When Su Xianyan came out of his room, he happened to hear the girl’s clear voice downstairs. He paused slightly and looked toward the three people at the dining table.
Cha Yiguan widened his eyes and said indignantly, “Who is it that brings you delicious cake every single day? Xiao Mianmian, you’ve really broken my heart!”
The girl curled her lips into a sly smile. “Every single day? Don’t exaggerate.”
“You—you’re really keeping count with me now?!”
“I’m just telling the truth…”
“Fine!”
“Alright, fine—can’t I give you a little?” The girl pouted, as if it had taken a huge effort for her to part with even that much. Her expression only provoked Cha Yiguan further, and he wailed even more dramatically, accusing her of having no conscience. “You only ever save things for Xianyan! Am I really that much worse than him? Xiao Mianmian, your favoritism is way too obvious!”
“Do you really have to exaggerate like that? You make it sound like some once-in-a-lifetime delicacy.” Cheng Simian spoke as she ladled him a bowl. “Here—stuff your mouth.”
Cha Yiguan shot her a sideways glance. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around, and when he saw Su Xianyan, he immediately said, “You’re up—hurry over here. Come see just how biased this little heartless one is.”
There was a faint smile on Su Xianyan’s face. “What were you talking about just now?”
Cheng Qin clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Hangover soup. My niece got up early this morning to make it, but because of uneven distribution, certain people are unhappy.”
“What do you mean, ‘uneven distribution’?” Cha Yiguan said after gulping it down in one go. “It’s more like someone wasn’t even included in the distribution list at all. Xianyan, this was all meant for you in the first place.”
Cheng Simian coughed lightly and argued weakly, “I made some for my uncle too.”
“Oh? So I’m the only one left out, then.”
“……”
After straightening his tie, Su Xianyan patted Cha Yiguan on the shoulder. “The rest is yours. I’m heading out.”
Cheng Simian froze. “You’re not drinking it? Doesn’t your head hurt?”
Su Xianyan nodded. “There’s something urgent at the company. I have to leave right away.”
“Oh.” Cheng Simian sounded a little dejected.
Seeing her standing there with her head lowered, staring at the floor, Su Xianyan felt a pang of reluctance. But he still didn’t stop—he took his car keys and went out.
Cha Yiguan watched his retreating figure and muttered, “What kind of business could be that urgent?”
Cheng Qin shrugged. “That’s the burden of being the boss.”
Without saying a word, Cheng Simian pushed the hangover soup away and hurried toward the door.
“Hey, Xiao Mianmian, this stuff—”
“Enjoy it all,” she said without turning back.
Su Xianyan was just about to drive off when Cheng Simian dashed over to his car window.
She didn’t speak—she just stared fixedly at his wrist. Following her gaze, Su Xianyan looked down at the chain on his right wrist.
“This…”
“I gave that to you.” Cheng Simian looked up at him, her expression unusually serious. “It’s not expensive, but I spent a long time picking it out. You have to wear it.”
Su Xianyan fell silent for a moment. Hesitating slightly, he called her name. “Cheng Simian.”
“Just promise me, okay? This is the first time I’ve ever seriously given someone a gift. If you don’t wear it, then—then I’ll be heartbroken!”
Last night she had said that he was the best person she had ever met… Su Xianyan sighed softly to himself. How could he possibly be the best? It was only that the world she had lived in before was too cruel—so even a small bit of care made her remember it deeply. Childlike feelings; because she relied on him too much, she’d developed a mistaken impression.
“You don’t like it?” Cheng Simian asked uneasily when he didn’t speak for a long time.
Su Xianyan smiled faintly. “Thank you for the gift. I’ll keep it.”
“Not keep it—wear it.”
Su Xianyan reached out of the car window and patted her on the head. “Got it.”
Final exams were approaching.
Cheng Simian studied harder than ever. She thought that he would be happy to see her improving.
At school, she listened attentively in class. When she encountered formulas she couldn’t understand, she would ask Fu Ziwen. Fu Ziwen was often surprised by her comprehension—sometimes she would understand a problem after just a brief explanation. Once, they ran into a particularly difficult question that Fu Ziwen couldn’t solve, but Cheng Simian worked it out herself.
At home, whenever Cheng Simian ran into tough problems, she still went to Su Xianyan. He remained just as patient in explaining them, but she noticed that he seemed to spend less and less time at home. Many nights, when she was already getting ready for bed, he still hadn’t returned.
His company really must be very busy.
The three days of final exams finally ended. When Cheng Simian finished the last geography paper, she let out a huge sigh of relief, her steps noticeably lighter as she walked out of the school gates.
“Cheng Simian!”
She glanced at the person calling her. “Why are you here again?”
Lin Luan slung an arm around her shoulders in a buddy-like manner. “What do you mean, ‘again’? Last time you told me not to bother you during finals, and I really stayed away for ages. I knew you’d be done today, so I’m treating you to a meal.”
Cheng Simian pulled his arm away. “I need to go home.”
“It’s only four o’clock—why rush home? Aren’t you bored?”
Cheng Simian paused. Compared to her past life, her days now were bland, like stagnant water—but she actually enjoyed them.
“Not bored.”
“There’s no one at home to play with you anyway. Come on, come on—stop talking nonsense. I’ll take you to eat something good.”
“Hey—hey!” Lin Luan grabbed her hand and pulled her into the car. “I’ll send you straight back after dinner, okay?”
Unable to resist him, Cheng Simian was coaxed and dragged off by Lin Luan to eat.
They went to a Japanese sushi restaurant—one she used to love. She hadn’t thought much of it before, but now, looking at the menu, she found it ridiculously expensive.
After the meal, Lin Luan drove her home.
The car stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.
“Alright, you can head back in.”
“How could that be okay? It’s already getting dark—I have to walk you home.” Lin Luan got out of the car with her.
“It’s just a few steps.”
“Perfect, then. I’ll walk you to the door and leave.” Lin Luan felt secretly pleased—now he’d get to know exactly where Cheng Simian lived.
Cheng Simian sighed helplessly. “Seriously, Lin Luan, why are you so clingy?”
“Even though I treat you like one of my bros, you’re still a girl—and not bad-looking either. So I’ve got to make sure you’re absolutely safe.”
“…Thanks, I guess.”
The two of them walked toward the villa together.
“So this is where you live now.” Lin Luan looked over the house in front of them. “Mm, alright, I’m relieved.” He’d been worried she was living miserably—but judging by the place, it didn’t seem bad at all.
Cheng Simian said, “Alright, I’m home now. You should get going.”
“Got it. What, are you afraid I’ll loiter at your door and refuse to leave?”
Cheng Simian let out a soft laugh. “Isn’t that exactly what you’d do?”
“Tch…” Lin Luan rolled his eyes. “Fine then, next time I’ll go find you at school.”
He had just turned around when he suddenly froze. After recognizing the person a few meters away, he immediately put on a bright smile. “Uncle, long time no see!”
Hearing that, Cheng Simian looked over as well, her heart tightening for no clear reason.
White shirt, black trousers—his posture straight, his features refined and gentle. Under the streetlight, Su Xianyan seemed to be wrapped in a layer of silvery light, soft and beautiful to look at.
She hadn’t seen him come home this early in days.
Su Xianyan nodded slightly at Lin Luan as a greeting. As he passed by him, he didn’t say anything more.
Lin Luan scratched his head, belatedly realizing that Cheng Simian’s “uncle” didn’t seem to like him very much. That wasn’t good—he still wanted to come over and hang out with Cheng Simian in the future.
So he greeted him enthusiastically, “Uncle, you’re off work? Have you eaten yet?”
Su Xianyan paused, but didn’t explain that he wasn’t actually Cheng Simian’s uncle. “I have.”
Lin Luan blinked. “Oh. I was going to say, the sushi Cheng Simian and I had today was pretty good. If you hadn’t eaten, I could’ve asked the driver to pick some up.”
Su Xianyan glanced at him. “Thank you, but there’s no need.”
“Oh… okay.”
Cheng Simian coughed lightly and shot Lin Luan meaningful looks, urging him to leave. Lin Luan caught on. “Then… I’ll head off first?”
Cheng Simian nodded vigorously.
Once Lin Luan finally left, Cheng Simian let out a breath of relief and looked at Su Xianyan.
He walked past her, took out his keys, and opened the door. Cheng Simian tugged lightly at the hem of his clothes. “I just finished my exams today.”
“Mhm. How did they go?” Su Xianyan opened the door. His expression didn’t show any displeasure, but Cheng Simian still sensed that he wasn’t very happy. Last time, he had told her not to get too close to Lin Luan. And today, of all days, he had seen them together—would he think she was going astray again?
“I think… it was okay.”
“That’s good.”
“Um…” After thinking for a moment, Cheng Simian decided to explain anyway. “I ran into Lin Luan by chance at the school gate, and he insisted on dragging me out to eat.”
“Mhm.” Su Xianyan smiled faintly. “Since exams are over, it’s fine to relax a bit. If you want to use the computer, you can take out Cheng Qin’s laptop.”
Wait—weren’t we talking about Lin Luan? That topic shift was a bit fast…
Seeing that Su Xianyan was about to go upstairs, Cheng Simian hurriedly said, “I won’t turn bad.”
Su Xianyan stopped and looked at her.
“I mean Lin Luan,” Cheng Simian explained. “You told me before not to get too close to him, and I listened. He really is pretty noisy, and I—”
“Simian.” Su Xianyan suddenly interrupted her. His voice was calm and light. “By now, you understand things, don’t you? You know how to tell good friends from bad ones.”
Cheng Simian nodded.
Su Xianyan gently patted her head. “Just be friends with people you think are sincere. You don’t actually need my approval.”
“No.” Cheng Simian’s firm tone caught Su Xianyan off guard.
“You’re the one who said I have to listen to you. Are you going back on your word now?”
Su Xianyan paused slightly. The fair little face in front of him carried a girl’s unique clarity and stubbornness. She tilted her head up to look at him, a trace of loneliness surfacing in her eyes.
“Su Xianyan,” she said softly, “do you not want to take care of me anymore?”
In that instant, Su Xianyan suddenly felt an unfamiliar ache in his chest. She looked pitiful, like a lost kitten—so helpless that if he nodded, she might burst into tears. He hesitated, unable to bring himself to say anything cold.
These past days, he’d only been thinking that maybe he should distance himself from her, keep her from developing feelings she shouldn’t have.
But he had forgotten her unconditional trust in him.
How could he break his promise?
“I’m not abandoning you.”
Huh? Cheng Simian blinked, momentarily stunned.
But Su Xianyan didn’t continue the topic. Instead, he asked, “When will the results be out?”
“Probably in two or three days…”
“Mhm. Tell me when they are.”
“Of course!” Cheng Simian brightened immediately and asked, “So—you’ll still be supervising my studies?”
Her joy was so obvious that it made people smile without realizing it. Su Xianyan nodded. “Yes. And if your grades aren’t good, there’ll be punishment.”
“I’ll definitely do well!”
Su Xianyan smiled, turned around, and went upstairs.
Cheng Simian happily watched him enter his room before flopping onto the sofa. “Time to watch TV!”
Back in his room, Su Xianyan habitually turned on his computer. Thinking of the happiness on Cheng Simian’s face just now, an unconscious smile touched his eyes.
Just then, his phone rang.
He glanced at it—it was a call from home.
“Hello.”
“Brother, it’s me.”
Su Xianyan was slightly surprised. “You’re back.”
“Mhm. I just got home today. Brother, are you coming back?”
“I’m not.”
“Then… will you come back tomorrow?”
“If I have time.”
“Oh…” The voice on the other end sounded disappointed. Then another voice cut in. “Jianan, let me take it.”
“Brother, Grandpa wants to talk to you.”
“Mhm.” Su Xianyan switched hands as the old man took the phone.
“How long has it been since you came home? Your third uncle’s family is back—come back and have a look.” The voice was aged but firm. Su Xianyan typed on the keyboard with one hand. “Alright.”
“Don’t brush me off. Come back tomorrow at noon for lunch.”
Su Xianyan closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, the warmth he’d shown Cheng Simian earlier was completely gone—his gaze deep, sharp, unmistakably cold. He curled his lips into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Understood.”