The whisper was soft, brushing against his ear with a gentle breath.
Sang Yan’s expression froze slightly as if he hadn’t heard clearly. His eyelashes fluttered lightly. He looked directly at her, his prominent Adam’s apple moving slowly, his face unreadable. “Hm?”
Their eyes met.
Staring at Sang Yan’s expression, Wen Yifan finally felt a sense of participation. Although she couldn’t quite discern his reaction, it seemed much better than his attitude towards Duan Jiaxu. She didn’t repeat herself, sitting back contentedly.
But the next moment, Sang Yan grabbed her wrist and raised an eyebrow, saying, “Say it again.”
Hearing this, Sang Zhi in the front turned her head and asked, “What?”
Duan Jiaxu spared a glance in Sang Zhi’s direction.
Seeing that Sang Yan had no intention of responding to her, Sang Zhi’s eyes darted around, and she suddenly said to Duan Jiaxu, “Duan Jiaxu, my brother is talking to you.”
The implication was clear.
You, say it again, Brother.
“…” Duan Jiaxu looked at Sang Zhi again.
As if holding a grudge against Sang Yan’s earlier behavior, Sang Zhi was still trying her best to make things difficult for him, pinning her hopes on Duan Jiaxu. Finding it amusing, Duan Jiaxu obligingly compromised, “Brother, what’s the matter?”
The brief romantic atmosphere was instantly shattered.
Sang Yan’s brow twitched, and he stiffly looked up, momentarily feeling the urge to pull Wen Yifan out of the car and leave. He leaned back against the seat, his grip on Wen Yifan’s wrist tightening, “Nothing.”
His reaction this time wasn’t as big as before, which made Sang Zhi turn her head again.
Sang Yan’s voice was light, “Just thinking about how to murder without consequences.”
“…”
Duan Jiaxu parked the car in the supermarket parking lot.
Although they had been dating for quite a while, Sang Zhi still felt uncomfortable displaying affection with Duan Jiaxu in front of the other two. It always felt like being lovey-dovey with her partner in front of elders.
After entering the supermarket, she immediately pulled Duan Jiaxu to another area.
Wen Yifan pushed a shopping cart from the entrance, which Sang Yan pulled over. Thinking about the conversation in the car earlier, she didn’t know exactly what she was fussing about, but she couldn’t help but confront him, “I feel like you’re quite different in front of Duan Jiaxu—”
Sang Yan turned his head.
Wen Yifan’s face remained calm as she slowly picked up a product nearby, saying, “It’s quite different.”
“…”
“But it’s good too,” Wen Yifan put the product back, a faint smile curving her lips, her voice gentle, “Thanks to him, I can see different sides of you.”
Sang Yan rested his elbow on the shopping cart, his back slightly bent, looking at her, “How is it different?”
Wen Yifan couldn’t quite put it into words.
“Wen Shuangjiang, your behavior is also fresh. Being with me for such a long time, every time you get jealous,” Sang Yan stood still, his expression lazy, “it’s always because of some uncouth guy.”
“…”
“Deliberately picking on me?”
As these words fell, Wen Yifan reflected and realized it was indeed so. After all, in all this time, she hadn’t seen any female friends around him. She didn’t want to admit that her behavior was picking on him, and said seriously, “Then next time when Duan Jiaxu calls you ‘Brother’, can you accept it more naturally?”
Sang Yan: “?”
Wen Yifan added, “Otherwise, you two look like you’re flirting.”
“Do you know what flirting means?” Sang Yan leaned forward, raising his hand to press against her forehead, laughing, “Or are you complaining that I haven’t let you experience flirting?”
Wen Yifan looked up.
“That beast calling me that way is to disgust me. When you call me, that’s flirting.” Sang Yan rubbed her head forcefully, bringing the topic back, “What did you call me in the car just now?”
Wen Yifan was too embarrassed to repeat it, so she changed her words, “Little brother.”
“Oh.” Sang Yan accepted it, speaking slowly, “Does big sister like younger ones?”
“…”
Hearing him call her this way for the first time, Wen Yifan paused, feeling her face heat up for some reason. She lightly pursed her lips, walking forward on her own, not continuing this topic, pretending to be calm and composed.
Sang Yan followed behind her, his demeanor lazy and relaxed, calling out again, “Big sister.”
Wen Yifan turned back, “Don’t call me that.”
“Why?” Sang Yan raised an eyebrow, his voice carrying a hint of challenge, “Don’t I look young enough?”
“…”
On the other side.
Sang Zhi was wandering in the supermarket with Duan Jiaxu, grumbling, “My brother is so annoying, always threatening me with living expenses. It’s not that I care about the money, but he’s being so childish…”
Duan Jiaxu smiled, “I’ll give you his share in the future.”
Sang Zhi immediately looked at him, grasping the key point, “Why are you helping him give it?”
“…”
“Although I was quite happy to see you annoy my brother earlier.” Sang Zhi held back for a few seconds but still chose to burn the bridge after crossing, “But the more I think about it, the more I feel it’s not right. Don’t always tease my brother like that. Even I feel like you two are a couple.”
“…”
Finding it absurd, Duan Jiaxu laughed wordlessly, “What?”
Sang Zhi stared at his eyes which seemed to be constantly emitting electricity, muttering, “Anyway, be more careful in the future. I’m going back to school tomorrow, so I won’t be able to see the situation here. Otherwise, you should just meet my brother less.”
Duan Jiaxu turned his head to look at her.
“But I saw you talking to Brother Qian Fei the other day, and Brother Hao’an too.” Sang Zhi felt that every word and action of the man in front of her seemed to be bewitching people, and she unreasonably started to bring up old accounts, “It all seemed quite ambiguous.”
Duan Jiaxu’s appearance was refined and calm as he slowly said, “Don’t worry, brother only likes young ones.”
“…”
As he spoke, Duan Jiaxu curved his lips and pinched her face, his words carrying a faint reproach.
“Little white-eyed wolf.”
Sang Zhi pretended not to hear, pulling him to continue walking forward, while changing the topic, “My brother said we’re having hotpot tonight, so let’s go look at the vegetables. By the way, even if you work overtime later, remember to eat dinner. Don’t always eat takeout. If you don’t want to cook, you can come to my house to eat.”
Duan Jiaxu drawled out an “Ah”: “Wouldn’t I see your brother then?”
“…Well.” Sang Zhi turned back, feeling inexplicably guilty, “Then you just don’t talk to him…”
Passing through this row of shelves and going straight ahead, the two walked to the fresh produce area.
Sang Zhi immediately saw Sang Yan and Wen Yifan standing there. She held Duan Jiaxu’s hand and instinctively walked towards them. Just as they reached behind Sang Yan, a familiar voice suddenly called out to her from the other end.
“Sang Zhi.”
She turned towards the voice, instantly meeting the face of her junior high and high school classmate, Fu Zhengchu.
The other three also looked over.
Fu Zhengchu’s expression was bright as he smiled, “What a coincidence, we met again.”
Duan Jiaxu’s eyebrows raised slightly.
Noticing Duan Jiaxu behind Sang Zhi, and their clasped hands, Fu Zhengchu’s expression froze slightly, and he blurted out, “This isn’t your brother?”
When Sang Zhi had just started junior high, she had angered a teacher in class, so she secretly asked Duan Jiaxu to help her meet the teacher. Fu Zhengchu was also present at the time, and because of this, he always thought Duan Jiaxu was her real brother.
A few days ago, when Sang Zhi came back for the National Day holiday, it was Duan Jiaxu who picked her up at Nanwu Airport. The two happened to meet Fu Zhengchu, who was also at the airport to pick someone up.
That day, noticing the intimate gestures between the two, Fu Zhengchu found it extremely hard to accept, as if his worldview had been overturned. He later sent a WeChat message, tactfully advising her, trying to make her turn back from the wrong path.
Sang Zhi found it annoying and pointed at Sang Yan, “This is my real brother.”
Sang Yan stood with his hands in his pockets, his demeanor aloof.
“Oh, oh, hello, brother and sister. Sang Zhi, don’t take what I said before to heart, it was my misunderstanding.” Fu Zhengchu scratched his head and also explained, “Well, I’ll go first. I came out with my uncle to buy…”
Before he could finish, someone suddenly threw a few bags of chocolate milk into the shopping cart in front of him.
It made several plop sounds.
Following this action, everyone looked over.
The newcomer was a tall, thin man wearing a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His skin was pale to the point of being sickly, with bangs slightly covering his brows and eyes. The corners of his eyes were slightly upturned, sharp, and cold.
The man’s face bore no expression, his gaze sweeping over them, his eyes so indifferent it was as if he was looking at a pile of dead objects.
His features were extremely good-looking, yet entirely different from the aura of Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu.
Like an untouchable highland poppy.
Wen Yifan and Sang Zhi couldn’t help but look a few more times.
Fu Zhengchu stared at the items he had thrown in and casually asked, “Uncle, since when did you start drinking chocolate milk?”
The man didn’t respond, lifting his foot to walk to another area.
At this moment, Sang Yan lazily spoke up, “Fu Shize?”
Fu Shize stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and glanced indifferently in Sang Yan’s direction, still showing no intention of speaking. Beside him, Fu Zhengchu felt the awkward atmosphere and immediately tried to ease the tension, “Brother, you know my uncle?”
Sang Yan slightly raised his chin, not saying a word.
Seeing this, Fu Zhengchu looked at Fu Shize, using his eyes to signal him to say a few words.
Fu Shize looked Sang Yan up and down, his emotions unchanging. He nodded imperceptibly, coldly withdrew his gaze, and continued walking forward. It looked as if he looked down on this kind of attempt at familiarity.
“…”
This was the first time Wen Yifan had seen someone treat Sang Yan with such disdain.
She found it curious and continued to stare in Fu Shize’s direction.
Fu Zhengchu felt extremely awkward and forced out an explanation, “My uncle’s throat hasn’t been feeling well recently, brother, please don’t mind.” Then, he said goodbye to the others and immediately pushed the shopping cart to catch up with Fu Shize.
Sang Zhi pointed out this matter again, “Brother, it seems like he doesn’t know you.”
Sang Yan indifferently let out an “Ah.”
Wen Yifan’s gaze was still on Fu Shize’s back as she also asked, “Do you know him?”
“Mm.” Sang Yan looked at her, calmly explaining, “He was also at No.1 High School before, a year below us.”
Wen Yifan nodded, her gaze still not moving.
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.
After a while, Wen Yifan suddenly noticed something was off and turned to look at Sang Yan.
At the same time, Sang Yan spoke up, his face expressionless, “Good-looking?”
“…”
These words misunderstood her behavior.
Wen Yifan was about to explain.
Sang Yan’s eyes were pitch black as he gripped her chin, enunciating each word, “Why don’t you just let your eyes grow on his body?”
“…”
In the car on the way back.
As they chatted, the conversation inadvertently returned to what had happened earlier. Thinking about it, Sang Zhi felt something strange and couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, when my classmate mistook Duan Jiaxu for my brother, why didn’t you find it odd?”
“What’s odd about it?” Sang Yan said leisurely, “I used to think you treated him like a real brother too.”
“…”
Anyway, it had been several years since this incident, so Sang Zhi no longer hid it. Like a pig unafraid of boiling water, she confessed, “When I was in junior high, I asked Duan Jiaxu to pretend to be you to help me meet the teacher.”
Sang Yan looked up, “I know.”
Sang Zhi: “?”
“Your old boyfriend got my permission before he went. What, you didn’t know?” Sang Yan spoke as if watching a show, his tone quite provocative, “Oh, so you still thought it was a little secret between you two.”
“…” Sang Zhi’s face stiffened.
“Fine.” Sang Yan said readily, “Then pretend I didn’t just say that.”
Sang Zhi looked towards Duan Jiaxu, truly noticing that he was holding back laughter at this moment. Her mood became even more upset, “What are you laughing at?”
“I’m thinking about how forward you were back then. At such a young age, you were already threatening me, saying if I didn’t agree, you’d tell Auntie that your brother and I were—” Duan Jiaxu recalled, his brows and eyes relaxed, “Male-male mixed doubles?”
“…”
This remark reminded Sang Zhi of her embarrassing past. Feeling stifled, she didn’t want to talk to these two old fools anymore and turned to speak to Wen Yifan: “Sister Yifan.”
Wen Yifan, who was looking at her phone, looked up: “Hmm? What is it?”
Sang Yan interrupted their conversation: “Don’t you know to call her Sister-in-law?”
Sang Zhi couldn’t be bothered with him and, as if to oppose him, repeated: “Sister Yifan, don’t you think my classmate’s uncle is very handsome?”
This comment made the car fall silent for a moment.
Duan Jiaxu glanced at her.
Sang Yan also looked at Wen Yifan, his gaze seeming to tell her to be careful with her answer.
Sang Zhi deliberately added: “I feel like he could outshine all the men in this car.”
“Kid, your feeling is wrong. Comparing him to me is like a scam,” Sang Yan’s gaze remained on Wen Yifan, his fingertips lightly tapping on the back of her hand, his tone arrogant, “Outshining the driver’s seat, though, that’s more than enough.”
“…” Sang Zhi’s expression was hard to describe as she continued to wait for Wen Yifan’s answer.
Thinking that she had already annoyed Sang Yan a bit in the supermarket, but also acknowledging that Fu Shize was indeed quite handsome, Wen Yifan thought carefully, ignoring Sang Zhi’s “outshine” comment, and answered conventionally: “He is quite handsome.”
But this answer lowered Sang Yan’s mood, and he gripped her hand a bit tighter.
Just then, they hit a red light and the car stopped.
In the front, Sang Zhi suddenly withdrew her gaze and looked towards Duan Jiaxu, briefly asking “What?” before falling silent again. The two looked at each other without making much noise.
Wen Yifan didn’t have the energy to pay attention to the front at this moment, looking at Sang Yan’s stiff expression. She thought about how to appease him, sighed, and lowered her voice to suggest: “Forget it, little brother is a bit immature.”
“?”
“Let’s not have a sister-brother romance,” Wen Yifan smiled, changing her tone, “Okay? Brother.”
At this moment, in the front.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Duan Jiaxu turned his head, staring straight at Sang Zhi. His eyes were bright and clear, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.
Sang Zhi didn’t quite understand and moved her head closer: “What?”
Duan Jiaxu lowered his head, his lips against her ear, saying leisurely: “Brother plans to compete for some affection.”
Sang Zhi was confused: “Huh?”
After a few seconds of silence.
She heard the man’s voice get even lower, almost a whisper, as he flirted with her.
“I’ll show you something nice when we get back.”
…
They drove the car back to the Sang family home.
Wen Yifan was pulled by Sang Zhi to walk towards the main door first.
Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu walked to the trunk of the car to take out the bags they had just bought. With both hands full of bags, Sang Yan lifted his long leg to kick the trunk lid down: “Can you keep that kid in check?”
Duan Jiaxu smiled: “What’s wrong?”
“Tell her to be careful. When she wants to give you a hard time, she should focus on just that,” Sang Yan tilted his head, speaking directly, “Don’t drag my wife into it.”
“You should talk to her directly,” Duan Jiaxu said politely, “I don’t control her, usually she controls me.”
“…”
Sang Yan couldn’t stand his lovey-dovey behavior and clicked his tongue.
The two men walked into the building to wait for the elevator, chatting casually.
Wen Yifan and Sang Zhi had already gone up.
“Su Hao’an has called me several times recently about your wedding,” Duan Jiaxu chuckled softly, “Each time he asks when I’m getting married, saying he wants to do it before me.”
Sang Yan spoke lazily: “He’s got too much time on his hands.”
Duan Jiaxu’s eyes curved slightly, very respectfully asking for the opinion of the family member in question: “When do you think would be good?”
Sang Yan sneered: “What’s it got to do with me?”
Duan Jiaxu: “Can your sister get married in her sophomore year?”
The elevator just arrived at the first floor with a “ding”.
The scene froze.
Sang Yan stared at him steadily, suddenly turned his neck, and threw the bags on the ground. Then, he raised his hand to grip Duan Jiaxu’s neck, pressing down, feeling like this beast was refreshing his worldview every day.
“Impressive, dating has even changed your species.”
Due to this force, Duan Jiaxu’s body leaned forward, involuntarily coughing. He raised his head good-naturedly, his expression calm and composed as if he didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he said: “What do you mean?”
“Can you show me what you were like when you were human?” Sang Yan gave up, “I can’t remember at all.”
“Watch yourself,” Sang Yan released his hand and picked up the things on the ground again, “My family doesn’t take in beasts.”
“…”
3.
The night before Wen Yifan’s birthday.
Not knowing where Sang Yan had put the scissors, Wen Yifan searched in the living room for a long time. Suddenly, in one of the cabinets, she found several of Sang Yan’s old phones.
One of them was an old-style button phone.
The edges had been burned and deformed, looking completely unusable. She wondered why he was still keeping it.
This mark immediately reminded Wen Yifan of what Sang Yan had said when Qian Weihua interviewed him on the day this house was burned.
— “Apart from the house and furniture, only a phone was burned, but it was already unusable anyway.”
Looking at it this way, it seemed this was the one that was burned.
Wen Yifan stared at it for a while.
Just at this moment, there was the sound of the door opening and closing at the entrance. She turned her head and met Sang Yan’s eyes as he just come in. He was changing his shoes and asked, “What are you doing?”
Wen Yifan made a sound of realization: “Looking for scissors.”
Sang Yan: “I put them in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Wen Yifan put the phone back in its place and stood up to walk to the kitchen. Her thoughts were a bit scattered, still thinking about that phone. Seeing Sang Yan follow her in from the corner of her eye, she voluntarily admitted, “I just saw your old phone.”
Sang Yan casually responded: “Mm, what do you need the scissors for?”
Wen Yifan: “I want to open a face mask, can’t tear it open.”
Realizing he had diverted the topic, Wen Yifan brought it back: “Is there anything in that phone? Why are you still keeping it? It’s burned like that.”
Sang Yan was concise: “Our grades.”
This was equivalent to saying.
That phone contained their text messages from the second year of high school until after the college entrance exam.
Scattered conversations, occasional greetings, and the unwavering exchange of grades.
Thinking carefully, Wen Yifan could vaguely recall what they were saying to each other every day back then. Without any ambiguity, the conversations were normal and without other meanings, yet they seemed to carry an inherent sweetness.
…
Sang Yan: [It’s your birthday tomorrow, should I bring you a gift next time I come over?]
Wen Yifan: [When is your birthday?]
Sang Yan: [The day after New Year’s. Why?]
Wen Yifan: [Return gift.]
…
Sang Yan: [Did poorly on the test, comfort me a bit?]
Wen Yifan: [Can it wait? I did pretty well, I want to be happy for a while longer.]
…
Wen Yifan: [On my way home today, I saw a boy in the convenience store who looked quite like you. I thought you had come.]
Sang Yan: [Next Saturday, okay?]
Wen Yifan: [What?]
Sang Yan: [To show you the real deal.]
Wen Yifan’s reminiscence was interrupted by the sound of Sang Yan turning on the faucet. She came back to her senses and stared at his profile. Recalling how he pretended not to know her after their reunion, she asked, “Why did you pretend not to know me before?”
“It had been so long since we’d seen each other,” Sang Yan grabbed a paper towel to dry his hands, speaking casually, “I was afraid you’d ask to borrow money.”
“…”
Seeing her expression, Sang Yan’s look was not very serious. He laughed and habitually pinched her face: “What’s with that look? Can’t I save some face for myself?”
Wen Yifan said softly: “Then you could have just let Yu Zhuo talk to me.”
“I wanted to save some face for myself,” Sang Yan didn’t know if it was her thinking that was problematic or his logic, “It doesn’t mean I didn’t want to talk to you, understand?”
“…” Wen Yifan paused for a few seconds, inexplicably smiling, “So you pretended not to know me to talk to me.”
Sang Yan didn’t seem to mind her knowing these things, just looking at her smile and smiling along. He straightened up, intending to pick up the scissors nearby: “Didn’t you need the scissors?”
Before he could pick them up, Wen Yifan had already burrowed into his embrace, reaching out to hug him.
Sang Yan stopped his movement: “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Wen Yifan didn’t care if he could understand, speaking softly to herself, “Just hugging the real deal.”
The kitchen was bright and quiet.
Hearing this, Sang Yan’s expression froze slightly, and then, as if remembering something, the corners of his lips turned up. After a long while, he lowered his head to kiss her head, calling her: “Wen Shuangjiang.”
Wen Yifan looked up, meeting his eyes.
“Hmm?”
The man’s bangs fell on his forehead, casting delicate shadows on his face. His tall and broad figure embraced her, giving an extremely strong sense of security. He gently nuzzled her nose with his and said very naturally: “Let’s go get our marriage license tomorrow.”
“…”
This came out of nowhere.
It seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision after the mood was set, yet also like words spoken after deep consideration.
But regardless of which emotion it was.
It was telling her.
He had already decided on her for the rest of his life.
Wen Yifan inexplicably felt her eyes getting a bit wet. She blinked hard, half-jokingly: “Aren’t we going to pick an auspicious date?”
Sang Yan raised his hand, gently caressing the corner of her eye.
“Tomorrow is the auspicious date.”
“Tomorrow?” Wen Yifan thought for a moment, “I think tomorrow is my birthday.”
“Mm.”
In an instant, Wen Yifan understood the meaning behind his words.
The day you were born.
For me, it’s the most auspicious day of the year.