Shen Zhiyi was dining in the private room, and her reason for staying was to et and chat with Qin Xiaoran. However, by the ti she finished her al and all the plates were cleared, Qin Xiaoran still hadn’t arrived. Shen Zhiyi checked the ti—the crew’s dinner ti was over, and she could stay for at most another half-hour before needing to return to the set.
Feeling anxious, Shen Zhiyi texted Qin Xiaoran to ask if she was still dining with her future mother-in-law and ntioned that she would have to leave if it got any later.
A mont later, she received a call from her.
"I’m sorry, Sister Zhiyi, I’m not at the garden anymore. My future mother-in-law insisted on having accompany her shopping, so we’ll have to et another ti," she apologized in a pitiful tone. Her apologies, although flawless in attitude, were riddled with loopholes in just a brief sentence. Shen Zhiyi didn’t know what to say and hung up, then grabbed her bag to leave.
As the door to the private room opened, she assud it was Xiaodong and turned around while speaking, "Let’s head back to the set now—"
"Can’t you stay a little longer?"
Pei Yu turned and casually shut the door, asking softly.
Seeing him here wasn’t a surprise or a shock as she guessed his booking the private room was preditated. Shen Zhiyi stood still, her heart swayed, but she still said, "I should go back."
"There’s no rush," Pei Yu walked towards her. As he sat down, he grasped her wrist and quickly released it as soon as she sat down. "Director ng hasn’t called yet, has he?"
He casually ntioned, "Just finished the social gathering."
Shen Zhiyi had slled the faint alcohol on him without his ntion, agarwood mixed with the scent of liquor, a blend of cool and warm that surprisingly rged well on him.
The two were too close for her not to notice. Shen Zhiyi moved slightly away, "You sll like alcohol."
"Only had two drinks," Pei Yu chuckled, sowhat resigned. "Is it that obvious?"
He looked down at the small distance that had ford between them, tapping his fingers lightly twice. "I didn’t plan to drink, but the liquor was brought by ng Qiming, and I had to show face."
A collaboration between Pei’s and CN wasn’t unusual. Shen Zhiyi listened quietly, wondering how she would explain to Director ng if she returned late—not that she intended to stay longer, but because it was peak hour traffic now and delays were inevitable.
"ng Qiming just left not long ago, he might still be at the garden," Pei Yu suddenly said ambiguously. "If you want to et him, you still have ti."
His words snapped her back to the present. Shen Zhiyi looked at him, slowly furrowing her brows, and repeated his words slowly, "et ng Qiming?"
How did the topic shift to this?
Pei Yu avoided her gaze, his deanor sowhat nonchalant, as if ntioning it offhandedly, "If you want."
If she wanted? Why would she want to et ng Qiming?
Shen Zhiyi finally understood why she felt sothing off about him the mont she saw him. At first, she thought it was because of the alcohol, but two drinks wouldn’t cause such a change. His appearance of being indifferent yet clearly troubled gave a sense of an approaching storm, an awkwardness she had never seen before.
She stared at him for a long while, and Pei Yu remained silent, still not looking up at her.
Shen Zhiyi looked away and took out her phone from her bag, "Then I’ll et him for a bit."
Just as the screen lit up, Pei Yu reached out to stop her action, his hand covering the phone and grasping hers as well, "Do you really want to et him?"
His tone was slightly grave, as if holding back sothing, and his brows were furrowed, a coldness evident.
She finally stopped pretending.
Shen Zhiyi shook off his hand, "What did I say? Isn’t it you who’s been talking? You seem very keen on having et him."
She thought she was relatively calm, after all, there wasn’t much to be angry about. Yet, the force with which she had flung his hand away wasn’t controlled, sending it slamming into the corner of the table, producing a dull thud.
Shen Zhiyi panicked for a mont, instinctively wanting to see if his hand was injured, but Pei Yu, without uttering a word, pulled his hand back. His jacket slipped from the crook of his elbow, covering the back of his hand, obscuring any signs of injury. After hesitating several tis, she barely managed to suppress the urge to ask about it, only feeling worse.
Pei Yu remained silent for a while. The back of his injured hand throbbed slightly, but he was entirely distracted. After a while, he said hoarsely, "ng Qiming has bought a set of matrimonial ho."
Shen Zhiyi pursed her lips and did not respond, unable to decipher why he kept bringing up ng Qiming.
"If he proposes to you, would you accept?"
Propose?
Shen Zhiyi was shocked and astounded, almost doubting her ears. ng Qiming proposing to her?
She was sowhat at a loss for words.
The relationship between her and ng Qiming barely qualified as friendship, much less anything flirtatious. While ng Qiming was pursuing her, even if she had agreed, the next step should logically be dating, not jumping straight to marriage.
Marriage? She had never considered it.
"Pei Yu," she frowned even more, "what are you trying to say?"
Wasn’t he aware of the nature of her relationship with ng Qiming? It sounded as though he thought they had progressed to a point where marriage was appropriate.
"Why won’t you answer?" Pei Yu pressed persistently on that question, "Answer first."
His gaze fixed intently on Shen Zhiyi’s face, as if not wanting to miss any of her expressions. His eyes were sober and clear, without a hint of drunkenness, yet Shen Zhiyi felt like his current state was no different from being drunk.
She disliked those who feigned drunkenness, as it reminded her of unpleasant mories, but Pei Yu wasn’t actually drunk.
Feeling annoyed by the questioning, she thought to casually throw out a "yes" just to be done with it, but looking into his eyes, she found herself unable to speak the words. A few seconds later, Shen Zhiyi turned her head away from his gaze, choosing her words carefully, "I need to think about it."
Not wanting to stay there a mont longer, Shen Zhiyi stood up. In response, Pei Yu’s hand reached out, grabbing her fingertips again. Shen Zhiyi wanted to shake it off but, looking down, she saw the dark bruise on the back of his hand and found herself gasping for air, forgetting all she intended to say.
She hadn’t expected that her earlier action would injure his hand so severely.
Pei Yu, seeming indifferent to the pain, gripped her hand tightly. The veins on his injured hand stood out, making the bruise appear even more ghastly, "What if it were ?"
Her mind occupied by his injured hand, Shen Zhiyi didn’t imdiately grasp his aning, "What?"
He looked up at her, fully aware that now was not the best ti to bring this up, yet he couldn’t help himself. He closed his eyes briefly, then asked bluntly, "What if I were the one proposing to you?"
His fingers twitched, gathering all her fingertips into his palm, Pei Yu watched her intently, his Adam’s apple bobbing, every syllable seeming to be squeezed from his chest, excruciatingly difficult, "Would you consider it?"
If it were him, would she outright reject him?
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