Chapter 56.1: The Love of His Life

　　As she drew her brows together, Jiang Dai’s thoughts instantly drifted back to the events of several years back.

　　Truth be told, she had always had a fairly bad memory, especially when it came to trivial things.

　　However, the only exception was Qiao Jinye’s birthday back in their senior year of high school, which had coincidentally left a deep impression on her.

　　That might not have been the first time they had celebrated Qiao Jinye’s birthday, but it was the last and most important one.

　　After all, it was his coming of age ceremony.

　　Since Jiang Dai’s birthday was more than six months after his, a sense of envy welled up in her heart when Qiao Jinye came of age.

　　For one to have come of age, it would signify the beginning of a new chapter where they could do all sorts of things that they had never done before, like getting a driver’s license. Since they were from well-off families, they had pretty much begun yearning to drive a sports car at the start of their puberty.

　　Apart from that, it would also provide them with a great deal of convenience. 

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　　Despite having shared the same memories, they were also able to contact each other through various social methods, such as WeChat. Even so, some decided to study and migrate overseas, while others moved away from home to pursue a degree in another city. After graduation, they were determined to attend graduate school, as well as get married and have a family. Consequently, it was not often that they got a chance to meet up after graduating from high school.

　　That was why she had not seen Qiao Jinye and Li Kai in years……

　　Before she knew it, Jiang Dai’s train of thoughts took her through the melancholy of reminiscing her youth. 

　　However, Qiao Jinye interrupted her with an unexpected calmness, “My exact words were ‘I hope that I’ll always be together with those by my side and never be apart.’”

　　Upon hearing that, Jiang Dai nodded her head. “That’s right, and it shows that my memory is still pretty good. I can’t believe I actually remember the gist of it, even if you’ve said that ages ago! Not only that, but I also recall giving you a costly AJ x certain brand limited edition item that year, which ended up costing me an entire month’s worth of allowance. Yet, the one thing that really peeved me was that I had never seen you wear them. Even so, I’ve simply endured and kept it deep inside……”

　　Looking over at her, Qiao Jinye explained, “I’ve always kept that pair of AJs in its own drawer within my walk-in closet, and all this time, I couldn’t bear to wear them. The same goes for the figurine you gave me back in my first year in high school, as well as the basketball that was autographed by a top NBA player you gave me the year after…… I’ve kept them all, and dust-free.”

　　As Jiang Dai was at a loss for words, the look on her face hardened slightly. “Oh! I’ve always assumed it was because that pair of shoes looked far too gaudy, so you were unwilling to wear them. Later, I realized that you wore white sneakers pretty much all the time, so I just assumed that you didn’t like them……”

　　Qiao Jinye emphasized, “I love all the things you’ve given me. They are the love of my life, and so are you.”

　　With that, it had rendered Jiang Dai speechless.

　　Without giving her a chance to react, Qiao Jinye continued, “As for my wish of hoping that I’ll always be together with those by my side and never apart, the person I was referring to had always been you. It had nothing to do with our other buddies since it’s all about you.”

　　At first, waves of shock and bewilderment washed over Jiang Dai as she widened her eyes slightly and gaped at him subconsciously.

　　However, it took her half a minute to realize how silly her reaction must have looked. Even if she could regain her composure speedily, she still had difficulty wrapping her head around this.

　　Come to think of it, she had indeed managed to sense the changes in Qiao Jinye as of late, especially when they encountered her ex-husband and Liang Jingche.

　　Qiao Jinye would often begin to act strangely at the sight of these two men. It was as though he either wished to compete with them or was not fond of her interacting with them.

　　Even so, she simply regarded this subtle expression of emotions as……his way of cherishing a friendship.

　　If it had been any of her good buddies or best friends who had recently gotten a divorce and seemed to have wasted several years of their lifetime due to the failed marriage, she would never hope for them to get back together with their exes. Concurrently, she would also not wish for them to enter a new romantic relationship in such a short time either.

　　At the end of every long marriage or relationship, self-reflection would tend to be the most rational choice that anyone should make. Needless to say, you would consider starting a new relationship only after you deemed yourself to have grown and matured from this experience.

　　Whereas, the relationship of close friends was like that of siblings.

　　Regardless of whether Qiao Jinye regarded her as a sibling, he would still feel protective of her.

　　What’s more, this sort of protectiveness that required no one to point it out explicitly stemmed from the camaraderie between friends.

　　Now, it seems, however, that her so-called understanding of people had been entirely wrong?

　　Since it occurred pretty abruptly, Jiang Dai had no clue as to how she should respond to him.

　　After a moment of hesitation, she pondered over his words before stating, “That’s without a doubt since we are good friends, after all. If it weren’t for the fact that you were swamped with work and I was held back by personal matters, we would have never had to be kept apart.”

　　Upon hearing that, Qiao Jinye looked at Jiang Dai with a capricious and deep gleam in his eyes. In a seriousness that was hard to come by, Qiao Jinye enunciated carefully as he spoke, “We are friends, but never buddies, especially when you’re more than a friend to me. Stop feigning ignorance, Jiang Dai. Since we aren’t children anymore, you know exactly what I meant. Anyways, promise me that you’ll never feign ignorance again. It really hurts to hear that.”

　　“……” Taking a deep breath, Jiang Dai reassured, “No, I’ve no intention of feigning ignorance. Anyways, I think it’s good that you have opened up and told me your true feelings, but…… I think that came all too suddenly tonight, so I’ve no idea how I should respond to you. Why don’t you give me a little more time? After all, I’ve always thought what we had between us was pure socialistic bromance¹ 社会主义兄弟情: It’s an internet slang that refers to the BL love portrayed in films and series that is often faced with strict censorship instituted by the Chinese government. Hence, fans begin to use this term tacitly to address this sort of implicit romance. .”

　　A glint of determination mingled with gentleness and love in his eyes.

　　With a gentle voice, he emphasized, “No worries, you’re perfectly at the liberty of taking as much time as you need. It’s just that I’m really elated to have finally confessed my feelings to you and hope that you’re glad as well.”

　　To begin with, Jiang Dai was sure they would have found themselves in an awkward situation when Qiao Jinye confessed to her so out of the blue.

　　Much to her astonishment, she seemed to be at peace with the situation after calming herself down for a couple of minutes. Well, it appeared that she had not found it difficult to accept?

　　Thinking about that point, she could not help but observe him. Regardless of how overly passionate the gaze of this handsome and famous man every girl dreamed of, she still did not find it awkward. Instead, the atmosphere between them remained familiar.