Chapter 27: A Kiss
“How does it feel to be married?” Wen Mukui’s gaze fell on Shen Zhuying’s ring finger, her tone carrying a teasing lilt.
“Not bad, right?”
“It’s pretty good.” Shen Zhuying stirred her coffee, but remembering the ridiculous things that man had said in the morning, she couldn’t help but grumble, “It’s just that sometimes he likes to tell blatant lies with a straight face.”
“What about you, Sister Wen? Have you been doing well these years? Do you have many friends? Do you have a boyfriend?” She asked almost impatiently.
She sincerely hoped that after all the suffering Wen Mukui had endured, in all the years she hadn’t been able to contact her, Wen Mukui had lived very, very well.
“I’m doing well, made a lot of friends.” Wen Mukui’s lips curved, her usually cool features coming alive for once.
“I also have a boyfriend.”
“Is he handsome? Do you have a photo? Would you mind showing me?”
With Wen Mukui’s top-tier beauty, finding someone who could match her looks wouldn’t be easy.
“He’s pretty handsome.” Wen Mukui said meaningfully, “You know him too.”
“Really? What’s his name?” Shen Zhuying knew a lot of people, and plenty of them were good-looking. For the moment she couldn’t match it to anyone.
“He said he’d come pick me up later. You’ll know when you see him.”
The two of them chatted casually a little longer. Wen Mukui was sparing with her words; most of the time it was Shen Zhuying chirping away like a lively little bird.
Wen Mukui’s eyes curved as she watched her earnestly, occasionally responding with a few words.
In the middle, a few customers came in, and Shen Zhuying went over to attend to them.
When she had finished putting together the flowers they wanted and handed them over, letting out a sigh of relief, she looked up again, only to see a man already standing next to Wen Mukui.
The man was tall, slender yet long-limbed, in a black jacket and cargo pants, one hand in his pocket.
He was leaning slightly, head lowered, speaking to Wen Mukui. From Shen Zhuying’s angle, all she could see was the sharp line of his clean, fair jaw.
Just from his aura alone, it was wild and unrestrained, something even an all-black outfit couldn’t suppress.
Kind of like…
Before Shen Zhuying could figure it out, the man turned, flashing her a grin. “Hello, sister-in-law.”
It really was him.
Qi Zhou.
Among all the people Shen Zhuying knew, probably no one else carried such an air of pure arrogance head to toe.
As expected, with his devilish face, Qi Zhou drawled shamelessly, “From now on, let’s keep it clear, you call me brother-in-law, I’ll call you sister-in-law.”
Shen Zhuying: “…”
She hadn’t expected that the boyfriend Sister Wen had mentioned would actually be Qi Zhou!!!
Simply unbelievable.
Though their looks did match, their temperaments couldn’t seem more mismatched.
When Fu Sizhuo came as usual after work to pick her up, he naturally also saw the two of them.
His expression was calm; he merely inclined his head slightly to Wen Mukui in greeting.
“You already knew, didn’t you, that Sister Wen and Qi Zhou are together.” Shen Zhuying leaned closer, whispering in his ear.
“Mm.” Fu Sizhuo laced his fingers with hers, lowering his voice to match her tone.
“They dated before.”
“What?” Shen Zhuying’s eyes widened in shock.
Back then, there had even been a rumor on the Jingbei High forum claiming that the notorious campus belle was secretly together with the golden boy Qi Zhou.
But hardly anyone on the school forum believed it at the time.
After all… Wen Mukui’s reputation in school was that of a flirt, a woman juggling multiple relationships.
While Qi Zhou, like Fu Sizhuo back then, was dazzling to the extreme, an almost perfect existence.
But that was only true until the first semester of sophomore year.
From the second semester onward, Qi Zhou began getting into frequent fights, constantly appearing on the school’s blacklist, his grades plummeting. He became someone at Jingbei High no one dared to mess with.
Except for the CP fans shipping Qi Zhou and Fu Sizhuo.
The classic combo of school tyrant and school prince. It was said the two of them had grown up together since childhood. Some people shipped them to death, fanfics flooding the forums, with zero regard for how the actual people felt.
Even Shen Zhuying had secretly “tasted a bite or two.”
So fragrant, no, what a sin.
After the flower shop closed, the four of them went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
Holding the menu upright, Shen Zhuying secretly leaned toward Fu Sizhuo and, thinking she was being discreet, asked, “Then how did they end up breaking up? Do you know the details?”
Fu Sizhuo glanced at her, unable to suppress a smile.
He leaned slightly closer too, replying softly, “Don’t know.”
Across from them, Qi Zhou tapped the table, clicked his tongue impatiently, and sneered, “Are you two hiding behind the menu to make out?”
“…”
Only then did Shen Zhuying realize that she and Fu Sizhuo had, without noticing, leaned very close to each other.
Close enough that she could see the faint, inconspicuous mole at the edge of his ear.
She shot upright with a whoosh—.
With a light cough, she raised her chin and said, “Our marital affairs are none of your business.”
Qi Zhou gave a cold laugh. “And our marital affairs are none of your business.”
Shen Zhuying turned to Fu Sizhuo in puzzlement and deliberately asked, “Is he married to Sister Wen?”
Fu Sizhuo pretended to think for two seconds, then firmly answered, “No.”
“Good.” Shen Zhuying’s mood brightened. “Let’s order, then.”
Wen Mukui, sitting by the side, gave a helpless smile and patted Qi Zhou’s hand soothingly.
Qi Zhou clasped her hand back, then coldly spat out, “Hah, who cares.”
After dinner, naturally, everyone went their separate ways.
But Wen Mukui, especially, was reluctant to part from Shen Zhuying.
She held onto Shen Zhuying’s hand, unwilling to let go.
Shen Zhuying was overjoyed, taking the chance to secretly squeeze the beautiful sister’s hand several times. When Qi Zhou shot her a cold glare, Fu Sizhuo casually and without trace blocked his line of sight.
On the way back, Qi Zhou said carelessly, “Seems like you treat Shen Zhuying a bit differently.”
Wen Mukui was someone whose emotions were extremely indifferent.
Put nicely, it was emotional detachment. Put bluntly, it was heartlessness.
Back then, Qi Zhou had spent so much effort to win her over, and later, even more effort to win her back. The twists and obstacles were practically on par with the Eighty-One Tribulations.
Even Monk Tang would have shed bitter tears of sympathy for him.
And yet, even so, Qi Zhou still had no real confidence in his heart now.
But Shen Zhuying…
Just after the last gathering, he had casually mentioned her to Wen Mukui, and she had gone out of her way to wait at the flower shop.
Once wasn’t enough, she even went a second time.
It was simply absurd.
Wen Mukui’s lips curved faintly. “Back in Jingbei High, she was the first person to show me kindness, even earlier than you did.”
In her long and dark high school years, Shen Zhuying had been the very first beam of light she encountered.
Very coincidentally, her first encounter with Shen Zhuying had also been in the restroom.
At the time, she had been washing her hands at the sink, and Shen Zhuying had been standing right beside her.
From the boys’ restroom, as expected, came the vulgar jeers again.
“Yesterday on the school forum, someone posted a picture of that slut Wen in pajamas. Tsk, that body, did you see it?”
“No way, isn’t that illegal?”
“What law? Maybe she posted it herself. She’s such a whore.”
“True, hahahaha. Send me the pic too, I’ll use it tonight…”
Around the sinks, other people all turned to look at her.
Angry, gloating, disdainful, pitying gazes, like sharp knives, all shot at her at once.
Wen Mukui had long since gotten used to these obscene words, her heart unmoved.
She glanced around, thinking about whether there was any handy weapon within reach.
