Chapter 51 Goldfish Sparkling Wine "Jiang Shiyu, you're at Guangyi now..."
"Jiang Shiyu, what happened to him?"
Lu Baichuan's tone was too serious, making Shen Cen uneasy.
She had a feeling that what Lu Baichuan was about to say wouldn't be good news.
-
"Brother Yu, hahaha, I can't take it anymore! I'll laugh at you about this for the rest of my life, okay?"
Cheng Jingyan's laughter was very penetrating. Jiang Shiyu frowned and held the phone away, only putting it back to his ear after Cheng Jingyan finished laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"No way, you've already got your marriage certificate, why are you still so nervous about proposing? You even had to call me to talk to you to ease the tension, hahaha." Cheng Jingyan couldn't help but laugh again as he spoke.
"Speaking of which, didn't you just say you'd only chat for five minutes? It's been more than fifteen minutes now. Where's your wife?"
Jiang Shiyu also found it strange.
More than half an hour ago, Shen Cen sent him a message saying he had already left. The road wasn't long, less than twenty minutes, so why hadn't he seen Shen Cen yet?
His heart sank, and he said to Cheng Jingyan on the other end of the phone, "I'll hang up now and go find Xiao Cen."
Cheng Jingyan sensed something was off about Jiang Shiyu's tone and immediately stopped smiling: "Brother Yu, don't worry, your wife might be lost. You should go back and look for her."
"good."
Although he responded to Cheng Jingyan in this way, Jiang Shiyu vaguely felt that Shen Cen wouldn't get lost. The location he chose for the proposal wasn't remote; in fact, it was a popular tourist attraction in the small town south of Beijing, a place that tourists visiting the town would usually come to.
There's no one here today because he booked this place to perfectly recreate Shen Cen's ideal proposal scene.
Stone bridge, covered boat, and lisianthus that were just airlifted from abroad today.
He planned to solemnly propose to the girl he had liked for over a decade here, and reveal all his secrets.
But Shen Cen was late in arriving.
He quickly dialed Shen Cen's number, but the line was busy. He tried several times, but there was still no answer.
Jiang Shiyu panicked, feeling as if his heart had suddenly stopped. He worried that something might have happened to Shen Cen on the way.
Jiang Shiyu ran back almost at full speed, but he still couldn't see Shen Cen's figure.
He asked several shop owners along the way, but they all said they hadn't seen it. When he got close to Shen Cen's house, he heard an aunt say that a girl had just returned to that building while wiping away tears.
The aunt pointed in the opposite direction, and Jiang Shiyu turned his head to look. It was indeed Shen Cen's house, and the bedroom light on the second floor was still on.
His heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, finally settled down, though he didn't know why Shen Cen had suddenly gone back.
But at least he can now be sure that Shen Cen is here and hasn't disappeared again.
-
Hearing the door open, Shen Cen immediately wiped away her tears. But it was all in vain; anyone who saw her ruined makeup would know she had just been crying.
"Xiao Cen".
Jiang Shiyu walked to the windowsill and hugged the woman from behind.
Although he couldn't see Shen Cen's face, Jiang Shiyu knew from her trembling figure that she had just been crying.
Did I do anything to upset you?
"Xiao Cen, I apologize to you first."
The man's sharply defined jawline rested against her hair, and the familiar, pleasant scent of cedar wafted into her nostrils.
As he spoke, he tightened his grip on her arms, unwilling to let go of her for even a second.
Shen Cen had been holding back her tears, but now they were completely out of control.
Jiang Shiyu always appears aloof and distant to outsiders, but in front of her, he is incredibly patient and willing to set aside all pride and self-esteem.
Can……
Lu Baichuan's words echoed in her mind again.
“Xiao Cen, I’ve had someone investigate. Jiang Shiyu isn’t just a bar owner; he’s the president of Guangyi Technology.”
"Jiang Shiyu has a white moonlight who he has liked for many years but they are not together. Guangyi initially decided to make historical mobile games, and later started making dating simulation games, all of which are related to this white moonlight."
"Don't blame me for being nosy, but can you accept that all of Jiang Shiyu's career is related to another woman? Is the reason he doesn't tell you his true identity because he feels guilty? Xiao Cen, can you tolerate being a substitute for Jiang Shiyu's white moonlight?"
...
Shen Cen's mind was completely in a mess, so much so that she didn't hear a word of what Lu Baichuan said afterward.
All she knew was that Jiang Shiyu was the president of Guangyi Technology, the man who only existed in various mysterious rumors, the man who was decisive and efficient in the business world and created one case after another that could be recorded in textbooks.
They were from completely different worlds.
This is the kind of person who has a white moonlight he loves but cannot have, and she, just as Lu Baichuan said, is just a substitute.
She desperately wanted to turn around and ask Jiang Shiyu about everything, but she didn't know what she would gain if she got a definite answer.
Did she know that the dreams Jiang Shiyu wove for her were actually being used by another woman to shatter her dreams completely?
"If you don't want to talk about it now, you can tell me when you want to." Jiang Shiyu noticed that the woman was unwilling to speak, so he reached out and patted her head.
He was willing to wait and give her enough patience.
It was clearly a very thoughtful remark, but Shen Cen felt even more wronged.
She sniffed and turned around. "Jiang Shiyu, can you kiss me?"
A soft kiss arrived as promised, much more delicate and tender than ever before.
She bit him in retaliation, and Jiang Shiyu hissed in pain as blood seeped from his lips. But he remained completely unperturbed, his slender fingers brushing away the blood.
"See? I told you you were a kitten."
Jiang Shiyu gently touched Shen Cen's lips with his finger, and Shen Cen could still smell the rusty, bloody scent lingering on his fingertips.
"He bites when we kiss." His tone remained as languid and casual as ever, yet brimming with affection.
Shen Cen didn't speak, burying her head in the man's neck, wanting to bite him again, but still couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Do you want to go out today?" Jiang Shiyu asked.
Shen Cen shook his head.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Jiang Shiyu didn't want to propose to Shen Cen when she was in a bad mood. He was afraid that when Shen Cen looked back on this day, she would also remember the bad mood she had that day.
He will find an opportunity to propose again; he's always ready.
After a long silence in the room, Shen Cen finally couldn't help but speak up: "Jiang Shiyu, is there anything you want to say to me?"
Jiang Shiyu actually had a lot to say. He wanted to solemnly propose to her, tell her that he had liked her for more than ten years, explain his true identity, and explain why he had kept it from her for so long.
The reason he didn't tell Shen Cen from the beginning that he had liked her for over ten years was that he didn't want his feelings to become a burden for Shen Cen, and he didn't want Shen Cen to choose him out of gratitude. He hoped that she would truly fall in love with him before choosing him.
However, the current environment is rather hasty. It is said that a confession should start with a bouquet of flowers. He left in a hurry just now and didn't have time to pick up the bouquet that he had spent more than an hour arranging.
Now is not the time.
"Yes, but I'd like to wait for a better opportunity to discuss it."
"Hmm." Shen Cen sighed inwardly.
As expected, Jiang Shiyu chose to continue keeping it from her.
-
For the two days after returning to Jingjia, Shen Cen was not in high spirits.
When Jiang Shiyu went to work in the afternoon, she stayed alone in her study working. She wanted to numb herself with work so she wouldn't think about it anymore.
But that was impossible; her mind was completely consumed by the matter.
Because she was distracted, she didn't notice and her elbow accidentally bumped into a stack of books.
"Smack!"
A thick notebook slipped off the table.
I'd seen this notebook before; it belonged to Jiang Shiyu. The brown leather cover had quite a few scratches, indicating it had been used for a long time.
She noticed that one of the pages of the notebook had fallen out.
The sketch of the girl above is particularly eye-catching.
Shen Cen's outstretched hand suddenly stopped. After a long pause, she bent down to pick it up.
The moment she saw the painting, she subconsciously thought the person in it was herself.
Her facial features, high ponytail hairstyle, and the aloof temperament she exudes are exactly the same.
However, when her gaze fell on the time in the lower right corner of the picture, she realized that the girl in the picture was not herself.
June 18, 20xx.
She deduced the timeline and concluded that the painting was done in the year Jiang Shiyu was about to enter his senior year of high school. Therefore, Jiang Shiyu must have painted his "white moonlight," the girl his mother had mentioned before, the girl Jiang Shiyu liked in high school.
Thinking back to how she had mistaken the person in the painting for herself, Shen Cen suddenly found it laughable. She suddenly understood why Jiang Shiyu had agreed to the marriage.
It wasn't love at first sight at all; it was because she looked a lot like Jiang Shiyu's "white moonlight" (a term of endearment for someone who is unattainable in love). She remembered what Lu Baichuan had told her the day before yesterday: Guangyi Technology chose to start with historical mobile games because of this "white moonlight." So, it seemed this "white moonlight" was also a girl who loved history and was quite knowledgeable about it?
Is there anyone in the world more suitable to be a substitute for the ideal woman?
She recalled how focused and attentive Jiang Shiyu was whenever she talked about history with him. She had initially thought he was interested in her major, but now she realized it probably stirred up memories of his "white moonlight" (his ideal woman).
Whom is he looking at through himself?
In short, it couldn't be her, Shen Cen. They only met at the beginning of this year, and she had never been a part of Jiang Shiyu's first twenty-eight years of life.
She's now unsure how to face Jiang Shiyu.
【I'll stay at Xiao Jie's house for a couple of days first.】After thinking it over, Shen Cen still sent a message to Jiang Shiyu.
Jiang Shiyu quickly replied: 【Why?】
Shen Cen: [I miss her.]
Although Jiang Shiyu knew that wasn't the real reason, he still agreed: "If you want to go home, message me and I'll come pick you up."
Shen Cen: [No need to trouble yourself.]
The screen remained lit for several minutes, but Jiang Shiyu did not send any more messages.
Time ticked by, and Shen Cen felt as if a dull knife was slowly cutting into her heart. She felt conflicted about her feelings, which pushed Jiang Shiyu further and further away.
Just when she thought Jiang Shiyu wouldn't reply, the man called.
“Xiao Cen.” His voice was very serious.
For some reason, Shen Cen felt a pang of guilt when she heard Jiang Shiyu's voice: "I'm here."
"Can you tell me what happened? You've been very cold to me these past two days." Although the two of them were still doing many intimate things as usual, Jiang Shiyu could feel that their hearts were gradually drifting apart, and he didn't like this feeling.
"I..." Shen Cen opened his mouth, but still couldn't say anything.
“Xiao Cen,” Jiang Shiyu’s voice was even calmer than before, and Shen Cen even felt that Jiang Shiyu on the other end of the phone had already frowned.
"Do you want to hide from me like this for the rest of your life? Can we solve any problems together?" As he spoke, Jiang Shiyu's voice softened, even becoming somewhat pleading.
Shen Cen pursed her lips, paused for a few seconds, and then slowly spoke:
"Jiang Shiyu, you're at Guangyi now, right?"
-----------------------
Author's note: Actually, it was mainly a misunderstanding caused by a difference in information [cat emoji]. Trust me, we'll make up soon.
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