Gou An stared intently at the man standing at the podium, hands on the edge of the lectern, as he described his experience at the age of eighteen in words that were not boring but were obviously fabricated.

He Jinxing at 18 years old.

Rumor had it that he went through a tumultuous rebellious phase back then, refusing to take a single yuan from his family and was busy mingling with underground biker gangs, risking his life for food…

But in his mouth, it became a story of him studying late into the night in the university study room, tying his hair to the roof beam¹.

It seemed like this person rarely told the truth.

Perhaps having overheard her inner grumbling, the man’s gaze seemed to casually sweep over her. As she shifted her posture uncomfortably, she wondered if it was just her imagination, but she thought she saw the corners of the man’s lips on the stage curve upwards slightly.

Her neck started to feel numb again, and a bunch of goosebumps rose on her skin.

“An’an,” Zhou Yutong pinched Gou An’s cheek with two fingers. “That button—”

“It’s his.”

The faint sound, barely audible to two people, was enough to make those on either side of her gasp.

Gou An sighed. Normally, she should be standing there triumphantly, hands on her hips, exuding an air of triumph and power, perfect for a dramatic performance. But right now, she couldn’t bring herself to even smile.

The main problem was that the way the button was obtained wasn’t as convenient as one might imagine.

The button was practically forced on her, even though He Jinxing never said a word about it.

She bewitched herself.

……

Let’s rewind to about an hour earlier.

After tidying up the bow on Gou An’s waist, He Jinxing didn’t continue discussing the borrowing game with her. As for the button, he only half-jokingly said, “You didn’t think of me, I’m very sad,” and then didn’t mention it again.

It seemed like it was a harmless joke from beginning to end.

“It’s very windy, you’ll catch a cold. Let’s go back inside the cabin and rest for a bit.”

He Jinxing used a perfectly reasonable excuse to bring Gou An back to the cabin. Back in the noisy atmosphere of the casino, she found that it wasn’t such a bad thing. At least the music from the slot machines could dispel the eerie silence and make people less nervous.

However, He Jinxing’s identity made him destined to be the center of attention wherever he went. When he came in from outside, with a little miss following behind him, it was hard not to attract frequent glances from others.

“Who is that?”

“The Gou family’s daughter.”

“Ah, the one who danced with Mr. He tonight? Are they…”

“Shh, don’t make wild guesses. It’s probably because there were too many rumors and it made him unhappy, which is why he danced with her. I remember someone saying that He Jinxing has absolutely no interest in dancing and doesn’t like it at all.”

A couple of sentences still managed to reach Gou An’s ears. Just as she couldn’t help but turn her head to see who was talking, the person in front of her who seemed to have eyes in the back of his head said, “Ignore them.”

She had no choice but to give up.

The casino had a dedicated bar located in the center of the lobby on the first floor. Upon seeing the ship owner come over, the bartender was momentarily stunned until He Jinxing tapped the counter lightly with his finger and ordered a glass of orange juice for Gou An.

The bartender was taken aback by the request. Of course, there were fruits in the bar’s refrigerator, but most of the time they were sliced and used as a rim garnish or as base for cocktails. Now, for an entire glass of orange juice, he practically used up all the oranges in the small refrigerator.

Gou An also felt a little embarrassed, experiencing the same awkward feeling as when one was at a club and saying ‘Excuse me, could you give me a glass of milk?’

After she climbed onto the bar stool and sat down, she offered a gentle reminder. “I attended my coming-of-age ceremony two years ago.”

Sure enough, after she spoke, she saw a rare moment of confusion on He Jinxing’s face, but he quickly realized that she was dissatisfied with the orange juice arrangement.

The man chuckled softly, “Want to drink? That’s fine, would you like something else?”

He didn’t refute her even once.

This ‘I won’t stop you’ attitude only made Gou An feel stifled: it made her resistance seem rather childish.

Just like kindergarten kids who always emphasize that they were already big kids.

So annoying.

The strange possessiveness that had arisen earlier made Gou An feel like she was sitting on pins and needles, and just now this possessiveness suddenly drifted in an uncontrollable direction… 

She stared at the relaxed brows of the person in front of her and couldn’t help but suddenly say, “Lu Wan is clearly the same age as me.”

“Mm?”

“Don’t you think she’s a child?”

He Jinxing paused for two seconds, and Gou An, thinking he was hesitating, was suddenly furious. The next second, the misunderstanding was cleared up, “I was seriously thinking about who Lu Wan is. Why did you suddenly bring her up?”

“You just met her tonight, and now you’re pretending you don’t know her?” Gou An said. “She even asked you for your button.”

“I didn’t give it to her.” He Jinxing wore a superficial, wry smile. “Why is An’an still holding a grudge about this?”

She kept quiet.

“Miss Lu’s age is not that important to me.” Seeing that she didn’t speak, the man didn’t press her for details. He simply pushed the orange juice he had had made to Gou An, his tone becoming somewhat indifferent. “She’s not my child.”

But you ended up marrying her.

Gou An added maliciously in her mind.

She took the orange juice and drank most of it, then mumbled through the straw, “I’m not either.”

He Jinxing rested one elbow on the edge of the bar, smiling at her with a patient expression.

“You’re only eight years older than me,” Gou An said. “Don’t always talk to me like you’re seventy or eighty years old—”

“I don’t think I’m that old… but age is indeed an insurmountable gap.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I was already in elementary school before you learned to speak.”

“Does it have to be this example? When we get older, when you’re eighty and I’m seventy-two—when we’re all halfway into our coffins—this concept will all become blurred.”

She would occasionally display a sharp wit, leaving He Jinxing speechless. His gaze flickered for a moment, and after a long while, he could only sigh, “Is An’an unhappy about being treated like a child, or are you trying to comfort me?”

Still talking nonsense!

Gou An herself couldn’t explain what she was so fixated on. Her lips moved as if she was about to say something more, but then a commotion nearby caught their attention.

Gou An looked up and saw at a table not far away, the tall, young man who had been hanging around with He Ran and the others earlier was holding a cigar in one hand and a large number of chips in the other.

After this great harvest, he tilted his head and suddenly exclaimed “Oh no!” as if he had just remembered something. His diamond earrings sparkled brilliantly under the casino lights. He hooked a finger around the belt buckle of an uncle next to him and said with a smile, “I almost forgot. I need to borrow your belt to take back. I don’t want to treat anyone tomorrow.”

Caught by the waist, it was probably the first time for this middle-aged man to be asked to remove his belt by another man. He instantly showed a look of utter shock, but when he looked closely at the sinister face in front of him, he realized that he couldn’t afford to mess with this person.

The middle-aged man, completely bewildered, obediently unbuckled his belt.

“Jiang Zaiye, the youngest son of the Jiang family.” He Jinxing’s voice sounded in her ears at the right time. “It seems that he has a monopoly on motorcycle clubs and training tracks in Jiangcheng now… He should be twenty-seven this year.”

Gou An withdrew her gaze, looking at the man as if she wanted to say something but hesitated—

He’s 27 and still playing the borrowing game with us, what about you?

He Jinxing seemed to understand her gaze in an instant and said somewhat helplessly, “The way you’re looking at me makes me feel like I’m a pathetic person as the speaker for tonight’s congratulatory address.”

Gou An: “…”

He Jinxing added, “Speaking of which, you guys never even considered inviting me when you started playing this game, did you?”

Gou An: “…”

Who’d have the guts?

Although it was more likely that no one actually had this idea.

Gou An felt inexplicably guilty.

Seeing her silence, He Jinxing sighed half-jokingly and said, “On the contrary, when those old men invited me to the casino to play a few rounds, their tone was so natural, as if I was born to be with them… 

“But I also didn’t resist, and I did come along.”

Gou An asked, “And then?”

He Jinxing scoffed, “Then I won back the money I spent for the necklace around your neck.”

He paused, then added, “Earned it back tenfold.”

Gou An couldn’t tell whether this made her happy or not, but she realized that the necklace was indeed a gift from He Jinxing and had nothing to do with the old man of the He family.

Jumping off the bar stool, Gou An indicated that it was about time and she should return to the banquet hall.

He Jinxing didn’t stop her, and turned to the bartender with a smile, ordering a glass of whiskey.

…….

Gou An took two steps toward the casino entrance.

Then suddenly stopped walking.

Turning back, the man was still sitting there in the same posture, his long, slender fingers circling the clear glass, swirling it absentmindedly—

The ice cubes made a crisp clinking sound as they hit the glass.

“Age is indeed an insurmountable gap.”

“The way you’re looking at me makes me feel pathetic as the speaker for tonight’s congratulatory address.”

“You guys never even considered inviting me when you started playing this game, did you?”

As if possessed, Gou An turned around and returned to the man.

This time she stood, while he remained seated on the high stool, his long legs, clad in trousers, crossed naturally, looking quite relaxed.

A familiar sweet scent wafted over, overpowering the strong smell of alcohol at the tip of his nose. He Jinxing let out a confused ‘hmm’ from deep within his nostrils, lifting his eyelids to look at the little miss who had circled back again—

“Have you forgotten something?”

At this moment, Gou An looked at He Jinxing with a serious expression, as if she had made a great decision. “May I have your second button?”

He was not an aloof and unapproachable elder.

If she considered him her peer, she could borrow anything he has.

She tried to appear calm, slightly raising her chin as she looked at the man—

The atmosphere was suddenly electric; He Jinxing stopped swirling his whiskey glass and fell silent.

The noisy sounds of dice rolling, clattering, and slot machine music from the casino faded away, and the surroundings suddenly became very quiet…

Only the clear, resounding voice of the little miss in front of him remained when she decisively made her request.

In that instant, Gou An felt as if she had become a middle school girl standing in the high school corridor, having mustered up the courage to ask the soon-to-graduate school heartthrob for the second button on his uniform.

Despite her efforts to appear natural, her acting was probably too poor; anyone could see her nervousness. After all, her tense jaw and slightly trembling eyes couldn’t fool anyone…

Moreover, someone as shrewd as He Jinxing—

However, after a brief silence and eye contact, the man said nothing, only slightly raised the corners of his lips, his tone more indulgent than ever before, “Of course.”

His gentle, smiling tone conveyed no hint of embarrassment or hesitation.

On the contrary, it was as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

It gave her a sense of incongruity.

But before she could regret her actions, He Jinxing had already turned to the bartender and asked for a pair scissors, cutting the unusual five-hole button off his shirt and handing it to her.

At the same time, he took off his tie, which was still hanging properly around his neck, and casually stuffed it into his trouser pocket.

His collar came undone, and the man’s look became unrestrained and wild.

Gou An held the button in her palm, and her heart began to beat faster.

“Let’s play games together next time.”

He Jinxing looked down at her for a long time, then chuckled softly without comment.

The moment Gou An stepped out of the casino, she heard the system, this silly cat, meowing loudly. He Jinxing’s favorability level had risen to [40].

From the Day the Engagement was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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FOOTNOTE:

1. Tying his hair to the roof beam—this is a classic idiom showing extreme devotion to studying. The full phrase is ‘tie the head to the roof beam and jab the thigh with an awl’ — all to remain awake and keep studying. ↩︎