It Turns Out I Really Love You - Chapter 12

Su Nianqin reached out his hand in surprise to feel; it was still properly wrapped.

“Hehe…” Sang Wuyan broke into a smile through her tears, “Who told you to make me cry and not comfort me?”

“How would I comfort you? Should I say, ‘Don’t cry, don’t cry, I was just playing a trick on you, actually I don’t love you at all’?”

She clenched her fist and hit his chest, “Hate you!”

Su Nianqin, however, took her hand and led her towards the bedroom.

“You actually dared to trick me just now. You like looking so much, go back to the room and I’ll let you look slowly.”

Sang Wuyan would rather die than comply, struggling fiercely in his arms.

Suddenly, Su Nianqin’s arm embracing Sang Wuyan paused, and he stopped.

“Oh no, it really fell off,” Su Nianqin said, his expression unchanged.

Then, Sang Wuyan covered her eyes and shrieked.

“Just kidding, you idiot,” Su Nianqin playfully kissed the tip of her nose.

“I don’t believe you anymore,” she still didn’t dare to open her eyes.

He simply went on to kiss her eyes.

“I just wanted to verify if you really became braver.”

“And the result?”

“Just right.”

“You don’t need to go to the company?”

“There are still things left undone; how could I bear to go out?”

“What things?”

“To continue the wonderful undertaking that wasn’t completed last night.”

She curled up in Su Nianqin’s arms, sleeping sweetly.

Then Su Nianqin’s phone rang; most of the calls were from Xiao Qin or the company looking for him.

She woke up at the sound of the ringing and clung to him like an octopus, saying, “Don’t answer. For these twenty-four hours, you are mine.”

Su Nianqin rubbed her hair, obediently turned off his phone, and the first thing he did after getting out of bed was to look for a cigarette.

She snatched the cigarette pack from his hand and couldn’t help but ask, “How did you pick up this habit?”

“I smoke when I miss you,” he hugged her.

“You can’t shift all the blame onto me,” she protested. “Don’t tell me you also drink every time you hate me?”

“You know that too?” he feigned surprise.

“Su Nianqin!” she snapped at him.

Su Nianqin smiled and hugged her, no longer joking with her.

He then buried his face in her hair, remaining silent for a long time, and reminisced, “After you left, I thought, even though I’m blind, I must do something that will make you look at me differently, to prove myself in front of your mother. But when I first started getting involved in the family business, I was completely clueless. I couldn’t even understand contracts, and I hit walls everywhere, messing up everything.”

“Didn’t your dad punish you?”

“He wasn’t afraid of losing money; he was afraid that one day I’d give up.”

Sang Wuyan chuckled. Truly pitiful parents in the world.

“Later, someone told me that drinking and smoking could alleviate worries.”

“Those people are scumbags,” Sang Wuyan said, gritting her teeth.

“After I tried it, I found it wasn’t bad at all. And drinking could even prevent colds.”

“…”

In the afternoon, he accompanied her shopping and dining. After returning to the hotel, Sang Wuyan took out the perfume she had just bought and sprayed perfume mist repeatedly, until even cockroaches had to scatter and hide. Su Nianqin sneezed while listening to the news, but he didn’t stop Sang Wuyan’s mischief.

Xiao Qin muttered to herself, So, the boss just doesn’t like “other people” wearing perfume.

The day Su Nianqin was to leave B City soon arrived.

Sang Wuyan still had nearly ten months of schooling there, and Su Nianqin couldn’t force her. Plus, this man intensely disliked flying; he would never choose this mode of transportation unless absolutely necessary. So, the task of visiting naturally fell on Sang Wuyan, requiring her to travel to A City at least once a month.

“Not afraid of death, but afraid of flying,” Sang Wuyan complained.

“It’s not fear, just dislike,” the man said stubbornly.

“Why dislike it?” A woman’s curiosity is always strongest.

“I just dislike it; there’s no ‘why’,” Su Nianqin started to get impatient.

“Everything has a ‘why’,” she persisted.

“Sang Wuyan!”

She saw Su Nianqin’s face begin to darken, so she stuck out her tongue and dared not argue with him further.

When they weren’t seeing each other, their remaining form of communication was the phone. This thing called a phone brought Su Nianqin’s domineering nature to its extreme. Almost every night at nine o’clock, Sang Wuyan’s phone would ring promptly, and the call would continue until Sang Wuyan fell into a deep sleep. During this time, she was forbidden from any social interactions outside of talking to him. Of course, there were exceptions, for example, when Su Nianqin also had things to do at the company.

“This is unfair!” Sang Wuyan protested. Since a man can be called a tyrant, he naturally wouldn’t heed a woman’s opinion.

On Christmas Eve, the radio station’s special program was suddenly canceled.

Sang Wuyan decided to give Su Nianqin a surprise, so she bought a plane ticket that afternoon.

When she arrived in A City that evening, goose feathers of heavy snow were falling, giving it a strong Christmas atmosphere. She took a deep breath of the dry, cold air. For convenience, Su Nianqin no longer lived in his old place; he had moved into a high-rise apartment in the city center. Yu Xiaolu could no longer take care of him after getting married, so he hired a housekeeper named Aunt Xu to manage his household during the day, and she would leave in the evening.

Sang Wuyan pressed the doorbell a little excitedly.

She waited for a while. No one?

She pressed again.

Still no one.

Sang Wuyan immediately scratched her head in frustration. Why wasn’t this man obediently staying at home on Christmas Eve? She had no choice but to call him, but the call couldn’t connect.

She sat down at the door, dejected. Outside, someone, she didn’t know who, was romantically setting off fireworks in the snow, creating muffled explosions. In her handbag, there was also a Christmas gift for him.

Where was he at this time? It was already past nine, and he hadn’t even called on time? Was someone working overtime on Christmas Eve too? Or was he doing some kind of men’s entertainment outside? He was like the magistrate who could set fires but forbade the common people from lighting lamps! The more Sang Wuyan thought about it, the angrier she got, completely disregarding that it was her own fault for not notifying him beforehand and launching a surprise attack.

The apartment building’s corridors had no heating, and since it was a high-rise, it became even colder after nightfall in the snow. Sang Wuyan wrapped her scarf tighter, muttering, “Why does he live in such a freezing cold city, where even the hallways have no heating?”

Even this was attributed by her to be one of Su Nianqin’s sins.

She didn’t know how long it had been, but her eyelids started to droop, and then she heard the elevator stop on that floor.

“Ding—”

Sang Wuyan startled, rubbed her eyes, and saw the man walk out of the elevator alone.

“Su Nianqin!” Sang Wuyan pouted and called him.

“Wuyan? Why are you here?” Su Nianqin was pleasantly surprised.

“Where did you go?”

“Just got off work,” he looked a little tired.

“Really?”

Su Nianqin seemed to understand a little, stopping his hand from fumbling for keys to open the door, and tilted his head to ask, “Or what else?”

Sang Wuyan shrugged, not speaking.

“Why isn’t your phone connecting?”

“Probably bad signal.”

“You and who?”

“Xiao Qin,” Su Nianqin confessed honestly.

“I’m even a little envious of her,” Sang Wuyan said, a little sourly.

“I’m even envious of Cheng Yin.”

Su Nianqin pulled her inside, touching her cold hand.

“Look what you’re doing to yourself? It’s so cold, and you don’t even know to go downstairs and sit somewhere to eat. Are you deliberately torturing yourself?” he said, rubbing her hand between his palms, then touched her face.

“I did it on purpose. To make you feel guilty.” Sang Wuyan usually had a warm body constitution; she would be warm all over even in winter. Now, her face was icy cold.

“I didn’t do anything wrong; what’s there to feel guilty about?” Su Nianqin said, but he did feel a little sympathetic. “Why didn’t you call me beforehand?”

“Wanted to surprise you.”

“What day is it today again?” Su Nianqin tried hard to recall.

“Christmas Eve.”

“Huh—is this rotten holiday even worth you freezing like this?”

Sang Wuyan ignored him. She slipped her hand into his overcoat and wrapped it around his waist. “Su Nianqin, sometimes you’re really annoying, you know? You’re clueless, stubborn, and not romantic at all. I really don’t understand how I ever fell for you.” Her face was buried in his chest, her voice a little muffled.

“Really? I feel like someone is enjoying it though?”

“Bragger,” Sang Wuyan bumped his chest with her forehead.

After a while, Su Nianqin couldn’t help but speak, “Wuyan…”

“What?” Su Nianqin’s house was always very warm, but she was still greedily seeking warmth from him.

“It seems you took off your coat as soon as you entered,” he reminded her.

“Yes, there’s heating at home.”

“I’m still wearing mine.”

“I know.”

“But I’m very hot,” Su Nianqin said, quite aggrieved.

Sang Wuyan couldn’t hold back her laughter upon hearing this. She then pulled out her hand and wrapped it tightly around him again from inside his overcoat, making him even more uncomfortable. “Serves you right, serves you right, serves you right…” Who told him to make her angry?

After playing around enough, Sang Wuyan complained that she was hungry. It was late at night, and she hadn’t had dinner yet. The two held hands and went out.

Sang Wuyan glanced at him mischievously as she tied her scarf, “Look how far-sighted you are. You knew we were going out and didn’t even change clothes.”

Su Nianqin impatiently pressed the elevator button.

“What are we eating?” Sang Wuyan longed for a Christmas feast.

“Let’s go to…” He had just uttered one word when the faint, single bright spot in his vision suddenly turned pitch black. The elevator also stopped moving. Oh no, he thought.

“What’s happening?” Sang Wuyan asked nervously.

“The elevator lost power,” he instinctively clutched Sang Wuyan’s hand.

“What floor are we on now?”

“The elevator didn’t move at all, so it’s still the twenty-first floor,” Su Nianqin replied.

“Nianqin,” Sang Wuyan called him in the darkness.

“I’m here.”

“I’m scared.” Her voice trembled slightly.

Su Nianqin pulled her into his chest upon hearing this, “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared. Someone will be here soon.” Although his eyes could perceive light, he felt more at ease in the dark. As long as the steel cables didn’t break and the elevator didn’t fall, it would be fine.

Sang Wuyan, however, didn’t think so.

“But it’s late at night now.”

“They have someone on duty in the monitoring room twenty-four hours a day.”

“What if that person dozed off?”

That’s a possibility, Su Nianqin was also thinking this, but he didn’t dare to say it out loud. He felt Sang Wuyan was terribly scared. She had always been timid and especially afraid of the dark.

So he could only comfort her, “No, they won’t. Don’t overthink it; they’ll be here soon.”

“I’ve also encountered this situation with Cheng Yin before.”

“And then? Did you get out quickly?”

“Later, we, later she,” she was a little incoherent, “Later… we…”

Su Nianqin sensed her increasing tension and changed the subject, “What do you want to eat later?”

“Something very spicy.”

“No, your stomach isn’t good.”

“Then tomato and egg noodles.”

“Why?”

“My mom used to make this for me on cold winter mornings. Drinking the soup bit by bit makes you feel especially warm.”

“Mm, that can be done,” the tyrant gently promised.

After ten minutes, the cold air from outside seeped in, and it started to get a bit chilly. Su Nianqin talked to her to distract her, while unbuttoning his overcoat and warmly wrapping Sang Wuyan inside.

“Do you remember the MP3 player you used to use?” Su Nianqin continued to guide her to think about other things.

“Mm-hmm, it was mostly filled with random nonsense.”

“It was pretty random, there were wuxia novels you read to me, your loud shouting at me, and…” Su Nianqin couldn’t help but chuckle as he remembered, “and your singing.” If that could even be called “singing.”

“It was a little off-key, but it still amused you that much?”

“If I had given you the songs I wrote to sing, I’d probably have to pay people to take them.”

“Su Nianqin, if you discriminate against me like that again, I’ll give you a live performance right here.”

“No! I’m going to live in this building for a long time. What if people ask, I wouldn’t dare admit you’re from my family.”

Sang Wuyan heard these words and, angered, poked her head out of Su Nianqin’s embrace. She bared her teeth, ready to bite his chin. Just then, someone outside knocked with a tool, “Is anyone in there?”

A few minutes later, workers pried open the door, restoring their freedom.

After getting out, Sang Wuyan, even though she was hungry, didn’t want to go down twenty-one floors to eat and then climb back up.

Returning home, Su Nianqin took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and went into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” Sang Wuyan asked.

“Making you tomato and egg noodles.”

Sang Wuyan’s eyes widened, “Impossible! How can you cook?”

“Why can’t I cook?” Su Nianqin countered.

Later, Sang Wuyan excitedly reported this good news to Sang Mama. He was startled when he heard her on the phone beside him. After a long while, he said faintly, “When did I say I could cook?”

“…”

Men are truly difficult to deal with, Sang Wuyan sighed.

During the New Year, the two agreed to go back and see Sang Mama.

Su Nianqin was extremely nervous. However, Sang Mama unexpectedly turned out to be exceptionally understanding and didn’t give him any trouble. It was as if she had become more open-minded after Sang Papa’s passing. Moreover, Su Nianqin concealed all his bad habits, leaving Sang Mama nothing to find fault with.

Sang Wuyan secretly chuckled, “Weren’t you quite arrogant? How come you’re like a mouse seeing a cat when you see my mom?”

“This is called ‘when the Tao is one foot high, the devil is ten feet high’.”

Sang Wuyan, hearing this, went to bite him again, “How dare you say my mom is a devil!”

Su Nianqin didn’t dodge, letting her nibble. “Actually, Auntie is very adorably nagging. She reminds me of someone.”

“Who?”

“My mother. When I was little, she would often nag me like that. At the time, I was very impatient, but now, when I recall it, every little thing is precious.”

Upon hearing this, Sang Wuyan’s gnawing turned into shallow kisses.

“Don’t worry. I’ll try my best to nag you from now on, so you can savor it every moment,” Sang Wuyan said.

Su Nianqin’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he chuckled.

Suddenly, he thought of something and took out a blue velvet box from his pocket.

“What?” Sang Wuyan realized what was inside and her heart rate suddenly quickened.

“Marry me,” Su Nianqin opened the box. Inside was a pink diamond ring. His eyes, dark as ink, were exceptionally deep as they looked in Sang Wuyan’s direction.

“No!” Sang Wuyan said.

Su Nianqin’s face darkened, and he frowned, “You dare not to!”

Sang Wuyan got angry, moved away from his legs, and stood up, “Who proposes like that?”

The two of them spent New Year’s Eve at Sang’s house. That night, Wuyan’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and nieces all came over for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Sang Mama suddenly remembered she hadn’t bought soy sauce, so she asked Sang Wuyan to go buy it.

It was raining outside, and Sang Wuyan wanted to pull Su Nianqin along. Sang Mama looked on, feeling it was too much trouble.

“Why are you asking Xiao Su to go? The market is crowded, and his feet will be covered in mud.” The mother-in-law was already speaking up for her future son-in-law.

“He’s very willing to do you a favor, right, ‘Xiao Su’?” Saying that, she comfortably pinched his hand, meaning: If you dare say no, I’ll be mad at you.

Su Nianqin was at a loss, caught between a rock and a hard place, not knowing whose side to take.

Sang Mama untied her apron and left the two lively characters to watch the pot at home. In the clay pot in the kitchen, pork rib and radish soup was simmering, and they could hear the boiling soup bubbling and hitting the lid in the living room. The two didn’t turn on the lights. They just sat on the sofa, bickering back and forth, and then Su Nianqin suddenly took out a diamond ring and proposed.

“You’ve never seen a pig run, but you must have eaten pork, right?” Sang Wuyan said indignantly.

Su Nianqin squinted his eyes. He didn’t know what this proposal had to do with eating pork. He tried his best to calm his emotions, while silently repeating to himself: Su Nianqin, you must be calm, generous, magnanimous, tolerant, and not stoop to this woman’s level.

Sang Wuyan paced back and forth, continuing, “In the movies we watch, proposals are so romantic they can make the audience cry. The one we watched yesterday, the guy specially learned to make his girlfriend’s favorite Tiramisu for a whole month, then on her birthday, he personally made one and put the diamond ring inside. When the girl ate something that hit her teeth, took it out of her mouth, and saw it was a ring, he then said: ‘Marry me’.”

“Boring!” Sang Wuyan’s beautiful fantasy was interrupted by Su Nianqin’s scornful conclusion, “And aren’t you afraid of swallowing it and choking?”

“Can’t you have a little romantic flair?” Sang Wuyan lectured him.

“No. I’m just like this,” he said, adopting a devil-may-care attitude.

“Then I’m not marrying you,” Sang Wuyan announced.

“You wish!” The tyrant grabbed Sang Wuyan’s left hand, which was standing in front of him, and without resistance, slipped the ring onto her ring finger, then fiercely raised his head and kissed her.

“This is forced marriage,” Sang Wuyan ran her hand through Su Nianqin’s hair and returned his kiss, “Next time, we have to do it over again.”

Su Nianqin intently sucked on Sang Wuyan’s lips without a sound, seemingly tacitly agreeing, but actually plotting in his heart: Once you’re on the pirate ship, there’s no next time.

After a while, Sang Wuyan raised her hand and examined the ring for a long time, then suddenly said with disdain, “Why is it so small?”

“It’s big enough; any bigger and it would be hard to wear,” this woman was quite materialistic, Su Nianqin thought.

“Why is it pink?” she questioned again later.

“Xiaolu said this shade suits you very well.”

“But I only see transparent diamonds; where are the colors?” Sang Wuyan said very naively.

“Not quite clear. I think they’re called fancy diamonds.” The man also wasn’t very knowledgeable about these things.

“It’s not fake, is it?”

Su Nianqin was exasperated.

Sang Mama came back from the market with green onions and saw the ring on Wuyan’s hand. Tears suddenly rolled down, and she kept saying, “Good, good. Tomorrow, on the first day of the New Year, let’s go see your father.”

That evening, many relatives, including aunts and uncles, came to the house for New Year’s Eve dinner.

With a large table full of people, Su Nianqin felt a little unaccustomed. There were many dishes, and he wasn’t quite sure how to start eating without making a fool of himself. Fortunately, Sang Mama thoughtfully placed a small bowl in front of Su Nianqin.

Sang Wuyan picked up a dish from a distance and placed it in Su Nianqin’s bowl, saying, “This is pickled pork made by my mom; it’s very fragrant.” After Su Nianqin finished eating, she picked up some dumplings, served soup into another small bowl, and said, “The dumplings and soup are together inside. Do you want some rice?” She continued to meticulously care for him.

After dinner, a group of people watched TV. Su Nianqin and Sang Wuyan talked in another room. Sang Wuyan’s little niece and cousin also came in.

Her twelve-year-old cousin asked, “Brother Nianqin, can we play with you?”

His six-year-old niece also wouldn’t let him go, following her aunt and calling out, “Brother Nianqin.”

Sang Wuyan chuckled. It was truly a situation where women in the family, from six-year-olds to her fifty-five-year-old mother, were immune to him.

“Why don’t you go home for New Year’s?” her cousin asked.

“Your Wuyan sister wanted me to come, so I could only come,” Su Nianqin replied honestly.

At this moment, his niece reached out and, a little impolitely, waved her hand in front of Su Nianqin’s eyes. “Brother Nianqin, can you really not see?” Innocent child’s words.

Sang Wuyan was afraid Su Nianqin would mind and wanted to interrupt the conversation, but she didn’t expect him to gently take her hand and say, “I’m not completely blind. For example, Nuonuo, when you waved in front of me just now, I could feel the wind. And before, I could still see things moving, but I didn’t know exactly what they were. Or if you wanted me to count your fingers, that would be even more impossible. But now my vision is even worse.”

Actually, he had congenital visual impairment, so he wasn’t particularly bothered by it emotionally.

But his greatest regret was that he had no real source for his imagination of this world.

“What’s blue?” Nuonuo tested him.

“The ocean, the sky, and, well… this thing I’m wearing,” he replied, then asked Wuyan, “You said that this morning, didn’t you?”

Sang Wuyan smiled, “Yes.”

“Then what about white?”

“Clouds, and Nuonuo’s teeth.”

His niece Nuonuo grinned, revealing her two missing front teeth.

“What about pink?” This was harder to describe.

Su Nianqin thought for a moment and said, “Your Auntie Wuyan’s lips.”

Sang Wuyan’s face immediately flushed. “What nonsense are you talking about in front of children?”

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Li Lulu, who lived in the same city, called Sang’s house to wish Auntie a happy New Year.

Sang Mama was out visiting relatives, and Sang Wuyan found Cheng Yin to tell her about the proposal.

Su Nianqin was home alone and answered Li Lulu’s call.

“Wuyan went to find Cheng Yin,” Su Nianqin said. He also didn’t know why she insisted he didn’t follow her.

“Cheng Yin? Mr. Su, are you joking?”

Su Nianqin was confused, not understanding what the other person meant.

“Cheng Yin died five years ago.”

Su Nianqin abruptly sat up and asked, “What did you say?”

Su Nianqin and Li Lulu met at a tea house not far from Sang’s house.

Li Lulu said, “If you’re talking about Cheng Yin, my and Wuyan’s university classmate, she passed away when we were juniors.” She heard Su Nianqin describe everything about Cheng Yin, and felt the matter was quite serious.

“So you’re saying I’m lying?” Su Nianqin squinted his eyes.

“No, no,” Li Lulu quickly denied. She didn’t want to challenge Su Nianqin’s usual authority.

“What was her cause of death?”

“An elevator accident in our teaching building. It was very late at the time. She was trapped in the elevator, and no one expected her to have a serious heart condition,” Li Lulu recalled.

“What about Wuyan at that time?” Su Nianqin was a little nervous.

“She and Cheng Yin were also trapped in the elevator together and witnessed everything. You know, they were best friends in the dorm. Cheng Yin often stood up for her; they were practically inseparable. From then on, Wuyan moved out of the school dorm to live alone and didn’t interact much with her classmates.”

“Miss Li, are you asking me to believe in the existence of ghosts in this world?” Su Nianqin found it ridiculous.

“Mr. Su, I’m a psychological counselor. If it’s not a ghost, then from our perspective, it can be called a delusion, a mild delusion.”

“Delusion?” Su Nianqin had heard of it.

“This is a relatively common psychological symptom. Many writers are mild delusional patients. According to everything you just said about Cheng Yin, it wasn’t seen with your own eyes; it was all learned from Wuyan. In fact, you haven’t actually met her.”

Su Nianqin tacitly agreed.

“All of this is just Wuyan fantasizing to alleviate psychological tension, loneliness, or depression. Some delusional patients will fantasize that they are the UN Secretary-General, some will fantasize about a non-existent character, and Wuyan just happens to believe that her best friend is still by her side, but her subconscious knows that Cheng Yin is dead, so she never mentions Cheng Yin in front of those who know the truth, because she’s afraid of being exposed.”

Li Lulu added, “And they have a family history. Her mother was also like this for a year after her husband’s death. Although it’s not possible to determine if it’s hereditary, it’s at least related.”

“Then is it what you call schizophrenia?”

“No,” Li Lulu shook her head. “It’s not that serious. These fantasies are just a form of self-protection for her. When she’s at a loss, she’ll internally play the role of Cheng Yin, according to Cheng Yin’s personality and way of speaking, and thus have a dialogue with herself. So it’s a positive and proactive form of self-coordination. Currently, the best way to help Wuyan is not to urge her to see a psychologist, but to pretend not to know, to love and care for her well, reduce her time alone, and prevent negative emotions from affecting her.”

As Li Lulu left, she said again, “I will always keep an eye on her, but Mr. Su, I hope you can have someone constantly watch her, in case of any sudden situations. This illness requires a great deal of effort and patience from the family, and many people may never fully recover throughout their lives.”

The sky drizzled faintly. Even like fine needles, the winter rain falling on the skin was exceptionally stinging. Su Nianqin sat alone on a long bench in the residential compound downstairs from Sang’s house for a long time, the shoulders of his overcoat wet.

Returning to Sang’s house, Sang Wuyan immediately rushed over and acted spoiled, “Nianqin, where did you go? You actually dared to go out secretly when I wasn’t here.” She looked very happy.

Su Nianqin avoided answering, saying, “Did you go to see Cheng Yin?”

“Mm-hmm. Cheng Yin said that if such a valuable ring were to be divorced, you couldn’t ask for it back.”

Su Nianqin smiled.

That afternoon, Sang Mama hadn’t returned. After the two had just finished dinner, Su Nianqin received a call from Xiao Qin.

“Mr. Su, the address you asked me to check this morning, I’ve already been there. The landlord and the doorman on duty downstairs said that the girl who used to rent there, who was studying at A University, was always alone and had no roommates.”

He hung up the phone without a word, then called, “Wuyan?”

“Hey, I’m washing dishes,” Sang Wuyan’s voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of water.

Su Nianqin fumbled his way over, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and lowered his head into her hair.

“What’s wrong?” Sang Wuyan poked his cheek with her greasy finger.

“Nothing,” Su Nianqin whispered, and after a long while, added, “Wuyan, don’t study anymore. Come back to A City and stay with me.”

“Su Nianqin, I didn’t realize you were so feudal,” Sang Wuyan continued washing dishes.

“How am I feudal?”

“You even forbid women from going out to read and write. Are you jealous that I’m more educated than you?”

Su Nianqin was speechless.

“You don’t even have a primary school diploma; don’t think I don’t know. Xiaolu already sold you out.”

The man broke into a wry smile.

When he returned to the Su family, his family did not send him to a blind school. In his mother’s eyes, he simply had poor eyesight and it had nothing to do with being blind. She believed her son should interact with normal people, so she specially hired a tutor to teach him.

Therefore, it can be said that Su Nianqin had never attended school.

“I asked Li Lulu; she said you shouldn’t have any classes anymore. You can write your graduation thesis in A City while staying with me.”

“When did you see her? How come I don’t know?” Sang Wuyan continued washing dishes.

Su Nianqin silently buried his face in her shoulder again, holding her even tighter.

“Nianqin, what’s wrong? You weren’t this clingy before.”

“I’m afraid you’ll be snatched away by someone.”

“Who could be more charming than you?”

“Cheng Yin,” Su Nianqin said blandly.

Sang Wuyan chuckled foolishly, “Hey, Little Su, aren’t you a bit too jealous?”

Before the new semester began, Sang Wuyan, under the double persuasion of Su Nianqin and Sang Mama, returned to A City with Su Nianqin to stay for a few more days.

Su Nianqin went to work, and she stayed home alone, watching movies. Later, she received a call from Yu Xiaolu.

“Did Nianqin go to the hospital?” Yu Xiaolu asked.

“Why would he go to the hospital?”

“For a check-up! His vision has deteriorated severely. Dr. Li, who has been treating him, finally came back from America and has been urging him to go several times.”

Only then did Sang Wuyan remember what Yu Xiaolu had said last time. She was too careless; she had forgotten even this.

“When he comes back, I’ll tell him.”

“Not just tell him, but force him to go,” Yu Xiaolu emphasized.

“If I could kidnap him, I wouldn’t be Sang Wuyan.”

“If there’s anyone in this world who can force him to do anything, it’s only you, Sang Wuyan,” Yu Xiaolu echoed her, teasing her back.

Sang Wuyan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“My useless nephew is as cute as me, isn’t he? Otherwise, why would you so willingly agree to become my niece-in-law?”

After Su Nianqin returned home, opened the door, and put away his keys, the first thing he did upon entering the entryway was to ask, “You didn’t leave your shoes lying around, did you?”

The first time, Sang Wuyan was so angry she bit him. “No, I didn’t.” Later, she became numb and said, “Young Master Su, how would I dare?”

“Why didn’t you go for a hospital check-up?” The two had dinner outside, then strolled hand in hand in the nearby park.

“I know my own condition. I don’t like doing those boring tests like an idiot, and they’re completely useless.”

“But your vision is indeed getting worse and worse; at least before…”

“At least before, I could still see you kiss me.”

“You’re bragging,” Sang Wuyan still felt very embarrassed whenever it was brought up.

After a while, Su Nianqin added, “And I don’t mind if my vision continues to deteriorate.”

“But I do!”

Su Nianqin paused upon hearing this, his expression gradually hardening. “Are you afraid I’ll go completely blind and become a burden to you?”

Sang Wuyan stopped, turned her head to look at him, “How could you think that?”

“How did I think? Did I hit the nail on the head?” Su Nianqin’s voice rose a notch, and he subconsciously released Sang Wuyan’s hand.

Sang Wuyan was enraged by his unintentional release. “You are truly incomprehensible!” She kicked her right foot and turned to leave, leaving Su Nianqin standing alone.

Ten minutes later, Su Nianqin hadn’t moved. He, a grown man, stood in the middle of the park path with his white cane. At this moment, there weren’t many people, so he was even more conspicuous. Occasionally, people would turn their heads to look at him.

Before, if they got lost while shopping, he would always wait in place for Sang Wuyan to find him. But now, he was the one who had made her leave in anger.

Twenty minutes, and Sang Wuyan still hadn’t returned.

She must be really angry and has gone home alone, Su Nianqin thought.

Home? The word flashed through Su Nianqin’s mind, and he felt uneasy. She shouldn’t be taking the elevator alone. Thinking this, he felt a little anxious and hurried back.

Sang Wuyan stormed home, then buried her head under the covers and muffledly yelled, “Hate you! Hate you! What a terrible temper!” After a while, she felt suffocated under the covers and poked her head out.

From the park to home, they only had to cross two roads. The traffic lights had no auditory signals, and sometimes he would stand there for minutes, unsure whether it was a red or green light, but he slowly adapted.

“How do you know it’s a green light?” Sang Wuyan later asked him curiously.

“I hear the cars braking, so I guess it’s a green light.”

Hearing him say that, Sang Wuyan gasped, and dared not let him cross the road alone again.

Only then did Sang Wuyan regret leaving him there, so she put on her coat and went out to look for him.

The two just happened to run into each other at the corner.

“Where are you going?” Su Nianqin knew she had rushed out of the house impulsively, so he asked nervously, always afraid that she would run away again if she got angry.

“I… I…” Sang Wuyan stammered. She couldn’t be so shameless as to get angry and leave, then go back to find him herself. “I… where I go is none of your business?”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Nonsense! Who would worry about a heartless blind man like you!” Sang Wuyan said defiantly.

Su Nianqin’s lips curved into a slight arc, and then he pulled her home.

“Actually, Wuyan, there’s no difference between me and being completely blind.”

Su Nianqin felt they should talk calmly.

“It’s different. I don’t want you to live in darkness, unable to see any light.”

“Just that?” Su Nianqin gently hugged her. These matters should be resolved with a calm attitude; they couldn’t always bicker over trivial things.

“And,” Sang Wuyan added, “you don’t know how beautiful your eyes are. It would be such a pity if they were just for show.”

“Wuyan…” Su Nianqin realized a problem. “I think you always use your appearance to please people.”

“Is that bad?”

“Of course it’s bad.” A principle even elementary school students understood.

“Then I liked you so much back then. What do I do? Misjudgment.”

“This one choice was correct; it’s rare to find someone as capable both inside and out as me.”

Sang Wuyan chuckled and bit his chin, “Su Nianqin, when did you become such a slippery man?”

“Influenced by a certain woman.”

“Go for a check-up tomorrow.”

“Can’t I not go?”

Sang Wuyan rolled her eyes. Had all her efforts at persuasion been in vain after so long?

“No, unless you want to see me run away from home.”

The woman had to resort to her ultimate move.

The next day, the examination results were very bad.

Su Nianqin’s sense of perception within three feet was almost gone, and his light perception was rapidly decreasing.

“What caused it?” Yu Xiaolu asked first, Sang Wuyan anxious.

“How could you let him drink? And prolonged alcoholism accelerates optic nerve atrophy.” Dr. Li’s words were largely consistent with Yu Xiaolu’s own guesses. “And you shouldn’t let him overwork.”

Only then did Sang Wuyan realize that she had hardly paid much attention to Su Nianqin’s eye condition.

Yu Xiaolu explained to Sang Wuyan outside the room, “It was caused by incomplete development of the brain’s visual nerve during his time in the womb.”

Sang Wuyan understood this. It was like the principle of partial brain atrophy causing a child to be mentally challenged. It could be said that at the current level of medicine, those treatments were merely comforting, completely useless.

“I haven’t cared enough about his health,” Sang Wuyan said, sitting on the bench in the corridor, her eyes red. She had only bickered and fought with him, completely using her spoiled only-child temper on him.

“Wuyan,” Yu Xiaolu patted her shoulder, “Slowly, one step at a time. You two just need time to adjust to each other. And his temper is already bad enough; few people can tolerate it.”

“But you and Xiao Qin both seem to get along well with him,” Sang Wuyan said dejectedly.

Yu Xiaolu chuckled, “Xiao Qin gets along with him because he’s her boss, her bread and butter. And I get along with him because I’m his paternal aunt; I can’t possibly stoop to a child’s level, can I?”

On the way back, Sang Wuyan remained silent, making a significant decision in her heart.

“Wuyan, what’s wrong?” Su Nianqin sensed she was gloomy, so he moved closer.

She seemed not to have heard him.

Sang Wuyan’s reactions would occasionally be three seconds slower than others; if her mind was focused on something, she often wouldn’t hear others speak. As Cheng Yin used to describe her, “her brain isn’t big enough.”

Su Nianqin reached out and pinched her chin, turning her face towards him. “What are you thinking about?”

“I think I can stay. The courses at school are basically finished, and writing my graduation thesis in A City is the same.” Now that Yu Xiaolu was married and no longer lived with him, and Xiao Qin was just a secretary, the hired housekeeper was too rigid in her ways and never as meticulous as someone from the family.

“You want to take care of me?” Su Nianqin asked.

Sang Wuyan knew he had strong self-esteem and hated delegating tasks to others, let alone being cared for. Yet, Su Nianqin unexpectedly smiled, “I’d be very happy to.”

Sang Wuyan was startled, her face blushing a little from his smile, so she explained, “If it weren’t for the doctor’s orders, I wouldn’t bother with you.”

“Then I really should thank my failing eyes. I wonder if the treatment would be even better if I were completely blind?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Then Su Nianqin began to plan their future with her.

“We’re moving back to the old house.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t require taking the elevator up and down, saving trouble.”

“Mm-hmm. I also really like the living room in the old house.”

“Should we buy new furniture and redecorate?”

“No need; it’s already good enough. But I have a condition,” Sang Wuyan’s eyes darted.

“Except for plucking the stars, all your requests will be fulfilled.”

“Am I that boring? Besides,” Sang Wuyan began to feel he was relapsing into his old habits, “if I really wanted stars, you’d have to find a way. Isn’t that how it is in movies?”

“I once read a story where the male protagonist promised to give his beloved a star, and he actually bought a small meteorite to fulfill his promise,” Sang Wuyan continued to describe many romantic stories about plucking stars.

“Wuyan…” Su Nianqin interrupted her. He decided he needed to filter the movie plots she watched, otherwise, life would be unbearable.

Yu Xiaolu, watching the chattering couple through the rearview mirror, couldn’t help but smile. She had never seen Su Nianqin chat so much with anyone. Suddenly, she remembered something important and said, “Nianqin, brother-in-law and sister asked when you’re bringing Wuyan back home for a visit.”

Upon hearing Yu Xiaolu’s words, Sang Wuyan subconsciously clutched Su Nianqin’s hand tightly.

He sensed her subtle movement, returned the gesture by holding her hand in his palm, and politely declined, “Let’s talk about it later.” But ultimately, he couldn’t hide forever; she would still have to face these things.

That evening, Su Nianqin was in the study, vaguely hearing Sang Wuyan talking on the phone. He didn’t pay it much mind. He went out to get some water, and just as Sang Wuyan finished her call, he casually asked, “Who was that?”

“Cheng Yin.”

Su Nianqin paused slightly, then after a moment, asked, “Is she alone in B City?”

“Mm-hmm. I asked her to come over, but she wouldn’t,” Sang Wuyan said dejectedly.

“Wuyan, since Cheng Yin isn’t here, do you feel lonely?”

“A little. And she never wants to see you.”

“Do you take me as a love rival?”

Sang Wuyan chuckled.

Ever since Sang Wuyan said those words, Su Nianqin began to pay close attention. Several times in a row, as soon as he appeared, the call would end.

When Su Nianqin got off work, he suddenly said to Xiao Qin, “Tomorrow, help me contact that Dr. Jin again.” After all, someone like Li Lulu, who was far away, couldn’t solve immediate problems.

Dr. Jin, after listening to Su Nianqin’s lengthy narration, asked, “Mr. Su, besides you, does she avoid other people?”

“She doesn’t avoid me; in fact, she has no qualms with me. It’s just a coincidence that whenever I appear, Cheng Yin disappears. And in front of people who know Cheng Yin’s true situation, she never mentions it.”

“So, that means she doesn’t actually avoid you, but the so-called ‘Cheng Yin’ is very wary of you?”

Su Nianqin nodded, “I’ve only recently started noticing this. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence.”

“I don’t think it is,” Dr. Jin said. “So I hope you can spend more time with her. It’s best if she’s not present when you’re around. The less opportunity she has to be with ‘her,’ the more it indicates her condition is improving.”

Before leaving, Su Nianqin asked, “Is it really okay if I don’t bring her for treatment like this?”

“This is a double-edged sword. It will delay the time for her condition to fully recover, but it will minimize future psychological harm and obstacles for her.”

“How do you choose between the two?”

“Actually, you’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you, Mr. Su?” Dr. Jin smiled knowingly.

“You’re a good doctor,” Su Nianqin thought silently for a moment, then said.

“Mr. Su, I hope when you receive our bill at the end of the month, you’ll still praise me with such a pleasant expression,” Dr. Jin chuckled.

That afternoon, Su Nianqin called home and said he had something to do for dinner and they didn’t need to wait for him.

“You’re not allowed to drink,” Sang Wuyan emphasized.

“Sometimes, how can I refuse?” Su Nianqin smiled bitterly.

“Anyway, I’ll check when you get back,” she threatened.

Su Nianqin entered the door, and Aunt Xu, the housekeeper, had just left. Su Nianqin had instructed her that she could only leave when she saw him, and not to leave Sang Wuyan alone.

After hearing Aunt Xu close the door, he gently pecked Sang Wuyan’s lips. The first thing Sang Wuyan did when she saw him was to pounce and sniff him.

“No smell of alcohol, how come there’s a smell of smoke?”

“It’s from other people smoking.”

“Really?”

“You can conduct a thorough inspection,” as soon as he finished speaking, Su Nianqin’s deep kiss took Sang Wuyan’s breath away.

After a long kiss, he released her, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “What’s the result?”

“It’s okay,” Sang Wuyan nodded.

“Is there food?”

“Yes, and I even cooked something today.”

“Oh—” Su Nianqin’s expression was strange as he nodded upon hearing this.

Sang Wuyan had made up her mind to take good care of Su Nianqin, changing her bad habits one by one. For every movable item in the house, Sang Wuyan would draw a circle on the base of the furniture with a watercolor pen, writing inside the circle: “His cup,” “Picture frame,” “His radio,” “Soap dish,” “Vase”…

Lest she often forget where it originally belonged after using it.

The shoes in the entryway were also neatly arranged. Sometimes she would carry heavy things home, kick off her shoes, and walk right in. After a long while, she would remember and rush out to arrange her shoes properly.

All windows and cabinet doors were closed at will, and any hanging objects were removed.

She also learned to cook.

Su Nianqin took a bite with his chopsticks, his expression a little off. “This definitely wasn’t cooked by Auntie.”

“Doesn’t taste good?” she asked.

“What about the other dishes?”

“Only these sweet and sour meatballs are my creation,” Sang Wuyan said smugly.

“Oh—” Su Nianqin let out a big sigh of relief. His chopsticks no longer moved towards that plate.

After a while, Sang Wuyan noticed the implication and angrily put down her bowl and chopsticks. “Su Nianqin, what do you mean? If you’re so capable, you cook it yourself!”

Sang Wuyan declared a strike.

All night, Sang Wuyan pouted and didn’t speak. Su Nianqin would usually feel that he had finally gotten a quiet night, but he was afraid she would be sulking and feeling uncomfortable inside.

“Wuyan,” he called her first, indicating his surrender.

Sang Wuyan ignored him.

“Wuyan!” He had already surrendered and was ready to apologize; what more did she want?

Sang Wuyan actually ignored his summons and instead turned on the TV.

“Sang Wuyan!” Su Nianqin raised his voice.

She, too, increased the volume of the television.

Su Nianqin was truly angry. He hurriedly went to turn off the TV, and said with a slight frown, “Sang Wuyan, did you hear me call you?”

Sang Wuyan put down the remote control, jumped up, and yelled, “I’m not your pet! You call my name and I’m supposed to come running excitedly?”

To compensate for her height disadvantage, she stood on the sofa, glaring at Su Nianqin, trying to make her words more imposing. Unexpectedly, Su Nianqin wasn’t affected by this and actually chuckled first.

“When did I treat you like a pet?” he said, both exasperated and amused.

“You did.”

“Alright. Good girl, come here,” Su Nianqin opened his arms.

Sang Wuyan hesitated for only a second, then clung to him.

“I called you because I was going to apologize to you anyway.”

“Your tone, on the contrary, sounds like you’re going to eat someone.” This was a Su Nianqin-style apology.

Su Nianqin chuckled.

“From now on, we’ll make three rules: no being fierce to me, and you’re not allowed to drink or smoke.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“If you break a rule, you’ll be punished.”

“Punished with what?”

“What do you say the punishment should be?” Sang Wuyan couldn’t think of anything for a moment.

“Punish me by not speaking for three days.”

“Mm-hmm,” Sang Wuyan nodded. After a while, she felt something was wrong and quickly denied it, “No, no.” If a man didn’t speak for three days, it would be her who suffered, and for him, it would practically be a reward.

“Then punish me by doing exercises with you every night until…”

“Exercises?” Sang Wuyan began to be confused. Seeing Su Nianqin’s sly smile, her face instantly flushed. “I don’t agree!”

This time, Sang Wuyan finally understood. “Su Nianqin, I think you have no intention of repenting at all.”

Su Nianqin’s fingers played with her hair. He smiled and changed the subject, “Wuyan, you forgot to do something today.”

“What thing?”

“Think carefully; you have to do it every day after eating.” He reminded her.

“Rinse your mouth?”

Su Nianqin shook his head.

“Watch TV?”

“Wash dishes.”

“Ah!” Sang Wuyan slapped her forehead and darted to the kitchen, completely forgetting her solemn declaration of a strike just now.

Su Nianqin raised his eyebrows in relief. A pet? Who could have such a cute pet?

In April, Su Nianqin had to go to Japan on business.

“Don’t tell me you want to walk there,” Sang Wuyan teased him.

“Why walk? I can fly.”

“Didn’t you say you don’t like flying?” Sang Wuyan’s eyes widened.

“Not liking doesn’t mean not doing.”

Sang Wuyan glared at this man who was increasingly fond of exploiting loopholes in language.

“Why go somewhere so far?”

“There’s a very important fashion exhibition. The company just ventured into this industry and desperately needs publicity.”

“When are you coming back?”

“Soon…”

Before ten o’clock, Su Nianqin lay heavily asleep on the bed. He had been busy for several days, barely sleeping, to get the company’s affairs in order and hand them over to Yu Xiaolu.

Sang Wuyan curled up on him, his left arm draped over her shoulder.

At this moment, the phone outside suddenly rang.

Sang Wuyan quietly got out of bed and quickly ran to the living room to answer. It must be Xiaolu forgetting something again, Sang Wuyan thought as she picked up the phone.

“Hello—”

The other party hesitated for a moment before saying, “Miss Sang, I presume? This is Yu Weilan.”

Sang Wuyan was startled. “…Hello…” She didn’t know how to address her.

“Nianqin is asleep; I’ll go call him.” Sang Wuyan was about to put down the phone as if fleeing.

“No, no, no,” Yu Weilan quickly and kindly stopped her. “I’m looking for you.”

“For me?”

“Miss Sang doesn’t seem to welcome me?”

“No, I…” Sang Wuyan was tongue-tied.

“It’s okay. As a stepmother who was once disliked by Nianqin, I’ve long since developed a thick skin,” Yu Weilan said, making a joke to ease the atmosphere.

Sang Wuyan chuckled awkwardly.

“Wuyan. Can I call you Wuyan, like Nianqin and Xiaolu do?” Yu Weilan said. “Before, Nianqin and I had a very bad relationship. For ten whole years, he never once spoke properly to me.”

That’s completely Su Nianqin’s style of getting angry, Sang Wuyan thought.

“But then everything changed. Do you know why, Wuyan? It’s because of you. You changed him.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“No, you made him fall in love with you, and that’s the most important thing. After truly and sincerely falling in love with you, his eyes became clear. Your love made him understand that his feelings for me were merely a longing for a mother’s love after his mother’s death, nothing more.”

“Thank you,” Sang Wuyan said, a little ashamed.

“There’s nothing to thank me for, Wuyan. This is just a mother trying to persuade the person her son loves to marry him with peace of mind. You could call that selfishness, couldn’t you?”

Sang Wuyan chuckled.

“What’s Nianqin doing?”

“He’s asleep.”

“Oh, I was just wondering why he hadn’t stopped me after I talked to you for so long. He’s a little too protective of you.”

“Actually, he really dislikes me.”

“Oh?”

“He dislikes that I leave things messy, can’t cook, and sing off-key.”

“Sigh… Poor upbringing. Wuyan, I’ll definitely correct his prejudices,” Yu Weilan chuckled. “Is his flight tomorrow?”

“Mm-hmm. Nine in the morning.”

“Can I come see him off?” Yu Weilan asked.

“Of course you can!”

At the airport, she truly saw Yu Weilan for the first time. A beautiful woman with features similar to Xiao Lu, yet exceptionally gentle and elegant. Although her features were young, due to her status, she was dressed reservedly and maturely.

Sang Wuyan still didn’t know how to address her.

When Su Nianqin left, he turned back and said, “Old rule, wait for my call at home obediently every night.”

“You’re so annoying,” Sang Wuyan pouted.

“Dare to call me annoying?” Su Nianqin said fiercely.

The two weeks Su Nianqin was away suddenly turned into torment. Xiaolu and Aunt Xu both came to keep her company, but whenever she had a moment to herself, she started missing him. Missing Su Nianqin’s undeniable commands, his raised eyebrows when he was angry, and his greedy kisses.

Coming out of the supermarket, she saw a counter selling candied hawthorn skewers on the first floor and couldn’t help but smile. The first time she tricked Su Nianqin into eating a hawthorn from inside, he was so sour his eyebrows furrowed together. Such a stubborn and tyrannical man, yet he was afraid of sourness.

Sang Wuyan returned home and found countless missed calls.

“Sang Wuyan, where did you go so late?” As soon as she picked up the receiver, Su Nianqin’s roar came through.

“Nianqin, I miss you,” Sang Wuyan ignored his anger, her ear pressed to the phone, speaking softly.

The other end of the international call was silent for a moment, not speaking.

“Very much, very much, very much…” Sang Wuyan continued.

It was late at night in Tokyo. He had just finished discussing a case with the company’s lawyer and had stepped outside during a break to make the call. So Sang Wuyan occasionally heard footsteps on the corridor and Su Nianqin’s breathing.

“You be a good girl alone; I’ll rush back as soon as possible,” he said.

Then someone came out to look for Su Nianqin, and he had to hurriedly hang up. Sang Wuyan looked at the clock on the wall; it was ten past nine. She was only ten minutes late; wasn’t he too impatient, throwing a tantrum even for this?

Then, the man finished everything with lightning speed and returned home a week early.

Xiao Qin, who accompanied him, would often recall the efficiency of their work during that period with dread, “If this happens a few more times, it will definitely kill someone.”

After they moved back to the old house, they converted the second floor into a huge conservatory garden as per Sang Wuyan’s request. Then, they decided the exact wedding date would be in the latter half of the year.

After first calling and asking Sang Mama, Sang Wuyan suddenly said to Su Nianqin, “I think I should go to your house for a visit.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course.”

Even with such a firm answer, Sang Wuyan still felt nervous on the way.

“When I see Xiaolu’s sister, how should I address her?” If this problem wasn’t resolved, it would always be a major concern.

“Ms. Yu, Yu Weilan, Auntie Su, Mrs. Su, Xiaolu’s sister… choose whichever you like.”

“What do you call her?”

“Yu Weilan.”

“…”

A moment later, Sang Wuyan asked again, “What’s your father’s personality like? Will he be scary?” Legends said such people were often strange, let alone having such a son.

“How could he be? He’s old now and very kind to people. His temper is as good as mine.”

“…”

On a summer evening, the sun lingered. After dinner, the two of them, Sang Wuyan complained she didn’t want to go for a walk.

So Su Nianqin accompanied her, staying in watching movies.

The story wasn’t a romantic love movie, yet Sang Wuyan was engrossed, which Su Nianqin found strange. Her head rested in his neck, as she lazily drank juice and synchronously described the plot to him.

“Nash arrives at Princeton alone.”

“My goodness! His roommate William’s niece is so cute.”

“He and his classmates were drinking in a pub and saw a beautiful blonde girl. While others were eager to try their luck, Nash had already designed a formula in his mind that would guarantee success in getting a date with this beauty… But he didn’t go to implement it; instead, he rushed back to his dorm and wrote it on the glass window.”

Sang Wuyan had chuckled when she found interesting parts before, but later her voice explaining to Su Nianqin grew softer and softer, and her grip on Su Nianqin’s hand became tighter and tighter.

“He searched everywhere for William, but no one knew him, and there was no record of him in the student roster.”

“The doctor told him that William and all that was just… just…”

Sang Wuyan repeated that sentence over and over, unable to continue, shrinking into Su Nianqin’s arms.

Su Nianqin kissed her forehead and said, “What’s wrong?”

Sang Wuyan remained silent, her eyes tightly fixed on the screen, every nerve in her body tense, her hand clutching Su Nianqin’s already clammy with cold sweat.

Su Nianqin didn’t dare to move, roughly guessing the movie plot, and just quietly stayed with her like that. Midway through the movie, he noticed she was silently weeping, her face pressed against his chest, soaking a large area.

He gently patted her back, stroke by stroke, like comforting a child.

The next day, Su Nianqin asked Xiao Qin at the company to find the movie’s synopsis and materials. When Xiao Qin brought them over, she saw the movie’s tagline and read it aloud, “He saw the world in a way no one could have imagined. What special words.”

He observed the world in a way others couldn’t understand.

The story was adapted from the experiences of a real person. Mathematician Jr. John Forbes Nash won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994, but Nash and his wife battled his delusions throughout their lives.

Su Nianqin closed all the materials and pushed open the window. He felt for the first time that the woman he loved was so strong. He suddenly really wanted to smoke, but thinking of how she would react with bared teeth and claws, he held back.

A summer breeze blew in from the window, scattering the papers on the table, and one of them fell to the floor.

On the paper was a line of English: “A Beautiful Mind.”