Chapter Sixty-Four: Jealousy (Part Two)

“…?” Overwhelming curiosity made Jiang Muwen even more eager to know exactly what Wen Yichen had sent—what on earth could he have written that, after sending it, he chose to withdraw the message?

On the other end of the phone, Wen Yichen was holding his phone, leaning against the side of his bed, his face flushed deep red, heart pounding wildly, as if he had just sprinted from the first floor all the way to the eleventh.

A moment later, Jiang Muwen sent a message: “? What did you just send? Why did you retract it?”

Jiang Muwen held her phone, full of confusion. She’d only glimpsed a lengthy block of text, but hadn’t caught a single word.

She stared at the screen, watching the string of “The other party is typing…” in the chat box, and, to her surprise, suddenly grew anxious. He’d just sent so much—what could it have been?

While she was still pondering, Wen Yichen sent another message: “Did you see it all?”

Jiang Muwen looked at the screen, bemused. If she had seen it, she wouldn’t be reacting like this: “No, I didn’t!”

She thought Wen Yichen would resend the message, but unexpectedly, he replied, “It’s good you didn’t see it.”

This only made Jiang Muwen even more curious—what could be so unspeakable?

Jiang Muwen: “What on earth did you send?”

Wen Yichen: “It’s nothing. Rest early. Good night.”

After sending that message, Wen Yichen leaned back on the bed and let out a long sigh, then closed his eyes—today, Bai Xu had made a bet with him: if Wen Yichen confessed to Jiang Muwen, she would say yes without a doubt.

Wen Yichen himself couldn’t explain what possessed him tonight; somehow, he had followed Bai Xu’s suggestion.

Fortunately, he’d withdrawn the message in time, so Jiang Muwen hadn’t seen it.

If he hadn’t witnessed Gu Nianchun sending Jiang Muwen home today, perhaps he wouldn’t have felt so insecure; perhaps the intense possessiveness stirring within him had driven him to such a reckless act.

…

The next evening’s tutoring session arrived as usual, yet as Jiang Muwen sat beside Wen Yichen, she found the atmosphere strangely awkward—nothing had actually happened between them, and yet an inexplicable tension lingered in the air.

Wen Yichen radiated a kind of indescribable aura, which made Jiang Muwen lose the courage to speak.

After explaining a few practice problems to her, Wen Yichen had her start working through the exercises on her own.

The room fell silent once more. February in A City was still frigid; though the heater was on, Jiang Muwen couldn’t help but shiver.

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Wen Yichen was somehow different from usual tonight, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

“Did you go to Gu Nianxi’s house yesterday?” Wen Yichen’s low voice finally broke the quiet.

Jiang Muwen paused her pen, then nodded softly.

“So… last night… who took you home?” Wen Yichen pressed.

“Gu Nianxi’s brother.”

“Her brother?” Wen Yichen repeated.

“Mm, she lives with her brother,” Jiang Muwen added.

Wen Yichen simply replied, “Oh.” For some reason, he felt there was something unusual about this brother—as a guy himself, he could sense the subtle intentions Gu Nianchun had toward Jiang Muwen.

“How old is he?”

It was rare for Wen Yichen, who normally had no interest in other boys, to ask such a question. Jiang Muwen was surprised: “He’s about eight years older than us. Xiao Xi said he’s helping Uncle Gu manage the company now—he’s really amazing!”

As soon as Jiang Muwen finished speaking, Wen Yichen’s gaze tightened. Had she not added those last words, he wouldn’t have felt anything, but hearing them now, he was overcome by a strange feeling, as if something that had always obediently stayed by his side had suddenly grown legs and run off with someone else.

Wen Yichen gave no response at all—not even a simple “oh.”

Perhaps it was his question that opened a floodgate: Jiang Muwen put down her pen and began enthusiastically introducing Gu Nianxi’s almost otherworldly brother. “You know what? Gu Nianxi’s brother is so handsome! The two of them are like celestial beings—their looks are out of this world!”

Wen Yichen stared at his book, utterly unresponsive—of course he knew; he’d seen the man himself yesterday.

“I’m not exaggerating, he’s really incredible—young and accomplished, and he cooks so well!” Jiang Muwen went on, savoring the memory of the dinner Gu Nianchun had made for them yesterday. It had been a feast for all the senses, as if a deity had descended to cook.

A man who was good-looking, capable, and cooked delicious food—he was like a hidden treasure.

Jiang Muwen was so caught up in her praise that she never noticed Wen Yichen’s expression—his face was now as dark as a thundercloud. He stared at his book but couldn’t read a single word, gripping the pages so tightly it seemed he might tear them to pieces.

“Don’t you think that whoever marries Gu Nianxi’s brother in the future must have saved the universe in a past life…” Oblivious, Jiang Muwen continued to dance on the edge of Wen Yichen’s patience.

As soon as those words left her mouth, the taut string in Wen Yichen’s heart finally snapped.

The next second, Wen Yichen slammed his book shut with a heavy clap.

“Bang—”

The sudden sound startled Jiang Muwen into a shiver. She immediately fell silent, staring at Wen Yichen, looking for all the world like a child who’d just done something wrong.

The room plunged into a deathly silence, the air around Wen Yichen dense with a suffocating pressure.

“Have you finished the exercises?” he finally asked, his voice cold as ice, making Jiang Muwen shiver anew.

The moment his gaze landed on her, she froze. His eyes were frosty. Jiang Muwen assumed he was annoyed by her chatter, so she forced a pitiful smile, fumbling around on the desk until she found her pen: “Not yet, I’ll get right to it…”

He was angry—she could tell. But she had no idea why this boy in front of her was upset. Jiang Muwen simply thought Wen Yichen was annoyed by her talking too much and disturbing his reading.

And she certainly didn’t notice the jealousy wafting off him—the vinegar in his jar was already overflowing.

Still… she really was quite noisy, noisy enough to drive Wen Yichen nearly mad, noisy enough that he wanted to find something to stuff her mouth shut right then and there—who knew what kind of spell Gu Nianchun had cast on this girl, that once she started talking, she just couldn’t stop singing his praises to the heavens.