0003 After you dumped me
The one-hour drive turned into a nearly two-and-a-half-hour drive due to traffic congestion before we finally arrived at Shen Yu-xiu's address.
In the middle of the night, Shen Xiaoyue and Su Qingru, who live apart due to work, called to ask if Song Ning had arrived safely. After giving her some brief instructions, they hung up the phone with peace of mind.
After Zhang Gui escorted Song Ning to his destination, Shen Yuxiu also let him leave.
Song Ning followed Shen Yuxiu into his residence in the Chunheyuan residential area. As soon as they entered, Shen Yuxiu turned on the central air conditioning.
Late August in Yanjing is not as hot as in Nansu, but Song Ning has always been afraid of the heat, so Shen Yuxiu always turns on the air conditioner as soon as possible.
Song Ning carefully examined the place where Shen Yuxiu lived. She hadn't been to Yanjing for two years, and this was her first time visiting Shen Yuxiu's house.
The house is about 140 square meters. It was a second-hand house that Shen Yuxiu bought from a colleague last year. It is very close to the university where he teaches.
The house is decorated in a simple and neat style, without complicated design. There are three rooms in total, with the master bedroom and the second bedroom next to each other. Each bedroom has a large and a small balcony. When you walk out of the balcony, you can see the balcony next door. There is also a small room facing north that he has turned into a study.
There are two bathrooms in the house, one in the master bedroom and one in the living room. This is why Shen Yuxiu asked the cleaning staff to clean the master bedroom; he always saves the best things for her.
The cleaning staff had already come to the room and cleaned it according to Shen Yuxiu's instructions. The four-piece bedding set that had been taken off was hung out to dry on the balcony of the master bedroom, and the bed in the master bedroom was covered with bare pillows and a silk quilt.
Shen Yuxiu walked to the wardrobe in the master bedroom and took out a four-piece bedding set from the neatly arranged wardrobe.
"Use mine for now. I've only used it once before. I'll take you to the supermarket later to buy another one."
Song Ning didn't care at all whether Shen Yuxiu had slept with her. In fact, it would be better if he had, as he would leave his scent behind. But Shen Yuxiu was always extremely concerned.
"Won't the school give them out?" Song Ning walked to the foot of the bed and picked up a photo frame from the TV cabinet.
Sunlight filled the room through the photo frame. Seven-year-old Song Ning, dressed in her school uniform, sat in front of the dressing table. Her long black hair was gently combed back by a hand with a black rubber band, while another hand with distinct knuckles tidied her stray hairs.
In the photo album, she looks at the camera with an expression that seems to tell the photographer that she doesn't like being photographed.
She has so many photos of herself as an adult, but he specifically chose a photo of her when she was just starting elementary school. Was it because this photo was meaningful, or was he putting it here to remind himself that he could only be her brother?
and……
Song Ning looked at the photo in her hand.
This is not the original footage. In the original footage, there is also Shen Yuxiu standing behind her.
"Let's buy another one and put it here. You can come over and play whenever you have time," Shen Yuxiu said calmly, turning his gaze to Song Ning as he spread out the pillowcase.
Song Ning put down the photo frame and looked at Shen Yuxiu.
Shen Yuxiu unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his slender, fair arms with prominent but not obvious muscle lines.
Further down, the metacarpal bones on the back of the hand undulate slightly with the movement of the hand, and the slender fingers rest on the soft white pillow. Every frame and every second of the movement is pleasing to the eye.
Song Ning's mouth was dry, and her chest felt like it was being gently scratched, pounding wildly in waves.
She looked away, gazing at the orange paint that had stained half the sky outside, and the lines "A slanting ray of sunlight reflects the twilight, a thought of an old friend reveals its depth" suddenly came to mind.
"Is there a fire?" Song Ning asked.
"What?" Shen Yuxiu's hand froze in mid-air, his face showing a look of disbelief, as if he had misunderstood.
A rebellious pleasure flowed through Song Ning's chest. She tugged at the corners of her mouth, her eyes gleaming with even greater interest.
Do you have a lighter? A matchbox will do too.
Shen Yuxiu gazed at Song Ning with quiet eyes for a long while before putting down the pillow in his hand and walking outside.
Song Ning opened the sliding door to the master bedroom, walked to the balcony, and pushed open one of the glass windows.
The scorching air rushed towards her, and the dust in the air choked her nostrils. Song Ning gazed at the setting sun in the distance, brushed her hair aside, and clicked her tongue, saying, "Such a beautiful view, but we can only look at it."
A slender hand landed beneath her eyes, holding a very common type of plastic lighter.
"Use this, it was a free gift from the supermarket," Shen Yuxiu said.
Song Ning took the lighter, held it in her hand, and unzipped the bag.
Inside the bag: a cell phone, ID card, earphone case, a few coins, and a silver cigarette case.
She took out the cigarette case, which was covered with planet-shaped patterns, and even the clasp was a small planet.
Using her thumbnail to pry open the clasp, Song Ning took out a thin cigarette and bit it against her red lips.
She put away her cigarette case and glanced at Shen Yuxiu, who was leaning against the window: "Aren't you going in?"
"Will my presence disturb your smoking?" Shen Yuxiu asked.
The evening breeze blew across his body, causing his white shirt to billow slightly, while the remaining rays of sunlight shone on his face, making his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses appear exceptionally gentle.
"No," Song Ning replied, tapping the lighter's roller twice.
Sparks leaped, and the layered flames flickered wildly in the wind. A hand reached out, and the flames calmed down a bit.
Song Ning lowered her eyelashes and placed the cigarette between her fingers on the small flame.
White smoke rose slowly, then was dispersed by the wind in the afterglow of the setting sun.
A soft cough sounded beside me.
I clearly don't like the smell of smoke.
Song Ning leaned forward, resting her elbow lightly on the windowsill, gazing in the same direction as Shen Yuxiu.
The wind blew the smoke to the other side, away from Shen Yuxiu.
"When did you learn to smoke?" Shen Yuxiu's voice was very calm, with a deep and unyielding quality.
He missed a lot about her in the past two years.
Song Ning secretly hid the lighter in her bag, thinking to herself: After you dumped me.
But what he said was: "In the second semester of my junior year of high school, I slept very little and was always sleepy. I tried coffee and tea, but they didn't work. So Cheng Yanchu taught me to smoke, saying it would keep me awake."
Shen Yuxiu gave a soft "hmm" and then fell silent.
Song Ning zipped up her bag, exhaled the smoke from her mouth, and looked at the setting sun, which was now mostly gone, with a bitter smile on her face.
What are you expecting? Didn't you already know he would do this?
—Ring, ring, ring
The phone rang, interrupting their enjoyment of the scenery.
Song Ning held up her phone: "What's up?"
"Girlfriend, do you not want your boyfriend anymore after seeing your brother? Sadness (Japanese: heartbroken)" Cheng Yanchu deliberately dragged out the last syllable.
"Goodbye." Song Ning rolled her eyes inwardly.
"Hey, wait a minute." Cheng Yanchu called out urgently. Seeing that Song Ning hadn't hung up, he added, "I just wanted to call and see if you'd arrived. I didn't expect you to be so heartless, not even letting me say a word."
Song Ning glanced at Shen Yuxiu, "We've arrived."
"Something's not right with you. You didn't scold me today. Is your brother really next to you?" Seeing Song Ning's silence, Cheng Yanchu said sarcastically, "Ah~ it seems I guessed right! What a good little sister."
Song Ning's forehead twitched, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "If you keep talking like that, then we'll delete each other and block each other."
Cheng Yanchu cleared his throat: "Ningning, see you the day after tomorrow, don't miss me too much."
Song Ning hung up the phone, wanting to curse him as a lunatic, but remembering that Shen Yuxiu was by her side, she forced herself to hold back.
"Come in as soon as you're done. It's hot outside, don't stay too long," Shen Yuxiu said, standing up straight with his back to Song Ning.
"Hmm." Song Ning glanced at Shen Yuxiu's back, then turned to look at the gradually darkening horizon.
When did your relationship with Cheng Yanchu improve?
Oh, right, I think she's 16, so she should be in her first year of high school.
Their first interaction seemed to have occurred when she accidentally bumped into Cheng Yanchu smoking on the rooftop of the teaching building.
At that time, she had just been rejected after confessing her feelings and was extremely averse to studying. She always liked to skip class and go to sleep in secluded places, where she happened to run into Cheng Yanchu, a model student who was "suffering from a stomachache".
For her, skipping classes was the most common thing in her academic career, because Su Qingru would hire a tutor for her, so whether she listened to the class or not didn't really matter.
Moreover, ever since Shen Yuxiu went to university, she's no longer a good student; she skips classes, goes to internet cafes, submits blank exam papers, and wears her own clothes...
When she was in elementary school, she might have been mindful of Shen Yuxiu, who was studying at a university in China. But after Shen Yuxiu went abroad, she became like a wild horse, completely unable to restrain herself.
For this reason, Shen Xiaoyue and Su Qingru made many trips to the principal's office.
However, because of Shen and Su's social status, and because she had good grades and the trouble she caused did not harm others, the school turned a blind eye to it each time.
But Cheng Yanchu was a completely different kind of good student: handsome, academically excellent, very popular, actively involved in extracurricular activities, and outstanding in both character and academics...
Basically, all the beauty of the word "student" was embodied in him, so when she found Cheng Yanchu leaning against the balcony wall, sitting on his school uniform and smoking, she found it very interesting.
Song Ning walked to Cheng Yanchu's side, squatted down, and propped her head up to look at Cheng Yanchu.
Cheng Yanchu, who was smoking, was not alarmed. Instead, he shifted his gaze to Song Ning's thigh.
Song Ning was wearing a black mini skirt and a pair of sweet and cool riding boots. When she squatted down, the skirt spread out on her thighs, revealing her fair and delicate skin.
“Three Good Students? Top Ten Students? Hmm... what else was there, Excellent Student?” Song Ning recounted with great interest the awards Cheng Yanchu had received, which she had heard from others.
"..." Cheng Yanchu took a puff of his cigarette.
"What excuses do good students usually use when they skip class? Teach me, so I can learn from them next time." Song Ning squinted her eyes and smiled.
"..." Cheng Yanchu's gaze darted towards Song Ning's skirt.
"Alright, I'll keep your smoking a secret. But let's find another place next time. This is where I sleep, and I don't like being disturbed. However, I discovered something interesting today, and I'm in a good mood, so I'll lend it to you for now." Song Ning stood up, tugged at her skirt, and prepared to leave.
"Hey, your name is Song Ning, right?" Cheng Yanchu called out to Song Ning.
"Hmm? I thought a 'good student' wouldn't want to associate with someone like me," Song Ning said with a grin, her hands behind her back.
Cheng Yanchu stubbed out his cigarette on the wall and said slowly, "Your legs are very beautiful."
Song Ning turned around, looking somewhat troubled: "I think my beauty isn't just limited to my legs, right?"
"..." Cheng Yanchu picked up the school uniform from the ground, dusted it off, and put it on. "How much would it cost me if I wanted to touch your leg?"
"One hundred million?" Song Ning thought seriously.
After a moment of silence, Cheng Yanchu burst out laughing: "You're really funny."
“Likewise, likewise.” Song Ning smiled brightly.
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