“Huh?”
Looking at the caller name displayed on the phone screen—Jiang Xiao, the very person she most wanted to see—Song Qiuyu’s heart rate skyrocketed.
She took a shallow breath, not daring to delay any longer, and answered the call.
“Hello.”
“Xi’er.” Jiang Xiao’s somewhat raspy, slow voice came through from the other end.
“How come…” After confirming it really was Jiang Xiao’s voice, Song Qiuyu bit her lip.
A wave of bitterness and grievance suddenly welled up in her heart. “How come you didn’t reply to my messages?”
As she spoke, her nose stung, as if she were about to cry.
She sniffled lightly, quickly looked up at the ceiling, and forced down those weak thoughts.
If Jiang Xiao were standing right in front of her now, she probably wouldn’t be able to hold back.
She’d want to throw herself into her boyfriend’s arms and act like a soft little girl, pouting and complaining a bit…
But that probably wouldn’t happen…
“I’m downstairs.”
Jiang Xiao clearly heard Song Qiuyu sniffle, and he already had some guesses about what she was thinking right now.
She was most likely on the verge of crying.
He couldn’t help but recall the side effect of Gender Transformation Disorder—becoming very reliant on one’s partner—and a strange feeling stirred within him.
Come to think of it, was Xi’er acting like this because she really, truly liked him, or because the disease hadn’t been satisfied yet…?
Then Song Qiuyu’s panicked voice came from the other end of the phone. She seemed to have turned into a cute, clumsy ghost, nearly dropping her phone.
“Whew…”
Song Qiuyu steadied the phone and let out a sigh of relief.
A complex expression crossed Jiang Xiao’s face before he gave a slight smile.
If Xi’er wasn’t acting this way because of the disease, but from genuine excitement and nervousness, then how lucky a boyfriend he must be.
“Uh, Jiang Xiao, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you’re downstairs at my place right now?”
Unsure, Song Qiuyu walked over to the window and looked down. In the vast night, beneath a streetlamp, a tall figure in a gray trench coat stood in the light.
Against the glow of the lamp and the white snow, that touch of gray stood out starkly.
“Caught someone peeking!”
As if struck by inspiration, Jiang Xiao looked up toward the higher floors, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“This… this doesn’t count as peeking.”
Song Qiuyu stared at Jiang Xiao beneath the streetlamp.
Even though her family lived on the sixth floor, Jiang Xiao looked no bigger than a stick figure to her from here.
“It does.”
Jiang Xiao chuckled.
“Hmph…” Song Qiuyu didn’t argue with him, letting out a soft, feigned pout.
But her faster-beating heart and the irrepressible upward twitch of her lips betrayed the emotions deep inside her.
She almost wondered if she was dreaming. This feeling—so blissful, truly blissful.
However, glancing back at the tomato sauce heart on the slice of bread behind her, she froze, then felt a bit disappointed. “I’m screwed.”
“What’s screwed?”
Jiang Xiao was startled.
“I planned to give you a surprise when we met again, but you came too fast, and you didn’t even warn me. I’m not ready yet.”
Song Qiuyu’s eyes were full of dejection.
Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes.
He knew very well that his girlfriend could be especially stubborn and headstrong about certain things—like this surprise she mentioned.
If he didn’t let her complete it smoothly, she’d dwell on it for ages.
He couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Both of them had wanted to surprise each other, but because he had been one step ahead, it seemed there was no way to make both work.
“Forget it. It just snowed outside. You should come up first. No, I’ll go down and get you.”
Song Qiuyu gave up on her own.
“Don’t give up so fast!”
Jiang Xiao suddenly moved the phone away and shouted directly up toward her.
“Ugh…”
Song Qiuyu’s body trembled.
“Keep your voice down! It’s already 3 or 4 in the morning!”
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao smiled and nodded lightly.
Seeing that Jiang Xiao was behaving himself, Song Qiuyu patted her slightly rising chest and let out a long breath.
But remembering what he had just said, she bit her lip.
“Then… Jiang Xiao, can you give me half an hour? No, twenty minutes is enough.”
“Sure, but you’d better hurry. It’s pretty cold outside. You don’t want to lose your boyfriend and gain a female friend instead, do you?”
Jiang Xiao deliberately sighed, his tone quite heavy.
Hearing that, Song Qiuyu paused for a moment, then immediately perked up.
“No way, absolutely not. We can never be just friends again!”
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao raised an eyebrow.
“Wait for me. I’ll be quick!”
Song Qiuyu swiftly hung up the phone, turned around, and began bustling against the clock.
The thought of Jiang Xiao also catching the disease and turning into a girl—she couldn’t bear even to imagine it. She couldn’t stand that at all!
Jiang Xiao was Jiang Xiao. He was her boyfriend. He must never become anything else!
With determination, she quickly prepared the food, carefully packed it into the new lunchbox she had prepared long ago, then took a deep breath.
Grabbing the lunchbox, she opened the door and rushed down the stairs as fast as she could.
As she descended floor by floor, her heartbeat accelerated.
Her feet felt as if they were tangled in strands of vines, but the vines didn’t bind tightly; instead, they were like the bowstring of a crossbow, making her run even faster once she broke free.
She shot forward like an arrow, utterly determined, toward Jiang Xiao.
Bursting out of the stairwell, the view opened up.
She panted heavily, her pretty face flushed crimson, sweat rolling down her delicate skin.
She turned her head toward where she remembered Jiang Xiao had been.
But no one was there.
“Jiang Xiao?”
“I’m right here.” Jiang Xiao patted her shoulder from behind.
“Mm…”
Song Qiuyu turned around in a daze.
Then she saw the handsome face of Jiang Xiao, wearing the smile she knew best and loved most, and she couldn’t help but feel a little dizzy.
This feeling of being apart for only a few days, yet feeling like years.
“Were you just in the stairwell?”
“Mm, yeah. If I’d kept standing outside, I’d have gotten sick too easily.”
Jiang Xiao nodded.
“I was thinking of sitting in the security booth for a bit, but the uncle there seemed to dislike me. Sigh.”
“He dislikes you…?”
Song Qiuyu blinked, hardly believing it.
Was it because Jiang Xiao was too handsome? Among men, sometimes they do dislike handsome guys—the kind who obviously have it all.
“Alright, let’s not talk about that uncle anymore.”
Jiang Xiao changed the subject.
With that, he lowered his eyes and looked with great interest at the lunchbox in his girlfriend’s hands. His nose twitched slightly; he could already smell the aroma.
“To celebrate that from today onward, Song Qiuyu can legitimately be your girlfriend, and in the future, your wife—so—”
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu didn’t dawdle. Carefully, she opened the lunchbox, blushed, and raised it up close to him. “This is the first Beloved Wife Lunch I’ve made for you—oh no, it’s a Wifely Night Snack!”
Jiang Xiao looked at the exquisite, hearty food, at the beautiful heart shape drawn on the white rice.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he turned his head away, covered his mouth with a fist, and let out a snort of laughter.
“?”
Song Qiuyu tilted her head, gazing at Jiang Xiao in complete confusion.
“…”
Jiang Xiao took a deep breath, picked up the lunchbox lid, covered the food tightly, then firmly grasped her soft hands.
“Thank you, Xi’er.”
He looked up, meeting her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and the smile on his face deepened.