A few more days passed, and Meiying was still walking around like she was half-asleep. She went through the motions of her daily life waking up, watering the vegetables in the garden, helping out at Auntie Wang's shop, eating dinner with Yutang when he was home from school but her mind was always somewhere else.
It was always back at Yue Hua Group, in that big office on the top floor.
She kept replaying that day over and over. The way Yuhan had looked at her when he said he wanted to see her again. The feel of his arms around her. The kiss. God, that kiss. She tried so hard to push it away, but it was like it was etched into her brain.
Weiliang was still being sweet, still trying to cheer her up, but she could feel the distance growing between them. It was like there was a glass wall now she could see him, she could talk to him, but she couldn't really connect. And she knew he felt it too. He'd look at her with that worried frown, and she'd want to tell him everything to just get it off her chest, but the words would get stuck in her throat.
What would he do if she told him? If she said, "Hey, I went to sign some papers and ended up kissing the guy who bought our land." She didn't want to know. She didn't want to see the hurt in his eyes. So she stayed quiet.
One evening, she was sitting on the porch, shelling peas for dinner, when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, and her heart practically stopped when she saw the name on the screen.
Li Yuhan.
She froze, her hands still covered in pea pods. She stared at the screen for a long time, watching it light up again and again as the message came through. Finally, she took a deep breath and tapped to open it.
"Meiying, I transferred the money for the land today. It should be in your account by tomorrow morning. Let me know when you get it."
That was it. Just a simple text about the money. There was no mention of the kiss. There was no mention of what happened.
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Part of her was relieved he wasn't going to bring it up. Maybe he regretted it, too. Maybe it really was just a mistake, like she'd been telling herself.
But another part of her, she didn't know. It stung a little, maybe. It didn't mean anything to him at all.
She typed back a reply, her fingers a little shaky. "Okay, thank you. I'll let you know when it comes through."
She hit send and put the phone down, going back to shelling peas. But before she could even put another pod in the bowl, it buzzed again.
"How have you been? You left pretty quickly the other day at Yue Hua Group. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
Meiying stared at the words. How have you been? Like he cared. Like they were friends or something.
She didn't know how to answer that. I've been terrible? I've been walking around like a zombie because I can't stop thinking about you kissing me?
No way. She couldn't say that.
She typed back: "I'm fine. Just busy with stuff here. Thanks for asking."
This time, the reply came back almost instantly.
"Good. I'm glad. Listen, Meiying… about what happened. I don't want you to worry about it. I know things got intense, and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That wasn't my intention."
Oh. So he was sorry. He thought he made her uncomfortable.
Well, he wasn't wrong, exactly. She was uncomfortable—uncomfortable with how much she'd liked it. Uncomfortable with how much she wanted to do it again.
She wrote back: "It's okay. We both got caught up in the moment. It won't happen again."
She stared at those last four words. It won't happen again, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She meant them, didn't she? She had to mean them. She was with Weiliang. She loved Weiliang. This thing with Yuhan was just a moment of madness.
Her phone buzzed one more time. "If you say so. But just so you know… I don't regret it."
Meiying's breath caught. She read those words over and over again. I don't regret it.
He didn't regret it.
She sat there, holding the phone, feeling like the ground had just shifted under her feet. What was she supposed to do with that? How was she supposed to go back to her normal life now, knowing that he didn't regret kissing her?
"Meiying? You okay out there?" Yutang's voice came from inside the house.
She jumped, almost dropping her phone. She quickly locked the screen and shoved it back into her pocket, turning to see her brother walking out onto the porch.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile. "Just… thinking about something."
Yutang sat down next to her, picking up a pea pod and starting to shell it. "You've been thinking a lot lately," he said, not looking at her. "Weiliang told me you've been kind of down since you went to see that guy at Yue Hua Group. Is everything okay with the money? Did he pay you?"
Meiying nodded. "Yeah, he sent it today. It'll be in the bank tomorrow. Everything's fine, Yutang. Really."
Yutang looked up at her, his eyes sharp. He was smart, her brother. Way smarter than her sometimes. "You sure? Because you look like you've seen a ghost or something. If that guy did anything to you, Meiying, you tell me, okay? I don't care how rich he is. I'll go up there and-"
"No, no, nothing like that," Meiying said quickly, reaching over and putting a hand on his arm. "He didn't do anything bad. I'm just tired, that's all. It's been a lot lately, you know? With Dad, and everything. I'll be okay."
Yutang studied her face for a long moment, then sighed and nodded. "Okay. But if you need to talk, I'm here. You know that, right?"
"I know," she said, smiling at him. "Thanks, Yutang."
He went back to shelling peas, and Meiying did the same, but her mind was still on that text. I don't regret it.
It was like a seed had been planted in her head, and now it was growing, spreading roots she couldn't pull out. She tried to tell herself it didn't matter. It was just words. But deep down, she knew it mattered. It mattered more than she wanted to admit.