Chapter 21

The air was quiet for a long time, and the rain didn’t let up until now.

The long rainy season had made the house humid, and the sound of the dehumidifier’s compressor and the fan’s air supply in the living room were haunting her ears.

Jiang Yimiao suddenly hiccupped, she gulped down a breath and covered her mouth with a dry laugh, Zhao Shuming’s feeding at night had made her a little too full.

Zhao Shuming collected the abnormal coldness on his face, pulled a smile and walked over to the sofa.

He was familiar enough with Jiang Yimiao to know her parents as well. They didn’t seem like the kind of parents who would have pushed Jiang Yimiao to find a husband as soon as she graduated.

But Zhao Shuming’s heart was in a bit of a mess right now, Jiang Yimiao’s parents had treated him like a family member, just like Jiang Yimiao had, for six years in middle school, due to the fact that he was the only one in his family. Zhao Shuming was the only one in his family, they took care of him a lot.

But Jiang Yimiao’s parents weren’t like the heroine’s parents in novels, who loved to pull red strings for their daughter when they saw a boy close to her.

They really seemed to simply treat him as their godson, and never meant to set him up with Jiang Yimiao.

Even in those years, how close he and Jiang Yimiao were, Shen Man and Jiang Zhixue only regarded him and Jiang Yimiao as brother and sister.

At first, Zhao Shuming thought that he wasn’t good enough, so he made himself into someone else’s child, regardless of looks, personality and grades, should be the parent’s favorite.

It turned out that in the end he realized it was just because they were too familiar and close.

“Why are you suddenly talking about blind dates?” Zhao Shuming asked.

To make a long story short, Jiang Yimiao told Zhao Shuming the conversation Shen Man had just had with her.

“So essentially it’s still introducing you to strange men?” He sat beside her, taking a sip of warm water.

Zhao Shuming said it well, but Jiang Yimiao didn’t know why his description was a bit strange, she touched the ends of her hair that hadn’t dried yet, “Yes, right… …”

“Then are you going on a blind date with him?” Zhao Shuming moved his body a little closer to her when she wasn’t paying attention.

Jiang Yimiao looked at him in his pajamas, the fresh scent from the shower lingering beside her, accompanied by the warmth of his body. There was also the warmth of his body heat.

Although this description seemed inappropriate, Jiang Yimiao felt that he was like a delicious cake.

She bit the soft flesh in the corner of her lips and swallowed, her left hand was grasping a doll on the sofa, and even Jiang Yimiao herself didn’t realize that she had just subconsciously pinched the doll. She had just subconsciously pinched the doll.

“Eh, actually I’m not sure yet, my mom just asked me if I’m willing to go.”

Zhao Shuming lowered his eyelashes, “Miao Miao, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Jiang Yimiao looked at him and blinked, her fingers subconsciously snapping at each other, she would gently snap her thumb with her index finger every time she was obsessed with something.

But that was a thousand red packets! It’s just a matter of going to dinner and giving a favor, Jiang Yimiao was a bit moved again.

Maybe the other party was also urged by their parents to come, and had no intention of falling in love.

She actually want to go, is tangled in the hands of the phone vibrated twice, Shen Man sent over the boy’s WeChat business card.

The first thing you do is to get yourself entangled in the process, and if you don’t want to go, give your mom a message back, and if you decide to go, add him, he’s called Guan Zhengyu.

Monday was already almost over, and the time they had arranged to eat was Wednesday, which meant that Jiang Yimiao didn’t have long to dwell on it.

She tapped her business card and clicked Add Contact.

“Miao Miao, have you thought about it?” He stared at her fingertips, Zhao Shuming thought she would refuse, and even his tone became nervous, “I thought you didn’t like things like blind dates? ”

“It’s not for a blind date la, it’s for a thousand red packets.” She clenched her fists in an imperative manner.

Zhao Shuming seemed relieved, “That’s right, who can be bothered with money.” He purposely echoed her words.

Jiang Yimiao picked up the glasses on the coffee table and put them on, turned on the TV in the living room, and laughed, “It’s just a meal, it shouldn’t be anything, you don’t have to worry about me, I’m all am an adult.”

She also felt as if Zhao Shuming’s reaction was a bit big, Jiang Yimiao thought he was worried that she had met some bad guys.

“Then you don’t have to cook for me on Wednesday night.” She curled up her legs and nestled in the corner of the sofa, glancing at Zhao Shuming before shifting her gaze back to the TV.

Zhao Shuming glanced at the picture on the LCD screen, she had recently started catching up on new dramas again.

“Miao Miao, I kind of want to ask you ……”

“Ask me, what?” She looked up at him.

“Do you yourself have any thoughts on things like falling in love and getting married?” Zhao Shuming’s tone was calm, like a friend unfolding a heart-to-heart conversation.

Except for the two years behind high school, he had occupied almost her entire student years.

Jiang Yimiao’s adolescence didn’t seem to have a rebellious period, and her only goal and pursuit in life was to get a good grade in the college entrance exam, to be able to go to a good school, and to find a good job.

And her life had already accomplished her goals step by step under her plan, so much so that she was now but in her twenties when she had Having accomplished all her visions it seemed like there was nothing further to go.

Even if it seemed simple, in reality she was already very good at what she did.

And things like falling in love and getting married hadn’t been in her life plan, Zhao Shuming had actually always known that.

But people might change, hormones, changes in the living environment, and social factors could all cause a change in one’s thinking.

He still wanted to know how Jiang Yimiao really thought.

“Fall in love and get married ah, I don’t seem to have any feelings about this, I feel a little scared when I think about it …… And don’t young people nowadays all hate getting married?”

The fear was because there was just too much negative news related to marriage in society, and marriage wasn’t a necessity in life, so that’s why Jiang Yimiao had never gotten entangled in this aspect.

She glanced sideways at Zhao Shuming, and when she saw a somewhat puzzled expression on his face, Jiang Yimiao continued, “Haven’t you ever been in love yourself, so you should think the same way, right? .”

Zhao Shuming let out a soft laugh as he lowered his head, “Your drama is on, so watch it.”

He didn’t reply to her question and directly changed the topic.

Zhao Shuming didn’t like lying to her, so he definitely couldn’t say that he felt the same way.

He wanted to get married, and he wanted to become Jiang Yimiao’s family in the legal sense.

But he also didn’t want to say something in front of her that could be misunderstood and ambiguous, so he didn’t want Jiang Yimiao to misunderstand that he would like someone else, but he couldn’t directly reveal his own thoughts .

He could only change the subject.

Jiang Yimiao’s attention was indeed moved away from the topic she had just talked about, and she twisted her head to look at the LCD screen, cradling a doll in her arms.

“Put a pillow behind the sofa, it’s more comfortable to sit like this.” Seeing her adjust her sitting position several times, Zhao Shuming took the pillow and padded it behind her, looking for the most suitable position.

Jiang Yimiao looked sideways at Zhao Shuming’s hands fiddling behind her, he held her shoulders and let her lean up smoothly, sitting up was indeed a bit more comfortable .

Through the clothes she could feel the warmth of his palm, the veins on the back of his hand were clearly visible, Jiang Yimiao raised her hand and suddenly poked Zhao Shuming’s back of his hand.

“Hmm?” He looked at her fingertips with a slight sideways glance.

“The back of your hand looks as if it’s easy to zap, it’s good to zap when you’re getting a hangnail injection ……” she poked again.

Accustomed to Jiang Yimiao’s heavenly and strange brain circuits, Zhao Shuming just laughed and let her poke around casually.

Jiang Yimiao looked down at the back of her hand and found that her veins were also quite visible, she also poked her veins, and it was only after several pokes that she realized she was watching a TV show.

She raised her head to the episode that had been playing for ten minutes but had absolutely no idea what was on, and took the remote control and silently moved the progress bar forward again.

Zhao Shuming resumed sitting beside her after padding her cushions, as long as Jiang Yimiao didn’t like someone else, he still had plenty of chances and ways.

Regardless of her attitude towards relationships and marriage, as long as he could make her love only him, that would be enough.

He looked at the side of her face as she intently watched the TV and smiled softly.

An uneventful day passed accompanied by not-so-good weather.

Guan Zhengyu didn’t pass Jiang Yimiao’s friend request until the next day, supposedly because he had just returned home and was still adjusting his routine, so he didn’t see her application until Tuesday morning. The two people who didn’t know each other relied on WeChat to communicate with each other.

The two people who didn’t know each other relied on WeChat’s emoticons to barely chat for a few moments.

Auntie Gu exchanged basic information about the two, Jiang Yimiao learned that Guan Zhengyu high school in foreign countries, so the domestic very close friends are not much, there are also like him to choose to go back to China after finishing school.

Looking at his information, Jiang Yimiao touched the tip of her nose, although she has never understood this aspect of dating, but according to the basic disk, Guan Zhengyu this condition of the people look also Not quite like he was going on a blind date.

Jiang Yimiao had a good friend who had gone abroad on exchange for two years, and from her mouth she had heard a lot of gossip about foreign students, leading her to have some stereotypical impressions – the ones with good conditions were generally The good ones are usually digested internally.

For example, if Zhao Shuming hadn’t emphasized that he was single, Jiang Yimiao would have thought that a guy like him would have been digested.

Jiang Yimiao specifically called Zhao Shuming on Wednesday afternoon to tell him that he didn’t need to make her dinner.

“Well, then take care of yourself and call me if anything happens.” Zhao Shuming said back.

“Alright, do you want me to change the emergency contact to you?” Jiang Yimiao originally said just jokingly.

“Okay, Miao Miao, you set it, so I feel more at ease.” But Zhao Shuming said back seriously.

Jiang Yimiao realized that her latest mantra was “help”, and she suddenly realized that it was really necessary to set up an emergency contact.

Her parents were both in Lin City, and her closest friend Cheng Wenyao was not in the same district as her, so Zhao Shuming was indeed the most suitable person to set as an emergency contact.

She nodded her head and busily replied, “Okay, I’ll give you a call when I’m done for the night.”

For Jiang Yimiao’s convenience, the restaurant was set not far from the company. Because there were only two people eating, she didn’t really want to book a private room, and didn’t really want to make it so extravagant, so she simply booked it at a teahouse with a good reputation.

Coincidentally, it is also suitable for two people’s appetite.

The two arrived at the reserved table at about the same time and greeted each other handily.

“Hello.”

“Eh eh eh eh hello hello.”

Good lord, both are social terrorists …… This was the first sentence Jiang Yimiao thought of after sitting down.

The night before, Jiang Yimiao had also searched for the process and topic of blind dates on social platforms in advance, and as a result, she couldn’t say a word to herself.

Guan Zhengyu looked very tall, his physique seemed to be similar to the feeling that Zhao Shuming gave her, and his looks were quite good.

Jiang Yimiao was even more convinced that this blind date was entirely a dating bureau that gave a personal favor to go through the motions.

She snapped her fingers a little bit awkwardly, and the other person also looked at the menu a little bit awkwardly for a long time, Jiang Yimiao thought that this meal would be a bit of a torment.

In the end, because she had worked all day and was starving, once she focused on the meal, time passed quickly, so quickly that the two of them finished the meal without saying anything.

Guan Zhengyu liked to speak with English words interspersed, but Jiang Yimiao unexpectedly felt that it wasn’t very pretentious.

Because he didn’t even sound very standard in Chinese, there was a feeling of a local old man in Nancheng speaking Mandarin ……

Fortunately, Jiang Yimiao had loved watching Hong Kong dramas since she was a child, and she knew quite a bit of English in her line of work. The most important thing is that the words they spoke together didn’t add up to more than the fingers of two people. There were also a few sentences where he was apologizing for his lack of English.

Jiang Yimiao could still understand what he was saying.

The sky was still bright when the meal was finished, and it was raining lightly outside, the sky was a bit cloudy, but it still hadn’t entered the night.

“You, how are you going to go back?” Guan Zhengyu asked word for word.

“Take the subway, or take a taxi, I’m quite convenient.” Jiang Yimiao looked down at her bag and confirmed that the umbrella was with her.

“I’ll give you a ride or else, my driver already drove and parked in the nearby parking lot.”

“Ah, there’s no need to bother, we don’t always go by the way.” Jiang Yimiao waved her hand.

“It’s not troublesome if it’s on the way.”

Jiang Yimiao looked up at him and pursed her lips, wondering how he was the same as Zhao Shuming, who liked to say “no trouble” to her.

She had no choice but to get into his car, and after getting in she sent a message to Zhao Shuming.

I’m on my way home, and it’s raining people are sending me back on their way.

Now has passed the evening peak, the road is not too crowded, counting down the estimated ten minutes to return home.

Zhao Shuming’s side is almost a second back, [Okay, when you get home also send me a message.

I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to make it. Jiang Yimiao sent an OK gesture and leaned back on the back of the chair.

Guan Zhengyu suddenly pointed to a pendant on her bag, “Do you like it too?”

Jiang Yimiao looked down, it was something she bought when she and Zhao Shuming went out shopping, a very small plush pendant of a cartoon character, although she hadn’t seen the original but bought it because it was cute.

This is also a means of her “cute desensitization therapy”.

She shook her head, “I haven’t seen the anime, I just bought it because it’s cute.”

Jiang Yimiao saw this small plush keychain, her palms were a little itchy, she couldn’t help but clutch it in her hand and squeeze it, luckily because of the shame of facing strangers, it wasn’t enough for her to have a complete attack.

She thought she’d better change it for a less cute pendant before she could do so.

Seki Masayu smiled and nodded, “Yeah, it’s cute, I like it a lot, I’ve seen the whole series of the anime as well as the movies I’ve watched it.”

It was the longest sentence he’d ever said to her, and he said it word for word because he deliberately didn’t clip his English to speak.

“What a coincidence then ……”

Silence returned to the car, Jiang Yimiao had killed the conversation again.

She turned to the car window with some embarrassment, quietly watching the thin threads of rain being pulled out by the wind after it smashed against the car window, like lotus root threads in a continuous stream, and so the silence went on all the way.

The neighborhood parking lot was as dim as the sky outside, and Jiang Yimiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I’m back in the parking lot! She sent a message to Zhao Shuming, it was still more comfortable to chat with an acquaintance like Zhao Shuming.

The driver pulled up to a spot near the elevator of the corresponding unit building. Jiang Yimiao couldn’t wait to get out of the car.

But didn’t forget to politely say, “Thank you, be careful on your way back.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Yimiao had no sense of direction and turned in two directions before remembering the direction of the elevator, and when she looked towards the elevator, it happened to arrive at the negative floor.

With a ding, the door opened.

Jiang Yimiao blinked and realized that the person standing in the elevator was Zhao Shuming, she turned back and waved at Guan Zhengyu again before running over in Zhao Shuming’s direction.

“Why are you here?” Jiang Yimiao cheerfully walked into the elevator.

“Worried that you were afraid of the dark and came to wait for you.”

Guan Zhengyu looked in the direction of the elevator and raised an eyebrow, saying to the driver, “Go home.”

Finally returning to the familiar home familiar environment, Jiang Yimiao instantly relaxed.

The red packet of one thousand dollars had been given to her before dinner, and it was only now that she received it with peace of mind.

“How’s it going, is it going well?” Zhao Shuming washed grapes for her and placed them in front of her.

Jiang Yimiao sat paralyzed on the sofa and rolled over, “It’s okay, both of us seem to be sociopaths, we didn’t say anything, just think of it as giving Auntie Gu a personal favor and already.”

It’s not that much of an exaggeration to say that we’re sociopaths, but Jiang Yimiao really doesn’t have much to say to strangers, she’s only enthusiastic about the people she’s close to.

“So how do you feel about him?”

“How is it? Quite tall and handsome.” Jiang Yimiao ate a grape, “This one is so sweet!”

“The downside is that his Chinese is not good, and the word order is still a bit confusing.”

“And then?” Zhao Shuming was nearly shocked by her big breathless speech.

“There’s no then ah, it’s just a meal, nothing more.” Jiang Yimiao felt that there was something strange about Zhao Shuming, she frowned and sat up, covering her hand on his shoulder as her two pairs of eyes locked.

Zhao Shuming’s throat knots rolled up and down a bit uncomfortably, who would have expected Jiang Yimiao to say out- “What’s wrong, are you afraid that I’ll get off before you?”

“It’s not Miao …… I’m just afraid that you’re looking at the wrong person.” Zhao Shuming lost his smile, lowered his head and peeled a grape for her, stuffing it into her mouth.

“No more, I’m so hot I’m going to take a shower first.” Jiang Yimiao let go of the hand covering his shoulder and came closer to sniff, “Have you already showered?”

“Uh-huh.” Zhao Shuming was used to her small action of always sniffing his body odor, but his ears couldn’t stop reddening a little.

“It smells so good, I’m going to go wash and smell good too.”

Zhao Shuming put the grapes away and sat on the sofa, listening to the faint sound of water coming from the bathroom, he swept his head down and glanced at the cell phone that she had grumpily placed on the desktop.

Several messages popped up on the screen of her cell phone, and he saw that they were all from someone with the note “Guan Zheng Yu”.

Good night. This was the last message he sent.

Zhao Shuming clenched his palms, an inexplicable feeling of discomfort overflowing in his heart.

Socializing is simply a thing more tired than work, Jiang Yimiao after showering even new drama updates do not want to catch up, straight fell on the bed, wanted to take the phone to play for a while, the results play! I fell asleep while playing with my cell phone.

The sound of the air conditioner’s extremely fine wind, the sound of the car honking downstairs mixed with the sound of crushing the road, as well as katydids, crickets and many bugs, Jiang Yimiao sank into a deep sleep. chirping, Jiang Yimiao sank into a new dream.

In the middle of the night, white noise mixed with the sound of even breathing, and a sudden backwards intake of breath came from inside the house.

“Ah …… hiss.” Jiang Yimiao was awakened by the pain.

She subconsciously held the back of her hand, waking up in the middle of the night, her consciousness was still a little fuzzy, and when her eyes completely regained their normal perspective, she realized that she had just rolled over, and her hand flung out and smashed into a something, waking her up in pain.

She brushed up her long hair that had fallen loose in front of her face, and was suddenly startled by the image in front of her. What her hand smashed into was not something, it was a person ……

Zhao Shuming he was lying peacefully on the other side of her bed, right next to the edge of the bed that might fall underneath if she turned over.

Jiang Yimiao pulled up the quilt beside her and wrapped herself in it as she sat up and approached Zhao Shuming.

His eyes were closed peacefully, so he shouldn’t have been dreaming, but Jiang Yimiao knew he must have been sleepwalking again, sleepwalking into her bed.

He had tried this before, sometimes sitting directly on the floor next to the bed, and other times he might have just complied and laid on her bed. .

After realizing that sleeping with her would make it easier to fall asleep, Jiang Yimiao got used to sleeping in the same bed with Zhao Shuming as well.

It was just that they weren’t kids anymore, and the last time they had slept together was when she was a freshman in high school.

Jiang Yimiao subconsciously wanted to wake Zhao Shuming up, but suddenly remembered that he hadn’t slept very well in recent days, and the quality of his sleep had been so poor that a faint layer of grayish green could be seen floating under his eyes.

Every day she had to trouble him to take care of himself, so she raised her hand in mid-air.

Now suddenly wake him up, he will not be able to sleep in the second half of the night, Jiang Yimiao really some intolerance.

Jiang Yimiao looked at the large bed that could fit several of her own, she grabbed the air conditioning quilt folded at the foot of the bed and covered Zhao Shuming’s abdomen.

The doll was then placed between the two, so that as long as they didn’t cross the line, rounding up the two were sleeping separately.

She peacefully covered herself with her own plush comforter and lay on the other side.

It wasn’t until after the room was filled with even and calm breathing again that a pair of eyes appeared in the darkness.

Zhao Shuming looked down at the quilt covering himself and looked across the doll to Jiang Yimiao, who was sleeping upright.