"That's strange, why hasn't Yixia opened her shop yet? She should have been open for business by now."
Jiasheng, the owner of the convenience store next to the flower shop, glanced at the time. It was already two in the afternoon, and he was getting curious.
Just as he was starting to worry that something might have happened to Jiang Yixia, an electric scooter slowly pulled up.
Jiang Yixia parked her scooter, and seeing Jiasheng looking at her, she offered a small smile as a greeting.
Jiasheng noticed that her eyes were a bit puffy and grew concerned. "Yixia, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
Jiang Yixia hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "It's nothing. Thank you for your concern, Brother Sheng."
"You must be exhausted. You look so pale today." With that, Jiasheng went into his store and brought out a bottle of electrolyte water. "Here, replenish your electrolytes. Take it easy for a bit."
"Thank you, Brother Sheng." Jiang Yixia immediately took out a five-yuan bill. "I believe it's five yuan, right?"
"No charge, no charge." Jiasheng quickly waved it away. "Consider it my treat for my little sis."
Saying this, he waved his hand and went back into his shop, as if afraid Jiang Yixia would insist on paying.
Seeing that Jiasheng had already left, Jiang Yixia had no choice but to accept his kind gesture.
Li Li, the owner of the dry cleaner's next door, watched this unfold. Cracking sunflower seeds, she ambled over to Jiang Yixia's side. "Yixia, what's with the long face? You seem so out of it."
Jiang Yixia gave an awkward smile. She certainly wasn't going to admit that after hearing news of Lu Fan last night, she had barely slept a wink.
She could only offer a simple explanation. "The weather was a bit stuffy, so I probably didn't sleep well last night."
"Yeah, I feel you there." Li Li then started to tease her. "Yixia, don't tell me you were up all night thinking about a man, were you?"
"Sister Li, don't be ridiculous," Jiang Yixia said, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Even though she was now a beautiful, mature woman of 37, she had remained single all these years, with no man in her life.
Her ability to trade dirty jokes was certainly no match for other women her age.
So, when Li Li dropped a line like that out of the blue, it left Jiang Yixia feeling a little embarrassed.
"It's okay. Have a sip of the drink Boss Jia gave you. It's guaranteed to perk you up."
Then, she nudged Jiang Yixia with her elbow. "Brother Sheng has been single all these years, too. Ever since you opened your flower shop next to him two years ago, I've seen him constantly fawning over you. Anyone with eyes can see he likes you. Won't you consider him?"
Jiang Yixia immediately shook her head and explained, "Sister Li, I'm already 37, and my kid's a freshman in college. Brother Sheng is three years younger than me and has never been married. Please don't spread rumors; you'll ruin his reputation."
"I'm telling you, Yixia, with skin and looks like yours, who would think you're 37? When you go out, people probably mistake you for a young woman of 27 or 28." Li Li was quite envious. "Besides, as the saying goes, 'a woman three years older holds a brick of gold.' And what's more, your child is already in college, so that won't get in the way of a relationship with Brother Sheng."
She once again enthusiastically played the role of matchmaker. "If you're willing, I can go ask around for you. Just toss me a few hundred yuan for a matchmaker's fee afterward, and we'll be good."
"No, no." Jiang Yixia refused at once. "I'm not in the right mindset for that right now. Besides, I don't have those kinds of feelings for Brother Sheng. I wouldn't want to lead him on."
"Alright then." Li Li sighed. "But I have to say, you've really got some self-control, being alone all these years. So, how do you... you know... take care of things on a regular basis? With your hand?"
Hearing this, Jiang Yixia's face flushed crimson. "Oh, Sister Li, what are you saying? I'm not talking to you anymore. I have to open the shop."
With that, she scurried inside, her face beet red.
Seeing Jiang Yixia react like a shy young girl after just a couple of dirty jokes, Li Li couldn't help but chuckle.
This was the greatest source of fun for middle-aged women like her.
As for Jiang Yixia, she was well aware of Jiasheng's attentiveness over the past two years.
However, she made a point not to take advantage of anyone. If he gave her a drink today, she would buy some daily necessities from his shop tomorrow to return the favor.
She always found a way to repay his kindnesses.
Her goal was to prevent Jiasheng from getting the wrong idea.
Of course, Jiasheng wasn't a fool. He understood over the past two years that Jiang Yixia only saw him as a casual acquaintance.
There was no opportunity to get any closer.
But Jiang Yixia was just so beautiful—so beautiful that after falling for her, Jiasheng couldn't bring himself to look at any of the other women he was set up with on blind dates.
Even though she had two children, Jiasheng was still willing to take her on and help raise them.
He had originally thought Jiang Yixia wanted to focus on her children's studies, since the last two years had been a critical period for them to get into college.
Now that both her children had been accepted into good universities, Jiasheng felt he could press his advantage.
But Jiang Yixia still kept her distance, which left him unable to make any progress.
'I wonder if that bastard will go looking for Lulu again...' Jiang Yixia sat in her shop, and though she held a rose in her hand to arrange, her mind was elsewhere entirely.
She was constantly worried that the scumbag with the surname Lu would go looking for Jiang Silu again.
In truth, as they say, even a brief marriage creates a lasting bond. And no one knows you better than the person who once shared your bed.
After Lu Fan had been waiting anxiously outside the academic building for over an hour, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class.
He couldn't help but grumble to himself. 'Man, a single college class is way too long.'
'Back when I was young, I probably could've gone on two dates in an hour and a half.'
Of course, he had since turned over a new leaf.
Especially after learning he had two biological children, all Lu Fan wanted now was to reunite with Jiang Yixia and their family.
As students began to file out of the classrooms, Lu Fan anxiously searched for Jiang Silu.
After packing her things, Jiang Silu walked out of the classroom with Song Miaomiao.
"Silu, are you heading to your part-time job at the cafeteria later?" Song Miaomiao asked.
Jiang Silu nodded. "Yeah. Miaomiao, you might have to help me take my books back to the dorm."
"No problem! What are best friends for? It's nothing."
As Song Miaomiao and Jiang Silu were talking, Jiang Silu looked up and saw a person who was both a stranger and familiar.
In the distance, Lu Fan was smiling and waving at her.
The moment Jiang Silu saw him, her brow furrowed. She immediately grabbed Song Miaomiao and tried to take a detour.
Seeing this, Lu Fan immediately rushed forward to block her path.
"Silu, it's me," Lu Fan said. "We met yesterday afternoon, remember?"
Seeing that she couldn't avoid him, Jiang Silu had no choice but to say to Song Miaomiao, "Miaomiao, you head back to the dorm first."
Song Miaomiao was completely baffled, but she could only nod.
During this time, other students were also passing by.
One of the boys even stared intently in Jiang Silu and Lu Fan's direction.
With so many people around, Jiang Silu wasn't afraid of Lu Fan. She questioned him, a hint of anger in her voice, "What are you doing at my school?"
"It's nothing. I was thinking that your bicycle probably isn't very fast. I happen to have a friend who sells electric scooters, and he just got a few cheap second-hand ones. I was thinking of buying one to give to you, to make it more convenient for you to get around." Lu Fan made up an excuse, trying to get closer to Jiang Silu.
Hearing this, Jiang Silu immediately shook her head and refused. "I don't need one, thank you."
With that, she turned to leave.
Lu Fan was a bit confused and was about to step forward to ask why.
But Jiang Silu took two steps back and said bluntly, "Stay back. My mom said you're a bad person."
As soon as she said this, Lu Fan knew that Jiang Yixia had already figured out who he was.