Chapter 17

As it neared five-thirty, Shi Ran received a message from Ji Xi.

— Ji Xi: Three more minutes.

She put away her phone and picked up the wontons Aunt Hui had packed for her, preparing to leave.

“One box is fresh pork, the other is shepherd’s purse. I labeled them, just freeze them when you get home,” Aunt Hui reminded her.

Shi Ran nodded. “Okay. My car is parked here. I’ll have the driver take it back later.”

The elderly lady asked, “Then how will you leave?”

Shi Ran replied, “A friend is picking me up.”

Aunt Hui saw her out to the door, but Shi Ran didn’t let her go outside.

“Message me if you want anything to eat.”

Shi Ran responded with a hum, “Make sure grandma takes her medicine on time, and when she’s feeling energetic, encourage her to move around more.”

“Don’t worry,” Aunt Hui assured her.

As Shi Ran stepped outside, Ji Xi had already arrived.

The car was parked just outside the gate of the villa. He stood by the car, head bowed, looking at his phone with a cool and detached air. Behind him, the sky was tinted with a deep blue, as if veiled by glass.

Catching a glimpse of Shi Ran, he looked up.

“Shall we go?” she said.

Ji Xi glanced behind her. “Is this enough?”

His calm tone briefly reminded Shi Ran of the latter half of the dinner they had shared that night.

So he had guessed why she wanted him to come, no wonder he got out to wait for her.

“Take it slow,” Shi Ran said.

Aunt Hui must have seen him and would tell the elderly lady.

“Don’t let my grandma see you again next time.”

After saying that, Shi Ran realized that her casual remark sounded like an invitation for a next time.

Before she could add anything, Ji Xi opened the passenger door for her, a smile appearing on his face.

“Alright then, I’ll come again next time.”

Shi Ran was speechless.

The door closed, Ji Xi went around and got into the driver’s seat.

The car started moving.

“Are you free tonight? Let me treat you to dinner.”

After all, he had come all this way, and traffic on a weekend evening could be heavy; it must have taken quite a while.

“Sure,” Ji Xi agreed.

“What do you want to eat?”

Ji Xi turned the steering wheel, thinking for a moment. “Pan-fried buns.”

“Pan-fried buns?”

He glanced at her. “If you don’t want that, we can pick something else.”

Shi Ran hadn’t expected him to suggest pan-fried buns.

“Let’s have pan-fried buns then. I haven’t had them in a long time.”

She opened her phone. “Let me see which place is good.”

“No need,” Ji Xi said. “I’ll take you there.”

She put away her phone when she heard him announce the restaurant’s name on the navigation.

Curious, she asked, “Is that place near Chongjia?”

He responded with a hum.

Chongjia Middle School was their alma mater, with the junior and senior high sections combined.

Not only Ji Xi and Shi Ran, but also Xu Ying and Zheng Tingyan had studied there.

Silence settled in the car as Shi Ran looked out the window.

They passed through the villa district, the scenery changing continuously.

“This place hasn’t changed much,” Ji Xi said.

Shi Ran withdrew her gaze to look at him. “You’ve been here before?”

As far as she knew, the Ji family didn’t live around here.

After her question, there was a brief silence.

Then Ji Xi said, “Once.”

His tone suggested he didn’t want to elaborate, so Shi Ran didn’t press further.

Two seconds later, Ji Xi added, “It’s been a week since we registered our marriage.”

Shi Ran was speechless.

She had heard of anniversaries measured in years, but weeks?

Ji Xi teased, “At this rate, can your grandma be mentally prepared before we go public?”

“I think so,” Shi Ran admitted, somewhat uncertain. “I even tried bringing up the idea of a quick marriage today.”

Ji Xi raised an eyebrow slightly. “How did she react?”

“She said... I’d get a beating.”

Ji Xi smiled and glanced at her face. “Would she really hit you?”

What was there to hesitate about?

Shi Ran said, “I wasn’t unpunished as a child either.”

“For what?”

“Because—”

Shi Ran stopped mid-sentence and looked at him, wondering why she was telling him this.

Ji Xi’s hand rested on the steering wheel, eyes on the road ahead, a more pronounced smile playing on his lips.

About thirty minutes later, they arrived near their destination.

Shi Ran saw on the map that the shop was very close to Chongjia Middle School—closer than she had expected. They were by the side entrance road of the high school section.

Noticing Shi Ran staring out the window, Ji Xi slowed the car.

On a Saturday night, the students were home, and inside the fenced campus, few people remained; most buildings were dark.

“Never been back here since graduation?” Ji Xi asked.

“No.”

She and Xu Ying and Zheng Tingyan occasionally mentioned Chongjia when chatting, always saying they’d visit someday, but it had never gone beyond words.

Ji Xi reversed the car into a parking spot by the curb.

“We’re here.”

Shi Ran looked puzzled.

Here?

“Just up ahead,” Ji Xi said.

Following his gaze, she saw a modest storefront with a sign reading “Heshun Pan-Fried Buns.”

She had thought Ji Xi would take her to a restaurant serving pan-fried buns, but this was a small shop.

“Has this pan-fried bun shop always been here?”

“Yeah.”

Shi Ran recalled sometimes coming here during her school days; the taste was authentic.

She hadn’t expected the shop to still be around.

The surrounding shops were unfamiliar to her, probably all replaced.

The car was parked and turned off.

“Let’s get out.”

They stepped out.

Night had fallen completely, the darkness enveloping them.

The pan-fried bun shop looked much like she remembered: a large steaming pot by the door, tables and chairs lined against the wall, a central aisle, and a half-glass, half-kitchen counter at the back.

The place was clean and bright.

With students away for the weekend, only a few customers were inside.

Shi Ran spotted the owner and his wife right away—seemed to be the same couple from her school days.

The owner’s wife greeted them, “Mr. Ji.”

Hearing the voice, the owner came over as well.

Shi Ran was surprised.

They knew Ji Xi?

“Brother Qian, Sister Qian,” Ji Xi greeted them.

“How’s business these days?”

Sister Qian smiled. “Not bad. And this is?”

Ji Xi glanced at Shi Ran, who still looked astonished, and whispered, “Can I say?”

Shi Ran nodded. “You go ahead.”

It would be public knowledge eventually, and telling them wouldn’t reach Lu Bei.

Ji Xi introduced, “This is my wife, surname Shu.”

Shi Ran was speechless.

Sister Qian said, “So Mr. Ji is married.”

Ji Xi replied, “Just got married.”

Brother and Sister Qian congratulated them.

Shi Ran’s cheeks still burned as they sat down.

This was the first time she’d heard that title.

Ji Xi was at ease. “Besides pan-fried buns, want anything else?”

Shi Ran looked at the menu with white characters on a red background.

She used to order a bowl of wontons alongside the buns.

“A small bowl of wontons, please.”

Ji Xi ordered beef vermicelli soup for himself.

After ordering, they sat facing each other in silence.

Shi Ran’s blush lingered, and Ji Xi’s half-smile made her slightly uneasy.

“I’ll go see how the buns are doing.”

She stood and walked to the door, the evening breeze cooling her face and easing her nerves.

The previous batch of buns had sold out; Sister Qian was preparing the next batch.

Her movements were deft, handling the large pot with remarkable agility.

Seeing Shi Ran come out, Sister Qian greeted her.

Shi Ran said, “I used to like watching here when I came to buy pan-fried buns.”

She loved watching the buns neatly arranged in the pot.

Sister Qian asked, “Miss Shu, you’re also a Chongjia graduate?”

“Yes, same year as—him.”

She wasn’t quite used to saying “my husband.”

Sister Qian smiled. “So you were classmates.”

Shi Ran chatted with her. “Did he often come here for buns when he was studying?”

Sister Qian said, “According to Mr. Ji, yes. There were so many students, and it was many years ago—we barely remember.”

Shi Ran looked puzzled. “Then how did you come to know each other?”

She had assumed Ji Xi knew them because he came often during school.

Sister Qian explained, “In early October, Mr. Ji came here for pan-fried buns one day. The rent had increased too much; we planned to close at the end of October. Mr. Ji heard about it and said he wanted to invest.”

At first, they thought he was a scammer.

Shi Ran understood now.

Ji Xi must have just returned to the country in early October.

She chatted a bit more with Sister Qian, learning her daughter had just started university and did well in her exams.

“All right, eat while it’s hot,” Sister Qian said, plating the freshly made buns.

“I’ll carry them back myself.”

Shi Ran turned, carrying the buns, and saw Ji Xi standing at the kitchen entrance, hands in his pockets, talking to Brother Qian.

Dressed in white and black, he looked strikingly distinguished, impossible to miss.

She didn’t know what they were discussing, but he wore a faint smile and had his eyelids lowered, an expression quite different from his usual bold and carefree demeanor.

He seemed touched by a genuine air of everyday life, giving Shi Ran a strange feeling of softness.

Two young girls at a nearby table were quietly watching him.

Under the bright lights, he casually cast a glance her way.

Shi Ran looked away and sat down.

A minute or two later, Ji Xi returned with the wontons and beef vermicelli soup.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing. Just didn’t expect you to invest in a pan-fried bun shop.”

Ji Xi said, “A shop that’s lasted by a school for over ten years must have its reasons. If it closed, we’d lose out.”

He pushed the buns towards her. “Try them—still the same as before, right?”

Shi Ran picked up a bun, bit a small opening, and carefully sucked the soup inside.

“Careful, it’s hot.”

After eating one, Shi Ran understood why Ji Xi didn’t want the shop to close.

“Delicious.”

She planned to recommend it more often.

A small bowl of wontons, several pan-fried buns—Shi Ran quickly felt full.

Seeing her put down her chopsticks, Ji Xi asked, “Not eating more?”

She nodded. “I can’t eat anymore.”

She had a bowl of sweet taro earlier and wasn’t very hungry.

Ji Xi ate the remaining two buns.

Small shops like this usually required payment upfront; Ji Xi had asked what she wanted to eat earlier, so Shi Ran had forgotten all about it.