Accidental Love

Half an hour ago, Shi Yan arrived at the West Chamber Cafe.

In the big forty-square-meter private dining room, there were only five people.

Song Lelan, Qin Xiaoming, Qin Shiyue, Song Lelan's broker1A broker is an individual or firm that acts as an intermediary between an investor and a securities exchange, and an assistant.

Seeing that Shi Yan arrived, Song Lelan picked up some food from the hot pot in front of her and asked, "We're almost finished and you just came?"

Concerts were very tiring to do, and on top of that, Song Lelan was no longer young like she used to be. So after every concert, she would always arrange a table of delicious food to feast on.

No matter how late it was, she had to finish this meal before considering the concert to be actually over.

Occasionally, when Shi Yan and Qin Xiaoming were free, they would accompany her as well to celebrate.

Song Lelan's real name was Shi Huaiman, but a long time ago, she had an extended conflict with her family regarding her career path, so she gave herself a stage name to show that she didn't want to have any relationships with her family anymore.

Later after she was secretly married and had a child; the relationship between her and her family got better, but she didn't want them to get involved with the public too much, so she kept this a secret.

However, technology and science have advanced incredibly; there were eyes everywhere. So Song Lelan did things very carefully and almost always has a packed schedule. Therefore, she also rarely had any chance to sit down and eat like this.

Shi Yan pulled out a chair a sat down but didn't show any intention to move his chopsticks.

"Ran into some trouble."

Not everyone in the family was as carefree as Qin Shiyue. It was understandable for them to run into business problems, so Song Lelan didn't continue questioning.

On the other hand, Qin Shiyue was very excited today and never bothered to stop her mouth.

This was also because her grandpa, Shi Wenguang, wasn't here. Her excitement and noisiness since watching the concert until now annoyed Shi Yan.

He placed down his phone and looked toward Qin Shiyue.

His lenses made his eyes look frightening. He didn't even frown, and it was enough to shut Qin Shiyue up for the next half an hour.

After a while, Song Lelan finished eating and was about to leave.

Qin Xiaoming stood up and walked beside Shi Yan.

–"I want you to have dinner with me tomorrow (////)"

When Shi Yan read this, Qin Xiaoming spoke at the same time, "Isn't tomorrow night Uncle Cheng's family dinner? Why not bring Xiao Yue along?"

Shi Yan glanced at Qin Shiyue's back from behind and said coldly, "No need."

After a moment, he continued, "There won't be a spot for her."

——

"Tomorrow at five o'clock, I'll come to pick you up."

Ten minutes later, upon receiving this message, Zheng Shuyi, who was lying on the bed, pulled up her blanket and giggled in the darkness.

That night, the moon was bright, the wind was gentle, and Zheng Shuyi slept very soundly.

The next day, she still got up early.

After replying to some work emails, Zheng Shuyi closed her laptop and walked to her closet.

Like a typical December day, the weather was freezing, but Zheng Shuyi rarely wore thick jackets, even during winter, she always wore an overcoat dress.

Therefore, her closet was full of a variety of formal winter dresses.

She picked out a few and tried them one after the other, but still couldn't make up her mind.

After thinking for a while, Zheng Shuyi suddenly got an idea. She took pictures of these clothes and sent them to Shi Yan.

――Which one do you think suits me the best?

After typing this line, Zheng Shuyi felt that something was wrong, so she deleted it and changed it a bit.

Zheng Shuyi: Which one looks good on me?

Shi Yan: Red.

"What?"

Zheng Shuyi glanced at the clothes she took out. Almost all of them were plain and quiet shade, none were red.

She opened the closet and looked through everything inside, yet she still couldn't find a red one.

In these three years after graduation, Zheng Shuyi's style has gradually changed. She wasn't really into those fancy stylish clothing anymore.

For work reasons, she always wore light-colored clothes. A bold one like red couldn't even be found in her house.

Why would Shi Yan say "red"?

Did he just name a random color?

Zheng Shuyi sat by the bed for a while and turned on her TV out of boredom. The scene happened to be a European woman riding a horse across a grass plain.

Suddenly, Zheng Shuyi remembered that the last time she wore red, was at Guan Xiangcheng's horse farm. That day, she changed into a red equestrian outfit.

——

There were more people in the mall on a weekend like this than on weekdays. In addition, it was almost Christmas. There were red and green decorations everywhere, and there was even a giant Christmas tree at the entrance. At first glance, it seemed like a sea of endless bright colors, giving people the desire to buy something.

Sure enough, just after an hour after arriving, Zheng Shuyi was already carrying the bags from three different stores in hand.

But she still hasn't found the red dress that she liked. So she came to a new floor and entered a newly opened shop.

This shop had a variety of styles and rich colors. There were also several red dresses.

Due to the habits she had developed over the years, Zheng Shuyi chose a red one-shoulder dress with the simplest design and entered the changing room.

Just when she wore the dress and was about to go out, she suddenly heard a familiar voice.

――"What do you think of this dress?"

――"It's alright."

The man's answer was somewhat carefree, but Zheng Shuyi knew it right away.

She took a peek through the gap in the curtain of the changing room. Sure enough, it was Yue Xingzhou and Qin Lezhi.

Zheng Shuyi's good mood disappeared instantly.

She didn't want to see these two people at the time, but she didn't want to leave either. After all, there were still a lot of other clothes in this store for her to try. So, she just sat down in the changing room and waited for them to leave first.

At this time, Qin Shiyue suddenly sent a message to Zheng Shuyi:

Sister Shuyi, what are you doing this weekend? I'm so bored.

Zheng Shuyi took a deep breath and typed quietly:

It's terrible. I came out to buy a dress, and I met the cheater.

Qin Shiyue: Really??? Where???

Zheng Shuyi: Guo Jing.

Qin Shiyue: I happen to be nearby!! I'll be there soon!!

Zheng Shuyi: ???

Qin Shiyue: I'll come to help you out!!!

——

After a while, there was a noise from the changing room next to hers. Then, Qin Lezhi's voice sounded again.

"This dress looks too plain, looks like one for a middle-aged person."

"No no, this dress makes my legs look too thick."

"I don't want a turtleneck sweater, it'll touch my make-up."

Zheng Shuyi made a rough estimation. Qin Lezhi tried on at least three different clothes already, yet was satisfied with none.

A shop assistant spoke, "Miss, we just received a new type of dress; it has a very unique style."

Qin Lezhi nodded, "Please get it for me."

She looked back, and Yue Xingzhou was already sitting on the sofa and playing on his phone.

Zheng Shuyi was in the changing room and started to grow impatient.

A few minutes later, Qin Lezhi's voice came out again.

"Is this dress too simple? It doesn't even have much of a design."

"Hmm, I think clothes that are simple look the best," Two shop assistants were beside Qin Lezhi as they praised the dress, "It's red and fits you well. After a while, during New Year, this would be even more perfect."2It's a tradition in China and some other Eastern Countries to wear red clothing on Lunar New Year

Although the shop assistant never stopped praising, Qin Lezhi still felt unsatisfied. She felt that shoulder-off clothes made her shoulders look unnatural it doesn't make her waist look good either. It wasn't what she was looking for.

"Xingzhou, what do you think?" Qin Lezhi turned around and asked. Yue Xingzhou looked up, "Sure, it looks good."

Qin Lezhi clearly sensed Yue Xingzhou wasn't interested. She felt a bit uncomfortable, and continued, "I'll go look for some more."

Zheng Shuyi's patience in the changing room finally reached its limit.

Although she was also a woman, she had never seen anyone who was that picky with clothing. She regretted not going out in the beginning.

But now, Zheng Shuyi couldn't bear it anymore.

She stood up, adjusted her dress, opened the curtain, and walked out.

• 1A broker is an individual or firm that acts as an intermediary between an investor and a securities exchange
• 2It's a tradition in China and some other Eastern Countries to wear red clothing on Lunar New Year