Zheng Heng suddenly lost interest, not in the mood for a verbal fight anymore.
He put down his colorful drink, looked leisurely at Zhou Yinghuai, and said seriously: "How long do you plan to carry on with this lifestyle?"
"I've never considered it."
"And Jiang Tan hasn't considered it either?"
Zheng Heng glanced at the steaming chicken soup in the pot and unexpectedly showed some rare kindness.
"Yinghuai, we need to be a little more kind as human beings. What kind of treatment is this to Jiang Tan? Girls are emotional. What if she only wants to marry you? What will you do?"
Zhou Yinghuai indeed hadn't thought about it. He did whatever he pleased, mostly doing things only if they amused him.
But Zheng Heng's words were not without reason.
With noble brows, Zhou Yinghuai's eyes glistened hazily as they veiled with steam, a vague darkness flowing within them.
He reduced the flame under the stew pot and spoke in a light voice, "Jiang Tan knows her boundaries."
Zheng Heng looked at the boiling chicken soup in the pot and wanted to say, but the person who doesn't know his boundaries right now is you.
But he had no position to say it.
Before leaving, Zheng Heng took the peach juice from the table, claiming it was for his journey home.
Zhou Yinghuai was not moved by this, suggesting that he will bring a whole crate next time.
Zheng Heng couldn't help laughing, suspecting that his recent reminders had affected Zhou Yinghuai deeply.
Upstairs, Jiang Tan was not sleeping well. When she heard footsteps, she deliberately closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Zhou Yinghuai looked at her, cheeks puffed out, and lightly chuckled, asking gently, "What's making you pout?"
"How dare I be angry? I've just had blood drawn and my body is weak. If young master Zhou isn't pleased, what if he throws me out?"
Jiang Tan noticed his good mood and spoke without restraint.
Zhou Yinghuai pinched her face, neither too hard nor too soft, "Get up."
Jiang Tan's skin was delicate; his pinch left a mark.
She rubbed her cheek, sat up, and asked, "What for?"
Zhou Yinghuai said, "I made chicken soup for you. It's downstairs. Would Miss Jiang Tan honor it with a taste?"
Jiang Tan somewhat regretted not going downstairs earlier.
Had she gone down, she would have seen the lofty and unattainable Zhou Yinghuai humbly cooking soup.
She sat at the dining table, looking at the appetizing chicken soup in front of her. She took out her mobile phone and painstakingly took several photos from various angles.
Zhou Yinghuai sat across from her, watching her earnestly taking pictures and couldn't help but smile, "What's interesting about this?"
"It's a rare spectacle," Jiang Tan replied.
That evening, her appetite was excellent, even unprecedented. She drank half the pot at once until Zhou Yinghuai couldn't stand by and he stopped her, saying, "You should drink less."
Jiang Tan, holding her bowl and gazing at Zhou Yinghuai with wide eyes like a child, asked, "Can you make it again on my birthday?"
"Making unreasonable demands?"
"Are you saying you can't indulgence me a little on my birthday?" she asked, her voice soft and lingering, sweet and soft.
Zhou Yinghuai, as if possessed, said, "I'll try."
Jiang Tan smiled at him, her eyes curving playfully.
The snowfall in Ning City didn't lessen during the night and continued to fall sporadically.
Jiang Tan nestled into Zhou Yinghuai's arms, gazing at his slightly weary eyes. His skin was pale, his eyes deep as ink; the mole at the corner of his eye was pronounced, giving him a sentimental look in the night.
Her gaze was too straightforward. In a hoarse voice, Zhou Yinghuai said, "Do you think that since you just had your blood drawn, I wouldn't dare do anything to you?"
Jiang Tan thought to herself, she must be crazy to provoke him by saying, "Wouldn't doing it now cause me to faint? Zhou Yinghuai, you haven't ever made me faint before, so I'm a bit expectant."
Zhou Yinghuai kept his eyes closed, his expression unreadable. After a while, he chuckled lightly, and in a gentlemanly manner, asked, "Jiang Tan, you looking for thrills?"
He didn't give her a chance to answer; his long fingers entwined with the nape of her neck, starting a languid caress.
Jiang Tan's face turned red, hearing Zhou Yinghuai's light voice in her ear.
He said, "Jiang Tan, I can make you faint using only my hands. Do you believe me?"
The snow outside was piled on Mingyuan's ground lights, completely covering their original color, leaving only a sheet of white.
Jiang Tan trailed her tired body to the jz study abroad agency, all the way listless and unenthusiastic.
Meng Yanxi didn't have class today, but he still came.
He sat in Jiang Tan's office, his gaze falling on her tired face, and raised his eyebrows, "That intense?"
Jiang Tan smiled bitterly and asked, "Would you believe me if I said that my attempt to gain an advantage only ended up worse off?"
Meng Yanxi replied, "Yes, I'd believe it. Last night, Zheng Heng traveled across half of Ning City to steal a chicken from my grandfather's vegetable garden. Early this morning, my grandfather called to scold me."
Jiang Tan was embarrassed, thinking of the delicious chicken from the previous night. She laughed dryly, "No wonder it tasted so good. It was a chicken from a scholarly family."
Meng Yanxi couldn't help but laugh. Seeing that Jiang Tan had cheered up a bit, he changed the topic and asked, "You've been running this institution for so long, have you ever thought about studying abroad yourself?"
Jiang Tan had never considered this matter. When asked by Meng Yanxi, she was momentarily stunned, "Actually... I've never thought about it."
In the half-year she'd spent with Zhou Yinghuai, Jiang Tan hadn't thought about leaving.
However, Meng Yanxi seemed to have thought further and he said, "Jiang Tan, this world is vast, it's not just about Zhou Yinghuai, you could go to many places."
He put a plane ticket in front of Jiang Tan, spoke softly, "After your birthday is over, you can go to Africa with me. I've organized a charity event there for that period of time which you could participate in."
Jiang Tan looked at the name of the unfamiliar country on the air ticket, hesitating before saying, "But... wouldn't it be troublesome for you to bring me along?"
"No trouble," Meng Yanxi smiled, his handsome face radiant, his smile elegant, his eyes deep. He said, "Jiang Tan, Ning City is great, but you could go to many other places, to explore the limitless possibilities of your life."
Jiang Tan picked up the plane ticket, thought for a moment, then put it into her bag, "Let me think about it."
Meng Yanxi smiled gently, "Of course."
Jiang Tan didn't know if other girls liked their birthdays, at least for her, it wasn't something to look forward to.
However, her birthday just happened to be on Christmas Day, so when everyone was celebrating together, Jiang Tan considered it as the whole world celebrating her birthday.
But this year was different, this year there was Zhou Yinghuai.
So when she sat in the Hot Spring Manor, 500 kilometers away from Ning City, all this felt unbelievable.
Jiang Tan submerged herself in the hot spring and saw Zhou Yinghuai wearing a bathrobe, walking over from not too far away.
He sat down beside her, the ground was wet, but he didn't mind. He just reached out to touch her wet hair. His noble and aloof face bore a casual smile.
The clock struck twelve, a long dull chime reverberating through the air.
He leaned down to kiss her forehead, his voice extremely warm and soft, "Happy birthday, Princess Tantan."