Lu Yanzhi paused his fingers for two seconds, then casually set down the card in his hand.
Zeng Yiyang, who was usually boisterous, froze for a moment upon seeing it was him and instinctively glanced at Tan Qinyin.
The subtle awkwardness between the two was immediately noticed by Tan Qinyin.
Before anyone could start teasing, Lu Yanzhi directly picked up his glass and downed the drink in one go.
“Wow, Brother Lu, drinking so fast—do you not have any exes, or are you afraid your wife will get upset if you mention them?”
“Of course he doesn’t have any. When has Brother Lu ever had any woman around him besides his wife?”
That wasn’t entirely false.
Lu Yanzhi was the most popular among women in their circle.
Those deep yet indifferent eyes had made countless women fall for him, yet beside him, only Tan Qinyin had ever appeared.
Only Zeng Yiyang knew that wasn’t the whole story.
The girl who had assigned the task asked in confusion, “But if you don’t have any exes, couldn’t you just say so? You didn’t have to drink.”
As soon as she said this, the room fell silent for two seconds.
Zeng Yiyang quickly smoothed things over: “Isn’t the whole point of playing games to have fun? Yanzhi just wanted to liven things up for everyone. Come on, let’s move to the next round.”
Thanks to his intervention, the atmosphere quickly recovered, and the game moved on to the next round.
Tan Qinyin looked at Lu Yanzhi’s still indifferent expression, and her heart sank completely.
The tiny glimmer of hope she had just felt was extinguished once again.
The next round’s king’s task was a “princess carry,” but it was assigned to two men.
This time, the atmosphere truly heated up. As the game went on, everyone grew more excited—even feeding cherries with their mouths seemed tame.
In a new round, Zeng Yiyang finally became the king. With a mischievous grin, he announced, “The King of Hearts must kiss someone of their choice for three minutes on the spot!”
This was the boldest task so far, and everyone grew excited, asking who the King of Hearts was.
Tan Qinyin’s hand trembled.
Under everyone’s urging, she reluctantly revealed her card: “It’s me.”
“Oh, it’s Qinyin! Then this task should be easy, right?”
“Yeah, who else would you choose?”
“If you picked someone else, wouldn’t Brother Lu go crazy?”
“Hahaha!”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Tan Qinyin and Lu Yanzhi, eagerly awaiting a sweet interaction from the “loving couple.”
Amid the noisy clamor around her, Tan Qinyin’s face flushed bright red.
Forget kissing—they hadn’t even hugged in the past year.
Her heart was a mix of emotions—embarrassment, but also a faint thread of hope as she looked at Lu Yanzhi.
Lu Yanzhi blinked his deep, dark eyes but made no move.
“Kiss! Kiss!”
“Come on, Brother Lu, what are you waiting for?”
The teasing continued, and Tan Qinyin’s eyes dimmed completely.
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.
“I’ll drink instead,” she said, her numb hand reaching for the glass.
Just as she was about to drink, Lu Yanzhi took the glass from her.
His gaze swept lightly over the crowd, his tone casual but carrying a hint of warning: “Yinyin is shy. Don’t tease her.”
He downed the drink in one go, leaving everyone speechless.
What was going on?
Wasn’t it perfectly normal for a married couple to kiss? Why did they seem so reluctant?
Were they having a fight? Weren’t they fine just moments ago?
Seeing the smile fade from Lu Yanzhi’s face and his gentle demeanor vanish, no one dared to ask further.
Zeng Yiyang quickly stepped in again: “Right, right, Sister Qinyin is shy. Let’s not make things difficult for her.”
He then said, “We’ve been playing for so long, let’s take a break before continuing.”
After the gathering ended, Tan Qinyin didn’t even glance at Lu Yanzhi. She simply said, “I’m going to the restroom,” and hurriedly stood up to leave.
…
Standing in front of the restroom mirror, Tan Qinyin doubted herself for the first time in her life.
Was there something about her that wasn’t good enough?
Her mind was a tangled mess. She didn’t really want to go back, so after leaving the restroom, she wandered aimlessly alone.
Before she knew it, she had reached the quiet balcony. Just as she was about to step out for some fresh air, she suddenly heard Zeng Yiyang’s voice.
“What exactly happened earlier? It was just a kiss, wasn’t it? Why did you act like it was life or death? Don’t tell me that even after being married for a year, you two are still in a purely platonic relationship?”
Lu Yanzhi remained silent, not denying it.
Zeng Yiyang’s face was filled with shock. “Why?”
Lu Yanzhi stuffed his hands into his pockets, gazing into the ink-black night, lost in thought.
Zeng Yiyang suddenly thought of something. “Could it be that you still haven’t gotten over Shen Yaoyue?”
Lu Yanzhi finally spoke. “Stop guessing wildly.”
“Then what exactly are you thinking?” Zeng Yiyang was utterly confused. “If you have no feelings for Qinyin, why did you agree to marry her? I thought, seeing how well you treat her, that you…”
Lu Yanzhi replied calmly, “My family really likes Yinyin. Treating her well is my responsibility.”
Just as Zeng Yiyang was about to say more, Lu Yanzhi’s phone rang.
Tan Qinyin felt like she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t stay any longer and turned to leave.
His family liked her.
So it was only because his family liked her.
**
Tan Qinyin left directly.
Not long after she started driving, Lu Yanzhi sent a WeChat message.
【Where are you?】
Tan Qinyin: 【Feeling sleepy, I went back first.】
Lu Yanzhi didn’t mention what had happened earlier, nor did he blame her for leaving without saying goodbye.
【Okay.】
【I’ll be back soon too.】
Tan Qinyin didn’t reply again. When she got home, she went straight to her room.
The lights were off in the room. She hugged her knees and curled up in a corner of the bed.
In the darkness, soft sobs gradually began to rise.
She knew that since it was an arranged marriage, not a love match, she shouldn’t expect too much emotionally.
Before the marriage, she had always thought this way.
But over the past year of living together, she had gradually fallen deeper into the tenderness Lu Yanzhi showed her, and her feelings for him had grown stronger.
These past few days, she had even been thinking about finding an opportunity to go with Lu Yanzhi to register their marriage officially, so they wouldn’t have to sleep in separate rooms anymore and could do what normal couples do.
But now, all of that—the meticulous care and kindness—turned out to be nothing more than responsibility.
It was all her own wishful thinking, her own unrequited affection.
Lu Yanzhi simply didn’t like her.
About half an hour later, Lu Yanzhi returned.
He walked to Tan Qinyin’s door, raised his hand to knock, hesitated for a moment, then slowly lowered it.
After standing there for a while, he let out a very soft sigh, turned around, and went back to his own room.
…
Tan Qinyin barely slept all night.
She thought about many things.
Since Lu Yanzhi didn’t like her and still carried another woman in his heart, this marriage in name only had no meaning other than draining each other.
Separating.
It would be a relief for her.
Lu Yanzhi wouldn’t have to bear the responsibility of her anymore and could freely go find the person he called out for even in his dreams.
Separating would be simple for them.
Six months ago, Lu Yanzhi’s grandmother had already passed away. Besides, they had never officially registered their marriage. All they needed to do was explain things clearly to both families.
Tan Qinyin couldn’t help but laugh at herself bitterly.
At the end of that grand wedding, the outcome between her and Lu Yanzhi wasn’t even a divorce.
**
Lu Yanzhi left on a business trip early in the morning.
There was a sudden hiccup with the case in Haicheng, very last-minute.
He left a message for Tan Qinyin, reminding her not to stay up too late and to eat on time.
After reading the message, Tan Qinyin only replied with an “Mm.”
That day, she didn’t leave the house. She caught up on sleep in the morning and spent the afternoon focused on updating her new work, sitting in front of the computer until evening.
As a premature baby born seven months into pregnancy, Tan Qinyin had been frail since birth.
Before the age of ten, she spent almost half of each year in the hospital, unable to do many things other children could.
Her older brother, Tan Yan, often read to her. Over time, Tan Qinyin grew to love reading and developed an interest in writing.
Turning her hobby into a career, she was now a well-known online author of historical romance novels, with several of her works adapted for film and television.
Recently, she had created a pseudonym to try her hand at writing contemporary romance.
Stretching lazily, she saw it was almost ten o’clock. Tan Qinyin closed her laptop and got up to eat.
Auntie Chen had kept the food warm and had already left for the day.
She had just taken a few bites after setting the food on the table when her phone rang.
It was Lu Yanzhi.
Hesitating for a moment, she answered.
“Brother Yanzhi.”
Lu Yanzhi could tell she was eating.
“You’re only eating now?”
Tan Qinyin replied with an “Mm.”
A sigh came from the other end of the line, followed by a gentle reminder: “Yinyin, your stomach isn’t good. You should eat on time.”
Tan Qinyin lowered her gaze. “I’m eating now.”
After a pause, Lu Yanzhi didn’t press the topic further.
He asked, “Were you unhappy last night?”
Tan Qinyin put down her chopsticks, biting her lip without saying a word.
She had already calmed down, but hearing Lu Yanzhi’s voice made her heart ache again.
Lu Yanzhi spoke as if coaxing a child: “I’ll bring you a Lina Bell when I get back. Don’t be unhappy anymore, okay?”
He was always like this.
Tan Qinyin raised her head, swallowing with difficulty. “There’s no need.”
“Don’t like Lina Bell anymore?” Lu Yanzhi’s tone remained gentle. “Then what do you want?”
“Brother Yanzhi,” Tan Qinyin paused for two or three seconds before speaking softly, “you don’t need to be good to me anymore.”
The other end of the line fell into a brief silence, with only faint background noise audible.
Before Lu Yanzhi could respond, Tan Qinyin added, “Let’s… separate.”