Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A month ago, on the night of Jiang Beichen’s twenty-fifth birthday, I confessed to him for the last time.

As always, there was an expensive Western restaurant, a carefully chosen birthday gift, and a strawberry cake I had made by hand four times before it finally came out perfect.

I had gone all out, using the grandest arrangement I could imagine for that birthday dinner.

Jiang Beichen merely lounged lazily in his chair and gave the mechanical watch in the box a careless glance.

“It’s pretty nice. Thanks.”

No surprise. No close inspection. No questions about any of the details. His tone was as bland as plain water.

All at once, I felt exhausted.

Jiang Beichen had clearly said he really liked this niche watch brand.

I had spent two years on the waitlist before I was finally able to get it, and it had cost me an entire year’s salary.

But he didn’t even spare it a second look.

Jiang Beichen casually tossed the watch box into his pocket, picked up his phone, and started messaging his friends.

After sending a few texts, he looked up and urged me on.

“Hurry up and eat. I’m going to Hes with Zhou Tao and the others later. Zhou Tao brought this gorgeous girl with him. She just got back from the States and really knows how to have fun…”

“So hurry up and eat. Don’t get in the way of me picking up girls.”

The delicious steak at my lips instantly became impossible to swallow.

I set down my knife and fork, looked up at Jiang Beichen, and smiled helplessly.

“Jiang Beichen.”

“I’ve liked you for ten years. This might be the last time I celebrate your birthday with you.”

Jiang Beichen was sharp enough to sense that something was different. Some of the lazy indifference on his face faded.

He sat up straight.

“Shen Lu, what’s wrong?”

I looked at him seriously and said, enunciating every word, “Jiang Beichen, it’s been ten years. I want an answer.”

“Either we get together, as lovers, as partners.”

“Or…”

I paused and forced myself to look away, refusing to let my tears fall.

“We stop here and don’t stay friends anymore. From now on, we can treat each other like strangers and never have anything to do with each other again.”

The music flowing through the restaurant seemed to freeze in that instant.

Jiang Beichen first gave a shrug and laughed with that reckless, devil-may-care attitude of his.

“Did someone knock over the jar of vinegar again?”

“Girls like that are just for fun. It’s not like I’d…”

He laughed twice, but when he saw my cold expression and lack of reaction, Jiang Beichen hesitated, then slowly reached out and took my hand.

“Are you serious?”

“Xiao Lu, don’t do anything rash. After all these years between us…”

I shook my head and slowly pulled my hand back.

“Strangers or lovers. Those are the only two choices.”

“Jiang Beichen, think it through before you call me.”

After that day, I never contacted Jiang Beichen again.

Nor did he reach out to me first.

At first, I was still full of nervous hope, restless as I waited for his call.

I checked my phone almost every three minutes.

Day after day passed. Hope slowly turned into disappointment, and then into despair.

Once I fully accepted reality, my heart actually didn’t hurt as much anymore.

Getting a clear answer was far better than being strung along in uncertainty for ten years.

Just as I was working hard to adjust my mood and completely turn the page, Jiang Beichen suddenly contacted me.

Sure enough, the internet was right.

You couldn’t be endlessly good to a man. Sometimes, only when you pulled away would he realize your importance.

I quickly threw on my thickest down jacket, wrapped myself in a scarf and gloves, and plunged headfirst into the vast, snowy night.

The mountain road was buried in snow and hard to travel. The wind carried icy grains that struck my face, painful as cuts from a knife.

But I couldn’t feel the cold at all.

The spark of eager excitement in my heart was enough to set me ablaze.