Chapter 20: Today Is Ordinary, Let

In Xinzhou's old town, seven o'clock in the evening.

Jiang Jinrou looked up: one side was the final brilliant glow of sunset, the other the cold white moon slowly rising.

Pairs of young lovers, old men and old women, strolled slowly along the Xinzhou River, enjoying the breeze blowing across its surface.

Occasionally, a few children chased each other, letting out shrieks.

He said: "I was just teasing you—your classmate really knows how to embellish."

Jiang Jinrou didn't believe it; Wang Chuan had never known a minor before—his brilliance must have overshadowed Li Wei.

People all have envy.

Wang Chuan exhaled, watching a little girl ahead wobble on her bicycle, clearly a recent learner. "Jiang Jinrou, back in junior high, you learned to ride a bike only because I held it from behind to keep you balanced."

"How dare you say that? You lied to me—you said if I pedaled hard, I wouldn't fall, and then I crashed with the bike." Jiang Jinrou lifted her long skirt to her knees. "Look, there's still the scar."

Wang Chuan glanced at the scar, about two centimeters long and wide. "Jiang Jinrou, when I said 'pedal hard,' did you pedal hard? Didn't you not believe me back then?"

Jiang Jinrou shot him a glare, cheeks puffed, and walked briskly ahead.

Wang Chuan watched her back, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

When he entered junior high in Xinzhou, he lived in Room 301, Building No. 5 of the Grain Bureau Community; Jiang Jinrou's family lived in Room 401. From first to third year of junior high, they were always in the same class, walking to and from school together every day.

Room 401 in Jiang Jinrou's home was left behind after her maternal grandparents passed away; her grandfather had once been a leader at the Grain Bureau.

Her mother, Gu Xia, was a doctor in Pediatrics at Xinzhou People's Hospital; her father, Jiang Huaian, had been with the Criminal Investigation Brigade—they were both always busy.

While Wang Chuan's parents were still alive, Jiang Jinrou would go to his house after school to eat dinner, finish homework, then return home to sleep.

In the first semester of senior high, after Wang Chuan's parents died, he moved in with his uncle, and after school they went their separate ways.

Still, they remained in the same class throughout high school and often saw each other during the day.

Wang Chuan caught up and grabbed her arm. "What's the matter? It's all past clouds and smoke. Didn't you learn to ride a bike right after you fell?"

At that moment, Jiang Jinrou looked at the boy she once knew, now transformed into a handsome white-clad angel, her eyes filled with complex emotion.

She extended her hand. "I came today to get back the letter you wrote me."

Wang Chuan didn't react. "What?!"

"Wang Chuan, don't play dumb—the letter after the college entrance exam."

Wang Chuan finally remembered: after the exam, she had written him a love letter. He had been stunned—he had always seen Jiang Jinrou as a rival.

Since junior high, except when Jiang Jinrou was sick and skipped an exam, Wang Chuan had always been the school's second-place student.

But during the college entrance exam, Wang Chuan performed beyond expectations, scoring ten points higher than his mock exams, while Jiang Jinrou scored ten points lower—first and second place swapped positions.

Jiang Jinrou didn't get into the prestigious News Department at Magic Capital University; she went to Nanling University's News Major instead.

"Jiang Jinrou, how can you ask for a letter you wrote to someone else? When you get married, I'll return it along with my wedding gift."

Wang Chuan joked.

"Wang Chuan, are you insane?" Jiang Jinrou stomped her foot, crushing fallen leaves beneath her, then dashed across the road like a gust of wind.

After entering university, she took the train from Nanling through Shanghai to Jiangcheng every time, spending seven or eight hours each trip, hoping for a reply to that letter.

But in her first semester of college, she saw Wang Chuan walking out of the sports field holding Pei Nanli's hand—she understood she'd already received her answer.

After that, she never went to Jiangcheng again.

By the second semester of her senior year, she secured a reporter position at the City Daily; after her thesis defense in May, she returned to Xinzhou, and only needed to come back in June to collect her graduation certificate.

"Slow down!" Wang Chuan called anxiously; though the street had few cars, the shadow of his death in a car accident and his Rebirth still lingered.

As Jiang Jinrou walked, she pondered: why hadn't Pei Nanli returned with Wang Chuan? They'd been dating since freshman year—by next year's graduation, shouldn't they be getting married?

She turned right into People's Park, planning to enter from the West Gate and exit through the East Gate; after crossing one road, she'd be back at the Grain Bureau Community.

But after walking a few steps through the park, she noticed Wang Chuan hadn't followed—his figure was gone.

"Wang Chuan, I never want to see you again!" Furious, she sat down on a nearby bench.

The dim yellow streetlight spilled over her hair; she propped her chin on her hands, eyes vacant, staring straight ahead.

Like a statue of a beautiful woman lost in thought.

Why had she taken the job at the City Daily? Because the newspaper was rapidly expanding in the province; next year it planned to open a reporter station in Jiangcheng, and she could apply then—by then she'd have completed one year of work and qualified.

As a famous beauty in the News Department, many outstanding male students had pursued her.

But memories of the six most beautiful years of her life with Wang Chuan—the laughter, the teasing—rose in her heart, and she firmly rejected them all.

People are strange: the memories from the Newbie Village—the joy, the pain—will accompany you for life, even to the grave.

Perhaps because, in the Newbie Village, joy was pure joy, and pain was pure pain, untainted.

Suddenly, something cold and sweet pressed against her lips; startled from her thoughts, Jiang Jinrou looked up to see Wang Chuan crouched before her, holding a crispy ice cream cone, his clear gaze fixed on her.

His crisp voice: "Jiang Jinrou, you didn't know? Last year, our Xinzhou got its first KFC."

As he spoke, he gently brushed a strand of hair falling over her face, keeping it from touching the ice cream.

"Wang Chuan, don't touch me."

Jiang Jinrou stood and walked on, unwilling to let him see the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Don't you like it? Didn't you love ice cream and popsicles back in junior high?"

Wang Chuan licked the ice cream cone. "It's really bad—too sweet."

He quickened his steps to walk beside her. "So in high school, did you start liking this? Do you still like it?"

Jiang Jinrou's eyes caught sight of a lollipop.

Every time during high school exams, she'd turn in her paper early, then stand by the classroom door, sucking on a lollipop, watching Wang Chuan still inside with interest.

She'd give him a thumbs-up upside-down, as a taunt.

She placed the lollipop in her mouth—the taste of high school returned; her mood lifted. "Wang Chuan, why didn't your girlfriend Pei Nanli come back with you? You've been dating for nearly four years, haven't you?"

Wang Chuan froze. How did Jiang Jinrou know about his connection with Pei Nanli? Li Wei had been scolded by him yesterday—surely he wouldn't have spread news about Pei Nanli.

"I don't know where you heard that. I have no relationship with her—never did, never will."

"I haven't dated anyone."

Internally, he thought, 'Since my Rebirth, I haven't started dating anyone.'

Wang Chuan resolved that when he went to intern at Mingzhou First People's Hospital, he would bring his relationship with Pei Nanli to a final end.