Bai Shurou’s feelings were complicated.
The boy she liked was standing right in front of her, looking worried as he offered to accompany her to the hospital. Of course, she was happy.
But she couldn’t help remembering the warning Zhu Liuyue had given her in the hospital that day.
You can ask Ye Yunjin for help, but you must not have any contact with Ye Yunche.
At the time, she had nodded proudly in agreement.
But now, she was beginning to hesitate.
After all, she hadn’t provoked him. Ye Yunche had knocked her over by accident.
Just as she was wavering, a familiar woman’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Ye Yunche, what have you been dawdling around for all this time?”
Ye Yunche turned his head and saw Zhu Liuyue walking toward them. She had already changed out of her white coat and was now dressed in a perfectly tailored black-and-white suit dress, her high heels clicking against the ground.
He froze for a moment.
Hadn’t she already left? And what did she mean by that?
The way she said it made it sound as if she had been waiting for him.
“Let me help you up.” Zhu Liuyue extended a hand toward Bai Shurou.
“No, thank you.”
Bai Shurou didn’t take it. Instead, she used her uninjured hand to brace herself against the ground and slowly got to her feet.
“Yunche caused you trouble again. Your hand looks terribly swollen. I’ll accompany you to the hospital to have it checked,” Zhu Liuyue said.
Bai Shurou darted a glance at Ye Yunche.
Only to find that his gaze was completely fixed on Zhu Liuyue.
She tugged bitterly at the corners of her lips and shook her head.
“No need. It’s just a minor injury. I’ll apply some safflower oil when I get home.”
Zhu Liuyue didn’t press the matter. She simply said, “Then let Yunche transfer you some money for medical expenses. Or I can pay for it.”
Bai Shurou pressed her lips together.
A trace of hurt flashed through her eyes.
“No need. I can still afford the medicine.”
With that, she lowered her head and hurried between the two of them, leaving with quick steps.
Even someone as thick-headed as Ye Yunche could tell that Bai Shurou’s expression had been one of humiliation. Unable to hold back, he said, “Zhu Liuyue, you sounded way too condescending just now. Didn’t you notice that Bai Shurou’s expression changed?”
The smile on Zhu Liuyue’s face gradually faded.
“So?”
Ye Yunche was taken aback, but then he continued, “I could have handled it myself. I didn’t need your help. Just because you’re engaged to my brother doesn’t mean you can make decisions for me.”
Zhu Liuyue had originally thought she had put Ye Yunche through enough emotional torment.
Now, she realized she had still been too softhearted.
She restrained the smile at the corners of her lips and nodded, her voice cool and distant.
“Fine, Ye Yunche. From now on, I won’t interfere in your affairs.”
With that, she turned neatly and walked away in her high heels.
A wave of panic swept through Ye Yunche.
This panic was different from when he had unilaterally declared that he no longer wanted to like Zhu Liuyue. This felt more like he was about to be abandoned by the entire world.
In truth, Zhu Liuyue hadn’t been wrong.
It was just that Bai Shurou’s pride was too strong.
Why had he defended Bai Shurou like an idiot? He didn’t know. It was as if the words had already been sitting on the tip of his tongue, and the moment he opened his mouth, they had spilled out.
By the time he hurried after her, her car had already driven out of the parking lot.
…
Ye Yunche returned home in a daze.
He plunged into his room, refusing to eat or even turn on the lights.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
Someone knocked on the door.
Ye Yunche ignored it.
Another round of knocking followed, and then the door was pushed open by Ye Yunjin.
The room was pitch-black.
Ye Yunjin pressed the light switch, and the room instantly brightened.
His eyes, accustomed to the darkness, couldn’t adjust to the sudden glare. Ye Yunche instinctively raised a hand to shield them. By the time his eyes had adjusted, Ye Yunjin was already seated in the single armchair beside the bed, looking at him with a solemn expression.
“What’s wrong?”
Ye Yunche pulled a pillow over himself and muttered, “Nothing.”
Ye Yunjin had sensed a wave of bitterness and sorrow in his chest that afternoon.
The emotions had disrupted even his normally calm state of mind.
He had immediately guessed that something must have happened to Yunche.
“At least come downstairs and eat something. Don’t make Mom and Dad worry,” Ye Yunjin said gently.
Ye Yunche took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as he complained aggrievedly, “Bro, she said she wouldn’t care about me anymore.”
Although he hadn’t specified who “she” was, the two brothers knew perfectly well.
Ye Yunjin knew he shouldn’t laugh at a time like this, but he still couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from lifting.
Actually, from the moment Zhu Liuyue had said that the person she liked was Ye Yunche, he had known that her feelings wouldn’t last long.
After all, Ye Yunche was far too immature!
He didn’t know how to deal with his emotions and said whatever came to mind.
His strength was his bluntness, and so was his weakness.
Ye Yunche angrily threw the pillow at him.
“Bro, you’re laughing?!”
Ye Yunjin did his best to suppress the corners of his mouth and said unhurriedly, “What’s wrong with me laughing? This is a good thing. Everything is returning to normal.”
“From now on, just treat her with the respect you would show your sister-in-law. Don’t entertain any other thoughts.”
Ye Yunche made a couple of disgruntled noises, stubbornly insisting, “I was already planning to stop liking her. I haven’t even spoken to her in ages. She was the one who suddenly appeared at the hospital today.”
Ye Yunjin exposed him without hesitation.
“What do you mean, ‘suddenly’? Liuyue’s a doctor.”
Ye Yunche argued, “Then in the parking lot, I accidentally knocked into Bai Shurou. She was the one who came over and helped me deal with it.”
“Deal with it how?” Ye Yunjin felt that he had caught onto something important.
“She was going to compensate Bai Shurou for her medical expenses.”
At that, Ye Yunche couldn’t help blaming his own brother again.
“It’s all your fault. If your first love hadn’t returned, maybe none of this would have happened! She wouldn’t have gone to Daqi Mountain to catch me, she wouldn’t have raced Zhao Wen, and she wouldn’t have made me stand in for you at the engagement party…”
Everything that had happened was caused by his brother and Bai Shurou.
Faced with the blame his younger brother had thrown at him, Ye Yunjin didn’t deny it.
He merely asked a question.
“Do you also think Bai Shurou is my first love?”
“Who else would she be…?” After a pause, Ye Yunche answered honestly, “Actually, I don’t know either. That’s just what people outside say. And you’re so good at controlling your emotions that I can’t sense anything from you.”
Ye Yunjin spoke slowly as he began to explain.
“Speaking of which, I only met Bai Shurou because of you.”
Ye Yunche was stunned. He pointed at himself in disbelief.
“Me? What does that have to do with me?”
Ye Yunjin’s tone grew faintly wistful.
“Because we’re twins, and we look so much alike.”
“The day I met Bai Shurou, I had just lost the election for student council president.”
Ye Yunche had a vague recollection of that. His brother had always been extremely ambitious. The previous year, he had been elected vice president and had immediately begun making plans to run for president.
“What happened afterward?”
Ye Yunjin continued, “I sat by the lake alone, thinking about things. After sitting there for a long time, my legs grew numb, so I decided to stand up and move around. But I got up too quickly and nearly lost my balance…”
Ye Yunche blinked.
He guessed, “Bai Shurou caught you?”
Ye Yunjin nodded.
“To be precise, Bai Shurou rushed over and called out to me, ‘Ye Yunche, are you all right?’ Then she pulled me back.”
Ye Yunche was dumbfounded.
He pointed at himself.
“Wait… what does that have to do with me?”
