Shen Jiachen stared blankly at the chat box between him and Wen Zhixia.

Shen Jiazhou dried his hair and came out, noticing his brother's troubled expression, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Jiachen snapped out of his daze and put his phone aside: "It's nothing."

Shen Jiazhou pulled out a chair in front of him and sat down, draping a towel over his shoulder. He looked up at Shen Jiachen and asked, "Is it because of the arranged marriage?"

Shen Jiachen didn't answer his question, but just looked at Shen Jiazhou and chuckled, "What time is it? Aren't you going to school tomorrow?"

"It's afternoon, there's no rush," Shen Jiazhou said. "Does Shen Fang want you and Sister Mingxue to marry?"

"Yes," Shen Jiachen said. "I've already explained things to Mingxue. I'll go back to the old house tomorrow."

Shen Jiazhou picked up the dry towel from his shoulder and wiped his hair again: "Okay."

He didn't say much, but Shen Jiachen couldn't help but glance at him a few more times: "Aren't you going to ask why?"

"What's there to ask?" Shen Jiazhou said, "You make your own decisions. You don't need to tell me anything. If you want to talk about it, wait until everything has settled down."

He lowered his head, frantically rubbing his hair, and said in an extremely soft voice, "Sometimes, not knowing is the best support I can give you."

He had no idea what strange methods Shen Fang would use on him. Shen Jiazhou said, "Shen Fang wants to use me to control you. Brother, I don't want you to be trapped by me."

Shen Jiachen has been trapped because of him for many, many years, and he has always been very clear about it.

"What are you imagining now?" Shen Jiachen couldn't help but say, "What do you mean I'm trapped by you? Your brother has hands and feet, I can go wherever I want with just a word."

He exclaimed, "Don't secretly shed tears while you're thinking about it!"

Shen Jia looked at him speechlessly: "Who's crying? If you want to cry, then cry. I won't laugh at you."

Shen Jiachen snorted, too lazy to say anything to him.

But Shen Jiazhou still instructed, "In the future, if there are any important matters concerning you, just let me and Shen Fang know at the same time. You don't need to tell me in advance."

“Jia Zhou, you don’t need to do this,” Shen Jia Chen said helplessly. “These things have nothing to do with you.”

The only one to blame is Shen Fang.

“I’m serious.” Shen Jiazhou said solemnly, “Don’t tell me what you’re going to do. Tell me after you’re done. I won’t be angry. I’ll support whatever you do.”

Shen Jiachen chuckled: "Alright, alright, I know. Why are you making such a face, you're just a kid? Trying to look mature. People who don't know better will think you're the older brother."

Shen Jiazhou raised an eyebrow slightly: "It's not that I can't be the older brother."

Shen Jiachen rolled his eyes: "You're so disrespectful. I'm going to take a shower."

He got up, and before leaving, he couldn't help but glance at his phone, but there was no response.

He had just sent Wen Zhixia a message asking if she was off work, but then remembered her polite refusal and deleted it.

He also felt a little ashamed, thinking that Wen Zhixia would surely send him a message to ask if she saw it, but there was no response.

Are they already asleep? It is indeed quite late.

Shen Jiachen walked into the bathroom. He looked up at himself in the mirror, looking left and right, but couldn't find a reason to refuse.

Doesn't Wen Zhixia like his type?

He pursed his lips, took a deep breath, looked at himself in the mirror, and decided to stop wasting his breath and ask directly!

*

At 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Shen Jiachen pushed open the door of the coffee shop.

Wen Zhixia had already started tidying up slowly. Noticing someone coming in, she subconsciously said, "Welcome."

After recognizing Shen Jiachen, she blinked slightly and asked, "Senior, it's so late, what would you like to drink?"

Shen Jiachen shook his head: "I came to find you."

He had actually been waiting since Wen Zhixia started working, but seeing that she was busy, he didn't come in to disturb her.

Wen Zhixia stood behind the counter and took off the mask that was draped over her chin: "Hmm? What do you need me for, senior?"

Shen Jiachen pursed his lips: "It's late now. Are you free tomorrow at noon? I'd like to ask you out for lunch, is that okay?"

Wen Zhixia replied, "I can't accept a reward without merit, so there's no need for you to spend money, senior."

Shen Jiachen pursed his lips: "But I'm willing to spend time or money on you."

He thought for a moment and asked, "Is there any opportunity for me to invite you to dinner?"

Wen Zhixia sighed softly. She looked at Shen Jiachen. To be honest, looking at Shen Jiachen's face, it was really hard to say no.

But she knew very well that the two of them were from different worlds.

She looked away and casually picked up a towel to wipe the table: "Senior, we really have nothing to talk about, why did you go to all that trouble to ask me out?"

Shen Jiachen replied, "We haven't even talked yet, how do you know we have nothing to say?"

He took a slow, deep breath: "I just want a... opportunity."

Both of them were very clear about what kind of opportunity it was.

Wen Zhixia really couldn't understand why Shen Jiachen was so persistent with her, since she and Shen Jiachen probably hadn't spent more than two days together.

She looked up at Shen Jiachen, who was also looking at her very sincerely, as if waiting for her answer.

Wen Zhixia thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll treat you tomorrow. You've already treated me to dinner, so I'll send you the address tomorrow."

Shen Jiachen's face immediately lit up with a smile: "Okay, then I'll wait for your news."

He then asked, "Shall I help you pack up your stall?"

"No need, this is my job," Wen Zhixia politely declined. "If you're not going to order anything, senior, you can go back now."

This time, Shen Jiachen didn't say anything like "I'll wait for you to get off work" or "I'll take you home later." He just smiled and said, "Then I'll go first. Be careful on your way back to school. Bye."

Wen Zhixia nodded: "Bye-bye."

Shen Jiachen left happily, his steps appearing much lighter.

Wen Zhixia's gaze fell on his back. She really didn't know what he was so happy about. He had only agreed to have dinner together. She would still refuse when she had to tomorrow.

————

[The extra chapters for the older brother and sister mainly supplement the plot before the main story. They are written in more detail for the sake of smoothness. The draft of the older brother and sister's chapters is nearing completion. After the older brother and sister's extra chapters are finished, there will be an "if" storyline. The "if" storyline is not long, maybe just a few short chapters. After the "if" storyline is finished, there will be an extra chapter for Da Bao. After Da Bao's extra chapter, there will be extra chapters for Shu Qiao, Jia Zhou, and Bao Bao.] [I don't know why this paragraph was not approved by the author, so I moved it here. Next month, there will be three extra days of updates. If you don't want to read the older brother and sister's extra chapters, you can skip to read the other extra chapters after the new extra chapters are updated. The table of contents will indicate this.]