Thud.

Jiang Meilin's heart gave one hard beat.

The ice packed around her heart seemed to split at those three words — I've missed you — and then, piece by piece, the whole of it came apart.

Jiang Meilin looked at Chen Hansong standing in the doorway with no idea what to do with his hands, and she, who had never in her life been short of an answer, found that she had nothing at all to say.

A long, long time passed.

In the end what she got out was, "Who taught you to say that?"

Chen Hansong's eyes filled up with confusion. He shook his head. "Nobody taught me anything."

"Give me your phone."

"Huh?"

"I said give me your phone."

Chen Hansong walked over like a fool and handed the phone to Jiang Meilin.

Jiang Meilin woke the screen, keyed in their daughter's birthday to unlock it, and went straight into WeChat. And there it was — Chen Hansong had been on a video call with Chen Qingqing not ten minutes ago. She held the screen up in front of his face. "Still saying nobody taught you? Tell me to my face that Qingqing and Xiao Xu didn't put you up to coming here."

Chen Hansong drew himself up, righteous. "I did not!"

"Really."

"Qingqing and I were just chatting about this and that."

"Ha."

Still hasn't broken the habit of letting his eyes wander when he lies. Jiang Meilin smiled where he couldn't see it, handed the phone back, picked up her bag and started for the office door. She stopped in the doorway, looked back at Chen Hansong still rooted where she'd left him, and sighed. "Are you planning to spend the night in my office?"

Chen Hansong shoved the phone into his pocket in a hurry and followed her meekly out of the building.

In the elevator.

"Where are you staying?"

"I… I haven't gone to a hotel yet."

"When did you get here?"

"Left home at six this morning. Got to Jinling at eleven thirty."

"Have you lost your mind? What if I'd…