After leaving Fu Shiyan’s house, Song Tingwan sat in the car and didn’t say another word the whole way.
She curled herself up in the seat and wrapped Song Hanzhou’s coat around her, leaving only the top half of her head exposed.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the scenery flashing past the window, her dejection plain to see.
Song Tingwan never expected that this would be how she saw Fu Shiyan again.
She thought back over what had happened on the day they broke up.
After replaying it in her mind, she decided she should have hit him first.
He’d toyed with her feelings, and all she’d done was yell at him. She’d let him off far too easily!
At the thought, Song Tingwan clenched her teeth in anger, then irritably burrowed her head into the coat too.
Song Hanzhou, who was driving beside her, hesitated for a long while before finally asking, “Older Sister, why did you go to his house?”
“I don’t know what happened. I opened my eyes and I was there.” Her muffled voice came from beneath the coat.
Song Hanzhou considered his words, then asked cautiously, “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“He’d better not!” Song Tingwan threw off the coat and snapped, “If he lays a finger on me, I’ll break his legs!”
Seeing how strongly his older sister resented Fu Shiyan, Song Hanzhou immediately relaxed and echoed, “Right! Break his legs!”
Song Hanzhou was the only one in the family who knew that, shortly before his older sister’s accident, she’d had a fight with Fu Shiyan and broken up with him.
When the police called the family and told them that his Older Sister and her car had been swept away by a mudslide, he hadn’t believed them.
Not until he saw the man his Older Sister had pursued for three years at the police station, and heard him numbly tell the police what had happened before the accident.
When Song Hanzhou learned that his Older Sister had driven off into the heavy rain after arguing with the man and breaking up with him, a thorn lodged in his heart.
From then on, he blamed that man for his Older Sister’s death.
And he still did.
Song Tingwan had no idea what had happened after she died.
Not wanting to keep talking about Fu Shiyan, she pulled the coat over her head again and said in a muffled voice, “I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me when we get home.”
Song Tingwan’s rebirth had happened so suddenly that the only clothes and personal belongings at home were the ones she’d used before she died.
Song Hanzhou thought it would be bad luck to use her old things, so he packed everything away in the storage room and took her out to buy new ones.
On the way to the mall, Song Tingwan asked him about their Grandpa and Grandma and her other two younger brothers.
Song Zhaoli and Song Zhaoyang were twins. They had just turned three when their parents died, and Song Tingwan and Song Hanzhou had raised them themselves.
When Song Tingwan had her accident, the twins had just turned nine and were still in elementary school.
Six years after her death, their Grandpa and Grandma had also passed away, one after the other, from illness.
Since then, the three brothers had relied on one another.
“Zhaoli… I sent him overseas to study.”
“Were his grades that bad? He couldn’t even get into a university here?” Song Tingwan frowned. She remembered that her two younger brothers had been smart since childhood. Surely they hadn’t been unable to get into college?
At the mention of his two younger brothers, Song Hanzhou looked troubled too.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and said helplessly, “Older Sister, I can’t control either of them.”
After taking over the company, Song Hanzhou had devoted almost all his time and energy to it, leaving him little time to discipline his two younger brothers.
As a result, the older they got, the more rebellious they became.
“What about Yangyang?”
Song Hanzhou pursed his lips, exasperated. “He went into show business. He’s away from home all year, and it’s harder to get a meeting with him than with the president. I think he’s overseas filming some variety show right now.”
Song Tingwan fell silent for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. I’ll deal with them when they come home.”
Before long, Older Sister and her younger brother reached their destination.
The largest shopping mall in Jing City’s most prosperous district, it housed nearly every famous luxury brand from home and abroad and was a favorite haunt of Older Sister and the young masters and young ladies of high society.
As soon as Song Hanzhou’s car pulled into the mall entrance, Bai Xiyuan’s manager spotted it and immediately called her.
Some kind of event seemed to be taking place inside the mall. A stage had been set up in the lobby, with a crowd of fans gathered around it. No matter how the staff tried to disperse them, they refused to leave.
Bai Xiyuan was resting in a nearby tent. When her manager called, she sounded a little impatient.
“Xixi, I just saw President Song’s car. Did you ask him to come?”
At that, Bai Xiyuan sat up straight and hurriedly looked outside.
She had indeed messaged Song Hanzhou to tell him she’d be working there that day.
But he hadn’t responded at all, even though he usually replied right away, so Bai Xiyuan had assumed he wasn’t coming.
Now that she’d heard her manager had seen him, Bai Xiyuan coyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and said in a haughty tone, “That’s right. I told him that if he wanted to see me, he could come during the break after the event. I’m going to be recording a show after that, so I won’t have time for him.”
Her manager let out an amused, knowing laugh over the phone, but still cautioned her, “Xixi, President Song is a powerful connection. As long as you keep him close, you can get any opportunities you want.”
“You should be sweet to him later and make him happy, understand?”
Remembering how Song Hanzhou had always acted around her, Bai Xiyuan didn’t take her manager’s advice seriously. “I’d be happy if he stopped trying to please me. Why should I have to please him?”
“Listen to Older Sister’s advice: men need a little sweetness now and then if you want the relationship to last.”
“Okay, okay, I know.” Bai Xiyuan didn’t want to hear her manager nagging anymore. After hanging up, she opened WeChat[1]A widely used Chinese messaging and social-media app, known in mainland China as Weixin. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735983_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735983_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and tapped on her conversation with Song Hanzhou.
She thought for a few seconds, then sent him several selfies.
【Zhouzhou, help me pick one, will you? I’m going to post it on Weibo[2]A major Chinese social-media platform for public posts, comments, reposts, and trending topics. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735983_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735983_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });~】
Meanwhile, Song Hanzhou was out shopping with Song Tingwan and had no time to pay attention to his phone.
Song Tingwan kept hearing it ring, though, and asked curiously, “Aren’t you going to check your messages? It might be something from the company.”
“I’ll take a look.” Song Hanzhou finally freed one hand to pull out his phone, only to find five or six selfies from Bai Xiyuan.
He skimmed through them and then sent back a perfunctory reply: 【They all look good. You can post them as a six-photo grid.】
When Bai Xiyuan saw his reply, she nearly laughed in disbelief.
Usually, Song Hanzhou would look through every photo carefully and help her pick the best one.
Why was he being so dismissive today?
She bit her lip, thinking again of the woman who’d been sitting in his car yesterday.
Was he with someone else, and that was why he was brushing her off?
Unwilling to let it go, Bai Xiyuan called him on video.
Song Hanzhou stared at the screen, unsure whether he should answer.
Seeing how conflicted he looked, Song Tingwan teased, “What, is there a time bomb in your phone that’ll explode the moment you answer?”
Song Hanzhou looked awkward and said guiltily, “Older Sister, keep picking things out. I’ll step outside to take this call.”
Song Tingwan wasn’t stupid. The only person who could make Song Hanzhou this guilty was the actress he’d spent five hundred million on.
Come to think of it, she was curious just how much Bai Xiyuan really resembled her.
Song Hanzhou left the store and answered Bai Xiyuan’s video call only after reaching a quiet corner.
“Why did you take so long to answer?” Bai Xiyuan stared straight at him through the screen, her voice full of hurt.
Leaning against the wall, Song Hanzhou softened his expression. “I was busy just now. I saw the photos you sent. Are you shooting somewhere today?”
A flash of discomfort crossed Bai Xiyuan’s face. She bit her lip and said accusingly, “Didn’t you read the message I sent you?”
“Huh?” Song Hanzhou froze for a second, then quickly left the video screen and scrolled up through their chat.
Sure enough, there was a message Bai Xiyuan had sent that morning.
But he’d been in a hurry to pick up Song Tingwan and hadn’t noticed it.
He returned to the video call and looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. I really have been busy today. I didn’t see your message.”
Bai Xiyuan lowered her eyes and said nothing, looking as though she were about to cry.
“I remember MG just released a few nice new pieces of jewelry. Go pick something out. If you see anything you like, buy it and send the bill to Assistant Ding.”
His voice was soothing as he continued, “Call it an apology for missing your message today, okay?”
Bai Xiyuan knew when to stop and didn’t keep sulking. “Fine. I’ll forgive you this time.”
Song Hanzhou smiled, his peach-blossom eyes full of tenderness. “I knew you were the most understanding.”
Only after he’d soothed Bai Xiyuan did Song Hanzhou return.
Song Tingwan had already picked out the clothes she liked and was sitting leisurely in the rest area. When she saw him, she teased, “Did you make your girlfriend feel better?”
“She’s not—she’s not my girlfriend.” Song Hanzhou denied it without even thinking.
Song Tingwan found his reaction odd, but didn’t say anything more.
Once the sales assistant had packed up all the clothes and brought them over, Song Tingwan lifted her chin toward him. “Pick these up. Let’s go. I want Japanese food.”
Seeing that his older sister wasn’t going to press him, Song Hanzhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly picked up the bags, and followed her.
Older Sister and her younger brother had just entered the restaurant when Bai Xiyuan, who had arrived a minute earlier, spotted them.
But Song Hanzhou blocked most of the view, so Bai Xiyuan couldn’t make out Song Tingwan’s face clearly.
Inside a semi-private booth, she clenched her fists, her gaze so vicious she looked ready to tear that woman apart.
When she saw Song Hanzhou step outside to take a call, Bai Xiyuan could no longer hold back. She stood up and angrily headed for the booth where Song Tingwan was sitting.
References[+]