Sang Lu turned her head.
She heard Feng Bai speak in a very low voice:
"Thank you... for helping me out."
Feng Bai clearly wasn’t used to saying things like this.
After uttering that short sentence, his brows furrowed, his gaze shifted elsewhere, and even he found it strange.
What was even stranger to him was how his sister-in-law—such a slender woman—had rushed over without hesitation to stand between him and those towering men from the band. How had she dared?
The unexpected gratitude caught Sang Lu off guard.
After a few seconds, her face brightened into a smile, and she waved her hand dismissively:
"We’re family—no need for thanks. If those brats hadn’t run off so fast, I would’ve dragged them back to apologize to you. The things they said were downright rude."
Feng Bai froze.
His pupils dilated slightly, a noticeable change against his otherwise lifeless, downturned eyes.
Family?
Technically, it wasn’t wrong… but he had never considered this woman—whom he’d only met twice—as part of the Feng family.
To him, she was just some strange woman who had appeared out of nowhere and suddenly married his elder brother.
At this thought, Feng Bai’s gaze deepened as he studied Sang Lu, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
What kind of person was his sister-in-law, really?
The confusion and curiosity inexplicably breathed a hint of vitality into his usually gloomy expression.
Sang Lu’s impression of Feng Bai had been stuck on the day they met at the family dinner, where she’d witnessed him exchanging veiled barbs with Feng Yi, refusing to back down even an inch.
So, this kid actually knew how to say thank you?
Compared to Feng Yi, whom she’d only started seeing as remotely human after multiple encounters, Sang Lu found Feng Bai surprisingly likable by their second meeting.
There’s hope for this one, she mused.
She’d been prejudiced before.
Unable to resist, Sang Lu took a closer look at Feng Bai.
The last time she’d seen him, his head had been bowed, his features obscured, leaving only his ash-blue hair and downturned eyes imprinted in her memory.
Now, face-to-face, she saw a young man who had just turned twenty—still in that transitional phase between boyhood and adulthood, his features not yet fully defined.
His hair was tousled, his frame lean and upright with the lanky grace of youth, and the slight droop at the corners of his eyes lent him an air of innocence.
If you ignored the faint aura of gloom clinging to him, he looked like nothing more than a well-behaved kid.
Sang Lu nearly laughed.
The thought that this boy was one of the original novel’s male leads—locked in a tangled, melodramatic rivalry with Feng Yi over Qiao Xi—struck her as absurdly surreal.
She couldn’t picture it.
It was like staring at an unfinished prototype of a male protagonist, equal parts ridiculous and darkly comedic.
Feng Bai noticed Sang Lu’s scrutinizing gaze, his sullen expression faltering slightly.
Why was his sister-in-law looking at him like that?
One moment, her smile was almost… dotingly affectionate?
The next, her expression seemed to say, You? Really?
What did that even mean?
His sister-in-law was weird.
Before he could dwell on it, Sang Lu checked her phone and suddenly asked with a cheerful grin:
"We’ve got time—want to grab coffee together?"
Feng Bai: ?
His mind flooded with questions.
But he neither nodded nor refused.
Instead, he turned on his heel and strode toward the escalator ahead of her.
Having coffee wasn’t entirely out of the question.
After all, she had just stood up for him.
---
A short while later, the two sat at an outdoor table in the mall’s first-floor café.
A server brought over their iced Americanos, condensation from the cups pooling on the table.
Sang Lu took a sip, then cut straight to the point:
"By the way, why were you at that rehearsal space? Don’t you have your own private studio?"
Feng Bai’s downturned eyes lifted slightly as he replied flatly:
"That room has an old drum set with a unique sound. I’ve been using it for sampling in a new track, so I drop by occasionally."
Sang Lu: …
That’s it?
Rich kids, honestly.
Renting out a rehearsal space for half a year just to tap a drum a few times for a sample?
Okay, fine.
She suddenly understood why those band guys were so pissed.
Feng Bai was kind of hogging resources.
Noticing Sang Lu’s conflicted, slightly judgmental expression, Feng Bai had no clue what she was thinking.
He turned away and sipped his coffee in silence.
Small talk wasn’t his forte. If his sister-in-law wanted to sit and chat, he’d humor her.
If she asked, he’d answer.
His impression of her was neutral at best.
He still remembered her blunt critique at the family dinner—that his music would never blow up.
The memory darkened his mood.
Abruptly, he asked:
"Sister-in-law, do you really think my music is that bad?"
There was an edge to his voice, like he was settling an old score.
Sang Lu, lost in thought, answered without filtering:
"It’s really bad—"
The moment the words left her mouth, she caught Feng Bai’s expression stiffening.
Sang Lu: "…"
Damn it, why do I keep blurting out the truth?!
Quick, think of something to fix this!
In a flash of inspiration, she tacked on:
"—ly unique."
"It’s really hard to find music this unique."
That’s how Feng Bai heard it.
His downturned eyes brightened. "You think my music is unique?"
His sister-in-law got it.
She’d used the word unique—the very quality he’d chased after all this time, even going so far as to hunt down that one-of-a-kind drum sound.
For the first time in years, he felt… seen.
Meanwhile, across the table—
Sang Lu, oblivious to the flicker of joy on Feng Bai’s usually morose face, was stuck on one word:
"Also?"
He’d said "also"?
Someone else had praised his music like this?
Who?
Who had such… niche taste?
Before she could probe further, Feng Bai took a slow sip of his iced coffee and added casually:
"An online friend once said the same thing."
"Online friend?" Sang Lu’s eyes lit up, sensing gossip.
Feng Bai glanced at her before continuing:
"Last year, I posted a song anonymously. That person messaged me privately, saying they found it unique."
Sang Lu’s mind exploded.
Was Feng Bai talking about—
Qiao Xi?!
Frantically, she combed through her fragmented memories of the original novel’s plot.
Right!
Qiao Xi and Feng Bai had connected online first!
They’d been online friends for ages before meeting in person.
Qiao Xi hadn’t known Feng Bai’s true identity, which was how the Feng brothers had both fallen for her without realizing they were rivals.
Internally, Sang Lu was reeling, her face the picture of someone stumbling upon juicy drama.
Feng Bai, meanwhile, frowned—not at her reaction, but at himself.
Why had he shared so much with his sister-in-law?
He barely spoke this much to his grandfather or even Feng Yi.
They weren’t close. They’d barely interacted.
The sudden urge to confide in her unsettled him.
Abruptly, he downed the rest of his coffee and set the empty cup on the table.
Pushing himself up from the chair, he announced:
"I’m leaving."
Just as he stood, Sang Lu called out:
"Wait—I actually wanted to ask you something."
Feng Bai paused. "?"
Ask him?
What could his sister-in-law possibly need from him?
"Based on what you know about your brother... do you think there's any chance he might get scared by horror movies or thriller escape rooms? I've been thinking lately about giving your big brother a good scare..."
Sang Lu said this with a perfectly straight face.
Feng Bai's expression froze.
He wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him.
His sister-in-law wanted to... scare his big brother?
His face practically screamed: "??????"
