Shen Ruxu’s expression changed in an instant.
His smile vanished.
The corners of his lips were still held in the same curve as before, but the little spark in his eyes had been doused by a bucket of ice-cold water, extinguished completely.
He suddenly turned cold and asked, each word distinct, “Who are you planning to pursue?”
Sui Ning was completely unable to process the change in him. He was a little confused, and inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt.
He instinctively pressed his phone more firmly into his palm. “Shen Yi. What’s wrong? You… know her too?”
Shen Ruxu suddenly smiled.
There was something strange about that smile, something that sent a chill down the spine.
“Sui Ning,” he drawled slowly, staring straight at him. His voice was soft, almost coaxing, “we’re good friends, right?”
“Yes.”
“Shouldn’t good friends be honest with each other?”
“…Yes.”
“Then can you tell me?” Shen Ruxu leaned forward slightly, bracing his elbow on the table. The distance between them suddenly closed to an uncomfortable degree.
“When did you start having these thoughts about my little sister?”
The question left Sui Ning stunned, and suddenly reminded him of something he had never seriously considered.
Shen Ruxu’s surname was Shen.
And Shen Yi’s surname was Shen too.
The thought stabbed into the back of his head like a needle and pierced all the way down to the soles of his feet.
Sui Ning’s throat tightened. He was caught completely off guard. “Little sister? You’re family?”
And just now, he had announced in front of her brother that he wanted to pursue her.
“…”
The air fell silent.
Sui Ning felt as though his entire life were flashing before his eyes.
Thinking about Shen Ruxu, Sui Ning decided that he really was spectacularly unlucky.
All he had wanted was to pursue a girl, yet somehow he had ended up saying it right in front of her brother.
Most importantly, her brother was no kindhearted man.
“I wasn’t joking,” Sui Ning steadied himself, trying to steer the situation back onto the sort of conversational track befitting two adults. “I’m serious.”
Shen Ruxu’s smile faded. His entire face suddenly became three parts similar to Shen Wenta’s—cold, emotionless, and appraising.
“I know some men like pursuing danger and excitement. It’s very common. Everyone is drawn to girls who are unusual and carry a hint of mystery,” he said, though he wasn’t looking at himself, his voice inexplicably icy. “In other words, everyone would like my sister.”
Sui Ning was pinned in place by a single look from Shen Ruxu.
“You’re my good friend. Whoever you like, I’ll support you,” he said, stressing every word. “But not Shen Yi.”
Whatever Sui Ning did, Shen Ruxu would never get angry. He would be more than happy to support him.
Except when it came to this. Absolutely not.
Sui Ning had known Shen Ruxu for many years.
He had always thought that Shen Ruxu had a wonderful personality, that he was indulgent toward everyone, and he had never once seen what the man looked like when he was angry.
As a result, he had overlooked his dangerous nature for far too long.
No matter how amiable he seemed, he was still a dangerous man.
The vague thought had barely flashed through Sui Ning’s mind when he said, “But I’m serious…”
The instant the words left his mouth, Shen Ruxu’s expression turned cold.
Without warning, he reached out, heading straight for Sui Ning’s neck.
His fingertips brushed over Sui Ning’s collar, cold as a snake’s tongue.
Sui Ning’s pupils contracted sharply, and cold sweat broke out across his back.
He had no time to dodge. There was only one thought in his mind—
This man was going to kill him.
Shen Ruxu wasn’t making a threat or trying to frighten him.
He truly, truly was going to kill him.
That hand stopped in midair, the fingertips still roughly two inches from Sui Ning’s throat.
Sui Ning could even feel the temperature of the other man’s fingertips—so cold they barely seemed human.
Just then, someone knocked on the private room door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Shen Ruxu’s hand froze in midair.
The door was suddenly pushed open.
The moment he saw who had arrived, Shen Ruxu instinctively withdrew his hand. The coldness vanished from his face in the same instant, leaving behind only a trace of gloom he hadn’t managed to hide in time.
Shen Yi leaned half her body into the room, her gaze sweeping across it.
She spotted a familiar face, to her surprise.
“What a coincidence. Second Brother.”
She was holding a thick stack of documents, ready to hand them over. The papers had been rolled into a tube in her grip.
“What are you doing here too?”
Sui Ning instinctively covered his neck.
His fingers trembled slightly, and his heart pounded as if it were about to leap from his chest. He shifted backward discreetly, widening the distance between himself and Shen Ruxu, then lowered his head and used a cough to conceal his ragged breathing.
…This man really was insane.
It had been just one sentence, yet he had actually attacked him.
Sui Ning clenched his back teeth. Facing Shen Yi, he forced a seemingly casual smile onto his face, trying to gloss over what had happened.
The corners of his mouth pulled upward stiffly, but at least the smile held.
No matter how you looked at it, confessing that he wanted to pursue the girl he liked, only to nearly be killed the next second in front of her brother, was unbelievably humiliating.
Pretending nothing had happened, Sui Ning smiled. “That was fast. Thanks for your hard work.”
Shen Yi replied casually, “Mm-hmm. It was a pretty simple assignment, after all.”
“You two know each other too? What were you doing?”
She assumed the two friends had been playing some strange game.
But Sui Ning’s expression of lingering shock was far too obvious, while Shen Ruxu…
Shen Ruxu said nothing.
He was rarely like this.
Every time Shen Yi saw him, Shen Ruxu was always cheerful and full of smiles, as though nothing could weigh on his mind.
This was the first time she had ever seen him completely withdrawn like this.
It was a little strange…
Shen Yi looked back and forth between them, her gaze circling from one to the other. “Did you two have a fight?”
“No.” Sui Ning’s shoulders tightened.
The fleeting gloom on Shen Ruxu’s face returned in an instant, but he didn’t answer.
The atmosphere was odd. It was as though something invisible were silently twisting through the air.
Unwilling to get involved in this inexplicable battlefield, she handed the documents to the client, hurriedly said goodbye to Sui Ning, and then dragged Shen Ruxu out with her.
The corridor was brighter than the private room.
The ceiling lights shone starkly white, making Shen Ruxu’s face look especially pale.
Shen Yi tugged him by the sleeve and didn’t let go until they reached the corner. Then she turned around to face him.
“What happened between you two?”
Shen Ruxu muttered something. His voice was too soft, and Shen Yi couldn’t make it out. She leaned closer. “What?”
“Sui Ning has someone he likes.”
As he said it, he looked away, his expression gloomy and the corners of his mouth turned down.
Shen Yi asked, “So? Why are you upset?”
She tilted her head and joked half-heartedly, “Don’t tell me you’re unhappy because the person he likes isn’t you?”
Shen Ruxu’s face fell.
The corners of his mouth drooped by a fraction of an inch, and the slight downward curve of his eyes pressed lower still.
He looked thoroughly miserable, like a large dog drenched by the rain, every strand of fur drooping.
“Don’t joke about that.”
He turned his face aside. His light-colored eyes rested vaguely on the empty air, his expression impossible to read. The corridor lights shone across his profile, casting the shadow of his lashes over the small patch beneath his eyes and hiding whatever emotions lay there.
In all the years Shen Yi had known him, this was the first time she felt that she truly couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
Sure enough, a young man’s mood was like the weather in June—changing at the drop of a hat.
Confused, Shen Yi casually ruffled his hair. “I’m going home. I still need to talk to Sui Ning about the final payment. I can’t be bothered with you.”
She waved a hand and turned to leave.
Shen Ruxu didn’t say a word the entire way home.
As soon as they got back, Shen Yi was about to go upstairs when he was stopped.
Shen Ruxu suddenly said, “Sui Ning likes you.”
“I know.” Shen Yi paused and looked back at him calmly. “He told me before, but I’m not considering that right now.”
“What about later?”
Shen Yi sighed, feeling tired herself. “Later is too far away. I’d rather think about how to make Mom happy with my next exam.”
If she didn’t do well, Mom would go berserk.
At her words, Shen Ruxu couldn’t help squeezing the pillow in his arms until it was flattened. He murmured, “…So there’s still a chance?”
Actually, it was perfectly normal for a man and a woman to date.
When he was younger, he had liked pursuing women as well. Usually, things ended with the woman slapping him, because his words were far too offensive.
Besides, when Shen Ruxu had been an adolescent, his somewhat childish-looking face had led most women to treat him more like a son than someone they might be romantically interested in.
He didn’t want to be anyone’s son.
So he stopped wanting to socialize with women altogether.
His elder brother, on the other hand, was practically unstoppable when it came to relationships.
When Shen Ruxu had been young and knew nothing about such things, he had worshiped his elder brother tremendously and even gone to him humbly for advice.
Shen Zhizhao had responded by tossing him a copy of The High-EQ Conversation Practice Manual.
Shen Ruxu hadn’t understood a word of it.
“Shen Yi, I’ll support you no matter what kind of boy you like. Anyone but Sui Ning. He’s too devious.”
Shen Yi shrugged. “So far, he’s the most normal man I’ve been able to meet.”
That wasn’t to say she liked him.
But there was no way Shen Ruxu could stop her from having normal social interactions because of it.
Shen Ruxu ran off in a huff.
He made a video call to Shen Wenta.
The other man kept day and night reversed, and his voice was muffled, as if he had just been dragged out from under the covers. “What do you want?”
“Do you know Sui Ning?”
“I know him.” Shen Wenta sensed something ominous. “Why are you asking?”
Shen Ruxu immediately put the pieces together. “I knew it. There’s no way Xiao Yi would have met him on her own. This is obviously your fault. You’re the one who introduced them, aren’t you?”
“My fault? You’ve got some nerve!” Shen Wenta covered his eyes, enduring the glare of the phone screen, then abruptly turned on the light. The brightness made him squint.
He also remembered Sui Ning’s uncharacteristic behavior on the ship. Understanding dawned on him, and he let out a mocking laugh. “He’s your friend, isn’t he? This is all because you go around making friends with every stray cat and dog out there.”
“My friends aren’t cats and dogs,” Shen Ruxu muttered in protest. Then he relented, his airy tone taking an abrupt turn. “But you’re right. Useless friends are a nuisance. We could just kill him.”
The two of them whispered conspiratorially for a long while, considering how to make Sui Ning drop dead.
But doing so would obviously make Shen Yi hate them.
Neither of them was willing to be the villain.
Shen Ruxu tried to egg him on. “You go kill him.”
Shen Wenta sneered. “I’m outside. How am I supposed to do that?”
After a moment of silence, Shen Wenta crawled out from under the covers. A small section of his pale wrist showed as he gripped his phone tightly and frowned. “I’m away right now. I won’t be back for a few days. It seems like it’s just you and Xiao Xun at home, right? Surely you’re not so useless that you can’t even deal with Sui Ning?”
“And one more thing.” Still worried, he solemnly added, “Don’t kill Sui Ning. She seems to have no idea what liking someone even means right now. If you kill him, I’m afraid Shen Yi might develop a rebellious fixation.”
Shen Wenta’s mind had even conjured up a melodramatic scene: “Until the mountains are leveled and heaven and earth become one, I shall never part from you.”
In a romantic relationship, the dead white moonlight was always the one people remembered most vividly.
Shen Ruxu was impatient. “I know. I’m not that impulsive.”
After arguing with his brother, he drifted over to Shen Yi with an aggrieved expression.
“Xiao Yi…”
His voice stretched out, ghostlike, the final syllable trailing through the air in a chilly line.
Shen Yi shuddered. “What are you doing?”
“Why did you have to meet Sui Ning today?”
Shen Yi said, “He’s my client. Besides, he’s your friend too.”
Shen Ruxu grew angry. “I can stop having friends right now. I don’t need friends.”
Shen Yi glanced at him speechlessly, put away her notebook, and prepared to go upstairs. “Don’t be so childish, Second Brother.”
He was being far too neurotic.
For once, Shen Yi had a real sense of what Shen Wenta and Shen Ruxu were like as brothers.
Shen Ruxu blocked her path.
His eyes were a very soft shade, like melted honey, warm and glowing.
When he wore no expression, however, they gave people the illusion of a cold-blooded creature devoid of emotion. Light reflected in his pupils, yet seemed unable to penetrate them.
Shen Yi frowned. Seeing him like this, she assumed he was about to explode.
By reflex, she clenched her fist, preparing to punch some sense into him.
But then Shen Ruxu actually…
lay down?
The young man began rolling wildly across the floor, from left to right, then back again.
Like a neutered tomcat, he curled up all four limbs, his hair rubbing into a complete mess as he let out a despairing howl:
“I object! I object to this marriage! You two aren’t compatible! He’s bad luck for you—Xiao Yi!!”
