Meng Yanxi not only made all the arrangements with the hospital—he even took care of everything she was supposed to do, all for her.

Jin Zhao’s flight on Sunday morning landed in the neighboring city at noon. She had already booked a hotel near Jin Wenyi’s home on her phone, planning to drop off her luggage first, then go to a nearby mall to buy gifts, and accompany Jin Wenyi to be admitted in the afternoon.

She hadn’t expected to see Zhuang Yu waiting to pick her up the moment she walked out.

Meng Yanxi’s assistant, whose monthly base salary alone was six figures, outstanding in every regard—even his eyesight was exceptional. In a crowd, he recognized Jin Zhao at a glance and called out loudly, “Teacher Jin, over here!”

Seeing Zhuang Yu, Jin Zhao’s gaze instinctively searched around for the person in her heart.

At that moment, her phone chimed.

Meng Yanxi: [I had Zhuang Yu go to your side. If there’s anything, tell him to handle it.]

Jin Zhao stared at the screen, and before she fully realized it, an indescribable sense of steadiness welled up in her heart.

Zhuang Yu had already taken a few quick steps toward her, proactively taking her suitcase, smiling as he said, “Teacher Jin, you’ve had a tiring trip. I’ll take you back to the hotel first.”

Jin Zhao said politely, “Alright, thank you.”

Zhuang Yu smiled a little sheepishly and said, “Please don’t be so polite with me. If President Meng hears this, he’ll dock my pay. Just call me Zhuang Yu—if there’s anything you need, feel free to ask.”

The two headed toward the parking lot. Today, Zhuang Yu was driving a fairly low-key Bentley. As he loaded her luggage, Jin Zhao noticed that the trunk was filled with gifts—fruit baskets, flowers, gift boxes.

Zhuang Yu explained, “Brother Yan said that since you’re coming back from Beicheng, it wouldn’t be convenient to carry these on the plane. Buying them after landing would be too rushed, so he prepared them for you in advance. You can just take them straight to Teacher Jin’s home.”

Jin Zhao felt a warm ache at the tip of her heart.

After getting into the car, she pulled up the hotel address, about to tell Zhuang Yu, when a call came through his earpiece.

Zhuang Yu: “President Meng.”

It was Meng Yanxi. Jin Zhao couldn’t hear what Meng Yanxi was saying—only Zhuang Yu’s replies.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already picked up Teacher Jin. I’m taking her to the InterContinental Hotel now.”

“A power bank? Yes, there is one in the car. I’ll get it for Teacher Jin right away.”

Jin Zhao: “……”

She glanced at her phone screen, silently lit.

Her boyfriend seemed to have very little patience. She had only not replied to his message for a short while, and he was already protesting in a roundabout way.

What power bank was he having Zhuang Yu give her? Clearly, he was dissatisfied that she hadn’t replied and was pointedly reminding her.

She didn’t know whether Zhuang Yu had seen through his little scheme or not. In any case, he earnestly rummaged through the storage compartment and handed her a power bank.

Jin Zhao was very good at giving her boyfriend face—she didn’t want the assistant to see the big capitalist’s chuunibyou side—so she cooperated, took it, and said, “Thank you. My phone just happened to be out of battery.”

Zhuang Yu said with a cheerful smile, “No need to thank me—President Meng is very attentive.”

Jin Zhao put on a show of plugging in the charging cable.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to reply—it was that she didn’t know how to, for the moment. Everything she had thought of, and everything she hadn’t, he had already arranged for her. Her heart felt as if it had been kneaded unexpectedly.

Warm, soft—and she found herself at a loss for words.

She typed “thank you” into the chat box, then felt it was too stiff. She added a couple more lines, then felt they were fake. Before she could send it, Meng Yanxi’s video call came through first.

Meng Yanxi’s assistant was just as sharp as Meng Yanxi himself. The moment he heard the ringtone, he immediately pressed the central control button, and the partition between the front and back seats rose.

In the video, Meng Yanxi didn’t say anything extra. Very seriously, he went over the arrangements at the hospital with her, as well as which gifts in the trunk were meant for whom.

The bird’s nest and ejiao were for Jin Wenyi, the drone was for Zhao Xu, the model was for her cousin, and the flowers and fruit baskets were to be left at the hospital.

She hadn’t expected his arrangements to be even more meticulous and thoughtful than she’d imagined—he had considered her aunt’s entire family for her. Jin Zhao didn’t speak for a moment, greedily staring at the boyfriend on the screen.

She didn’t know how Meng Yanxi had grown up to look like this. Even the phone’s front camera plus a “death angle” couldn’t diminish his looks in the slightest—peach-blossom eyes, a high nose bridge, a sharp, clean jawline.

She didn’t know whether Meng Yanxi noticed that she was lost in his looks, but he probably did, because he soon subtly adjusted the camera angle.

He was already handsome. With the angle adjusted, the man on the screen instantly became even more so.

Jin Zhao’s heart stirred, and she suddenly really wanted to kiss him.

Meng Yanxi, just like that, quietly opened the screen and achieved the effect he wanted, then said, “There’s also a caregiver.”

Jin Zhao hurriedly said, “There’s no need for a caregiver. Uncle has already taken leave, and I can help take care of things too.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Exactly. The caregiver is for you.”

Jin Zhao: “……”

She thought Meng Yanxi was worried about her delaying work, and explained, “I don’t have classes tomorrow. I was supposed to have a meeting, but it’s an internal departmental meeting—it’s easy to take leave, I just need to tell the director.”

Meng Yanxi laughed and said, “Teacher Jin, I’m neither your boss nor a student’s parent. Why would I care whether your taking leave delays your work?”

Jin Zhao: “Huh?”

Meng Yanxi’s expression turned smug. “Can’t I just be simply afraid my girlfriend will get worn out?”

The car passed over a speed bump. Jin Zhao’s body moved ever so lightly, and her heart gave a gentle jolt along with it.

Meng Yanxi was just sharp-tongued, his words biting, but the way he did things was meticulous and gentle—of course, maybe not everywhere, but at least when it came to doing things for his girlfriend, he was extremely thorough and considerate.

The gifts were chosen as the best within Jin Zhao’s financial means. Even the caregiver had been arranged with consideration for how Jin Zhao might find it awkward to explain—he used the hospital’s name, saying it was a volunteer arranged by the hospital.

Jin Wenyi was having surgery due to health issues. Even though she appeared optimistic as ever, she couldn’t help feeling nervous inside. As it turned out, everything went smoothly upon admission—an expert personally performed the surgery, the shared ward just happened to fill up and she was upgraded to a private room for free, and there was even a volunteer…

Good things came one after another, colliding together, as if they were auspicious signs welcoming her. Jin Wenyi hadn’t been a particularly firm materialist to begin with, and her confidence immediately soared, her mindset truly relaxing.

Jin Zhao also let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t mention Meng Yanxi, letting Jin Wenyi take all of it as a good omen and continue misunderstanding it.

The surgery was neither big nor small, but Jin Wenyi was in good condition, and the surgeon was a nationally recognized authority. The operation went very smoothly. The next day, Jin Wenyi was already able to get out of bed.

Jin Wenyi urged Jin Zhao to hurry back.

Jin Zhao was still a little worried and explained that her class was on Wednesday afternoon, and that if she left early that morning, it would still be in time.

Jin Wenyi and Zhao Xu exchanged a look, their expressions subtle.

Jin Zhao didn’t catch on.

Her cousin Zhao Yifan, standing to the side, pointed it out. “Uncle and Aunt have come over. They could come to the hospital to visit my mom at any time.”

For a split second, Jin Zhao felt very disappointed.

She treated Jin Wenyi as the person closest to her, yet forgot that Jin Wenyi was also family to Jin Wenhui and Lin Yao—and Jin Wenhui and Lin Yao were now irreconcilably opposed to her.

But the sense of loss was only instinctive. Soon enough, instinct passed, and reason returned.

Putting herself in her aunt’s place, Jin Zhao could understand Jin Wenyi’s dilemma. On one side was her niece, on the other her brother and sister-in-law. Jin Wenyi had done her utmost to maintain relationships on both sides. Jin Zhao really shouldn’t feel disappointed any longer.

Jin Zhao smiled, offered a couple more words of reassurance to Jin Wenyi, then stood up to leave.

Jin Wenyi didn’t feel good about it either. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her strength was limited—anything she said would only add to the awkwardness. She lifted the blanket, intending to get out of bed to see Jin Zhao off, but Jin Zhao pressed her back down, telling her to rest properly. Jin Wenyi hurriedly instructed Zhao Xu to go send Jin Zhao off instead.

Zhao Xu accompanied Jin Zhao downstairs and took out a thick red envelope from his coat pocket.

Jin Zhao was badly startled, thinking Zhao Xu was giving her money. The next moment, however, she heard him say, “Take this back.”

Jin Zhao froze.

Take it… back?

Zhao Xu said, “You’ve just started working. Your salary isn’t high, but there are plenty of places where you need to spend money. Your aunt and I can’t really help you much. It wasn’t easy for you to save up a bit of money—still, you should think more for yourself. Your aunt and I both have medical insurance; this surgery can be reimbursed at ninety percent, so you don’t need to worry. In the future, it’s fine if you bring some gifts when you visit, but don’t secretly stuff money into them anymore.”

Jin Zhao immediately knew whose money it was.

It was the money Meng Yanxi had given her aunt on her behalf.

Jin Zhao’s emotions suddenly turned both cold and hot.

From the hollowness of leaving the ward, to this sudden, unexpected warmth.

And Meng Yanxi—that mouth of his had said so many messy things to her, yet he hadn’t mentioned the money even once. If her uncle hadn’t chased after her to return it, she wouldn’t have known at all.

Jin Zhao blinked rapidly twice and pushed the red envelope back. “Don’t worry, Uncle. I won’t let myself go hungry. This red envelope is for Aunt—it’s just a token of good fortune. Please be sure to accept it.”

Zhao Xu looked at her, falling silent for a moment.

The red envelope hung stiffly in the air between them.

After a long while, Zhao Xu suddenly said, “Actually, during those years you were in the UK, the money your aunt gave you wasn’t just from us. It also came from your grandparents. The two elders didn’t find it convenient to show themselves, so they transferred it to us in private and had us give it to you in our name.”

Zhao Xu said, “So, Lingling, actually… there are still many people who care about you.”

-♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

The winter sun was like warm water—its heat shallow, its light shallow too, everything neither hot nor cold.

On the lawn downstairs, there were elderly people basking in the sun, and children kicking a ball. The chirping sounds made the originally cold hospital, in this brief noon hour, suddenly feel a bit more lively, touched with the warmth of everyday life.

At Zhao Xu’s insistence, Jin Zhao ultimately took back the red envelope.

Judging from the thickness between her fingers, it should be ten thousand.

It really was something Meng Yanxi would do—thorough, yet meticulous. Every time he did things in her name, it was always neither too much nor too little, just right.

She just hadn’t expected her aunt to refuse even ten thousand yuan.

Zhao Xu said that if she insisted, she could first give this money to her grandparents.

Jin Zhao put the red envelope into her coat pocket and slowly walked toward the parking lot.

It was clear that Zhuang Yu loved this job very much. Even though Jin Zhao was not his boss, he still treated her as if he were serving Meng Yanxi, carrying out his duties to the letter. From far away, the moment he saw her walking over, he immediately got out of the car to open the door for her.

Just as Jin Zhao was about to get in, her gaze suddenly froze.

Not far away, a blue sedan slowly pulled into a parking space. Soon, a married couple got out of the car.

Only nine years had passed, yet Jin Zhao almost didn’t recognize Jin Wenhui.

Jin Wenhui had grown old.

He was no longer the handsome, vigorous middle-aged man at the height of his prime. He had grown much thinner, and his hair had turned much whiter.

Lin Yao had grown old too.

In truth, it had only been nine years, and Lin Yao had always been willing to spend money on upkeep. Yet for some reason, her aging was so apparent. She was old—and heavier, too. She and Jin Wenhui had originally been an older husband and younger wife, but now, standing together, they looked almost the same age. Even from far away, Jin Zhao could see the weariness on her.

Neither of them looked very good. After getting out of the car, they ignored each other. Lin Yao walked ahead, her face drawn long, while Jin Wenhui hurried after her and said a couple of things. Lin Yao raised her hand and brushed him away, and the two exchanged a few words in low voices.

It seemed that these past few years of marriage had not gone very smoothly for them either.

Jin Zhao withdrew her gaze and sat down in the car.

That afternoon, Jin Zhao wandered around the neighboring city by herself. She returned to Suiyi the next morning, and only saw Meng Yanxi on Friday.

She had classes straight through to the evening on Wednesday, and on Thursday she gave a simple sharing session for the faculty, which counted as her report and summary from attending the conference.

Meng Yanxi was busy the entire day on Thursday. By the time he finished his social engagements in the evening, it was already close to ten. He missed her badly and really wanted to go see Jin Zhao. In truth, he only wanted to see her—he hadn’t planned to do anything—but he was afraid Jin Zhao would overthink it.

His girlfriend would blush just from accidentally staring at his fingers for a moment too long.

When he himself thought of certain scenes, his mouth and throat would grow unbearably dry, and it felt as if a damp, heated sensation still lingered between his fingers.

In the end, to put his girlfriend at ease, he didn’t go to see her. Instead, he made a video call, met her once through the screen and ended up wanting her even more that night.

Fortunately, the next day was the 20th, the day he was scheduled to give a lecture at Sui Normal University.