Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“So, you’re getting married?”

I dipped a piece of beef tripe into the steaming hot pot in front of me.

“Congratulations to you both.”

Su Yue looked even more elegant than before. She had brown mermaid curls, was wearing a Miu Miu skirt set, and possessed a face that clearly hadn’t been weathered by life’s hardships.

“I didn’t want to do it so early, but Shen Chen was afraid I’d run away. As soon as I got back, he insisted we go register our marriage.”

Su Yue spoke with a playful pout as she leaned into Shen Chen’s arm. I wasn’t sure if I was overthinking it, but even though she was talking about Shen Chen, her eyes never left mine, as if gauging my reaction.

The shrimp paste in my mouth was too hot, and I had no choice but to swallow it whole.

The first thing Su Yue did after returning to the country was invite us all out to dinner, saying that since we were old classmates who hadn’t seen each other in years, we simply had to get together.

“Heguang, you and Weiwei went to the same university? That’s impressive. Back then, Weiwei never dropped out of the top three in the whole school.”

Su Yue placed a piece of shrimp paste into Shen Heguang’s bowl across from her.

Shen Heguang was sitting next to me. He was three years younger than Shen Chen. While Shen Chen and I had already been working for two years, he was only a senior in college.

Although the brothers had been separated after their parents’ divorce, they had likely endured those difficult times together. Furthermore, Shen Heguang was very hardworking, and Shen Chen was a doting older brother who often picked him up after work to go out for dinner. Consequently, the brothers had always shared a good relationship.

I didn’t have much of an impression of Shen Heguang. It was probably because he had moved away with his mother after the divorce. In my memory, he was never much of a talker-always quiet.

“My brother went to the same university as Sister Weiwei too. Sister Su Yue, did you forget?”

Su Yue rolled her eyes at Shen Chen beside her.

“Him? I know exactly how much he slacked off.”

“Don’t undermine me in front of my brother!” Shen Chen teased, playfully pinching Su Yue’s nose.

After a fair amount of small talk, Su Yue suddenly remembered something important.

“Oh, right, Weiwei, I want you to come with me to pick out a wedding dress!”

My chopsticks faltered.

Just as Shen Chen was about to say something, Su Yue tilted her head and gave him a meaningful look.

“Back in freshman year, you two were so close that people even rumored Shen Chen liked Weiwei.”

Shen Chen looked up and glanced at me, saying without a second thought, “How is that possible?”

As if afraid Su Yue might still be uneasy, he added, “It’s not like I like her.”

Even though I had long known how Shen Chen felt, hearing him say it out loud still sent a dull ache through my heart.

Su Yue smiled with satisfaction, a flash of cunning in her doe-like eyes.

“So, Weiwei, do you want to come see the dresses? You can be our bridesmaid.”

“Of course!” I felt a sting of bitterness rising to my eyes, but I looked up and maintained my smile. “But you’ll have to give me a huge red envelope. Back in high school, Shen Chen copied my homework more than a few times!”

Seeing me react this way, Su Yue’s brow finally relaxed, and her face broke into a radiant smile.

“I knew it. Weiwei, you’re still the same as ever!”

I knew Su Yue was suspicious of me-suspicious that there was something ambiguous between Shen Chen and me.

She underestimated Shen Chen’s feelings for her, and she also underestimated my pride.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

The person in the mirror already had red rims around her eyes. Fearing I would ruin my makeup, I gently dabbed away the tears with a tissue.

“Why are you crying?”

I turned around to find Shen Heguang.

I hadn’t looked at him closely earlier, but now I realized he had changed a lot in the few years since I’d last seen him.

He looked very much like Shen Chen, with deep-set eyes, long legs, and a narrow waist. Just standing there with that nonchalant air was enough to draw anyone’s attention.

My memories of Shen Heguang were thin.

I only remembered that he had been introverted and quiet since he was a child, yet he always clung to his brother, doing whatever his brother did.

Sensing my awkwardness, Shen Heguang asked tentatively, “Is the food so bad it made you cry?”

I let out a short laugh and nodded. “Yeah, it’s expensive and tastes terrible.”

“Then you should eat even more. Su Yue is paying, after all.”

Shen Heguang smiled. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked a lot like his brother-always carrying a slightly melancholic vibe that could easily stir one’s maternal instincts. But when he smiled, he revealed a canine tooth and a dimple, making him look well-behaved and gentle. In those moments, he didn’t look like Shen Chen at all.