“You’re finally here!”
Jiang Wan stomped over to him, scowling. “I told you to buy me some fish in the wet market, and you just disappeared! Did you get lost or something?”
Yao Rong’s face turned bright red. “I was on my way to buy some groceries when I come across an old friend of mine. We decided to play some chess, and I didn’t realize how much time had passed.”
“And what about the other things I had asked you to buy? Why don’t you have any bags with you?”
“Bags? You asked me to buy other things?”
Yao Rong furrowed his eyebrows.
“I…” Jiang Wan was speechless.
After a moment of silence, she shot him a glare. “So you’re saying you didn’t read any of my messages or my voicemails?” she snapped. “Tangtang came, and I asked you to buy more groceries, and you didn’t even take a second to look at them!”
Yao Rong quickly looked over the messages he had on his phone.
He ducked his head, embarrassed. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” he protested. “I was just too invested by the chess game that I…”
“What else did you do after that?”
“My friend told me this specific move, and he even asked me to look at his new chess board,” he quickly replied. “I didn’t expect that time would pass by that quickly. I wasn’t able to check any of my messages.”
His voice grew even softer by the second.
At that point, Jiang Wan didn’t know what else to say.
Yao Yan quickly came to the rescue. “I ordered a couple of dishes,” he said. “They’ll be delivered in a bit. It’s fine. We can just buy more groceries tomorrow.”
“At least, someone’s reliable! Your father’s out there too focused on his friend’s chessboard to care! Maybe you should spend the rest of your life looking at the chessboard!”
Jiang Wan scowled.
Although her words were harsh, she didn’t really mean any of it.
Yao Rong coughed awkwardly, knowing fully well that her anger would soon pass.
“Fortunately, he also lives around the neighborhood, so I can play with him from time to time.”
Jiang Wan rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag he was holding. Taking the fish out, she hurried to the kitchen.
Yao Rong quickly followed suit.
After they had all finished eating, Yao Tang took out a wooden box from her bag and handed it to Yao Rong, motioning for him to open it.
He was puzzled at first, but after seeing the look on her face, she slowly opened it. He was stunned upon seeing a special chessboard with jade pieces.
The surface was quite smooth, and he could tell that they were carved by hand.
While the board appeared simple, he could tell that this wasn’t an ordinary item. “I know you like chest,” she slowly said. “So this is for you.”
“Where did you get this?”
Jiang Wan furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled.
The chessboard looked very old, and she could tell that it appeared very valuable. Yao Tang was still a student, so Jiang Wanwas afraid that someone had tricked her into buying this. She pursed her lips.
“I bought it from a small stall.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t worth a lot of money, so I thought Uncle should have this.”
They slowly nodded.
Yao Rong smiled, her eyes shining. He quickly took at a small cloth and wiped the pieces one by one. He didn’t really care about their monetary value. Given that Yao Tangwas the one who had given it to him, he valued it like any other expensive piece he had.
“You shouldn’t give him anything in the future. Just look at him! He’s going to stare at that chessboard all day!”
Jiang Wan shook her head. “I could already imagine it.”
Yao Yan couldn’t help but laugh, and they all continued their conversation. After a few hours, they called it a night and retreated to their rooms.
The next day, after Yao Tang had finished her breakfast, she went back to school.
Just as she had left, an old man with white hair came to the Yao Residence and spotted Yao Tang’s retreating figure. He pursed his lips.
Had he seen her from somewhere?
He was just about to call out to her when Yao Rong’s voice rang from the doorway, catching his attention.
“Mr. Guan, it’s my honor to have you here!” Yao Rong smiled.
However, the man didn’t say a word, too busy staring at a distance. Yao Rong followed his gaze with a frown. “What’s wrong? What are you looking at?”