At six in the afternoon, dusk fell, and the sky flushed with red sunset gradually turned into a blue curtain. A gentle night breeze blew by, bringing a hint of the coolness exclusive to summer.
A crisp ringtone broke the silence in the room, pulling Cen Jin back from watching TV on the tablet. Seeing the caller ID on the phone, Cen Jin widened her eyes, hurriedly removed the earphones from her ears, and grabbed the phone in a panic. After tapping the screen two or three times, she finally hit the answer button, placed the phone next to her ear, cleared her throat, regained her voice, and tried her best to hide her current nervousness: "Cough...hello!"
"What are you doing?" Jiang Baizhou asked in a calm voice, having noticed the oddity in her tone.
"To eat." Jiang Baizhou answered her question with patience and added after a few seconds: "I’m downstairs."
Cen Jin was startled, suddenly remembering that he mentioned at noon that she’d treat him to dinner that evening. She patted her forehead and replied in surprise: "Are you serious?"
"Do you think I’m joking?"
"No..." Cen Jin was speechless, quickly got off the bed, and walked barefoot to the floor-to-ceiling window. She pulled it open and stepped onto the balcony to survey the sidestreet below. Sure enough, a striking figure in a white T-shirt and casual outfit stood there, and those sharp and piercing eyes happened to look over, colliding with her gaze in midair.
With her phone in hand, Cen Jin’s hand slowly dropped, unintentionally pressing the hang-up button with her thumb. Noticing the call ended, Jiang Baizhou put his phone back into his pocket, his thin lips parting to utter a light, deep voice: "Come down."
The evening breeze swept by, and Cen Jin couldn’t clearly hear what he said, but based on her understanding of him and his barely-muted lip movements, Cen Jin already guessed what he meant. Though somewhat helpless toward his ’willful’ thinking, she nodded and called out: "Give me five minutes, I’ll be right down." After speaking, she turned around and rushed back into the house to redo her hair and tidy up her clothes.
Jiang Baizhou waited below for about ten minutes or so before Cen Jin emerged carrying her bag. The yellow bow flip-flops she wore at noon had been replaced with beige flats. As she approached him, Cen Jin sheepishly smiled, touched her nose, and awkwardly spoke: "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Jiang Baizhou pursed his lips and glanced sideways at her, showing no signs of impatience. He never took her word about how long she’d make him wait too seriously. Though he was someone with a strong sense of time, he was always patient with her. Over the years, he became accustomed to the fact that she’d always be a few minutes, even several minutes later than she said she would be.
He didn’t know if other girls were when going out, but Nie Cenjin certainly was.
"Where’s your car?" Cen Jin, hoping to ease the awkwardness, suddenly noticed he hadn’t brought his car today and curiously scanned the surroundings.
"Not far, walking," Jiang Baizhou replied, diverting his gaze from her, and walked past her.
On hearing that, Cen Jin thought, since he mentioned a new restaurant opening near the community today, it indeed wasn’t far, so there was no need to drive. She pursed her lips and quickly followed up: "How come I didn’t notice a new restaurant opened near the community?"
"Oh, oh," Cen Jin nodded in sudden realization. She usually used the main entrance for work because it was closest to her, rarely using the side gates. Pondering this, she tilted her head, looking at him: "Then how did you know?"
"Flyer," Jiang Baizhou said, taking a flyer out of his pocket and handing it to her.