chapter 3

I had a flash marriage with Zhou Mu three years ago.

Back then, I’d just finished my studies and come back to China, and my parents threw a welcome-home banquet.

Zhou Mu drove over to pick me up.

Even the soft instrumental music playing in the car couldn’t ease the awkwardness of not having seen each other for three years.

Nor could it calm the jitters of being alone in a confined space with the boy I’d secretly liked for years.

We chatted on and off along the way, conversation starting and stopping in uneven patches.

Just as we were about to get out, my seat belt suddenly refused to come undone.

I fumbled with it in a fluster.

Zhou Mu chuckled, then leaned over to help me.

A faint sandalwood scent wrapped around the tip of my nose.

Most of my body went rigid.

When Zhou Mu looked up and saw the way I was frozen, he lifted his hand and ruffled my hair.

“We haven’t seen each other in a few years and you’re this shy now?”

“Didn’t you always say you wanted to marry me when you were little?”

Zhou Mu rarely made this kind of joke.

My face burned so hot it felt like it might explode, and my heart pounded as if it was about to leap out of my chest.

That sense of unreality stayed with me all the way into the middle of the banquet.

He stood there holding flowers, confessing to me in front of both sets of parents.

Under the dazzling, intricate lights,

the young man I’d held in my heart for over ten years had bright, shining eyes, and a gentle smile at the corners.

“I finally waited until you came back.”

“Xiao Jin.”

All those countless dreams from my teenage years

suddenly became reality.

At that time I thought-

I must be the happiest, happiest, happiest, happiest person in the world.

Married life was sweet enough.

Zhou Mu was very good at taking care of people.

Brown sugar water during my period, staying by my side without leaving an inch when I was sick, and his meticulous concern woven through everyday life.

All I could think was, he treats me so well.

I have to be even better to him.

It was only later that I learned

that all of this came from the good temper he’d slowly honed, bit by bit, for Chen Wei.

If my friend hadn’t happened to see and share that post with me,

I might have stayed in the dark for the rest of my life.