Shen Yan's face was expressionless, but he ate all the dishes Shen Yue had picked for him, leaving not a drop of soup.
Shen Yue was a very gentle and considerate person, and she quickly learned which dishes Shen Yan liked.
Sour cabbage shredded potatoes. So Shen Yue placed this dish in front of Shen Yan.
Shen Yan didn't know how to face Shen Yue, so he just lowered his head and ate diligently.
These shredded potatoes were quite delicious.
By the time they finished eating, it was already very dark. Shen Yue had just paid the bill at the counter and when she turned around, the young man was nowhere to be seen.
Shen Yue returned to their dining table. On the clean table lay several red banknotes and a jar.
The jar contained cured meat.
She calculated, and it was exactly the cost of the meal.
Shen Yue looked at the money, her eyelashes drooping, her vibrant lips pursed into a disappointed curve.
How could she not know that Shen Yan wanted to draw a clear line between them?
---
Shen Yue found a job at a cake shop. It was quite relaxed, and the pay was average, but for Shen Yue, it was quite good.
Every day she would inquire about Luo Kai's injuries. Luo Kai said he was fine, but he didn't want to meet Shen Yue, which made her a little worried.
The door of the cake shop was pushed open, and an elegant woman entered. She was tall and slender, wearing a khaki trench coat that exuded presence. Her long, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she wore brown sunglasses, revealing her passionate red lips and fair chin.
Xu Tian browsed around briefly, bought some cakes, and then went to the cashier.
Shen Yue picked up the barcode scanner and scanned the prices, then packaged them.
"That will be forty-six yuan."
Xu Tian took out a red bill from her wallet, and Shen Yue lowered her head to make change.
"You're Shen Yue, aren't you?"
A condescending voice from above her head.
Shen Yue's movements paused, then she looked up, meeting the eyes of the unfamiliar woman before her, and asked politely, "I am, may I ask who you are?"
Xu Tian sized up the person in front of her. Pretty, exquisite, pale, and fragile. Completely different from the crazy woman who had barged into the Xie family's home six months ago.
But she was still quite manipulative. She looked rather innocent, but her schemes ran deep.
Xu Tian took off her sunglasses, curved her lips into a smile, "We've only been apart for half a year, and you don't recognize me?"
Hearing the tone in Xu Tian's voice, Shen Yue mistakenly thought they were friends. Her eyebrows couldn't help but curve upwards, her eyes brightening with a flicker of childlike joy, "I had a car accident, and I don't remember much of what happened before. You know me, right?"
Xu Tian seemed amused by her demeanor, raising an eyebrow, "Know you? How could I not know you? Xie Jiangsheng's little lover."
The moment Xu Tian finished speaking, Shen Yue's face turned pale, her smile vanishing. She stared at the woman before her, her eyes filled with caution and wariness.
"Who are you? Why do you know about my relationship with Mr. Xie?"
The unfamiliar woman in front of her clipped her sunglasses onto her collar, touched her curly hair at her chest, and said casually, "My name is Xu Tian, Xie Jiangsheng's nominal wife. I truly didn't expect you wouldn't even remember me."
Xu Tian's voice took on a hint of mockery. After all, given Shen Yue's crazed infatuation with Xie Jiangsheng, she must have been doing voodoo dolls and cursing her to die every day in secret.
*Bang—*
The scanning gun in her hand fell onto the table with a crisp sound. Shen Yue's face lost all color, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly.
She instinctively bit her lip, shame and guilt overwhelming her, causing her shoulders to tremble subtly.
Shen Yue's face was deathly pale, her pupils slightly unfocused.
"You, what do you want with me?"
She couldn't possibly say she was just there to buy a cake. Shen Yue wasn't foolish; she knew such coincidences didn't happen. It was clear Xu Tian had come prepared.
Xu Tian said, "It's nothing much, I just heard that you've been hooking up with my husband again?"
For a moment, Shen Yue didn't know what to say. She couldn't guess Xu Tian's intentions. Was she here to scold her? Or perhaps to teach her a lesson?
Regardless, Shen Yue couldn't refuse.
Because no matter what, she was in the wrong. She was the one who had interfered in their marriage.
Seeing Shen Yue's pale face, Xu Tian could guess what she was thinking. After all, Shen Yue wore all her emotions on her face; it was impossible not to notice.
"Don't misunderstand," Xu Tian said soothingly, then added with a smile, "I don't mean anything else, and I'm not trying to break you two up. What you want to do is your business. I only have one request: if you have a child in the future, it must be raised by me, and no one should be told."
Shen Yue froze, seemingly not understanding Xu Tian's meaning, "I don't understand."
Xu Tian patiently explained it again.
"How can you do this..."
Shen Yue looked at her with misty eyes, her face pale and sickly, possessing a fragile beauty.
She bit her lip, seemingly filled with extreme anger, "Miss Xu, you can't do this. How can you do this?"
Hearing Shen Yue's tone, Xu Tian assumed Shen Yue didn't want to abandon her child. Her expression turned cold. Being too greedy was not good.
"Shen Yue, don't push your luck. I've already made a big concession. I'm not fighting with you for Xie Jiangsheng, and I can see that Xie Jiangsheng does have some liking for you. Just be content with what you have, or you'll end up with nothing."
Clenching her fingers until her knuckles turned white, Shen Yue said word by word, "I have no relationship with Mr. Xie now."
This time, it was Xu Tian's turn to be stunned. She found it utterly unbelievable, thinking that perhaps Shen Yue's car accident had addled her brain to say such things.
After all, Shen Yue had used all her tricks and every means possible for Xie Jiangsheng back then. She had even shown off in front of Xu Tian every day, so foolish.
However, what Xu Tian didn't expect was that Xie Jiangsheng liked this kind of woman. They had caused such a huge commotion just half a year ago, and now he was going back to her. It truly made Xu Tian speechless.
That was why she thought Shen Yue was not simple.
But upon seeing the person before her, Xu Tian realized she had overcomplicated things.
This person genuinely seemed to have hit her head.
Shen Yue's lower lip was bitten to a glistening red. In an extremely calm voice, she said, "Miss Xu, please rest assured, I will no longer disturb Mr. Xie in the future."
It should have ended long ago.
It should have ended from half a year ago.
The entanglement had lasted so long, it was merely a karmic debt.
Her heart, stabbed bloody, had long since gone numb.
At this moment, Shen Yue even felt as if the heavy stone on her shoulders had disappeared, allowing her to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Shen Yue walked up to Xu Tian and, under her perplexed gaze, bowed.
"I'm sorry."