109: Chapter 109 The First Friend
The TV wasn't on, and the living room was quiet, save for the occasional clink of a spoon against the bowl.
Jiang Chen finished the mung bean soup.
He put the bowl back on the coffee table, the spoon resting against the rim with a soft click. Then he leaned back against the sofa, resting the back of his head on the edge, and closed his eyes for a moment.
Su Xiaoxi lowered her head to scratch the ginger cat's chin, her peripheral vision stealing glances at him.
The vertical furrow between his brows was slightly deeper than before, and his shoulders were tense. He didn't look relaxed; rather, he looked like a machine that had temporarily stopped running, its outer casing still hard.
"I'm not going back tonight."
Su Xiaoxi's finger paused on the cat's belly.
"I'll stay here."
He spoke casually, as if he had just made a trivial, spur-of-the-moment decision.
Su Xiaoxi set the ginger cat down from her lap and stood up to clear the empty bowl.
Her steps were light as she walked to the kitchen. Only after putting the bowl in the sink did she turn her back to the living room and crack a small smile.
It was quick and faint.
She tucked the smile away and turned on the tap to rinse the bowl.
When she came out of the kitchen, Jiang Chen was still in that leaning position, one hand draped over his forehead, blocking out half the light.
Su Xiaoxi stood by the sofa and watched him for two seconds. Then she sat down, hesitated for a moment, and reached out to gently touch his shoulder.
"Lie down."
Jiang Chen opened his eyes and glanced at her.
"Lie on my lap."
Su Xiaoxi pressed her legs together and patted her knees. "I'll give you a massage."
Jiang Chen didn't say anything. He shifted his body, turned to the side, and rested the back of his head on her lap.
Su Xiaoxi's breath hitched for a second when his weight settled on her. Then she reached out, pressing her thumbs against his temples and rubbing in slow, circular motions.
Jiang Chen's eyes were closed, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
The pads of Su Xiaoxi's fingers moved from his temples to the space between his brows. She paused at that vertical furrow, using her thumb to gently push outward until it relaxed a little.
Then her hands moved to the top of his head, her fingers threading through his hair and combing through it slowly from front to back.
Jiang Chen's breathing grew heavy.
Not the heaviness of sleep, but the kind where a breath is finally released from deep within.
His shoulders relaxed an inch, and his full weight settled more firmly onto her lap.
Su Xiaoxi looked down at him.
From this angle, his eyelashes were long, and the curve of his nose appeared softer than usual under the warm yellow light.
Her fingers slid from his temples to behind his ears, then slowly down the line of his neck with just the right amount of pressure.
"Have you adjusted?" Jiang Chen suddenly spoke, his voice muffled.
Su Xiaoxi's fingers paused.
"To Jiangcheng."
Realizing what he meant, her fingers began moving again.
"Pretty much. I know which stall at the wet market has the best ribs, and I know when the supermarket has discounts."
She paused. "I even went to the city center by myself a few days ago and didn't get lost."
The corner of Jiang Chen's mouth twitched. He didn't make a sound, but Su Xiaoxi knew he was smiling.
After a while, Su Xiaoxi's fingers moved from his neck to his shoulder, kneading the muscle that was as hard as a rock through the fabric of his shirt.
Jiang Chen let out a low grunt, and she quickly lightened her pressure.
As she continued kneading, something suddenly occurred to her, and her movements slowed.
"Oh, right."
Jiang Chen gave a soft "mm-hmm."
"I met someone here."
Su Xiaoxi said, her tone carrying a hint of cautious excitement. "A girl named Shen Lu. 'Lu' as in 'egret'."
Jiang Chen didn't open his eyes, but his lips twitched slightly, indicating he was listening.
"I met her when I went to buy flowers last time. She has a small shop at the flower market that sells handmade trinkets—ceramic cups, cloth bags, and things like that."
Su Xiaoxi's fingers slowly massaged his shoulder. "I stood in front of her shop and watched for a long time. She brought out a cup of water and asked if I was thirsty."
She smiled as she said this.
"At the time, I thought she was going to chase me away."
"And then?"
"And then we started chatting. She said she's also from out of town and has been in Jiangcheng for three years. I told her I just arrived recently, so she pulled me over to sit for the whole afternoon."
Su Xiaoxi's voice grew a bit more cheerful.
"She's very interesting to talk to. She didn't ask what I do or where I live; we just talked about how the cups are molded and how the glaze is applied. We chatted all afternoon, and she gave me a small cup when I left."
Jiang Chen hummed in response.
"I've been back a few times since then. Sometimes I help her mind the shop, and sometimes we just sit there and drink tea. The Aged white tea with tangerine peel she brews is delicious."
Su Xiaoxi's fingers massaged down his arm. "The day before yesterday, she invited me to a market next week. She said there would be many handmade stalls and asked if I wanted to go."
She paused.
"She is... my first friend in Jiangcheng."
She said this very softly, as if afraid the words might be scattered by the wind.
Jiang Chen opened his eyes and looked up at her.
Su Xiaoxi felt a bit self-conscious under his gaze and looked away, her fingers still kneading his arm.
"That's good," he said.
Just those two words.
His tone was flat, same as usual.
Su Xiaoxi looked down at him, unsure if he truly thought it was good.
Jiang Chen closed his eyes again.
"Hang out with her more in the future. If you want to go to that market, then go."
Su Xiaoxi's nose felt a bit prickly.
She didn't know why she felt emotional; he had only said something very ordinary.
But it was precisely this ordinariness—the fact that making friends, going to markets, and having her own life was treated as perfectly normal—that made her feel like something in her heart was being gently held up.
"Mm."
She nodded.
Jiang Chen didn't say anything more.
Su Xiaoxi's fingers began kneading again, her movements much slower than before, as if she were thinking about something while she worked.
She thought of Shen Lu, the little shop filled with ceramic cups, next week's market, and how she had never imagined having a life like this before coming to Jiangcheng.
"You brought me here from Lanbei."
She suddenly spoke, her voice very soft. "You rented an apartment for me and gave me a new life. Sometimes I feel like all of this is too good to be true, like it's stolen."
Jiang Chen didn't open his eyes.
"There's nothing 'stolen' about it."
Su Xiaoxi pursed her lips.
"I brought you out because you're worth it."
He said, "Don't always think so lowly of yourself."
Su Xiaoxi's fingers paused for a moment, then she squeezed his hand.
Jiang Chen turned his palm over, enveloping her fingers in his hand. Not tightly, just resting there.
The ginger cat had jumped back up at some point. It circled around Jiang Chen's legs before curling into a ball against his knee, its tail resting on Su Xiaoxi's instep.
The living room fell silent. The ginger cat's purring hummed softly, overlapping with Jiang Chen's breathing.
Outside the window, the courtyard was submerged in the night. The floor-to-ceiling window reflected their overlapping shadows, a warm yellow light, a cat, and an entire evening.
Su Xiaoxi held his hand and looked down at his face.
She remembered Shen Lu asking her that day, "Why did you come to Jiangcheng alone?"
She had just smiled and hadn't answered at the time.
But at this moment, she brought that answer out from her heart.
Because someone had brought her out of Lanbei and given her a whole new life and her first friend.
Su Xiaoxi's lips curved upward as she squeezed his hand a little tighter.