Shi Sui suspected that Yan Tingli had never said the three words “I’m sorry” to anyone in his entire life.

Otherwise, how could asking him to apologize be harder than climbing to heaven?

After she finished saying those words.

For a long while, Yan Tingli just stared at her, his lips opening slightly in an unclear manner.

Then closing again.

Repeating this several times.

In the end, he still couldn’t utter a single word.

So difficult, as if someone had a knife pressed to his throat.

He wouldn’t speak, but Shi Sui had the patience to wait.

After all, they’d made it through so many years already—she wasn’t in a hurry for these few minutes.

Finally, Yan Tingli spoke.

Though his momentum wasn’t as strong, the content was still infuriating: “If I apologize, can I not talk to them?”

“…?” Shi Sui stood firm, “Of course not, these are two separate matters.”

“I told you, they’ll be annoying.” Yan Tingli reluctantly buried his head in her shoulder from behind, suppressing his irritated tone, “They’ll try to persuade you to leave me again.”

He hated everyone around her who made her want to leave him.

Shi Sui didn’t engage: “Is there such a good thing as not wanting to acknowledge what you’ve done?”

“I’ve already kept it from my parents.” Her tone was light as she said, “Otherwise, if they knew about what happened before, they definitely wouldn’t agree—”

Yan Tingli suddenly bit her ear.

His aura also dropped to a very low pressure, forbidding her to continue.

The more stubborn he became, the more Shi Sui wanted to force him to face it.

She turned the chair around to face him: “Forget about everything else, first apologize to me.”

This time, several seconds passed.

Yan Tingli finally squeezed out a mumbled sentence from his throat.

Some incomprehensible muttering.

“Done,” he said.

Shi Sui was almost laughing from anger: “I can’t hear you, speak louder and say it clearly!”

Yan Tingli confronted her for a few seconds, then suddenly turned around without a word and flopped onto the bed.

Then his whole person buried himself dejectedly under the blanket.

Only leaving half his head facing her, like a mushroom playing dead.

Shi Sui was dumbfounded.

Simply unbelievable that Yan Tingli could do something so childish.

She took two steps forward and raised her delicate white foot to kick him.

“You’re asked to apologize, and you can’t even say it out loud?”

“……”

Shi Sui directly straddled and sat on him.

Her hand reached into the blanket to pinch his waist: “If you don’t apologize properly, I’ll go back and tell my parents you’re a fraud, that you used to constantly force and bully me. Let’s see how you marry me then—”

Yan Tingli finally became unbearably annoyed.

He suddenly flipped over, switching their positions.

Shi Sui was pressed underneath.

Blinking her eyes, in the dim space under the blanket, she met his angry eyes.

He said through gritted teeth: “Shi Sui, don’t go too far.”

Shi Sui: “…?”

Going too far? Who was bullying whom exactly?

Shi Sui had originally been only a little angry, but now became very angry.

She reached out to grab his neck and shake him: “Yan Tingli, apologize to me right now!!!”

Their eyes met, both with stubborn gazes.

The more Shi Sui thought about it, the angrier she became, even feeling her nose sting.

She didn’t understand why it was so difficult to get Yan Tingli to soften up, say something nice, and coax her a little.

Thinking this way, tears were provoked by her anger, crystal droplets falling.

Rolling along Yan Tingli’s jaw down to his neck, his long eyelashes moved slightly.

Shi Sui’s vision blurred as she spoke incoherently: “I was always the one apologizing before, even when I wasn’t wrong I had to apologize. You just knew how to go crazy and do those hateful, bad things.”

“I couldn’t break up even if I wanted to, couldn’t run away even if I tried!

“After finally struggling to get to where we are now, you said you wanted me to teach you how to love me, but now, even getting you to apologize is this difficult?”

“I want you to apologize right now! Coax me!”

Shi Sui was no longer afraid of him now, instead, she was even angrier at him.

Stubborn, twisted, sharp-tongued, and always good at putting on acts.

As Shi Sui thought this, she frantically bit him, also learning from his actions to bump his chin with her head.

Tears flowed continuously onto Yan Tingli’s neck.

He finally became quiet, his body movements taking on a somewhat lost quality.

His knuckles slowly moved upward, finally gently cupping the back of her head.

Stiffly, he said: “Stop crying.”

Shi Sui ignored him completely, continuing to bump his chin with her head.

Yan Tingli was silent for a while.

Suddenly, he pulled the blanket tighter, not letting even a sliver of light through.

The entire space became small and dark.

Shi Sui didn’t know what sneaky trick he was up to, and was about to raise her head.

Her head was suddenly pressed down tightly.

At the same time, Yan Tingli said very softly in her ear: “I’m sorry, Sui Sui.”

Shi Sui’s pupils moved.

“I used to,” Yan Tingli spoke very slowly, “do many bad things.”

Word by word, as if squeezed from his throat with difficulty.

After each sentence.

He would pause for quite a while.

But Shi Sui was willing to give Yan Tingli time to consider his words, rubbing the top of her head against his chin to signal him to continue.

“Always venting bad emotions on you.”

“Always not respecting your wishes.”

“Always making you,” he paused before saying, “afraid.”

“I’m sorry.” Yan Tingli’s kiss fell on her ear, the touch like a puppy’s warm licking.

The last sentence was very light, so light that Shi Sui almost thought it was an illusion: “Don’t be angry with me anymore, okay?”

—He was learning to coax her.

The moment she realized this, it was like feathers tickling Shi Sui’s heart, making her spine shiver with an electric tremor.

The raging fire that had just been burning in Shi Sui’s chest also went “whoosh” and completely died down.

She wasn’t angry anymore, long ago.

She was almost melting.

“I promise you. I’m not angry anymore.”

“You should have said this earlier?” She sniffled and puffed her cheeks. “Why did you have to make me angry first?”

In the warm winter blanket, they fell into silent tranquility.

Like a small space that belonged only to the two of them.

Yan Tingli suddenly said, “If I had been like this from the beginning.”

He paused, then asked: “Would you still not want me?”

Shi Sui’s expression also became somewhat blank.

After thinking for a long time, she couldn’t answer.

Cause and effect in this world always have their predetermined course.

They could walk to today entirely because of Yan Tingli’s obsession and persistence.

And she was a coward.

If from the beginning, Yan Tingli had been as cool and gentle as his appearance suggested.

They wouldn’t even have had a beginning that drunken night.

But Shi Sui didn’t say these words.

At this moment, she preferred to coax him, give him all the security, so Shi Sui said: “There are no what-ifs, I only like you as you are now.”

Yan Tingli suddenly flipped over again.

Burying his face in the pillow.

Though she couldn’t see, Shi Sui still heard the slight tremor from his chest caused by laughter.

Such an easy-to-coax little dog.

Her lips secretly curved up, considerately not calling him out.

Lin Anran’s wedding was in mid-January.

Shi Sui and the other two as bridesmaids planned to leave two days early for Yu City to help decorate the bridal chamber and perfect various wedding details.

Shi Sui knew Yan Tingli was busy, so she suggested he come only on the wedding day.

But Yan Tingli ignored this, stubbornly carving out two days from his packed schedule to come along.

Looking at the complaining messages from Gao Linhan, Shi Sui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She turned off her phone and looked at the person beside her, who was resting with closed eyes: “After we arrive, I need to help out, so I might not have time to look after you.”

“I want to participate too.”

Shi Sui was puzzled: “Participate in what?”

“Watching how other people get married.”

Yan Tingli was rarely this serious.

It took Shi Sui quite a while to realize that he was responding to her casual coaxing phrase from that day about “learning from other people’s wedding ideas.”

Oh no.

She’d almost forgotten about that.

Shi Sui felt somewhat guilty, and the moment Yan Tingli opened his eyes to look at her, she quickly smoothed things over: “Mm, we should indeed learn carefully.”

“Right.”

“……”

Landing in Yu City, given the last “hotel incident,” Shi Sui tactfully declined Lin Anran’s offer to book hotels for them, letting Yan Tingli book his own.

After all, the places he was willing to stay cost high four figures per night, and Shi Sui couldn’t bear to have others pay for Yan Tingli’s princess syndrome.

It was already afternoon when they reached the hotel. Shi Sui enthusiastically went to the hotpot restaurant for the long-awaited four-person sisterly gathering.

She was happily arranging her hair when she turned and saw Yan Tingli sitting alone on the hotel sofa, expressionlessly watching her.

The unhappiness radiating from him was about to overflow.

His appearance suddenly reminded Shi Sui of Axel clinging to Su Han last time.

No matter how reluctant, given Su Han’s rule that “boyfriends must not disturb sisterly gatherings,” he still had to wait pitifully in the car.

At that time, Shi Sui had envied Axel’s obedience.

So now, could she make Yan Tingli equally obedient?

“We sisters have a rule,” Shi Sui said, “that our respective boyfriends are not allowed to disturb sisterly gatherings.”

As she spoke, Shi Sui patted the sitting Yan Tingli’s head with her hand.

He stared at her movements, his lips coldly turning down, his body bristling with sharp spines again.

Shi Sui refused to withdraw her hand, bending down to cup his face.

“Did you hear?”

How could Yan Tingli possibly comply with whatever she said? He turned it around and asked: “Then what time can you spare for me?”

“I’ll do it three times tonight, is that enough?”

What the hell? Shi Sui immediately pushed his head away: “We’ll discuss that next time. Right now, you just need to wait here for me to come back.”

She had just taken a step when Yan Tingli grabbed her waist from behind and pressed her onto his thighs.

“What do you take me for?”

“…?” She played dumb.

Yan Tingli said coldly in her ear, “I’m not that easily fooled mixed-blood blonde.”

Shi Sui went with the flow: “So Axel gets rewards from Su Han.”

“You don’t have mine.”

“……”

One second, two seconds.

Yan Tingli suddenly bit her ear in frustration.

His body movements showed small anger, but his words were still compromising: “I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty tonight.”

Shi Sui touched his face: “You’re so good.”

He immediately climbed up the ladder: “I want you to come back and watch cartoons with me.”

“Then do it three times.”

Shi Sui deflected with a laugh, patting his leg: “Alright, wait here.”

Yu City’s hotpot was always famous, and this was an old-established restaurant. The place was packed, with bright red beef tallow broth bubbling in front of them—even the mild spice was strong enough.

Shi Sui ate with great satisfaction. Even Su Han, who couldn’t handle spice well, kept sticking out her tongue while continuing to devour the food.

Watching the curling stream, Shi Sui thought it was good that Yan Tingli hadn’t come along. Otherwise, given his pampered stomach, tonight they’d probably have to make another trip to the hospital, then he’d sulk and be very troublesome.

As they ate, the conversation naturally couldn’t avoid Yan Tingli.

Lin Anran, as the host, politely asked: “Why didn’t you bring Yan Tingli along tonight?”

Shi Sui waved her finger: “It’s a sisterly gathering, what would I bring him for?”

Xue Jing teased: “Oh my, quite decisive, seems like he listens to you?”

Shi Sui bit into a shrimp ball: “He’s quite obedient now.”

Su Han looked at her with a “you’re exaggerating” expression.

“……” Shi Sui looked back, defending herself, “I’m telling the truth.”

Su Han raised an eyebrow: “Is he as obedient as Axel?”

“Cough.”

That was indeed still far off. Shi Sui didn’t dare say more.

“Hey, I haven’t asked yet,” Lin Anran said, “when did you and Yan Tingli get together? After that class reunion?”

Xue Jing also said, “Right, I remember that day a guy came to chat you up, and Yan Tingli’s face looked terrible. I thought it was my imagination, but now it all makes sense.”

“Speaking of which, I just remembered something,” Lin Anran said while adding food to the pot, looking at Xue Jing and Su Han, “Do you remember when Sui Sui just left, the new semester when Yan Tingli came to audit classes in our department?”

Xue Jing immediately reacted: “I remember too! I thought he was looking for Su Han at the time, but now it seems he was looking for Sui Sui.”

Another thing Shi Sui didn’t know about.

She slowed her movements: “What did he… come to do?”

Su Han snorted coldly: “To fish for information.”

“It was also this time that he guessed you were in California.”

Their conversation was fragmented.

This made Xue Jing and Lin Anran confused.

Shi Sui simply decided not to hide it anymore, putting down her chopsticks: “Actually, there’s something I’ve never told you all.”

“My ex-boyfriend is Yan Tingli.”

“In college, we were together. I’m sorry for hiding this from you for so long.”

Silence fell over the table.

Except for Su Han, both were shocked to different degrees.

“So you two now…” Xue Jing digested the information, her eyes immediately shifting from shock to worry, “Is he still the same as before?”

Shi Sui shook her head: “A lot happened later, he’s much better now.”

There was still worry around the table, obviously thinking she was just comforting them.

Lin Anran frowned: “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“Oh right, right!” Xue Jing suddenly remembered something, “Ranran’s husband is a police officer, do you need legal help?”

Only Su Han propped her head up, her lips almost smirking: “It’s useless. Even my dad can’t help. He says when Yan Tingli goes crazy, he’s basically above the law.”

Looking at her roommates’ extremely worried expressions.

Shi Sui sat up straight and said, “I’m telling the truth, he has changed a lot.”

“I don’t believe it. Call him over right now!” Xue Jing slammed the table and shouted, “We sisters want to see if he really listens to you or not.”

“Exactly,” Su Han obviously held long-standing grudges, “I want him to compliment me as beautiful a hundred times.”

Lin Anran also agreed: “Right, call him over and we’ll all test him out.”

Meeting today, all four had drunk some plum wine.

The alcohol was taking effect, and their courage was growing.

Shi Sui looked at the time—it was already eight-twenty.

Yan Tingli said he’d come at eight-thirty.

“He should be here soon.”

As soon as she finished speaking.

Behind them came a leisurely voice: “Are you all waiting for me?”

“……!!!”

Everyone’s pupils contracted. When did this person arrive?

Yan Tingli naturally sat beside Shi Sui.

The hotpot restaurant had strong odors, so he fastidiously took off his overcoat and placed it in the basket.

Yan Tingli said gently, “I just arrived not long ago and happened to hear you talking.”

Meeting the stunned gazes across from him, he smiled politely: “As Sui Sui mentioned, during your sisterly gatherings, I shouldn’t disturb.”

With Yan Tingli’s arrival, his aura was peaceful and refined.

Where was the resemblance to the psychopath Shi Sui had described? Xue Jing and Lin Anran were both somewhat stunned, not knowing how to continue.

Only Su Han unceremoniously curled her lips: “Did you eavesdrop on our conversation somewhere?”

This was an open booth design—if Yan Tingli had been sitting in another booth, they might not have known.

Shi Sui also looked over.

In Yan Tingli’s eyes, when looking at Su Han, there was indeed a momentary coldness.

But it was minimal.

Soon he smiled and said: “I told Sui Sui I’d come at eight-thirty.”

“I only arrived twenty minutes early.”

Su Han snorted: “Isn’t that still eavesdropping?”

Yan Tingli: “In a public place, it hardly counts as eavesdropping.”

“See, this is how perverted he is.” Su Han immediately said.

Xue Jing also looked at him suspiciously: “Mr. Yan, we just learned that you had some extreme behavior toward Sui Sui in college.”

“Honestly, if you’re still this obsessive, we can’t help but worry about Sui Sui.”

Lin Anran nodded seriously beside her: “We’ll do everything we can to help Sui Sui.”

Yan Tingli narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, the coldness he had wrapped and hidden under his skin finally leaked out momentarily.

Sharp and confrontational.

The atmosphere froze, and Xue Jing and Lin Anran’s backs broke out in cold sweat.

Shi Sui was naturally the first to notice Yan Tingli’s emotional fluctuation.

If unhappiness had levels, then right now it should be about to explode off the charts.

He suddenly smiled carelessly, his demeanor arrogant and unrivaled.

As if saying, “with just you people?”

Shi Sui’s eyebrows twitched, and she pinched his lower back.

Coldly saying, “Be nicer to them.”

Yan Tingli’s about-to-explode unhappiness was pinched right at that level.

He turned to look at her.

Eyes lowered under his lashes, dark and heavy.

Both aggrieved and angry.

Shi Sui stared back, wanting to send him away, ordering: “Go pay the bill.”

Lin Anran immediately said, embarrassedly: “No, no, no, I’m treating everyone—”

“It’s fine,” Shi Sui smiled, “let him go.”

So several people watched.

A few seconds later, the man who had just been radiating dark energy and was almost about to show his claws, silently stood up.

Winding through the hotpot restaurant crowd.

He went to the cashier.

Though still in a bad mood, with a moving dark cloud over his head.

Su Han was the first to look away, making faces: “No way, he’s really this obedient? That’s more progress than last time!”

“Looking at it this way,” Xue Jing said hesitantly, “there doesn’t seem to be any big problem?”

“Not sure, let’s keep watching.” Lin Anran said cautiously.

From their perspective, Yan Tingli was indeed somewhat off, but there wasn’t any major issue.

Because as long as Shi Sui spoke, though reluctant, he could still slowly rein in his temper.

Like a large dog that looked dangerous but was harmless.

When Yan Tingli returned, his earlier emotions had vanished without a trace.

“I apologize to everyone,” he said calmly, “those past events are indeed facts that I deliberately concealed.”

Shi Sui turned to look at him, her eyes flickering.

Yan Tingli picked up Shi Sui’s wine glass: “It won’t happen again in the future, and I ask for everyone’s supervision.”

After speaking, he drank the entire glass.

Now, even Su Han stopped talking.

Though the looks coming her way were still somewhat suspicious, at least she raised her wine glass and returned the gesture.

“We don’t mean anything else,” Lin Anran said, “it’s just that Sui Sui is a very good girl. She once left her homeland because of you, hiding so far away. She must have suffered a lot of grievances, and we feel sorry for her.”

Xue Jing agreed: “Exactly, Sui Sui lost contact with us for so long because of you. You’re the culprit! And you’re so scheming, getting Sui Sui’s information from us!”

Su Han chuckled: “You even wanted to kidnap me to threaten my dad, so impressive.”

“Crime after crime, unforgivable!”

They took turns attacking Yan Tingli.

Every sentence hit Shi Sui’s heart, but she didn’t interrupt to stop them, just quietly observed Yan Tingli’s expression.

He wasn’t happy, nor was he humbly accepting.

But at least he was consciously controlling his emotions, not venting them on her friends.

It wasn’t until late at night, when everyone was somewhat drunk, that this “condemnation dinner” finally ended.

Tonight’s plum wine was low in alcohol, but Shi Sui had drunk quite a bit. Combined with the spicy beef tallow hotpot, her stomach was burning. It only felt better after returning to the hotel, and she immediately went into the bathroom to wash away the smell.

During this time, Yan Tingli had been very quiet.

Outside the bathroom, only the cheerful opening theme of the cartoon on the projector was playing.

He was leaning on the sofa.

Not even watching TV.

Head down, playing with his phone.

His whole aura was low, obviously sulking again.

Shi Sui came out and observed him for a while.

Then, arranging her newly blow-dried hair, she knelt close to him and lowered her voice softly: “Brother Tingli, you performed very well today.”

Yan Tingli remained unmoved, saying coldly: “Letting them scold me counts as performing well?”

Shi Sui sat on his lap naturally, cupping his face with both hands: “Isn’t that better than them being afraid of you?”

“For us girls, scolding you means we don’t treat you as an outsider, means we accept you.”

Yan Tingli snorted through his nose.

It looked like disdain, but his aura improved somewhat.

Unfortunately, just a little, not much.

“Do I need their acceptance?”

Shi Sui: “Of course you do.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re my best friends,” Shi Sui thought for a moment and made a comparison, “consider them half your mother-in-law.”

“……”

His expression looked like he’d drunk pesticide: “Well, thank them so much.”

Today, he was particularly hard to coax.

Shi Sui sighed inwardly, lowered her head to kiss Yan Tingli’s lips.

Then whispered in his ear: “Brother was very obedient today.”

As she spoke, her fingers pressed downward.

Feeling, his breathing immediately became chaotic, burning in the air.

Shi Sui curved her eyes at him, her breath like orchids: “So, I can kiss little Li.”