Chapter 8.2 When are you coming back?

At 5:40 PM, she closed her book, changed clothes, and headed out.

The café was on the second floor. Ye Xicun had arrived early, sitting by the window, watching the gate of the residential complex across the street.

His phone vibrated on the table. Retracting his gaze from the window, he saw it was Ye Sangyu calling.

At that moment, Ye Sangyu was at her brother’s company, where the secretary informed her that the CEO had left half an hour earlier, leaving her to make a wasted trip.

“Brother, why are you off work so early today? Picking up my sister-in-law?”

Ye Xicun replied, “No, I’m meeting someone. What’s up?”

For some reason, upon hearing that her brother had plans, Sangyu instinctively guessed it was Shi Miao. The feeling was strong.

Ignoring her original purpose for calling, she asked on a hunch, “Are you meeting Shi Miao?”

“Yes.” Xicun was curious. “How’d you guess?”

He rarely met up with Shi Miao. So far this year, this was only their second meeting.

Sangyu dodged the question. “Just a sixth sense.”

Finding out that he was indeed meeting Shi Miao annoyed her. “Why do you keep meeting her for no reason?”

“To give her the wedding invitation.”

“You could just drop it off. Why go out to eat?”

Xicun explained, “Aunt Zhao has been busy with my wedding these past months and hasn’t had the energy to look after Shi Miao. Don’t you think I should invite her out to check in? Ye Sangyu, relationships within a family are mutual.”

“…But—” Sangyu sighed in frustration.

For a fleeting moment, she wanted to spill everything, urging her brother to sever ties with Shi Miao entirely.

“She’s not even your real sister. You’re fine as long as things are cordial.”

Sangyu’s dissatisfaction didn’t faze Xicun.

The two women had never gotten along since childhood, and their relationship remained distant into adulthood. They maintained superficial harmony at best. For siblings from a blended family with no blood ties, such dynamics were inevitable. Xicun had long accepted this and never forced them to be close.

Their issues were their own; he only needed to balance all relationships fairly.

He tilted his head slightly, catching sight of a figure crossing the street—a woman in a light gray spaghetti-strap dress overlaid with a white shirt.

“Got to go. Shi Miao’s here.”

“Come back early,” Sangyu said. “I’ll wait for you at your office.”

Xicun hung up and ordered two drinks.

When the drinks arrived, Shi Miao had just taken her seat.

As always, Xicun greeted her casually. “You’ve been so busy with work, do you feel tired?”

“I’m fine, just used to it.”

Xicun placed the drink she liked in front of her. “Their light meals are pretty good here. Let me know if you get hungry, and I’ll order you something to try.”

“No need.” Shi Miao sipped her drink and asked about the wedding preparations.

“Mostly done. Aunt Zhao has been the busiest, handling almost everything.”

With that, he took out the invitation.

The deep red, vintage-style card suited the elders’ preferences. Shao Siwen had initially wanted a hand-painted blue-and-white design but eventually settled on the more festive option his grandfather preferred.

Xicun handed her the invitation. “Min Ting said he’s away on a business trip, so he asked me to give this to you.”

Shi Miao accepted it with a polite smile, glancing at the card briefly before tucking it into her bag. She noticed the wedding band on his ring finger—absent during their last meeting.

Her gaze flicked back up briefly to meet his. “Congratulations.”

Xicun smiled lightly. “Same to you.”

He noticed that she didn’t open the invitation, merely glanced at it and put it away.

“How are things with Min Ting?” he asked, taking a sip from his glass.

Shi Miao thought for a moment before answering. They’d only met twice since registering their marriage. There wasn’t much attachment between them, but Min Ting had been attentive and responsible.

“Being with him feels… easy.”

“That’s good.”

The conversation shifted to her department’s recent charity surgeries. “I heard it’s being done in two phases?”

“Yes. The second group of children will be admitted at the end of July,” she replied before pausing briefly. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend your wedding that day.” She leaned forward slightly, clinking her glass against his. “Let me wish you and your bride a happy marriage in advance.”

Xicun smiled faintly. “Thank you. If you’re too busy, it’s okay. I’ve received your blessings.”

Shi Miao’s phone buzzed with a new message.

It was from Sangyu.

Sangyu: My brother is a married man now. I hope you know your boundaries. Don’t share unnecessary meals.

Shi Miao didn’t reply. She simply deleted Sangyu from her contacts.

“Brother, I need to get back to the hospital.” She slipped her phone into her bag. “A colleague has a family emergency, so I’m covering their night shift.”

Xicun finished his drink in one go, placing the empty glass on the table. “I’ll give you a ride.”

“No need. I have to stop by home to grab some things.”

The entire meeting lasted less than five minutes.

They parted ways downstairs. Shi Miao crossed the street and entered the residential complex without looking back.

At home, she boiled a plate of frozen dumplings.

As she ate, her thoughts drifted to the invitation, prompting her to take a picture and send it to Min Ting.

Shi Miao: Ye Xicun gave me the wedding invitation.

After a moment’s pause, she added:

Shi Miao: When are you coming back from your trip?

She didn’t overthink why she wanted to know his schedule; she simply asked because she felt like it.

Her message remained unanswered until bedtime.

Shi Miao turned off the lights, pulled the quilt into a bundle, hugged it, and fell asleep almost immediately, too tired to let her mind wander.

The screen on her bedside table lit up.

Min Ting: I’ll be back before your birthday.