"How have you been lately?"

Jiang Nian drove slowly, one hand wiping the steering wheel. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Chen Yunyun, who had fastened her seat belt.

"Mm." Chen Yunyun nodded.

"Not bad."

Hearing that, Jiang Nian glanced at her again. He wondered whether "not bad" was a good word, or an emotional word.

"Yeah? That’s good then."

If the conversation stopped here, the other person would either go silent, or toss out a "What about you?" halfway through.

Then he’d be on the back foot.

Jiang Nian felt he did owe Chen Yunyun, but he really hadn’t hurt her; young people kissing a bit wasn’t exactly abnormal.

And he hadn’t gone as far as making out with two mouths at once—that was his last shred of conscience.

So he didn’t want to turn himself into some sinner. As he drove, he mulled over how to take the initiative.

"What do you want to eat later?"

"Anything."

"Then I’m going to order what I want." Jiang Nian glanced at her. "If you end up hungry later..."

"You won’t hold it against me, right?"

"I won’t."

"You have to mean what you say." Jiang Nian circled around lazily; sometimes problems really weren’t unsolvable.

"Mm."

Being able to meet was already a good start.

And it wasn’t really some chaotic scene anyway; Jiang Nian hadn’t hidden anything. Before the relationship took another step, he’d already laid his cards on the table.

The remnants of a conscience.

Of course, he had his own selfish motives too. No need to spell them out; some things are judged by what you do, not what you think.

When they arrived, the parking spot was far from the temple. The two of them had to get out and walk over.

As usual, they walked side by side.

Chen Yunyun’s heart was a mix of emotions, that sentence kept echoing in her head: "I like you, and I like them too."

She’d expected it, but still couldn’t accept it.

On the street shaded by locust trees, soft sunlight fell, giving the whole street a bright, glaring feel.

Jiang Nian spoke first, taking the initiative to apologize.

"About last time, that was my fault. Seeing how you are today, I feel even more guilty."

"Sigh."

"It’s fine, it’s my problem." Chen Yunyun lowered her head, instinctively taking the blame onto herself.

Jiang Nian immediately followed, "It’s not your problem, I was the one who lost my head and insisted on talking like that." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The truth was, that was the only way he could say it.

If he’d been too vague, the fallout later would’ve been endless. It was something that had to be gone through; once it’s over, it’s over.

If things hadn’t completely broken, then they could still slowly mend.

But...

If he hadn’t said enough back then, and had hidden even a little, when everything blew up later, he’d really end up all alone.

Chen Yunyun pressed her lips together and, after a moment of silence, said:

"Actually..."

"I’m not that hung up on what you said that day. It’s just... because the gap between us is too big."

With women, you hear the opposite: "not hung up" means she is.

Plant a marker first.

Wait until she finished, then circle back to slowly patch things up, apologizing and making it up to her around those words.

"Whatever I think doesn’t change anything. Even if I get mad, it doesn’t help."

"From start to finish, there’s nothing I can do."

Those words were a bit heavy.

Everyone has a different personality; Yunyun was soft by nature. But she didn’t want to be someone’s appendage, just drifting along.

Jiang Nian said, "You have the right to say no, and you did. The fault’s mine, I shouldn’t have said those things."

As for the "gap" part, he didn’t address it.

Answering had to have a focus. Put simply, emotional problems can be short-, mid-, and long-term.

There were two things Chen Yunyun cared about.

One was what he’d said.

The girl’s emotions were unsettled; she’d been feeling awful these days. That was a short-term issue, something that could be smoothed over if he coaxed her now.

The other was the gap.

The two of them were at different stages in life; the little girl was still in school, while he was already a small boss with a few million.

That was a long-term issue, not something that could be solved quickly. No matter how much he talked, he couldn’t change that.

So it was very clear what he should say, and how.

"I won’t say that kind of thing next time. If you’re free this weekend, how about going to the library to read together?"

"Half a month ago, I went to your school once. Your library’s pretty nice."

This was a lie.

He’d never set foot in her school library, because he couldn’t get in, but that was just an excuse.

Study rooms, public libraries, museums—they could all go.

The main thing was tailoring it to the person, making promises based on her personality and habits, so she could see his sincerity.

Whether they actually went later was another story.

Since Chen Yunyun minded the gap, he had to pay extra attention, go to places student union members would go, blur that layer of difference.

Bro’s a college student too!

....

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun did indeed hesitate.

She had more or less digested those emotions, but seeing him brought them back up. Over these six months, they hadn’t spent much time together.

Now, Jiang Nian had lowered himself, using concrete actions to show he wanted to make it up to her.

If she refused...

Maybe...

Chen Yunyun pressed her lips together and thought for half a minute. In the end, she still couldn’t refuse, and nodded in agreement.

"What you said... is it true?"

Hearing that, he finally let out a quiet breath. Once he’d gotten that breath out, everything after would be easier.

"Yeah." Jiang Nian nodded hard, speaking with a slightly guilty tone, "I won’t do that again next time."

"Okay, then come find us next week."

"Alright, next we—" Jiang Nian stopped mid-sentence, suddenly froze, and looked up at her.

"You’re bringing Wang Yuhe?"

"Mm." The corners of Chen Yunyun’s mouth lifted slightly, as if she’d regained a bit of ground. "Come on, we’re already here."

"Alright then." Jiang Nian agreed, reluctant.

He looked up; they were already at the entrance of Guangji Temple.

An hour later.

On Jiang Nian’s side, after wandering around the temple with Chen Yunyun, he’d more or less found a breakthrough; the two of them were no longer deadlocked.

Their relationship had softened quite a bit; at least it wouldn’t go cold anymore.