Chapter 74: Heart Wall
Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Heart Wall
After leaving Wang Ming’s house, Jiang Xia gave his wife a call.
"Baby, have you eaten?"
"You’re coming over, aren’t you? Just grab some takeout for me on your way," Lin Yanwan said, seeing right through him.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Mm... fish-fragrant pork over rice."
"Okay, I’ll be there soon."
After hanging up, since it was just about dinnertime, Jiang Xia stopped by a small restaurant he thought was pretty good and ordered a fish-fragrant pork over rice to go. After a moment’s thought, he also bought her a taro milk tea.
He carried the takeout upstairs. Seeing the tightly shut security door, Jiang Xia cleared his throat and knocked.
"Hello, DoorDash delivery."
A few seconds later, Lin Yanwan opened the door and shot him an exasperated look. "There’s no DoorDash in this day and age."
Jiang Xia grinned as he walked in. "It’s me, your personal delivery guy. The kind who’s always on call."
"Some personal delivery guy you are, taking so long. I’m about to starve to death." Lin Yanwan huffed lightly, taking the food from his hands, though she felt a secret thrill of joy inside.
"Why is there only one? Aren’t you eating?" she asked, glancing at the bag.
Jiang Xia replied, "I already ate at Old Wang’s place."
She nodded. Jiang Xia had texted her about it earlier.
"How did the chat with his mom go?" Lin Yanwan asked as she opened the container. She took a deep whiff, and the aroma of the fish-fragrant pork made her mouth water.
"It went well. She’s agreed to be my negotiation consultant when the time comes."
As he spoke, Jiang Xia went to the kitchen to get a spoon, then sat down next to her, resting his chin in his hand as he watched her eat in her slow, delicate way.
"How does it taste?" he asked with a smile.
"It’s not bad. Anything tastes good when you’re hungry. There are just a few too many green onions."
"Then we won’t eat the green onions." Jiang Xia carefully used a pair of disposable chopsticks to pick out the chopped scallions and place them on a napkin, leaving only the shredded pork, wood ear mushrooms, and shredded carrots.
Watching the serious expression on his face from the side, Lin Yanwan suddenly scooped up a spoonful of rice mixed with shredded pork and held it to his mouth.
"Ah—open up."
"What for? I already ate."
"It’s too much rice; I can’t finish it all. Even if you’ve already eaten, you have to take a bite. Ah—" she said, her smile gentle, as if she were feeding a child.
"Alright, just one bite." Jiang Xia opened his mouth and ate it. But just as he swallowed, Lin Yanwan, still smiling, brought the spoon to his lips again.
And so, a single bowl of fish-fragrant pork over rice was shared, one bite for you, one bite for me, until half of it ended up in Jiang Xia’s stomach.
"Next time, I should just bring you a couple of steamed buns. You can’t eat that much anyway."
"No buns! But a small cake would be okay!"
Lin Yanwan said with a serious expression, then took a napkin to wipe the grease from Jiang Xia’s lips. He blinked, opened his mouth, and took one of her slender fingers inside.
"Mm, you... let go."
She was both embarrassed and annoyed, and her mind couldn’t help but drift to some blush-inducing images.
Jiang Xia chuckled and let go. Blushing beet-red, Lin Yanwan pulled her finger back and shot him a resentful glare.
"You’re so gross," she said, wiping her finger clean with the napkin.
"How about you return the favor?"
Jiang Xia blinked, extending his own finger toward her lips. Lin Yanwan’s eyes darted, and she opened her mouth and bit down.
"OW, OW, OW! You actually bit me!"
"Hmph. Serves you right for being a perv."
She released his finger and flashed her small, perfectly straight white teeth at him in a triumphant grin.
Staring at the teeth marks on his finger, Jiang Xia wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Does it hurt a lot? I didn’t think I used much force," Lin Yanwan said, pursing her lips, a little embarrassed.
"Look at the marks yourself. They’re so deep."
Lin Yanwan gently rubbed the spot she had just bitten, her face full of apology. "I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you."
"A kiss from baby will make it all better."
She hesitated for a moment. Even though she knew Jiang Xia was just taking the opportunity to get a freebie, she still leaned in and gave his finger a little kiss.
"Baby, I meant a kiss on the lips, not on the finger," Jiang Xia said shamelessly.
She tossed her head back and threw the takeout container into the trash. "Dream on. Anyway, I already kissed it. If your finger still hurts, that’s not my problem. Hmph, hmph, hmph."
Seeing her innocent and carefree expression, Jiang Xia laughed silently.
’In truth, his finger didn’t hurt much at all. He just wanted to tease her.’
After they finished eating, Lin Yanwan sat on the balcony, picked up her guitar, and began to hum a song softly. The melody was graceful, her voice lovely. Jiang Xia could tell it was "Heart Wall," composed by Lin Junjie. Back in the day, he had been a Lin Junjie fan himself and had sung it countless times.
’He just didn’t know if, after their rebirth, that wall between their hearts had finally begun to crack, even just a little.’
The song slowly came to an end, her smooth, melodious voice echoing in his heart. Jiang Xia couldn’t help but walk over and wrap his arms around her waist from behind.
"Baby..."
The murmur sounded by her ear. Lin Yanwan’s body stiffened for a moment before gradually relaxing.
"What is it?" She set down her guitar and gently nuzzled her cheek against his.
"On the day of the earthquake, the ceiling fell. The walls should have fallen too, right?" he said softly, his words carrying a hidden meaning.
"Maybe."
Lin Yanwan gave a noncommittal reply, turned to give him a light kiss on the cheek, then stood up and sat back down in front of the piano.
He sighed softly as he looked at the midday sun. His wife’s non-answer meant the Heart Wall was still standing. But then again, wasn’t the same true for him?
In the end, dating and marriage were different things. He was just as worried that the two of them might walk the same old path as in their previous life—an outcome that neither he nor Lin Yanwan wanted to see again.
"If you’re bored, just go into my room and use the internet. Don’t bother me; I still have work to do," she said, clicking open a video without turning her head.
"Alright."
Jiang Xia sighed silently, assuming his wife was deliberately avoiding the topic. He walked into the bedroom, and the door closed softly behind him, as if sealing off two separate worlds.
Her gaze drifted unconsciously to the bedroom door. Lin Yanwan stared blankly into space. Even after learning Jiang Xia’s true feelings last night, she still hadn’t dared to give him a definite answer just now.
Compared to the uncertainty of the future, she felt, for some reason, that it would be best to maintain their current relationship as it was.
That paper-thin barrier between them looked fragile, yet she couldn’t muster the courage to break through it.
’Unless...’
She let out a soft sigh. ’It was still too early to be thinking about these things.’
Her nimble fingers pressed the piano keys one after another, while her other hand used a wooden chopstick to strike the bottom of a bowl. The resulting fusion of sounds perfectly matched the scene in the animation she was working on.
Hearing the sounds start up again in the living room, Jiang Xia roused himself, logged into his QQ, and prepared to send an email to the Yu Du television station.