Chapter 2 Long Island Iced Tea... Is Teacher Shen pretending not to know me?
Shen Cen turned around and nodded politely: "Boss Jiang."
Jiang Shiyu raised his eyes indifferently: "What, is Teacher Shen pretending not to know me?"
Shen Cen: "..."
Is it that obvious?
Seeing that Shen Cen remained silent, Jiang Shiyu did not press the matter. He leisurely pulled a piece of paper from behind the bar, wiped the water droplets from his fingertips, and casually asked, "Have you been busy lately?"
"Busy." Shen Cen nodded. "I've been busy preparing final exam papers lately, and my research project is also in its final stages. I'm quite busy."
Out of politeness, she also asked Jiang Shiyu how he had been lately.
"Me?" Jiang Shiyu twitched his lips. "I've been waiting for Teacher Shen to give me an explanation, but she seems very busy and hasn't contacted me for two weeks."
The topic eventually circled back to the day they got their marriage certificate.
Shen Cen opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.
Jiang Shiyu's directness dispelled much of the awkwardness that had been lingering in her mind for over ten days, and she realized that some things were not as difficult to deal with as she had imagined.
After a three-second pause, she smiled and replied, "What explanation does Mr. Jiang want?"
"As soon as we got the marriage certificate, Teacher Shen suddenly disappeared without a trace."
Jiang Shiyu suddenly lowered his voice a few decibels: "Is Teacher Shen afraid that I'll do something under the guise of being husband and wife? Are you scared?"
Even though it wasn't exactly as Jiang Shiyu described, Shen Cen's cheeks still flushed slightly after hearing it, and half of her ear, hidden by stray hairs at her temples, turned red. She clenched her fist, took a deep breath, and said earnestly, "That day, I hadn't figured out how to face the marriage, so I wanted to digest it alone for a few days."
While her proposal was genuine, it was also true that she couldn't immediately adjust to the change in their relationship. After all, they had only known each other for less than three months, and if it weren't for her abrupt, almost robbery-like proposal, their paths would likely have remained parallel lines that never intersected.
Jiang Shiyu listened to Shen Cen's words and nodded thoughtfully. After a while, he said rather "understandingly":
"I understand. After all, anyone would need some time to process the fact that I'm getting married."
"I can accept your explanation."
Shen Cen: "..."
So all her talk just now was for nothing?
She originally wanted to say a few words in defense, but then she thought that no matter what she said, Jiang Shiyu would probably think that she was deliberately explaining, and it might even make things worse, so she gave up.
–
Back in his seat, Shen Cen's mind was still replaying their conversation. But Chen Shili's burning gossip instincts were already raging, and he pulled Shen Cen aside and bombarded him with a series of questions.
Shen Cen has always been calm and composed, and she was able to handle Chen Shili's barrage of questions with ease.
Chen Shili didn't get any information and pouted in disappointment, "Fine, I'll reluctantly believe you. So, did he mix this drink?"
She pointed to the extra cocktail in Shen Cen's hand. Shen Cen glanced down at it, then handed the cocktail to her: "Well, he mixed it wrong, so he gave it to me."
"Wrongly set?" Chen Shili frowned, finding it strange. After hesitating for a second, she took the wine glass.
Actually, not only Chen Shili, but Shen Cen also found it strange. Jiang Shiyu had just said that he had made a mistake because he was talking to him, which had distracted him. But Jiang Shiyu was the one who called him first, and he hadn't touched his wine glass while they were talking. How could he have made a mistake because he was distracted by talking to him?
She could only think of one possibility—
It must be that Jiang Shiyu is too proud to admit his own mistakes, so he shifted the blame onto her.
The drinks at "Siji" were quite expensive, and it would be a waste to pour them away, so she took them back, thinking that she might as well take them.
Chen Shili brought the wine glass to his lips and took a small sip. After drinking it, he remained silent for a long time before taking a large gulp.
"What's wrong?" Seeing her reaction, Shen Cen wondered if Jiang Shiyu's mixing was really bad.
Siji's drinks are known for their high quality.
"It's nothing." Chen Shili shook his head and explained, "I don't think I can tell what's wrong with the mix. Maybe I'm just an amateur and can't tell the difference."
After saying that, she handed the wine glass back to Shen Cen: "I have to say, this wine is quite good. You should try it. As expected of a handsome boss, it must be a good product."
Shen Cen didn't accept it: "If it tastes good, you can have it."
As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously drifted towards the bar. Jiang Shiyu had left sometime earlier, and a new bartender had taken his place.
-
At 9:30, seeing that it was getting late, everyone suggested that we call it a day and get together again another time.
The group walked to the door. Those who came by car went to the parking lot to get their cars, and those who came by subway rushed to the subway entrance. For a moment, only Shen Cen, Chen Shili and Zhou Mingrui were left at the door.
"How are you going to get back?" Zhou Mingrui didn't rush to leave. He first looked at Shen Cen, and after lingering for a few seconds, he moved his gaze to the middle of the two people in front of him.
Chen Shili's home is in the residential area just ahead. She pointed to the intersection across the street: "I'll walk home, and it'll be there after two traffic lights."
Shen Cen didn't drive this time to Siji. She glanced around and, seeing no shared electric bikes, said, "I'll take a taxi or the subway."
Chen Shili quickly said, "It's not safe to take a taxi at night. Let's take the subway instead, or Zhou Mingrui, could you give Xiao Cen a ride?"
Zhou Mingrui nodded in agreement: "Yes, Shili is right. Junior Sister Shen, let me take you there."
Shen Cen didn't like to trouble others, even if the other person was a senior or junior she had known for several years, not to mention that their homes were in completely different directions. She waved her hand and declined, "Thank you, senior, but no need. I'll just take the subway. It's very close to the subway station; I can walk there in just a few steps. I've had a little to drink anyway, and getting some fresh air will help me sober up."
Seeing this, the two didn't insist any further. Coincidentally, Chen Shili and Zhou Mingrui lived on the same route, so they hitched a ride with Zhou Mingrui.
After saying goodbye to them, Chen Cen walked towards the subway station. A gentle early summer breeze blew against her face, carrying the faint fragrance of sycamore leaves. Sometimes, walking alone is quite nice; it's a rare opportunity to relax.
She fully enjoyed the gentle evening breeze that stirred her hair and skirt.
Suddenly, a black Maybach pulled up smoothly beside her.
Jiang Shiyu rolled down the car window. "Get in."
Perhaps not expecting Jiang Shiyu to appear suddenly, Shen Cen didn't react for a moment: "...No need, I'll take the subway back."
"The subway?" Jiang Shiyu scoffed. "Chen Cen, are you checking the news?"
"Huh?" Shen Cen asked in confusion. She took out her phone, but before she could even open the news, she saw a message from a colleague who had just walked to the subway station five minutes earlier: "[I only remembered when I got to the subway station that Line 1 is closed for maintenance today.]"
Line 1 was the earliest subway line built on the Beijing-Jiading line. Because it's been under construction for a long time, it frequently experiences malfunctions and therefore needs to be shut down for maintenance periodically. Chen Cen had almost a full day of classes today and didn't catch up on the news.
She opened the ride-hailing app again and saw that, perhaps because the subway was closed today, there were many people trying to hail a ride, as there were still more than a dozen people in the queue.
If it were her turn, it would probably be 10 o'clock by then. Shen Cen could only walk towards the passenger seat: "Thank you."
After getting in the car, Jiang Shiyu didn't say anything. He quickly entered the address of Chencen Community into the navigation system and started the car.
The two remained silent, the cramped space becoming even more so. Shen Cen placed her bag on her lap, fiddling with a small figure charm on it, and gazed out the window.
After a long while, she turned her gaze from the window to Jiang Shiyu and said, "It's really kind of you to go to all this trouble to give me a ride."
Jiang Shiyu didn't turn his head, but only glanced at her out of the corner of his eye: "It wasn't by any particular reason, I just happened to be passing by."
Oh, so it was just on the way. That makes sense now. Otherwise, why would Jiang Shiyu be so kind as to offer her a ride home?
"Thank you again..." Before he could finish speaking, a phone rang, interrupting Shen Cen. It was Chen Shili calling.
"Xiao Cen, did you see the message in the group? The subway is suspended today!" Chen Shili's voice wasn't loud, but it was amplified several times in this small space, and even had a slight echo.
Shen Cen replied, "I saw it, but I just happened to run into a friend, so I went back in his car."
"That's good." Chen Shili breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Shen Cen had safely gotten into the car. "Zhou Mingrui was originally going to come back and give you a ride."
Upon hearing the unfamiliar man's name, Jiang Shiyu, who had been silent, suddenly looked at Shen Cen, but Shen Cen didn't notice and continued talking to Chen Shili: "No need to trouble you, senior brother, I'll be home soon too."
"Okay." Chen Shili had already arrived at his doorstep when he heard the voice on the other end saying, "Door unlocked." "By the way, that bar owner today was really handsome!"
Shen Cen glanced quickly at Jiang Shiyu, then looked down to turn down her phone volume, but in her panic, she pressed the wrong button, causing the volume to rise instead of fall.
"When can we go again when we have time? But it depends on luck. They said the boss is usually not there, so we don't want to go and find nothing."
Their eyes met.
...
Feeling guilty, Shen Cen mouthed "I'll talk to you later" to Jiang Shiyu, then quickly cut off Chen Shili's words: "...Sister Shili, let's talk about this later. I'll be home soon, I'll hang up now."
Chen Shili didn't detect anything amiss: "Okay. Next time, try your best to get the boss's contact information for me."
Their eyes met again.
Fearing that Chen Shili might utter another boastful remark, Shen Cen simply grunted an "Mmm" and promptly hung up the phone.
Silence returned to the car.
“Um…” Shen Cen hesitated before speaking.
"Understood." Jiang Shiyu narrowed his eyes, his gaze lingering on Shen Cen for a few seconds. "No need to say anything more."
"Oh." Shen Cen nodded. Judging from Jiang Shiyu's expression, he didn't seem to have misunderstood that she had specially come to Si Ji to see him today, so he didn't say anything more.
The car quickly drove into Shen Cen's residential compound. The compound was rather old, but it was close to Peking University, so Shen Cen rented an apartment there after starting her job. She could walk to the university quickly, so she didn't drive much on weekdays.
The car stopped downstairs. Chen Cen unbuckled his seatbelt, got up, and pushed open the door to get out.
Just then, a casual voice came from behind: "Oh, right."
She turned around and saw the man's knuckles rhythmically tapping the steering wheel: "Next time you come to Siji, you can tell me in advance."
"Um?"
Shen Cen was puzzled. What, could it be some kind of discount or special offer?
Jiang Shiyu stopped what he was doing, a faint smile playing on his lips:
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you come up empty-handed."
A note from the author:
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I won't say who's secretly pleased. [Okay]
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