Chapter 48: The Gradually Melting Heart 1

A slender jade finger pointed at the blue-eyed boy’s left chest as Ji Qingchan smiled radiantly.

“I’ve read some psychology books. Maybe I can help Senior Jiang.”

“Of course~ To be honest, I have my own little motives too~ What kind of heart lies beneath Senior Jiang’s cold and aloof exterior? Insecurity? Sensitivity? Or perhaps deep devotion? I really want to know.”

As she spoke, she stood up gracefully, moving toward him like a dreamlike savior.

The blue-eyed boy’s gaze flickered slightly, complex emotions swirling within, yet he made no move to stop her.

Ji Qingchan leaned closer to Jiang Chi, her body tilting slightly forward as her fair hands reached around his slender neck, gently removing his mask.

In an instant, a warm beam of sunlight fell upon Jiang Chi’s face-pale from years without sun-casting a faint golden hue over his fair skin, as if illuminating the depths of his long-sealed heart.

“Now, Senior Jiang, tell me your answer.” 

The girl’s voice was as clear as a silver bell, her gem-like eyes fixed intently on Jiang Chi, brimming with anticipation.

Jiang Chi gazed into Ji Qingchan’s dazzling onyx eyes, an indescribable emotion stirring within him. 

Unconsciously, he nodded.

“Okay.”

Seeing this, Ji Qingchan curled her lips into a soft smile, warm as a spring breeze, as she took half the weight of the shopping bag from him. 

“Let’s go, Senior Jiang. We’re going home.”

Suddenly, she turned her head and blinked playfully at Jiang Chi, her mischievous expression making him chuckle despite himself.

“Oh, and Senior Jiang, don’t keep such a stern face all the time. Smile more! Boys who smile always have good luck!”

“Just like this- Smile happily~”

Smile?

Jiang Chi pulled out his phone and looked down. 

Reflected on the screen was the boy’s pale, delicate face.

When he smiled… he really did look quite nice.

Back home, Ji Qingchan rolled up her sleeves and headed straight to the kitchen, while Jiang Chi returned to his room to continue editing videos. Everything was the same, yet everything felt different.

She took him to explore the interesting spots in Wanqing City—places he had avoided since childhood under the pretense of them being “dirty,” yet secretly yearned to see. 

Through these outings, she gently pried into the depths of his heart.

She learned that he liked fish mint. 

She learned that he enjoyed the arcade machines by the roadside. She learned that…

Like unwrapping a meticulously packaged gift, this sense of forbidden curiosity and anticipation intoxicated Ji Yuenian, the “pretender,” making him unable to stop, utterly enthralled.

Gradually, they ate together, went to school together, hung laundry together-living almost like a cohabiting couple, yet not quite the same. 

Unlike Ji Yuenian, who reveled in the thrill of forbidden exploration, Jiang Chi felt enveloped in a warmth unlike any other not maternal, not paternal, but the primal, instinctual love between a man and a woman.

He didn’t like spicy food, so she never cooked anything spicy. 

He disliked her wearing revealing clothes, so she swapped all her shorts and skirts for long pants. 

He didn’t like…

She was like the most perfect lover in the world, embracing all of Jiang Chi-his virtues, his flaws, everything about him.

Even if he talked to her about the finance he self-studied, she was willing to be an excellent listener.

The sky darkened and brightened, brightened and darkened. 

The kitchen stove lit and extinguished, extinguished and lit. 

The aroma gradually filled the entire room, just like certain emotions silently melting the boy’s heart, which had been sealed for seventeen years.

The boy had originally only wanted to show her his heart, to let her touch the ice within it, to make her retreat in the face of difficulty and forget about him.

But gradually, the boy felt himself changing. 

Before, he had gone to school alone, eaten alone, and returned home alone. 

Now, there was someone by his side—accompanying him to school, eating with him, and walking home with him.

No longer solitary, no longer lonely, no longer the aloof, pretentious iceberg others called him.

Slowly, the boy found himself unwilling to end this game.

He began to enjoy this feeling of being enveloped this sensation of being “loved,” “liked,” “cared for,” and “missed.”

He thought, if life could always be like this, how wonderful it would be.

“Senior Jiang!” 

On Friday, as soon as Jiang Chi stepped out of the school gate, he saw that familiar, lively figure in the distance.

Holding a bag of vegetables, she waved at him with a smile. 

“Over here!”

Jiang Chi walked toward her, the corners of his lips curling beneath his mask.

“Senior Jiang, how were your afternoon classes? Difficult?” 

Ji Qingchan bounced over to him, her smile sweet and gentle, like the girl next door.

“Easy. Finished all the homework in class,” Jiang Chi replied flatly.

He didn’t know why he said that, but every time he saw the admiration overflowing in the girl’s eyes, a strange, indescribable sense of satisfaction and happiness surged in his heart.

“What are we making tonight?” 

Jiang Chi glanced at the bag of vegetables and meat, then reached out to help Ji Qingchan carry some of the weight.

“What would Senior Jiang like to eat?” 

Ji Qingchan blinked playfully, turning the question back on him.

“Fish-flavored shredded pork.”

“Then we’ll make fish-flavored shredded pork tonight.”

“And scrambled eggs with tomatoes.”

“Sure.”

“Stir-fried cabbage.”

“Ah, that’s a lot of dishes.”

“I’ll help you serve them.”

“Then it’s settled!”

*    *    *

Nighttime, on the sofa.

Bright Moon and Eternal End: “Mom, your method is really effective. I can clearly feel that he [deleted]… she’s starting to accept me.”

Mother Ji: “For children with a slight inferiority complex like this, as long as you give them enough gentleness and care, they’ll slowly open up and unknowingly accept you. Just like back when I and Honghong… cough Anyway, I’m getting off-topic.”

Mother Ji: “But, Yueyue, if she’s accepting you, it means you’ve already taken the first step into her heart. If you two break up peacefully in the future, that’s fine. But if you play with her feelings and abandon her, then I’ll… cleansing the family jpg.”

Bright Moon and Eternal End: “How could I?! Mom, don’t worry! A responsible man like me would never be the kind of scum who ruins girls!!”

Ji Yuenian silently added in her heart: She would never ruin girls, but ruining her nemesis was another matter.

Mother Ji: “Good. You’ve always been the most troublesome one in the family. I originally wanted to find you a strict but virtuous wife to keep you in line, but now… Well, never mind. As long as you’re happy, your dad and I aren’t old-fashioned. We don’t care about matching social statuses.”

“OKOKOK, mom, I’m going to sleep now. It’s almost 10 PM, and I have to take my girlfriend shopping tomorrow.”

Ji’s mother: “Rest early. If you’re short on money, just ask me. Money is a man’s backbone-you can’t go out without it. By the way, your Aunt Mengrou’s precious son has also found a junior girl and even brought her home. Find some time to teach him a few tricks on how to pick up girls.”

Teaching her arch-rival how to woo… herself.

Ji Yuenian’s lips twitched slightly.

Then, she switched accounts, rolling over on the sofa. 

The slender, youthful figure of the girl was perfectly displayed in that movement, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Her fingertips lightly brushed across the screen as she gazed at the photos of the boy and girl together in the album. 

The memories of the past month surged through her mind like a tide.

Ji Yuenian’s thoughts gradually drifted away.

If before she had only wanted to embarrass Jiang Chi once, now she couldn’t even explain what was going on in her heart.

There was the forbidden thrill of peeking into someone else’s heart, the guilt of deceiving their feelings, and even the nervous anticipation — and excitement of them one day discovering the truth.

Yes, excitement.

Ji Yuenian didn’t want to admit it, but she had to!

Now she finally understood why her mother often nagged that she took after her because deep down, they both shared the same reckless, mischievous streak!

It was like walking a tightrope high in the air. You didn’t know where you’d fall, when you’d fall, or what you’d encounter in that suspended state.

Ordinary people would be afraid, terrified, living in constant anxiety-but for them, it was excitement, thrill, and an irresistible pull!

Once the “school bully,” Ji Yuenian had always dismissed her mother’s “glorious exploits” with disdain. But now, existing under the identity of “Ji Qingchan,” especially when actively teasing Jiang Chi, she felt it all firsthand.

Lost in thought, Ji Yuenian unconsciously reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear—a subtle habit she had developed at some point.

“Who would’ve thought that my troublemaker of a mother back then could ever be tamed by my dad and turned into a virtuous wife and mother?”