Extra 2


Sang Zhi didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

After hanging up the phone, she glanced at her phone’s calendar. As she calculated the time, she realized that almost a week had passed without her delivering food to Duan Jiaxu.

Somehow, perhaps because of Duan Jiaxu’s tone just now, Sang Zhi suddenly felt a bit guilty.

Afraid she might forget, she even set an alarm before going to bed. The next morning, she found an interesting food video and stayed in bed watching it several times before finally heading into the kitchen.

As she cooked, tasting along the way, Sang Zhi thought that day’s cooking tasted even better than what she had made before.

She licked the sauce from her lips.

She wondered if she should tell Duan Jiaxu later that she hadn’t been visiting recently because she was busy practicing her cooking skills.

Her mind wandered for a while.

Sang Zhi carefully arranged the lunchbox, packed it into a bag, and left the house. She timed her trip well, catching the subway and arriving at Duan Jiaxu’s studio just in time for lunch.

Having visited often, Sang Zhi no longer asked Duan Jiaxu to come down to meet her. She simply took the elevator up.

Probably because they had ordered takeout, the office door was left open.

Sang Zhi walked in but didn’t see Duan Jiaxu at his desk. She blinked and took out her phone to send him a message.

One of the men noticed her, hesitated, then nudged the person beside him before speaking up, “Sister-in-law, Boss went to the restroom. Why don’t you sit for a bit?”

Being called sister-in-law^[1]elder brother’s wife by these men who were all older than her felt a bit awkward. Sang Zhi nodded, walked to Duan Jiaxu’s desk, and sat down, taking out the two lunchboxes from the bag.

Just as she was opening the lids, someone asked, “Sister-in-law, why haven’t you come by lately?”

She turned around.

Just as she was about to answer, Sang Zhi caught sight of Duan Jiaxu out of the corner of her eye. She immediately swallowed her words and focused on him.

Duan Jiaxu walked over and looked down at her. “How long have you been here?”

“I just arrived.” Sang Zhi replied.

He pulled over a chair and sat down, then suddenly called out, “Zhizhi.”

Sang Zhi looked up. “Huh?”

Duan Jiaxu glanced behind her, lazily saying, “Someone asked you a question, why didn’t you answer?”

“……”

Sang Zhi’s attention, which had been diverted by him, snapped back.

Not sure if Duan Jiaxu was upset, Sang Zhi hesitated, staring at him cautiously for a few seconds before slowly and carefully explaining the excuse she had thought up earlier, “I thought my cooking wasn’t very good.”

“Hmm?”

“So I’ve been practicing my cooking skills lately.” Sang Zhi didn’t dare meet Duan Jiaxu’s gaze, afraid he might see through her lie. “Try it, it’s better than before.”

The man who had asked her the question earlier suddenly made an enlightened noise. “Oh, so that’s why! We thought—”

Before he could finish, the man beside him quickly covered his mouth.

Sang Zhi awkwardly asked, “You thought what?”

Ignoring their conversation, Duan Jiaxu picked up his chopsticks, his expression gentle. “If you don’t want to cook, then don’t. If you’re bored, go out with your friends.”

“……”

Although his words were normal, at this moment, Sang Zhi inexplicably felt something was off. Moreover, this man always had the same expression whether he was angry or happy, making it hard for her to tell what he was feeling.

Sang Zhi swallowed nervously and seriously said, “I want to.”

Duan Jiaxu turned his head to look at her.

Sang Zhi added, “I do want to.”

After a pause, she straightforwardly accused him, “Are you the one who doesn’t want me to come over?”

Duan Jiaxu’s expression softened slightly as he glanced at the group of men who were now all listening intently. He chuckled. “What are you talking about? Let’s eat.”

Sang Zhi still felt that something was strange.

After the meal, while Duan Jiaxu went to throw out the trash, Sang Zhi took the opportunity to ask the youngest and most loose-lipped guy there a few questions. It didn’t take long for her to get to the bottom of it.

The guy said, “Sister-in-law, since you haven’t been around, we all thought you and the boss broke up.”

Sang Zhi: “……”

He continued, “And the boss has been in a bad mood lately, so we figured you dumped him.”

Sang Zhi: “?”

“After all, I heard you say he was born in the 80’s, right?” The guy added, “A man almost 40 years old and still not married must be a bit sensitive. Sister-in-law, you should be nicer to Boss.”

Sang Zhi was silent for a few seconds. “I think I said he’s a post-80s, he was born in ‘89.”

“……”

Sang Zhi hadn’t expected that just by not coming for a few days, rumors like this would start.

——Duan Jiaxu, a promising man with a car and a house, was dumped by a female college student due to being old and his declining looks.

She suddenly understood why Duan Jiaxu had asked her to bring him lunch.

He must have heard what the others were saying.

Sang Zhi returned to Duan Jiaxu’s desk and played on her phone.

Soon, Duan Jiaxu returned, bringing her a drink.

Sang Zhi inserted the straw into the cup and kept glancing at him. Thinking about what had just happened, she suddenly found it amusing and a smile appeared on her lips.

Duan Jiaxu noticed and asked, “What’s so funny?”

Sang Zhi chuckled to herself for a while. Her eyes curved into crescent moons as she reached out to poke his cheek, revealing two small dimples by her lips. “An old man burdened by his age.”

“……”

“It’s okay.” Sang Zhi comforted him, “You may be old, but you’re not lacking in charm.”

“……”

———pr


A month after the semester began, National Day arrived.

Sang Zhi had bought a ticket home in advance and on the 30th, after her last class, she boarded the bus to the airport.

By the time she arrived at Nanwu Airport, it was just past noon.

Sang Zhi hadn’t brought much luggage so she didn’t check in any bags, only carrying a small backpack. She followed the exit sign and soon spotted Duan Jiaxu waiting outside.

Duan Jiaxu walked over and took her hand. “Let’s go have lunch.”

Sang Zhi glanced at the time and asked, “Do you need to go back to the office later?”

Duan Jiaxu replied, “Mm.”

Sang Zhi asked, “Do you get time off for National Day?”

“Three days.”

Sang Zhi made a sound of acknowledgment.

They walked out of the airport.

With Duan Jiaxu holding her hand, Sang Zhi followed him towards the parking lot. She didn’t pay attention to where they were going, her eyes glued to her phone. Suddenly, she heard someone behind her call out, “Sang Zhi?”

At the sound of her name, Sang Zhi turned around.

Standing before her was a tall, slender young man.

It was her former schoolmate, Fu Zhengchu.

The last time they met was at a class reunion during the summer vacation, which wasn’t that long ago.

Fu Zhengchu hadn’t changed much since middle school. He had grown into his looks and dressed more maturely, but his demeanor still exuded a sunny, slightly silly air.

Seeing that he hadn’t mistaken her, Fu Zhengchu smiled. “You’re back for National Day too?”

Sang Zhi stopped walking and nodded. “What are you doing here?”

Fu Zhengchu explained, “My grandma’s coming, so I’m here to pick her up.”

Duan Jiaxu also stopped, giving Fu Zhengchu a brief glance, his expression thoughtful. A second later, his eyebrows raised as if something occurred to him, and a faint, unreadable smile appeared on his lips.

It was only then that Fu Zhengchu noticed the man standing beside Sang Zhi.

He looked at Duan Jiaxu and politely asked, “And this is?”

Sang Zhi honestly replied, “My boyfriend.”

Fu Zhengchu seemed to find Duan Jiaxu familiar and stared at him for several seconds. Realizing that it might seem rude, he quickly cleared his throat and looked away. “Well, I won’t keep you. I’m off to pick up my grandma.”

Sang Zhi waved at him, her tone courteous, “Go ahead. Let’s keep in touch.”

Then she continued walking with Duan Jiaxu.

They had barely taken a few steps when Fu Zhengchu called out to her again, this time with a voice tinged with disbelief, as if his entire worldview had been shattered, “S-sang Zhi!”

Sang Zhi turned around again. “Huh?”

But Fu Zhengchu wasn’t looking at her anymore. His gaze was fixed on Duan Jiaxu as if he had suddenly realized something. He looked like he had just been struck by lightning and his lips moved, but all he managed to say was, “Nothing.”

Sang Zhi was equally puzzled. “You should go pick up your grandmother. Don’t keep her waiting.”

After a moment of silence, Fu Zhengchu nodded.

This time, the other party didn’t say anything further and entered the airport.

After he left, Duan Jiaxu gently squeezed Sang Zhi’s fingers and said slowly, “If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that the guy you caused to cry?”

Sang Zhi muttered, “That was so long ago. I wouldn’t have remembered if you hadn’t brought it up.”

Duan Jiaxu echoed her earlier words, “’Let’s keep in touch’?”

Sang Zhi, feeling justified, couldn’t help but retort, “It was just a polite phrase, can’t you tell? Besides, he has a girlfriend now and doesn’t like me anymore. Last time we met, he told me it was just youthful foolishness.”

Duan Jiaxu, still looking casual, drawled, “’Last time we met’?”

“……”

“Why are you meeting other men behind my back?”

Sang Zhi replied expressionlessly, “It was a class reunion.”

She frowned. “Why do you keep picking fights with me at every opportunity?”

“What picking fights?” Duan Jiaxu laughed. “I just have to be careful. After all, there’s a big age difference between us.”

“……”

Seeing that he was about to bring up more irrelevant old grievances, Sang Zhi quickly changed the topic, mentioning Fu Zhengchu’s strange reaction just now. “When he called my name the second time, his expression was really odd.”

Duan Jiaxu said, “It was odd.”

Sang Zhi didn’t get it. “Why did he react like that? His expression was like he just found out my personality or my whole face had completely changed.”

Duan Jiaxu chuckled. “It’s not that serious.”

Sang Zhi was taken aback. “You know why?”

“Mm.”

“How do you know?”

“You know it too.”

“I don’t know.”

“Think about it.”

After a moment of pondering, Sang Zhi still couldn’t figure it out and asked blankly, “What is it?”

“Your schoolmate,” Duan Jiaxu patiently reminded her, “the first time he saw me, I was standing in for your brother to meet your teacher, so he must be thinking I’m your real brother.”

“……”

“Right now, he might be thinking that we’re having an incestuous relationship.”