Thunder rumbled outside the window. Jiang Xia listened to the soft whisper from his phone, feeling a little dazed.

"What do you mean, Baby?"

"Let’s get back together." Lin Yanwan suppressed her racing heart and continued, "Whatever the future holds, I want to have another whirlwind romance with you."

"Our marriage started with a romance, so it should end with one too."

Jiang Xia suddenly understood what she meant by "bringing their marriage to a close." ’Is this her way of saying a final goodbye to our relationship with one last romance?’

’But isn’t she afraid it’ll backfire and make our bond even stronger?’

’Or maybe she isn’t afraid. Maybe she’s just finding an excuse to convince herself to follow her heart.’

"Before you called, I dreamed about our wedding," Jiang Xia said softly.

"Hm?" Lin Yanwan instinctively held her breath, not understanding why he would suddenly bring that up now.

"Baby, I want to hold you tomorrow."

She instantly relaxed.

"Mmm~"

Neither of them mentioned an end date for their romance, but they shared a tacit understanding. It would be a day suitable for breaking up again, after they had fallen in love.

They wouldn’t ask for a future; they would just live in the moment. At least, for now, they were lovers again.

"Does your stomach still hurt?"

"It does. I saw a lot of blood when I changed my underwear. It hurt so much last night it took me a long time to fall asleep."

"I’ll rub it for you."

"You can’t reach it."

"I’ll rub it tomorrow."

Unsure what scene had popped into her head, Lin Yanwan blushed slightly, letting out a cute, nasal sound.

"Okay."

Jiang Xia couldn’t help but smile. They were like an old married couple, having touched and kissed every part of each other’s bodies, yet his heart suddenly filled with anticipation at the thought of holding her soft body in a tight embrace soon.

’Does being reborn make your mindset younger, too?’

The thunder faded away. Immersed in the sweetness of their rekindled romance, Lin Yanwan said softly, "When I called you just now, I was so scared I’d dialed Mom’s number. By the way, how do you have the phone?"

"I don’t know either. She suddenly gave it to me last night. I thought for sure she was going to chew me out."

Even now, Jiang Xia found it incredible. ’My mother had just given me the phone, and that very night I get a call from my wife?’

The coincidence was a little too unbelievable.

’Could it be... Mom’s real intention is that she’s eager for a grandchild, so she gave me the phone specifically to start a romance?’

’No way. Absolutely impossible!’

"Why would she chew you out?"

"Whose fault do you think it is? Why’d you have to go and call him ’Dad’? He came back and tattled to my mom. You know my mom is a teacher. This ’early romance’ stuff seriously affects studying, so of course she’s going to get involved."

Lin Yanwan’s face reddened. She retorted, "How can you blame me? You instinctively called her ’Mom’ too."

"She’s already my mom."

"That’s only after we get married in this lifetime..."

She answered instinctively, but before she could finish, they both froze. A brief silence fell over them.

Jiang Xia cleared his throat and proactively steered away from the sensitive topic. "I won’t make that mistake again."

"Mm..." Lin Yanwan asked softly, "Do you want to sleep a little longer?"

"No, morning self-study is about to start. If I fall asleep now, I really won’t wake up," he said with a laugh, glancing at the time. It was almost 5 a.m. ’Have we really been on the phone for an hour without realizing it?’

"I’ll call to wake you up."

"No, I want to hold you sooner."

"Me too," she replied softly.

"Baby, I’m hanging up to get ready. If we talk any longer, my phone might run out of credit."

"I’ll top it up for you," Lin Yanwan said earnestly.

At this point in time, her family’s factory hadn’t completely gone bankrupt yet. Her family gave her a decent amount of allowance, making her a sort of hidden rich girl in her class. It was just that she had been frugal since she was young and saved whatever allowance she didn’t use.

In fact, when her family was in dire need of money, her years of savings had helped them avert an urgent crisis.

"I almost forgot. You’re a bona fide rich girl right now," Jiang Xia laughed. "Does this count as me latching onto a sugar mama?"

"Hmph~ Only for phone credit."

"Then I’m hanging up."

"Okay."

A few seconds passed, but there was still no dial tone from the other end. Lin Yanwan asked, "Why haven’t you hung up yet?"

"Did you forget something?"

"What?" she asked, a confused look on her face.

"Think carefully. Back when we were dating, what would we do after a phone call?"

She blinked, her face instantly turning red. In the past, every phone call had ended with a cute, playful kiss. They had only toned it down after getting married.

"I... I forgot."

"I don’t believe you!"

"Hmph, mwah~"

Before he could reply, Lin Yanwan quickly hung up the phone, so shy that she buried her burning cheeks in her blanket, as if she had been transported back to the scene of their very first kiss.

Listening to the dial tone, Jiang Xia blinked, stunned for a long moment.

He had only been joking, but he never expected his wife to actually give him a "mwah." The crucial part was the long-lost thrill that shot through his heart.

The thought of holding her soft body soon made an irrepressible heat well up inside him.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xia threw off his blanket and got out of bed. It was still pitch-black outside, but the rain had lessened to a pitter-patter. It looked like it might rain all day.

He got dressed, tiptoed to the bathroom to wash up, then found a thermos he hadn’t used in years. He washed it and steeped some red dates and shredded ginger inside. Grabbing an umbrella, a flashlight, and his sketches, he headed out.

The rainy March day was still a bit chilly. The flowers and plants in the residential complex had been battered by the thunderstorm all night, and weary leaves were scattered everywhere.

Jiang Xia carefully avoided the puddles. As he left the complex, he happened to catch an early morning bus. When he saw its route passed through Brocade Splendor City, his heart stirred.

***

After the call ended, Lin Yanwan lingered in bed for a while longer, her nervous and shy heart slowly calming down.

Even though they had initially agreed to just be ordinary friends, her heart was honest. She couldn’t forget how good Jiang Xia had been to her, nor could she simply ignore him.

On the contrary, only after saying the words "get back together" did her heart truly relax.

She patted her cheeks forcefully, but she couldn’t stop herself from fantasizing about how they would meet today. Like their first date, her heart began to beat faster and faster.

She washed her face twice with cleanser and even stared at herself in the mirror for a long time before finally giving up on the idea of putting on light makeup. She simply clipped her hair back a little, which made her look more ladylike.

After all, she was still a high school student. Besides, her flawless little face, brimming with youthful energy, was beautiful enough even without makeup.

Once she was ready, Lin Yanwan took her umbrella and headed out. The moment she opened the door, she saw Jiang Xia standing outside with a gentle expression, his umbrella dripping water onto the ground.

"Baby, I’m here to hold you."

Jiang Xia said softly, looking into her eyes.