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墨書 Inktalez
That night on my birthday, my mom video-called me. Maybe it was the lighting, but she kept saying I had lost a lot of weight.
Even though I told her I was eating well, she didn't believe me and insisted on bringing me food. I thought she was just saying it casually.
I didn't expect her to actually show up at my door the next day, accompanied by Xu Jingnian.
"Titi, your boyfriend happened to finish work too. This guy is a bit clueless; he pressed the button for the 15th floor when he got in the elevator. Luckily, I recognized him as your boyfriend and told him you live on the 16th floor."
I was speechless.
Xu Jingnian was also at a loss for words.
Once my mom came in, she kept talking to Xu Jingnian without giving him a chance to breathe.
I leaned in to listen, and they were already discussing marriage.
I felt dizzy and deafened, wishing I could just disappear on the spot.
My mom threw out her most pressing question: "When do you two plan to get married?"
I thought Xu Jingnian would just throw out some random date, but instead, he replied thoughtfully: "We've bought a house and a car, prepared a dowry of 200,000 yuan. We're both quite busy with work this year, so we're planning for the second half of next year."
He looked serious and nervous, acting convincingly.
My mom couldn't stop smiling and said, "That's good enough! Auntie sees your attitude. Titi can be a bit careless and doesn't take care of herself well; I hope you can be more tolerant of her."
"Her dad and I both support you two. Whenever you both have time, come over for dinner. Uncle cooks well and wants to meet you."
I stood aside without even a chance to interject.
The way they were acting, anyone would think Xu Jingnian was about to marry me.
Not to mention when my mom was cooking, Xu Jingnian showed off a couple of skills that completely impressed her.
I've never seen her so satisfied with anyone before.
After a busy while, my mom received a phone call and hurried home.
Xu Jingnian was still in the kitchen washing dishes with a wry smile. I quickly went over to help: "Thank you! I'm really sorry for putting you through this; you performed so well that my mom will definitely be unable to sleep tonight."
Xu Jingnian handed me the cleaned plates and continued washing dishes, asking me, "Are you in a hurry to get married?"
"I'm not in a hurry; my parents are more anxious."
I shrugged.
"Then if you're single... would you consider trying me?"
I paused while drying the plates: "Is that really an option?"
"It must be."
I looked over at him; his eyes were sincere as he carefully repeated, "I will unconditionally approve any relationship application from you."
"You are too nice."
He even let me touch his abs, called me his girlfriend, and helped resolve major family conflicts.
"Yes, you'll know in the future that I especially listen to you. When you asked me to call you 'wife,' I did it without hesitation."
Me: ...What the heck.
He brought up my embarrassing past without mercy.
I quickly retorted, "Maybe you're enjoying it too; otherwise, you would have stuffed my mouth with cotton long ago."
"You're half right..."
He leaned closer to me, close enough that I could see myself in his eyes and feel his warm breath.
"All done, girlfriend."
After confirming our relationship, I rarely went to my best friend's house for meals anymore.
Because Xu Jingnian was there.
He would urge me to sleep early, make breakfast every day and bring it upstairs for me, and heat up milk for me after I got out of bed.
One day he made dinner and asked if I wanted to come eat.
I felt a bit lazy, lying in bed and not wanting to move, so I replied, "No thanks, I'm too lazy to go downstairs."
"Open the door."
"What?"
"I'm coming to your house to eat."
After dinner, while cleaning up the dishes, I accidentally bumped into his phone, causing the screen to light up.
His phone wallpaper was a picture of me.
I walked over to him and said, "You changed your wallpaper to me; should I set you as my wallpaper too?"
Before he could respond, I pulled him in for a quick photo.
I leaned in and kissed his cheek, snapped the picture, and set it as my wallpaper.
Xu Jingnian was very happy and leaned down to watch me fiddle with the wallpaper settings. I looked up and found him staring at me in a daze.
"What's wrong?"
"I want a kiss on my right cheek too."
As I pondered what trick he was trying to play, he said, "Good things come in pairs; let's do it again."
I smiled helplessly at him and leaned in to kiss his right cheek. But unexpectedly, he turned towards me, and our lips met suddenly.
He didn't give me a chance to pull away; he wrapped his arms around my waist, starting with gentle teasing that turned into soft nibbles and then passionate responses...
I was talking about a kiss.
In the midst of rapid breathing and a heart pounding like a drum, I saw love and desire filling his eyes.
Later when I chatted with my best friend about this incident, her focus was strangely different.
"Which of your photos is his wallpaper? It can't be that ugly picture of you taken when you were under general anesthesia at the hospital, right?"
"Of course not! It's that photo of me at the music festival, the one where I'm wearing a hat and playing the piano in the back..."
Before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly remembered that Xu Jingnian had bought a box of my signed albums.
I didn't expect him to be my fan.
So I messaged him: "Do you want a signed photo?"
He replied instantly: "What signed photo?"
I said: "I know, you bought the album with the rabbit running, right? That’s me."
"Hehe, didn’t see that coming, did you? Do you want a signature?"
"Yes."
Why does he not seem surprised at all?
"You silly, he’s using your music festival photo as his wallpaper; he must have known for a long time!"
My best friend gave my head a light tap to remind me.
"Oh right, look at my brain."
I continued to ask Xu Jingnian: "What kind do you want? A signed photo, a signature on a photo together...?"
"I haven't thought about it yet."
"I can sign whatever you want; it's a privilege for your boyfriend."
"Okay, you said it. I'll remember that."
When he came back in the evening, he asked if I really meant any kind would be fine to sign.
I nodded: "As long as I can sign it, I'll arrange everything for you."
...
The next morning, I woke up and looked at the marks I had left on Xu Jingnian's neck and chest from my kisses, feeling quite embarrassed.
Xu Jingnian rubbed my head affectionately and said with a happy smile, "Other people's signatures are on paper; only yours is on my body."
Recently, I've been writing new songs.
But I'm lacking inspiration for the melody. Following my usual habit, I went back to read comments on my previous songs to seek some inspiration.
I came across that long comment from X again.
It talked about how he pursued medicine because of a girl he had a crush on and how he finally got to see her again and they have been in contact.
As I pondered over the comment, I suddenly noticed X's profile picture.
It was a stray cat.
That’s not the point.
The point is that it looks exactly like Xu Jingnian's WeChat profile picture.
Xu Jingnian really enjoys feeding the stray cats downstairs, and the one in his profile picture is the one he has fed the longest. This profile picture, name, and even personal information are all identical to Xu Jingnian's.
I carefully reviewed his personal comments again. If this is indeed Xu Jingnian, then hasn’t he been secretly in love with me since high school? I began to think in confusion. What was there about me back then that was worth liking? I was always sick; a gust of wind could knock me down. My grades were all red, at the bottom for three years, and my scores in the Art Examination were barely passing.
Moreover, I hardly went to school, so I wasn’t even familiar with my classmates. Let alone someone like Xu Jingnian, who was even further away from me. So, I chose a weekend and told Xu Jingnian, "I want to go back to our alma mater."
Strolling on the playground, Sophora tree flowers fell with the wind, creating a grand atmosphere. Xu Jingnian sighed, "Many years ago, you liked to play the flute here." I responded with a soft "mm," encouraging him to continue.
Xu Jingnian said, "During that time, my parents divorced, and I was feeling down. I liked coming here to clear my mind. Later on, I grew fond of your flute music and would come to listen."
"Then one day you suddenly disappeared; I never saw you again."
"I went for training."
"When you returned after your Art Examination to catch up on cultural classes, I heard the teacher mention you, saying you often fell ill. I was someone without any grand ambitions and had a vague idea of the future, but at that moment, I became determined; I wanted to study medicine.
"If possible, I want you to be healthy so you can keep playing the piano and flute and do what you love."
The autumn wind blew with a chill, and our pant legs and skirts brushed against the Sophora flowers. Xu Jingnian's bangs fluttered in the wind, and it felt as if I saw the boy from when I was eighteen waving at me—someone I had never noticed before.
I reached out my hand and held onto him from ten years later.
(End of text)
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