Chapter 64
Having slept too much during the day, Jiang Siyi was wide awake at night.
She rolled over, snuggling into Shen Shiwu’s arms.
“So restless, don’t you have to work tomorrow morning?” Shen Shiwu asked, knowing the answer.
“I can rest for a few days, Kong Yin left, we have to find a new voice actress.” Jiang Siyi was puzzled. “Does Yuan Chang have a grudge against her? She refused to work with her no matter what.”
Shen Shiwu gently massaged the back of her neck.
“Don’t worry about other people’s business,” she said, her voice soft, as if she was back to her role as a mentor from four years ago, “focus on yourself.”
Jiang Siyi hated being lectured.
But since it was her girlfriend, she would listen patiently.
She drawled, “Okay, I know.”
Then she continued to fidget, showing that she couldn’t sleep.
The next day, the light rain had stopped, and the sun was barely visible. The sky was overcast, making one want to open the window and breathe in the damp air.
And that was exactly what Jiang Siyi did.
She sat at her desk, the wind gently ruffling her hair.
Shen Shiwu had gone to work, to the development zone, where she had invested in several businesses. She had prepared food for Jiang Siyi before leaving, afraid she would starve.
Jiang Siyi typed listlessly on her keyboard, then, half an hour later, she rubbed her sore shoulders, preparing to go out for a walk.
Just then, her phone rang.
“Ms. Jiang, are you free now?” Ah Yun asked.
The background was noisy, and a second later, Lin Yusheng’s voice came through. “Jiang Siyi, want to join us for barbecue?”
She had nothing else to do anyway.
Jiang Siyi closed her laptop. “Sure.”
Outside the hotel, the air was cool, and Lin Yusheng was waiting for her by the roadside.
“My goodness, you’re so slow,” she said, already walking away, “hurry up, everyone is waiting at the restaurant.”
Jiang Siyi jogged to catch up. “Why the sudden invitation?”
“Ms. Kong is leaving, Ah Yun is treating her to dinner as a farewell,” Lin Yusheng said thoughtfully, then added, “Ah Yun must have won the lottery, she wasn’t like this before.”
“What was she like before?”
“Stingy.”
Jiang Siyi chuckled. “People change, it’s normal, maybe you’ll become generous one day too.”
Lin Yusheng: “…”
The barbecue restaurant was lively and had a good atmosphere. Jiang Siyi preferred this kind of place to fancy restaurants. They had been waiting for a while, their mouths almost dry from talking.
Jiang Siyi apologized, “Sorry I’m late, you guys should have started without me.”
She sat down next to Xiao Xuan, as far away from Kong Yin as possible.
“It’s okay,” they were all easygoing and didn’t mind.
Although the AC was on, the barbecue restaurant was still hot. Jiang Siyi, halfway through her meal, tied her hair up.
“Oh, great author, such a childish hair tie, with an ice cream charm,” Lin Yusheng teased, and Jiang Siyi, used to her teasing, simply replied,
“Matching one with my girlfriend.”
The others were chatting animatedly, the restaurant noisy, and most of them didn’t hear her. Only Xiao Xuan, sitting next to her, leaned closer, eager for gossip.
Lin Yusheng, the only single person among them, quietly moved away.
“Wow, so you and Ms. Shen knew each other since high school?”
“I was in high school, she was already in her twenties.”
Jiang Siyi didn’t reveal too much, just a brief description. But the girl beside her almost squealed. “So, the books you wrote, are they based on you two?”
“Inspired by, but not entirely.”
Jiang Siyi had her secrets.
During her years apart from Shen Shiwu, all the books she had written, although angsty, still contained glimpses of happiness.
Like walking on the beach, chasing the sunset.
These were the things she had wanted to do with Shen Shiwu when she was seventeen or eighteen.
But reality hadn’t been kind.
So she could only fulfill these fantasies in her books.
Although fictional, it at least brought her some comfort.
“So romantic, wishing you a long and happy relationship!”
Jiang Siyi smiled faintly. “Thank you, we will.”
Time flew by as they chatted and laughed. After a few topics, it was almost evening.
Jiang Siyi glanced at the time, wanting to go back to the hotel. Just as she stood up, Kong Yin spoke, “Ms. Jiang, are you leaving so soon?”
“Yes, I have to go back and be with my girlfriend.”
A group of single people dramatically covered their ears, claiming they had been critically hit, falling over dramatically. Jiang Siyi chuckled. “You’ll find someone eventually, don’t worry.”
“Oh, and we have to thank you and Ms. Shen,” Ah Yun said, suddenly becoming serious. She wiped her mouth and cleared her throat, then raised her glass. “Cheers!”
The others followed suit.
Shen Shiwu wouldn’t be back at the hotel until six. Jiang Siyi calculated the time, realizing she still had more than an hour to kill. So she sat back down and raised her glass of juice.
She had planned on leaving after twenty minutes, but a few minutes later, she received a message from Xu Yuan.
“Oh my god, is this your girlfriend? They look so alike!”
She clicked on the picture, it was of a restaurant. A familiar figure, being led by a waiter, towards a private room on the second floor.
Jiang Siyi’s heart stopped.
She froze for a few seconds, then clicked on another screenshot.
It was a post on a social media platform—”Looking for this beautiful woman! I saw her at this Thai restaurant on Xingyun Road in Beicheng, she was incredibly striking, I want her contact information!”
Jiang Siyi searched for the original post.
And in the comments section, she saw Yang Yu’s picture—”Same restaurant, I’m looking for this woman too!”
Calling this a coincidence was a bit of a stretch.
She switched back to WeChat, staring at Xu Yuan’s message, speechless. Lost in thought, she heard Lin Yusheng ask, “What are you thinking about? You were in such a hurry to leave earlier, what happened?”
Jiang Siyi blinked slowly.
She said, “It’s okay if I go back later.”
The restaurant was noisy, the sizzling of barbecue filling the air. Jiang Siyi fanned herself, her heart heavy—judging by Shen Shiwu’s outfit, she must have been at that restaurant yesterday.
Yesterday.
Thinking of the luxury bags Shen Shiwu had given her, Jiang Siyi frowned. So, those gifts weren’t to make her happy, but a cover-up?
A costly diversion to hide the fact that she had met with Yang Yu again?
“Ah, it’s raining again,” Ah Yun said, looking outside, “the weather is so unpredictable.”
Lin Yusheng groaned, realizing she hadn’t brought an umbrella.
With the rain, everyone started teasing Xiao Xuan.
“Your girlfriend is also in Beicheng, she’ll definitely come pick you up, unlike us lonely souls,” they said dramatically, their acting skills impeccable.
Xiao Xuan’s face flushed. “Ms. Jiang’s girlfriend will definitely come pick her up too.”
Jiang Siyi was staring at the rain, lost in thought.
Only when Lin Yusheng called her name did she react.
“Ah, yes,” she mumbled, not having heard a word of their conversation.
Amidst the exclamations of “So lucky!” and “God, please send me a girlfriend,” Jiang Siyi picked up her glass and finished her drink in one gulp.
The grape juice was sweet and sour, the taste unpleasant, leaving a sticky feeling in her throat. She waved at the waiter and ordered a few cans of beer.
The others were surprised.
“Ms. Jiang, not in a hurry to go back anymore?”
“Mm-hmm,” she forced a smile, her reply slightly off-topic, “I suddenly feel like drinking.”
Summer weather was unpredictable, and a few moments later, the wind picked up, and the rain intensified.
The waiters huddled by the counter, grumbling softly. Most of the customers had left when the rain was still light. Their table was the liveliest one left.
“Xiao Xuan, let me tell you,” Jiang Siyi, slightly drunk, grabbed Xiao Xuan’s sleeve and started lecturing her, “never trust a woman’s words.”
Xiao Xuan, who had thought she was about to receive some writing advice: “…”
She hadn’t had any alcohol and was perfectly sober. She nodded obediently. “Okay, Ms. Jiang, I’ll remember that.”
None of them had a high tolerance for alcohol, but none of them were willing to back down. An hour later, most of them were drunk, except for Xiao Xuan and Jiang Siyi.
Jiang Siyi was still stubbornly holding her head up, refusing to collapse onto the table, her mouth still running non-stop. After ranting for a while, her voice choked with emotion, and she sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes.
Xiao Xuan was startled. “Teacher, what’s wrong? Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?”
Jiang Siyi finally collapsed onto the table, her face hidden by her hair. She didn’t reply.
After a while, she scratched the table with her fingernails, a harsh, scraping sound, as if in response.
It was late, and the others, struggling to their feet, mumbled about going home. Jiang Siyi continued scratching the table, glancing at her phone occasionally.
After what felt like an eternity, her phone finally rang. She reached for it, saw the caller ID, but hesitated to answer.
Ah Yun, drunk, had paid the bill and left with the others, completely forgetting about two people.
Besides Jiang Siyi, there was another person—not Xiao Xuan, who had been picked up by her girlfriend.
It was Kong Yin.
She was tipsy, but not completely drunk.
She sat quietly, watching Jiang Siyi’s every move.
“Hello,” Jiang Siyi finally answered the phone, managing a single word.
“Where are you?”
Hearing this, she turned her head, her fingertip tracing the rim of an empty beer bottle.
“Dinner.”
“With who?”
The voice on the other end was calm, but Jiang Siyi could sense the underlying anger. She frowned, and her phone slipped from her hand, landing on the table with a thud.
Meanwhile, Shen Shiwu had just finished work and returned to the hotel. She was leaning against the sofa, her laptop on her lap, looking at the pictures Gu Ning had sent her.
Drinking, eating, chatting, laughing, having a good time.
She stared at the pictures, then, a few seconds later, the laptop slipped from her lap and crashed onto the floor.
The call hadn’t ended.
Shen Shiwu, controlling her anger, said, “Answer me.”
“Who else would I have dinner with? Ghosts?” Jiang Siyi sat up and picked up her phone. Because of what she had seen, her words were sharp.
Shen Shiwu took a deep breath, her anger simmering. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“I’m sorry, this is how I talk, it’s not the first time you’ve heard it,” Jiang Siyi said, her voice laced with mock resignation, “if you don’t like it, you can find someone else.”
“I won’t complain.”
Shen Shiwu didn’t understand what had happened to make Jiang Siyi so angry. Her own anger was also reaching its boiling point, and she said, her voice tight, “Jiang Siyi.”
“Have I spoiled you too much, allowing you to say such things?”
“Find someone else?” She scoffed. “What, are you breaking up with me again?”
The rain outside had intensified, the wind turning umbrellas inside out, and people were rushing home, cursing under their breath. The restaurant’s soundproofing wasn’t good, and amidst the noise, Jiang Siyi suddenly calmed down.
She swallowed her grievance and heartache.
Then she said, “Yes.”
Her voice was soft, almost lost in the wind.
She repeated, “Yes.”
She felt like she was going crazy, her emotions a chaotic mess of laughter and tears. The waiters tactfully avoided their table, and Kong Yin held her breath, a flicker of anticipation in her eyes.
“You always have a reason, a reason I can’t refute, for meeting with Yang Yu.” She wiped away her tears, her mind foggy from the alcohol, her temples throbbing. “But in the end, you still met with her.”
“Shen Shiwu, you’ve already forgotten, haven’t you?”
“You promised an eighteen-year-old girl that you wouldn’t interact with her too much.”
“You’ve already forgotten, but I still remember,” Jiang Siyi said, a bitter smile on her lips. “So, Shen Shiwu,”
“You have a terrible memory, I don’t want to like you anymore.”
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