“How does it taste?” Shen Yu asked, watching Wen Xi take a small bite.
Sensing Shen Yu’s enthusiastic gaze, Wen Xi originally wanted to say it was “not bad,” but what actually came out was, “It’s delicious.”
Wen Xi couldn’t help but despise herself inwardly.
Shen Yu was strange, too; the last time they had parted, she was clearly angry, yet now she acted as if nothing had ever happened.
“As long as it’s delicious.” Shen Yu had booked a private booth. She had taken off her hat and mask and wasn’t afraid of being recognized.
Under the lights, the exhaustion in Shen Yu’s eyes became a few degrees more apparent.
Wen Xi stole several glances at her, her gaze lingering a bit too long on the area beneath Shen Yu’s eyes.
She looked like she was getting very little rest.
They shared the meal in quiet companionship.
Wen Xi hadn’t lied; she had already eaten some food earlier with the crew’s staff, so for most of this meal, she simply watched Shen Yu eat.
When Shen Yu finally put down her chopsticks, before Wen Xi could say anything, a single sentence from Shen Yu made her blood run cold.
Having finished wiping her mouth, Shen Yu fixed her gaze on Wen Xi. “What happened to your right hand?”
The room suddenly fell deathly silent, so quiet that Wen Xi could hear her own heartbeat.
“What right hand?” Wen Xi swallowed hard. “There’s nothing wrong with my right hand.”
“You were gripping your chopsticks tightly while eating, you pulled your hand away very quickly when we shook hands, and even last time in the car, you were acting secretive,” Shen Yu’s gaze darkened. “Was it all just to keep me from discovering the injury on your right hand?”
Wen Xi’s right hand was resting on the table; hearing this, her fingertips curled slightly. “Did you invite me to dinner just to observe me?”
“That’s half the reason,” Shen Yu replied, her expression unchanged. “I also happened to be hungry.”
Wen Xi turned her face away, giving her the cold shoulder.
She put on an act of being angry, but internally she was panicking, her body stiff as a board. Her mind raced, searching for a way to brush this off.
If she had known… if she had only known, she would have tried using concealer.
Shen Yu let out a helpless sigh. “Why have you gone silent again?”
“There’s no need to hide the wound anymore; I’ve already seen it,” Shen Yu said softly. “Your hands are very fair, so a scar like that is very prominent.”
Was it really that obvious? Wen Xi stared intently at her right hand.
In truth, she had scars on the back of her hand from years ago, but they were small, and after years of applying scar-reduction gel, they were barely visible now.
But the one on her palm was indeed too large. Back then, a dagger about three centimeters wide had pierced her palm. She had undergone several subsequent surgeries, which only made the scar larger. Even after reconstruction, a faint pink trail remained.
She hadn’t originally cared about this scar, nor did she care if people saw it. If someone asked, she would simply say she’d been injured.
It was only now, hearing Shen Yu mention it, that she began to wonder if the scar looked hideous or ugly.
Wen Xi murmured, “If I don’t tell you, will you go back and investigate me?”
Shen Yu froze.
Wen Xi smiled. She openly spread her right hand for Shen Yu to see. “I was injured, and it left a scar. It’s no big deal.”
Despite her words, her right hand was trembling slightly.
She was truly afraid that Shen Yu would be repulsed by her scar.
Her skin was pale, she was thin, and her fingers were slender, but that scar was like a flaw on white jade, ruining much of its value.
They were sitting across from each other at a table that wasn’t very wide, allowing Shen Yu to see Wen Xi’s right hand clearly, just as she wished.
Shen Yu had felt something was off last time in the car. She hadn’t pulled Wen Xi’s right hand with much force, yet she hadn’t expected Wen Xi to react so strongly and keep hiding it.
Was it a stress response, or had she accidentally aggravated an old wound…?
Shen Yu’s eyes flickered. she reached out, wanting to touch the mark that seemed as though it could burn her. “How is the wound so large? Does it hurt?”
Shen Yu had only caught a glimpse of it before, but now she saw that the scar spanned nearly half the length of Wen Xi’s palm.
Wen Xi’s heart jolted, and her eyes instantly turned red.
Over the years, countless people had asked if it hurt, and she had always been able to say “no” without changing her expression.
The injury on her right hand had been with her for ten years. Because the initial treatment wasn’t timely enough, it still ached sometimes after long hours of work.
She used to be very afraid of pain, but now she was well-acquainted with it; it had been so long that she had grown numb to the sensation.
She felt her heart being gripped tightly, forming a sharp contrast to the pain in her hand.
Because this was a question, “Does it hurt?”, that was ten years overdue.
Actually, asking if it hurt was meaningless. People are like that; they already have the answer in their hearts, yet they feel compelled to ask anyway.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Wen Xi choked out. “It… doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“When did this happen? It’s so severe…” Shen Yu frowned. She had already stood up, looking at Wen Xi with deep concern.
Wen Xi shook her head, cutting her off. “It happened in the last few years. I accidentally hurt myself.”
“When I get back from the film set, I’ll take you to the hospital,” Shen Yu said softly.
Wen Xi had guessed she would say that.
Unfortunately, over the years, Yu Qiao had taken her to hospitals both large and small. The doctors’ advice was always the same: she had missed the optimal window for treatment, and all she could do was nurse it slowly. She was already satisfied that it had recovered to this extent.
Aside from being unable to lift heavy objects or work with her right hand for extended periods, it was no different from a normal hand.
“There’s no need.” Wen Xi withdrew her hand, holding back her tears. “It’s already mostly healed.”
“Besides, we don’t have much of a relationship. Why would you take me to the hospital?” Wen Xi stood up and walked toward the door. Just before leaving, she turned and added, “The ‘business partner’ excuse won’t hold up.”
Shen Yu watched Wen Xi leave, then sank powerlessly back into her chair. She lowered her head, burying her face in her hands.
She was deeply submerged in a state of despondency.
After a long while, Shen Yu finally looked up. She answered a call from Ke Han, and without even listening to what Ke Han was saying, she simply said, “I’m coming back now,” and hung up.
Shen Yu let out a self-deprecating laugh and dialed a number.
“Help me check someone.”
“Check… the chairman of Wanheng Technology, Yu Qiao.”
Between them, Yu Qiao was a major variable.
Since Wen Xi wouldn’t let her investigate her, Shen Yu would investigate Yu Qiao.
A dark glint flashed in Shen Yu’s eyes.
With a wound that large, who would believe it was just an accident?
After Wen Xi walked out of the private booth, her pace was so fast it was practically a flight.
She hailed a taxi back to the hotel, and once inside her room, she even locked the door.
Her suitcase was still standing by the bed. She opened it with a sense of urgency and fished out a medicine bottle from a hidden compartment.
It was a sedative intended to suppress Wen Xi’s loss of emotional control.
The side effects were actually quite significant. Her emotions had stabilized a lot over the last two years, and she had been gradually reducing the dosage.
It was just that her hand was shaking too violently today.
She swallowed a pill with some water and leaned against the bedside, waiting for the medicine to take effect.
It had been a very, very long time since she had experienced this feeling of losing control.
It wasn’t long before Wen Xi fell into a deep sleep, but this time, her dreams were a chaotic mess.
Wen Xi had attended a key high school. Her grades were above average, though not top-tier.
Shen Yu was different. She had good grades, a good family background, and was a prominent figure at school.
So, on the day Wen Xi heard Shen Yu’s name at the art institute, she had been startled.
She was usually too busy; after school, besides doing homework, she had to use her old tablet to take drawing commissions. That tablet was second-hand, a generic brand and inexpensive, she had gritted her teeth just to afford it.
Consequently, she hadn’t paid attention to what Shen Yu looked like, but the name was very familiar.
In those days, more than half of the students in a decent class were “connected” through family ties, so there were many small cliques.
By her freshman year, Wen Xi knew that she and many others lived in different worlds, so she rarely interacted with the wealthy kids in her class.
However, she had a good personality and a sweet appearance, so she got along well with others and was… very well-liked by the head teacher.
Because of this, many people also disliked Wen Xi.
The summer she was looked after by Shen Yu was during her freshman year.
Afterward, the bullying from her classmates stopped, but she never saw Shen Yu again.
When school started, she was a sophomore. She couldn’t help but ask her desk-mate at the time, “Which class is Shen Yu in?”
Back then, the classes were reorganized after every exam, though the group of “connected” students and the high achievers in Wen Xi’s class never changed.
Thus, she wasn’t sure which class Shen Yu was in.
Her desk-mate looked at her curiously. “Why are you suddenly asking about Shen Yu? I thought you didn’t care about that kind of thing.”
Wen Xi opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by someone walking past.
The newcomer was also a girl. She leaned over Wen Xi’s desk, and Wen Xi could smell her strong perfume. “Why else? Surely it couldn’t be that our ‘noble’ Wen Xi wants to try and climb the social ladder with Shen Yu, could it?”
She spoke loudly, loud enough for most of the class to hear.
Wen Xi knew she was doing it on purpose and remained silent.
Several people in the class burst into laughter. “God, I thought Wen Xi hated the rich. I didn’t expect her to change her tune so fast. I guess she realized having money is better after all!”
“Doesn’t she have any self-awareness? Who is Shen Yu, and who is Wen Xi? Does she really think she can social-climb? She’d be lucky just to see her face.”
“Is she trying to be funny?”
It was also on that day that Wen Xi realized clearly how vast the gap was between her and Shen Yu.
No wonder after Shen Yu stepped in, the people at the art studio never harassed her privately again.
Her desk-mate was furious but didn’t dare speak up. Wen Xi reached under the desk and patted her hand, signaling her not to be angry.
Wen Xi didn’t know if this counted as cowardice, but she knew that at this moment, getting angry or arguing would only provide them with more to laugh at.
Later, however, her desk-mate whispered to her, “Shen Yu’s class is on the floor above ours in the teaching building. But she doesn’t like leaving her classroom much. You can go see her when she has PE class.”
Wen Xi asked, puzzled, “How would I know when she has PE?”
The desk-mate looked mysterious. “Don’t worry, I know everything!”
“Oh,” the desk-mate added shyly, “I just think she’s pretty. You know I’m a sucker for a pretty face!”
Wen Xi nodded. Shen Yu was indeed very beautiful. Her beauty didn’t require fancy styling; even in ordinary clothes, she stood out.
“You’re very pretty too! You’re both beautiful!” Her desk-mate leaned in with stars in her eyes. “I feel happy just sitting with you every day. It gives me the motivation to come to school!”
Wen Xi laughed and pushed her desk-mate back a little.
Ever since she got Shen Yu’s class schedule from her desk-mate, Wen Xi started waiting for Shen Yu at the stairwell.
The bathrooms on each floor of the teaching building were next to the stairs. Wen Xi used the excuse of going to the bathroom to secretly wait for Shen Yu to appear.
Many others had the same idea; a crowd of people would huddle there, each with their own hidden motives.
Perhaps heaven rewards the diligent, or perhaps it was just good luck, but that day, Wen Xi actually managed to catch sight of Shen Yu.
Dressed in her school uniform with a simple high ponytail, she still stood out from the crowd.
From a distance, Shen Yu’s gaze inadvertently met Wen Xi’s. Shen Yu’s expressionless face began to brighten with color, and she smiled and nodded at Wen Xi.
The people near Wen Xi instantly started screaming. “Was she looking at me?! I have to go home and tell my parents!”
“I met her at a banquet last time! She was definitely looking at me!”
“Ahhh, she’s so beautiful! I heard she’s studying art, will she be a big star in the future?”
In the middle of the crowd, Wen Xi’s heart was racing.
Only one thought remained in her mind: Could she have been looking at me?
However, she got the answer to that question after school that same day.
In her wildest dreams, she never expected that Shen Yu would be waiting for her at the bottom of the teaching building.