chapter 3

chapter 3

Feng Cishu was not as difficult to approach as the rumors made him out to be. On the contrary, he was quite easy to talk to.

I chatted with him the whole way, and then we reached school.

I had just gotten out of the car when I heard him open his door and step out too.

Seeing me look over, Feng Cishu lifted the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

“Having a smoke.”

He leaned against the car, tilted his head, and lit a cigarette. White smoke slowly drifted open, and through that haze, I saw his eyes narrow slightly.

Cheng Lin’s description of Feng Cishu rang in my ears again.

“A cold-faced badass in a suit.”

“This man is damn sexy.”

I thought perhaps there was some truth to it.

Seeing that I still had not left, Feng Cishu started shooing me away. “Go on in.”

“Uncle Feng,” I praised him sincerely, “you look pretty handsome when you smoke.”

He froze for a moment, and I changed the subject.

“But don’t smoke too much. You’re pretty handsome even when you don’t smoke.”

I sincerely hoped good people would live long, safe lives. Uncle Feng needed to stay healthy.

Feng Cishu stared at me, even forgetting to bring the cigarette in his hand to his mouth. That layer of smoke really was in the way; I actually felt there was some indescribable light swaying in his eyes.

“Yangyang.” He stubbed out the cigarette.

It took me quite a while to realize he was calling me.

“Can I call you that?” Feng Cishu asked.

I felt the care of an elder. “If Uncle Feng thinks it’s all right, then it’s all right.”

His cold, stern face somehow softened.

“See you next time, Yangyang,” Feng Cishu said.

I waved and smiled. “Goodbye, Uncle Feng.”

I had only taken a few steps when that familiar voice entered my head.

–“I hate this!

–“What on earth are they talking about? Ahhh! I want to know so badly!

–“Heaven above, your faithful girl is willing to trade ten years of her ex-boyfriend’s life for the use of ears that can hear everything.

–“I promise I’ll return them…

–“Boohoo, I even specifically had Uncle Liu drive fast to get here, and in the end I couldn’t hear a thing.

–“But the second male lead’s car really does drive slowly. I’ve been crouching here forever.

–“I don’t care!

–“He did it on purpose, hehehehe!”

Obviously, it was Cheng Lin.

I searched for ages before finally spotting her in a clump of bushes not far away.

She was crouched in the bushes, holding up two branches as camouflage.

Haha. How dumb.

I pretended not to see her and walked straight ahead.

Someone was coming toward me. I had not seen him for some time.

Feng Yan saw me too, and our gazes collided.

I suddenly remembered.

“One Meat Dish and One Vegetable Dish” was his favorite song.

This was also the first time we had met since he had forcibly hugged me.

Thinking of the way his gaze had flashed with scattered sparks like a wolf’s that day, I still felt uncomfortable.

We had grown up together.

Many things in my life had, more or less, involved him.

I thought I understood Feng Yan well enough.

But that side of him was strange and frightening.

Now, though, our engagement was about to be called off, and I did not want to have too much to do with Feng Yan either.

I nodded, counting it as a greeting.

Just as I was about to walk past Feng Yan, he grabbed my hand.

“Yangyang,” he said, facing me, “are you angry with me?”

Strange to say, he was going to become someone else’s husband, yet I did not feel angry.

“No.” I looked up at him. “Please let go.”

Feng Yan became even more certain.

“Don’t be angry.” He lowered his head, his voice a little quiet.

I froze slightly.

In the past, whenever he made me angry, he would look exactly like this.

Back then, I really had thought he looked rather pitiful, like a little dog caught in the rain.

Thinking about it now.

He was clearly a wolf. Why bother pretending to be a dog?

I was no longer falling for this act.

“Feng Yan,” I said, my tone turning cold, “let go.”

Feng Yan looked at me silently for a while. After a long moment, he released my hand.

“Yangyang, you know I have no choice,” he said. “The Feng family is too rich a piece of meat. Too many people want a share of it. Behind the scenes, countless people are watching me like tigers eyeing their prey. If I make the slightest mistake, the meat will be gone.”

I knew all of this.

The Feng family was already the leader among the wealthy, but with a vast business came a vast household. Old Master Feng had eight sons alone. Among them, Feng Cishu was the youngest, and also the one Old Master Feng valued most. Recently, there had been faint signs that he intended to hand the position to him.

Feng Yan’s father, meanwhile, was the third son. When he was alive, he had not been valued, and he died of illness when Feng Yan was eight.

Feng Yan was a man walking a tightrope.

I had always known he was ambitious.

So if he wanted to give up on me, who had no value, I could understand that.

I had never thought I would blame him either.

But he should not have given me up and still tried to keep me on the hook.

Seeing that I had not spoken for so long, Feng Yan thought I was wavering and continued, “Give me some time, Yangyang. It won’t be long.

“Wait for me.”

He must have gone to India with my brother for advanced training in spinning empty promises.

I laughed.

Just as I was about to open my mouth and throw out a couple of barbs, a roar rang out so loudly it was deafening.

–“Fuck, wait for you, my ass!”

Cheng Lin appeared behind Feng Yan.

If looks could kill, Feng Yan would have been stabbed in the back by now.

But she immediately put on a sweet smile. “Brother Yan, I was just about to go to the library to find you, and then I happened to run into you right here at the gate. Should I call this coincidence or fate?”

–“What rotten luck. Even here I can run into this dogshit bastard.”

Then she looked at me, and a faint green-tea fragrance began to mix into her smile. “Sister, you’re here too.”

–“Heroine, hurry up and stay away from the scumbag! His empty promises are even worse than your brother’s!”

Cheng Lin affectionately looped her arm through Feng Yan’s.

“Brother Yan, come shopping with me.”

–“Stop pestering the heroine. Come on, play with me.”

–“I’ll play you to death!”

Me: …

I had to hold it in. I could not laugh.

Feng Yan, on the other hand, stiffened, then slowly pulled his arm free.

But he did not seem to mean to scold her either. He only said mildly, “I have something to do.”

Cheng Lin looked aggrieved. “Not even for a little while?”

“No.” Feng Yan pinched the bridge of his nose.

I seemed to see a vein pop out on Cheng Lin’s forehead.

–“You’ve got some nerve, haven’t you?

–“If I weren’t afraid you’d keep pestering the heroine, who the fuck would want to walk with you? Do you know the air around you is severely polluted?”

I admit Cheng Lin did have a bit of acting skill.

Some, but not much.

She dramatically held her forehead and collapsed onto Feng Yan with an extremely sudden movement.

“Ah, my head hurts,” she said.

Feng Yan: …

Me: …

I was the one with the most acting skill here, since I could actually hold back my laughter.

“Brother Yan… my head hurts so much,” she said, extremely weakly. “Can you carry me… carry me on your back to the school clinic?”

Feng Yan quickly glanced at me.

I even felt a little sorry for him.

Cheng Lin was also afraid I would follow, so she added in a small voice, “Sister… Sister doesn’t need to come. I don’t know why… but when I look at Sister, my head hurts so much.”

Her inner voice and her surface voice were two completely different things.

Inside, she was full of vigor.

–“Hurry! Up! And! Leave!

–“Run.

–“Hurry up and disappear.

–“Don’t leave even a corner of your clothes in the male lead’s line of sight.

–“He’s seriously pathologically possessive.

–“Stay away from him.”

By the time Feng Yan carried Cheng Lin on his back, I had already walked some distance away.

But I could still hear her quiet grumbling.

–“If I’d known, I would’ve eaten more these past few days.

–“Crush him to death.”