SKS Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Wedding Banquet

At the mention of sunflowers, Qi Zhou’s expression lost all interest.

“Seems like that’s right,” he said.

Halfway through the gathering, the group finally settled down, and the atmosphere gradually eased.

Partway through, Shen Zhuying went to the restroom.

Only then did Zhou Li finally burst out, his face full of reproach. “Fu Sizhuo, this is too much. Getting married is such a huge deal, and you didn’t even tell your brothers.”

“Didn’t I just tell you now?” Fu Sizhuo’s voice was calm, without a ripple.

“Don’t believe him.” Qi Zhou let out a mocking laugh.
“This fool bet a car with someone that you wouldn’t possibly get married before thirty.”

Fu Sizhuo gave him a light glance. “Quit gambling.”

“But…” Zhou Li looked confused. “If you’re married, then what about Sister Wenwen?”

Fu Sizhuo gave him a puzzled look. “What does it have to do with her?”

“Aren’t you and she…” Zhou Li seemed about to ask further, but Fu Sizhuo showed no interest.

Instead, he turned his gaze toward Zhou Yu. His long eyes narrowed slightly, for once showing a hint of danger.

Thanks to Zhou Yu’s earlier “junior schoolmate,” Fu Sizhuo finally pieced together some fragments from old memories.

For example, so Shen Zhuying was the gentle, pretty junior Zhou Yu had once mentioned.
For example, so he and Shen Zhuying had gone to the same high school.
And for example, that conversation:

—“You like her?”
—“Yeah. Nobody could dislike her. Once you spend time with her, you’ll like her too.”

Practically a prophecy.

Zhou Yu gave a wry smile and shook his head. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s all in the past. I wouldn’t covet my brother’s wife.”

“So you mean, if Ah Zhuo hadn’t married her, you would’ve coveted her?” Qi Zhou cracked a peanut and tossed it into his mouth, ever the one to fan the flames of trouble.

The corner of Zhou Yu’s forehead twitched. Just as he was about to speak, Fu Sizhuo said lightly, “Qi Zhou, I heard chasing after your ex hasn’t been going too well lately.”

Zhou Yu laughed. “Seems even buying an apartment right next to her was useless.”

Truly good brothers, always stabbing right where it hurts.

Qi Zhou’s lips pressed into a flat line.

Zhou Yu, however, let out a breath of relief.

Fu Sizhuo’s stance was already very clear.

Everything past is but a prologue.

——

When Shen Zhuying came back, only Fu Sizhuo remained in the private room.

“Where are they?” Shen Zhuying asked in confusion.

“They had something come up, so they left first.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhuying actually felt herself relax.

Honestly, even though they had tried their best to include her, chatting about topics she could join in on, the truth was she was still the only girl there. Shen Zhuying couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.

“Uncomfortable?” Fu Sizhuo asked sharply.

“Mm, a little.” Shen Zhuying answered honestly.

“Alright, then we won’t come next time.” Fu Sizhuo paused for a moment, then suddenly shifted the subject.
“We went to the same high school, did you know that?”

Shen Zhuying felt her heart tremble.

She lowered her lashes. “I knew.”

Fu Sizhuo suddenly didn’t know what to say. They had gone to the same high school, yet he had absolutely no impression of her?

And yet, reaching this conclusion somehow felt completely reasonable.

Everything from those high school years was, to him, already a dream too far away to touch.

Even the sixteen-year-old Fu Sizhuo had long since blurred in his own memory.

Fu Sizhuo looked at her. “Why haven’t I ever heard you mention it?”

“It wasn’t anything important, we didn’t really know each other back then.”

Shen Zhuying tilted her head slightly, looking at him. “But I did hear about you at that time, though… you probably didn’t know me.”

“Really?” His chest felt a little heavy.

“Of course.” The girl in front of him put her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed, and spoke each word as though half-complaining, half-teasing: “Fu Sizhuo, do you even know how famous you were back then?”

You were too dazzling back then, Fu Sizhuo. So wherever my eyes landed, it was always you.

And because your world was so full of brilliance, you couldn’t see me.

On the way back, Shen Zhuying hesitated for a long time before finally testing the waters with a question: “Fu Sizhuo, back then… why did you suddenly transfer to England?”

Why leave the Music Department at Huada, only to transfer to Cambridge’s Politics and International Relations program?

Why?

Fu Sizhuo was silent for a long, long time. Long enough that Shen Zhuying thought he wouldn’t answer at all.

Finally, he said lightly, “Something happened at home.”

After Fu Sizhuo said this, neither of them spoke again.

They stayed silent the whole way.

Outside, the autumn wind was bleak, ginkgo leaves scattered all over the ground.

Autumn really was such a season of regrets.

——

After her shower, Shen Zhuying came out to find several missed calls from her college roommate Li Ning.

She sat cross-legged on the bed and tapped redial.

“Zhuzhu baby, how have you been lately?” Li Ning’s cheerful voice came through the receiver.

“Great.” Shen Zhuying hugged her big fat cat. “And you, Li Ning the beautiful girl?”

“Li Ning the beautiful girl is marrying her first love!!!”

“Congratulations!!! Li Ning the beautiful girl!!!”

“Li Ning the beautiful girl is asking Zhuzhu baby to be her bridesmaid!!!”

“……”

“Well…” Shen Zhuying’s tone turned a little guilty, her voice weak. “I’m afraid I can’t.”

“What’s wrong?” Li Ning was heartbroken. “Am I not your dearest little baby anymore?”
“You are…” Shen Zhuying silently broke into a sweat. “But I’m married.”

“What??!!” Li Ning the beautiful girl screeched on the other end.

Shen Zhuying quietly held the phone farther away.

It took Li Ning half an hour to digest this news. Her tone grew serious: “Who is that man?”

Shen Zhuying was just about to answer when Li Ning hurriedly said, “Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess.”

“……”

“That domineering CEO who was chasing you earlier this year?”

“…No.”

“Then it must be that sporty younger guy from last year.”

“…Also no.”

“Then who…?” Li Ning pondered for a long time, then finally declared with certainty.
“Is it that senior from university, I think his name was… Zhou Yu? Back then we all bet he had the best chance of winning you over.”

“No.” Shen Zhuying looked puzzled. “Why would you all think that? Senior already had someone he liked.”

“Zhuzhu, in some ways you really are unbelievably slow.” Li Ning sighed.
“But I really can’t guess. Just tell me directly.”

Shen Zhuying thought about it, suddenly at a loss for how to describe Fu Sizhuo. In the end she said: “A classmate.”

“A classmate?”
Such a distant and unfamiliar label?

“Mm.” Shen Zhuying said. “A classmate I’ve known for a long time.”

“Alright then, will you and your Classmate A come to my wedding banquet? It’s on the 8th of next month.”

Shen Zhuying: “I’ll ask him. He’s pretty busy with work.”

Hugging the little orange cat, Shen Zhuying walked out of the bedroom and found Fu Sizhuo standing by the table drinking water.

So she casually asked him, “A friend of mine is getting married on the 8th of next month and invited us to the wedding banquet. Will you be free?”

The 8th of next month?

That was still too far off.

Fu Sizhuo said, “Not sure.”

His work was full of last-minute changes and uncertainties.

Shen Zhuying wasn’t the least surprised by his answer. “Then just let me know whenever you’re sure.”

“Alright.” Fu Sizhuo set down his glass, his knuckles tapping lightly against the rim, then turned his gaze on her, his eyes dark. “But our wedding banquet, when does Mrs. Fu want to hold it?”