Chapter 15.2 That kiss from a few years ago

The next day, Shi Miao thought she could sleep until she woke up naturally, but she was woken up by her mother’s call at 7:40.

Zhao Moyin was ready to go out, and before leaving, she made sure her daughter was having a normal day off.

“Are you off today? You handed over your shift and are waiting at the hospital, I’ll come and pick you up.”

Shi Miao: “I’m at home.”

Zhao Moyin heard her daughter’s sleepy voice and didn’t say anything more: “Go back to sleep.”

“Mom, are you coming over?”

“No hurry, I’ll be there at eleven. Go to sleep.”

She hung up the phone in a hurry.

Zhao Moyin put down her bag, and she was also too sleepy to keep her eyes open. She had been on a business trip for the past two days, and had only landed at midnight last night. She got home and only slept for a few hours before getting up.

She had put on makeup, so she couldn’t go back to bed for a nap. She leaned on the sofa and dozed off.

She napped until ten o’clock.

Ye Shuo came downstairs, and his mother, who had been sleeping on the sofa in the living room, had just woken up.

“Mom, when did you come back?”

“Midnight.”

“Why didn’t you sleep in bed? Are you going to the company?”

Saying this, Ye Shuo went to pour a glass of warm water and brought it over.

“I’m not going to the company.” Zhao Moyin took a few sips of warm water to refresh herself before asking her son, “Aren’t you busy today?”

“Yeah.” Ye Shuo lazily sat down on the opposite sofa and took out his phone to browse.

If it weren’t for Ye Xicun’s wedding, he would have gone back to school long ago. The project he was collaborating on with his classmates was in a crucial stage, and the client was also anxiously waiting for the acceptance.

Zhao Moyin put down her water glass, “Then go and see your sister.”

Ye Shuo regretted saying he wasn’t busy just now. The person he most wanted to see and the person he most didn’t want to see was Shi Miao. He was mentally resistant to the past, but he couldn’t refuse.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he got up, grabbed his car keys, and went straight to the courtyard.

Zhao Moyin disliked her son’s flashy sports car. Ye Shuo didn’t want to listen to his mother’s nagging, so based on the principle of not hurting each other, the mother and son each used their own car.

Ye Shuo had never been to the community where Shi Miao rented her apartment. He asked his mother the name of the community. He hadn’t heard of the community’s name, so he had to use navigation.

Because he wasn’t familiar with the local road conditions, he arrived five or six minutes later than his mother.

Zhao Moyin was carrying a shopping bag and was waiting downstairs for her son to go upstairs with her.

Ye Shuo’s car was parked outside the community. He walked slowly. The eleven o’clock sun was shining brightly, burning his face. He was so hot he could barely breathe, and he rolled up the sleeves of his T-shirt to his shoulders.

Zhao Moyin urged her son: “You’re hot and you’re still not walking faster.”

Ye Shuo was almost dehydrated and couldn’t walk anymore.

Entering the building, it was finally a little cooler.

Ye Shuo looked at the luxurious shopping bag in his mother’s hand: “For my sister?”

“Yeah.” Zhao Moyin had specially ordered a dress for her daughter, “Your brother-in-law’s family will all be there on the day of Xicun’s wedding, so she needs to dress formally.”

Ye Shuo glanced at the shopping bag again: “My sister is willing to attend my brother’s wedding?”

Zhao Moyin found her access card from her bag, swiped it on the elevator, pressed the floor button, and then asked, “Why wouldn’t she be willing?”

Because no one wants to attend the wedding of the person they like.

Ye Shuo made up a reason: “Isn’t she very busy? Can she afford to take time off?”

Zhao Moyin: “No matter how busy she is, she should take time off if she needs to.”

Out of the elevator, Ye Shuo followed closely behind his mother, looking around and examining the mottled and scratched walls of the corridor. He didn’t expect it to be so old.

Zhao Moyin had called her daughter downstairs.  She knocked on the door, and Shi Miao replied, “I’m coming.” The door opened from the inside.

Shi Miao had known from the phone call that Ye Shuo was coming too, so she wasn’t surprised to see him. She nodded in greeting and, seeing that his forehead was covered in sweat and his sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, said, “There’s chilled watermelon on the table.”

Ye Shuo didn’t hesitate and went in to take a slice of watermelon to quench his thirst.

While eating the watermelon, he looked around the apartment. It was a one-bedroom apartment, but thankfully it was spacious and well-lit, without a sense of oppression.

The furniture was still the old one, quite old.

Zhao Moyin handed the shopping bag to her daughter: “Wear this to Xicun’s wedding. Go try it on and see if it fits.”

Shi Miao didn’t dampen her mother’s enthusiasm, and the mother and daughter went into the bedroom.

Ye Shuo ate two slices of ice watermelon and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He finally felt revived.

Feeling bored alone, he wandered to the balcony. To make full use of the space, the landlord had converted the east end of the balcony into a small study of about two square meters.

Before he and his mother arrived, Shi Miao must have been reading and studying. Her computer was on, and a book was upside down on the desk.  He suddenly froze. The pen next to the computer looked very familiar, and unpleasant memories surged back instantly.

She had been using that pen all along.

At that time, she couldn’t imagine that he had a collection of pens worth millions, and he couldn’t imagine that she needed to save money to buy a pen that cost a few thousand yuan.

From childhood to adulthood, he hadn’t regretted anything, except for that pen.

Ye Shuo picked up the pen, looked at it, and put it back in its place.

They were still in the bedroom. He returned to the living room, sat down properly on the old wooden sofa, took out his phone, and opened it. His finger hovered over the screen for a long time, not knowing what to look at.

In the bedroom, Shi Miao tried on the dress. The size fit perfectly, and the style suited her perfectly. There was nothing to fault.

Zhao Moyin hung up the dress and put it in the closet, “What are you planning to do that day?”

Shi Miao: “I’ll ask Min Ting.”

That night, she gave Min Ting the wedding invitation, but didn’t say whether or not to go together.

She sent a message asking: Ye Xicun’s wedding, are you free to go?

Min Ting: I’m free.

Before she could ask, he asked her first: That day, will you be sitting at the groom’s family’s table, or will you sit with me?

Shi Miao: With you.