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Xu En’tang slept in until nearly noon.
At lunchtime, Lu Jin was absent.
“How was your nap, Tangtang?” Madam Lu asked.
“I slept well,” Xu En’tang replied.
Madam Lu said, “From now on, you don’t have to come to have breakfast with us on weekends. Eat whenever you like; we can send it to your room.”
Xu En’tang wanted to say something, but Madam Lu continued, “You only have two days a week, so you should sleep more. Even if you wake up early, there’s no need to come over; don’t feel constrained.”
Xu En’tang nodded in agreement.
Old Master Lu added, “Tangtang, you’ve worked hard these past few days. You don’t need to keep an eye on Lu Jin anymore.”
Xu En’tang was a bit surprised.
But this was good news for her.
She reassured him, “Lu Jin knows his limits.”
Old Master Lu replied, “If only he were half as considerate as you.”
Without needing to follow Lu Jin, Xu En’tang found she had much more free time.
On Monday morning at school, Xu En’tang saw Lin Jiayu slumped over her desk, looking lethargic.
“Good morning,” Lin Jiayu greeted weakly.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you not feeling well?” Xu En’tang asked.
Lin Jiayu, wanting to avoid being overheard by the boys behind them, whispered, “It’s my period.”
Xu En’tang thought there was nothing to hide about that, but she understood Lin Jiayu’s embarrassment; she had been through it as well.
“Give me your cup; I’ll go get you some hot water,” she offered.
Lin Jiayu handed her the cup, saying, “Having you as a deskmate is the best.”
At first, Lin Jiayu had just been low on energy, but as time passed, her cramps intensified, and she hadn’t even gone to eat lunch.
Seeing that this wouldn’t do, Xu En’tang went to the school nurse during lunch break to get her some painkillers.
After taking the medication, Lin Jiayu finally felt a bit better in the afternoon.
Xu En’tang had only eaten a few dishes in the cafeteria, which weren’t very tasty, so she didn’t eat much.
After the first class in the afternoon, feeling a bit hungry, she decided to visit the small convenience store.
She also asked Lin Jiayu, who hadn’t eaten lunch.
“I want that red bean bread and some strawberry milk,” Lin Jiayu said.
The convenience store was a bit far from the teaching building, and most students would go there during the big break, so it wasn’t very crowded at this time.
Xu En’tang grabbed two red bean breads from the shelf and then went to the other side to get two boxes of milk—one strawberry and one plain.
As she walked out from the shelf to pay, she almost bumped into three people and stopped just in time.
The tip of her nose brushed lightly against the fabric of someone’s clothing, sending a ticklish sensation through her.
A refreshing and unique scent wafted by, reminiscent of a summer breeze rustling through intertwined branches.
Xu En’tang looked up and froze for a moment.
It was Tan Jili.
“Second Brother,” she said instinctively.
“Second Brother?” Yu Chen echoed, looking at Xu En’tang and then at Tan Jili with curiosity.
Tan Jili raised an eyebrow, a clear look of surprise flashing in his lazy eyes.
After the words “Second Brother” slipped out, Xu En’tang quickly realized the inappropriateness of her comment.
She hadn’t formally met Tan Jili yet, so he probably didn’t recognize her.
He wouldn’t think she was some infatuated girl, would he?
“…I’m Xu En’tang,” she added awkwardly.
Tan Jili replied, “I know.”
He knew her but probably couldn’t comprehend why she was so familiar, calling him “Second Brother.”
Xu En’tang hadn’t felt this embarrassed in a long time, her ears turning red.
She wanted to quickly pay and leave, but suddenly, her hands felt empty.
A long-fingered hand had taken her red bean bread and milk from her grasp and placed them on the counter.
Tan Jili placed the items on the counter.
“Anything else?” he asked.
Xu En’tang looked up, meeting his gaze, and paused before realizing what he was asking.
She shook her head.
“We have some more,” Yu Chen said, putting his and Jiang Ran’s drinks on the counter.
Tan Jili glanced at him, said nothing, and placed his drinks on the counter, his voice laced with a lazy drawl, “Pay.”
The cashier scanned the barcode on the red bean bread.
“Beep—”
“Beep—”
Tan Jili casually lowered his eyelids, seemingly observing the cashier scanning the items.
The vermillion-colored mole on his nose, though tiny, was striking against his fair skin, like a beauty spot on a woman’s forehead.
Xu En’tang stood beside him, the heat in her ears still lingering.
In her past life, she hadn’t been particularly close to Tan Jili.
When she lived at the Tan family’s, she interacted more with his mother; she only saw him during meals.
She was in her final year of high school while he was in university, and they rarely saw each other later.
Perhaps because he was a year older, they had limited interactions, and with his air of privilege, she always felt a distance between them, a sense that he was difficult to approach.
She had always felt a bit restrained around him.
That changed on the eve of her wedding to Lu Jin.
That night, she and Yu Xiyue were at a bar when they overheard someone belittling her, saying she wasn’t good enough to marry Lu Jin.
Yu Xiyue was furious and about to confront them.
Then, Tan Jili appeared.
His shirt sleeves were rolled up halfway, his suit jacket casually draped over his arm, looking strikingly elegant and seemingly about to leave.
“Let’s hear it. Who is my sister, Tan Jili’s sister, not good enough to marry?”
When Xu En’tang and Lu Jin were discussing their marriage, Old Master Tan suggested that Tan Jili walk her down the aisle.
Xu En’tang had thought it was just Old Master Tan trying to support her, but Tan Jili actually accepted her as his sister.
Tan Jili spoke casually, without seriousness, yet the women were so scared that they couldn’t utter a word.
He smiled faintly, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, “Don’t let me hear that again.”
As he turned to leave, he noticed Xu En’tang nearby.
Pausing beside her, he advised, “Don’t stay out too late; go home early.”
Tan Jili was the second son in his generation of the Tan family; those younger than him called him “Second Brother.”
Those close to the family, even if not members, would also call him that, such as Xu En’tang.
After that night at the bar, she had willingly called him “Second Brother.”
On her wedding day, Tan Jili, acting as her brother, carried her out.
She hadn’t expected to be carried by Tan Jili, feeling slightly uncomfortable and stiff, afraid of burdening him with her weight.
But soon, that discomfort was replaced by the emotions of the wedding.
Thinking of her grandparents, of finally marrying Lu Jin, she quietly shed tears.
Only Tan Jili, carrying her, noticed.
In a voice that only they could hear, he offered comfort.
“It’s a happy day; why are you crying?”