Chapter 67
Shen Shiwu had returned to Qinan.
After the breakup, Jiang Siyi focused on her work, as usual.
One day, just after a meeting, as she was about to go back to her office, she received a call from Shen Yun. They hadn’t spoken since their argument, and their relationship was still strained.
Shen Shiwu let the phone ring for a while, only answering after she entered her office.
“Shiwu, I’ve told Xiao Si everything.”
“Mm-hmm, and?”
“I told her to contact you.”
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city lights, Shen Shiwu watched the cars speeding by below, then nodded. “I know.”
Just as she was about to hang up, Shen Yun said, “Shiwu, since you still like Xiao Si, why don’t you just ask her to get back together?”
“Easily obtained feelings are often not cherished,” Shen Shiwu said, her face illuminated by the city lights, “I want her to yearn for me.”
***
Their breakup hadn’t been pleasant.
Although her memory of that night was fragmented, Jiang Siyi had managed to piece together some of it.
It was break time in the recording studio, and her face was creased with worry as she debated whether to send Shen Shiwu a message.
Lin Yusheng, sitting beside her, was startled by her expression.
“You’ll get wrinkles if you keep frowning,” she said, “cheer up.”
Jiang Siyi adjusted her expression. “I’m happy.”
“Heh, bullshit,” Lin Yusheng clearly didn’t believe her, “just a breakup, and you’re acting like you’re dying, just like before you came back to China.”
Jiang Siyi, unusually, didn’t retort. She took a sip of her fruit tea, the sweetness failing to lift her spirits.
Finally, she asked Lin Yusheng, “Have you ever pursued someone?”
“Why are you asking? Found a new love interest?”
“Mm-hmm…” Jiang Siyi touched her nose, her reply vague and unconvincing.
“Wow, that was fast,” Lin Yusheng chuckled, “I’m over forty, of course I’ve pursued someone before.”
“Then teach me.”
“That’s easy, just cling to them relentlessly.”
“…Really?”
Lin Yusheng’s tone was confident. “That’s how I got my ex.”
Jiang Siyi was silent for a few seconds, deciding she couldn’t trust her. So she opened Baidu on her phone and searched—”How to pursue a woman.”
Ten minutes later, Ah Yun called out, “Alright, let’s continue!”
Jiang Siyi put down her phone.
“Finished searching? What did it say?” Lin Yusheng asked.
Jiang Siyi refused to answer.
Under Lin Yusheng’s puzzled gaze, she silently screamed inwardly—Someone please tell her,
Why did eight out of ten results suggest seduction?
Because of this, Jiang Siyi couldn’t focus on her work. After slacking off for the entire morning, she mentally scolded herself and opened a food delivery app.
When she was in a bad mood, nothing tasted good. She ordered something random, then switched back to WeChat.
She hesitated for a moment, then clicked on Shen Shiwu’s chat.
Their last conversation had been a few days ago, the abrupt ending making the chat history look desolate.
She sighed and clicked on Shen Shiwu’s Moments.
Huh, strange.
Why was it empty?
After a while, Jiang Siyi turned off her phone. The recording studio was quiet, the only sound being her rumbling stomach.
She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and silently accepted the truth.
Shen Shiwu had deleted her.
It was only fair.
After all, she had blocked Shen Shiwu first four years ago.
Jiang Siyi ate her lunch, calmly trying to comfort herself.
But she still felt uncomfortable. Not because she was angry or embarrassed, but…
She was scared.
Afraid that Shen Shiwu had truly given up on her.
She ate quickly, thinking she would ask Shen Yun to sound Shen Shiwu out later.
After hastily finishing her lunch, Jiang Siyi excused herself and went downstairs, then called Shen Yun from the street.
Shen Yun answered quickly. “Xiao Si, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Siyi still resented Shen Yun. But when it came to winning back Shen Shiwu, Shen Yun was her best bet.
“Auntie Shen,” she said politely, “are you sure… Shen Shiwu still likes me?”
“Of course.”
“But she deleted me.”
Shen Yun clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking, Shen Shiwu, you’re serious, but she still tried to comfort Jiang Siyi. “People do irrational things when they’re angry, right?”
“And you two broke up, it’s normal to delete each other on WeChat.”
Jiang Siyi, looking down at her phone, mumbled, “Okay.”
Five minutes later, the call ended. She stood alone on the street, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.
At the same time, Shen Yun sent Shen Shiwu a message: “You deleted Xiao Si, and she’s completely at a loss. She looks like she’s about to cry.”
Shen Shiwu rarely replied to her messages since their argument, but this time, she replied immediately.
She said, “Tell her to send me another friend request. If I don’t accept it, tell her to keep trying.”
Shen Yun: “…”
“You want me to teach Xiao Si how to pursue you step by step?”
Shen Shiwu didn’t reply.
Shen Yun removed her face mask and sent Jiang Siyi a voice message: “Xiao Si, you can send her another friend request.”
“If she doesn’t accept it, just keep trying, she’ll eventually add you back.”
Jiang Siyi, listening to the voice message, felt the wind pick up slightly. Her lips twitched, thinking it was too embarrassing.
And she was also scared that Shen Shiwu would scold her.
After thinking about it, she decided not to send the request yet, simply replying to Shen Yun, “Okay, I’ll try.”
Then, for the entire afternoon, Shen Yun kept asking her, “Did you add her yet?”
Jiang Siyi rarely checked her phone when she was working, and by the time she finally saw the messages, it was already the end of the workday.
She didn’t understand why Shen Yun was so anxious.
“Not yet, I’ll do it tonight.”
As soon as she sent the voice message, Shen Yun started urging her again, “Love waits for no one, don’t waste time.”
Hearing the first part, Jiang Siyi had a bad feeling and asked tentatively, “You mean, if I don’t hurry up, Shen Shiwu will fall for someone else?”
Meanwhile, Shen Yun was pacing around anxiously.
She looked at the messages from Shen Shiwu, feeling a headache coming on.
1:00 PM:
“She hasn’t added me.”
1:30 PM:
“Still hasn’t added me.”
…
4:50 PM:
“Why hasn’t she added me yet?”
After replying to her daughter, she switched back to Jiang Siyi’s chat. Seeing the question, she replied without hesitation, “Yes, that’s right, that’s why I told you to hurry up.”
Jiang Siyi, tired of standing, sat down on a bench by the roadside. A tall camphor tree towered above her, and she stared at it, seemingly lost in thought.
Forget about pride.
She was truly afraid of being scolded by Shen Shiwu.
After thinking for a while, Jiang Siyi sighed.
Let her scold her, then.
She could always… scold her back.
Feeling much better now,
Jiang Siyi opened WeChat, her expression serious. Closing her eyes, she finally sent the friend request.
Nervous, scared.
Just like waiting for her college entrance exam results.
But a few seconds later, the request was ruthlessly rejected.
Jiang Siyi’s heart sank.
She clutched her phone, feeling empty, as if a part of her had been eaten away.
But at least Shen Shiwu hadn’t scolded her.
Thinking this, Jiang Siyi marveled at her ability to rationalize things.
Really not accepting it? she grumbled inwardly.
They had only broken up a few days ago, she could have at least accepted the request and then deleted her again.
Disappointed and frustrated, Jiang Siyi gritted her teeth.
She wouldn’t give up.
Her hand moved faster than her brain, and in a split second, another friend request was sent.
This time, she chose not to look—at least not yet. Glancing at the time, realizing it was almost time for work, she stood up and walked towards the office building.
The camphor leaves rustled in the wind, some falling to the ground.
Jiang Siyi looked back, noticing that some of the leaves were starting to turn yellow.
She had been too busy lately, her mind preoccupied, and she hadn’t even checked the calendar on her phone. Only now, reminded by nature, did she realize,
Summer was almost over.
She sniffed, thinking she had to win Shen Shiwu back before winter arrived. Otherwise, the weather would be so cold, and she would have no one to warm her hands and feet, how miserable.
During their afternoon break, everyone was chatting, except for Kong Yin, who had gone downstairs to buy coffee.
“You just realized summer is almost over?” Lin Yusheng’s jaw dropped. “Did you just time travel here?”
Jiang Siyi ignored her, turning her back to her, leaning against the sofa.
“Speaking of time, Qixi Festival is coming soon,” Lin Yusheng said, then realized her mistake—Jiang Siyi had just broken up with her girlfriend.
She wanted to change the subject, but before she could, Jiang Siyi asked calmly, “When is it?”
Lin Yusheng told her the date. “Why, are you celebrating?”
“No, I’m not going anywhere that day, I’ll just sleep in after work.”
Her words made everyone laugh.
Her tone was normal, even joking. Lin Yusheng, relieved, continued the conversation.
“Xiao Xuan will definitely have to take a day off, she’ll lose her perfect attendance bonus,” Ah Yun said.
Xiao Xuan blushed and nodded slightly, and Ah Yun clicked her tongue. “See, relationships only hinder a woman’s ability to make money!”
Everyone agreed, chattering and laughing.
Only Jiang Siyi asked a different question: “Xiao Xuan, how did your girlfriend pursue you?”
The question was a bit abrupt, but understandable—everyone loved gossip.
Xiao Xuan hugged her knees. “Actually, I pursued her.”
Jiang Siyi’s eyes lit up, as if she had found her savior. “How?”
“My girlfriend was quite aloof before we started dating, so I pursued her relentlessly, sending her gifts and such,” Xiao Xuan said, a smile appearing on her lips as she recalled the past.
“I guess she got tired of me clinging to her, and after six months, she agreed to go out with me.” She became more and more embarrassed as she spoke, so she ended with a joke.
Hearing this, Lin Yusheng turned to Jiang Siyi, her expression smug. “See, I told you, persistence is key, but you didn’t believe me.”
Jiang Siyi ignored her and started thinking about her plan to win back Shen Shiwu.
Would it really work?
She had to try.
She took out her phone, opened WeChat, and saw that her friend request had been rejected again.
Heh.
So, for the next half hour, she and Shen Shiwu engaged in a silent war across the screen.
Send request, rejected.
Send again.
After countless attempts, Jiang Siyi finally succeeded in adding Shen Shiwu back on WeChat.
“Let’s go, back to work,” Lin Yusheng called out.
Jiang Siyi turned off her phone screen. “Coming.”
Meanwhile, Shen Shiwu was sitting in her office.
She couldn’t even focus on her work, checking her phone every few minutes.
But there were no new messages.
So persistent earlier, now silent. Shen Shiwu tossed her pen onto the desk, then, after a moment of silence, she sent Shen Yun a message.
“Tell her to harass me.”
Leave a Reply to Flamewolf Cancel reply