SKS Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Almost Lucky

When Shen Zhuying sat back down beside Fu Sizhuo, her eyes were still red.

Fu Sizhuo glanced at her. He didn’t quite understand this baffling kind of emotion between women, yet he silently peeled a candy and held it by her lips. “Open your mouth.”

Shen Zhuying instinctively opened her mouth and bit the candy.

A rich milky sweetness filled her mouth.

It was a milk-flavored candy. Shen Zhuying sniffled, her voice still a little choked. “Thank you.”

As the host’s words on stage began the ceremony, Li Ning, dressed in a pure white wedding gown, holding a round bouquet of calla lilies, walked slowly toward the groom on her father’s arm.

At first, Shen Zhuying managed to stay composed, still smiling. But when Li Ning, through tears, uttered that line—“I do”—for some reason, Shen Zhuying’s tears began flowing uncontrollably.

A hand stretched out beside her, quietly offering a tissue.

Shen Zhuying took it and wiped her tears. On stage, Li Ning and Zhuang Xuzhi began exchanging rings, vowing to spend their lives together.

They had met at the age of five, secretly gotten together at sixteen without anyone knowing, entered the same university at eighteen, and gotten engaged at twenty-two.

Finally, now at twenty-six, they were married.

And below the stage, Fu Sizhuo took her hand, stroking it ever so lightly, ever so gently.

“Shen Zhuying, don’t cry.”

He tried to coax her with a clumsy yet slightly helpless tone.

“Fu Sizhuo.” Shen Zhuying gripped his hand in return, her clear eyes looking at him.

“Let’s hold our wedding in the spring next year.”

Spring was the season when everything came alive.

Warm, vibrant, full of energy.

She wanted to use every beautiful word she could think of to describe spring.

Precisely because of that, of course she wanted to meet all beautiful people and things in spring.

“Alright.”

Fu Sizhuo raised his hand, gently wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes.

He wanted to kiss the tears from her eyes.

But he feared startling her.

When it came time to toss the bouquet, the round calla lily bouquet drew an arc through the air and landed straight in Pei Qian’s hands.

Pei Qian held the bouquet and, smiling, waved at Shen Zhuying.

Shen Zhuying felt very happy.

Pei Qian’s college boyfriend had been in a long-distance relationship with her for three years, but in the end, their love couldn’t withstand the distance, they broke up last year.

She hoped this bouquet could bring good luck to Pei Qian.

Whether in career or in love.

As the banquet was drawing to an end, Li Xu suggested they gather once more at the place they often went to during their school days. She had already gotten her visa to the United States, and it would probably be hard for them to meet again in the future.

So Shen Zhuying tilted her head and said to Fu Sizhuo in a slightly apologetic voice,
“Fu Sizhuo, you go ahead first. I still want to go with Qian Qian and the others to our old spot for a get-together.”

“Which old spot?”

Shen Zhuying had drunk a little wine during the banquet, and her mind was somewhat sluggish at this moment.
“It’s just… that old spot we often went to in college.”

Fu Sizhuo patiently asked, “Then what’s the name of the place you often went to in college?”

Shen Zhuying blinked. “The place we often went to in college was… Qingcheng Bar.”

Fu Sizhuo’s long eyes narrowed. “Qingcheng Bar?”

Shen Zhuying nodded, folding her hands in front of her, looking completely honest. “We’d order male models.”

“…”

“Madam Fu’s college life was quite… colorful.” Fu Sizhuo’s tone was cool, with the hint of a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
“Change the place. I’ll take you there.”

Shen Zhuying shook her head. “I just want to go to Qingcheng Bar.”

“Shen. Zhu. Ying.” The man called her name, enunciating each word.

“What?” Shen Zhuying puffed out her cheeks.

“…”

In the end, they still went to Qingcheng Bar.

Li Xu and Pei Qian sat trembling in the back seat, feeling the whole car filled with a chilling atmosphere.

Another car followed behind them, it was the groom driving, with the bride inside.

Originally, Li Xu’s idea was that the three of them could just gather at Qingcheng Bar. Who would have thought that after seeing the group messages, Li Ning also wanted to come.

So what was supposed to be a group of three turned into a group of six.

In truth, though Qingcheng Bar had a rather wild-sounding name, it was actually a very proper, serious lounge bar.

The owner had once been a soldier, and since it was near the university district, the most basic safety was still guaranteed.

Once Fu Sizhuo realized this, his expression visibly softened.

“Little liar.” He lowered his voice, leaned close, and whispered in Shen Zhuying’s ear.

Ordering male models, clearly nonsense.

“Heehee.” Shen Zhuying smiled ingratiatingly and shook his hand.

Inside the private room, the four girls skillfully ordered a few bottles of alcohol and some snacks.

Then four heads turned in unison toward the only two men in the room.

“You two… are also planning to join our girls’ dorm party?” Li Ning was the first to gently voice it.

Among women, there were many topics that men couldn’t be around to hear.

“Wife.” Zhuang Xuzhi looked at Li Ning, his tone carrying a bit of pitiful pleading.

“Tonight is our wedding night.”

Are we even going home tonight, wife?

“Don’t worry, we know our limits. We won’t make your wife wait too long. We’ll just borrow her for two hours.” Pei Qian raised two fingers.

“You two go play in the private room next door for two hours and then come back.”

Fu Sizhuo tilted his head, staring at Shen Zhuying’s flushed cheeks. He wanted to remind her of a few things, but after thinking it over, he let it go.

Forget it, he shouldn’t restrain her too much.

After all, he was right next door, keeping an eye on her anytime.

The moment Fu Sizhuo and Zhuang Xuzhi stepped out of the private room, Shen Zhuying was immediately surrounded by the other three.

“What’s going on, Shen Zhuzhu? Why did you suddenly have a flash marriage with him?”

Shen Zhuying cracked open a bottle, took a slow sip. “Well, that’s… a long story.”

The other three said in unison: “Then make a long story short!!!”

Ten years, long if you put it that way. But the intersections between her and Fu Sizhuo were far too few.

So few that Shen Zhuying finished telling it all in less than ten minutes.

“Oh my god, my Shen Zhuzhu.” Pei Qian downed an entire bottle in one go, then cupped Shen Zhuying’s face with a heartache-filled expression.

“You actually spent all that time just doing unrequited love with this face of yours?”

Only heaven knew how stunned Pei Qian had been the first time she saw Shen Zhuying.

Even now, seven or eight years later, she could still recall how she looked back then. The rest of the dorm girls had basically all arrived, but since they weren’t familiar with each other, the three of them only offered awkward greetings and then had nothing else to say.

And just then, Shen Zhuying had rushed in holding an enormous bouquet of blazing yellow roses.

“Hello, I’m Shen Zhuying.”

She split the roses into four portions, handing them out one by one while chattering on, “Please take care of me for the next four years of college.”

When she handed them to Pei Qian, her eyes curved into little crescent moons, livelier and more charming than even the yellow roses in her arms.

“I never planned on having some one-sided crush.” Shen Zhuying let out a sigh.
“It’s just that every time I was about to catch up to him, I always seemed to be short on a bit of luck.”

In high school, Shen Zhuying’s grades were below average. But knowing his target university was Huada, she pushed herself desperately, and her grades gradually climbed into the top twenty of the year.

Unfortunately, when the college entrance exam results came out, she was still short by two points.

She repeated a year, and finally got into Huada as she wished, only to hear that he had transferred to England half a year earlier.

Later on…