Accidental Love

Qin Shiyue was a person who treated herself like a queen no matter what happened. So even after Shi Yan slammed the door on her, she continued to happily wait for the supper specially made for people in the hotel's suites.

Soon, she was drinking white wine and eating oysters. Since she just came back from a spa too, watching movies alone in the room and enjoying the food was indeed very comfortable.

However, uncontrolled retribution always came at the worst times.

At two or three o'clock in the morning, just after she finished a movie and decided to sleep, she suddenly felt a faint pain in her stomach.

Stomach pain from time to time has already been a common thing so far, so she didn't care and went to bed after drinking some hot water.

However, after rolling around restlessly on the bed for nearly two hours, a layer of sweat had already soaked the sheets.

Qin Shiyue opened her eyes in a daze and took out her phone from under her pillow to look at the time.

Four forty-five in the morning.

The period before dawn was the darkest; there wasn't a single slim of light outside the window.

Qin Shiyue forced herself to close her eyes again, but her stomach became more and more uncomfortable and the pain was magnified by the night.

A few minutes later, Qin Shiyue spent a lot of effort sitting upright, and after thinking about it, she called Shi Yan.

Unexpectedly, the other party picked it up quickly.

"Uncle, you're still awake?"

Shi Yan didn't answer her question.

"Do you want something?"

Qin Shiyue was exhausted by the torture and didn't have time to think about anything else. Her weak voice sounded like she was on the verge of dying, "My stomach hurts…"

The man on the other end said impatiently, "Put your clothes on."

Qin Shiyue didn't hear clearly, "Huh? What?"

"Get dressed, I'll take you to the hospital."

After hanging up the phone, the doorbell rang as soon as Qin Shiyue finished changing.

She clutched her stomach and walked over to open the door. Shi Yan was dressed neatly, wearing the same thing he was wearing during the day.

"Uncle, you haven't slept yet?"

Shi Yan still didn't answer her question. He took a look at her pale face, frowned, and asked, "Can you walk by yourself?"

Qin Shiyue looked down and nodded, "I think so."

Shi Yan looked at her, sighed, turned around, and squatted down slightly,

"Come up."

——

The hotel late at night was quiet enough to hear the wind outside.

Qin Shiyue laid on Shi Yan's back, and at this close range, she could smell the faint smell of wine from Shi Yan's body.

"Uncle, were you drinking? With whom?"

Shi Yan ignored her, he could only feel that his clothes were being tightly held by her.

She was hurting so much from the pain, yet Qin Shiyue was still thinking, although he usually looks cold, he's not a really cold-hearted person.

Not only that, but those who were close to him knew that he cared a lot for others.

From the perspective of extreme moral ethics, maybe this trait of his wouldn't be very remarkable.

But for women, this was a trait women would not reject.

Therefore, no woman could reject her uncle, none!

"Uncle, what did you mean during the evening?"

At this time, Qin Shiyue still didn't forget to worry about the most important event in his uncle's life.

"Nothing."

"Here, let me tell you, what women say and what they think are very different," Qin Shiyue's voice became weaker and weaker, she was almost clenching her teeth as she spoke, "A man like you, as long as you're a little bit initiative, no woman could resist your charm. I might not be good at everything else, but I'm confident in my knowledge in this matter. Try a little harder and the world will be yours."

"Shut up."

"Oh……"

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor on duty checked on Qin Shiyue and didn't find a serious problem.

During the Spring Festival, there were all kinds of gatherings and reunions. Since she already drank more wine than usual, in addition to the oysters she ate before she slept, this kind of acute gastritis was within expectation.

After seeing the doctor and knowing that it wasn't anything serious, Qin Shiyue instantly felt much better. When she got back in the car, she even swiped Weibo for a while.1Weibo is a social media platform like Instagram, where one can post messages and browse videos/messages from other content creators

After finishing the matter in the hospital, the sky had already started to light up when they came out.

The Spring branches sprouted in the morning mist, and the public janitors have already started to clean the road with their brooms.

It should be a sunny day today.

Qin Shiyue yawned and planned to go back to the hotel to make up for the sleep she missed. Then, she would go to Central Park2Unlike in America, there are a lot of Central Parks in China. They are practically just normal parks except they're called Central Parks and walk around.

Thinking of this, she wanted to ask Shi Yan about his arrangements.

Turning his head, she saw him leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, calm to the point if he was asleep.

But Qin Shiyue knew that he was not asleep and was just in a bad mood.

Having to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, anyone who had to do it wouldn't be in a good mood. So Qin Shiyue knew to close her mouth and not speak.

After a long time, when Qin Shiyue was about to fall asleep, the person beside her suddenly spoke.

"Go pack up, we're going up."

"What?" Qin Shiyue suddenly woke up, "We only came yesterday, we're going home already?"

Shi Yan slowly opened his eyes, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyebrows.

"You're sick."

"Actually I…" Qin Shiyue touched her stomach, "It's not that bad."

This gastritis had been a common thing, it also came and went pretty fast. All she had to do was take some medicine and rest for a while, then she would be all good.

But Shi Yan didn't seem like he was asking for her opinion.

Qin Shiyue showed a sad expression and looked outside the window at the thought of having to go back to work after going home.

"Why do holidays always pass so fast? I have to go back to work again."

"Then you don't have to go."

Hearing Shi Yan's cold voice, Qin Shiyue immediately said, "Nono, it's not that I don't want to go, I love to work, I can learn a lot of things from working…"

Shi Yan put on his glasses, smiled slightly, and continued in his cold tone.

"Don't go if you don't want to. Stay home and treat your illness."

Hearing him saying that, Qin Shiyue immediately felt like it would be worth it even if she had stomach cancer.

"Okay, uncle, you're right. I haven't felt well recently, I have to rest at home."

——

Early in the morning, Wang Meiru hurried to the supermarket to buy the freshest vegetables. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet when she returned home.

She habitually knocked on the door of Zheng Shuyi's room and pushed it open after not receiving a response.

"The sun is high in the air already! Time to get up!"

After she finished speaking, she noticed Zheng Shuyi sitting on the bay window with her arms wrapped around her legs.

Wang Meiru said enigmatically, "Hoho, did the sunrise from the west today?"

With her hair loose, Zheng Shuyi glanced back at her and gave a quiet response.

"What happened?" Wang Meirui scanned her and asked, "in a bad mood?"

"No," Zheng Shuyi waved to her, "Mom go out for now, I need to change."

Wang Meiru pursed her lips and lightly closed the door. And then she immediately began to talk to Zheng Su.

"Why don't you go care about your daughter for a while? Why did she wake up so early during the holidays? Something's strange."

Zheng Su was washing the veggies as he complained, "You scold her when she wakes up late, and now you don't like it when she wakes up early. I think you're worrying too much, after she returns to Jiang City to work the day after tomorrow, you'll start missing her again."

As the couple argued, Zheng Shuyi came out of the room.

Although the sun already rose, the temperature did not rise. Especially since it was just dawn, the plants and grass on the roadside still had frost on them.

Zheng Shuyi tied her hair into a rarely seen ponytail, had a scarf around her neck, didn't put much makeup on, and only traced her eyebrows.

She picked up her bag and walked directly to the door.

"Dad, mom, I have something to do today, don't wait for me for dinner tonight."

Then, the sound of the door closing sound immediately after.

Wang Meiru and Zheng Su froze in the kitchen, looking at each other.

"She is definitely in a bad mood." 

"Of course, I raised her, how could I not tell?"

——

Zheng Shuyi took a taxi to the entrance of the aquarium.

Last night, when Shi Yan told her to be like a proper landlord, the first place she thought of was Central Park.

But then after thinking about it, what fun is it to visit Central Park during a winter day like this? So she mentioned the aquarium to Shi Yan.

Unexpectedly, Shi Yan immediately agreed.

The aquarium opened at ten, and the time Zheng Shuyi and Shi Yan agreed upon last night was also ten. But she arrived early at 9:30.

Because of what happened last night, she barely slept at all.

Even after a night of stress, she still couldn't think of a way to face and talk to Shi Yan again.

She didn't know if Qin Shiyue told Shi Yan everything.

If she did, then why are the two of them so silent until now?

If she didn't tell him.

No, she will eventually tell him. After all, they are relatives.

The brief friendship between Qin Shiyue and Zheng Shuyi wasn't enough for her to seal the secret at all.

The clouds have cleared, and the golden sun shone above the square at the entrance of the aquarium.

It looked like a sunny Spring morning, but the cold wind was still scraping her face like knives.

Slowly, it was almost ten without her even knowing.

Many people have already arrived at the entrance. Some were in line buying tickets, some were buying items from the souvenir shop, but Shi Yan was not among them.

Zheng Shuyi stood on her toes and stared at the entrance.

The small flags in the distance danced in the wind endlessly.

The closer it got to ten, the more panicked Zheng Shuyi's heart was.

Sometimes, a hunch would come for no reason, but then it would slowly take root and grow in one's heart.

For example, at this moment, she faintly felt that Shi Yan wouldn't come today.

Once this thought occurred, Zheng Shuyi's heart seemed to be suddenly grasped. It hung high in her chest, blocking her lungs from breathing.

She rubbed her sleeve with her fingers unconsciously, not knowing where to place them.

This feeling of waiting for nothing slowly climbed up her body like a vine, scratching her mercilessly.

After a while, Zheng Shuyi turned around and bought two bottles of water at a nearby shop, walked around for a minute, then continued to wait.

Every second of every minute seemed to be slowed down infinitely. Every one of those seconds seemed like torture.

When the wall clock in the center of the square pointed to exactly ten o'clock, Zheng Shuyi suddenly felt like she was falling into an abyss of water.

The waves were calm and didn't bother her. They just let her slowly sink down, bit by bit.

Cheerful music was played on the big speakers of the square, and groups of children ran and played in laughter.

Zheng Shuyi stared at the wall clock for a while and stared at the wall blankly. An old lady selling flowers passed by her and accidentally hit her.

Zheng Shuyi suddenly returned to his senses but didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. She took a few steps to the side, and then returned to the spot she had been standing on.

Another twenty minutes passed.

It seemed to last twenty years.

On several occasions, Zheng Shuyi wanted to take out her phone and ask why Shi Yan hadn't arrived yet.

Perhaps she feltguilty, or maybe she didn't have the courage to do so. Either way, in the end, she didn't contact him.

Because she knew clearly that Shi Yan would not be late for no reason.

There must be a reason why he didn't come.

Zheng Shuyi just didn't want to admit it and break into the truth with her own hands.

After a while, she wrapped her scarf tighter, held the two bottles of water in her arms, and stood on the steps next to the ticket window.

From there, she could see clearly what was going on at the entrance.

However, on the side of the square, at a place that she couldn't see, a car has been parked there for a long time.

Shi Yan arrived even earlier than Zheng Shuyi did.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, he and Qin Shiyue had already packed up and were ready to go home.

But just when the car was about to hit the highway, Shi Yan suddenly ordered the driver to change lanes.

He didn't know why he wanted to come, he could obviously just leave right now.

But now that he was really here, he couldn't find a reason to get off.

When he just arrived, there was no one there. There were only a few flyers being blown by the wind on the empty square.

Qin Shiyue was sitting in the passenger's seat, sleeping soundly with her coat on.

Shi Yan sat quietly in the car until he saw Zheng Shuyi coming under the sun.

Dozens of meters away, Zheng Shuyi's ponytail swayed gently in the light. She was wearing jeans, white sneakers, and a backpack on her back. She looked like a college student, but Shi Yan still recognized her with just a glance.

He watched her go to the machine to get the tickets. He watched her standing quietly beside the plants with her head lowered, kicking the pebbles with her feet from time to time. He watched her take her phone out several times, but then put them back into her bag.

Shi Yan crossed his hands in front of his chest and just calmly looked at her in the distance.

——

At eleven o'clock sharp, the first show in the aquarium began. The cheers and the music could be heard from quite a distance.

And at this time, there weren't many people left on the square.

The more lively it was inside, the more deserted the outside looked.

Zheng Shuyi already had the answer in her heart. After Shi Yan was late by an hour, she couldn't lie to herself anymore.

She hadn't even taken a sip from the two bottles of water yet. She wrapped her arms around herself and had the water bottles pressed against her chest.

But the moment she walked out of the gate, she still couldn't help but look back and glanced at the wall clock in the square.

What if?

The hope that was thinner than a strand of hair stopped Zheng Shuyi in her footsteps.

She walked back to the gate and called Shi Yan.

After ringing a few times, the other end was connected. But he didn't say anything, and it was so quiet that she couldn't even hear his breathing.

Zheng Shuyi was also silent for a while.

The call was so quiet that Zheng Shuyi felt that there was no one on the other end of the phone.

After a long time, she asked carefully, "Are you not coming?"

The call seemed to have glitched for a moment.

Immediately afterward, his voice sounded.

"To come and act with you?"

The water bottles in her arm suddenly dropped to the ground and quickly rolled to the side of the road.

Zheng Shuyi stood at the gate blankly, feeling a sudden coldness spread across her body. Her fingers trembled slightly.

Her throat seemed to be soaked in acid. She wanted to speak, but the words were stuck and couldn't come out.

A few seconds later, before she could say "sorry", the other end hung up already.

• 1Weibo is a social media platform like Instagram, where one can post messages and browse videos/messages from other content creators
• 2Unlike in America, there are a lot of Central Parks in China. They are practically just normal parks except they're called Central Parks