Accidental Love

When sending the "I'm thinking about you" to Shi Yan, Zheng Shuyi felt like a shattered vase.

Anyway, after being bombarded by screenshots of their chat history, she felt like there was no more need to struggle.

And…

She felt like what she just said was the truth, not some purposeful acting.

She was thinking about him.

But Shi Yan did not reply to her message for a very long time.

So even though she was telling the truth, Shi Yan still made it awkward.

Sigh.

Zheng Shuyi curled up on the sofa and sighed, not knowing what to do for a while.

Qin Shiyue, who had been waiting the whole time and didn't receive a reply, came to urge Zheng Shuyi again.

Qin Shiyue: Have you asked?

Qin Shiyue: Ask if he is free tomorrow.

Zheng Shuyi finally remembered that she had forgotten all about Qin Shiyue.

Zheng Shuyi: Okay, let me ask now.

Zheng Shuyi: Wait, but what am I getting him out for?

Qin Shiyue: Go to an art exhibition.

Qin Shiyue: I'll ask a friend to get us three tickets.

Qin Shiyue majored in Art Appreciation back in college. Although she almost never paid attention in class and almost failed to graduate, she felt like for a complete outsider like Yu You, she has what it takes to impress him.

At least she could bluff a little and make Yu You feel like she was a person who knew how to admire art.

Zheng Shuyi texted Yu You: Are you free tomorrow?

Yu You didn't reply for a long time. He was probably really busy.

Zheng Shuyi was in no hurry, but Qin Shiyue was holding her phone nervously.

She didn't even notice her mother talking to her.

Song Lelan reached out and tapped on her phone, "Are you going to fall into it?"

"Huh?" Qin Shiyue looked up, "What?"

"I'm asking you," Song Lelan said while stirring her soup, "Your dad is going to the mountains tomorrow, would you like to follow along? You should exercise more, all you do every day is either sitting or sleeping. A good body shape needs more than just a diet."

"I'm not going," said Qin Shiyue, "Who wants to go hiking with those old men?"

"Watch your mouth," Song Lelan was a little angry, but she didn't lose her temper on such subtle details, "Jiang Heng and the other children would be going too."

"I'm not going," insisted Qin Shiyue, "I have plans for tomorrow."

On the side, Shi Yan put down his chopsticks and wiped his hands slowly with the towel. He said in a flat tone but also with some sarcasm, "What plans can you have?"

The usual Qin Shiyue was used to his tone and wouldn't dare to say anything more.

But today, she really wanted to go and failed to control her mouth.

"Of course I have plans, I'm going to the art exhibition with someone."

Shi Yan smiled and continued in his not-so-friendly tone.

"Oh? Who has so much time on their hands and would accompany you to an art exhibition?"

Qin Shiyue might have been in a good mood today and that was why she told him all these non-important details.

But she didn't want to tell Shi Yan that she was going there to be with another man.

"Sister Shuyi," Qin Shiyue said as she stared at him. She raised her chin slightly as if she was trying to brag, "Is that a problem?"

Sure enough, Shi Yan stopped talking to her.

In the next second, Qin Shiyue received Zheng Shuyi's reply, which was the chat history between her and Yu You.

Yu You: Tomorrow? Did something happen? What's wrong?

Zheng Shuyi: Oh, it's nothing big. It's just the weekend, and my friend happened to have three tickets for the art exhibition. We're missing a person and wanted to see if you're free.

Yu You: Then I'll have to apologize.

Zheng Shuyi: It's okay, it's okay.

Qin Shiyue saw the message and drooped her eyes. The confident appearance just now disappeared in an instant.

Qin Shiyue: Oh…

Qin Shiyue: Then what about the day after tomorrow?

Zheng Shuyi frowned and hesitated.

She could continue to ask, but what if Yu You interpret it as some other meaning?

When they were chatting before, she made it clear that she didn't want to go on a blind date at all. But the two with opposite genders haven't been talking much to each other and now she suddenly wants him to go to an art exhibition… it would be really easy for him to think it was more than just that.

Zheng Shuyi: Do I have to come along?

Qin Shiyue: Of course! If I just invite him there like that, he'll definitely think I'm a very unreserved person.1Here, the word reserved is supposed to mean a person who is solemn, not casual, polite, kind, and not short of temper. Commonly used to describe pretty and kind women

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

You're not being very reserved right now either.

But after thinking about it, she decided to just do it for her, considering it as doing something nice for Shi Yan.

Therefore Zheng Shuyi asked Yu You again.

Zheng Shuyi: Then do you have time the day after tomorrow?

Yu You: Yes, that would work.

Zheng Shuyi: Okay, then see you at the Exhibition Center at two in the afternoon?

Yu You: Okay.

Upon receiving these messages, Qin Shiyue's mood immediately turned for the better again. After taking a few bites of food, she smiled and said, "I'll go accompany my dad to go hiking tomorrow."

Shi Yan slowly leaned back on the chair and looked at her with his arms folded.

"Not going to go to the art exhibition with your Sister Shuyi anymore?"

"No," Qin Shiyue shook her head a little bit and smiled lightly, "We're going the day after tomorrow. I felt like I should go hiking first, haven't seen Jiang Heng in a long time too, I wonder if he's grown more handsome now."

The twilight was dark, the scent of newly blooming Begonia flowers in the yard was sent in by the wind, filling everyone's noses and calming everyone's mind.

The phone on the table vibrated suddenly.

Shi Yan picked it up and glanced at it.

Zheng Shuyi: Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Do you want to go to the movies?

Zheng Shuyi: Cute.GIF

Shi Yan pressed his lips tightly and replied: No, work.

Just got bailed on by Qin Shiyue and now she was here asking him.

Did she really use him as a spare tire or what?

Shi Yan also glanced up at Qin Shiyue, who was happily eating her food.

Or was she Qin Shiyue's spare tire?

He got up suddenly and tapped Qin Shiyue's head with his phone.

"What was that for?"

Qin Shiyue rubbed her head and when she turned her head around, she could only see Shi Yan's back.

She was very angry, but only dared to whisper, "Did I do something wrong just by eating? Really… mom, you should care about him more!"

Song Lelan shrugged, "Who dares to care about him."

On the other hand, Zheng Shuyi, who received Shi Yan's reply, felt super empty.

Working frenzy?

Who works overtime in such beautiful weather?

She was typing while eating dinner.

Zheng Shuyi: Then I'll come too.

Shi Yan: For what?

Zheng Shuyi: To be with you.

After a long time.

Shi Yan: Whatever.

That's a yes.

Zheng Shuyi smiled and ate the rest of the food. She was even humming while washing the dishes.

When she answered the call from Bi Ruoshan, her tone was also frivolous, "Hello~ Did you miss me~?"

"Talk normally, what's wrong with you," Bi Ruoshan almost jumped from hearing her say, "Quick question, the Situ Yi from the class next to us back then, isn't she quite an Internet celebrity right now?"

"Yeah," replied Zheng Shuyi, "She's pretty popular, last time I checked Weibo she had two million fans already."

"Then can you get in contact with her? Our company wants to promote a product recently, I think she's very suitable."

"Sure~ no problem, I'll look for ways to get in contact with her."

Bi Ruoshan frowned on the other end of the phone, "Zheng Shuyi, what's the matter with you today? Are you sick?"

"You're sick," Zheng Shuyi said with a quiet grunt, "I'm in a very good mood."

Hearing this, Bi Ruoshan was happy for her too.

She has been worried that Zheng Shuyi was in a bad mood recently and was worried that she might get sick because of this.

But Zheng Shuyi's tone was so awkward that Bi Ruoshan couldn't help but want to damage her a bit.

"Yo, those who knew will know that you're in a good mood, but those who don't know will think that you just won 5 million."

Zheng Shuyi paused, then smiled, "I won more than 5 million."

"Huh?" Bi Ruoshan suddenly became interested, "What?"

"It's nothing," said Zheng Shuyi casually, "It's just that I'm starting to get back together with Shi Yan."

It seemed a bit reckless to say this right now, so Zheng Shuyi added, "At least he's not angry anymore."

"Not angry anymore?!!!"

Bi Ruoshan shrieked and almost made Zheng Shuyi smash the bowl in her hand.

"What are you getting so excited for?"

It wasn't that Bi Ruoshan was excited. As far as she knew, any man who ran into this kind of situation would be pissed for a long long time.

Let alone a man like Shi Yan. Doing this to him was like stomping on his pride and self-esteem 200 times before throwing them into the crematorium and burning them 800 times.

So when Bi Ruoshan heard that Zheng Shuyi messed up, she was already lighting a sea of candles for her friend.

But, it only took this long.

And Shi Yan's not angry anymore?!

Is this the magic of beauty?

Even this can be forgiven?

Bi Ruoshan touched her face which was full of confusion.

Zheng Shuyi started to talk about the events in the past few days. Bi Ruoshan felt like her three outlooks2Here referring to the outlook on one's world, life, and values were shattered in just a few seconds, and now reforming in a strange way.

"So," said Zheng Shuyi slowly, "I'll go work overtime with him tomorrow."

"Okay…"

Bi Ruoshan has accepted this reality, but still couldn't help reminding, "You don't have to do this, I told you many times already, you need to be more reserved. Otherwise, men wouldn't cherish you."

Zheng Shuyi held the hot water and swallowed the pills in one gulp, before talking again, "What time is it already, you're still talking about these formulas. I'm just doing whatever I want at this point, who knows when this opportunity would suddenly disappear."

"And……"

"Does being patient and reserved really mean cherish? I think I did that to Yue Xingzhou, no? And what's the result?"

Her question made Bi Ruoshan speechless.

"If a man doesn't cherish me just because I'm not reserved enough, just because I took the initiative first, then…"

Zheng Shuyi sighed, "Then I have nothing else to say."

——

The next afternoon.

Zheng Shuyi didn't bring anything as she walked into the Mingyu Headquarters with ease.

In this office building with strict access control, she reached the 17th floor without anyone stopping her for the first time.

When she walked into Shi Yan's office.

He sat behind his computer and didn't even look up as Zheng Shuyi walked it.

She stood in front of him.

"I'm here~"

Shi Yan clearly saw and heard but still ignored her.

Zheng Shuyi went around to his side again, stretched out her head, and waved it in front of his eyes.

"Did I turn invisible?"

Shi Yan took off his glasses, raised his eyes to look at her, and then pointed his chin to the side.

Zheng Shuyi looked over.

It was a sofa.

"Go sit there."

His sentence sounded like "do whatever you want and don't bother me".

Zheng Shuyi said "oh" and went to where she should go.

The moment she turned around, Shi Yan looked at her aggrieved back and raised the corners of his mouth.

After the office door was closed, all sounds from the outside world were cut off.

Shi Yan was extremely focused on his computer screen and didn't make a single sound. If it wasn't because she saw the person sitting there in front of her, Zheng Shuyi would have thought that she was the only living creature in the office.

At first, she was sitting upright and dignifiedly. But after a long time, with nothing to do, she felt like her waist and back were rebelling.

Anyway, Shi Yan didn't give her the slightest attention, so she slowly laid down on the sofa.

After a while, Shi Yan still didn't respond at all.

Zheng Shuyi began to try to attract his attention.

For a while, she walked to the window to touch the plants, then she went back to the sofa to look at her phone, and occasionally she would run to the opposite corner of the room to stretch her back.

Her figure bounced non-stop in the corner of Shi Yan's eyes.

When Zheng Shuyi went to touch the leaves of the plants for the third time, the person behind her finally moved.

Zheng Shuyi immediately turned around, only to find that Shi Yan's attention was not on her, but instead, he lowered his head and made a call.

At the moment the call was connected, he raised his eyes, which met with Zheng Shuyi's. Then he said word by word while looking at her, "Order two movie tickets."

On the other side of the phone, the secretary asked, "Do you want to reserve the whole place?"

Zheng Shuyi looked at him and smiled.

Shi Yan looked away, "No."

"Would you like me to send the list of movies currently showing?"

"No, pick whatever you want."

Shi Yan raised his eyes again, and Zheng Shuyi had already run to the side of the sofa to clean up.

He watched every move of hers and added, "I want to wait as short as possible."

"Okay, I'll send the information to your phone in a minute."

After hanging up the phone, Zheng Shuyi was already sitting properly on the sofa watching Shi Yan.

And Shi Yan was looking at him too.

His look was faint, but it was as if he just saw Zheng Shuyi for the first time. He studied her carefully.

After a while, he even bent his arms to support his head, but his eyes were still locked on Zheng Shuyi's face.

Zheng Shuyi didn't know what he was thinking, she just felt like these eyes gave her chills as if he was watching a fat pig about to get slaughtered.

"Are we still going to the movies?"

"What's the hurry, I'll look at you first."

Shi Yan was still looking at her, and his eyes slowly moved down.

It went past her waist, then her legs, and then back onto her eyes.

I'm not in a hurry at all.

Zheng Shuyi said silently in her head.

After a few seconds, she finally couldn't stand it anymore. She covered her hot face with her hands.

"What are you looking at me for?"

Shi Yan suddenly got up, walked in front of her, squatted halfway, and pulled her hand away.

Making Zheng Shuyi have to look at his eyes again.

Shi Yan looked at her up close for a while before curling the corners of his lips.

"Looking to see if this movie is worth two hours of my time."

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

——

Regardless of whether Shi Yan felt it was worth it, in the end, he still brought Zheng Shuyi to the cinema anyway.

Valentine's Day has just passed, and since it happened to be the weekend, the cinema was still crowded with people.

However, Shiyan’s secretary gave them tickets to a VIP room, and they also arrived at the right time, so they didn't have to wait and went straight into the theater.

However, at the entrance, Zheng Shuyi heard someone calling Shi Yan.

"Mr. Shi!"

Zheng Shuyi turned her head before Shi Yan.

Two women were walking toward them together. One of them was very beautiful with long hair past her shoulders. Although she didn't have much makeup, her temperament still made everyone around look nothing compared to her.

It was just that after Shi Yan turned his head around, the beauty had her eyes on Zheng Shuyi.

After a few seconds, she retracted her gaze and looked at Shi Yan again.

"I'm Fiona from EM Finance, remember? We met last time at the Charity Night."

When she heard the name "Fiona", Zheng Shuyi suddenly tensed her nerves.

She remembered that this was the woman Guan Ji said last time on the phone.

Now she finally understood why Fiona was staring at her the whole time.

Thinking of this, Zheng Shuyi felt a sense of threat. She quietly got closer to Shi Yan.

And of course, Fiona understood the meaning of such a silent declaration of sovereignty.

While watching Shi Yan, she reached out her hand towards him while also paying attention to Zheng Shuyi.

Shi Yan didn't know the secret contest in Zheng Shuyi's heart and spoke to Fiona in a solemn tone.

"Long time no see.”

"Yeah, didn't expect to meet here," Fiona said as she reached out for Shi Yan's hand.

While they shook hands, Zheng Shuyi was clenching her teeth.

Although they only shook hands for a few seconds, Zheng Shuyi felt like they were sticking together for several minutes and really wanted to go up and break the two of them apart.

After shaking hands, Fiona wanted to say more, but at this moment, the lights in the theater suddenly went out.

"Let's go," Shi Yan pulled Zheng Shuyi in while saying, "The movie's about to begin."

Fiona glanced at the two of them and then followed her friend to the seats.

Coincidentally, their seats were right behind each other.

However, the VIP room had adjustable seats and very spacious space in both the front and the back, so Zheng Shuyi could only feel the gaze coming from behind and couldn't tell her precise movements.

Zheng Shuyi was restless throughout the whole movie; her attention was not on the screen at all. The only thing she noticed about the movie was that the name was "Blooming Flowers and the Full Moon".

Instead, Shi Yan on the side seemed to be watching the movie very seriously.

Zheng Shuyi couldn't calm down. After a lot of thoughts flashed through her mind, she suddenly asked, "Do you want to drink something?"

There was a retractable table between the seats and there was a QR code on it. By scanning and wondering, there would be a person to deliver the food.

Shi Yan replied with his eyes fixed on the screen, "No."

"Then would you like some popcorn?"

"No."

Boring.

Zheng Shuyi ordered herself a bucket of popcorn.

She didn't want to go to the bathroom halfway, so she didn't order a drink.

After a while, someone came in with their back bent.

Zheng Shuyi was eating popcorn, but her attention was still on Fiona behind her.

Even if it was just an instinct, she was sure that Fiona was not watching the movie but instead, looking at Shi Yan.

Suddenly, Zheng Shuyi felt that the person behind her stood up. Her mouth chewing popcorn suddenly stopped and stayed still while trying to feel all the movements around her.

"We ordered some water."

Fiona reached out and patted Shi Yan on the shoulder, "Do you guys want some？”

Zheng Shuyi bit the popcorn hard, forcing herself not to look there.

She must pretend to be calm and carefree.

"No," Shi Yan said beside her, "Thank you."

Zheng Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief.

But the sense of threat in her heart grew stronger and stronger. Like a cat scratching her, she felt like she couldn't settle herself down without doing something.

A few minutes later, Zheng Shuyi suddenly handed the popcorn to Shi Yan.

"Want some?"

Shi Yan didn't even look at her.

"No.”

Zheng Shuyi felt that Fiona was watching them.

Being rejected like this made her look like a joke.

Therefore, Zheng Shuyi picked out a single popcorn and handed it to Shi Yan.

"Taste one, it's very sweet."

Shi Yan turned his head to look at her.

The dim lights in the theater still couldn't hide Zheng Shuyi's begging expression.

"Please…"

She frowned as if she would cry on the spot if Shi Yan didn't eat it.

The scene on the big screen changed frame by frame, causing the reflection on their faces to flicker.

Shi Yan stretched his neck forward suddenly and lowered his head.

In the darkness, Zheng Shuyi saw him staring at her eyes, but his mouth took away the popcorn from her hand.

She also felt Shi Yan's lips touching her fingertips.

The warm feeling instantly spread with her flow of blood to her whole body.

After being stunned for a while, she turned back around quickly and looked towards the screen while sitting upright.

Without knowing where to put her hands, she grabbed a few popcorns by random and shoved them into her mouth.

The moment she bit her fingertips, she was stunned again.

Then, as if she was a thief and felt guilty, she quickly pulled her hand down and started to gently rub her fingertips.

Since then, Zheng Shuyi hadn’t said anything for a very long time.

When Shi Yan finally thought Zheng Shuyi would leave him to peace, he suddenly saw her turning around and saying to Fiona behind her, "We ordered popcorn, do you want some?"

"…"

Fiona, who had witnessed everything just now, almost laughed from Zheng Shuyi's bitch-like behavior.

"No, thank you."

• 1Here, the word reserved is supposed to mean a person who is solemn, not casual, polite, kind, and not short of temper. Commonly used to describe pretty and kind women
• 2Here referring to the outlook on one's world, life, and values