Chu Li didn’t expect him to actually ask.
At first she was startled that Shen Jichu, on the strength of one red mole alone, seemed utterly convinced that the dream that night had been real.
Then she second-guessed whether she should just flatly deny it.
【Li Li: Sleeping with my boyfriend’s brother in a dream, sure, no big deal. But him asking me for a real title in real life, isn’t that moving a little fast for how little we actually know each other, waaah.】
【It’s fine, Li Li, you can deny it for now.
Maybe he’ll turn that love to hate and slide right back into the original restricted storyline, forcing his way back into taking what he wants from you.】
Chu Li said nothing.
She pressed her lips together lightly, hesitating over what to say.
Fortunately, the next second, the door was pushed open. “Bro, I’m back.”
She let out a breath of relief. Beside her, Shen Jichu’s expression darkened slightly. Naturally, he wasn’t pleased to be interrupted at such a crucial moment.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
Shen Zhe being alone in a room with her was, after all, perfectly legitimate.
“Bro, Dr. Lin says my scan came back with nothing abnormal. A few more days of rest and I should be fine.”
Shen Zhe rolled in on his wheelchair, its wheels squeaking clearly. Someone had been pushing him, not Dr. Lin, but another familiar face.
“By the way, Pei Mo came to visit too.”
Beside him was Pei Mo, freshly off his part-time shift at the hospital, back to sporting his dyed hair tips and silver ear studs.
His eyes crinkled into a smile. “Brother Jichu. Sister Li Li.”
“You don’t mind me mooching a meal, do you?”
Shen Zhe glanced around. “Bro, you actually started eating without me the second I left? Stabbing me in the back like that.”
“That’s pretty low.”
【Your brother’s stabbed you in the back with a lot more than just dinner.】
Sitting slack and boneless in his wheelchair, Shen Zhe’s spoiled-young-master temper rose up all the same.
He waited a moment, only to realize no one had come over to comfort him, the wounded patient.
Shen Jichu kept his face cold, continuing his meal without interruption.
Chu Li, as always, was thoroughly absorbed in her food and didn’t so much as glance his way.
Meanwhile Pei Mo, who’d been all sympathy and concern the moment he’d heard about the leg injury, beat everyone else to it, pulling out the chair and sitting down right next to Chu Li.
“Cousin, Sister Li Li looked hungry.”
“It’s only natural she’d start eating already. Can’t expect her to wait around for you forever.”
Shen Zhe, the actual boyfriend, found himself squeezed out entirely, the only remaining seat at the table was diagonally across, at the far end.
He glanced around the table.
Ever since he’d woken up, that sense of wrongness had only kept spreading. Something felt off, somehow.
But wasn’t everything fine?
At the table sat his older brother, his cousin, his girlfriend, wasn’t this exactly the warm, harmonious scene he’d always wanted to see?
【Hahahaha you really should want to see this.】
【The seating arrangement actually makes perfect sense. Big brother, the oldest and most composed, sits across the table presiding over the whole scene. Pei Mo sits next to Li Li like a scheming green-tea lover. Jiang Qinian’s over at her apartment right now, playing the shadowy kept man on the side.】
【The original male lead had a childhood-sweetheart advantage and squandered every card in his hand. He’s lucky to even get a seat at this table, he might just get kicked out entirely before long.】
No one paid Shen Zhe any attention.
In the end, he simply wheeled himself over and sat down to eat.
Pei Mo acted even more like the host than he did.
Sitting beside Chu Li, he played the part of the person who knew her best at the table, introducing her to the dishes.
“Sister Li Li, do you like this dish too?”
“What a coincidence, I like it too.”
“That anchovy tart is better dipped in a bit of apple sauce, want to try it?”
Chu Li hesitated. “Wouldn’t that taste strange together?”
Pei Mo turned toward her, smiling as if no one else were in the room. He dipped a bit and held it out to her. “Trust me, it’ll be good.”
“The first day we met, I noticed you like sweet-and-sour flavors.”
The anchovy tart hadn’t even made it to her plate yet.
Across from them, Shen Jichu coldly raised his eyes and cut them off. He grabbed Pei Mo’s wrist and pulled it back sharply. “Use the serving chopsticks.”
“Is this how the Pei family raised you?”
“No manners at all with a guest?”
Pei Mo felt a sting in his wrist and hissed softly, reflexively pulling his hand back.
He could feel Shen Jichu’s gaze, sharp as a blade, sliding coldly over him, sizing him up.
The man was older, and sharp.
Had he noticed something?
Had he noticed what Pei Mo was really up to, trying to steal Shen Zhe’s girlfriend right out from under him?
A flicker of guilt rose in Pei Mo. The Shen family’s foundations ran deep, and none of it could be separated from Shen Jichu’s iron grip. Cuckolding his precious little cousin right in front of him really was a little provocative.
He composed his expression and sat back, regret plain on his face.
【It’s not really provocation though, is it, he’s cuckolding his own brother too, what’s one more person added to the mix~】
Chu Li had been keeping her presence as small as possible this whole time.
Head lowered, she saw Pei Mo settle back into a normal posture and let out a quiet breath of relief.
But before she could feel too pleased about it, Shen Jichu reached over and set the apple sauce Pei Mo had just mentioned in front of her.
“Try it.”
His tone was cool and detached.
As if it were simply a matter of business, the polite duty of a host.
The one who’d asked her, in that hoarse voice, whether that night had been her, that clearly hadn’t been him at all.
Chu Li’s chopsticks paused mid-air.
Shen Zhe, sitting diagonally across, seemed oblivious to the strangeness in the air. He arched an eyebrow and called out to her from a distance. “You’ve spent this much time alone with my brother and you’re still scared of him?”
“Is he really that terrifying?”
“He’s not going to eat you. Look, he even got you apple sauce.”
Shen Zhe figured he was helping lighten the mood.
His brother might not like Chu Li much, but the fact that he was actively handing her things must mean the time they’d just spent together had chipped away at some of that prejudice, adding a bit of approval in its place.
Of course he couldn’t see that the comment text had all turned green.
【Original male lead, you’re different from everyone else here, you really don’t need to worry about any of this.】
【Just keep doing your oblivious thing.】
Shen Jichu said nothing further, still gazing at him coldly. “Talk less while eating. Is there not enough food here for you?”
Shen Zhe didn’t mind, used to his brother’s stern tone by now, and hummed lazily in response.
Beside him, though, Pei Mo propped his chin on one hand, studying the scene with narrowed eyes. His gaze drifted to Chu Li, thoughtful.
Surely it couldn’t be what he was thinking.
Chu Li bit into her sweet-and-sour anchovy tart, cut through the flaky pastry with her fork, and sipped some warm mushroom soup.
She marveled, on one hand, at how extravagant rich people’s lives were, and on the other, thought these people, blessed with such fortune, were still wasting it.
Shen Jichu ate little, his gaze occasionally sweeping over her, indistinct.
Shen Zhe seemed a little picky too, having lost his appetite after the injury. He tried a couple of times to turn and chat with her.
Only to find his seat had been pushed all the way to the edge.
“Chu Li…”
Before he could say more, Pei Mo smiled and leaned over, forking some cold-mixed fishwort onto his plate.
“Cousin, you’re hurt, eat more.”
Shen Zhe had never liked this dish, not since childhood.
He had no idea where this dish had suddenly come from on the table. The strange taste flooded his mouth the instant he bit into it, and he spat it out immediately, twice.
“Xiao Mo, are you doing this on purpose?”
He could hardly believe it.
Hearing this, Pei Mo looked apologetic, blinking his innocent puppy eyes. “Sorry, a friend told me this is good for healing, so I had the butler add it to the menu.”
The highly-paid professional chef, upon hearing the request, had been equally incredulous.
But he figured rich people must have their own strange logic about healing. And so this dish, wildly out of place with the rest of the meal, had made it to the table regardless.
Shen Zhe: “…”
He couldn’t lose his temper, Pei Mo sounded like he was doing this for his own good.
He could only tip his head back and down a few mouthfuls of clear liquor to wash away the strange taste.
【Cold-mixed fishwort, hahaha, even my dog wouldn’t eat that. And Pei Mo just fed him a huge bite of it, that’s genuinely vicious.】
Chu Li knew the full story behind it, and watching this unfold, she couldn’t help laughing.
She couldn’t help it.
Seeing Shen Zhe’s bad luck naturally made her happy too, it was only normal that her composure slipped for a moment.
Her laugh was quiet.
But everyone at the table had secretly been keeping an eye on her, and their gazes landed on her immediately.
Seeing her laugh at Shen Zhe’s misfortune, both Shen Jichu and Pei Mo quietly curved their lips.
Both thinking the same thing.
Maybe she didn’t like him that much after all.
Sitting diagonally across, Shen Zhe lazily lifted his eyelids and caught sight of her laughing too.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Chu Li smile. He remembered, back in their younger years, how she used to follow him around like a little shadow, smiling up at him countless times.
Those smiles had always felt like they were viewed through a veil, sometimes vague, not quite real.
But this smile of hers now.
Felt genuine.
Shen Zhe’s expression turned faintly dazed. He frowned slightly and pressed a hand to his chest, feeling an odd tingling sensation.
Could it be a side effect of the fishwort?
A strange feeling.
Chu Li noticed she’d laughed a little too loudly, drawing everyone’s eyes.
She shouldn’t be so cruel to her sponsor.
She’d better fake it a little, at least.
She coughed lightly and finally offered the first concerned words she’d said all day about his condition.
“Did the scanner shock your chest? Why are you holding it like that?”
“Are you alright?” she asked, with concern.
Shen Zhe’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
The doctor, still nearby, quickly launched into an earnest defense of his equipment’s safety. “Mr. Shen, the machines are perfectly safe, and we only scanned the young master’s head.”
“There’s no risk of electric shock.”
Shen Jichu hummed, with little patience for his troublesome younger brother. “You probably hit your head during the race. Rest for a few more days.”
He set down his chopsticks, having lost his appetite.
His lowered, indifferent eyes occasionally revealed a deeper meaning hidden underneath.
He tried, across the long table, to catch another glimpse of her knee, to look, through that white skirt, for that tiny red mole.
Chu Li didn’t notice his gaze.
As if she’d already forgotten the question he’d asked her when they’d been alone.
If he wouldn’t ask, she wouldn’t say.
And if he insisted on asking, she’d simply act surprised.
Meanwhile, Pei Mo, still at the table, kept glancing back and forth between them, deep in thought.
As if he’d noticed some detail, but wasn’t quite sure yet.
The meal ended, with everyone caught up in their own private thoughts.
Shen Zhe, undeterred by mortality, ignored the doctor’s orders and drank several glasses of champagne, looking rather pleased with himself.
Pei Mo smiled. “Why so happy? Did Miss Xia and her friends give you another round of investment today?”
He really knew exactly where to poke.
Shen Zhe glanced at him, then immediately checked Chu Li’s expression.
She still didn’t look upset, blinking curiously, waiting to hear more.
A little uneasy, he coughed and gave a vague answer. “Something like that. They just have a good eye for investments.”
On the surface, Chu Li kept smiling.
Inside, she was cursing him, his leg was already broken and he still wanted to keep two boats afloat [1]keeping two boats afloat (jiǎo tà liǎng zhī chuán, 腳踏兩隻船) – Idiom, having a foot in each of two boats at once: juggling two romantic partners at the same time, risking a fall the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3115106_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3115106_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, not worried in the least about breaking the other leg too.
In front of everyone else, she gently pushed Shen Zhe away, her tone still soft. “Go drink some hangover soup.”
“The butler’s arranged a room for me.”
“I’ll head off now. I’ll come see you again tomorrow morning.”
Shen Zhe’s expression paused. “You’re not staying in the same room as me?”
【Original male lead, you’re injured, could you even take care of our Li Li properly right now? If not, just stay quietly on standby, it’s better for everyone.】
【No-prize guessing game: how many people will come knocking on Li Li’s door tonight?】
References[+]