Shen Peichuan was surprised. “What are you doing here?” he exclaimed.
Su Zhan finally turned his attention to him and retorted, “Am I not allowed to be here?”
Shen Peichuan replied that that was not what he meant before turning to Sang Yu. “Wait here for me.”
Shen Peichuan then walked out.
Su Zhan stood statuesque, keeping his eyes trained on Shen Peichuan. “No wonder you hang around outside; you have a beauty by your side.”
Shen Peichuan was well aware of Su Zhan’s personality. Given my relationship with Sang Yu, he’s definitely going to harass me to no end.
Shen Peichuan pulled Su Zhan away and sternly demanded, “I’m being serious. How did you find this place?”
“You’re the one who called, so it wasn’t hard to figure out your location. Besides, Xinyan thinks you’re having a hard time because of her and Jinghao. She’s worried about you and asked me to come and take a look. Jinghao was supposed to come, but his daughter still hasn’t fully recovered after that incident and is still unable to be on her own. That’s why I came over instead. I thought I would find you beaten to a pulp with no life left in you, but it looks as though you’ve been living it up. How did you get Sang Yu to come?”
Shen Peichuan hastily mumbled a brief explanation. “She came here after leaving B City. We only met by coincidence.”
“Coincidence?” Su Zhan smirked, punctuating the word slyly. “Coincidence or fate? You mean in this sea of people, the tides just happened to have brought the two of you together?”
Shen Peichuan furrowed his brow. “Stop spouting nonsense.”
Su Zhan grinned. “Is it really nonsense?”
Shen Peichuan could not be bothered with him and walked over to take a seat on the stone slab under the tree. Su Zhan followed and continued, “Don’t forget you still have a lady waiting for you back in B City.”
Su Zhan took a seat next to him and gave him a knowing look.
Shen Peichuan had not forgotten about that. “I’m just about to go handle this matter.”
Su Zhan jumped to his feet in astonishment. “What did you just say? You’re going back?” he asked in a shrill voice.
Shen Peichuan nodded.
Su Zhan smiled wryly. “Have you gone crazy?”
He stilled himself and divulged his thoughts to Shen Peichuan. “According to my observations, even if you manage to make it back alive, that woman still won’t let you out of her clutches. She went through much effort to capture you; there’s no way she’ll let you go without a fight.”
Shen Peichuan pursed his lips. I was the one who made the promise, so I need to be responsible to her.
Su Zhan knew where Su Peichuan was coming from. He’s an upright man of responsibility, but he is clueless about women!
He sat back down and analyzed the situation out loud. “Think about it, Shen Peichuan. You’ve already brought Ms. Song to meet me and Jinghao. This indicates that she’s earned a certain position in your heart and that both of you are now in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. If you go back and she doesn’t let go of you, what will you do then?”
Shen Peichuan did not think Song Yaxin was such a clingy woman. But Su Zhan has a point. What if she refuses to break up?
I can’t betray or hurt Sang Yu in any way.
Sang Yu has nothing other than me now.
“What do you think I should do?” Shen Peichuan queried.
He was out of ideas.
“I’ve already come up with a plan. No offense, but in that family Captain Song is the only decent person,” Su Zhan arrogantly declared.
Shen Peichuan pretended not to have heard those words. He respected Captain Song, after all. However, Su Zhan must have his reasons for hating the Song family all of a sudden.
“I haven’t informed the Song family that I’ve found you; I’m pretty sure they think you’re long dead. My plan is simple: all you have to do is stay here for the next two months and keep yourself completely out of sight,” Su Zhan said.
Shen Peichuan frowned. “That’s your plan?”
“After two months, if Song Yaxin is still pining for you, we can be sure that her feelings for you are genuine. If she can’t even last two months and starts to search for a new apple of her eye, it’ll prove that she never really loved you in the first place. She was probably only with you for your good looks and qualifications. If you turn up when she’s trying to snag a new guy, she won’t have any grounds to hold onto you.”
Shen Peichuan was reluctant. “What if she doesn’t try to find anyone new after two months?”
Doesn’t that mean that I’ll be stuck with her?
“Then we’ll present her with definitive proof of your death. There’s no way she’ll remain loyal past death, right?” Su Zhan scoffed. He was clearly confident that Song Yaxin would not be able to last two months. She’ll move onto another target. That I’m sure.
Shen Peichuan contemplated for a while before replying, “But we’ll be lying…”
“So what if we lie? Song Yaxin has been married before. What right does she have to ensnare you?” Su Zhan flared up.
Shen Peichuan lowered his gaze. Su Zhan’s plan does sound good but it involves lying. How will I face Captain Song?
“Fine. We’ll do it your way.” Shen Peichuan finally assented.
Wow. A stick in the mud like Shen Peichuan is actually able to get over his sense of responsibility. He agreed so quickly. Looks like he really feels nothing for Song Yaxin.
He lightly punched Shen Peichuan. “Are you and Sang Yu official?” Su Zhan asked excitedly.
Shen Peichuan angled his body away before letting out a soft sound of confirmation.
Su Zhan sniggered. “Holy shit! You guys move fast. I guess what they say is true, that difficult times always lead to better days.”
Shen Peichuan did not elaborate. “I really like her. I want to take care of her,” he said sincerely.
Su Zhan smiled. “Is it possible that you’re just taking pity on her? Weren’t you turned off by how young she is? What changed?”
Shen Peichuan glanced at him. It was true that he never thought about it in that sense; the only issue he foresaw was their age difference.
Even when they interacted, he brushed off all possible feelings her for by reminding himself how incompatible they were.
But when he then saw someone pursuing her, he became scared that she would leave him.
What else could this be other than love?
“What time are you leaving?” Shen Peichuan asked.
