Accidental Love

After Zheng Shuyi finished, she didn't feel like anything she said was wrong, but Shi Yan stopped moving.

A long time passed before he sighed deeply.

Breaking the atmosphere at a time like this, it was really a little…

On the verge of collapse.

Zheng Shuyi waved her hand in a daze and easily pushed Shi Yan away.

Shi Yan got up and sat beside her. He watched her struggle to get up but didn't offer a hand to help either.

Zheng Shuyi's body felt weak and her head was busy. She didn't get angry at the fact that Shi yan wasn't helping her. After putting on her slippers, she went to the bathroom with a hand on the wall.

"Then I'll go shower now."

Shi Yan sat on the sofa. He watched her back slowly disappear and felt helpless, but the corner of his lips still unconsciously showed a slight smile.

Zheng Shuyi, after drinking wine, suddenly turned meek and even reasonable.

Different from usual, she was more like a normal person now.

Making it hard for Shi Yan to get used to.

Thinking of this, Shi Yan wondered if he was being a little sadist.

He leaned back onto the sofa, closed his eyes to rest, but his fingers kept touching his lips uncontrollably as if they wanted to savor the beauty that was still lingering around.

The sound of water running soon came from the bathroom. Shi Yan opened his eyes again, looked towards the bathroom, and loosened his bow tie.

——

After Zheng Shuyi finished showering and drying her hair, she felt much better from the dizziness but was so sleepy that she could barely open her eyes.

She walked out slowly in her pajamas and found that Shi Yan was still in her house.

He sat on the sofa and was as quiet as if he had fallen asleep.

Zheng Shuyi approached the sofa and stopped beside him. Then she whispered, "Shi Yan?"

No response.

Zheng Shuyi reached out and poked him on the cheek, "Shi Yan? Are you asleep?"

Still no response. His breathing was calm and slow.

Zheng Shuyi stood back upright, brushed her hair and said, "Then help yourself, I'm going to sleep now."

But right when she was about to leave, someone held onto her fingers.

With a pull, she was brought back.

She knew that Shi Yan wasn't asleep. At most he was a little tired, as until now, his eyes were still closed.

Zheng Shuyi sat down beside him, put her hands on her knees, and looked as if she was about to talk about business.

"Shi Yan, I drank wine today and thought about a lot of things. I might be talking a lot too, so try not to get annoyed."

Shi Yan gave out an "Mm".

"When do you ever not talk a lot?"

“……”

Zheng Shuyi was a little angry at his enigmatic tone, "I'm being serious, it looks like you're cuter when drunk."

"Yeah, you too."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zheng Shuyi didn't think of that as a compliment at all, "You don't think I'm cute all the time?"

Shi Yan opened his eyes. They seemed to be relaxed and didn't even look at the person beside them.

"Also cute."

In Zheng Shuyi's ears, that "also cute" sounded like: "Oh whatever, I'll say it once more, do you feel better now?"

Giving a compliment with such a cold face, perhaps no one else but Shi Yan could be like this.

Zheng Shuyi started to miss the drunk Shi Yan more and more.

Before Shi Yan waited for her to continue, he slowly sat up, rubbed his neck, and said carefreely, "Go ahead."

Zheng Shuyi was also very tired. She didn't want to waste more time and went to the topic.

"I wanted to tell you before I showered, but you interrupted…"

Shi Yan reached out his hand and put it behind Zheng Shuyi's head. There was a smile on his face, and it looked quite romantic.

"I interrupted? You sure?"

Zheng Shuyi organized her hair and said without changing expressions, "That doesn't matter, anyway, I just wanted to tell you――”

She raised her head. Her eyes that were being forced to be opened reflected the warm lights from the living room.

Shi Yan adjusted his sitting position and felt that the room was a little stuffy, so he was about to get up and open the window.

"I really like you."

"It has nothing to do with scripts."

"Although I know I came with a purpose first, you know, I didn't know what to do…"

"Anyway, now I'm liking you for real, nothing else."

After speaking, Zheng Shuyi looked at Shi Yan nervously.

This, was her first serious confession, although it was a little incoherent.

She didn't know how Shi Yan would respond.

Shi Yan slowly turned his head to her. As his look landed on Zheng Shuyi's face, even his softness was boiling hot.

For a second, Zheng Shuyi felt like he wasn't him anymore.

But when he spoke, he returned back to Shi Yan.

"Oh? How will you prove that?"

"How can I prove something like this???" Do you want me to rip my heart out for you to take a look?

Shi Yan seemed to be taking this question very seriously.

Zheng Shuyi grew more nervous. And because she was drunk, she looked a little dumbfounded.

After a long time, Shi Yan tilted his head.

"If one day I'm broke, will you feed me?"

His expression was way too serious, making it not sound like a joke at all. This also made Zheng Shuyi wonder if she was the one being drunk or Shi Yan was.

"That's it?"

"Do you think it's very easy to feed me?" Shi Yan smiled, "I'm very hard to raise. I have high standards for daily necessities."

“……”

"So you want to eat soft rice?"1Eating soft rice is when a man doesn't do anything and depends on the woman to raise the family. 

"Mm?" Shi Yan raised his eyebrows and said, "When my stomach isn't at its best, what's wrong with eating soft rice?”

“……”

There was nothing more for her to say.

"I'm being serious, why are you acting so childish?" Zheng Shuyi stood up with a face full of detestation, "I need to sleep now."

"This early?"

"Yeah, I still have to go to work tomorrow." Zheng Shuyi dragged her feet to her room.

"Or else how can I feed you."

“……”

Seeing no response from Shi Yan, Zheng Shuyi went to her room, closed the door, and got into her bed.

After a long time, the sound of footsteps finally came from the living room.

Shi Yan appeared by her bed and looked at her in silence.

With her lights closed, Zheng Shuyi could only use the moonlight from the windows to see Shi Yan's face.

His eyes looked bright in the darkness.

After staring at each other for a while, Zheng Shuyi tugged her quilt and covered half of her face.

"My… bed is small, two won't fit on it."

Shi Yan coldly glanced at her.

"I told you, I have high standards."

Zheng Shuyi: "???"

"I refuse to sleep on these pink sheets."

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

She sneered and turned her back to him.

Shi Yan looked at Zheng Shuyi's back. Under the dim moonlight, he could see the strong uneasiness coming from her.

Every word she said today were rocks pressing against her heart.

Let it be guiltiness, let it be nervousness, let it be restlessness, they were all wrapping tightly around her heart.

What made her meek tonight wasn't alcohol, it was all these emotions.

Thinking considerately and acting carefully, these were not characteristics of Zheng Shuyi in Shi Yan's eyes.

Usually, whether she was acting or revealing her true feelings, she wasn't like a normal woman.

But Shi Yan liked her that way.

He liked it a lot.

The kind of love between a man and a woman, pure love that was based upon hormones.

――He wanted to touch her, kiss her, do everything that a man and a woman could do together.

He liked her so much that he was willing to do everything she said. Even after learning the truth, he still chose to be with her.

But now, Zheng Shuyi has started to reveal her true emotions towards him.

On top of love, there was more care now.

Probably a real sadist.

He was the one who was being deceived at first, but he still cared about her.

He wanted to help her ease all the insecurities brought to her by others, as he was the only one who could help her like this.

After a long silence, Shi Yan finally spoke.

"Shuyi." He knew Zheng Shuyi wasn't asleep yet and didn't wait for her to respond, "Those things, they are already the past in my heart. So in your heart, it's also the past, do you understand?"

Zheng Shuyi didn't reply.

Shi Yan leaned closer and rested his hand beside Zheng Shuyi.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Zheng Shuyi could see the outline of his figure that had blended into the darkness.

"Zheng Shuyi, you are my girlfriend, it has nothing to do with anyone else. You're a girlfriend that I want, no other reason, nor scripts. We are no different than any other lovers."

A quiet voice finally sounded on the bed.

"There is still a difference…"

Although the image of Shi Yan on the window was fuzzy, she could clearly feel his presence.

"Other boyfriends don't call their girlfriends by their full names."

“……”

A moment later, some warm air flowed beside her cheek.

Shi Yan whispered in her ear.

"Go to sleep, Yiyi."

——

The city streets at night were still just as busy. Planes flew over the sky one after another, bringing some light against the pitch-black sky.

When Shi Yan stopped for the traffic light, the phone beside him vibrated non-stop.

Usually, this wasn't a good sign.

He casually unlocked the screen, but what appeared was ten voice messages from Zheng Shuyi, the woman who said that she was going to sleep.

Shi Yan clicked play.

The light turned green, and he hit the gas again. At the same time, Zheng Shuyi's voice sounded in the car.

"Is it very lonely to drive in the middle of the night?"

"Shuyi Radio Station will accompany you."

"Dear listener, would you like to hear stories or songs?"

"Our station is a little broke, so there is only one song available."

"And, the host will be the singer herself."

"Ahem, I'll start now."

――“Did I have another another first love~"

――“But I can't have another another first love~"

――“But I really really met another first love~"

――“This type of feeling~"

“……”

——

Friday.

It rained during the morning. After Zheng Shuyi hung her umbrella on the balcony for it to dry, Kong Nan gave her a look at her desk.

"What's the matter?"

Zheng Shuyi opened her laptop as she asked.

"Um…" Kong Nan looked around. Although there weren't many people, information somehow always gets spread around real quick. She had the feeling that someone would hear what she was about to say. So, she said, "I'll send it on WeChat."

"What is it? Why so mysterious?"

Just as Zheng Shuyi picked up her phone, Tang Yi walked to her side and knocked on her desk, "Come to my office."

"Oh, okay"

Zheng Shuyi immediately got up and followed Tang Yi.

After closing the door, Tang Yi sat behind the desk and somewhat irritatingly took off her jacket.

"You're in love again right?"

“Yeah," replied Zheng Shuyi with a nod and then said cheerfully, "And like I said that day, I'm not participating in our company's partnership."

”We don't have partnerships all day, what, it's not like we're a marriage agency."

Tang Yi put down her phone and said solemnly, "I need to tell you something."

"First, just to clarify, I'm not trying to get into your private life. Although there's a difference in our positions, we have known each other for so long already and I have always treated you as a friend. A while ago, you cried and made a big scene at the company, that's because you broke up, right?"

Although it was a little embarrassing, Zheng Shuyi didn't deny it.

"Well… I guess.."

Tang Yi pouted her lips and looked around before saying, "You have another boyfriend now?"

"Mm."

Tang Yi's face was getting more and more gloomy.

"I'll just tell you directly. These days, many colleagues saw you getting into your boyfriend's car, he is your boyfriend right?"

Indeed, these days, she has been using Shi Yan's car.

But he himself only appeared once, all the other times he just arranged his driver to bring her home.

Zheng Shuyi felt like this was too high-profile, so every time, she would ask the driver to not park directly under the company building. Instead, he would park at the intersection and she would walk to the car.

But she didn't expect that such an act would turn into a purpose hiding in the eyes of others.

And now Tang Yi's expression, she didn't even have to tell her, and Zheng Shuyi could already guess a thing or two.

"What, some rumors floating around the company?"

"Well these types of rumors aren't anything new," Tang Yi tried to make it sound better, "It's just about how you made an incredible boyfriend?"

Zheng Shuyi gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah, so what?"

Her boyfriend was quite incredible.

But the problem was what Qin Shiyue said on the phone, "You're with my uncle now?!"

Xu Yuling was no stranger to Qin Shiyue's voice, so she recognized it immediately.

And every person in the company knew that Qin Shiyue was a rich second generation, and came here as an intern just to play around.

Qin Shiyue was already in her twenties, didn't that mean her uncle must be at least fifty or so?

At first, she was confused too. Wasn't Zheng Shuyi with Shi Yan? How did she switch to Qin Shiyue's uncle already?

After thinking about it, she came to the conclusion that she probably just switched.

Therefore, this news spread from one to two, two to three, and slowly appeared in all sorts of chats.

Tang Yi had ears too, so naturally, she heard some.

To be honest, even if this was real, it was someone else's life, she had no right to tell her what to do.

But just like she had said, they all knew each other for several years and have been treating each other like friends. After thinking about this matter clearly, this was definitely not something to be proud of.

To make it sound good, she found a slightly older boyfriend.

To make it sound bad, who knows if he had a wife before?

Recently, the position of deputy editor-in-chief has been empty. But it wouldn’t be for long, everyone knew who the next person would be.

Little rumors at this time instantly exploded the desire for gossip in the whole company.

"There's nothing much, but I just heard that he is a bit older?"

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

Sure enough, she knew it.

Although she asked nicely, there was so much information in there that even idiots could tell her real meaning.

A wave of anger rose up. Zheng Shuyi slammed the phone on the office desk, so hard that if the desk had a head, it would be knocked out.

"Calm down, calm down, just tell me in person, is it real?"

"How many times have I said it? If I had those kinds of thoughts, why would I still be waiting until today?"

Old, young, tall, short, ugly, handsome, married, single… She had been with all kinds of people.

If she really wanted to use this method to change her future, then how could she still be renting an apartment?

Zheng Shuyi laughed in anger and brushed her hair, "And, it's just his seniority in the family that is a bit high. Even if he sees you, he'll have to call you elder sister."

Tang Yi: "…"

For some reason, she felt like she was calling her old.

Either way, since Zheng Shuyi said so, there was no reason for Tang Yi not to believe her.

"Alright, I'll stop asking. It's not anything big anyway, misunderstandings will always unravel. A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe.."

Although Tang Yi tried to comfort her, when Zheng Shuyi walked out of the office, she still felt very speechless.

After all these years in the industry and hearing all kinds of pink news, Zheng Shuyi has long seen the invisible springboard.

Those who were female finance journalists, couldn't write anything without some proper education, let alone communicate with some financial bigwigs. 

And many of the upper people like this kind of woman, who were talented, knowledgeable, and if also attractive, then it couldn't be better.

Not only to satisfy their lust but also to prove that they were people who valued their public appearance.

As these things happened more and more frequently, it stopped being a surprise to everyone.

Some decided to leave everything behind and use this branch to fly to the sky.

More decided to work like they were standing on thin ice, staying at a safe distance and afraid that if they ran into the real world, there would be rumors that they couldn't explain clearly even if they had ten mouths.

But often, there were talented male journalists that were wasted. Seeing their female colleagues getting all kinds of resources and opportunities, they could only say with a sour tone of contempt "gender advantage".

"What did the editor-in-chief say?"

As soon as Zheng Shuyi returned to her workplace, Kong Nan leaned over, "Is it about your boyfriend?"

Zheng Shuyi glanced at her, "You heard about it too? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I also only heard about it this morning. When I was heading for the elevator, I heard two boys from another team talking this bullshit, but――"

Kong Nan patted Zheng Shuyi's shoulder, "I don't believe a word they say."

Zheng Shuyi raised her eyebrow, "You trust me that much?"

"It's not that I trust you," said Kong Nan, "I just believe in the power of appearance."

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

Kong Nan: "Unless that guy looks as good as Andy Lau or something."

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

For some reason, after Kong Nan said those, Zheng Shuyi's anger went away.

Or rather, she didn't really care about it that much in the first place.

"So who is your boyfriend?"

Kong Nan leaned over and asked, "Is it in our industry?"

Zheng Shuyi thought for a second before replying, "Sort of, you heard his name before."

"Who is it?"

"Shi Yan."

Kong Nan: "…?"

She shook her finger, "Are you joking?"

"No."

Zheng Shuyi looked at the phone that just got slammed and felt sorry for it, "If you don't believe me, would you like me to call him?"

Kong Nan was stunned for a long time. But after remembering that she indeed did an interview with Shi Yan before, she wasn't as surprised anymore.

"I believe you, I believe you, I sincerely believe you."

Zheng Shuyi was half-lying on the desk and yawned.

She didn't want to brag about who her boyfriend was, but she also didn't want to hide it and make it seem like she was in a sketchy relationship.

In the petri dish that bred gossips, struggling to explain was a waste of effort. It was better to just do like Tang Yi said: "A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe."

Otherwise, she would end up being buried in the endless thoughts and lies that others head. She has seen way too many of these kinds of examples.

A day passed like normal.

In the afternoon, when Zheng Shuyi was taking a break, she supported her chin with her arm and texted Shi Yan.

Zheng Shuyi: It's the weekend, does Mr. Shi have time tonight?

After thinking about it carefully, they haven't even been on a serious date yet.

Shi Yan: No.

Zheng Shuyi: "…"

Boring life.

Zheng Shuyi: Then what will you be doing?

Shi Yan: Accompanying my girlfriend.

Seeing Zheng Shuyi giggling at her phone, Kong Nan scooted her chair away from her a little with envy.

——

As soon as work ended, Zheng Shuyi abnormally packed up immediately and prepared to leave.

Unfortunately, just when she got to the door, she was called back by a girl from the finance team.

The reimbursement for her previous business trip to the United States has not come down yet, and there was something wrong with the invoice, which needed to be re-checked.

This issue caused over an hour of delay.

Shi Yan's car in the parking lot was very easy to recognize. While in the first-floor lobby, Zheng Shuyi organized her clothes before stepping out.

Although she was very excited, she forced herself to walk at a dignified pace.

She opened the back seat door, but there was no one there.

"Where did he go?"

The driver wasn't very sure either. When Shi Yan got off just now, he didn't tell him anything either.

Zheng Shuyi didn't get in. She stood by the car and called Shi Yan.

After waiting for a while and the other party connected, she finally bent over and put half of her body in the car. "Where are you?"

Her voice was sweet, but she was looking in the car.

Probably because the acting addiction was coming back, she even lifted the car mat, making it seem like she was searching for something.

"Where's my boyfriend?  Make it easy for me to search please."

And then she opened the armrest box in the middle, "Oh no, he's not here either."

“……”

Shi Yan stood behind her with his phone in his hand. For a second, he wanted to just turn around and leave.

Translator's note: Sorry for the late release everyone (I blame the editor (●'◡'●) ) Another chapter is coming soon!

1Eating soft rice is when a man doesn't do anything and depends on the woman to raise the family.