Chapter 5
224 Words
Jiang Shenghe’s phone lit up with a message: What time? Picking you up?
No need. See you tonight. He swapped his sunglasses for rimless glasses, feigning focus on emails as Luo Qi rose briefly across the aisle.
She sent scenic train photos to Pei Shixiao. His lukewarm reply—Nice shots—lacked his usual playfulness. When she probed, he claimed to be out.
The film credits rolled. Luo Qi glanced right, freezing mid-turn. Jiang Shenghe met her gaze over his laptop. “You needed something?”
“Requesting to visit my parents tonight.”
“Free time doesn’t require approval.” His glasses magnified the frost in his eyes.
In Sucheng’s humid twilight, Secretary Ju dragged Luo Qi through neon-lit alleys. “Your hometown’s magical!”
At the night market, Jiang Shenghe’s laughter carried over sizzling skewers. Lu Baisheng—his oldest friend turned English teacher—dusted chalk from slacks. “Still hellbent on martyrdom?”
Jiang Shenghe opened a soda for Luo Qi, their fingers brushing. “She’ll need allies here after marrying into the Peis.”
Lu snorted. “Introduce us then. But quit staring—she’s engaged.”
“Observant today, aren’t we?”
Their banter died as Luo Qi approached, her off-shoulder dress luminous under fairy lights. Jiang Shenghe’s throat tightened. This memory would haunt colder nights.
- Writer
