Chapter 26
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Chen Rui opened the window. A cold autumn rain was falling, and the air outside was icy, blowing away any drowsiness.
He held his phone and hesitated for a moment before dialing the number. It was quickly answered, and Sun Yutan’s cheerful voice came through, “Hello?”
Chen Rui was in a bad mood when he heard the noisy music and voices from her side. He didn’t speak for a moment, so Sun Yutan walked to a quieter place and asked, “Chen Rui?”
“You didn’t come home last night?”
“No.”
“Who were you hanging out with all night?”
“Hanging out? I’m in Tangcheng now, attending the wedding of a college roommate,” Sun Yutan leaned against the wall and teased, “Why, did you wake up this morning and find I wasn’t there? Were you anxious?”
Chen Rui said, “Yes, I want to see you.”
Since they reconnected and hooked up, Chen Rui had been straightforward with his words, but Sun Yutan had never felt as strangely as she did that day. She silently chuckled and said, “Let’s video chat so you can see me.”
“Not enough.”
“Then what do you want?”
“Is the wedding today?”
“Yes.”
“What time is your flight? I’ll come pick you up.”
“I’m not coming back today.”
“What about tomorrow, then?” Chen Rui understood that she didn’t want to travel too much in one day.
“Not coming back tomorrow either.”
“Why not?”
“Meeting some friends in Tangcheng, and we’re planning to stay there for a few days.”
Chen Rui fell silent.
“What’s wrong?” Sun Yutan asked.
“How many days exactly?” Chen Rui asked patiently.
“I don’t know. We’ll play it by ear for now.”
Chen Rui hung up the phone. He suspected that Sun Yutan was intentionally trying to provoke him. Stay for a few days? What’s so fun about Tangcheng? She spent four years there in college, wasn’t that enough?
In his anger, Chen Rui didn’t contact Sun Yutan for twelve hours, then twenty-four hours. With a grim face, he returned home.
As soon as he entered, someone tackled him against the wall.
His hand, which was about to turn on the lights, froze in midair. Someone was wearing a silk camisole dress, tightly hugging him. Chen Rui stood still, unmoved, as she clung to his neck and kissed his earlobe. “Chen Rui, do you miss me?”
“No.”
If it weren’t for the cover of darkness, Chen Rui’s change from gloomy to sunny on his face would have been impossible to hide. Sun Yutan chuckled lightly.
Chen Rui pinched her waist, and with each heavy movement, he wanted her to scream, wanted her to tremble, so that he could truly feel that she was finally by his side. She was his.
When Chen Rui woke up, Sun Yutan was gone again.
Walking to the bathroom, he found her applying a face mask. When she saw him in the mirror, her eyes lit up. “Chen Rui, come here quickly and help me tie up my hair.” She smoothed out the gaps and creases between the face mask and her cheeks, and her mouth moved slightly. “Quickly.”
Chen Rui stood beside her, gathered her loose hair in his hand, picked up a pink hair tie, and wrapped it around twice.
Sun Yutan looked around, quite satisfied, and kissed him on the face. “I’m going back first.”
He held her waist and looked at her in the mirror. “Shall we have dinner together tonight?”
Sun Yutan thought for a moment. “No, I made plans with someone.”
“Who?”
“An old high school classmate. He’s back recently, and I’m treating him.”
Chen Rui’s upturned mouth suddenly flattened, and Sun Yutan added, “I don’t know if you know him. His name is Wu Junzhe.”
“No impression. What time will it end? If it’s late, I’ll come to pick you up.”
“No need. Maybe early, maybe late, maybe not coming back. You do your own thing.”
“Not coming back? Why?” Chen Rui’s tone remained relatively calm. “What kind of meet up needs an overnight stay?”
“Depends on what we’re doing.”
“Such as?”
Sun Yutan looked at him strangely, “Why do you care so much?”
Chen Rui dropped his hand from her waist.
“I’m leaving.” Sun Yutan turned and left.
Sun Yutan and Wu Junzhe haven’t seen each other for a while.
They arranged to have dinner together, but she arrived a bit late and was stared at by Wu Junzhe with a half-smiling expression the whole time.
“What are you looking at?” She glared at him but couldn’t help laughing.
“We haven’t seen each other in so long, can’t I take a longer look?” He pushed the menu towards her. “I’ve marked the dishes I want, you can see if you want to add anything.”
Wu Junzhe had a good memory and hadn’t forgotten her favorite dishes. “How thoughtful of you,” she praised him. She only added a dessert and pushed the menu aside.
“Are you free tomorrow? Teacher Wu said you guys are heartless for not going back to see him.”
“Oh, you’re right. I didn’t think of it until you mentioned it. Can I come over in the morning?”
“Sure.”
“How long will you be staying this time?”
“It depends. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll come back early. If it doesn’t go well…then I’ll have to come back even earlier.”
“Huh?”
“Actually…” Wu Junzhe started to say something but stopped, as if it was difficult to speak about.
“Actually, what? Just say it, you’re making me anxious.”
He smiled. “Actually, I came back to see if my dad has any intention of remarrying.”
“Why , does your mom want to remarry?”
“I don’t know. How should I put it, in these past few years, my mom has also been with several stepdads, and of course I support her starting a new life. But she always picks on people after being with them for a while, and even brings up my dad a few times, which leads to every relationship not lasting long. I didn’t understand before, but later I realized that maybe she still wants my dad.”
“What about Teacher Wu?”
“I didn’t mention it. I plan to observe for a while first.”
Sun Yutan looked at him sympathetically. This kind of thing was too difficult, and just thinking about it gave her a headache.
“You can ask Teacher Wu casually tomorrow.”
Sun Yutan quickly shook her head. “Are you kidding? How dare I?”
“Use your woman’s intuition to help me sense it.”
“Didn’t you say I’m even duller than you?”
“When did I say that?”
“More than once, okay?”
Wu Junzhe raised his eyebrows. “I wasn’t wrong though.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” Sun Yutan didn’t argue. Her phone screen lit up on the side, and she turned to look. It was just a news notification from a website, so she turned off the screen.
“Who are you waiting for a message from?”
“What?”
“You’ve been looking at your phone several times.” Wu Junzhe approached her and scrutinized her with a teasing tone. “Is there something going on?”
Sun Yutan didn’t deny it, took a sip of tea, and said leisurely, “Is it not possible?”
“Really,” Wu Junzhe sat up straight and lamented, “It’s really a waste for a woman to be too capable.”
“Get lost.”
Because they were discussing the dinner the next day, Wu Junzhe accompanied her to her doorstep.
“Do you live here by yourself?”
“Yes, okay, you go back now, see you tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to come pick you up tomorrow?”
“Come on, I’m not a kid.”
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