wei had asked to meet me. My thoughts were stuck, unable to find a clear path forward. I don’t know how long it was before I gritted my teeth and said to Jian Wei: “You’re just being too sensitive. Your family will definitely give you the best protection. Besides, Xiang Chen is by your side. Even if you must transfer your assets, you should give them to Xiang Chen, not me…”
Jian Wei covered her chest, her face suddenly showing an expression of extreme pain, then she squatted down on the ground… This action shocked me, and I asked with a trembling voice: “What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?”
Jian Wei waved her hand at me and said, “It’s nothing, just a bit tight in the chest… I’ll be fine after a moment.”
I looked at her with a heavy heart, but regarding her request, I truly felt powerless… How could I, with a girlfriend—or even a fiancée—agree to my ex-girlfriend’s request to transfer properties under my name? Not only would this be disrespectful to Mi Cai, but it would also plant a huge hidden danger in our relationship.
After a long time, Jian Wei finally stood up, her face showing an expression of apology as she said to me, “I’m sorry, I should have considered your situation and shouldn’t have made this request of you… I’ll figure out another way to deal with this matter myself. Maybe I really am just being too sensitive… I should trust my mom!”
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