Chapter 9

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Su Yuwei was startled by Pei Shuchen’s sudden appearance outside the corridor, and the piece of flatbread stuck in her throat lodged even deeper, making her cough violently and uncontrollably.

“Hey! Sis, what happened to you?!”

Su Yunxiang was frightened by her intense coughing. Panic surged through him as he feared his sister might actually choke to death on that piece of bread. Anxious, he rushed forward and started slapping her back—hard—all while shouting:

“Come on… spit it out, spit it out!”

Su Yuwei was already choking badly, and now with him pounding her back like a drum, her entire body ached. The whole scene descended into utter chaos.

Even the two hometown folks sleeping soundly in the upper bunk were startled awake by the commotion and poked their heads down to look.

“You shouldn’t slap that hard—it’s not effective like this.”

Pei Shuchen, still standing in the corridor, stepped inside with calm composure. He casually hung the two oil-paper-wrapped packages in his hand on the bed rail nearby and stepped forward to help.

“Let me try.”

“No… cough… no need…”

Su Yuwei quickly shook her head and refused. Seeing her brother finally stop slapping her, she took the opportunity to catch her breath and grabbed some water to gulp down.

“Whew…”

Finally! She managed to swallow it down.

Su Yuwei exhaled heavily, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed after making such a fool of herself in front of everyone. She turned to glare at her brother and grumbled:

“Why the heck did you hit so hard? I asked you for water, not to cave in my spine!”

“How is this my fault?”

Su Yunxiang, who normally couldn’t get a word out around strangers, was a real smooth talker when it came to his sister. Feeling wronged, he couldn’t help but defend himself:

“I thought you were choking to death! You should’ve seen yourself just now—neck stretched out like a fish out of water!”

“……”

Su Yuwei, utterly mortified and furious, snapped:

“You’re the fish out of water! And if you knew I was lacking water, why didn’t you just give me some instead of slapping the life out of me?”

“It was just a figure of speech…”

Su Yunxiang sighed, seeing her flushed face, and finally relented:

“Alright, alright… it’s my fault, okay? I’m sorry, alright?”

“……”

Pfft—

Su Yuwei hadn’t even gotten around to scolding him for being half-hearted when a snort of laughter rang out nearby.

She froze.

Her face flushed hotter with embarrassment. Instinctively, she looked up at the upper bunk—and locked eyes with the hometown guy who was peering down at them, eyes practically sparkling.

“Heh… heh…”

The guy awkwardly cleared his throat and grinned:

“You two siblings have such a great relationship, and you’re seriously funny. But, just so you know, that laugh wasn’t from me.”

As he spoke, he glanced toward the side. Things had finally gotten interesting on this boring train ride, only to be interrupted.

Tch, young people these days—good-looking, but lacking composure.

Su Yuwei’s mouth twitched. She followed his gaze toward the side—and met Pei Shuchen’s seemingly calm and serious face.

“……”

Su Yuwei thought to herself, He really doesn’t seem like the type who would laugh.

But across from her, Pei Shuchen looked at Su Yuwei—face still flushed with shame and a trace of doubt in her expression—and felt an odd surge of amusement. He almost laughed again.

The guy on the top bunk was right—this “Comrade Su”… was indeed quite interesting.

Pei Shuchen’s lips twitched slightly as he suppressed a smile. Then, as if nothing had happened, he grabbed the two paper-wrapped packages from the bedframe and smoothly changed the subject:

“These are roast duck and homemade beef jerky from my hometown. You… you all can have some.”

His gaze landed briefly on the dry flatbread Su Yuwei had tossed on the little table. It had a tiny bite mark in it, which for some reason looked rather… cute.

“……”

Pei Shuchen suddenly snapped out of it, frowned slightly, and glanced at the peacefully sleeping baby on the bed. His eyes shifted, and his expression returned to its usual cold calm.

Hearing there was meat, Su Yuwei’s attention was immediately diverted. She tossed aside her earlier frustration and smiled brightly as she took the two packages:

“Thank you! In that case, we won’t be polite.”

Pei Shuchen nodded, turned to leave, but after walking a few steps, he paused, looked back at her glowing smile, and said:

“I ordered a soup from the train’s dining car. I’ll bring some over later—drink it before resting.”

Su Yuwei didn’t bother being reserved and smiled even more as she nodded:

“Okay, thank you so much!”

…

After Pei Shuchen left, Su Yuwei couldn’t wait to open one of the packages. A wave of mouth-watering aroma hit them. Inside was sliced roast duck from Yanjing.

“Brother, go call Dad over. Let’s eat together.”

Su Yuwei placed the food on the little table by the window and gave instructions.

Su Yunxiang immediately headed to the rear carriage, and soon came back with their father.

“Where did all this come from?”

Father Su stared in surprise at the jerky and roast duck laid out on the table and asked the siblings.

“Someone gave it to us,” Su Yunxiang replied, handing him a duck leg while stuffing some beef jerky into his own dry flatbread.

The beef jerky was chewy, flavorful, and satisfying.

While their father was still processing what was happening, the two siblings were already devouring the food eagerly.

“……”

Father Su paused, then wisely stopped asking questions and quietly sat down to join the meal.

…

Meanwhile, back in the soft sleeper compartment, Pei Shuchen peeked in and saw that Pei Shujing was still asleep. He gently closed the door and headed to the dining car.

Inside, Pei’s mother and Zhao Fang had already eaten and were chatting over tea.

As Pei Shuchen entered, he heard Zhao Fang angrily ranting about her son-in-law:

“Let me tell you, sis, that scumbag is rotten to the core. He wrote some sappy letter to our Weiwei, comparing his mistress to ‘autumn leaves and spring sprouts’—disgusting. Made my Weiwei laugh to death! He sure wasn’t writing that poetic crap back when he promised to love her forever…”

Pei’s mother was fuming as well:

“What a piece of work! What are you going to do about it?”

“Divorce, of course!” Zhao Fang slapped her thigh, eyes fierce.

“My Weiwei was spoiled since birth, we all doted on her—how could she be treated like this?”

Pei’s mother quickly nodded in agreement, angry on their behalf:

“Don’t let that little… bastard get away with it. He has to pay for what he did.”

“You bet.”

Zhao Fang nodded, eyes steely.

“If I don’t peel a layer off of him, he won’t learn his lesson.”

She took a sip of water, then turned and asked Pei Shuchen warmly:

“Ah, Shuchen, you’re back? Did you give them the food?”

“Yes,” he nodded, then looked at his mother. She stared back in mild confusion as he said to Zhao Fang:

“Aunt Su, I had a pot of soup made in the dining car—it’s almost ready. I’ll bring some for you to soothe your throat.”

“Oh, thank you, dear!” Zhao Fang immediately replied.

Then, grinning widely, she turned to Pei’s mother and gushed:

“What a wonderful young man—thoughtful, gentle, and handsome to boot. That smile of his is just charming. Sis, you’re so lucky!”

Pei’s mother: “……”

Her son was handsome, but thoughtful? Gentle? Smiling… charming?

He smiled?

She turned to Pei Shuchen—and sure enough, the boy was smiling warmly.

He met her gaze, smile still present, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

And then… silence.

“Shuchen, why are you smiling?” she asked.

Then rubbed her forehead, correcting herself:

“I mean, what are you smiling about?”

Pei Shuchen: “……”

He didn’t know what to say. He gave her a blank look, staying silent.

Thankfully, Zhao Fang chimed in to save the moment:

“Oh come on, what’s wrong with a kid smiling? Don’t grill him over every grin!”

Pei’s mother gave her son a meaningful glance, then turned back with a sigh.

“Sis, you don’t understand…”

She had been wanting to complain about her son for ages—how he was always so cold and emotionless, practically born an old man.

It was so extreme that back when he was a kid, she even took him to a doctor to check for facial nerve issues.

But now? Seeing him smiling so naturally?

As she was about to rant, Pei Shuchen interrupted:

“Mom, the soup’s ready.”

She looked toward the dining car’s far end—and saw the staff pushing a cart from what felt like a mile away.

“……”

Pei’s mother was speechless, then looked suspiciously at her son, piecing together all of his strange behavior today.

Before she could say more, Pei Shuchen added:

“Mom, Aunt Su, you two enjoy. I’ll take some soup to Comrade Su and her family.”

Pei’s mother watched him walk away—and suddenly, it hit her.

No way.

Her mind flashed back to the girl from the Su family—the one who’d helped treat her daughter. Calm demeanor, bright eyes, sweet smile… and apparently, rather gentle too.

She really liked that girl.

Ahem.

Zhao Fang’s voice brought her back:

“Sis, what are you staring at?”

She handed over a small bowl of silver ear and pear soup, smiling:

“Try it! It’s sweet and thick—really quite good. Who’d have thought train food could be this fancy?”

Honestly, she hadn’t even had soup this nice back home—so she’d already had two bowls before slowing down.

Pei’s mother looked at the soup, then smiled and replied:

“I’m not big on sweets, but as long as you like it. Shuchen and some other passengers bought the ingredients fresh.”

Zhao Fang was impressed again and praised:

“Didn’t I say he’s such a thoughtful and gentle boy? Look how attentive he is—tsk tsk…”

“……”

Pei’s mother chuckled and took a sip of soup. Then she said:

“You’re right. He’s always been easy—cold personality, yes, but very reliable and responsible…”

The two women continued chatting happily.

Meanwhile, Su Yuwei and her family had just finished eating—when they saw Pei Shuchen appear in the hallway again.