CM - 15

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa left, and Shen Cheng also left for an engagement. Only Wen Huo, Shen Tingwen, and Shen Naiyi with her ‘wild man’ remained at home. The ‘wild man’ had been fawning over them since he arrived, and even after everyone else left, he didn’t relax, taking it upon himself to both sober up and pour drinks.

Wen Huo said, “Don’t be nervous, our family is easy to get along with.”

The ‘wild man’ dared not relax. A century ago, in an era where social status mattered, he, even with a top scholar title, couldn’t have aspired to marry into a family like the Shens. Marrying a Shen daughter was akin to his ancestors’ graves spewing green smoke (a sign of great fortune).

Modern people didn’t emphasize this, but he understood that when two families of vastly different strengths came together, life wouldn’t be so easy.

Wen Huo saw he couldn’t relax, so she stopped trying, returned to her room, and didn’t bother with the younger generation.

The ‘wild man’ continued to pour drinks for Shen Naiyi and Shen Tingwen. Shen Tingwen felt it was a bit excessive.

Shen Naiyi saw Shen Tingwen’s expression and knew what he was thinking. When her boyfriend went to the restroom, she explained to him: “Can’t you just turn a blind eye?”

“Someone so good at acting, aren’t you afraid of being deceived?”

“You can’t act? When Mom came into my room as a kid, you’d pout and say, ‘Mom, please stay with big sister, don’t worry about me, I’m not scared at all by myself.’ Have you forgotten?”

“That wasn’t me.”

Shen Naiyi glanced at him: “What relationship doesn’t start with pretense? Don’t you know Mom and Dad’s love story? Back then, they called each other a ‘bitch’ and a ‘dog’ and played roles with each other.”

Shen Tingwen thought of his own little tricks with Zhou Shuirong; they were quite effective.

“Sometimes, life doesn’t need to be entirely real. A little pretense isn’t bad,” Shen Naiyi said, looking at the wine in her glass: “If you want it real, it’s real; if you want it fake, it’s fake; if you want to pretend, you pretend; if you want to be tough, you’re tough. When things happen, you deal with them; when there’s nothing, you enjoy the scenery. Don’t you think that’s good?”

She could allow her boyfriend to be a little fake because she hadn’t always been sincere either.

As Shen Naiyi spoke, Shen Tingwen’s mind was filled with Zhou Shuirong. He played the part of a pitiful soul, fortunate enough to be protected by her, briefly enjoying her tenderness. Now that his lie was exposed and his true colors revealed, he might as well stop pretending.

He couldn’t always let the girl he liked protect him, could he? If a man couldn’t protect the girl he liked, he shouldn’t be a man.

As they were talking, Zhou Xiyou arrived. She was the niece of Shen Cheng’s good friend, Tang Junen, a talented pianist, and could be considered Shen Tingwen’s childhood friend.

Shen Tingwen showed no reaction when he saw her. He just kept walking: “I’m leaving now.”

Zhou Xiyou stopped him: “Why do you leave whenever I arrive?”

Shen Tingwen replied matter-of-factly: “Then why don’t you reflect on whether you’re annoying?”

Zhou Xiyou was used to his harsh words and was long immune: “Do you have tickets for your school’s anniversary celebration?”

A week before Guoda High School’s anniversary celebration, the school would print a stack of free tickets for open distribution. Usually, students participating in performances would get tickets to invite their family and friends from outside school to watch.

Zhou Xiyou saw Shen Tingwen didn’t answer her, so she asked again: “Do you have any?”

“No.”

“Aren’t you a popular figure at your school? How could you not have any?”

Shen Tingwen ignored her again and left.

Zhou Xiyou walked over to Shen Naiyi, putting her arm around her: “Sister, look at him, always pulling a long face like someone owes him money. If he wasn’t handsome and didn’t know a few tricks, you’d think he’d get beaten up every day, wouldn’t you?”

“This isn’t when you used to follow him around, calling him ‘brother’ all the time. I remember your New Year’s wish back then was to marry him when you grew up. Now that you’ve grown up, do you regret it?”

Actually, Zhou Xiyou had already confessed last year, but Shen Tingwen rejected her: “I never liked him. That was just childhood mischief.”

“Then why did you come right over as soon as I said he was home?”

“I want tickets for their school anniversary. The band their school formed is very famous; they’ve participated in two Strawberry Music Festivals. I heard they’re looking for a keyboardist, so I wanted to see if I’m qualified.”

Shen Naiyi had thought they were dating, but now she saw she had overthought it.

________________________________________

Shen Tingwen arrived at his own residence around 10 PM, showered, got into bed, and picked up his phone.

He looked at his chat interface with Zhou Shuirong, not daring to send a message, because then he would see a red exclamation mark and receive a prompt asking if he wanted to add her as a friend.

Zhou Shuirong was quite ruthless; she deleted him without any hesitation.

He never expected Chen Fuyu to have her boyfriend come and curse at him. If that hadn’t happened, Zhou Shuirong might not have seen through his facade, and that scene in the taxi could have happened again.

Thinking of how Zhou Shuirong had swallowed her saliva that day, his mood improved somewhat. Actually, she was moved, wasn’t she? In adolescence, how could one not want to taste forbidden fruit? After those few actions of his, Zhou Shuirong clearly reacted.

She had been a little dazed, a little confused and flustered at the time. The environment was dim, so he couldn’t tell if she had blushed, but those small reactions alone were already very cute.

He thought, turned over, placed his phone on the pillow, first changed Zhou Shuirong’s contact name to ‘Wife’, then zoomed in on Zhou Shuirong’s profile picture, lightly tapped it with his index finger, and a smile spread across his lips: “Sooner or later, I’ll make you call me ‘Husband’.”