Shen Yusi turned around and saw Xu Huaichuan standing at the entrance of a private room.
Then, one by one, a few more people came out.
One was Lin Yingzhou. Another was the cousin sister she had seen at the hospital. The last was a girl she didn’t recognize.
She forced a strained smile. “What a coincidence. You’re all here.”
Lin Wanxia was startled to see Shen Yusi. “Wow, small world.”
“Yeah.”
Xu Huaichuan looked between her and Lin Wanxia, surprised they knew each other. “What a coincidence. Your friend chose this restaurant too? We should have eaten together. It would have been more lively.”
Shen Yusi could only agree. “Yeah. I didn’t know you’d be at the same restaurant.”
If she had, she would have made Xia Xifan pick a different place.
It was awkward to just stand there now that the greetings were over. Xu Huaichuan said, “Alright, we’ll be off then.”
Lin Wanxia smiled. “See you next time.”
“Yeah, see you.”
Even the unfamiliar girl was enthusiastically waving goodbye to her.
Only Lin Yingzhou didn’t even look at her.
From what she’d seen of him, Shen Yusi knew he wasn’t an ill-mannered person. He would at least nod or say a word. Being completely ignored like this was almost unheard of.
Could he have seen her sitting with Qi Yue?
Oh, crap…
Shen Yusi dawdled in the restroom for a while longer.
She messaged Xie Sheng: [Has Lin Yingzhou left yet?]
Sheng Sheng: [Yeah, they just passed through the lobby. Come on out.]
Shen Yusi breathed a sigh of relief.
What a mess. From now on, her first requirement for a restaurant was that it be as far from the school as possible.
After Lin Yingzhou and his group left the restaurant, Tang Suhe mentioned a great dessert shop next door and dragged Lin Wanxia off to buy some. Lin Yingzhou and Xu Huaichuan could only head to the parking lot to wait for them.
After they were all in the car for about ten minutes, Xu Huaichuan finally had a chance to ask.
“Cousin Lin, do you know that girl too?”
Lin Wanxia nodded. “I saw her once before when Yingzhou accompanied me to the hospital.”
Xu Huaichuan had an epiphany. “Lin Yingzhou, you were hiding this deep! I was wondering why you went to the cafeteria to find her that day. You already knew her, and you’ve even introduced her to family.”
Lin Wanxia and Tang Suhe said in unison, “What cafeteria?”
Xu Huaichuan recounted what had happened that day.
Tang Suhe also sensed something was off. “Oh, so that’s it. The medicine you asked me for last time was for her, wasn’t it?”
Lin Wanxia and Xu Huaichuan said in unison, “What medicine?”
Rubbing his temples, Lin Yingzhou thought the group was terribly noisy.
This involved the girl’s privacy, so Tang Suhe couldn’t go into detail. She asked Lin Yingzhou, “When are you going to bring her to see me? I really am going to Jingchuan next month.”
Lin Wanxia added, “Yeah. Bring her to dinner sometime. You’ve never officially introduced her.”
The three of them exchanged clues inside the car, quickly piecing together that something was definitely going on between Lin Yingzhou and Shen Yusi, and that Lin Yingzhou must have feelings for her.
The car was a cacophony of chatter. Lin Yingzhou’s ears were hurting. He lowered the window half an inch to get some air.
It just so happened they were at a red light. The car came to a stop.
On the other side of the road, on the vehicle lane, Shen Yusi was taking a walk with Xia Xifan.
She was wearing a floral dress today, listening to him talk, a smile on her lips. From a distance, they looked like a sweet campus couple.
Lin Yingzhou’s gaze grew dark.
Four hours ago, she had engineered a chance encounter with him at the teaching building, smiling and asking how he’d slept.
An hour ago, she was having a candlelit dinner with Qi Yue at the restaurant, her face practically pressed against his chest.
Now, she was strolling down the street with another man, and they were standing so close.
She really managed her time well.
Lin Yingzhou raised the window.
The light turned green. The car moved. The happy couple in the rearview mirror shrank into specks of light.
—
The summer breeze carried the scent of osmanthus through the tree-lined path.
Watching the distance between her and Xia Xifan grow from 0.1 meters to 1 meter, Shen Yusi finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Xia Xifan, why are you standing so far away?”
She lifted her face, frowning, clearly unhappy.
“Nothing. I’m just a little hot.”
Xia Xifan felt like Shen Yusi was different today.
Maybe it was because the whole car accident incident was now behind them. Shen Yusi’s attitude towards him was much better.
Before, she’d never given him a good face. She was always grumpy, her words full of gunpowder.
She always ordered him around in a condescending way, like a proud peacock.
So, back then, even if there were more physical contact, it could never become this ambiguous. It would never make him shy enough to want to keep his distance.
During their walk, her hair would brush against his arm with every move she made. Her scent would always find its way into his nostrils.
And her voice… it was so nice.
So, this was what her voice sounded like when she wasn’t in a bad mood.
Well.
She sounded nice even when she was in a bad mood.
Xia Xifan felt like his heartbeat was going crazy. He was afraid if it got any louder, Shen Yusi would hear it.
He thought if he stood further away, she wouldn’t notice.
“Hot?” Shen Yusi nodded, accepting his explanation. “Do you want to go back, then?”
Xia Xifan quickly waved his hands. “No, no. Just a little hot.”
“Oh—” Shen Yusi turned her head and smiled at him. “You just want to walk with me a little longer, don’t you?”
Boom.
Xia Xifan felt like his head was going to explode. He fumbled for an explanation.
Shen Yusi pretended to understand. “Yeah. We ate so much. We should walk it off.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” Xia Xifan quickly agreed.
Shen Yusi burst out laughing. “So why are your ears so red?”
“I…”
In this light, you couldn’t really see anything. Shen Yusi was just asking for the sake of it.
But Xia Xifan was already blushing at her words.
Shen Yusi was about to tease him a little more when her phone rang, breaking the intimate atmosphere. She looked at the caller ID.
It was Z.
This was the first time Lin Yingzhou had called her since they’d known each other.
Shen Yusi didn’t want to miss it. She made a ‘shush’ gesture at Xia Xifan. “It’s my dad.”
“Hello?”
Lin Yingzhou’s voice came through the earpiece, impossible to read. “Did you do today’s homework?”
“Yes. I’ll send it to you when I get back.”
Shen Yusi once again felt grateful for having such a dedicated teacher.
And she was such a diligent student!
Lin Yingzhou asked, “Mm. Are you still out?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m near The Georg buying something. It’s on my way. Want a ride back to school?”
This rare invitation made Shen Yusi hesitate. She dare not accept it. “No need. My driver will come get me.”
Lin Yingzhou’s voice grew cold. “Is that so? Then I’ll hang up.”
Before she could say anything, the call was abruptly cut off. Shen Yusi was stunned.
What was that?
He called just to say those few words?
Why did it feel like all three of them were acting strange today?
Had they all taken the wrong pills?
But the call did make her feel a little better. Lin Yingzhou probably hadn’t seen Qi Yue. Otherwise, with his contrary personality, he wouldn’t have called her at all, let alone offer to drive her back.
Xia Xifan smiled. “Your dad cares about you a lot.”
Two calls in such a short time.
“Yeah, he does.” Shen Yusi was dying of guilt inside, but her face remained perfectly normal.
—
That evening, Shen Yusi made a point of going back to school to pick up Xie Sheng, and they went back to the hotel together.
While Xie Sheng was showering, Shen Yusi lounged on the sofa playing on her phone, waiting for her.
Qi Yue had messaged: [She’s my sister]
Shen Yusi laughed: [She’s just my sister. The one who says purple has a certain charm?]
A few minutes later, Qi Yue took a picture of the page in his household registry showing his sister, Qi Qi: [A real sister]
Shen Yusi was startled by his theatrical explanation: [Who sends a picture of their household registry just because they’re chatting?]
Casanova: [I was afraid you’d misunderstand.]
Shen Yusi shot back: [Does it matter if I misunderstand?]
Casanova: [Yes.]
Okay, that sentence did make her heart race. [But Xia Xifan isn’t my brother. I don’t have a household registry to show you. What should I do?]
Qi Yue said: [You don’t need to explain anything to me.]
Shen Yusi snorted: [Is that so? But I saw the look in your eyes. You weren’t that carefree.]
Casanova: [I haven’t seen you in a while. Can’t I be a little excited?]
Shen Yusi hadn’t expected Qi Yue, who usually liked to play it cool, to start playing it straight.
To be honest, she wasn’t sure how to handle it.
She went along with him: [Alright. I’ve been busy lately. See you on your birthday.]
Qi Yue wanted to ask if she was busy dating other people.
He decided against it.
If he pissed her off and she started ignoring him again, he wouldn’t even know where to cry.
Done with Qi Yue, Shen Yusi sent her cursive homework to Lin Yingzhou.
The running script exam was on Monday. If she passed, she could move on to the cursive exam on Thursday.
Z: [Mm]
Then, a set of standard critiques.
Shen Yusi didn’t pick up on his mood swings. She went to reply to Xia Xifan’s message.
But she did take a precaution. She posted a moments update, visible only to Lin Yingzhou, hinting that the only person with her today was Xie Sheng.
Satisfied that everything was fine, Shen Yusi put her phone aside, leaned next to Xie Sheng, and told her all about what happened after she had exposed Lin Yingzhou.
Xie Sheng squealed and screamed, exclaiming how thrilling it was.
But Shen Yusi didn’t know there was someone trying to sabotage her.
Back at the Lin residence.
Lin Yingzhou saw two moments updates. One was from Shen Yusi, the other from Qi Yue.
Island: [Checked in successfully with Xie Sheng]
No picture, just a location tag.
Casanova: [Good food and beautiful women]
There was a location and a picture. It was a half-empty table. The white tablecloth made the half-section of red hair at the opposite corner of the table extremely conspicuous.
Lin Yingzhou stared at that streak of red for a long time. Finally, without hesitation, he blocked Qi Yue’s moments.
He felt a strange blockage in his chest, a mass of emotions he couldn’t get rid of. This was new.
He was becoming less and less like himself, and Shen Yusi was becoming more and more difficult to read.
Some things seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Lin Yingzhou pushed open the door to the constant-temperature room connecting to the study.
The rainforest projection was brewing a thunderstorm. A damp, humid air rushed towards him.
Annoyed, Lin Yingzhou undid two buttons on his shirt. He walked closer, crouched down, and reached out.
The small snake quickly sensed the intrusion into its territory. It slithered down from the banyan tree, across the grass, and came to his side, sniffing his scent.
But just as it was about to climb onto his fingers, Lin Yingzhou pulled his hand back and stood up.
The projected storm finally broke. Blue and purple lightning flashed in the constant-temperature room.
He looked down. His cold eyes watched the small snake anxiously circling and coiling around in place.
Lin Yingzhou’s eyes were dark. His voice was cold.
“You’re really… not being good.”
—
After the class meeting on Saturday morning, Shen Yanchu had already been waiting outside the school gate for half an hour.
The back seat of the Maybach was filled with the crisp scent of cedar. Papers rustled as they were turned. The man’s strong profile was half-hidden in the shadows. His suit was ironed to perfection.
The watch on his wrist passed 10:45.
He never liked to wait. But family was an exception.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window. The crushed pine scent around him had formed an invisible boundary.
Until—
A girl with red hair ran towards the car from the crowd, opened the door, and climbed inside.
“Dad!”
The hot air from outside rushed in, melting a small, warm crack around Shen Yanchu.
He answered softly, “Mm.”
Shen Yusi could see the exhaustion on his face. “Did you just get off the plane? Why didn’t you go to the hotel to get some rest first?”
He hadn’t thought about it. He’d just wanted to see his daughter as soon as possible. “I’m fine. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?”
“Seafood.” Shen Yusi had been craving it for ages.
Shen Yanchu looked up. “Aren’t you supposed to be restricting your diet for the tattoo?”
“……” Of course. Shen Yusi made a sad face. “Dad! I haven’t had it in so long!”
She hadn’t touched seafood since she came to Yunchang. First, it was her leg injury. Now it was the tattoo.
Yesterday, Xia Xifan had also avoided seafood when ordering.
Who was more miserable than her?
Shen Yanchu said nothing. He just looked at her calmly.
Unable to withstand his stare, Shen Yusi quickly surrendered. “Fine. Let’s have Italian food, then.”
“Mm.”
The driver quickly found the nearest Italian restaurant.
Shen Yanchu put his papers away. “Are you still staying at the Yijiang when you’re not in school?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t the room a bit small?” Shen Yanchu remembered her needing several floors at home to feel comfortable. Wouldn’t a hotel suite be too boring?
“It’s fine.” It was a presidential suite in a five-star hotel, after all. It wasn’t that shabby.
Shen Yanchu nodded. “Before I came, Zhang Cheng showed me a few suitable houses near your school…”
Shen Yusi quickly cut him off. “A big house needs a housekeeper. I can’t live off-campus during my first year. We can talk about it next year.”
He was thoughtful. “That makes sense. If you apply for off-campus housing next year, the timing would be perfect. We start renovating now, and it should be ready by then.”
“I don’t want to pick. You decide.” The thought of house hunting and renovation was exhausting.
“How are things at school?”
“Fine.”
“Good.”
The car fell into another silence.
After a while, Shen Yanchu suddenly asked, “Have you gotten your driver’s license yet?”
No doubt about it. Her dad was thinking of buying her a car again.
Shen Yusi grumbled, “But I still want an electric scooter.”
She had a driver to take her everywhere when she was off campus. She spent most of her time on campus anyway. Yun was just too big. It took forever to walk to any teaching building.
Right now, no luxury car could beat a little scooty.
“……”
Shen Yanchu was completely silent now.
The car fell quiet again.
Shen Yanchu gazed at the familiar profile of her silhouette by the window. His mind drifted far away.
Shen Yanchu and Su Yunyang had been first-time parents. They had no experience, and they didn’t know how to take care of a child.
Shen Yusi had been a high-needs baby. She had to be held all the time. The moment you put her down, she would cry.
He and Su Yunyang had no patience. They hired four or five nannies and maids, but it was still barely enough.
One of the nannies had said, “High-needs babies grow up to be very smart.”
Su Yunyang had just smiled. “It doesn’t matter if she’s not smart. She’s my child. I just want her to be happy.”
Back then, Su Yunyang would make bets with him every day, asking if their Yuanyuan would say ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mommy’ first.
To win, she would spend all her free time holding Shen Yusi and brainwashing her.
“Yuanyuan, baby, look at me. I’m Mommy. Say ‘Mommy’.”
“Yuanyuan, baby, I’m Mommy. Call me ‘Mommy’～”
“Yuanyuan, baby, you came from Mommy’s belly, so you have to call ‘Mommy’ first. Don’t let that Shen Yanchu win.”
Shen Yanchu would also take advantage of Su Yunyang’s absences to secretly teach Shen Yusi, “Yuanyuan, repeat after me. ‘Mommy’. ‘Mommy’. ‘Yuanyuan loves Mommy the most’.”
“‘Yuanyuan has to call for Mommy first. It will make Mommy very happy.’”
“‘When Mommy is happy, Daddy is happy.’”
He repeated this over and over. By the time Shen Yusi was a little older and had finally learned to say ‘Mommy’, her mom was gone.
Those were hard times. They relied heavily on Shen Pei and He Songyi to help with the child.
But no matter how hard it was, they got through it.
Over a decade later, their Yuanyuan looked more and more like her.