"He's gone, but you can step in."
Warm breath swept across her ear.
Ye Yunche froze entirely, his blush spreading from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. He stammered, "This... isn't this your engagement ceremony with my older brother?"
Swapping him in didn't seem right.
Zhu Liuyue nodded seriously and said, "Right! It is my engagement with your brother. And you two are twins, you look so alike."
"As long as you don't smile, keep a straight face, and stay this far away on stage, who would be able to tell you apart?"
Ye Yunche felt his thoughts slowly crawl back into his head.
They churned for a moment.
Then he gritted his teeth and said, "So, what you're saying is, you want me to pretend to be my brother and continue getting engaged to you?"
"Yeah, what else?" Zhu Liuyue looked at him like he was an idiot, even raising an eyebrow.
What else.
Was she supposed to get engaged to you instead?
Ye Yunche thought he caught a hint of mockery in her eyes.
His face burned with embarrassment and humiliation, and he couldn't recall how he'd muddled through agreeing to it.
By the time he came to his senses again.
He was already on stage, having completed every part of the ceremony.
After they exchanged engagement rings, the emcee applauded and sent them off the stage. Zhu Liuyue reached out on her own accord and took his hand.
The gesture was quick, and left no room for argument.
"Come on, time to go explain things to my parents and yours."
"Ah, ah..." Ye Yunche felt the warm, soft touch in his palm, and for a moment, he forgot to block out the sensation.
His mind went blank.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Zhu Liuyue gave a helpless, amused smile and said, "To tell them why your brother left, of course. What else did you think it was?"
Right.
Ye Yunche's lips drooped in disappointment.
Even though the engagement ceremony had gone off without a hitch, even though he was the one standing on that stage, everyone still thought he was his brother, Ye Yunjin.
...
Mushu City First Hospital.
Ye Yunjin had just signed the surgical consent form and was sitting on the hospital corridor bench waiting, worry creeping into his mind about the engagement venue.
He wondered if Zhu Liuyue could handle it.
In the end, this was his fault for being irresponsible. He couldn't just dump everything on her.
Just as Ye Yunjin was about to call and ask, a familiar warm sensation spread through his palm.
He frowned slightly.
Because besides the touch, he could feel Ye Yunche's unguarded excitement and thrill.
...
He's happy?
What did he do? Did the engagement ceremony get cut short?
Because Zhu Liuyue couldn't be his sister-in-law for now, that's why Yunche was so happy.
Ye Yunjin took a deep breath.
A call came in before he could dial out.
It was his father.
He was scolded from the very first word.
"Yunjin, you've never given me any worry since you were a child! I've always trusted you, and I never thought you'd pull something so irresponsible today. If it hadn't been for Yunche, were you planning to make both the Ye and Zhu families lose face?"
Ye Yunjin took the scolding silently, without rebuttal.
Because his father was right.
He didn't explain that it was because Bai Shurou had been in a car accident, because saying that would only make things messier.
He was well aware that the reason he rushed to the hospital wasn't because he liked Bai Shurou, or because he was saving some 'white moonlight' first love—it was because a life was at stake.
A human life.
If there was a surgery today that needed his signature to save a life, whether it was someone he knew or not, he would have helped.
Life was above all else.
But if he said that out loud, the rumor mill would spin it into something like him abandoning Zhu Liuyue for some old flame. If that kind of talk got around, it would damage the reputations of both women.
So he quietly accepted the reprimand and said:
"Dad, it's my fault today. I admit it. I'll accept whatever punishment you see fit."
"Punishment? Thanks to that generous and quick-witted Zhu girl, she came up with a plan to have Yunche pretend to be you, and the engagement ceremony went off without a hitch. If you feel guilty, go straight to the Zhu household and apologize to your Uncle Zhu, Aunt Zhu, and the Zhu girl!"
Ye Yunjin had considered many possibilities.
But never once did it cross his mind that his younger brother Yunche would take his place—pretending to be him—and complete the engagement with Zhu Liuyue.
So his voice carried a note of disbelief.
"The engagement ceremony is done?"
"Yes! What, still not happy about it? Let me tell you, even if the Zhu girl hadn't done that, your mother and I and your Uncle Zhu would have arranged the same thing for the sake of the bigger picture. Don't you dare feel wronged—today, the most wronged person of all is the Zhu girl."
"Dad, I understand. This is my debt to Zhu Liuyue."
"Good, you know it. Now get back here. Your mother is about to blow her top—she says she's going to beat the hell out of you."
"Alright."
The call ended.
Ye Yunjin's emotions were complicated.
So that flash of warmth earlier was Zhu Liuyue holding Yunche's hand on the engagement stage?
But why hadn't Yunche blocked out the emotions?
He could've filtered out seventy or eighty percent of it at least.
And why was he feeling excitement and thrill?
As his twin brother, Ye Yunjin knew him inside out. Yunche's emotions never spiked like that unless he was on the racetrack.
Could it be... because Zhu Liuyue was also into racing?
His eyes darkened.
He couldn't help but wonder: could Yunche be interested in a woman again?
"Mr. Ye, Miss Bai's surgery is done. She's been moved to a regular ward and is awake now. She'd really like to see you."
A nurse in white spoke softly.
Ye Yunjin snapped back to reality.
He rose from his seat, took two steps, then paused.
Shook his head, and said:
"No need. I have a fiancée now, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to be alone with her in this situation."
"I came to sign for the surgery out of basic human decency. Please tell her to contact her father and older brother."
"Also, I'll cover the cost of a caregiver for her. That's all."
With that, Ye Yunjin nodded and headed toward the payment desk.
When the nurse returned to the ward and relayed Ye Yunjin's words, Bai Shurou, a frail-looking woman with long black hair lying in bed, turned pale and nodded, her voice trembling.
"He said he has a fiancée, so it's not appropriate to see me?"
"So the engagement ceremony went ahead after all. I... I thought..." Her voice trailed off, and she let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
She lifted her head and said to the nurse, "Thank you. I understand. I won't bother him anymore."
...
The day after the engagement ceremony.
When Zhu Liuyue came downstairs, she saw Ye Yunjin arriving with a gift to apologize, and beside him, a clearly reluctant Ye Yunche.
She walked up and asked, "Did your brother drag you here?"
Ye Yunche was staring at the ground, lost in thought, when a female voice suddenly came from behind his ear.
He nearly jumped out of his skin.
Zhu Liuyue reached out and caught him just in time, her warm fingertips brushing across the back of his hand.
A playful glint sparkled in her apricot-colored eyes.
"What's the matter? Now that I'm officially going to be your sister-in-law, are you that scared of me?"
"You, you..." Ye Yunche felt the back of his hand growing warm, his voice stammering as he said, "Who said it’s set in stone? You’re only engaged, not married!"
