That day, after memorizing legal statutes, taking a shower, and climbing into bed, Jiang Mian pulled out his phone, ready to listen to some more foreign language audio. It was then he noticed Chen Gu hadn’t accepted the meal payment but had instead refunded it back to him.
So he sent the money again. The clock just happened to strike midnight. Jiang Mian hesitated briefly but ultimately decided not to say “Happy Birthday” here.
They’d meet again tomorrow anyway. He could give his well-wishes and his gift together.
But what Jiang Mian hadn’t expected was that he wouldn’t see Chen Gu the next day.
He wished Chen Yishen a happy birthday. When he handed over the prepared gift, Chen Yishen said to him, “It’s just the three of us today.”
Jiang Mian froze.
Beside him, Zhou Yuhui added with a complicated expression, “It’s just… well… we only saw the message this morning. Chen Gu sent Chen Yishen a message yesterday saying something came up and he had to leave early.”
She added meaningfully, “He even sent Chen Yishen a separate apology.”
Jiang Mian thought the apology was necessary. After all, Chen Gu had indeed come close to hurting Chen Yishen.
If Chen Gu had said all those things he’d planned to, even someone as thick-skinned as Chen Yishen would’ve been wounded. But…
Jiang Mian didn’t know what to say and could only offer dryly, “But today is also his birthday.”
Chen Yishen was also lamenting. “Yeah, I was saying this year I could finally spend a birthday with my brother. Guess my wish is still falling through.”
As he unwrapped Jiang Mian’s gift, he sighed. “This year, again, I can only send him a ‘Happy Birthday’ on DingDong. I’ll give him his gift next time we meet.”
While he was speaking, Chen Yishen had already opened the gift box. So, without waiting for Jiang Mian or Zhou Yuhui to say anything, he exclaimed again, “Huihui, look! I told you our Lawyer Jiang would get me a phone again this year!”
He laughed. “Every year, it’s the latest model. The phones in my drawer could almost open a small phone stall.”
Zhou Yuhui rolled her eyes at him. “Taking advantage and still complaining.”
Jiang Mian told the truth. “I didn’t know what to get. After thinking it over, this is still the most practical.”
“You know what,” Chen Yishen joked, “you and my brother—one got the newest phone, the other the newest earbuds. Strangely fitting.”
Jiang Mian knew he was talking about their gift choices, but he still paused for a full two seconds.
Chen Yishen then said, “So, let’s have breakfast together first, then go fishing? The weather’s decent today.”
By “decent,” he meant the sun wasn’t too strong—good for outdoor activities.
But after pressing his lips together for a moment, Jiang Mian said, “No. I have to go too.”
Chen Yishen: “?”
He was incredulous. “You’re leaving too! Jiang Mian! You have no heart!”
Jiang Mian’s expression showed faint confusion. “People die without a heart. So I do have one.”
Chen Yishen: “…”
Zhou Yuhui: “Pfft.”
Sometimes natural airheadedness was just another form of natural viciousness.
Jiang Mian added an explanation. “There’s a case. I have to follow it. The lawyer mentoring me said this case is rare. I want to go observe and learn.”
Chen Yishen whimpered. “Fine.”
It wasn’t the first time Jiang Mian had missed his birthday. Two years ago, Jiang Mian hadn’t come at all due to something else, only making up for it later with a belated gift.
It wasn’t that he needed Jiang Mian to celebrate with him, nor was Jiang Mian the type to drop everything for him. Sometimes, if he just didn’t feel like going out, he simply wouldn’t come.
After all, a friendship this many years strong didn’t necessarily rely on these things.
Jiang Mian returned to his room. While putting the other two gift boxes into his bag, he called Li Yue.
When he said he was coming in to work overtime, Li Yue expressed surprise but still welcomed it.
So Jiang Mian bought a savory crepe on the road, finished it as a quick breakfast while waiting at red lights, then went home to change into his suit before heading to the firm to clock in.
On the way, Jiang Mian glanced again at his chat window with Chen Gu.
Chen Gu hadn’t said a single thing to him. The money still hadn’t been accepted.
Jiang Mian’s finger hovered over the keyboard for a long while. In the end, he still didn’t send anything.
…Maybe, from now on, he wouldn’t see Chen Gu again.
That “goodbye” probably meant “farewell forever.”
This was what Jiang Mian had been hoping for all along. Yet now that it had truly come, a faint, indescribable feeling spread through his chest.
But before he could quietly sit down and think it through, he was pulled into work alongside Li Yue.
Also, at the start of August, Jiang Mian’s mother, Xiang Wei, came to visit.
She directly came to the firm’s entrance to pick him up after work. When Jiang Mian saw her, he was momentarily stunned.
Wearing a little cocktail dress, Xiang Wei smiled and waved energetically at him. “Babe!”
Under a barrage of curious looks, Jiang Mian walked toward her. Xiang Wei immediately hugged him and planted a red lipstick mark on his cheek. “Surprised?”
Jiang Mian cooperated as much as he could, giving an “Mm,” and matter-of-factly pulled out a tissue to wipe his face. “Why didn’t you call so I could pick you up from the airport?”
“I heard from your dad you’re working part-time at a law firm.” Xiang Wei winked. “Wanted to see how handsome my baby looks in a suit.”
Jiang Mian clocked out. Xiang Wei looped her arm through his. “So handsome.”
As they walked out, Xiang Wei said, “What do you want for dinner? Candlelit? Rooftop? Or a revolving restaurant?”
Jiang Mian looked down at Xiang Wei, who, even in high heels, was still a head shorter than him—after all, Ms. Xiang’s height was only 155 cm. “I want to eat noodles you’ve cooked.”
Xiang Wei looked horrified. “What’s wrong with you? Are you so depressed you want to poison yourself to death?”
Jiang Mian couldn’t keep up with the joke and could only tell the truth. “I won’t die.”
He just… missed her.
It had been another year since they’d last seen each other.
In the end, Jiang Mian still didn’t get to eat Xiang Wei’s cooking. Because Xiang Wei was very self-aware of her title as a kitchen disaster.
She had been raised like a princess. With an older brother and older sister above her, as the youngest, she had been doted on by everyone since childhood.
To be honest, Xiang Wei still couldn’t tell the difference between wheat and rice. She’d always thought they were the same thing.
So instead, they went to eat sashimi and sushi.
Xiang Wei prodded the ice beneath the sashimi with her fork. “So? Got a girlfriend yet?”
Jiang Mian shook his head and took a sip of plum juice. “What about you?”
He kept his eyes lowered, preventing anyone from seeing the look in them. “You… you’re seeing someone now, aren’t you?”
Xiang Wei pressed her fiery red lips together slightly. Her normally bright and confident face grew a bit complicated. “Mianmian, I’m sorry.”
She knew her son was always perceptive, but she hadn’t expected him to notice even something like this.
“Why are you apologizing?” Jiang Mian looked at her, puzzled. “You and Dad are divorced. You’re both free to marry now.”
Xiang Wei couldn’t explain. “But you…”
Jiang Mian waited quietly for a moment. When no continuation came, he spoke up. “Mom, you don’t need to worry about me. You both have already fulfilled your duties. And I turned nineteen this year. I’m an adult. You have no legal obligation to support me anymore.”
His tone was flat, his words organized and slow, as if he were explaining a legal statute to a client. “Besides, even if I hadn’t turned eighteen, as long as you are divorced, you are free to marry. No one but the law has the right to judge.”
Xiang Wei moved her lips. But… they hadn’t given Jiang Mian the love he deserved.
“I’m fine.”
Jiang Mian’s voice was very soft, as if offering comfort, or perhaps talking to himself. “Every person is an independent individual. Just because you gave birth to me doesn’t mean you have to revolve around me. Life is short. Of course, your own happiness is what’s most important.”
Xiang Wei couldn’t speak. In the flickering light, Jiang Mian asked, “That person… what’s he like?”
Xiang Wei gathered her thoughts. Her eyes unconsciously softened with tenderness and attachment. “He’s a very gentle and considerate person.”
She gave a soft laugh. “Sometimes he’s a little silly. He’s a great cook. His Earl Grey tea, paired with his homemade Breton pastries, honestly feels like something I could never get tired of for the rest of my life.”
“And also…”
Xiang Wei told Jiang Mian a lot. Like a young woman in love, she smiled and even showed him a photo of the man. He was of mixed Chinese and European descent, roughly the same height as Jiang Liaoyi, though his physique wasn’t as well-maintained. But the way his arm wrapped around Xiang Wei’s shoulder, the way he looked at her—it was focused and tender.
“Mianmian.” Xiang Wei finally stated her purpose for this visit. “You know Mommy can’t have any more children. So… would you want to move in with me?”
She looked at Jiang Mian cautiously. “I asked Atiao. He says he’d be very happy to have you.”
“I don’t fly around the world anymore. We could live together and see each other every day. You wouldn’t have to live alone so often anymore.”
A trace of hope appeared in Xiang Wei’s eyes. “We could even watch the Spring Festival Gala together on New Year’s Eve and stay up past midnight.”
Jiang Mian looked at her quietly.
In truth, these were all things Jiang Mian had once longed for.
He had thought about what he would answer if one day Xiang Wei came to visit him and asked if he wanted to leave South Boundary with her.
But he could never come up with an answer.
He had grown up here. South Boundary was small, so he knew every brick and tile of the place.
Jiang Liaoyi didn’t spend much time with him, but he spoiled him deeply. If he went with Xiang Wei, if he chased after the maternal love he wanted, what about Jiang Liaoyi?
Jiang Liaoyi wouldn’t call him “Babe” or say “Daddy misses you” like Xiang Wei did. But the feelings between men were just that simple.
Jiang Mian could feel it—Jiang Liaoyi loved him very much too.
Neither Jiang Liaoyi nor Xiang Wei was in the wrong.
They were just better off as friends.
“Mom.”
So Jiang Mian said, “I’ve grown up.”
No excessive words were needed. Those four simple words were answer enough.
The light in Xiang Wei’s eyes dimmed. Somewhat despondent, her voice thick, she said, “Mianmian, is it because Mommy didn’t take you with her back then…”
“No.”
Jiang Mian was honest. “I just think it’s fine the way it is.”
For all these years, things had always been this way. He was long accustomed to it.
Looking at Jiang Mian, Xiang Wei was suddenly reminded of how he had looked when she’d proposed divorce to Jiang Liaoyi.
Back then, Jiang Liaoyi had looked at her just like that, asking in a tone similar to Jiang Mian’s if she was sure.
She had nodded through tears and tantrums. The divorce papers were submitted.
She and Jiang Liaoyi parted peacefully, without giving anyone a spectacle to laugh at.
Even when she saw the assets Jiang Liaoyi had proactively split and given to her, the two of them had politely deferred back and forth for a while. Eventually, with both parties’ agreement, they decided to transfer those assets into Jiang Mian’s name.
What had Xiang Wei thought at that time?
She’d thought Jiang Liaoyi had no heart.
He couldn’t even shed a single tear.
But looking at Jiang Mian now, she inexplicably felt an immense sorrow.
Not because Jiang Mian had refused her.
But because of what Jiang Mian had said.
She had made her child accustomed to being alone.
Jiang Mian wasn’t good at expressing emotions. In this, he was nothing like her. So he could only take after Jiang Liaoyi.
Xiang Wei took a deep breath. “Mianmian, I’m sorry.”
Jiang Mian’s expression was still calm. He shook his head. “It’s okay.”
It seemed… there wasn’t much he could hold against them anyway.
