Chapter 05

Lou Jia stood there steadily, but her heart was pounding. She looked at Jiang Siwei and saw his dark, bright eyes.

“Jiang Siwei, are you drunk?” She couldn’t tell if he was drunk or not, but she clearly understood that this was the truth that he had hidden for many years.

Jiang Siwei lowered his eyes, half-drunk: “I…”

A sudden ringtone sounded.

It was Jian Rongrong’s phone.

Lou Jia didn’t move, standing where she was and answering it.

Jian Rongrong didn’t have anything else to do. She had been busy for a while, and only now, when she had a little free time, did she remember her little brother, whom she had sent to the mountains, and called to check on him.

“Everything’s fine. I had a fever a few days ago, but I’m fine now.” Lou Jia looked at Jiang Siwei, who was sitting on a rock with his head bowed.

There were two tufts of hair on the top of his head.

She remembered her grandmother saying that people like this are stubborn.

On the phone, Jian Rongrong was still laughing: “To be honest, if you weren’t in a hurry to find someone, I wouldn’t have asked him to go.”

“Why?” Lou Jia looked away and walked two steps to the side.

“With his personality, I don’t think any children would like him…” Jian Rongrong said, “He always has a sour face, as if he owes someone money.”

“It’s okay.”

“You think it’s okay, but he only acts like a human in front of you.“ Jian Rongrong laughed. ‘The other day I was having dinner with Auntie Jiang, and she was still worrying about Jiang Siwei, saying that he only knew how to hang out in the lab for four years in college, and that he was so boring, and she didn’t know if he would be able to find a partner in the future.’

”Is it that exaggerated?” Lou Jia thought it was funny and looked sideways at Jiang Siwei.

He was still in the same position, with his long legs on the ground and his profile looking handsome with a well-defined contour.

“His face is good enough to be used on the admission brochure,” she said.

“But no one would like a cold, unsmiling person,” Jian Rongrong commented from the bottom of her heart.

“…”

Not sure if he noticed her gaze, Jiang Siwei suddenly looked over here.

At the moment when Lou Jia and Jiang Siwei locked eyes, he suddenly remembered the red, wet eyes of the previous time when he had a high fever, and the hot temperature of her hand when he unconsciously held her hand.

The sound of Jian Rongrong on the phone blended with the noise of the cafeteria across the wall, becoming the background sound of her memories.

Memories flashed through her mind like a film, and finally settled on this moment.

Lou Jia walked back to Jiang Siwei, as if to the exit of a maze.

She finally realized that, all along, Jiang Siwei seemed different in front of her than in front of other people.

Was it an illusion?

But the close companionship of youth, the sudden severing of ties in adulthood, and the specious attitude upon reunion all seemed to tell Lou Jia that it was not her illusion.

“Rongrong, I have something to do here, so I’ll hang up first.“ Lou Jia hung up the phone and looked at Jiang Siwei, who was obviously drunk, and seemed a bit at a loss. She said after a long silence, ‘You’d better have drunk too much.’

Jiang Siwei also leaned forward in time, as if she was really drunk.

Lou Jia called Fang Jin and asked him to help send Jiang Siwei back to the dormitory. The dinner in the cafeteria had not yet dispersed, so she could not leave the table for too long.

”Thank you,” she said.

Fang Jin is a straightforward person, and he waved his hand and said it was fine. “You should go in quickly. President Luo is still looking for you.”

“Okay.”

Lou Jia returned to the table, but her mind was completely with Jiang Siwei, and she didn’t even notice Zhang Lin’s twice-offered help.

Finally, when the party was over, Lou Jia and President Luo sent Zhang Lin and the others who had come with him to the village farmers’ house to rest.

“You didn’t eat much tonight. Are you worried about something?” On the way, Zhang Lin slowed down and asked.

Lou Jia shook her head and said, ‘Nothing, I don’t want to eat when I drink.’

Zhang Lin laughed lightly: ‘You haven’t changed this habit yet.’

When they were in college, Lou Jia often ate late-night snacks with Zhang Lin and a few teammates on his team. Seeing her drink without eating, everyone at the table was shocked.

No matter how Zhang Lin tried to persuade her, she never changed her habit. In the end, he could only watch her drink a sip of wine and eat a piece of meat.

“Habits can’t be changed overnight.” Lou Jia didn’t want to reminisce about the past and sped up. “How long are you planning to stay this time?”

“I’m not sure.” Zhang Lin glanced at her and said with a hint of meaning: “It depends on whether things can be done.”

Lou Jia heard the undertone of his words, and after a few seconds of silence, she said, “You haven’t been back to China for a long time, and a lot of things have changed.”

“It’s up to you,“ Zhang Lin said.

”Sometimes being too attached to the past isn’t a good thing.“ She didn’t like to drag things out, and she was the same with people and things. ‘Zhang Lin, if you want to donate things and do good deeds, I welcome you to come. Other than that, I have nothing else to offer you.’

”Why?” Zhang Lin suddenly asked, ‘Because of Jiang Siwei?’

Lou Jia was surprised by his sharpness and didn’t answer.

Zhang Lin said, ”He looks at you differently, and I know exactly what that means.”

Luo Jia didn’t answer the question either, but said, “In your life, I have always been the choice you made after weighing the pros and cons. This is true for falling in love and breaking up. I’m afraid that I am also your choice after weighing the pros and cons.”

“I am a very stubborn person. I don’t like plan B when doing things, and I don’t like to go back. I like to look forward, and I believe that there will be all kinds of people in my future life. It doesn’t matter if it’s Jiang Siwei or someone else. What matters is that I like it. I don’t need to weigh whether he is suitable or not, as long as I like him and he is willing to give me what I want, I am happy to accept his appearance.“ She said calmly, ‘But no matter what, this person can’t be you.’

”I should have understood it long ago, but I just… can’t accept it.” Zhang Lin laughed sarcastically, ”I thought everything was too good.”

Lou Jia didn’t say anything to comfort him.

The two of them walked in silence to the farmer’s door. Zhang Lin said, “Siwei is very good, you…”

“You don’t need to tell me these things,” Lou Jia interrupted him, smiled, and said, “You should get some rest early. I’m going home first.”

Zhang Lin didn’t try to stop him, and he didn’t have the right to stop him.

The next morning, Lou Jia received a text message from him saying goodbye: Lou Jia, I’m taking an early morning flight back to the United States tomorrow. I wish you happiness.

She didn’t reply, put down her phone, and walked out of the dormitory.

The sun was shining.

The new day was also very good.

Lou Jia walked forward, and at the gate of the courtyard she bumped into Jiang Siwei, who had just returned from her morning run. She looked at the time and said, “You got up so early?”

Jiang Siwei’s eyes were wandering, and she didn’t dare to look at her. She touched her nose and said, “I was awakened by mosquitoes.”

“Didn’t you light any mosquito incense?”

“No, last night…” When she mentioned the sensitive word without warning, Jiang Siwei was even more guilty.

Lou Jia made a meaningful “Oh”: “Yes, you drank a lot.”

Jiang Siwei was so embarrassed by her words that his head was hot and his hands and feet were numb: “I’ll go take a shower first. It’s so uncomfortable to be all sweaty.”

He hurried to leave, and his hands and feet were all twisted.

Lou Jia obviously laughed.

Jiang Siwei heard it and walked faster, tripping on the steps and falling directly into Fang Jin’s arms, who had just come out of the dormitory.

“Oh my god!“ Fang Jin was shocked.

Lou Jia couldn’t hold back her laughter at all, watching Jiang Siwei flusteredly retreat from Fang Jin’s arms, and walked over to ask the two of them, ‘Did you hurt yourself?’

”No.” Fang Jin pinched Jiang Siwei’s shoulder, ”You really have a lot of strength, thank goodness I have this body, otherwise we would have smashed here today.”

Jiang Siwei touched his face and smiled sheepishly: “I was in a hurry to walk. I’m sorry, Jin Ge, I’ll go take a shower first. You guys chat.”

He didn’t even look at Lou Jia, and quickly entered the bathroom next door.

Lou Jia and Fang Jin were both packing up and getting ready to go out. They chatted as they walked to the cafeteria. All day long, Jiang Siwei didn’t appear too much by her side.

In the evening, Lou Jia and Ying Xi were sorting out data in the office.

“Where’s Jiang?“ Yingxi asked.

Lou Jia shook her head. ‘I haven’t noticed. I guess he went to the back mountain with Fang Jin and the others to collect firewood.’

It was Sunday, a school holiday, and everyone was busy with their own things. Lou Jia suddenly remembered that she hadn’t seen Jiang Siwei much today.

”Did you two have a fight?“ Yingxi looked up at Lou Jia.

”No.” Lou Jia also stopped moving. ”Why are you asking all of a sudden?”

“Usually he’s not around you, but when he sees you, he’s always within a meter of you,“ said Yingxi. ‘It’s just like how Xiaomao always follows Uncle Yang in the cafeteria.’

Uncle Yang is the chef in the cafeteria, and Xiaomao is a stray dog he found in the mountains.

”Is it that obvious?“ Loujia laughed, thinking Yingxi’s description was very apt.

”It’s obvious,” Yingxi said with certainty.

Lou Jia thought for a moment and sent a message to Jiang Siwei, asking where he had gone.

Jiang Siwei replied quickly: “In the back mountains.”

Lou Jia held the phone in her hand, not knowing what to say. Just as she was about to put it back, he sent another message.

Jiang Siwei: I heard from Jin Ge that Zhang went back today.

Lou Jia froze for a second before realizing that he was talking about Zhang Lin. She didn’t know why he suddenly brought this up and replied with a “hmm.”

The “Entering…” at the top continued for a long time.

Jiang Siwei: Have you made up?

Lou Jia: …

Lou Jia: No.

It was “Entering…” for a long time again.

Jiang Siwei: Why? Didn’t he come to make up with you?

Lou Jia raised her eyebrows and replied: How do you know he came to make up with me?

Jiang Siwei: He was obviously here. I could tell.

Lou Jia: …

Jiang Siwei asked again: Did you not agree?

Lou Jia: Hmm.

Jiang Siwei: Why?

Lou Jia thought it was funny: Why do you have so many questions?

Jiang Siwei replied after a long time: I want to know.

Lou Jia thought he was cute for being so stubborn, and thinking about what Ying Xi had just said, he replied: Because I have a puppy at home ^_^