Chapter 60 "Why are you sleeping in my bed?..."
Song Ke was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "You're only just realizing it now."
The veins on Sheng Yu's forehead bulged, and his knuckles gripped the phone so tightly they turned white: "Give me an address, I'll come find you now, please tell me everything about her."
Having been classmates for four years, Song Ke had never heard Sheng Yu speak in such a humble manner before. He paused for a moment, then gave him an address.
As the car pulled up outside the airport, Xiang Wen tentatively asked, "President Sheng, are you going back to Nanling tonight?"
"Go back." Sheng Yuli unbuckled her seatbelt. "The time is uncertain. I'll book my own ticket."
Xiang Wen nodded, then reminded him, "You're still jet-lagged, remember to rest after you register."
Sheng Yu nodded noncommittally, and when he got out of the car, a sharp light flashed in his dark eyes, showing no sign of being tired.
When the plane landed at the Capital Airport, the city was already lit up. Sheng Yu went out of the terminal and immediately hailed a taxi to the address Song Ke had given him.
The coffee shop that Song Ke ordered is located outside the scenic area, and the streets are filled with tourists from all over the world.
Sheng Yu walked through the crowd and pushed open the door to enter the overcrowded coffee shop.
Song Ke, sitting in the cubicle by the window, waved to him.
Sheng Yu strode over and sat down opposite him, frowning: "Why did you choose such a place?"
Song Ke smiled meaningfully: "Don't mind, you'll come here often in the future."
Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow dismissively, not even ordering coffee, and went straight to the point: "Did Tang Ci ask you to lie to me?"
Song Ke was surprised for a second by his keen insight, but quickly understood that since Sheng Yu could see a corner of the truth, he could follow that corner to unravel the whole lie.
“A few days after the college entrance exam, Tang Ci called me and asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend to trick you into leaving,” Song Ke said, taking a sip of coffee. “I heard her firm tone and thought she really wanted to avoid you, so I agreed.”
Sheng Yu naturally remembered what happened afterward.
The night he confronted Tang Ci in the narrow corridor later became a new nightmare for him.
"She cried for a long time after you left that day. I've known her for so long, and this is the first time I've seen her shed so many tears." Song Ke paused slightly and asked, "How did you find out she was lying to you?"
"I went to a kidney patient support group today."
Song Ke nodded and continued, "After that day, I didn't see her for the entire summer vacation. Every time Jiang Chan and I called her, she said she was working."
"Later, when we went swimming together in college, I saw the scar on her abdomen and learned that she had undergone a kidney transplant during the summer vacation."
Sheng Yu's eyes darkened: "So no one accompanied her during the surgery."
“That’s just her personality; she’s afraid of dragging others down.” Song Ke swirled his glass and said in a low voice, “I guess that’s why she lied to you.”
Sheng Yu's Adam's apple moved slowly.
Song Ke took a sip of coffee, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Were you here on Peking University's centennial celebration?"
Sheng Yu's lips curled slightly: "You saw me?"
Song Ke nodded with a wry smile: "I was still pursuing her at that time, so I didn't tell her that I saw you. Later I realized that all my efforts were in vain."
Sheng Yu's lips twitched slightly, and she asked knowingly, "Why do you say that?"
Song Ke didn't answer him directly. Instead, he glanced at the temple with its lights on outside the window and asked, "You must have heard that the prayer tree at Mingyuan Temple is very effective."
Sheng Yu frowned and pondered for two seconds, then tightened his clasped hands: "Did Tang Ci pray for my well-being?"
/
Under the deep blue night sky, the light strips on the eaves of Mingyuan Temple are bright and dazzling.
Ancient trees with intertwined roots have stood under the eaves for centuries, their branches adorned with red prayer ribbons that sway in the night breeze, casting a faint red glow on the bluestone path.
Song Ke stopped two meters away from the ancient tree, turned to Sheng Yu and said, "Go and look for it."
Sheng Yu arrived at the tree and looked at the thousands of prayer strips in front of him, but for a moment he didn't know where to start.
He wasn't in a hurry. He walked around the ancient tree, reaching out to search for Tang Ci's handwriting. He looked at each row and finally found his name on a slightly lower branch.
He reached out and straightened the strip of cloth, revealing a simple blessing written in familiar handwriting. The date was five years ago, in the autumn of Tang Ci's senior year of college.
Sheng Yu's lips curved upwards, but when her gaze shifted, she froze in astonishment, the curve of her lips falling until they pressed into a straight line.
He held his breath and unfolded all the prayer strips on the branch. Apart from a few strips with the handwriting of strangers, the rest were all blessings written to him by Tang Ci.
The period lasted from her freshman year of college until her graduation.
Each prayer strip corresponds to a major or minor festival over the past four years.
Tang Ci silently protected him for four years.
Sheng Yu calmly flipped through the prayer strips one by one according to the time, and found the first blessing she left here near the tree trunk.
The red ribbon faded to pink after being exposed to sun and rain, but the solemn words on it were still clearly legible.
—May Sheng Yu be free forever.
Sheng Yu closed her throbbing eyes, feeling for the first time that life was unbelievable.
Seven years later, he actually glimpsed the birthday wish made by 18-year-old Tang Ci in the capital, a thousand kilometers away from Nanling.
After leaving Mingyuan Temple, Song Ke received a call from his girlfriend. He said goodbye to Sheng Yu and returned to his car.
Sheng Yu walked along the sidewalk toward the airport. His back was tall and straight, but upon closer inspection, one could see that his shoulders were slightly slumped, and he looked somewhat haggard against the backdrop of red walls and green tiles.
Song Ke started the car, his gaze fell on the divination stone hanging on the rearview mirror, and he suddenly remembered something. He drove the car next to Sheng Yu and called out to him.
“Sheng Yu, actually Tang Ci hesitated to go see you.”
Sheng Yu suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him: "When?"
“During her junior year, her college had an exchange opportunity to your school. She didn’t work for two months to try and get a spot, and she finally succeeded.” Song Ke got out of the car and looked at him, saying, “But she told me that she was afraid to go to Australia because she was afraid that if she saw you, she wouldn’t want to leave.”
Sheng Yu's cheeks tightened: "If she comes, I won't let her leave."
"The reason she ultimately decided not to go was because she had someone tell your fortune."
Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"The fortune teller told her that she was destined to live a long life, and that living to ninety would not be a problem," Song Ke smiled helplessly. "During that time, she looked up all the cases about kidney transplants online, and the data was not optimistic."
Song Ke's smile faded, and he said seriously, "She's afraid she won't be able to stay with you for long."
/
After returning home, Tang Ci first watched TV in the living room for a while, then went to the study to work overtime, and finally went to the kitchen to heat up a cup of milk.
After she finished drinking the milk in her glass, the hands of the clock on the wall skipped to twelve.
Tang Ci glanced at the gate.
Sheng Yu still hasn't returned.
She stood there in the living room for a while before going to the kitchen to wash the cup and put it back in the cabinet.
After Tang Ci brushed her teeth again and lay back down on the bed in the second bedroom, another half hour had passed.
Once she was sure Sheng Yu wouldn't come over in the middle of the night to discuss breaking up with her, Tang Ci closed her eyes and turned off the bedside lamp.
Yesterday's insomnia and high-intensity work only took a toll on her body, but forgot to temper her spirit as well.
Tang Ci quickly opened her eyes, stared at the dim ceiling and counted sheep for a while, then got up to try the remedies for insomnia she found online, but the results were not satisfactory.
After tossing and turning until 2 a.m., she angrily got out of bed.
As soon as Tang Cicai opened the door to the second bedroom, his feet unconsciously moved toward the master bedroom.
She only realized what had happened when she reached the master bedroom door, and felt ashamed of her sneaky behavior.
Just as she was about to return the way she came, the scene of her moving out of this house popped into her mind. Soon after the Yunqi project was completed, she lost any opportunity to contact Sheng Yu.
Tang Ci gripped the door frame, her mind in turmoil for a while, before finally steeling herself and burying her head in Sheng Yu's room, quietly slipping into his neatly folded quilt.
Sheng Yu's bed was slightly firmer than hers, with soft silk bedding that felt a little cool to the touch.
Tang Ci tugged at the corner of his blanket and gently sniffed it.
It has a very light soap scent, with a hint of sunshine.
It's very hypnotic.
Tang Ci hugged the blanket and buried her face in it, and fell asleep without realizing it.
She didn't know how much time had passed when, in her drowsy state, she heard soft footsteps in the room.
At first she didn't pay attention, until the footsteps got closer and closer to the bed, accompanied by a crisp "thud," and a hazy light appeared on her thin eyelids.
Tang Ci rubbed her eyes and was about to turn over when she suddenly realized something was wrong and opened her eyes abruptly.
Sheng Yu was standing by the bed with his hands in his pockets, watching her.
With her heart pounding, Tang Ci awkwardly got out of bed, stood by the bedside, scratched her ear, and asked, "Why are you home in the middle of the night?"
Sheng Yu's shirt was wrinkled, but his expression was energetic. He slowly raised an eyebrow: "What do you think?"
Tang Ci couldn't find any emotion in his dark pupils, so she could only ask, based on her initial guess, "Did you come to break up with me?"
Having just woken up, she hadn't yet developed the skill to skillfully hide her emotions, so she couldn't help but choke up for a moment at the end of her sentence.
Sheng Yu frowned, sat down on the edge of the bed, and asked her, "Why do you think that?"
Tang Ci curled her fingertips and said in a deep voice, "You haven't spoken to me for the past two weeks since you went to Australia."
Sheng Yu's eyes flickered for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap: "I was testing you."
Tang Ci was unable to think clearly because of his intimate actions. Her ears turned slightly red as she asked, "What are you testing me for...?"
"Let's see if you've been a good girl and been waiting for me at home."
Tang Ci seemed not to understand his words, and after a moment of stunned silence, she opened her mouth: "I—"
"Very good." Sheng Yu smiled and tightened his grip on her arm.
Tang Ci's cheek touched his neck, feeling its coolness. She asked, "Where have you been so late?"
"I went to see Song Ke."
Upon hearing this, Tang Ci immediately looked up, her gentle eyes filled with suppressed panic. "You know everything? My illness."
“I’ve always known,” Sheng Yu patted her straight back gently with his palm, “but I ignored it, so I’m here to apologize to you.”
His words were so gentle that Tang Ci felt a sudden pang of sadness: "I was the one who lied to you first."
“So I’m going to take back the decision-making power,” Sheng Yu said in a deep, unyielding voice. “From now on, I’ll teach you how to love me.”
"How do I teach him?" Tang Ci asked, stunned for a moment.
Sheng Yu put her back on the bed and looked at her leisurely.
"Lesson One: Be Honest and Open with Each Other."
Seeing his serious expression, Tang Ci subconsciously sat up straight on the bed and nodded slightly, saying okay.
Sheng Yu was very satisfied with her performance. He reached out and pulled down her turned-up collar. As he withdrew his hand, his finger bones brushed against her skin, sending a jolt of electricity through her.
Tang Ci pursed her lips, staring at him without blinking.
"Tell me first," Sheng Yu said casually, ruffling her hair. "Why are you sleeping in my bed?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com