The next day was the weekend. Jiang Wei got up early. As she was brushing her teeth, she planned to go to the balcony to breathe in the morning air. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a pile of white objects fluttering in the wind on the neighbor's balcony...
When she looked closely, it was a pair of wet Nike shoes.
Recalling the strange sounds from last night, Jiang Wei was puzzled when a face with dark eye circles and pale complexion slowly emerged from below the railing across from her...
"Good morning..." Before the crisp male voice touched the ground, Jiang Wei couldn't hold back and spit her mouthful of toothpaste foam at the other's face.
"Pfft—"
The bubble foam from the toothpaste swelled into a ball on Yi Ming's fair and refined face before it burst with a "pop", leaving Yi Ming standing stiffly in place, one hand still half-raised in attempted greeting, looking rather like a beckoning cat toy that had suddenly lost power...
"Yi Ming?!"
Jiang Wei stared with wide eyes at Yi Ming on the neighbor's balcony, extremely surprised.
Why does he live here?
Jiang Wei apologetically wiped Yi Ming's face with a wet tissue. The two of them stood on balconies not far apart, engaging in a bizarre conversation.
"Why are you here?"
"I rented this place. Is that not allowed?"
Yi Ming stuck his neck out stubbornly.
"Why did you rent an apartment? Don't you have your own home?"
"I can live wherever I want. You moved out of the school dorms too."
Jiang Wei's gaze swept over Yi Ming's face: "I moved out not because of you."
"Good." Yi Ming nodded, looking completely unconvinced, "I moved here not because of you either."
"Alright, I'm going back in then."
Jiang Wei looked completely calm as she turned to leave.
"Not because of you... who else could it be for!" Yi Ming's stubbornness from earlier was instantly punctured. He quickly leapt forward, half his body leaning over the railing, and grabbed Jiang Wei's arm, "I was wrong, Jiang Xiaowei, please forgive me!"
In fact, the design of this building had issues. The space between the two balconies was barely wide enough to fit an air conditioner outdoor unit. As Yi Ming observed the surroundings last night, he couldn't help but click his tongue lamenting: "This is simply designed for peeping neighbors!"
But now Yi Ming suddenly felt that wasn't he precisely that peeping neighbor? Always thinking about the “flower girl” next door.
The uncle frying breakfast across from them watched eagerly, as if having discovered some shocking news. Not satisfied with just watching himself, the uncle called his wife over to see as well. Seeing this, his wife decided it was negative teaching material, and brought over their daughter who was soon to be married to watch too.
Fire prevention, theft prevention, peeper prevention.
Jiang Wei sighed. If Yi Ming really fell down like this, she wouldn’t be able to explain clearly.
"Let go of me first."
"I won't."
Yi Ming was inclined to be stubbornly unreasonable.
Jiang Wei looked at him helplessly, "I’ll go open the door, come over, we can talk inside."
Hearing this, Yi Ming's mouth curved up smugly.
A man and woman soon to be alone together in a room, why did this feel a little awkward?
Jiang Wei's room was very clean.
A typical girl’s room, every little item tidy and orderly, including all the gifts Yi Ming had given her over the years.
Yi Ming roguishly sprawled out on the sofa, both hands on the sides. "Jiang Xiaowei, you care about me in your heart."
Jiang Wei was washing apples for him. Hearing this, her hands stilled for a moment.
Her heart did indeed have him in it.
His 7-year-old self going to fight others for stealing her pencil, his 15-year-old self running over after class to sing love songs to her outside her classroom, his 18-year-old self winning a cycling competition, and his 20-year-old self coolly dunking in a basketball game amidst cheering crowds.
However... seeing a certain person right now being chased around the living room by the puppy before frantically jumping onto the sofa holding a cushion, looking panicked...
This really was the first time witnessing that kind of sight.