Jing Yi remained motionless, standing in place.
Shu He sighed helplessly, “Why aren’t you waiting in the car?”
He swept an expressionless glance at the man not far away, then turned his gaze back to her. His dark eyes looked at her with obvious displeasure: “It’s been at least three minutes.”
“……”
Shu He hadn’t expected him to actually be timing her. She walked straight to the car and got in, not caring whether he followed or not.
The car door closed behind her. Seeing Yu Mo driving again, she couldn’t help but feel curious: “How did you two meet?”
This question wasn’t directed at Jing Yi, who sat with his arms crossed, silently glaring at Yu Mo’s flashy blue head with a gloomy expression.
“I’m also one of Mrs. Li’s tenants,” Yu Mo instinctively sat up straight like a good student answering a question, looking somewhat nervous. “Previously, Brother Liang helped me out, so I owe him a favor.”
Liang Xu didn’t need him to repay the favor, but the young man was too stubborn. He simply gave Jing Yi Yu Mo’s phone number, telling him to contact Yu Mo if he needed anything.
Truthfully, Yu Mo hardly saw Jing Yi at all last year. It was only in these past few months that they’d been in frequent contact, mostly with Yu Mo driving him places.
Shu He nodded and asked, “Is the barbershop busy?”
Yu Mo’s face tensed. “It’s manageable.”
Actually, after each time he drove Jing Yi, he would receive a payment equivalent to the barbershop’s entire daily revenue. Yu Mo had refused before, but Jing Yi was clearly an eccentric, wealthy boss who continued to pay anyway.
As a result, Yu Mo could only entrust the shop to others, carrying his phone every day, waiting to continue his role as a driver.
Shu He stopped talking, and Yu Mo visibly relaxed. Being socially anxious, he preferred the quiet atmosphere when no one was speaking.
Until Jing Yi suddenly spoke, causing Yu Mo to reflexively straighten his back. His heart pounded as he glanced at the rearview mirror, praying not to be mentioned.
“Are you going to get a haircut?” Jing Yi asked abruptly.
Shu He nodded, “I want to cut it shorter.”
Jing Yi glanced at her long, wavy hair like seaweed, suddenly realizing that they essentially had matching hairstyles.
“Long hair looks good,” he said stiffly, trying to make conversation while hiding his secret thoughts. He casually added, “But I haven’t seen you with short hair either. I’m sure that would look good too.”
Shu He played with her curls. “I won’t cut it too short, probably just to about…” She gestured to her shoulder.
Jing Yi watched her movement. “Like the length you had in your senior year?”
The light from outside the window cast shadows across his handsome features, while his clear black and white eyes gazed steadily at her.
Shu He paused her fidgeting: “You still remember that?”
He made an affirmative sound, his tone unconsciously lifting: “I remember everything about you.”
“……”
When Shu He was in high school, she always wore a neat, clean ponytail.
Until the last few months of her senior year, she found washing her hair troublesome and decided to cut it shorter. But in the end… Shu He had left the hair salon with a gloomy face.
Jing Yi still remembered seeing her at school that day, standing in the curved corridor, studying. She had taken off her school uniform jacket and was wearing just a plain t-shirt, revealing her snow-white nape with that adorable little bun at the back. Her face was dark though, her mood clearly terrible.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but curl his lips. Shu He glanced at him speechlessly, “You have quite a memory.”
When they returned home, he proved once more that his memory was indeed excellent.
“What were you and Xu Yichi talking about?” He stared at her intently, his tone revealing his discontent. “I always said he had ulterior motives toward you.”
Shu He walked over to pour herself a glass of water, answering casually, “He said he was sorry.”
He frowned, looking for fault: “Does ‘sorry’ require such a long hug?”
“To me, he didn’t look sorry—he looked like he wanted to hug you.”
He hadn’t forgotten how Xu Yichi had moved closer to her. His grumbling was clearly audible to Shu He, whose dull headache seemed to worsen as she went to find the medicine cabinet.
Jing Yi followed closely behind her. Seeing her movements, he grabbed the medicine first.
“You’re not comfortable.” Though he said this, he instinctively glanced at her expression. Seeing no rejection, he applied the medicine while muttering, “He got the same curly hair as mine.”
“……”
“And those silver-rimmed glasses you like.”
“……”
“The white shirt too… did you notice? He’s copying me.”
Jing Yi’s gaze was fixed on her face. The woman’s lightly closed eyelids twitched as he continued somewhat pitifully: “And he’s younger than you.”
“…..”
Seeing her silence, the cotton swab in his hand was nearly broken in two. “He even called you ‘sister’…”
“Sister, would you like him?”
“…..”
Shu He lifted her eyelids, mercilessly replying: “You talk way too much.”
“…..”
Seeing her about to return to her room, he instinctively grabbed her hand. Caught off guard, Shu He fell back onto the sofa, almost encircled in his arms.
“The curly hair, I won’t change it back.”
His dark eyes fixed on her intently. “My legs will get better soon too. I’ll be everything you like, so… please don’t like anyone else, okay?”
Shu He’s red lips parted slightly. Her gaze traveled upward to his fluffy, slightly curly black hair. Though it lacked the vigor of his college days, it made him look docile.
She couldn’t resist reaching out to ruffle it. “When did I ever say I liked someone else?”
He obediently allowed her to touch him. If he had a tail, it would probably be wagging now, though his tone still revealed his sulky displeasure: “Who knows if you might be seduced by that counterfeit?”
“……”
“Alright,” Shu He said helplessly, pushing his hand away. “Stop being dramatic. Don’t forget, we’re still exes right now.”
“…..”
At her words, he blankly released her hand, lost in thought, looking somewhat dazed and at a loss.
Shu He thought he was feeling hurt and upset again. She tossed the broken cotton swab from his hand into the trash. “My head hurts. I’m going to rest now. You should sleep early too, okay?”
He didn’t look happy, but showed no other emotion either. First, he dazedly responded with an “oh,” then nodded obediently, appearing completely normal.
But it wasn’t until she returned to her bedroom that Shu He realized something was off.
Why had he suddenly become so docile…
Not knowing if he was feeling hurt or trapped in some twisted mental loop, she took out her phone, typed a message, and sent it to him—
[I’m going to look at cars this weekend, want to come along?]
She remembered he knew quite a bit about cars.
As expected, he replied quickly: [Sure.]
Shu He felt slightly relieved. Her finger scrolled down to see that Xiang Lanye had forwarded her a link.
Xiang Lanye: [What is Xu Yichi up to now!!]
The topic #XuYichiStalkerFan# had hit the trending topics again. Although it had been taken down, screenshots were still being circulated.
Shu He looked through it and saw only photos of Xu Yichi leaving the police station, taken after she had already left.
After telling Xiang Lanye about the rear-end collision, her friend immediately erupted: [I knew he was no good!!]
She already had a bias against Xu Yichi, and these two consecutive trending topics made her suspicious: [I heard from someone that Xu Yichi’s family works in media. Could this be deliberately arranged by him?]
Shu He thought carefully. When she was working as a tutor, she seemed to recall Xu Yichi mentioning that his mother was a director at some media company.
She hadn’t given much thought to such irrelevant matters, but perhaps because of what she said that night, Xu Yichi hadn’t appeared again.
On Saturday, Liang Xu came to pick them up to look at cars. Ni Sui was there too.
The salesperson who received them was Ni Sui’s friend. She showed them around, and Shu He eventually settled on a silver-gray model.
The salesperson gave a concise explanation of the car’s performance. Shu He nodded but still instinctively looked toward the “expert” beside her.
After Expert Jing analyzed a few points, Shu He didn’t hesitate further and decided on that car.
“Would you like a test drive?” the salesperson asked before payment.
Shu He gladly agreed. Liang Xu and Ni Sui went to the waiting room while the salesperson was about to open the back door for Jing Yi, but he had already pulled open the passenger door, politely saying, “I’ll sit in the front.”
“…..”
After driving around, Shu He felt the car was quite nice.
When they returned to the dealership, she didn’t hesitate to go make the payment.
Beside her, Liang Xu noticed her making the full payment upfront and suddenly felt puzzled.
Shu He didn’t seem to be short on money, so why had she chosen to have a roommate in the first place?
The car would be ready in two weeks. While driving them back, Liang Xu received a phone call.
His phone was connected to Bluetooth, and Li Minyu’s voice immediately filled the car.
Learning that Shu He and Jing Yi were also present, she warmly suggested, “Then let’s all have dinner together tonight?”
Shu He didn’t refuse. “Sure.”
Since she had agreed, Jing Yi couldn’t possibly decline.
When they arrived, Liang Xu and Ni Sui needed to buy something first, so she and Jing Yi went to the private room ahead.
But whether Liang Xu had remembered the wrong floor, when they exited the elevator, they didn’t see the restaurant. Instead, several people dressed as bridesmaids and groomsmen were waiting by the elevator.
Seeing them arrive, they approached: “Are you friends of the bride or the groom?”
Only then did Shu He notice that this floor seemed to have been reserved for a wedding party, with wedding photos of the newlyweds on display. She instinctively looked at the person beside her. Jing Yi’s face was tense, clearly also caught off guard.
“I’m sorry, we must have come to the wrong place.”
“Oh, that’s alright, no problem.” They smiled brightly and handed wedding candies to the two: “Consider it sharing in the joy. We wish you happiness too.”
The two returned to the elevator, both somewhat dazed as they looked at the red wedding candies in their hands.
When the elevator returned to the first floor, they ran into Liang Xu and Ni Sui returning.
Noticing the wedding candies in their hands, he raised an eyebrow: “Where did you get those?”
Shu He explained briefly. Ni Sui looked down at the restaurant location and gently scolded Liang Xu: “You got the floor wrong.”
“…..”
When they reached the tenth floor, Liang Xu extended his hand to Jing Yi, asking for some candy, but surprisingly, he refused.
He was somewhat frustrated: “Do you have to be so stingy?”
“Tell you what, when I marry my wife, I’ll give you several packages of candy. Won’t that work?”
Jing Yi glanced at the woman walking with Ni Sui: “This isn’t ordinary wedding candy.”
Now Liang Xu was curious: “What’s so special about this candy? Is it expensive? Priceless?”
Jing Yi actually nodded, and Liang Xu didn’t believe him. He even took out his phone, “Show me how much it costs. Is there actually candy I can’t afford?”
But Jing Yi wouldn’t even let him touch it. He raised his chin, his expression still bland, though he seemed to be showing off something: “This wedding candy contains blessings.”
Liang Xu: “?”
“They wished for happiness between me and Shu He.”
Liang Xu: “……..”
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