Thought

The moment that thought surfaced, Ye Mian felt a chill run down her spine, her entire body trembling instinctively. She forced herself hard not to dwell on it.

No matter the reason, in this life, she had to first become strong enough before she could have the right to stop anything.

Besides…

It wasn’t that she lacked confidence.

After all, who in this world would love someone so much as to give up an invaluable future and even their life?

Thanks to Jiang Chen’s intervention, the beast received its just deserts.

After much contemplation, Ye Mian abandoned the idea of reporting the incident to the police.

And she resolved that once her injury healed, she would sign up for a gym membership.

She could no longer tolerate such things happening.

The elm trees in the neighborhood swayed in the late summer breeze, and the sky darkened gradually with the passage of time.

Jiang Yuan arrived at Ye Mian’s home, bringing a carload of snacks that piled up in her room like a small mountain—truly a spectacular sight.

To cheer Ye Mian up, she also brought along her family’s cat.

The two of them munched on snacks while watching a drama, until Jiang Yuan cautiously asked, “Mian Mian, did you know that Ye Qingqing left the group chat?”

Ye Mian took a bite of a chip and nodded naturally. “Yeah, I know.”

“Did you two… have a fight?”

In Jiang Yuan’s world, for sisters to leave a group chat, it usually meant there had been some argument.

A blank slate, indeed, could hardly imagine anything darker.

Ye Mian stroked the cat’s small head—the round, fluffy creature fit perfectly in her hand.

Watching the cat try to snatch a chip, she smiled softly before saying, “It’s a misunderstanding, you know.”

Jiang Yuan narrowed her eyes. “I know that phrase too, but you can’t just use words to hint at me.”

Ye Mian had no intention of hiding anything from her. Jiang Yuan was different; she was the kind of good friend to whom she could speak her mind freely, so naturally, she shared everything.

“It’s because…”

“Wait a moment,” Jiang Yuan interrupted, reaching under the drink to grab the remote and turn up the TV volume significantly, then leaned closer to Ye Mian to listen. “Go on.”

“…”

After she finished speaking, Jiang Yuan’s face flushed with anger. She hugged Ye Mian tightly, nearly in tears as she whispered curses, calling Ye Changlin inhuman, a beast.

Ye Mian, on the other hand, comforted her.

Jiang Yuan held Ye Mian’s shoulder gently and asked in a low voice, “You’re not angry? She keeps calling herself a friend—how could she do that? It’s not your fault.”

Ye Mian shook her head. “Not angry.”

Human emotions were complex and multifaceted; with different circumstances came different biases and thoughts. Parting ways was simply an inevitability of the event.

Ye Mian was no saint; she was just an ordinary girl. Even if she felt a bit wronged, she knew that Ye Qingqing must be feeling both shame and resentment.

That night, Ye Mian took a photo of Jiang Yuan’s little cat—a silver long-haired feline, plump and adorably clumsy, lying amid the snacks like a plump roast duck.

Cute, and inexplicably soothing.

She posted the photo to her social circle with nothing but the image, no caption.

Yet because the cat was irresistibly adorable, it drew a flood of compliments.

“Zhou Yan: Purely a bystander here, but is this heaven?”

“Feng: Personally, I wouldn’t recommend keeping cats; they have terrible tempers. When I was a kid, I saw a cat pull out a handgun and shoot a mouse’s ear off. That incident caused quite a stir and even made it onto TV.”

“Qianqian: So cute! I want to take it!”

Ye Mian smiled at the comments, then noticed Jiang Chen had liked the post.

She bit into a chip, wiped her hands, and tapped open the chat to reply: “Are you free now?”

By default, Ye Mian assumed Jiang Chen was quite busy every day.

The higher one rose, the less they knew of rest.

If he had time to browse social media, then he must be free, right?

Jiang Chen sat before a grassy field, drinking tea with Guan Yi and a group of friends.

With night falling, their blurred vision revealed only a patch of green under the lights in the open field.

He sat there, occasionally lifting his cup to sip the clear, bright tea—a sign of quality.

Several wealthy young masters naturally placed the affluent Jiang Chen at the center of their gathering, and the conversation naturally revolved around him.

After a while, Guan Yi took something from a box he carried—a string of Buddhist prayer beads.

“You’re into Buddhism now?”

The young masters laughed at him.

“Learned it from Brother Jiang. Our line of work makes the mind restless; I need something to settle it.”

Guan Yi smiled generously, twirling the beads in his hand.

These men, used to wealth, had once been careless in youth, thinking themselves the best in the world.

But once they started earning money, they all felt somewhat that wealth was hard-earned.

The more they gained, the more fearful they became, and the more they developed respect for gods and Buddha.

Everyone looked at Jiang Chen, curious: “Brother Jiang, are you a Buddhist now too?”

Jiang Chen, bored, propped his chin on his hand. The light reflected off his glasses, scattering glimmers.

His eyes beneath the lenses gleamed with indifference. “No.”

Guan Yi replied, “Then why do you carry those beads?”

Jiang Chen casually rotated the wooden beads in his hand. “Comfort.”

The others understood. Guan Yi laughed, “Yeah, having something for comfort isn’t a bad thing.”

Jiang Chen said no more. His gaze fell on the beads, his finger tracing four large characters carved into them.

His fingers tightened, gripping the object in his palm.

At that moment, his phone vibrated.

He opened it to see a message from Ye Mian.

The cartoon avatar had been changed to the cat’s image.

[Good Sleep: Are you free now?]

Jiang Chen’s finger hovered over the screen.

[Jiang Chen: Yes.]

Ye Mian sat in her room, seeing his quick reply, and happily sent another message.

[Good Sleep: I saw you liked my post. Do you think the cat’s cute too?]

[Jiang Chen: Is it yours?]

[Good Sleep: No, it’s Jiang Yuan’s. She brought it over so I wouldn’t be bored.]

Jiang Chen’s finger traced the curve of the beads again.

[Jiang Chen: Do you like cats?]

Ye Mian clicked her tongue and replied:

[Good Sleep: Who wouldn’t like such an adorable kitty!]

This time she waited a long while, but Jiang Chen didn’t respond.

Thinking it over, Ye Mian guessed that perhaps he wasn’t fond of cats.

Though he appeared gentle and reserved, most of the time his smile never reached his eyes.

He was a very cold-blooded person.

Liking small animals just didn’t fit his image.

Unaware of Ye Mian’s silent teasing, Jiang Chen shifted his gaze from the phone screen back to Guan Yi, then took a slow sip of tea.

August passed naturally.

The long holiday dragged on with Ye Mian’s bored lamentations.

For half a month, Ye Haisheng firmly forbade her from going out due to her foot injury.

She was unable to find Jiang Chen or do anything else.

She could only beg Jiang Yuan to visit her often.

Otherwise, she feared she might become a fool from boredom.

Thank you,

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Thank you,

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(The End of This Chapter)