Embarrassingly, when Ruan Nianchu reflected on the first twenty-five years of her life, she counted zero instances of her pursuing men.
It wasn’t because she was aloof, a goddess, or too proud to lower her face, but rather because she was emotionally dense. So much so that after the Elite cheating incident, Qiao Yufei had once comforted her while teasing her, saying that she had the face of Xi Shi but the fate of Dong Shi1Xi Shi is one of the four ancient Chinese beauties. Her beauty is such that it shines through even when she frowns from illness. Dong Shi is an ugly woman who desperately wants to become pretty. Dong Shi sees Xi Shi frowning and copies her frown, but unfortunately for Dong Shi, it only makes her uglier., and that if she wanted to bid farewell to her virginity in the second half of her life, she might have to rely on tools.
Now, however, this curse was on the verge of being broken.
Ruan Nianchu was no longer single.
She first told Ruan’s mother about this news, and then informed Qiao Yufei.
Although they were best friends and confidantes, this friend’s love life was vastly different from hers. To borrow the words of other friends, if all the boyfriends Qiao Yufei had dated were to gather in one place, the scene would be as spectacular as any top-notch gigolo club in Yuncheng. The title of social butterfly was not an empty one.
Upon learning that Ruan Nianchu had a new boyfriend, Qiao Yufei was first surprised, then sighed, and only after that, with a heart full of gossip, asked, “How did you meet?”
“Blind date,” Ruan Nianchu replied.
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Swyd Lkydnbw qswde kv pvaydtl. “Ebu?”
Wasx vbl rlaprlnvkhl sq psxlsdl obs bye clld vblal clqsal, bla qaklde zlnvwale bla, “Nshl, vbkp vbkdt, pryajp yqvla kdvldpl bsaxsdyz nszzkpksdp, kv’p dsv psxlvbkdt usw nyd tlv fwpv cu tskdt sd y czkde eyvl yde byhkdt y xlyz vstlvbla. Gald’v vbl lmyxrzlp sq nblyvkdt xld hkhke ldswtb?”
Swyd Lkydnbw qasodle. “Frlyj rzykdzu.”
Ckys Zwqlk oyp xsxldvyakzu vyjld ycynj, vbld yqvla y xsxldv sq vbswtbv, pyke, “Xjyu, zlv xl ypj usw kd y pkxrzla oyu. Ebyv’p uswa csuqaklde’p dyxl?”
“Nk Mldt.”
“Ps usw oydv vs pzllr okvb Nk Mldt?”
“…,” Swyd Lkydnbw aykple yd lulcaso, plakswpzu nsdpkelakdt, vbld pbssj bla blye.
“Does Li Teng want to sleep with you?”
“…,” Ruan Nianchu’s raised eyebrow almost flew off, feeling a chill down her spine, shook her head.
“Well, there you go,” Qiao Yufei sighed with regret, “neither of you are interested in each other, so talking is just pointless.” In Qiao Yufei’s view of emotions, the spiritual and the carnal were in sync; the first impression gave rise to a liking, liking gave rise to emotions, emotions gave rise to desire, all quite naturally.
Ruan Nianchu lacked experience. She remained skeptical of her friend’s theory, just a little curious. “So, according to you, liking someone means wanting to sleep with them?”
Qiao Yufei waved her hand dismissively. “Not entirely. To be precise, liking someone definitely means wanting to sleep with them, but wanting to sleep with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you definitely like them.” After saying this, she added with a touch of old-fashionedness, “Anyway, let’s not worry about these things for now. When it comes to love, who says you have to like each other? Since the other person is handsome and has a background, there’s no harm in dating, and it might calm your mom down a bit.”
“Mm.” You won’t know unless you try.
Compared to her friend Qiao Yufei, Ruan Nianchu received a much more positive response from her mother.
Ruan’s mother was very happy, and the reason for her happiness was simple: her daughter, who had been so wooden for so many years, had finally blossomed, which pleased her. Although the other party was not a local, had just been transferred to Yuncheng and hadn’t bought a house yet, these were all trivial matters. As long as the person was reliable and her daughter liked him, it was fine.
However, Ruan Nianchu felt a little embarrassed about it.
That day when she agreed to date Li Teng, it was purely impulsive and reckless. Upon reflection, it was quite foolish. He had only agreed to the relationship because he saw it as helping her out.
Did she like him? She couldn’t answer that question herself. Back in the Cambodian jungle, he had helped her through the most painful and difficult twenty-one days of her life. Everyone has a hero complex in their teenage years, so to say she hadn’t been moved by him at all would be unrealistic. However, afterwards, she returned home safely while he continued his mission, and they had no further contact.
Who would have thought that seven years later, there would be this unexpected reunion?
Fate was truly unpredictable.
Perhaps, there was indeed some destiny between them.
Only three days later, her thoughts were confirmed.
It was a sunny afternoon. After finishing her meal and leaving the cafeteria, Ruan Nianchu was about to return to the rest area for a nap when she was suddenly stopped by the leader of the vocal group.
The situation was quickly explained.
The study session organized by the Air Force Political Department hadn’t finished yet, and the female comrade in charge of reception had suddenly fallen ill and needed someone to take her place. However, the other civilian personnel were all busy with their work and couldn’t spare the time. The leaders wanted to transfer someone from the cultural troupe, whose work was relatively light.
The reception work was actually some thankless manual labor, serving tea and water while acting as a guide. The cultural troupe was not very willing, so they passed the hot potato to the performance troupe, which was one level lower.
And then, it was passed down to Ruan Nianchu, a non-military contracted actress.
Being in the organization, even if she wasn’t a soldier, obeying orders was her duty. So, Ruan Nianchu naturally agreed. The leader of the vocal group was very pleased, patted her shoulder and praised her a few words before saying, “The meeting is in the grand conference hall on the 7th floor of the People’s Hotel. Report there at 7:30 tomorrow morning, don’t be late.”
*
The next morning at 7:20, Ruan Nianchu, holding a red bean bun in one hand and soy milk in the other, appeared on the 7th floor of the People’s Hotel right on time. The door of the conference hall was open, and inside, two men and a woman in military uniforms were busy.
Ruan Nianchu threw the empty soy milk cup into the trash can and knocked on the door. The people inside turned to look at her.
“Hello, I’m Xiao Ruan from the performance troupe here to help. What do you need me to do?”
A middle-aged woman said, “You’re here to help us organize the meeting materials.”
“…Isn’t it reception work?”
The middle-aged woman gave her a strange look. “Reception work is being taken care of by someone else. You don’t need to worry about that.” As she spoke, she handed Ruan several documents. “There’s a photocopy shop downstairs to the left. Go make twenty copies of these documents for backup.”
It seemed there was a deviation in the transmission of orders from above. Ruan Nianchu didn’t think much of it and picked up the documents before heading downstairs.
Finding the photocopy shop wasn’t difficult; it was just to the left after exiting the main door.
While making copies, she suddenly heard the honking of several cars, which was quite jarring. She turned around and saw a black jeep parked by the roadside. The driver’s window was rolled down low, revealing a hand resting on the window sill, with a bronze color and well-defined fingers, holding a cigarette between the middle and index fingers.
She couldn’t help but stare.
The person stared back at her, flicked the ash off the cigarette, and beckoned her over. She walked over, smiling and trying to greet him as naturally as possible. “The meeting starts at eight. Are you here this early?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Li Teng said. His eyes were squinted from the smoke as he looked her up and down for a few seconds. “What are you doing here?”
Ruan Nianchu explained the situation to him.
Li Teng nodded, casually extinguished the cigarette, and suddenly said, “Wait for me after the meeting tonight.”
She was puzzled. “Is something wrong?”
He said, “I’ll give you a ride home on my way.”
She naturally wouldn’t refuse such a godsend, so she smiled and agreed, “Sure.”
The study sessions organized by the Political Department were pretty much the same each time, mainly aimed at raising the ideological awareness of military officers. Inside the meeting room, the attendees listened attentively, while outside, Ruan Nianchu leaned against the wall and dozed off.
Lunch was a buffet provided by the hotel, with seven dishes, three soups, and fruits, where one could choose freely.
Ruan Nianchu chose a corner, eating while continuing to play the game of raising a man.
After a few minutes of playing, another plate suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up to see a tall, slim young man in military uniform with dark skin and handsome features, his eyes bright.
She shifted her plate to make room for him.
The young man sat down and suddenly said, “You’re Comrade Ruan Nianchu who sang at the evening party, right?”
Ruan Nianchu nodded somewhat dazedly.
At that moment, another plate was placed on the table with a clatter. She looked up again to see Li Teng sitting beside the young man, his face stern as he ate silently without a word.
The young man saw him and greeted with a smile, “Brother Li.”
Li Teng nodded coldly, his eyes slightly lowered, still not saying anything.
The young man’s gaze returned to Ruan Nianchu, excited and shining. “Comrade Ruan Nianchu, you sang that song really well. Many people praised you afterwards.”
Ruan Nianchu forced a smile. “The leaders were overly generous with their praise.”
“Your basic skills are so solid. Did you start learning to sing from a young age?”
“No, I started in high school.”
“Then you have quite a talent.”
“Just average.”
The young man’s chatting mood was rising, and Ruan Nianchu, out of politeness, could only go along with it. After chatting like this for five minutes, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Li Teng had put down his chopsticks and expressionlessly unbuttoned the top button of his uniform.
“Feeling hot, huh?” Ruan Nianchu raised her hand to fan some air.
The young man continued, “I’m quite interested in music and literature. How about this, Comrade Ruan Nianchu, let’s exchange WeChat and be friends. We can discuss more in the future.”
Ruan Nianchu hesitated, then politely declined. But the other party was insistent. Helpless, she picked up her phone, preparing to exit the game and scan the QR code.
However, before she could do so, a hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took her phone away.
Ruan Nianchu was stunned, as was the enthusiastic young man.
Li Teng, however, remained calm. With his eyes lowered, he casually scrolled through the screen, exited the game, tapped a few times, and turned off the screen. Within a few seconds, he returned the phone to Ruan Nianchu.
She was left puzzled.
Li Teng calmly said, “My phone is dead. Can I borrow yours to check the time?”
“Uh, sure.”
“After the meeting, wait for me downstairs. Don’t wander around.” After dropping these two sentences, Li Teng picked up his tray and left directly.
Seeing this, the enthusiastic young man naturally sensed the situation between the two, awkwardly scratched his head, and got up to leave as well.
Ruan Nianchu continued eating her meal. When she lit up her phone screen again, she almost spat blood—when was her game of raising a man uninstalled?
So frustrating.
*
After the meeting, Li Teng indeed drove Ruan Nianchu home. She initially wanted to ask him about the game being uninstalled, but then she thought better of it. Playing such a childish game at almost twenty-six years old was indeed a bit immature. So she let it go and quietly reinstalled it herself.
The journey continued in silence.
Passing through an intersection with traffic lights, Li Teng suddenly asked, “What do you usually do on Saturdays?”
“Sleep.” Ruan Nianchu was honest. She thought her arrangement for the weekends was quite reasonable—sleeping one day and playing around the next day.
“Do you have time this Saturday?”
“…,” She turned her gaze towards him, but he stared straight ahead, his stern profile bathed in the soft light of the streetlamp, his angular features softened slightly. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at how good-looking he was, flawless from every angle.
“Yes, I do. Why do you ask? Do you have something planned?”
Li Teng said, “I will take you to a place. Meet you at the gate of your community at nine o’clock in the morning.”
Ruan Nianchu pondered over his question for a moment before blurting out, “A date?”
As soon as she said that, he paused slightly, turned his head to the side, and locked his gaze onto her fair face. After a few seconds of eye contact, she seemed a bit embarrassed, turned her head away, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks involuntarily.
There’s a phrase called “heart skipping a beat.”
His index finger moved almost imperceptibly, then his gaze returned, seemingly indifferent. “Think what you want.”
Sansukini: Gong Xi Fa Cai! May the New Year bring your family good health, prosperity and abundant happiness. And World Peace in the Year of the Dragon.
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