Graduated.

The first day of the lunar new year.

Qiao Town, usually gloomy and cold, welcomed the brightest sun of the entire winter. Although the surrounding air still held a piercing chill, it offered a chance to bask in the gentle, warm sunlight.

Jiang Chen sat quietly in the glass sunroom.

Taking a small sip of clear tea, his gaze settled on the young girl who had suddenly appeared along the riverbank.

He smiled silently.

His clear, refined eyebrows and eyes lacked any sharp edge or lingering allure.

He was simply smiling.

Beyond the glass, the outlines of distant mountains were visible, and all the scenery felt worlds away from the bustling atmosphere of a metropolis.

Ye Mian walked out of the courtyard gate carrying a bundle of dried persimmons.

Since it was the New Year, the lively spirit of Qiao Town was unabated, purely because this place enjoyed beautiful vistas all year round.

She bypassed the red firecracker wrappers and small snowdrifts, heading toward the exquisite little courtyard.

The sun was out, and its gentle light fell, turning the girl's exhaled breath into white mist.

She stood before the courtyard gate and knocked.

Expecting Jiang Chen to open the door, she was surprised to find the driver instead.

Jiang Chen's driver always looked rather fierce, wearing a black down jacket with a buzz cut, a winding scar down the side of his neck, and a remarkably burly build with fists like iron hammers.

Tch, he looked like the kind of person who could take on eight others with a single punch.

Ye Mian even suspected that Jiang Chen had hired his driver based on bodyguard criteria.

Seeing Ye Mian, the driver showed no surprise, simply opening the door to let her in.

She looked around left and right without catching a sight of Jiang Chen.

After inquiring, she learned from the driver that Jiang Chen had forced himself to walk with her for too long yesterday.

The pain had become severe in the middle of the night, prompting a doctor's visit.

The doctor had ordered a day of rest before he could venture out for long walks again.

Ye Mian's eyes widened. She clearly remembered the doctor saying when his cast was removed that it would take a week or two to resume walking.

She had assumed Jiang Chen was taking good care of himself and recovering faster than others.

Now she realized that money and power were not omnipotent; they could not replace time in healing the body.

She headed upstairs.

The February wind poured into her lungs,

making her both clear-headed and heartbroken.

The heating enveloped the entire house, the central air conditioning emitting a faint humming sound, while the subtle fragrance of solid wood furniture hovered at the tip of her nose.

The man sat on the sofa, his expression unchanged—noble and gentle, entirely devoid of the haggard misery of a midnight medical visit. The streaming sunlight was scattered and soft, blending into his smoke-gray light eyes, while the slender corners of his eyes held fragmented smiles.

Extraordinarily eye-catching.

Ye Mian froze for a second. Having known Jiang Chen for so long, she was still prone to being captivated by his inherent aura in certain moments.

Following that, a low chuckle escaped the man's throat. He set down his teacup and made to stand up.

Ye Mian was so startled that her heartbeat skipped a beat for a second.

"Don't move!"

Jiang Chen paused mid-motion, his brow arching slightly as he smiled warmly, "You're here?"

"Mhm, I brought you the dried persimmons from home."

Ye Mian took out the small basket and, mimicking her grandmother's movements, peeled back the layers of cotton cloth one by one to reveal a bright yellow and snowy white dried persimmon.

"Would you like to try one?"

Jiang Chen was very close to her.

So close that Ye Mian could clearly see his straight nose bridge and the distinct texture of his eyebrows, and catch the sharp fragrance on him, mingled with the scent of tobacco.

It felt like she hadn't looked at him this closely in a long time.

Walking outdoors yesterday, they had rarely encountered such good light.

"Thank you, little Ye Mian."

Jiang Chen reached out to take the soft, chewy persimmon, bit into it, and though he usually wasn't fond of sweets, he didn't refuse this time. Instead, with a softened expression, he said, "It's delicious."

Hearing this, Ye Mian smiled and took out a pair of earrings she had bought at a silver shop in Qiao Town.

"I also bought you a pair of earrings. Want to try them on? I'll put them on for you."

Jiang Chen hadn't expected this at all. Without even looking at the design, he cooperatively let her put them on him.

Today he was wearing a black turtleneck sweater of excellent texture, his dark hair and deep eyes setting off his fair skin like drifting snow outside the window.

Ye Mian walked around the table and aimed the silver pin at his ear piercing.

Carefully aligning it but not daring to use too much force, she found the earring pin simply wouldn't go through.

After several attempts, the result was still the same.

She blinked helplessly.

In neither her past nor present life had she ever pierced her own ears.

She truly hadn't expected putting on earrings to be a technical skill.

Just as she was debating whether to open a search engine to learn how,

a hand reached up.

"Like this. Use a bit more force."

The man's voice seemed deliberately low and laden with amusement. His fingers carried a cool temperature, casually blanketing her skin as his fingertips pressed against her index finger.

With a gentle push,

the earring pin slipped right in.

When the silver earrings were in the silver shop, set against black velvet, they had looked sacred and brilliant.

Silver had been considered a sacred color since ancient times.

Yet for some reason,

once worn on Jiang Chen's ear, the vibe completely changed.

The faint, crisp twilight spilled from the sky. From this angle, she could only see the man's pale, cold skin and his earlobe, now adorned with the stud.

It was excessively sexy and alluring.

Coupled with the words he had just spoken, for the very first time, Ye Mian found her mind wandering to improper thoughts.

Ancient tales of strange occurrences often recorded that,

on snowy days, seductive fox spirits would frequently lure upright scholars.

Her face burning with heat, Ye Mian took a tiny step backward.

Yet Jiang Chen looked up at her, their gazes meeting, and asked slowly in a lazy tone, "Does it look good?"

!!

Male fox spirits really knew how to seduce people.

I doubt the scholars, now I understand the scholars!

Ye Mian opened her mouth to answer.

"It looks good."

Outwardly calm and composed,

inwardly screaming in frenzy.

All morning long, Ye Mian's eyes kept straying to his earlobe.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen's gentle and aloof demeanor remained completely normal.

People who flirt without realizing it are always like this.

She considered herself somewhat accustomed to this kind of elusive flirting.

She could only drink a couple more cups of hot tea to calm her infatuated desires.

As a sip of clear tea went down,

Ye Mian suddenly thought of something, raised her eyes, and asked him, "When are you going back to America?"

Jiang Chen paused in his tea-drinking, the corners of his mouth curving upward, "In another month."

Ye Mian's heart tightened, "Does your graduation time match mine?"

The Jiang Chen of her past life had definitely returned to China.

However, Ye Mian knew very well that this was no longer the past life.

Too much had changed and happened in this lifetime.

She couldn't be entirely certain.

She had no idea whether Jiang Chen would return to China to build his career.

Outside the window, the sunlight was mostly blocked by drifting clouds.

Jiang Chen sat on the sofa, his eyes drooping slightly, the corners of his mouth—

"I've already graduated early."

"…!"

"So going back next month is just to wind up my previous investments."

"…?"

"It won't be long before I'm back."

"…?"

Ye Mian was stunned by this news, her expression one of utter astonishment mixed with a trace of bewilderment.

Is this where the gap between humans lies?

After a long while, she looked up at Jiang Chen again, took a deep breath, and said, "Having a great brain really is remarkable. I am truly in awe."