Moonlight falls into my arms

"Your crying was quite genuine." Huo Xingzhou glanced at the stubborn little girl who had stood up in front of him.

He was about to say something when Jiang Yuci patted his shoulder to stop him.

"Let's eat." Jiang Yuci said slowly as the food on the table was almost finished.

Ruan Li felt uneasy listening to his nonchalant words.

But what could she do while living under someone else's roof?

"I'm not hungry, I'm going back." Ruan Li wiped her eyes as she was about to leave.

Almost at the same time as Ruan Li took a step, Jiang Yuci spoke up: "Didn't you want to go to school?"

Ruan Li stopped in her tracks. "What?"

Ruan Li thought Jiang Yuci was going to talk about her again, so he looked up at Ruan Li and said, "Let's have dinner. I'll take you there when I have time."

"You can go in?" Ruan Li reminded her, "No. 1 Middle School isn't a place you can just walk into."

Huo Xingzhou realized that Jiang Yuci was deliberately trying to coax the girl. He was a little confused, but he could tell that the two of them had a little unnecessary conflict because of him, which was something Jiang Yuci didn't want to see.

He wasn't stupid, so he spoke up to explain: "For an outstanding graduate of No. 1 High School, returning to their alma mater is naturally a piece of cake."

Huo Xingzhou could tell that the person next to him knew everything, but was just happy to play along. He stood up and said, "Something came up at the law firm. Can you ask the waiter to pack some food and send it to the firm?"

After saying that, he patted Jiang Yuci on the shoulder and looked at Ruan Li: "Sit down and eat, I'm leaving."

He shook his head and walked past Ruan Li.

Ruan Li clenched the fabric in her hand, pursed her lips awkwardly, and glanced at Jiang Yuci.

The aroma of the exquisite dishes on the table was incredibly tempting to someone who had just eaten a simple meal in the cafeteria.

Jiang Yuci lowered his eyes. "You ordered these dishes, aren't you going to eat them and wait to pay?"

These words were a mix of coaxing and cajoling, and Ruan Li was quite receptive to them. After a moment of awkwardness, she sat down next to Jiang Yuci.

Jiang Yuci glanced at her, "Go to the other side."

Ruan Li said, "No."

He was determined to do the opposite of what Jiang Yuci did.

She would pick up whatever Jiang Yuci was eating.

Several times their chopsticks ended up clattering together.

Is your cat's wound almost healed?

Jiang Yuci mentioned it only by chance.

Ruan Li, who was about to snatch the food from him, paused, her momentum completely over, and dared not argue with him any longer: "Don't send the fish bones away..."

She hugged her bowl and sat down opposite Jiang Yuci, feeling rather pathetic, and stopped trying to take the food from him.

Jiang Yuci watched as Ruan Li lowered her head and brows, her cheeks stuffed full, still eating, and then picked up another piece of meat and put it in her bowl.

She had almost finished eating everything on the table.

Not a picky eater—Jiang Yu thought.

Ruan Li ate until she was full, and when she left, she looked at the food with reluctance.

"Jiang Yuci, are you coming here to eat again tomorrow?"

Jiang Yu paid the money and walked out the door, casually saying, "I'll see."

Ruan Li finished her drink in one gulp before jogging to catch up with Jiang Yuci.

As soon as Jiang Yuci opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, he held up his phone to Ruan Li and asked, "What's this?"

It turns out that nurse number 023 messaged Jiang Yuci again—"I have a lot more of that emoji you like to use. Do you want it? I'll send it to you."

"What emoji?" He lowered his thick, dark eyebrows.

Ruan Li scratched her earlobe, looking conflicted, and slowly said, word by word, "Maybe—I accidentally sent her an emoji before, so she misunderstood that you liked it too."

Ruan Li lowered her head and glanced at him cautiously: "I really didn't mean to, I'm used to it."

Jiang Yuci didn't look at her anymore, tossed his phone into her arms, and it landed on Ruan Li's lap.

The voice beside him was calm: "Resolved."

The cell phone that Ruan Li usually cherished became a murder weapon.

It was extremely hot to the touch.

She slowly picked up her phone. "Then—how do I know when this is resolved?"

"Think for yourself."

"..."

Ruan Li thought for a moment, then sent two words in a very aloof manner.

--Need not

Before the other person could react, she sent another message.

—If it's not work-related, there's no need to message me.

He didn't even say a word, but silently apologized to the girl in his heart.

She held up her phone for Jiang Yuci to see, "Is it okay now?"

Jiang Yuci glanced at it, not noticing the message she sent, but a message that popped up on the screen.

—Are you feeling better from your fever?

"Your boss sent you a message." He looked away.

Ruan Li took back her phone. "Although, but, something sounds weird about what you said."

Ruan Li replied to the big boss's message, "What do you mean 'mine'?"

"Could it be mine?"

Ruan Li chuckled. "Jiang Yuci, when did you start telling such lame jokes?"

Ruan Li patted the pistachio hook hanging in front of her. "So, did my pistachio bring you any joy?"

"It's an eyesore when it's swaying, but that's about it."

Ruan Li remained silent, thinking to herself that if Jiang Yuci didn't have such a face, probably no woman would take the initiative to chat with him.

Talking to him can easily make you want to punch someone.

"When are you free to take me to school?" Ruan Li thought of Jiang Yuci, who was also from No. 1 High School, and a sense of familiarity arose in her. "So, we're actually from the same school. I wonder if you're my senior or junior?"

Ruan Li didn't know how old Jiang Yuci was, which was also why she didn't want to call him brother or uncle. Maybe she was actually the same age as Jiang Yuci.

After all, if such a bizarre thing happened, she should be 28 years old now.

“Sigh, I imagined that ten years from now, I would have both a successful career and a loving relationship, a car and a house, healthy parents, and financial freedom. But in reality…” Ruan Li shook her head, “I was living under someone else’s roof, compromising myself, homeless, without friends, and without family.”

She spoke these words as if it were easy, but as she looked out the window at the blank, snow-covered landscape, her heart also felt lost.

"Then you can wander the streets today," Jiang Yuci replied coldly. "After all, you've compromised and are now homeless."

"Ah, I was wrong, I was wrong! You are my second family member!"

Back at the hospital, Ruan Li walked next to Jiang Yuci and happened to run into the nurse from ward 023.

When she saw Jiang Yuci, she stopped in her tracks, her face suddenly flushed red, the blush spreading to behind her ears, and then she turned her back and refused to look at Jiang Yuci.

Jiang Yuci didn't look at her, as if he didn't see her at all.

They were about to go upstairs to the side.

"A hot-and-cold...jerk," she muttered.

Ruan Li stood in front of Jiang Yuci with lightning speed, trying to distract him, "Dr. Jiang, you should go to work, hurry up and change your clothes."

She was still quite afraid that Jiang Yuci would tell the nurse that the person who sent the emoji was her, and she was afraid she would get beaten up.

In his nervousness, he forgot that Jiang Yuci was not the kind of person who would waste time explaining.