Chapter 104: The Girl in the Photo

Those few simple words landed in Jiang Muwen’s heart like a string of firecrackers and burst apart with a crackling roar. For an instant, she even had the absurd feeling that Wen Yixin had seen through every secret she possessed.

Her fair cheeks flushed red at once. She looked away, unable to tell whether she should admit it or deny it.

Seeing her reaction, Wen Yixin had his answer. If she did not like Wen Yichen, she would have said so long ago.

It seemed his younger brother still had a very good chance.

Thinking of that, Wen Yixin pulled Jiang Muwen a little farther aside, then bent down to whisper in her ear, “Wen Yichen likes you. If you get a chance to look at his phone, you’ll understand.”

At the mention of his phone, Jiang Muwen’s face only grew hotter. Something so private—would Wen Yichen really let her see it?

Yet Wen Yixin’s words stirred endless fantasies in her mind. What exactly was Wen Yichen keeping on his phone? Could this boy really be secretly writing little diary entries in it?

Wait.

“How do you know what’s on Wen Yichen’s phone?” Jiang Muwen’s face still burning, she lifted her eyes and asked in a voice so low only the two of them could hear.

“I...” Wen Yixin was momentarily at a loss for words. Looking at Jiang Muwen, he felt a little guilty. “I’m his brother. How could I not know?”

“What are you two talking about?”

At last, Wen Yichen’s voice drifted coolly into their ears, shattering the secret atmosphere they had so carefully created.

“Nothing. I was asking Little Muwen what she wanted for dinner so I could order takeout for her, right?” Wen Yixin said, not forgetting to nudge Jiang Muwen with his elbow, his eyes spasming at her as if dust had gotten into them.

“Y-yes...” Catching Wen Yixin’s silent cue, Jiang Muwen quickly agreed.

“You’re not going home today?” Wen Yichen glanced at Wen Yixin.

“Isn’t it because Mom’s off traveling and Dad’s on a business trip? I couldn’t放心 you, so I came to take care of you.”

“I’m not buying it.” Wen Yichen shot him a look and muttered under his breath. He knew his brother’s character better than anyone. Even if the roof of Wen Yichen’s bedroom collapsed, this brother of his would still be sitting in his own room, playing games and cracking sunflower seeds, utterly unmoved.

After dinner, Wen Yixin pushed Wen Yichen and Jiang Muwen into the bedroom, calling out for them to study hard as he casually shut the door behind them.

At last, the two of them were alone together again.

And yet, unlike usual, they did not sit down at the desk to study. Instead, they stood there in a daze, facing one another. Both had little thoughts hidden in their hearts, but neither was willing to voice them.

Wen Yichen wanted to find out what exactly the other girl’s relationship with Gu Niancun was.

Jiang Muwen wanted to see what on earth was hidden inside his phone, things she was not meant to see.

At that moment, neither of them had the slightest desire to study.

Wen Yichen glanced at the clock on the wall, then walked over to the beanbag chair at the side and flopped into it. “It’s still early. Rest a little before we do tutoring.”

Jiang Muwen hummed in acknowledgment, then obediently sat down on Wen Yichen’s bed.

Not long after she sat down, Wen Yixin sent her a message: How is it? Did you see what was on Wen Yichen’s phone?

Looking at the screen, Jiang Muwen felt somewhat at a loss. She really did want to look through his phone, but that would not be proper, would it?

After a moment, she replied: No. Forget it.

Wen Yixin: It’s fine. Just take one look—only the photo album.

Wen Yixin: You only need a glance, and you’ll know in your heart.

Wen Yixin: Hurry up.

Jiang Muwen looked at the message, then at Wen Yichen sitting opposite her. Though she truly did want to check, in the end she still did not move.

Wen Yichen and Wen Yixin had grown up together and shared secrets with each other. That was perfectly normal. She was not Wen Yixin, and she certainly could not so casually reach out and take Wen Yichen’s phone from his hand.

Perhaps she had looked at Wen Yichen for too long, and he had sensed that something was off. At last he lifted his eyes and glanced at the girl sitting across from him.

Their eyes met, and the tips of his ears flushed faintly red. He had just been about to ask Jiang Muwen what was wrong when the words reached his lips and then he swallowed them back down. No—that wouldn’t do. He was still jealous. He could not ask her that.

“Why? Is there a flower on my face?”

His thin lips parted and closed again, each word unhurried, carrying a lingering note of stubborn pride.

“No.” Jiang Muwen looked at him carefully, then lifted a finger and pointed to the corner of her own mouth. “You’ve got rice here.”

“...”

At her words, Wen Yichen’s ears turned even redder. He hastily picked the grain of rice from the corner of his mouth, then moved to the desk and sat down. “Come here. Do your homework.”

After speaking, he did not forget to pull the chair out for Jiang Muwen. The faint scraping of the wheels against the floor cut through the quiet air, sounding almost like an order, coaxing her to sit down obediently.

“Today we’ll do it differently. You try it yourself first.” With that, Wen Yichen lowered his head again and looked at his phone.

As soon as his voice fell, the room sank into silence. No one spoke, not even the soft rustle of a pen moving across paper. Jiang Muwen really could not do it; she had stared at the homework for several minutes already, and still not a single word had been written.

“Wen Yichen.”

At last, Jiang Muwen called out to him in a sweet, soft little voice.

That one call made Wen Yichen’s heart go utterly weak. The feeling of being needed, of being depended on, was simply too wonderful.

“Mm?” he answered, keeping his tone deliberately steady. On the surface he looked cold and indifferent, but the little figure in his heart had already leaped all the way up into the sky with delight.

“I don’t know how to do it,” came the same soft, sugary voice again.

If that first call had already knocked away half of his health, then his health bar was now completely empty.

Wen Yichen had just started to lean in to teach her, but the moment he straightened his back, he froze again. No, he was still jealous.

Thinking of that, he tossed his phone in front of her. “There are the teacher’s notes here. Look through those first.”

Jiang Muwen had never expected Wen Yichen’s phone to come into her hands so easily. Reason told her not to flip through it carelessly, while emotion urged her to take the chance and rummage through it as quickly as possible.

In the end, she picked up the phone and began turning through the pictures one by one with great care.

The first was notes from class. The second was notes from class. The third was still notes from class. Just as Jiang Muwen was preparing to continue, Wen Yichen’s voice suddenly fell into her ears.

“That’s enough. Don’t keep scrolling.”

But his words simply could not outrun the speed of her hand. The instant the phone turned to the next picture, Wen Yichen reflexively reached out, preparing to snatch it back.

And at that very same moment, Jiang Muwen saw what was in the photo.

The fourth picture was of her.