Chapter Twenty-Seven: It Felt Close, Yet Somehow Far Away.

"Oh, it doesn't matter if you forgot!" An Songyu quickly cut off Jian Ziyu's self-reproach.

But as soon as the words left her lips, she felt something was off and hurriedly added, "Actually, I didn't think it through either. You haven't even officially visited my home yet."

"It really wouldn't be appropriate for your first meeting with my family to happen at such an occasion."

Moreover, given their current relationship, it wouldn't be suitable for Jian Ziyu to attend her brother's wedding.

An Songyu hadn't considered these things in the past. At her brother's wedding, she had essentially introduced her boyfriend to all her relatives. At that time, she believed their relationship was stable and was determined to spend the rest of her life with him, so she never viewed him as an outsider.

Ever since her brother's wedding, however, their friends and relatives had become obsessively focused on their wedding date. Even during holidays like the Lunar New Year, people would ask her parents about it, half-jokingly and half-seriously. Consequently, not long after the New Year, both families simply started discussing the wedding date. At the time, she felt like everything was just taking its natural course.

Reflecting on it now, An Songyu couldn't quite tell if she had married because their relationship had truly reached that stage, or if all that pressure was the reason she had walked down the aisle less than a year after graduation.

The more she thought about it, the clearer her mind became. After offering Jian Ziyu a few more gentle, soothing words and setting a time for their next call, she hung up.

While An Songyu felt a sense of relief, Jian Ziyu, far away in another city, felt a strange unease. A classmate who had come on the project with him returned with their meals and found Jian Ziyu staring blankly at his phone.

"What's wrong? Old Jian, did you have a fight with your girlfriend?"

Jian Ziyu was startled by his classmate's voice. He looked up, saw the food in his friend's hand, and couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, buddy! Truly, you're the best!"

"How do you know this is yours?" his classmate asked, still curious about the previous question, and deliberately pulled the food away.

After some playful banter, Jian Ziyu finally got his meal. His classmate sat down beside him and asked again, "I saw you spacing out when I walked back. What's wrong? Did you really have a fight with your girlfriend?"

Jian Ziyu paused, his meal suddenly losing its appeal. He didn't know how to explain it, so he just replied, "We didn't fight at all!"

"Then why are you spacing out if you didn't fight? Wait, don't tell me that wasn't your girlfriend on the phone?"

Jian Ziyu rolled his eyes at his friend's nonsense. Who else but his girlfriend could make him forget to eat just to talk?

"Then what's the deal? If you didn't fight, why are you so down after talking for so long?"

"What, has your heart wandered elsewhere?"

"No, that can't be it. Look at this project; we don't even have any female colleagues around. How could you have a wandering eye?"

"Can't you say something reasonable?" Jian Ziyu grumbled. This guy was impossible. Besides, what did the lack of female colleagues have to do with it? If you have a partner, isn't it inherently strange to develop feelings for someone else?

"That's on you! You can't even explain yourself clearly. I was worried you'd go hungry working because you were busy on the phone with her!" his classmate retorted, clearly frustrated by the lack of clarity.

"It's just... I feel like over the last two months, my girlfriend hasn't been as close to me as she used to be," Jian Ziyu said. "Or rather, it's not that she's distant, it's just that she doesn't seem to need me as much."

He paused, struggling to find the right words. "It's like... even in our conversations, she speaks more naturally than before. There’s a sense of entitlement and a hint of assertiveness that makes me feel she doesn't treat me like an outsider at all. But at the same time, she doesn't seem to need me."

"Sometimes I call, and if she's busy, she won't have time to talk. But she won't call back later, either. When I bring it up, she either forgot, was busy, or just acts like she knew I didn't have anything important to say—that I just wanted to chat—and she didn't want to waste time."

"Also, from things she's said, I know she's encountered some problems. But she never asks for my help. If we happen to be on the phone, she might mention them in passing, but if the issue passes while we aren't talking, she won't even bring it up again. She doesn't blame me for not being there to share the burden. It’s like she’s so breezy and independent, as if she can handle everything on her own. I can't quite put my finger on it. It’s like we’re close, yet we’re far apart."

"What on earth are you talking about?" his classmate stared at him in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself? What do you mean 'close yet far apart'? We're almost out of college; don't you know those are opposites?"

"How can someone make you feel close and distant at the same time?"

"You just don't get it!" Jian Ziyu shot a look of disdain at the confirmed bachelor and kept eating while he pondered.

He had a nagging feeling that something major had changed in An Songyu while he wasn't looking. It left him restless. But when he thought about his packed work schedule, he felt a headache coming on. Maybe he should ask his supervisor for a day off?

After An Songlin's wedding, the An family didn't seem to change much. The couple only spent one night in the bridal suite specifically prepared for them before moving back to their original rental. It was naturally more convenient for An Songlin to live near the textile factory, but Xuan Ying's workplace was quite a distance away. Ever since they got engaged, they had been looking for a suitable place to live. Even after they rented a house, they didn't move in immediately, but they treated it like their little home. Once the wedding was over, they naturally settled in there, though they visited both families for meals from time to time.

In the blink of an eye, the mulberry fields in Jiang Village were ready for their first harvest. An Songyu came to the village alone that day. Her schedule was different from the rest of the family.

The silkworms were in their final instar stage. Everyone in the silkworm room was busy picking mulberry leaves and preparing the cocooning frames. This work was clearly not something an amateur like An Songyu could handle easily.

Seeing her arrive, Shi Youqin, who happened to be free, waved her over. An Songyu greeted her grandfather and the others who were still working, then obediently followed her grandmother out of the silkworm room.

They walked through the mulberry grove until they reached a tree that looked no different from the others. Shi Youqin pointed to the small, reddish-black fruits hidden among the leaves and smiled, "Ah Yu, look!"