After boarding the plane, Sang Zhi found her seat, sent a message to Sang Yan on WeChat, and then turned off her phone.
The plane taxied, rumbling loudly as it ascended into the sky.
Sang Zhi pulled up the window shade and looked outside. She watched as Yihe City gradually shrank in her vision, blurred by a blanket of white mist until it became indistinguishable.
She withdrew her gaze, closed her eyes to rest for a while, but still felt no drowsiness. Sang Zhi simply took a comic book from her bag and flipped to the page where she had last left off.
Yet she couldn’t focus on anything.
Sang Zhi let out a sigh and abruptly snapped the comic shut.
She began recalling the events of the previous night once more.
She had been sitting on the ground playing in the snow when Duan Jiaxu appeared. She started crying, saying she had someone she liked, then threw up on him. Later, she spouted a bunch of nonsense, crying and shouting, utterly disheveled.
After that, he carried her back to school, and she had no further memories.
It was a coherent recollection, with no sense of missing any parts.
But Duan Jiaxu’s reaction today seemed as if she had blacked out from drinking and said something she shouldn’t have.
Thinking about it that way didn’t seem quite right either.
If she had really said something, he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did today.
Sang Zhi also recalled his reaction after being splashed with water before—he had inexplicably laughed then, too. And yesterday, after she threw up on him, he seemed to be in a particularly good mood today.
Sang Zhi: "..."
Is this old man a bit mentally unstable?
Arriving at Nanwu Airport.
Sang Zhi got off the plane and followed the signs to wait for her checked luggage. She turned on her phone and saw Sang Yan’s reply, immediately responding: 【I’m here, coming out soon.】
After waiting for a long time, she finally spotted her suitcase, grabbed it, and headed out.
Sang Yan was standing outside the exit, wearing a thin black jacket. He lowered his gaze, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone as if replying to someone.
Sang Zhi walked up to him.
Seeing that he still hadn’t looked up, Sang Zhi suddenly remembered what he had said on the phone earlier and swallowed the word "brother," affectionately changing it to: "Sang Yan."
"..." Sang Yan’s movements halted as he lifted his eyes coolly. "Trying to rebel?"
Sang Zhi blinked. "You told me not to call you brother."
"I told you not to ask me for money—did you listen? And telling me you’re scrimping and saving," Sang Yan scanned her up and down, his tone indifferent, "Have you stepped on a scale lately?"
"..."
"Next time you try to act pitiful," Sang Yan took the suitcase from her hand, "remember to lose some weight before coming back."
Sang Zhi was annoyed. "I only weigh eighty jin."
"Mm," Sang Yan said. "Then you must carry it well."
Sang Zhi couldn’t help retorting, "You look like you’re only one meter fifty."
Sang Yan replied indifferently, "Mm, and are you even one meter tall?"
"..."
Sang Rong was away on a business trip, so only Li Ping was at home. Several prepared dishes were already on the table, and she was still busy in the kitchen.
Hearing the door, Li Ping immediately came out, her hands still wet.
Sang Zhi bounced over and hugged her.
Having not seen each other for several months, Li Ping missed her dearly. Frowning as she looked at Sang Zhi, she kept muttering about how much thinner she had gotten, though the smile at the corners of her lips was impossible to hide.Soon, she spotted Sang Yan behind her and her expression instantly changed: "You brat, you actually know how to come home? Did you stand up Aunt Wang's daughter? That girl waited over an hour for you at the shop!"
This was the first time Sang Zhi had heard about this matter. She immediately quieted down, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
"Why are you setting me up with random people?" Sang Yan placed Sang Zhi's luggage aside and said lazily, "Didn't I already tell you I wasn't going?"
Li Ping scolded him with exasperation before heading into the kitchen.
Perhaps having been lectured about this numerous times, Sang Yan didn't seem to care much. He walked over to the sofa, sat down, and poured himself a glass of water.
Sang Zhi immediately moved closer to him and asked curiously, "Brother, were you on a blind date?"
"..." Sang Yan glanced at her. "None of your business."
"I'm just asking." Sang Zhi was particularly interested in this topic. "Did you not go?"
"Why would I need to go on blind dates?"
"But you don't have a girlfriend either." After thinking carefully, Sang Zhi found a reason. "Are you too embarrassed to go?"
Sang Yan leaned back on the sofa, too lazy to respond to her.
Remembering Duan Jiaxu's request for her to help find him a girlfriend, Sang Zhi hesitated but still spoke up: "Why don't you go with Brother Jiaxu?"
Hearing this, Sang Yan lifted his eyelids.
"He seems quite interested in finding a girlfriend recently too. You could go to Yihe to find him, or have him come to Nanwu to meet you." Sang Zhi said sincerely, "Then you two could team up for some blind dates."
"..."
"But in that case," Sang Zhi suddenly realized this might not work well, "you might be at a disadvantage because he'd outshine you... Maybe you should..."
Sang Yan said coldly, "Can you shut up?"
Sang Zhi swallowed her words and muttered, "Forget it, you can grow old alone then."
Coincidentally, Sang Yan's phone on the table chimed. He opened it to check and suddenly curled his lips, looking quite pleased: "Kid, let me tell you something."
Sang Zhi looked at him: "What?"
"Recently, there's a girl who wants to chase me." Sang Yan said, "I don't have time to deal with anyone else, understand?"
"..." Sang Zhi somewhat doubted what she had just heard, finding it hard to process. "You mean, someone, wants, to pursue you?"
"So," Sang Yan turned off his screen and said slowly, "tell that Duan Jiaxu to go enjoy his blind dates alone with his tacky pickup lines."
Sang Zhi: "..."-
Not long after graduating from university, Sang Yan had moved out from home. So after dinner, he didn't stay longer and left after saying goodbye to Li Ping.
Sang Zhi helped Li Ping clean up the table before returning to her room to unpack her luggage.
The clothes she had prepared as gifts for Sang Rong and Sang Yan were separately packed in two bags. Seeing this reminded Sang Zhi of Duan Jiaxu's promise to give her a belated New Year's gift.
She wondered what he would give her.
For Sang Zhi's eighteenth birthday, Duan Jiaxu had sent her a set of cosmetics. At that time, she was still preparing for her college entrance exams and only thanked him briefly before forgetting about the matter.
Afterward, that cosmetics set had been placed on her dressing table and never touched again.
When she went to Yihe City, she hadn't remembered to bring it with her either.At this thought, Sang Zhi got up and picked up the makeup bag on the dressing table. She rummaged through it, glanced at the brand, and realized it seemed quite expensive.
Come to think of it, his current circumstances seemed much better than during his university days.
He had a car and lived in a decent neighborhood.
He probably wasn’t struggling as much as before.
Sigh.
Then why did she still feel like he was pitiful?
Sang Zhi sat back on the floor, resting her chin on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
Her mind felt somewhat empty.
After a while, she inexplicably recalled the words she might or might not have misheard earlier that day while sitting in his car.
—"That works too."
The sentence before that was:
—"You’re this old?"
"..."
Forget it.
She must have misheard.
And maybe he was just teasing her as usual with a few words.
But that didn’t seem quite right either.
He had never said anything like that before.
"..."
The more Sang Zhi thought about it, the more annoyed she became.
She climbed onto the bed and rolled over. Taking out her phone, she pushed the matter aside and sent Duan Jiaxu a WeChat message: 【I’m home.】
After a moment’s thought, she added: 【Brother Ji Xu, it seems like my brother has a girlfriend.】
Brother No. 2: 【Hmm.】
Sang Zhi scratched her head and tentatively said: 【She seems quite young.】
Brother No. 2: 【Your brother wouldn’t go after a minor.】
Sang Zhi hesitated: 【Is it okay as long as she’s an adult?】
A long while passed.
Duan Jiaxu sent a voice message.
Sang Zhi’s heart inexplicably raced as she nervously tapped to play it.
The man’s deep voice came through the speaker, casual and matter-of-fact: "Once they’re adults, graduate high school, and go to college—aren’t they basically grown-ups already?"
Another message followed.
His voice carried a hint of laughter: "Why wouldn’t it be okay?"
Because Duan Jiaxu could say such things, Sang Zhi found it utterly unbelievable and couldn’t sleep well all night. But rationally speaking, she felt he was looking at it from an outsider’s perspective.
At least, from anyone’s point of view, it made sense.
It wasn’t a huge age gap—just six or seven years.
But Sang Zhi had met Duan Jiaxu when she was thirteen.
So, perhaps, there was a possibility that in his eyes, she would always remain that thirteen-year-old girl, unchanged.
She had met him when she was still a child.
So, in his eyes, she would always be a child.
Even if he believed he could date someone her age,
he didn’t include her in that category.
Unable to sleep, Sang Zhi got up in the middle of the night and pulled a cardboard box out from under her bed. She used a utility knife to cut through the tape on top and took out the contents inside.
She found the ugly stuffed toy that Duan Jiaxu had said years ago he would give her if she wanted it.
Sang Zhi placed it on the bed and stared at it for a long time.
After a while, her lips relaxed, and she muttered gloomily, "Even if—just hypothetically—you didn’t see me as a child anymore—"
"I still wouldn’t chase after you." Sang Zhi poked the stuffed toy with her finger, emphasizing, "It’s not like no one’s interested in me. I’m so pretty, and you’re already so old. In a few years, you’ll probably have wrinkles."
Sang Zhi grumbled under her breath, "Wishful thinking."
Qian Fei’s wedding was scheduled for the eighth day of the Lunar New Year.Since he lived in Nanwu, Sang Zhi was quite familiar with him. Apart from picking her up a few times during middle school, he would occasionally be brought back by Sang Yan during her high school years to have meals at their home.
So when he got married, Sang Zhi was also invited.
On the eighth day of the lunar new year.
Sang Zhi deliberately changed into nicer clothes and went with Sang Yan. She was seated at the table for Qian Fei's university classmates, most of whom were men.
Then, Sang Zhi saw Duan Jiaxu.
She knew he would be there, so she wasn't too surprised.
She just couldn't help stealing a few more glances at him.
Duan Jiaxu was wearing a simple white shirt with a black suit jacket over it, looking much more formal than usual, his flamboyant aura somewhat subdued. He sat across from her, next to a woman who was chatting with him.
Sang Zhi averted her gaze but suddenly felt something was off and glanced at him again.
She immediately noticed that the tie he was wearing today was the one she had given him.
As if sensing her stare, Duan Jiaxu lifted his eyes and looked toward her, his peach blossom eyes curving into a smile in an instant. The next second, he said something to the woman beside him, then stood up and walked over to Sang Yan.
After a brief discussion with the man sitting next to Sang Yan, the two swapped seats.
Sang Zhi was sitting right beside Sang Yan.
Hearing Sang Yan laugh, he said in an extremely annoying tone, "Duan Jiaxu, I just sat down, and you're already rushing over to see your dad?"
Duan Jiaxu lowered his eyes, switching his tableware, and didn't pay much attention to his remark.
"Call me Dad." Sang Yan leaned back in his chair, reached over, and snatched the Red Packet Sang Zhi had placed on the table, tilting the corner of his mouth. "The New Year's over, but Dad will still give you a Red Packet."
That Red Packet was from a relative who had suddenly visited just before Sang Zhi left home.
Sang Zhi glanced at it but couldn't bring herself to snatch it back in public, so she had to swallow her anger and pretend not to see it, sipping the water in front of her.
Duan Jiaxu's eyelids twitched slightly, his gaze sweeping over Sang Zhi very quickly. Propping his cheek on one hand, he looked at Sang Yan and drawled, "Calling you 'Dad' is a bit hard to say. How about 'Bro'?"
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow. "Calling me 'Big Bro' works too."
Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu looked at Sang Zhi again, his gaze direct, his eyes seemingly filled with affection. He chuckled lightly, without any hesitation or resistance, and instantly called out.
"Mm, Gege."
That address was utterly shocking.
"..."
Sang Zhi nearly choked, grabbing a tissue and coughing several times.
After a few seconds of silence, Sang Yan stared at him wordlessly as if he didn't recognize him. The corner of his forehead twitched, and he said, utterly speechless, "Who are you trying to disgust with that cutesy repetition?"
"Gege," Duan Jiaxu took the Red Packet, tapping it twice with his fingertips, and said in a casual, roguish tone, "Thanks."
Sang Yan said expressionlessly, "No need to thank me. Give it back."
"I'll accept this Red Packet as you said." Duan Jiaxu acted as if he hadn't heard him, pocketing the Red Packet and smiling gently. "Then it's settled. From now on, you're my Gege.Sang Yan's expression was subtle. "What's wrong with you today?"
"Nothing's wrong." Duan Jiaxu laughed, as if he wouldn't stop, dragging out his tone. "Thanks for your concern, Gege."
"..."
Author's Note:
Sang Yan: ???? I'm suffocating.
Sang Zhi: I-I-I'm a bit too.
Duan Jiaxu: Now that I've called you Gege, by rounding up, I'm your little sister's boyfriend.
OpenNovel