“I like you now, and that’s enough.” The boy didn’t lift his head; he simply lowered it and quietly sipped his water as he replied.
After that, silence stretched between them.
Ji Yuennian wanted to start a conversation, but when her eyes met the boy’s calm, indifferent expression, the words on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back.
Unconsciously, the two of them wandered together to the first floor of the mall, which was a dedicated play area for children—complete with inflatable toy castles, a miniature train on tracks, and a carousel full of dreamlike colors.
As they passed the carousel, Ji Yuennian’s gaze lingered on it for just a moment.
“Want to ride?” Suddenly, the boy with the blue eyes beside her spoke in a cold, clear voice.
Huh?
Ji Yuennian froze instantly.
Ride? Was Jiang Chi really this impatient?
This was only their first date, not **.
Wait… or maybe he already knew she wasn’t the pure, cute junior he had imagined, so now he planned to cut his losses early, reclaiming all the investment he had put into her—just like how he had treated Chen Jiajia before.
Thinking this, a vicious expression immediately flashed across Ji Yuennian’s jet-black gem-like eyes as she shot Jiang Chi a fierce glare.
Hmph! Stinky man!
Even I’m not that rotten!!
“It’s the carousel you’re talking about.” Jiang Chi clearly understood what those eyes meant; he slowly raised his hand and pointed toward the carousel on the side, explaining in a calm tone.
Ji Yuennian thought:
Damn! It really is my dirty mind.
“I’m not riding.” She crossed her arms, turning her slightly flushed little face away, pouting with a tsundere huff.
Carousels were for women and kids!
She was a pure manly man!
Suddenly, a pair of fair hands reached out and tightly embraced the girl’s waist, lifting her up in one swift motion and heading toward the carousel.
“What are you doing? I already said no!” Ji Yuennian struggled, but at sixteen, still an unripe girl who hadn’t gone through a second growth spurt, how could she compete with a well-trained boy?
After some struggling, the boy only held her tighter.
“Books say when a woman says no, she actually means yes.” The deep, magnetic voice rang in her ear as Jiang Xiaochun—Jiang Chi—carried the girl straight to the carousel.
“You bastard~ you~” the girl said shyly, but then she noticed the staff beside the carousel. Like finding a last straw, she shouted loudly for help.
“Officer! Help! Someone is forcing a minor!”
The staff member collecting tickets glanced lightly at them and then looked away, taking it as just a couple of lovers’ playful teasing.
Forced to ride the carousel with many children, under the watchful eyes of parents bringing their kids, Ji Yuennian felt like an elementary schooler, embarrassed beyond words as the boy held her in his arms.
But because of this, the invisible barrier between them was broken a little; at least the atmosphere wasn’t as stiff as before.
The sky seemed to be slowly pulled dark by an invisible hand, and time quietly shifted to dinner hour.
With a rumble from Ji Yuennian’s stomach, Jiang Chi gently pulled a credit card from his wallet, his eyes fixed steadily on a refined, upscale couple’s restaurant at the center of the mall, just about to make a move.
“Let’s go! We’ll eat there!” The girl seemed to have spotted something good. Her eyes gleamed as she grabbed Jiang Chi’s hand and hurriedly dashed toward a seemingly inconspicuous small restaurant.
The restaurant was small, its decor far from refined. On the slightly worn tables, faint grease stains from the previous customers were still visible.
Jiang Chi could smell the strong, spicy, and pungent aroma from afar, and his stomach churned involuntarily.
“Boss, one spicy chicken, one Kung Pao chicken, a bottle of Bingbei wine, and two bowls of rice.” Ji Yuennian ordered cleanly and quickly in one breath, then turned her beaming smile toward the boy beside her.
“Jiang Chi, I’m telling you, the food here is amazing! Those so-called upscale restaurants have tiny portions and sky-high prices!”
“Going once or twice is fine, but if you want to eat your fill, they’re totally unreliable. If you have that kind of money, you’d be better off going to the maid café outside school a few more times—think of it as supporting your juniors.”
Meanwhile, Jiang Chi carefully wiped the grease off the old table with a tissue, then rubbed the old wooden bench a few times before sitting down at ease.
Noticing Ji Qingchan’s unusual familiarity with the small restaurant, Jiang Chi asked, “You’ve been here before?”
“Of course. I… ” She was about to say “brother” when she suddenly glanced at the boy in front of her and quickly changed her words.
… A friend came here once.
“Male or female?” Jiang Chi frowned and asked again.
“Why are you asking?”
“I’m your boyfriend, so naturally I have the right to care about whether you’re in contact with other guys.”
Ji Yuennian rolled her eyes. “Female. A beautiful, sexy senior standing 1.8 meters tall. Happy now, my dear boyfriend Jiang?”
At that moment, the owner brought the dishes to the table. Ji Yuennian didn’t want to waste more breath on Jiang Chi and quickly grabbed a spicy chicken piece with her chopsticks and popped it in her mouth.
During the month they lived together, she knew Jiang Chi preferred milder flavors, so she deliberately ordered these dishes—not entirely deliberate, since she liked spicy food herself.
Jiang Chi, don’t you want to see my true self?
Ji Yuennian slowly chewed the spicy chicken, her jet-black gem-like eyes full of mischief and expectation as she looked straight at the boy opposite her.
This was the real me: edgy, gold-digging, spicy-loving.
Would you still like this kind of “Ji Qingchan”?
Leziren·Ji was very much looking forward to that answer~~~
Jiang Chi seemed completely unaware of the girl’s teasing, loaded gaze. He called the owner to add two more dishes—stir-fried cabbage and cold broccoli salad—and quietly began his meal.
But Ji Yuennian wasn’t about to let him off so easily.
Under the table, her slender leg lightly kicked the blue-eyed boy who was quietly eating. She said boldly, “Hey, Little Jiang, now that you’ve seen the real me, tell me your real thoughts.”
“I’m not a pure junior; I’m an old, edgy, gold-digging girl who’s always craving welfare benefits, and I like strange tricks and toys in bed. If any man marries me without knowing, he’s doomed for life.”
She was being pointed.
Jiang Chi’s expression remained calm and gentle, just like before: “I like you now, and that’s enough.”
“What if you don’t like me later?”
“We’ll deal with that then.”
Ji Yuennian picked up another spicy chicken piece, boldly digging deeper: “But I’m edgy, gold-digging, and love spicy food. You can accept that? Can two people with such different tastes really make it to the end?”
The boy was silent for a moment.
Suddenly, Jiang Chi leaned forward slightly. To Ji Yuennian’s astonished eyes, he lowered his head and bit down on the spicy chicken piece she had just placed on his chopsticks. After chewing briefly, he swallowed.
“The essence of love is mutual acceptance, and the reality of marriage is mutual adjustment.”
As he spoke, he picked up a piece of mild broccoli and brought it to the girl’s mouth. A trace of tenderness flashed in his eyes as his cold yet firm voice continued.
“You can tolerate my cleanliness obsession and insecurities, so why can’t I tolerate your personality and hobbies? I know I’m not the ideal boyfriend in your eyes, and likewise, you’re not perfect in mine. But adjustment—that’s part of being a couple, part of falling in love.”
“Ji Qingchan, let’s spend more time really getting to know each other.”
“What? You mean getting to know me by feeding me broccoli? No way, I hate—mmph, mmph—”
Before she could finish protesting, the chopsticks had already thrust the broccoli into her mouth. Before she could say no, it had been forced down.