Under the moonlight

Huang Meng turned her head to look at Xu Ao, who was still staring blankly at the opposite side, and waved her hand in front of his eyes. Xu Ao grabbed her hand and turned to lead her towards the stairs.

"Let's go and see how their preparations are going?" Xu Ao suppressed the unease in his heart and said calmly.

"Okay, let's go." Huang Meng looked at her holding his hand and wanted to ask him if his conversation with Yuri had gone well, but seeing that he was pretending to be nonchalant, she didn't press him for details and let him pull her forward.

When they arrived on the first floor, Xu Ao appeared in front and Huang Meng followed behind. When Jiang Ying saw them appear together, her smile immediately disappeared, and she returned to her usual cold and serious demeanor.

They transformed the hall into a small stage, with all the tables and chairs pieced together to form a circle, leaving a small open space in the middle. Each table was also set with some fruit and snacks, all of which they had scavenged from the supply depot. They didn't know if they were expired or not. In Chen Che's words, "Whether we eat them or not, it's good to put them out there to make it look nice!"

Chen Che was leading them in making dumplings when Huang Meng walked over and saw that a large plate of dumplings had already been made. When he saw Huang Meng coming over, he quickly invited her to help. His face was covered in flour, his sleeves were rolled up high, and he was scooping up filling with one hand and holding dumpling wrappers with the other. He looked quite professional. Huang Meng smiled and joined them.

Xu Ao stood in the lobby and saw Jiang Ying busy arranging items. He walked over to her, and Huang Meng looked at him and seemed to say a few words to her. Then, Jiang Ying immediately put down what she was holding, looked serious, and left the lobby with Xu Ao.

Huang Meng guessed that Xu Ao must have told her about their discovery.

Xu Ao and Jiang Ying walked to the embassy gate. Xu Ao looked at her, then raised his chin forward to indicate that she should look across the street. Through the leaves, they could vaguely see the changes on the other side.

Jiang Ying was startled. At first, when Xu Ao told her, she thought he was overthinking it, but now she saw that the other side was indeed monitoring them.

"Luckily you noticed in time. Everyone was busy celebrating the holiday these past few days, and no one would have noticed them at all."

“Yes, I wouldn’t have known either if Huang Meng hadn’t found out,” Xu Ao said, looking at her.

After Xu Ao finished speaking, he turned to leave, but Jiang Ying called out to him from behind. At this moment, everyone was gathered in the restaurant, some helping out and some chatting in groups. Only the two of them were in the courtyard.

"You, do you like her?" Although it was inappropriate to ask such a question at this moment, she wanted to verify her suspicions as soon as she saw them together.

Hearing the voice behind him, Xu Ao sighed softly, put his hands in his pockets, and said leisurely, "Yes, I like her."

"Alright, then let's compete fairly. I believe you have some feelings for me too, right?"

Xu Ao turned to look at Jiang Ying, whose eyes were shining and whose smile made her look confident.

Xu Ao chuckled and said, "Fair competition? Compete against whom? Me?"

"Yes, I knew you before she did. We've worked together for so long that we have a deep understanding of each other. Sometimes you..."

"Liking something, or rather, love, has nothing to do with when it appears. You're smart, I think you should understand that. Speaking of tacit understanding, Chen Che and I have a great tacit understanding, and I also work very well with Xiao Zhang. You should understand what I mean."

Xu Ao interrupted her before she could finish speaking. He looked at Jiang Ying, her mouth half-open and half-closed, her round eyes wide with disbelief, and said in a gentler tone, "Jiang Ying, if we had a chance, we would have been together long ago." His words were both subtle and direct, and how could Jiang Ying not understand?

From the first time she met him, she knew he was an outstanding man. At least among the men she had met, he was unparalleled. So he had always been the goal she secretly harbored in her heart. She wanted someone as outstanding as him to stand by her side.

But proud and strong-willed, she disdained to take the initiative. Like a proud princess, she waited for her prince charming to willingly grovel at her feet. How could a proud princess take the initiative to show affection and woo someone? So she stayed by his side, waiting silently for the day her prince charming would take the initiative to woo her and stand by her side.

She watched Xu Ao leave with those words before turning and walking away. His shoulders were sharp and broad, much more solid than when he was in college. Although his hands were casually in his pockets, his gait was no longer unrestrained and carefree, but rather more mature and steady. He was no longer the fresh-faced young man with a buzz cut who freely poured sweat onto the basketball court.

She watched him grow from a young boy to the mature and composed man he is today, from a naive youth to someone capable of standing on his own. She always thought he understood her, but was just as proud as she was, unwilling to bow down. She had considered that it wouldn't be wrong for her to take the initiative and show him affection, as long as he had her in his heart. She was wrong. Even though she had been a part of his youthful years, it couldn't compare to her timely appearance; it was simply a matter of love versus not love.

Recalling the past, the soreness in her eyes made her sad. Not wanting others to see her cry, she turned her back to the hall before the tears blurred her vision and slipped out of her eyes, looked up at the sky, and took deep breaths to relieve the dull pain deep in her heart.

She paused for a while, until it gradually got dark, the restaurant lights came on, and a cacophony of noise rose and fell, before she turned to walk back. In that instant, she caught a glimpse of an unusually bright and flashing light somewhere across the street.

She quickly walked to the door, pressed herself against it, and strained her eyes to look ahead. After a while, she realized it was a beam of light. She tried to follow the light, but her gaze fell on the restaurant behind her, and she was startled.

She stood by the door for a long time, somewhat incredulous. The sky grew darker, and apart from the lights in the restaurant on the first floor of the embassy, ​​the rest of the place was pitch black, making that beam of light stand out even more.

Chen Che and Xiao Zhang took turns calling her, but she didn't speak. She just stood firmly by the door. Xu Ao looked at her motionless figure and knew Jiang Ying as he did not think that it was because of his words that she was like this.

He called Chen Che to his side and whispered a few instructions. Huang Meng sat quietly to the side watching. Although she didn't know what was wrong with Jiang Ying, she felt something was off seeing her staring intently outside. She got up and walked to the restaurant entrance with Xu Ao. Xu Ao turned to her and said, "You go in first, I'll go check on her."

Huang Meng nodded, turned around, and went inside. The hall was still bustling with activity. Chen Che was playing a game with several men. They were having a balloon-blowing contest. This simple and childish game had become a source of joy for everyone. As the balloons were about to burst, everyone cheered and shouted encouragement. The contestants were putting in all their effort, and their faces turned red.

Huang Meng glanced at their match, then turned to look at the main entrance, but Xu Ao and Jiang Ying were nowhere to be seen.

She suddenly stood up, walked to the restaurant window, looked left and right but still couldn't see it. The restaurant was curved, so they should be able to see it as long as they were near the main entrance.

Huang Meng quickly walked out of the restaurant and looked around in the courtyard. She came to the gate and looked at the tightly closed gate. She slowly calmed down. They probably wouldn't go out. She turned around and kept looking around. Just then, she heard Xu Ao's voice: "Huang Meng."

She looked up and saw Xu Ao and Jiang Ying standing at the restaurant entrance. Jiang Ying glanced at Huang Meng, then looked at Xu Ao, whose face showed a tenderness she had never seen before.

Huang Meng ran up to them nervously and said, "How did you disappear in the blink of an eye? I thought..."

"What did I think it was?" Xu Ao said with a smile, looking at her nervous expression. "Don't worry, even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare to come here."

Huang thought about it and realized that he was just too nervous.

“We just discovered something, so we went to the top floor to confirm it,” Xu Ao continued.

Jiang Ying was displeased with them and turned her head away. Xu Ao turned around and said to Jiang Ying, "Let's go. It's a holiday today, after all. We can't let those people spoil the fun. Let's go in together." He said this to Jiang Ying, but his eyes were on Huang Meng. He reached out and pulled her towards the restaurant.

Jiang Ying turned her head away, not looking at them, and waited until they went inside before slowly walking in herself.