119: Chapter 119 You're Not Alone Anymore

At six o'clock, the sky gradually began to darken.

Jiang Fan said goodbye to Mother Fang, and just as he stepped out of that iron gate, rapid footsteps sounded from behind him.

Mother Fang trotted after him and stuffed a plastic bag into his hand.

"It's homemade pickled vegetables, take them. You loved eating these when you were little."

"Thank you, Mother Fang."

Mother Fang stood at the doorway, her eyes crinkling as she smiled.

The setting sun shone from behind her, casting a silvery halo around her greying hair.

"Next time, bring your girlfriend back for Mother Fang to see."

Jiang Fan's footsteps faltered.

Girlfriend.

The faces of Xu Qingya, Su Yuyan, and Shen Nian flashed through his mind.

Which one should he bring?

If he brought all of them, Mother Fang would likely beat him with a rolling pin on the spot.

"Uh... sure."

"Go on back, stay safe on the road."

Jiang Fan turned around and walked toward the main road, carrying the bag of pickled vegetables.

After walking about twenty steps, he looked back and saw Mother Fang still standing at the doorway, waving at him.

He raised his hand to wave back and waited by the roadside for a dozen minutes before flagging down a taxi.

The car drove onto the outer ring road, and the bungalows outside the window turned back into high-rise buildings.

Just as they entered the city center, his phone chimed.

Shen Nian: "Where did you go? The Studio has already closed for the day, where are you?"

Jiang Fan replied: "Went out to take care of some business, coming back now."

Shen Nian: "Have you eaten dinner?"

Jiang Fan glanced at the bag of pickled vegetables on his lap.

"Not yet."

Shen Nian: "Come eat at my place. I just learned how to cook a few dishes."

Jiang Fan replied with a "Sure" and pocketed his phone.

The car was stuck on the inner ring road, moving in fits and starts for forty minutes.

By the time he arrived downstairs at the apartment building, it was completely dark.

Jiang Fan paid the fare, got out of the car, and took the elevator upstairs, carrying the pickled vegetables.

When he pushed the door open, the scent of porridge wafted out from the kitchen.

"You're back?" Shen Nian's voice came from inside.

"Yeah."

There were two dishes on the dining table—a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a plate of stir-fried seasonal vegetables. It was very simple.

Jiang Fan placed the pickled vegetables on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Shen Nian turned off the stove, ladled two bowls of porridge, and brought them out.

Passing by the dining table, she caught sight of the plastic bag and picked it up with one hand to weigh it.

"What is this? It's quite heavy."

"Pickled vegetables."

"Pickled vegetables?" Shen Nian opened the bag and peered inside, "Where did you buy them?"

"I didn't buy them." Jiang Fan rolled up his sleeves twice and picked up his chopsticks, "I went back home."

Shen Nian sat down opposite him.

"Home?"

"The Orphanage." Jiang Fan picked up a piece of tomato and put it in his mouth, "The place where I grew up."

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Shen Nian held her spoon without moving, looking at him.

"How come I've never heard you mention it before?"

"There's nothing worth mentioning about it." Jiang Fan took a sip of porridge, opened the bag of pickled vegetables, and scooped some onto a small plate.

"I've been in that yard since I can remember. Mother Fang raised over thirty children on her own; it wasn't easy. I went back to visit today and brought them some things."

Shen Nian pulled the plate of pickled vegetables toward her and picked up a piece to taste.

After chewing twice, her eyebrows went up.

"It's delicious. Really delicious."

"It's Mother Fang's specialty; she's been pickling them for over a dozen years. When I was little and couldn't afford meat, I relied on this to eat my rice."

The two of them ate in silence for a while.

Shen Nian put down her spoon, clasped her fingers together, and rested them on the table.

"Next time... can I go with you?"

Her gaze was very earnest.

Jiang Fan chewed the pickled vegetables and looked up at her.

"Of course you can."

The corners of Shen Nian's mouth twitched, and just as they were about to curl upward, she pursed her lips to suppress it.

Jiang Fan finished the last mouthful of porridge in his bowl and rested his chopsticks on the rim.

"Mother Fang said that next time, I should bring my girlfriend back for her to see."

Shen Nian's spoon tapped against the side of the bowl with a crisp sound.

She lowered her head, stirring the spoon in her bowl.

"I never said I was your girlfriend."

"Is that so? Then I'll bring someone else."

Shen Nian looked up abruptly and glared at him.

"You dare."

Those two words were squeezed through her teeth.

Jiang Fan looked at her, struggling to suppress a smile.

Shen Nian huffed, picked up her bowl, and drank the rest of the porridge in one go.

Jiang Fan leaned back in his chair, watching the busy figure in the kitchen wearing loungewear.

Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, revealing a patch of white skin on the back of her neck.

Her lounge pants hung loosely on her waist, and she wore fluffy slippers that made a pattering sound as she walked.

She was washing dishes under the faucet, occasionally turning her head to glance at him, then looking away when their eyes met.

Jiang Fan stood up.

He walked up behind Shen Nian and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

Shen Nian jolted, and the bowl in her hand nearly slipped into the sink.

"Behave... can't you see I'm washing dishes?"

"You just keep washing."

Jiang Fan rested his chin on her shoulder, his nose brushing against the stray hairs behind her ear.

The scent of her body wash smelled very nice.

Shen Nian's movements visibly slowed down.

She washed one bowl over and over again, four or five times, and kept rinsing it even after it was already clean.

"What's wrong with you today?" Shen Nian put the bowl into the drying rack, "You got worked up just from eating dinner?"

"Are you annoyed with me?"

"Who's annoyed with you? I was just—"

Jiang Fan's hand slid two inches down from her waist.

His fingertips hooked the edge of her lounge pants' elastic waistband and pulled it down a bit.

Shen Nian's breath hitched, and she freed a wet hand to press down on his.

"Jiang Fan—not here."

"What's wrong?"

"This is the kitchen..." Shen Nian twisted her body, trying to turn around, but he held her too tightly for her to move.

"What's wrong with the kitchen? You were quite cooperative on the dining table last time."

Shen Nian's neck and ears turned bright red in an instant.

"You're still bringing that up—"

Jiang Fan held her waist with one hand, while his other hand tugged her lounge pants and the thin fabric underneath down to the back of her knees.

Shen Nian braced her hands on the edge of the sink, the faucet still running, water splashing noisily onto an empty bowl.

"Can't you just... be normal..."

"No."

Shen Nian bit her lower lip, her back pressed against his chest, and she could feel his heartbeat accelerating.

Jiang Fan freed one hand to brush her stray hair behind her ear, his lips grazing her earlobe.

Shen Nian shivered, her knees bumping against the cabinet door.

No one paid attention to the faucet; water splashed onto the edge of the sink, wetting Shen Nian's cuffs.

She couldn't care about that anymore.

Her ten fingers gripped the stainless steel edge of the sink tightly.

The only sounds left in the kitchen were their overlapping gasps.

And the sound of rushing water.

I don't know how much time passed, but the faucet was finally turned off.

Shen Nian was slumped over the kitchen counter, her lounge pants still piled around her ankles, and one of her slippers had fallen off.

Jiang Fan lifted her up from behind; her legs were weak, and she couldn't stand steadily, so she could only lean against him.

"You've ravaged every corner of this house."

Shen Nian's voice was muffled; she looked down at the floor—a puddle of water had splashed everywhere.

Jiang Fan pulled her lounge pants up from her ankles, helped her adjust them, and then bent down to pick up the dropped slipper and placed it by her feet.

He bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

Shen Nian reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck, freeing one hand to punch his shoulder.

"Put me down, I can walk myself!"

Jiang Fan ignored her, walked straight into the bedroom, and placed her on the bed.

He lifted a corner of the quilt and slid in.

Shen Nian shrank inward.

"Don't touch me."

It was quiet for a minute.

Shen Nian turned over to face him.

In the darkness, only the outline of her eyes could be seen.

"Jiang Fan."

"Yeah."

"When you were little... was life good there?"

Jiang Fan stared at the ceiling, the original owner's memories flipping through frame by frame.

Drafty windows in winter, several children huddled together on one bed to keep warm.

The crooked locust tree in the corner of the yard, where in the summer they would spread a straw mat under the tree and a bunch of kids would lie on it, counting the stars.

"It was alright. Mother Fang was good to us."

Shen Nian didn't speak.

After a while, a hand reached out from under the quilt and found his hand.

Her five fingers interlocked with his, one by one, and gripped tight.

Jiang Fan didn't move, nor did he speak.

They just held onto each other like that.

"You are not alone anymore."