The comical look on Shen Peichuan’s face had Lin Xinyan hiding her smile behind a hand.
Shen Peichuan’s gaze bounced between Sang Yu’s face and the necklace around her neck. He had honestly not noticed she was wearing it. In fact, she had never had the habit of wearing such an accessory. She was constantly surrounded by men around her age in university while he had been busy outstation the past two months. Panic crested in him at the thought.
But with so many other people around, he was not comfortable bringing this issue up. Steeling himself, he said, “You’re not allowed to accept other people’s gifts.”
Sang Yu took a bite of some vegetables, chewing slowly before swallowing. “It was a wedding gift. I couldn’t exactly refuse.”
Shen Peichuan’s expression darkened. “You’re obviously married and yet they still got you that?”
She nodded.
He pursed his lips and said in a tight voice, “Return it. Just tell me what you like and I’ll buy it for you.”
Sang Yu could not stop a bubble of laughter from escaping her. “You really want me to return this to Xinyan?”
Once again, Shen Peichuan was rendered speechless.
He shifted his gaze over to Lin Xinyan, who stared back at him steadily.
“That’s right, I gave it to her. I deliberately said all that so you’ll feel threatened. Sang Yu is still young and very beautiful, so a lot of men will definitely want to court her. That’s why you have to pay more attention to her. Don’t think that you can ignore her just because you’ve already gotten your marriage certificate.”
“I didn’t ignore her,” Shen Peichuan replied in an aggrieved tone. He loved Sang Yu from the bottom of his heart and was sincere in every interaction with her.
Taking in the lost look on her husband’s face, Sang Yu grabbed his hand from under the table. She had been so angry at him for not contacting her and being distant recently. But seeing him at a loss now caused her heart to soften.
Shen Peichuan squeezed her hand tightly, a layer of sweat breaking out on his palm.
After dinner, it was time for Shen Peichuan and Sang Yu to return home.
Sang Yu was sitting in the passenger seat while Shen Peichuan drove. Silence curled around them as they both kept quiet.
Fiddling with her safety belt, Sang Yu broke the silence, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
It was not that Shen Peichuan had nothing to say but that he had too many things to say. He did not know where to even begin.
Sang Yu sighed. “The day you left… I woke up and you were already gone. You didn’t even call me and only sent me a message once. And… You know what, forget it.”
There was no point in bringing all this up now.
Shen Peichuan stopped the car by the roadside. After several seconds of thought, he answered, “I was really busy those few days.”
She bowed her head as she muttered, “But you rarely contacted me even after those first few days. Is it really so hard to send me a message asking how I was doing and that you missed me?”
“Sometimes I only get home when it’s already very late. I was worried you would be resting… “
“Every single day, I stayed up late waiting for you to contact me.” She lifted her head to stare at him. Unknowingly, tears sparkled in her eyes.
Shen Peichuan panicked when he saw that she was about to cry. “Sang Yu, I’m so sorry.”
Sang Yu dabbed at the corner of her eyes. “Forget it.”
She already knew what sort of man he was before they got together. In the end, she had nobody to blame but herself for this.
“Let’s go home.”
She faced forward resolutely.
Inwardly blaming himself for making her cry, he reached out to wipe her tears away. “I’m sorry for neglecting you. I’ll definitely call you whenever I have time in the future…”
Turning back to him, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck. She choked out, “It’s not that I purposely want to get angry at you. It’s just that you didn’t contact me! I couldn’t help myself! I thought you didn’t love me anymore, that you didn’t care for me and miss me at all! We were only intimate that once… I just want you to pay more attention to me…”
He drew her into a tight embrace while stroking her back comfortingly. “I did miss you. I really, really missed you and I do love you.”
“Then why didn’t you call me?” she demanded.
Not having a good answer to that, he promised instead, “I won’t do that again.”
She sniffled. “You’ll call me in the future?”
He nodded. “I will. So please, don’t cry anymore.”
Swiping the tears off her cheeks, she urged, “Let’s go.”
Shen Peichuan let her go but did not immediately start the engines again. He was silent for several moments before he finally said, “I know I was wrong.”
She was still young. He had left her alone after making her a true woman and left her hanging adrift without contacting her. He could understand how upset and sad she must have been.
“Next time, tell me if you’re feeling unhappy, okay? I might not realize anything’s wrong but believe me, I do love you.” A steady and capable man at work, Shen Peichuan found himself at a loss when it came to her.
“Okay, I got it.”
Expecting him to notice when something’s wrong is too much to ask of him. He’s not very good when it comes to matters of the heart.
“Let’s go home,” she repeated. Finally, he turned on the engine and they continued on their way home.
A while later, he parked the car in the parking lot of their neighborhood. It was only after they exited the vehicle that he suddenly asked, “You said you had a lot of classes and had to stay at the dorm. Is that because you were angry at me?”
She gave an exasperated laugh. “You only realize that now?”
Shen Peichuan was speechless.
Hooking her arm through the crook of his elbow, she sighed, “Oh well. I guess I better get used to that.”
He’s such a typically obtuse man. Well, I chose this man so I have no choice but to see this through. I just have to be more straightforward from now on! It’s my own fault for falling in love with a man like him.
They entered the elevator and Shen Peichuan pressed the button for their floor. Since there was no one else in the elevator, Sang Yu stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Do you want me?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. If he were to be honest right now, the answer would definitely be yes.
As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. For a thirty-year-old man like him who had only recently lost his virginity, it was not hard to imagine the depth of his wants.
Hooking his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him in an embrace. He then caressed her head.
Ding. The elevator stopped on their floor and they stepped out.
