At 7AM the next morning, Jiang Zhi Zhou sent Xia Wei a text. "Are you up yet?"
Xia Wei had sulked all night and not slept very well. As soon as the message notification sounded, she awoke. One glance at her phone rendered her very alert.
Xia Wei: You"re up early, Mr. Jiang.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: I"ve been getting up early over here, and have already had breakfast.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: I thought all night about yesterday. I was in the wrong.
Xia Wei: ...did you really need to spend a whole night thinking about such an obvious question?
Jiang Zhi Zhou: ......
Xia Wei: So why were you so angry?
Jiang Zhi Zhou: I just felt like the time that was supposed to be mine was taken by someone else, and felt unhappy about it.
Xia Wei: Since you left for S City, I"ve often longed to talk to you but not dared to call you. I"m afraid to bother you during work. Sometimes I"ve felt angry, but placated myself, thinking I was just finding trouble. If you were in my place you"d already have died of unhappiness.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: ... I"m in the wrong this time. If you want to call me, just call. My phone will be on 24 hours a day.
Xia Wei: Are you really serious?
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Mmhmm. So don"t be so angry again.
Xia Wei: Last night I was angry, and this morning I"m tired. I need to hear a few sweet words.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: ......
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Drink more hot water.
Xia Wei: "..."
He meant it.
Xia Wei: Alright then, go to work. I"m getting up too.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Wait!
Xia Wei: Anything else? I know about hot water.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: "..."
He stubbornly typed, "I hope you will call me later because you missed me, not because you don"t trust me."
Xia Wei was slightly stunned. Mr. Jiang remembered that she"d questioned him about those nine thousand steps. She flushed, embarra.s.sed - Mr. Jiang was tactfully telling her that she didn"t trust him enough.
Xia Wei: I will.
After putting down the phone, Xia Wei lay in bed for a little while longer, staring blankly at the ceiling. It wasn"t really him she distrusted, but rather herself.
Her previous emotional failures had left a shadow in her heart. She was doubtful if she could really go all-in, all the way to the finish line with a single person. And to top it off, Jiang Zhi Zhou was excellent in every way. That feeling of encountering someone too good for oneself engendered both admiration and panic.
How long could someone like her, who didn"t like being too intimate with others, endure? She had always felt like Jiang Zhi Zhou was deliberately restraining himself, keeping her at an appropriate distance. She"s comfortable with him because of this distance, but they can"t stay stagnant forever.
And in this relations.h.i.+p, she"s even further at a disadvantage. Mr. Jiang"s hangup was ex-boyfriends, and she has had them.
Although Jiang Zhi Zhou had still confessed to her and a.s.sured her that he was willing to accept it, how long would that willingness last? What if someday he was no longer willing to share her with memories?
There were so many issues that Xia Wei felt like her head was going to explode. Before Jiang Zhi Zhou left for S City, both of them had been careful not to think about these things, but it didn"t mean problems didn"t exist just because they pretended so.
Xia Wei sighed gloomily. In her previous relations.h.i.+ps, when the other party hoped to get closer to her she would hurriedly break up with them. She was quite aware that she had just been running away then. Now, she had problems upon problems with Jiang Zhi Zhou, but yet she hoped to stay the course with him.
How capricious.
"Woof!" Suns.h.i.+ne saw her still burrowed under the covers. He jumped up into bed and trod all over Xia Wei"s chest.
Xia Wei: "........."
Ouch.
"Suns.h.i.+ne, get off, get down!" Xia Wei rubbed her bruised chest and and sat up. Suns.h.i.+ne jumped back down to the floor and continued barking at her.
"Fine, fine, I"ll get up and make you breakfast." Really, she wasn"t even married yet but was already living like a housewife. She didn"t start on her own breakfast until Ancestor Meow and Ancestor Woof had received their dues.
Two days ago, Starlight Department Store had had a big sale. She had bought a lot of food then and stocked the refrigerator well. Finally, she chose a sandwich. She"d have another cup of soy milk too, there"s a rumour it encourages breast development...
After taking Suns.h.i.+ne out for a walk, Xia Wei headed over to the nail salon, receiving a private text from Eight Treasures on the way. "Have you and Mr. Jiang made up yet?"
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: We"ve made up. He took the initiative to apologize this morning.
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: .......oh.
Why did she bother asking? What was the point of all her guilt last night when they reconciled so quickly? :)
At noon, Tian Xia Restaurant sent lunch to Xia Wei. Xia Wei took a few photos and sent them to Jiang Zhi Zhou: "I ate bamboo shoots and onions for lunch today! The bamboo shoots this season are super tender [doge] ."
Although Jiang Zhi Zhou didn"t reply immediately, it wasn"t like before when he had taken several hours to say anything. Within two minutes, he sent a message back. "When I come home, I"ll cook for you personally."
... Xia Wei"s girlish heart thudded in her chest. This Mr. Jiang was really becoming more and more skilled! He had meant it too when he said he would be more available to her.
Xia Wei: Then you have to come back soon, or all the bamboo shoots will be old [doge]
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Be good
Xia Wei ran to her QQ s.p.a.ce to make a post: "He tells me to be good, but he"s quite naughty himself [doge]"
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: ... all quarrels that don"t end with a breakup are just shows of love:)
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year replied to Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: Thank you for creating this chance for us to show off our love :)
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero replied to Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: Break up :)
Jiang Zhi Zhou: When I come back, introduce me to your friends. I"ll treat them to dinner.
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero replied to Jiang Zhi Zhou: Mr. Jiang, are you serious!? Can we order anything from Tian Xia Restaurant?!?
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year replied to Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: Whoops, sorry, you"re no longer one of my friends. You broke up with me :)
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: ...
Even long-distance, this couple"s still doing their best to show off their love. They almost deserve a trophy.
That said, it was still a challenge for Xia Wei. When Jiang Zhi Zhou first left, she hadn"t been too upset about it, but lately she had been missing him more and more. She went online to look up articles about how other couples managed long-distance relations.h.i.+ps, hoping to pick up some tips, and happened upon a lot of complaints about it. What made the greatest impact on her were the experiences of a girl who had been away from her lover from a long time. When she finally saw him again in person, she could hardly accept it.
——It turns out that her boyfriend wasn"t actually a computer or phone app, but a real person!?
Xia Wei panicked for a bit when she saw this. If she gradually began feeling like Mr. Jiang was just an online bot, that would be awful!
She immediately sent a text to Jiang Zhi Zhou: "Mr. Jiang, are you there? :)
This time, Jiang Zhi Zhou replied within a few seconds: "I was just trying to call you when you texted me instead."
Xia Wei: Mr. Jiang, I need to ask you a serious question.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: What? [Serious.jpg]
Xia Wei: "..."
Recently, Mr. Jiang has been using the expression packs more and more.
Xia Wei: Mr. Jiang, are you really real? You"re not just my fantasy, right? Or a robot?
Jiang Zhi Zhou: ............
Jiang Zhi Zhou: You have a very good imagination. Have you ever considered being a writer?
Xia Wei: I said seriously!
Jiang Zhi Zhou: [serious.jpg]
Xia Wei: You see, recently you"ve been using expressions a lot. I feel like your program has evolved.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: ... We humans usually call this learning.
Xia Wei: ...
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Let"s video chat.
Upon hearing these words, Xia Wei received a video request. She hurriedly shook out her clothes and tidied up her hair before accepting it: "Good evening, Mr. Jiang."
"Good evening." Jiang Zhi Zhou saw her and smiled.
Xia Wei: "..."
Mr. Jiang laughed!
"How did you suddenly come up with such a strange question?" Jiang Zhi Zhou asked.
Xia Wei said: "I saw a girl on the Internet talking about how after a long time apart from her boyfriend, she started wondering if he was really real. Technology"s great now, and there are all these AI bots emerging, who"s to say whether one"s boyfriend actually exists?"
"...and this video we"re talking over right now? Is that fake too?"
"Who knows, virtual imaging technology exists too!"
Jiang Zhi Zhou said: "Don"t be silly, even if bots intelligent enough to date existed, you couldn"t afford it."
Xia Wei: "..."
That was a rather good point. :)
"Woof." Having discovered Mr. Jiang, who had vanished for quite some time, Suns.h.i.+ne ran over to join in the fun. "Woof woof!"
Suns.h.i.+ne thumped his tail enthusiastically at the screen, and Xia Wei pulled him away in alarm. Holding him in her arms, she said to Jiang Zhi Zhou: "Suns.h.i.+ne actually recognizes you! How touching."
"..." Jiang Zhi Zhou was silent for a moment, looking at Suns.h.i.+ne. "Suns.h.i.+ne, when I get back I"ll take you out to play and make you something delicious."
"Woof woof!" Hearing that he was to have food, Suns.h.i.+ne"s tail wagged even more joyfully.
"What about Tangerine?" asked Jiang Zhi Zhou.
"Hang on a minute, I"ll bring him over." Xia Wei trotted out to catch Tangerine. The cat wasn"t too happy to be picked up at first, but finally surrendered.
"Tangerine, look, who is this? Do you still recognize him?"
Tangerine: "..."
Jiang Zhi Zhou: "..."
"Mow~" Tangerine meowed into the camera, nudging it curiously.
Jiang Zhi Zhou stared back for a little while before finally asking, "What on earth did you feed him? You"ve somehow turned a cat into a pig."
Xia Wei: "..."
"What you brought back was already a pig, alright? He just looked a bit like a cat."
Tangerine: "..."
Jiang Zhi Zhou: "..."
He still believed that the camera was at fault.
"By the way," he said, turning his attention away from the cat, "Our project was supposed to end within a month, but it can"t be done. The deadline is being extended."
Xia Wei: "..."
It really happened as Eight Treasures had predicted!
"When are you coming back?" she asked.
"I spoke to my grandfather today. I won"t be continuing with the project. Instead, I"ll be coming home as planned."
Although Xia Wei was surprised, she was secretly elated. "Does that mean that you"re giving up the compet.i.tion for the company"s successor?"
Jiang Zhi Zhou looked at her: "Are you sorry?"
Xia Wei said, "Well of course, who wouldn"t want to marry into wealth?"
Just as she said that, Jiang Zhi Zhou smiled suddenly: "Are you already thinking about marrying me?"
Xia Wei: "..."
How is this uptight man so witty? What exactly happened to him in S City?
"We"re done here, I"m hanging up."
Jiang Zhi Zhou couldn"t help but laugh. "Good night. I"ll be home soon."
-------------------------------------------------------
Crystal: This chapter was hilarious! That part about not recognizing a long distance partner"s face is surprisingly true. I was once in a long distance relations.h.i.+p, and when I saw my ex for the first time in 2 years, it was like "OMG this person is here in 3D!! Aren"t you a little short for a stormtrooper?"