No matter how much Shu He reassured him, he still thought she would move out. Sometimes when she came home late, he would sneakily ask, pretending to be casual: “I thought you weren’t coming back.”
When Xiang Lanye was moving, she simply brought him along to help.
But because of his leg disability, she had him sit and hold Xiang Lanye’s cat.
The cat was a socially anxious little thing, lying in his arms with its paws tightly gripping his clothes. Its black eyes watched vigilantly, and whenever it heard a sound, it would shrink its head down, leaving only its fluffy bottom exposed—which looked very tempting to pet.
When Shu He came in carrying things, she couldn’t resist giving it a pat. The soft fur felt nice, and the cat made a delicate, coquettish meow, as if its little paw had scratched her heart.
She couldn’t help but smile, putting down her things, then bending over to scratch under the cat’s chin. The little creature immediately started purring.
The woman right in front of him hadn’t looked at him once, even though just a few days ago she had promised to pamper him.
Before, whenever she came home, she would first pat his head.
See a cat, forget your man.
Jing Yi sat expressionless as he grabbed the chubby creature by the scruff of its neck and pulled it away from his chest.
The small cat immediately made an anxious sound. Only then did Shu He reach out her hand and, as if teasing the cat, hooked under his chin: “Just hold it, it’s timid.”
“…..”
Jing Yi’s thin lips moved, about to complain about something, but someone called her from the other room. Shu He responded with a quick “coming” and turned away without giving him another glance.
He looked down at the cowardly bundle in his arms, their eyes locked in a stare-off: “……”
Xiang Lanye’s parents also came to help with the move. When everything was finished, they personally cooked dinner for everyone.
Upon learning that Jing Yi had misunderstood, thinking Shu He was moving out, Xiang Lanye laughed uncontrollably. She deliberately said: “Actually, I really did want to live with Shu He before.”
“If I had lived with Shu He first, you might not have had a chance. Right, Shu-Shu?”
In an instant, two gazes from both sides were fixed intently on her.
Shu He had an ominous feeling about this question. Its trickiness was similar to being asked which parent you would save first if they both fell into a river.
Fortunately, Uncle and Auntie called them to dinner. She sighed in relief, but as she walked over, someone secretly caught her hand.
Shu He instinctively looked at the person walking in front of her, then turned her head to meet his dark eyes, which clearly showed his unhappiness.
She couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile and softly asked: “Are you upset again?”
The word “again” was quite telling, as if he was always angry and unreasonable.
The man’s eyes drooped, and he muttered sullenly: “You barely spoke to me all day. You ignored me first.”
Shu He was speechless for a moment, but his insecure expression made her heart melt completely. She couldn’t feel even a bit of anger.
Her gaze moved downward, noticing what looked like cat fur on his tense jawline.
She reached out to brush it away. Jing Yi didn’t understand what she was doing, but instinctively bent down, obediently lowering his head closer to her.
Shu He looked at his suddenly approaching face and couldn’t help but smile.
There seemed to be more fur. She used her fingertips to wipe his jawline, leaving some dark marks.
“Hey hey hey—dinner time! Stop with all that lovey-dovey stuff!!”
Xiang Lanye couldn’t help but shout. Uncle Xiang saw this and chided her: “Why are you chattering about their affection? If you’re so capable, bring someone home for your father too!”
“…..”
Xiang Lanye immediately went quiet as a mouse. When Shu He and Jing Yi arrived at the table, they were teased so much that even someone as composed as her felt embarrassed.
Meanwhile, the person beside her had a faint smile on his lips, no longer looking as gloomy as before.
The Xiang family didn’t have many rules at mealtime, and Xiang Lanye did most of the talking.
“Lawyer Tang was supposed to come today, but he seems to have something else going on. Shu-Shu, do you think I should invite Lawyer Tang for a meal? Or send him a gift?”
Shu He thought carefully, not noticing the person beside her looking her way.
“I think lawyers can’t casually accept gifts… Maybe… just ask him first.”
Xiang Lanye nodded: “Right, right, right.”
After dinner, Shu He and Xiang Lanye were on the phone with Tang Yun. The man’s deep voice, like a beautiful cello, came clearly through the speaker into Jing Yi’s ears.
“I’m free on Saturday.”
“That works!”
They arranged to have dinner on Saturday, and it was getting late.
Since Xiang Lanye’s home wasn’t far from where they lived, they decided to walk back.
Along the way, Shu He kept watching his legs. Although the distance wasn’t far, she was still concerned.
“Can I come along on Saturday?”
No wonder he seemed distracted—so this was what was on his mind.
Under the streetlights, their shadows stretched and intertwined. She walked very slowly. “Maybe I should just handcuff you to me, with one cuff on your wrist and the other on mine, taking you everywhere I go. How about that?”
He glanced at her: “Fine by me.”
“…”
Shu He burst out laughing. What she had said as a casual joke, this man seemed more than willing to accept.
“You’re not still jealous of Tang Yun, are you?” She leisurely stepped on his shadow. “We’re just friends.”
Jing Yi frowned slightly. “We were also just friends at first.”
“…..”
Shu He looked at him speechlessly, about to say something when a leisurely voice floated over—
“Just twenty yuan to reveal the greatest difficulty in your life.”
They both looked over to see a fortune teller who appeared quite young, sitting casually in a manner completely different from the “professional” fortune tellers they had seen before.
Shu He never used to believe in these things, but she suddenly remembered that in college, a senior who liked tarot cards had done a reading for her.
The result predicted that her love life would be difficult, possibly causing her pain.
At that time, she hadn’t taken it seriously at all. She didn’t think she would ever let herself suffer because of love.
Until now, when she belatedly felt a chill run through her.
Suddenly interested, she pulled Jing Yi to the small stall.
“I’m guessing it’s this beautiful lady who wants a reading, right?”
The “master” smiled. Shu He raised an eyebrow and deliberately went against his expectation, pointing to the person beside her: “It’s him.”
With an expressionless face, Jing Yi was pushed down to sit by her, offering no resistance.
“So what would you like to know? Career? Love?”
Shu He wasn’t a superstitious person. She just wanted to tease Jing Yi a bit, while also testing the fortune teller: “Aren’t you a fortune teller? Tell me, what’s he thinking right now?”
“…..” The young man made a pained face. “Sister, you’re really underestimating me. Do I need to divine that? Your boyfriend’s sour face clearly shows he’s angry.”
“……”
Shu He held back a laugh. “Do you have any magical remedy that can make him happy quickly?”
“…..”
The young man looked at the couple wordlessly, then turned his gaze to the silent man: “….Brother, I’ve observed you for a long time. Your fortune isn’t good. Having such a girlfriend is already rare luck. It’s okay to act needy sometimes, but—”
“You’re the one with bad fortune!”
Shu He’s expression darkened as she grabbed Jing Yi’s hand, glaring at the interrupted fortune teller: “Fraud!”
“Hey, hey, hey!!” Seeing them about to leave, he stood up. “I’m not trying to scam you! Trust me, my disaster-dispelling medicine is only five hundred yuan per bottle!!”
“…..”
The one who had been in a bad mood was Jing Yi, but by the time they got home, Shu He’s face looked even worse than his.
He couldn’t help but take her hand. “You already said he was a fraud, so why are you still angry?”
Shu He had a knot of anger in her chest. She wasn’t just angry about what the scammer had said, but also because of a question she had asked before.
Xiang Lanye was an avid fan of melodramatic short dramas and had been sending her classic clips during that period, to the point where Shu He had been somewhat brainwashed.
At that time, she had jokingly asked him: “How come when we’re dating, you don’t say things like—’I’d give you my life’ to sweet-talk me?”
He didn’t know this was internet slang and had hesitated for a moment, then laughed lightly: “My life isn’t worth much. Giving it to you would only harm you, wouldn’t it?”
His answer had made her laugh, but thinking back now, she realized he might not have been joking.
He truly believed his fortune wasn’t good.
She took a deep breath to calm her emotions, her voice becoming much gentler: “I won’t go on Saturday.”
It took him a moment to react, restraining the slight upward curve of his lips: “Is that really appropriate? Didn’t you say you wanted to thank him?”
Shu He didn’t carefully analyze his pretense of generosity and just nodded: “I’ll let Tang Yun know.”
She was now playing favorites and didn’t want to make him unhappy.
Perhaps because of the fortune-telling incident, Shu He didn’t sleep well all night.
She woke up very early the next day and decided to change into workout clothes and go for a run.
Coincidentally, she encountered the fortune-telling young man again.
This time she chose to ignore him, but not long after, she appeared at his stall wearing a mask.
The young man recognized her immediately and yawned. “What? Changed your mind?”
Shu He scanned his stall but didn’t see the “medicine” he had mentioned the night before.
“Someone bought it.”
Shu He was surprised: “People actually believe that?”
The young man snorted and rolled his eyes: “You don’t believe it, so why did you come back?”
“…..” Shu He was silent for a moment, then reluctantly asked: “Is there any other way to… dispel disasters?”
The young man leaned back, perhaps too smugly, and nearly fell off his small chair. He steadied himself shakily and cleared his throat: “Too bad you missed my magical medicine. This medicine, you know, only appears once every few hundred years—”
“You look barely twenty yourself,” Shu He interrupted suspiciously.
The young man knew he had gone too far and awkwardly rubbed his nose. “I do have a folk remedy. You can use a strand of your hair to make a bracelet—just one strand is enough—then go to that temple to pray—”
The more Shu He listened, the more dubious it seemed. She bluntly questioned: “You’re not a shill for that temple, are you?”
She suddenly came to her senses. How could she be standing here listening to this scammer’s nonsense?
Besides, what kind of fortune teller sets up shop at six in the morning??
When she returned home, Jing Yi had just gotten up.
He looked somewhat dazed, his voice low and sticky: “You got up so early?”
Shu He really didn’t want anyone to know she had foolishly listened to a scammer’s nonsense early in the morning. She gave a vague response, put the breakfast she’d brought on the table, and hurriedly went back to her bedroom.
After a busy afternoon at the shop, she still needed to pick up her car today.
The two of them waited in the lounge for a while before the salesperson personally came to assist them.
When the car keys were finally in her hand, Shu He was excited. “Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”
Jing Yi sat in the car but didn’t answer. Instead, he said lazily, “Sister, how do I fasten this seatbelt?”
Shu He could see right through his intentions, but still leaned over, making the air suddenly feel confined.
“Why are you so delicate? Even needing help with the seatbelt.”
She was wearing makeup today, her red lips curled slightly, amber eyes gleaming with obvious amusement.
Jing Yi’s throat felt dry as he stared at her lips, pretending to ask casually: “Sister, will anyone else ever sit in your passenger seat?”
With a “click,” the seatbelt was fastened. Shu He pushed herself back into her seat, giving him a slightly exasperated look: “You jealous thing.”
He touched his own lips disappointedly, resting his chin on his hand, and slowly answered her earlier question: “Wherever you go, sister, I’ll go too.”
After driving around for a long while, Shu He’s excitement finally calmed down.
As they came out of the elevator, her eyes caught the apartment across from theirs, and she suddenly remembered a question.
“Why did you buy two units?”
“My grandfather bought them,” he replied flatly, with no detectable emotion in his voice.
He became a replacement for Jing Lin—this was his grandfather’s compensation.
“I didn’t tell your father. The other unit is also for you. Ah Yi, only you know about that place. If you’re unhappy, you can go there to hide away.”
After hiding enough, he had to become Jing Lin again.
“What about your grandfather…?”
“He passed away.”
Shu He paused, changing the subject: “So it’s just sitting empty? Isn’t that wasteful?”
The digital lock beeped. Jing Yi glanced at her, his voice floating with strange awkwardness: “No, it’s not.”
“After we get married, the kids can move in there early.”
“……??”
Because of this statement, Shu He nearly tripped as she entered the apartment. She looked up, staring at him in disbelief, her usually composed self momentarily stunned.
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