Chapter Forty-Three: Loving You

Jiang Muwen had imagined a thousand, ten thousand ways Wen Yichen might react to a confession, but never, not even once, had she considered this one.

When Wen Yichen finished speaking, Jiang Muwen was left utterly stunned, as if she had just heard news that could shake the heavens. She stood there, unable to recover for a long time.

The air was suddenly filled with silence. After a moment, Xia Manman’s voice drifted faintly through the phone, “That person… do I know them?”

Wen Yichen didn’t answer.

“Is it… Jiang Muwen?” Xia Manman probed again.

Jiang Muwen, startled to hear her name mentioned so abruptly, felt a wave of confusion rise in her gaze.

“Stop guessing…” Wen Yichen said indifferently, as if there were things he did not wish to tell Xia Manman. “I’m sorry.”

The voice on the other side paused for a beat, then continued. Strangely enough, Xia Manman possessed a stubbornness that bordered on astonishing. “It’s fine, I like you anyway. By the way, you…”

“I have something to do, let’s talk later.” Before Xia Manman could finish, Wen Yichen cut her off, casting a look at Wen Yixin to prompt him to end the call.

Quick as lightning, Wen Yixin ended the call just as Xia Manman was about to speak again.

That evening, after everyone had eaten the cake, Jiang Muwen returned home. Though she had parted ways with Wen Yichen, the words he’d said to Xia Manman lingered in her mind, refusing to fade.

As Jiang Muwen replayed Wen Yichen’s offhand comment—“My parents have already arranged a childhood engagement for me”—a message from Wen Yichen popped up:

“About that… childhood engagement… I just said that without thinking. Don’t take it seriously.”

The sudden message left Jiang Muwen frozen for a moment, as if she’d fallen from a great height to the very depths. Staring at her phone, she found herself unable to grasp what Wen Yichen truly meant.

So… was Wen Yichen just using the engagement as a shield?

Before Jiang Muwen could decide how to reply, another message from Wen Yichen appeared:

“No, what I meant was—”

The message was only half-written, the rest seemingly swallowed by silence, leaving Jiang Muwen hanging in suspense.

Soon after, another message arrived:

“What I just said is true.”

Jiang Muwen stared at the screen, baffled.

A few seconds later, Wen Yichen retracted the previous two messages: “Those weren’t from me, just ignore them.”

Almost immediately, a new notification appeared—this time from Wen Yixin:

“Don’t listen to Wen Yichen’s nonsense!”

Jiang Muwen looked at her phone, bewildered by the antics of these two, suddenly feeling an urge to go next door and see for herself.

Moments later, another message from Wen Yixin arrived:

“Trust me, Wen Yichen is—”

“xihuanniswasddds&*df”

After that jumbled string of letters, Wen Yixin fell silent.

Unbeknownst to her, next door Wen Yichen and Wen Yixin were in chaos, wrestling all over the house to keep each other from sending Jiang Muwen the whole truth. Even with his back strained, Wen Yichen was fighting with every ounce of strength, wild and desperate to snatch Wen Yixin’s phone.

“Wen Yixin, stop running!”

“Even with your back like that, you’re still chasing me?! Besides—if you weren’t chasing me, would I be running?” With a nimble sidestep, Wen Yixin evaded Wen Yichen’s grasp.

Seeing Wen Yichen’s struggle, Wen Yixin felt guilty and decided to stop tormenting him. He set down his phone and looked at Wen Yichen, puzzled. “I just don’t get it, what’s so bad about this childhood engagement? If you don’t want it, just give it to me. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about finding someone!”

At these words, Wen Yichen seemed to take offense, a sense of urgency rising in his chest. “Who said I don’t want it?”

Late at night, Jiang Muwen nestled under her blanket, pondering the strange messages Wen Yixin had sent. Staring at the chaotic string of letters, she couldn’t help but feel something was off. Though jumbled, the first few letters seemed untouched.

Curious, she typed those letters into the chat box. Her heart skipped a beat. Was it merely coincidence? There, quietly suggested by her keyboard, were three words: Like you.

For Jiang Muwen, the sweetest part of a secret crush was cherishing those adorable little details from moments of interaction, amplifying them, savoring them, and delighting in them alone. But perhaps even sweeter was hearing someone else say, “He likes you.”

She had heard “he likes you” from more than one person, and each time, she’d steal away a little happiness for herself.

...

The next morning, as soon as Jiang Muwen entered the classroom, she spotted a bottle of milk standing on her desk.

Curious, she walked over to her seat, but before sitting down, she noticed the pile of gifts on Wen Yichen’s desk—five or six presents, wrapped in pink and scattered messily. It was obvious at a glance that girls had given them.

Jiang Muwen had heard that a few girls from other classes were fond of Wen Yichen, but she hadn’t paid it any mind, since she’d never seen any love letters sent his way. Naturally, she hadn’t taken those rumors seriously.

On second thought, Wen Yichen really was quite good-looking—a clean, bright boy. It wasn’t strange for a few girls to like him. Still, this was the first time she saw him receive so many gifts.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the presents before drifting back to the bottle of milk on her own desk. Perhaps… one of Wen Yichen’s admirers had left it on the wrong desk?

“Bai Xu, help me return these gifts,” Wen Yichen said languidly.

“Ah—why is it always me?” Bai Xu complained, unwilling.

Just then, Jiang Muwen, holding the bottle of milk, carefully placed it on Wen Yichen’s desk. “Um… is this yours, too?”

Wen Yichen looked at the milk, about to ask Bai Xu to return it as well, when Bai Xu interrupted, “Oh, come on! The presents have cards with names, so I know who sent them, but this milk doesn’t have a name. Just drink it!”

Persuaded, Wen Yichen reluctantly accepted the bottle, opened the cap, and took a sip. At that moment, Yin Lizhe, who had been napping at his desk, woke up.

He stretched and glanced at Jiang Muwen’s desk, a hint of surprise flickering in his sleepy eyes. “Hey, big bro—the bottle of milk I put on your desk, you finished it already?!”

The words had no sooner left his lips when Wen Yichen’s eyes widened in alarm. The shock was so great he choked on his drink, coughing violently.