Zhu Shiyu discovered Lu Ge’s infidelity by chance.

As Halloween approached, he happened to be in her city on a business trip. They hadn’t seen each other in a few months, so they naturally planned to meet up.

It was their fourth year together—and their fourth year of long-distance.

The night before, it had rained unexpectedly, and temperatures dropped. Although Halloween hadn’t officially arrived, the streets were already full of festive atmosphere, with pumpkin lanterns and witches’ hats everywhere.

It was already six o’clock when Zhu Shiyu got off work. She left the office in a hurry and took a cab to the restaurant.

It was a Friday, so the traffic was heavy. The driver honked twice at the car ahead, while Zhu Shiyu looked down, busy handling urgent work messages.

By the time she arrived at the restaurant they’d reserved, she was half an hour late. Pushing open the door, she easily spotted him by the window.

Lu Ge had a well-defined look, tall with long legs, and his presence stood out in a crowd.

The man was seated, his gaze lowered as he looked at his phone with a faint smile.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Zhu Shiyu apologized hastily, pulling out the chair across from him.

“There was a lot of traffic.”

“It’s okay,” Lu Ge put away his phone and looked up, his expression as calm as ever. The slight smile she’d seen seemed like a mere illusion.

“Take a look at the menu and see what you’d like.” He pushed the menu across the table.

“Alright.”

“I looked up some reviews online beforehand. They say the shrimp and steamed fish here are pretty good,” he said.

Zhu Shiyu was a bit particular about food. She didn’t like meat much, preferring mild-flavored seafood—something only those close to her would know. She disliked being a bother to others and would usually go along with everyone else in group settings.

Lu Ge had known her for ten years; besides her family and best friends, he knew her best.

“Then let’s go with that,” Zhu Shiyu closed the menu, and Lu Ge naturally took it, selecting a few more dishes they both liked.

“—No garlic,” he noted, remembering her preference.

The way he held his pen was precise, his strokes lifting slightly at the end, just like in high school when Zhu Shiyu would unintentionally glance over at him during breaks.

They had shared a desk in their sophomore year, and Zhu Shiyu could still recall his focused look while solving problems.

Lu Ge seldom chose a disappointing restaurant. He had a habit of researching everything beforehand—even in college, when her computer broke down, he would find a well-reviewed shop nearby and send her the address.

The food was delicious, especially the steamed bass, which was the restaurant’s specialty. Zhu Shiyu’s chopsticks reached for it again and again without her realizing, and soon, the dish was empty.

“Shiyu, slow down. I’ll go settle the bill,” Lu Ge said, standing up with his phone and heading toward the counter.

“Alright,” she replied quickly, looking up just in time to catch a glimpse of him leaving.

After a while, with Lu Ge still away—likely waiting in line—she slowly finished the food in front of her. When he finally returned, he seemed a little out of breath, setting his phone casually on the table.

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s get ready to head out…”

Before he could finish, his phone screen lit up on the table, and her gaze naturally fell on it, where a message preview appeared.

Two short lines.

“Gege.”

“I miss you.”

Lu Ge was an only child. Even if he had cousins, none would address him so intimately.

In that moment, even if she wanted to deny it, Zhu Shiyu couldn’t convince herself that it was just a sibling.

In an instant, Lu Ge reached out and locked his screen, the display going dark, hiding everything beneath a calm surface.

Their eyes met. A flash of panic crossed his gaze, quickly replaced by a tense silence.

After a moment’s pause, she steadied herself and asked.

“Lu Ge, have you fallen for someone else?”

—

Zhu Shiyu and Lu Ge had started dating during their senior year of college.

They’d been high school classmates. She still remembered the first time she saw him, on the first day of the new semester during a classroom cleanup.

She was sweeping, head down, when someone called her name from the doorway. Looking up, she saw a boy with a smile in his eyes.

“Zhu Shiyu, the teacher wants to see you.”

Throughout their three years in high school, they were classmates and friends, sharing similar interests and personalities. Both were top students with excellent conduct.

For college, they went to different places, one in the south, the other in the north, but they kept in touch.

In their first year, Lu Ge had visited her, and later Zhu Shiyu also stopped by his school while traveling.

Every year during the Spring Festival, they would meet up at a class reunion.

Lu Ge confessed his feelings just before his graduation.

At the time, all of Zhu Shiyu’s friends were starting to pair off. She hadn’t dated anyone during her four years of college—not for lack of interest but because she was busy. With a demanding academic workload and other outside commitments, she had little time to think about romance, until she felt it was about time for her to experience it.

That night, she thought about it carefully. The next day, she agreed.

She felt it was time for a relationship, and Lu Ge, whom she’d known for so many years, seemed like a good choice.

Their relationship was calm from the start, skipping over the typical passionate phase and moving straight into a comfortable rhythm.

When graduation came, Lu Ge chose to continue his studies at their university, while Zhu Shiyu started her internship.

They each followed their own path without changing their goals or life plans for each other.

In the years they spent apart, their relationship remained steady. Lu Ge occasionally prepared little surprises for her, and she often visited him on holidays. They were like any ordinary couple—sharing sweet moments, familiar with each other’s quirks.

Zhu Shiyu originally thought that she and Lu Ge would continue like this, eventually marrying and having kids. But everything changed the day she saw that message on his phone.

Outside, it had started raining, and the temperature dropped. The weather forecast mentioned light snow, though it hadn’t arrived yet.

Lu Ge explained that the woman was a junior colleague he’d met through a project.

As he spoke, he paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he picked up his glass to take a sip of water.

Zhu Shiyu knew Lu Ge too well. Whenever he was nervous or felt guilty, he’d unconsciously swallow and avert his gaze slightly to the right.

She broke up with him on the spot.