After those two words cleanly fell, the receiver unexpectedly didn't produce the sound of hanging up. Duan Jiaxu also stopped speaking, scanning the shelves around.
After another long moment, Sang Yan suddenly said: "Bro."
Duan Jiaxu couldn't be bothered to respond.
There came the sound of a chair being dragged from the other end, then Sang Yan let out a breath and said as if resigned to his fate: "Should I go buy it with you?"
"..."
"Fine." Sang Yan's tone was somewhat depressed, "You come with me, alright?"
He'd never been to that section of the supermarket before.
Moreover, this was Duan Jiaxu's first time at this supermarket too. After searching for a while, he finally found the target items on the shelf next to the laundry detergent. Just as he was about to walk over, he suddenly noticed several women standing there, with a sales assistant recommending products to them.
His footsteps halted.
Remembering that Sang Zhi was still waiting, Duan Jiaxu's eyelids twitched. He couldn't afford to hesitate anymore and had to brace himself to go over. He walked to the leftmost shelf and bent down to look at the pink packaging before him.
He wanted to just grab any package, but didn't know where to start.
Before long, Sang Yan also found the spot and came to stand beside him.
At the same time, Duan Jiaxu picked up a blue-packaged one and held it before him: "How about this one?"
Setting aside his reservations, Sang Yan glanced at it: "What does Day use mean? For daytime use?"
"..."
"Isn't it nighttime now?" Sang Yan scratched his head irritably, pointing in another direction, "How about getting that black one? It says Night use."
Duan Jiaxu followed his gaze and said calmly: "400 millimeters, that's 40 centimeters long?"
"..."
"Won't that be too big?"
Sang Yan stared at the four characters on it, frowning as he said: "And what does Dry mesh surface mean?"
Duan Jiaxu: "Don't know."
"And Cotton soft layer—"
The nearby women had finished their shopping and left. The sales assistant shifted her attention and came over to the two of them, asking: "Are you here buying for your girlfriends?"
Sang Yan's words were cut off, and both their gazes turned toward her simultaneously.
At this moment, Sang Yan should be the one to answer. After all, between the two of them, he had the most direct relationship with Sang Zhi. Duan Jiaxu withdrew his gaze and didn't speak up proactively.
"No." Sang Yan didn't follow the expected script. His eyes swept over Duan Jiaxu, then he suddenly said meaningfully: "Don't judge by his appearance."
Pausing briefly, he added without changing expression: "Actually, he's a woman."
"..."
Duan Jiaxu's movements stilled.
The sales assistant's expression clearly stiffened: "Huh?"
Sang Yan: "Don't be like that. He might look a bit rough, but he really is a woman."
After a few seconds, Duan Jiaxu raised his head. His peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, appearing both affectionate and ambiguous. Then he revealed a somewhat teasing smile and called out: "Baby?"
Sang Yan instantly got goosebumps all over: "..."
"Why explain so much." Duan Jiaxu chuckled lightly, pinching Sang Yan's cheek, "You don't need to say it—I understand. I'm the most beautiful in your heart."
"..."
Under the sales assistant's strange look and somewhat perfunctory recommendations, Sang Yan barely maintained his composure and simply picked two packages each of both Day use and Night use.
After leaving that area, Sang Yan said coldly: "You're really disgusting."
Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow: "Am I?"Sang Yan: "I almost threw up."
"Aren't you the one who said I'm a woman?" Duan Jiaxu smiled gently, like a male demon, speaking slowly, "If I were a woman, I think I'd be quite pretty, right?"
"..."
The two then went to the underwear section. Sang Yan casually picked out a box and was about to head to the checkout.
Duan Jiaxu reminded him: "You should buy a set of clothes too."
Sang Yan caught on: "Did it get on the clothes too?"
Duan Jiaxu hummed in agreement.
Sang Yan nodded without asking further.
They turned a corner to the clothing area. Sang Yan casually scanned the racks and spotted a set of clothes in roughly the right size. Before he could pick it up, Duan Jiaxu suddenly pointed to one of the skirts and said, "Buy this one."
Sang Yan looked over.
The size was about right.
The color was almost identical to the one Sang Zhi was wearing today, with little noticeable difference.
Sang Yan didn't ask why, nor did he care much about the details, and simply took the skirt.
After leaving the supermarket, they returned to the restroom on the first floor.
Sang Yan stopped a woman about to enter and politely asked, "Excuse me, could you please take this to a little girl named Sang Zhi inside?"
The woman paused for a moment and said, "Sure."
Sang Yan: "Thank you."
Just as the woman was about to enter, Duan Jiaxu, standing nearby, spoke up and added, "By the way, could I trouble you with one more thing? She's quite young and might not fully understand this yet."
"Huh?"
Duan Jiaxu rubbed the back of his neck and, after a few seconds, continued, "Could you show her how to use it? She's a bit shy and might not ask for help."
The woman understood and smiled, "No problem."
Sang Zhi had been waiting in the restroom for quite a while.
The mall's design was quite user-friendly, with a seating area in the restroom for waiting. But she didn't dare sit, afraid the stain on her skirt would transfer to the chair.
She was too embarrassed to call Duan Jiaxu to hurry him along, so she just stood there waiting.
After more than ten minutes, a tall, slender woman she didn't know walked in. She glanced around the restroom, her eyes settling on Sang Zhi, and approached her, "Little girl, are you Sang Zhi?"
Sang Zhi quickly nodded.
"Your brother asked me to bring this to you." The woman handed her the bag and, after a moment's thought, added, "Do you know how to use it?"
Sang Zhi took the bag and nodded again, "Yes, thank you, sister."
Seeing her red eyes, the woman comforted her, "It's okay, this happens to everyone. Don't cry, go change quickly."
Sang Zhi thanked her again and then took the bag into a stall. She looked inside and, seeing that all the necessary items were there, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After carefully cleaning herself up, Sang Zhi clumsily put on a new sanitary pad and soon left the restroom. Unsure how to face Duan Jiaxu, she lingered by the sink for a while longer.
In the end, she walked out with a resigned attitude.
To her surprise, Duan Jiaxu wasn't outside. Instead, it was Sang Yan, whom she hadn't seen since getting out of the car. For a moment, her feelings of embarrassment and awkwardness eased slightly.
Noticing her, Sang Yan waved her over.
Sang Zhi silently walked up to him.
Staring at her red eyes, Sang Yan bent down slightly and asked, "Kid, why are you crying?"Hearing this, Sang Zhi's tears welled up again, her voice choked: "It's embarrassing."
Sang Yan: "Who said you're embarrassing?"
"It just is." Sang Zhi wiped her tears with the back of her hand, "Wah... And you even got me a transparent bag... Everyone can see..."
"The cashier gave me this bag." Sang Yan found it amusing, "Why are you blaming me? Go blame the cashier."
"I don't care... Wah..." Sang Zhi sobbed, acting willful, "You have to find me an opaque bag..."
"Where am I supposed to find one?" Annoyed by her crying, Sang Yan straightened up and reached out to her, "Alright, I'll carry it for you. That way, I'll be the embarrassed one, okay?"
Hearing this, Sang Zhi looked in his direction. Seemingly agreeing to the proposal, her crying gradually subsided as she handed him the bag while still shedding tears.
Sang Yan took the bag and grabbed her wrist with his other hand, teasing her: "And you still say you're not a kid? Crying over such a trivial matter."
Sang Zhi silently wiped the tears from her hand onto his clothes.
Surprisingly, Sang Yan didn't get angry and only said, "Aren't you gross?"
Sang Zhi sniffled: "I didn't wipe my snot on it."
Sang Yan shot her a cold glance: "You wouldn't dare."
As soon as he said that, Sang Zhi immediately grabbed the hem of his shirt and, as if determined to oppose him, deliberately blew her nose on it.
Sang Yan: "..."
The two of them, one big and one small, stood in a stalemate for a moment.
Sang Yan was the first to give in. Suppressing his temper, he took her to the restroom on the third floor, making her wash her face again while he cleaned up the mess on his clothes.
By the time they returned to the barbecue bar, it was almost 7 p.m.
Sang Zhi followed closely behind Sang Yan as they entered. She secretly glanced ahead and noticed Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei sitting side by side at a table for four.
Duan Jiaxu was seated in the inner spot, leaning against the back of his chair with a casual smile on his face as he listened to Qian Fei talk, occasionally responding.
His posture was far from proper—always lazy and relaxed, like a carefree young master.
Yet, he had an inexplicable charm that made it hard to look away.
Sang Zhi didn't know why it ended up being Sang Yan who came to find her. She guessed that Duan Jiaxu must have called Sang Yan. But thinking that it wasn't him who had to buy those things for her, she did feel a little less awkward.
Sang Yan had Sang Zhi take the inner seat.
Finally seeing them return, Qian Fei asked curiously, "Where did you guys go? I'm almost full."
Sang Zhi opened her mouth but didn't know how to explain.
Sang Yan placed the bag beside the chair, glanced at Sang Zhi, and effortlessly came up with a lie: "This kid went to play the claw machine and refused to come back for the longest time."
Qian Fei didn't overthink it. Perhaps because the colors were similar, he didn't even notice that Sang Zhi had changed into a different dress and just asked curiously, "So you didn't catch a single one?"
"Yeah," Sang Yan said slowly, "She even cried because she couldn't get one."
"Ah?" Qian Fei glanced at Sang Zhi and comforted her, "Little sister, it's okay. After dinner, I'll go catch one for you."
Sang Zhi pretended not to hear and accidentally met Duan Jiaxu's gaze across the table.
She immediately averted her eyes.
Qian Fei didn't press the topic further and pointed to the menu nearby, "Should we order some more then?""Alright." Sang Yan placed the menu in front of Sang Zhi. "Order whatever you want."
Qian Fei, munching on a skewer of chicken cartilage, asked, "Sang Yan, are you drinking? Get a pitcher, it's no fun drinking alone."
Sang Yan replied bluntly, "No, I'm driving later."
Qian Fei rolled his eyes. "Damn, you're not drinking, and Duan Jiaxu isn't either. Who comes to a barbecue joint without drinking?"
Sang Yan said, "Well, now you've seen it."
Sang Zhi secretly glanced up again.
This time, she didn't coincidentally meet his gaze. Duan Jiaxu was looking down, rinsing a glass with hot water before filling it halfway. The moment he lifted his head, Sang Zhi immediately averted her eyes.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the glass of water being placed in front of her.
Sang Zhi looked up and said obediently, "Thank you."
Soon, Sang Zhi finished ordering and handed the menu back to Sang Yan.
Sang Yan scanned it and was about to call the waiter when he noticed two skewers she had ordered. He turned to ask, "Did you order these?"
Sang Zhi said, "Yeah."
"Be more self-aware." Sang Yan directly crossed them out with a pen. "Don't make me remind you."
Sang Zhi was displeased but too embarrassed to argue with him in front of others, so she muttered quietly, "A little bit won't hurt. I only ordered one skewer."
Sang Yan said impatiently, "Don't even think about it. I don't have the time to take care of you, kid."
Qian Fei chimed in from across the table, "Sang Yan, you won't even let your little sister eat what she wants? It's fine, little sister, order it. I'll treat you."
"Shut up," Sang Yan snapped. "She's allergic to beef and lamb."
"Oh," Qian Fei quickly backtracked. "Then, little sister, have something else. Getting sick is no fun."
It was only a mild allergy—a little wouldn't hurt.
But Sang Zhi had no say in the matter and had to give in. She picked up the glass of water in front of her, taking small sips as she listened to the three older men discuss topics she had no interest in.
After waiting for what felt like ages,
Sang Zhi couldn't take it anymore and poked Sang Yan's arm. "Brother."
Sang Yan turned his head. "What?"
"I'm so hungry."
This barbecue place was taking forever to serve the food.
Sang Yan glanced around the table and pushed a plate of barely touched beef hor fun in front of her. "Eat this first to tide you over."
Sang Zhi said, "Okay," and picked up her chopsticks.
Just as she was about to scoop a small portion into her bowl, she suddenly noticed there was still quite a bit of beef left in the hor fun. As if she had discovered a treasure, her first instinct was to glance at Sang Yan, then at Duan Jiaxu and Qian Fei.
None of the three were looking in her direction.
Feeling like a thief, Sang Zhi hid a piece of beef inside the hor fun.
She planned to pick it up together.
That way, no one would notice there was an extra piece of beef in her bowl, and no one would know she had secretly eaten beef tonight.
—A flawless plan.
Just as she picked up the clump of hor fun,
Duan Jiaxu suddenly called out to her.
"Kid."
Sang Zhi's chopsticks loosened, and she looked up. "Huh?"
Duan Jiaxu rested his cheek on one hand, his eyebrows slightly raised and the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile. He drawled, "Let your brother have a bowl first?"
Her movements halted, and she silently withdrew her chopsticks. "Oh."
Then she pushed the plate toward him.
The other two were busy chatting and didn't notice their exchange.Duan Jiaxu unwrapped a new pair of chopsticks and leisurely stirred the plate of beef hor fun. In the following moments, Sang Zhi kept her eyes fixed on his movements.
Then, she watched as he picked out every single piece of beef from the noodles—not a single shred left—and placed them all into his own bowl, without taking a single strand of the hor fun.
Only after he had picked it completely clean did he push the plate back in front of her: "Done."
"..."
"Eat up."
"..."
OpenNovel