Qingqing, true to form, closed her eyes and went to sleep the moment she was settled in her seat.

Xu Ye sat between them, scrolling through stock news. When he saw that his portfolio gains had crossed fifty percent, he transferred all of the fruit shop’s recent earnings into his brokerage account and picked up a new position.

Qin Zhiwei played a few rounds of something on his phone, found it boring, and put it down. “Xu Ye, question. If — hypothetically — I met a girl I actually liked, how would I go about pursuing her?”

He’d come to appreciate, over the past few weeks, that his emotional intelligence was nowhere near Xu Ye’s. The question was asked with genuine sincerity.

Xu Ye answered with equal seriousness. “Don’t rush into chasing her.”

“Why not?”

“Get a look at her best friend first. The best friend might be better-looking.”

Qin Zhiwei took a slow breath. “I’m being serious.”

Xu Ye adjusted his tone. “If you meet someone you actually like, honestly — don’t rush it. Try to understand who she is first.”

“Understand what, specifically?”

“At minimum, you need to know what kind of person she is. Her personality, her interests, whether she’s emotionally stable, and most importantly — whether she’s the type who plays people. She might come across as perfectly sweet and genuine, and be someone completely different behind closed doors.”

Qin Zhiwei found this reasonable enough. “Then what, once you’ve figured that out?”

“Then you go for it. There are a hundred ways to pursue someone — someone like me can read the situation and improvise. Someone like you, not so much, so I’ll give you the most straightforward method.”

“Which is?”

“Sincerity.”

“Sincerity?”

Xu Ye nodded. “Exactly. Sincerity is the one move that never fails. As long as she has even the slightest interest in you, if you’re sincere enough, she’ll give you a chance. But if you’ve already been completely genuine and she still won’t give you anything — then I’d say walk away.”

Qin Zhiwei sat with that for a moment, then pushed further. “So how do you actually show sincerity?”

“First — be honest. Be what you are, not what you think she wants to see. Don’t lie or put on a performance to make a good impression. Second — actually listen to her, actually pay attention to what she needs, and give her those things. Third — follow through. Talk is worthless on its own. What you say has to match what you do.”

Then Xu Ye thought of something — a memory from a life that hadn’t happened yet — and added, “One more thing. If you happen to fall for a girl with the surname Cao, [TL: a pun on 曹操 (Cao Cao), the infamous Three Kingdoms-era warlord and byword for treachery — but more relevantly, 曹 rhymes loosely with 操 (cào), a crude expletive — the implication being that someone named Cao might cuckold you, hence the “you’ll be green by next year” punchline. 绿 (green) is Chinese slang for being cheated on by a partner] don’t go there. Don’t pursue her, don’t get involved in any way.”

“Huh?”

Qin Zhiwei stared at him. “What does that mean?”

Xu Ye said it with perfect gravity. “I’ve done the calculations. If you marry a woman with that surname, you’ll get cheated on within the year.”

Qin Zhiwei looked at him, looked away, and extended one finger.

…

The high-speed train didn’t pull in until eleven at night.

Xu Ye had messaged Jiang Meilin ahead of time, and the moment they came out of the station, her business van was waiting.

He walked Qingqing to the car, made sure she was in, and was about to flag down a separate ride for him and Qin Zhiwei when Jiang Meilin rolled down the window. “You two get in as well. It’s late — I’ll drop you home.”

“We’d really appreciate it, Auntie.”

“It’s nothing.”

Xu Ye gave Qin Zhiwei a look. They got in. Jiang Meilin already knew where Xu Ye lived — she headed straight for his neighborhood without needing to ask.

About twenty minutes later, the van stopped at the entrance to the complex. Xu Ye and Qin Zhiwei climbed out, and Jiang Meilin lowered the window and smiled. “Xiao Xu, come by and visit when you have time.”

“Will do, Auntie.”

Qingqing hadn’t called Jiang Meilin “Mom” out loud, but it was obvious enough from the way they moved around each other. Qin Zhiwei, who’d already been quietly envious since finding out about Xu Ye and Qingqing, now found himself even more so after watching Xu Ye laugh and chat with her mother with the ease of someone who’d been doing it for years.

I don’t even have a girlfriend yet, and this man has already won over his future mother-in-law.

“Wei-bro, take tomorrow to rest. We’ll make plans the day after.”

“Sounds good.”

They went their separate ways.

Xu Ye walked back to his building with his bag over one shoulder, found the front door with the ease of long familiarity, and knocked.

A shuffling sound came from inside. It took a while before the door opened. Old Xu peered out with a startled expression. “Son, what are you doing back in the middle of the night?”

“What took you so long to answer? You and Mom weren’t in there trying to give me a little brother or sister, were you? One account’s enough — don’t go opening a new one.”

“Watch your mouth, boy.”

Zhang Hong’s voice drifted from the bedroom. “Old Xu, who is it?”

“Your dear beloved son is home.”

A few seconds later Zhang Hong came out, shoes on, and smiled when she saw him — shaking her head at the same time. “You could’ve called ahead when you were on your way.”

“Have you eaten yet?” she added immediately.

“Not yet.”

“Go take a shower first. I’ll put a bowl of noodles on.”

“Okay.”

He went into the bathroom and took a hot shower. By the time he came out, the noodles were ready. Zhang Hong called to the living room, “Old Xu, drizzle some sesame oil on the bowl — bring it to your son.”

“He’s got two hands.”

“Stop arguing.”

Xu Xiangdong had long since quietly accepted that in his wife’s internal ranking system, their son had gradually edged ahead of him — but he didn’t really mind. They were an old married couple now, and eventually it would be the boy holding things together for them both. He and Zhang Hong had both had moments of regret over the years that they hadn’t managed to have another child — it would’ve taken some of the pressure off. These days, an only child who ended up with an only daughter meant a young couple eventually propping up four elderly parents on their own.

Whenever the topic came up, Zhang Hong always said: “When we’re old, we’ll just go to a care home together. No need to burden the boy.”

That kind of selfless love, quietly taken for granted, was something most parents of this generation just carried as a given.

Xu Xiangdong set the bowl down in front of Xu Ye and handed him the chopsticks. “Eat while it’s hot. Then get some sleep.”

“Old Xu, could you possibly speak to the class president with a bit more respect?”

“Class president? What class president?”

“Me.”

Old Xu’s eyebrows went up. “You? Class president? I know exactly what you’re made of, boy. There’s no way.”

Xu Ye pulled out his phone, opened the class group chat, and handed it over.

Zhang Hong came trotting over when she heard.

In the group, people were still tagging Xu Ye with “safely home” updates.

Husband and wife scrolled through the messages, both looking mildly bewildered.

“Son, how did you end up class president?”

“Honestly, not entirely sure. It’s voted on by the class — I got forty-something votes. Didn’t really have a choice.”

They looked at each other and smiled, the kind of smile that doesn’t need words.

Just as Xu Ye picked up his chopsticks to eat, Zhang Hong noticed something. “Son, where’d you get this iPhone?”

The answer came out before he thought about it. “My girlfriend gave it to me.”

(End of Chapter 86)