Jiang Tao had just changed clothes in her bedroom when she received a call from Fang Rui: "Ahhhhh!"

Jiang Tao moved her phone away from her ear and waited until Fang Rui finished screaming before bringing it back. She quietly asked, "Did you see him?"

Fang Rui: "Yes, and it almost scared me to death. You owe me compensation for the mental distress!"

Jiang Tao: "You insisted on seeing him."

Fang Rui: "Honestly, I'm really worried about you now. I feel like he's not here to take you on a date but to kidnap you."

Jiang Tao felt soft-hearted and quietly defended Cao An: "He may look scary, but he's actually quite polite."

Fang Rui: "If he looked like that and wasn't polite, would you have dared to see him a second time?"

Jiang Tao smiled bitterly.

Fang Rui: "Speaking of which, it's still twenty minutes before eleven. The fact that he came so early shows he's as eager to see you as I am curious about him."

Jiang Tao glanced at the white clock on the wall, watching the long second hand ticking away, matching her heartbeat.

She hadn't even seen Cao An yet, and she was already feeling nervous.

"I'm going out now. How long should we stay?" At this moment, Jiang Tao needed encouragement from her best friend.

Fang Rui: "No, I'm afraid he'll get out of the car and see me, which would delay your date, and then he'll bury me."

Jiang Tao helplessly said, "Don't joke like that."

It seemed disrespectful to Cao An.

"Hehe, do you have a bit of a crush on him? You're considering him so much, even complaining about me, your friend of ten years, for his sake."

"You're just making things up."

"Alright, speaking seriously, has he contacted you? He's been parked for about five minutes."

Jiang Tao looked at the screen and confirmed there were no new messages.

Fang Rui: "If he really sends a message at eleven saying he's arrived, then he's quite the gentleman."

Jiang Tao: "Do you want to come to my place? I've told my grandma I'm going shopping with you."

Fang Rui: "No need to trouble yourself. I'll find somewhere to calm down. You prepare to be kidnapped."

With a few mischievous laughs, the call ended.

Jiang Tao sat on the bed and opened her WeChat chat with Cao An.

If he didn't message her and she went out twenty minutes early to "wait," would that make Cao An think she was eagerly anticipating this date?

Jiang Tao looked at herself in the mirror.

Last time, she wore light makeup. Today, she didn't even wear that, hoping her plain appearance would dampen Cao An's interest.

She was only wearing a pair of jeans and a red sporty down jacket.

She waited anxiously. A few seconds past eleven, Cao An finally messaged: I'm here.

Jiang Tao: Okay, I'll be out soon. Please wait a moment.

Grandma was watching TV in the living room. Seeing Jiang Tao's outfit, she asked curiously, "You used to dress up nicely for shopping. Why are you so casual today?"

Jiang Tao stretched out her arms: "How is this casual? This type of down jacket is very trendy this year."

Grandma: "I've seen other girls wearing spring clothes."

Jiang Tao: "I'm afraid of the cold."

At the east gate of the Peace Community, Cao An sat in his car, looking toward the community entrance after messaging Jiang Tao.

Young women were coming out one after another, some dressed up nicely, some with bare faces.

A figure in a red down jacket appeared in his view, with a simple ponytail, looking around before walking toward him.

A faint smile appeared in Cao An's narrow eyes.

Last time, she dressed like a stylish urban white-collar worker. Today, she looked more like a university student, a freshman even.

Cao An didn't get out of the car, just pushed open the passenger door.

The cold spring wind brought in a soft-voiced nurse: "Sorry, have you been waiting long?"

Cao An: "Not long. The car's air conditioning is on. Do you prefer the window open?"

With the same half-hour journey today, Jiang Tao glanced at his dark gray sweater and shook her head: "Air conditioning is fine."

Saying that, she took off her down jacket.

Cao An took the jacket and placed it on the back seat.

Jiang Tao lowered her head to fasten her seatbelt. The young nurse looked pure and innocent, and her figure wasn't particularly striking, but once the seatbelt was fastened, her curves became more noticeable.

Cao An had already looked away, holding the steering wheel as he explained, "There might be people you know in the community. I was afraid they'd misunderstand, so I didn't get out to wait for you."

Jiang Tao understood. By "misunderstand," he meant acquaintances thinking she was in some sort of trouble.

How many skeptical and fearful looks must he have received to develop such an awareness to avoid causing others inconvenience?

Jiang Tao still found it hard to look directly at Cao An's face, but his politeness made it difficult not to feel a hint of goodwill toward him.

She slightly turned her face towards him and smiled, "It's okay. They might misunderstand at first, but an explanation will clear it up."

Cao An looked over, "Since you don't mind, I'll get out and wait for you next time?"

Jiang Tao: ...

"Why did we bring up 'next time' again?"

Facing Cao An’s chest and hearing his polite inquiry, Nurse Jiang Tao, who had just encouraged him, couldn’t bear to splash him with cold water right away.

“Sure, sure.”

Cao An started the car.

Jiang Tao leaned back in her seat, staring out the window in frustration, unconsciously biting her lip.

The plan was good; how did it fall apart as soon as they met?

If Cao An hadn’t been sitting right next to her, Jiang Tao would have wanted to smack her forehead.

A message came in on WeChat from Fang Rui: Are you in the car?

Jiang Tao sent a crying emoji.

Fang Rui: What happened? Did he scare you?

Jiang Tao explained the situation with a complicated mood.

Fang Rui: You’re done for. You’ve met a master who dug a big hole for you to fall into without realizing it.

Jiang Tao: I really didn’t expect this.

Fang Rui: You’re too soft-hearted.

Jiang Tao: He’s so polite; I couldn’t just ignore him, right?

Fang Rui: So you’re the type who responds to kindness rather than harshness.

Jiang Tao sneaked a peek at Cao An’s hand on the steering wheel. His sweater sleeves were rolled up, revealing a sturdy forearm, almost as thick as her ankle.

A polite person with such a tough build!

Jiang Tao admitted she couldn’t handle someone like that.

“Chatting with a friend?” Cao An glanced her way. “Or something at the hospital? My aunt said you guys are usually very busy.”

Jiang Tao responded mechanically: “A friend. She asked me to have lunch, but I said I’m not free today.”

Cao An: “If you’re not comfortable being alone with me, you can invite your friend along. I don’t mind.”

Jiang Tao forced a laugh: “I’ll ask her.”

She really did ask Fang Rui.

Fang Rui: I’ve been good to you; you can’t drag me into this pit.

Jiang Tao put away her phone and said to Cao An, “She said not to trouble her.”

Cao An: “A high school friend or a colleague from the hospital?”

The conversation naturally flowed, and before she knew it, Jiang Tao talked about her elementary, middle, high school, and college roommates and their current employment situations.

Coincidentally, both had attended Tong City No. 1 High School, but five years apart. When Jiang Tao started, Cao An had already gone to college in the capital.

Cao An’s voice matched his presence—imposing yet polite, like his WeChat messages, making it easy to imagine him as a slender, refined person.

Without looking at his face, Jiang Tao gradually relaxed: “Mr. Wang said no one dared to sit next to you in class. Is that true?”

Cao An: “Yes, from middle school onward, I usually sat alone.”

Jiang Tao pictured a bright, crowded classroom with a tall, intimidating boy sitting alone by the window in the last row.

“What about in college?”

“I rented an apartment off-campus. Attended classes and ate alone. Professors wouldn’t call on me to answer questions.”

Jiang Tao: “Didn’t you try to make friends? College students should understand that you just look intimidating.”

Adults are generally more mature. Like her, despite being scared of Cao An initially, she could rationally continue having meals with him.

Cao An: “I got used to being alone, and it's more efficient.”

Jiang Tao suddenly thought of herself.

Introverted, in college, she was close only to her three roommates, with only nodding acquaintances with other classmates.

Her roommates liked watching dramas and shopping. Only near exams did they frequent the library. Jiang Tao often studied alone in the library.

Sometimes lonely but very efficient, she could follow her own plans without accommodating anyone else.

The black Jeep drove into the mall’s underground parking lot.

Cao An retrieved Jiang Tao’s down jacket from the back seat and put on a black casual jacket himself. Despite the casual look, his height and presence made him seem like a boss.

Walking around the black Jeep, they naturally fell into step together.

Jiang Tao put her hands in her jacket pockets, realizing the benefit of their height difference—she didn't have to worry about accidentally meeting Cao An’s gaze if she didn’t look up.

Ahead, a young couple got out of a car. The woman, fixing her hair, casually glanced their way.

Jiang Tao saw shock in the woman’s eyes, as if she’d seen a ghost, quickly averting her gaze.

Looking at Cao An beside her, Jiang Tao felt inexplicably sorry for him.

Isn’t this also a form of appearance-based discrimination?

People who didn’t know him treated him as a bad person just because of his intimidating looks. He hadn’t had a friend since childhood.

Jiang Tao had also been afraid of him at first. He must have noticed, which was why he messaged her saying she could leave first.

Cao An was used to people being wary of him, but he was more concerned about whether Nurse Jiang would feel burdened by being with him.

In past blind dates, the women would instinctively keep their distance, trying to avoid being conspicuous.

As they passed the young couple’s car, Cao An noticed Nurse Jiang moving closer, closing the gap that could fit another person to just ten centimeters. Her jacket sleeve even brushed his arm lightly.

Cao An looked down, seeing her face redder than when they were in the air-conditioned car, her long eyelashes blinking nervously, trying to act normal.

Ahead was the mall’s elevator lobby, crowded with people.

Cao An: “It’s the weekend. We might have to wait in line for a table.”

Jiang Tao: “Are you hungry? I’m fine.”

Cao An: “After getting a number, we can browse around first.”

Jiang Tao nodded.

Entering the elevator lobby, the crowd finally eased the awkwardness of her deliberate closeness to him.

Two elevators, one going up and one just coming down, were crowded with people waiting in front.

Cao An stood with Jiang Tao in front.

The elevator doors hadn't closed yet, and Jiang Tao could clearly feel the pressure from the people inside facing Cao An. When the elevator doors finally slowly closed in the middle, Jiang Tao even heard someone exaggeratedly exhale in relief.

Suddenly, she felt like laughing.

After waiting for a few minutes, the elevator came down.

No one dared to rush in front of Cao An to get inside. Cao An let Jiang Tao go first, pressed the button for the 4th floor, and then walked up beside Jiang Tao.

Every time the elevator was crowded, Jiang Tao habitually occupied a corner.

She was still worried about whether she would inevitably come into contact with Cao An, but in fact, the people nearby consciously kept their distance from them.

Jiang Tao looked ahead. On the closed elevator door, Cao An's distinctive figure was reflected, with his narrow, long eyes...

Was he looking at her?

Jiang Tao quickly lowered her eyelashes.

***Can't wait for next chapter ><