TIMO - Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Shen Caiwei didn't understand.
She had clearly heard that Shi Nan came to Nanke Island to break off the engagement, so how had she suddenly become someone else's wife?
But looking at their tightly clasped fingers and the "love" that was practically spilling from Shi Nan's eyes, she had no choice but to admit that the two of them, damn it, were passionately in love.
"You two... going for a drive?"
Shen Caiwei's voice was a little hoarse, as if dried out by the night wind. "Want to take my car?"
...
The moment she said it, she wanted to sew her mouth shut. What kind of nonsense was that? Was she supposed to take the couple for a drive? Was she, a goddess admired by the entire galaxy, going to stoop to being a chauffeur for love?
But the words were already out, so Shen Caiwei could only force a smile, looking radiant as she watched the two of them clinging to each other, even though her heart was bleeding.
"No, thank you. We have a car."
Shen Caiwei's heart, which had been in her throat, dropped back down with Fu Zhao's refusal. But then Fu Zhao spoke up, smiling and nodding at her. "Well then, in that case, we'll be on our way."
"Wait!"
She blurted it out, stopping them. When Fu Zhao and Shi Nan both turned to look at her, she was dazed for a moment. She stared intently at the way Shi Nan naturally leaned against Fu Zhao, only pulling her gaze away as if she'd been burned before starting to speak on her own.
"According to the tropes in the movies I've starred in, this is the part where I should wish you happiness, then quietly wait by Nannan's side until you..." She pointed at Fu Zhao. "...have an accident, and then I'll seize the opportunity to take your place..."
"Take that back."
Shi Nan looked over, her gaze burning. Her expression was faint, yet it carried an inexplicable hostility as she spoke her first words to Shen Caiwei after all this time.
"I..."
Shen Caiwei was rendered speechless by Shi Nan's retort. She replied dryly, "Take what back?"
"You know what." Shi Nan stopped walking and just stared at her, as if the kind words she'd spoken earlier had been a figment of Shen Caiwei's imagination.
Shen Caiwei froze for a second, finally accepting the fact that she was no longer the closest to Shi Nan among the three pursuers. Her gaze shifted to Fu Zhao's face. The person in the white shirt and jeans stood there quietly, a smile on her lips as she looked "indulgently" at her Nannan.
She used to be her Nannan. But now... could she not even call her Nannan anymore?
A wave of bitterness rose in her heart. Shen Caiwei opened her mouth. "Fine, I'll take it back."
"I won't call you Nannan."
"Who's talking about that?" Shi Nan shot her a cold, sharp look. "Nothing will happen to Fu Zhao. Nothing will ever happen to her. Even if for some reason... she doesn't want me anymore, if she abandons me, you still won't have a chance. Don't you dare mention a single word about 'seizing the opportunity to take her place' in front of my wifey."
With that, Shi Nan pulled the still-dazed Fu Zhao away and left without a backward glance, not even saying Shen Caiwei's name.
And so, Shen Caiwei could only watch as the intimate figures of Shi Nan and Fu Zhao shrank into the distance, swallowing the rest of her sentence: "But I wouldn't do that, because the goddess of the galaxy has her pride and wouldn't be content to be the woman behind someone else..."
She could only stand there, her eyes darting around blankly, accepting the fact that she hadn't even managed to get out her tough words.
A gust of wind blew past, lifting the corner of her coat. She wrapped her trench coat tighter, pulled her baseball cap down, and stood for a moment before turning to get in her car. Just then, a "buzzing" sound reached her ears.
She looked up. A vintage red, limited-edition convertible sped past, carrying the wind and the cheerful laughter of its occupants.
Yes, she had just had vision correction surgery, so she could clearly see that the people in the car were Fu Zhao and Shi Nan. The crucial part was that as they passed her, it was like a slow-motion shot, exceptionally glaring in her eyes.
The two were lovey-dovey, their hair tangling together as they gazed deeply into each other's eyes, not sparing her a single glance.
Shen Caiwei watched the car speed away with a straight face. Only after it was long gone, having turned a corner, did she let out a long, heavy breath, slowly squat down, and bury her head in her knees, letting out a "wah" as she burst into tears.
Is it too late to lock up my heart and swear off love?
Luckily, there was no one on the road, so she could have a good cry. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if word got out.
She stayed squatting like that, crying and sobbing for a while. After a long time, her legs went numb. She felt a gentle pat on the baseball cap on her head.
"Hey, want some watermelon?"
Shen Caiwei looked up. The figure of a tall Alpha came into view. She had a shoulder-length bob parted in the middle, a mint green long-sleeved shirt, and black shorts. She wore black-framed glasses and was holding a cup of watermelon juice. Seeing Shen Caiwei look up, she raised an eyebrow and offered it to her.
"You've been crying for so long, you need to rehydrate."
Shen Caiwei pressed her lips together, looking at the cup of watermelon juice held in those fair, translucent hands. It was thick and smooth, with bubbles on top, and condensation had formed on the side of the cup. It looked like the kind of slushie that would be "chilling to the core with one sip."
She blinked, her eyelashes fluttering. She took the juice, had a sip, sniffled, and said,
"This isn't watermelon, it's watermelon juice."
"Mm... this is watermelon juice."
Kong Weiyan squatted down beside her, propping her chin on her hand. She pushed up the baseball cap on Shen Caiwei's head, meeting her red-rimmed eyes. Her own eyes curved into crescents, her gaze shimmering slightly.
"You can't turn watermelon juice back into a watermelon..."
"And you can't turn Shi Nan from Fu Zhao's wife back into your Nannan, understand?"
Even on a midsummer night, a stuffy heat lingered in the air. The wind that blew against their faces was hot, and the multicolored lights reflected inside the car.
Fu Zhao drove while Shi Nan sat quietly beside her. The wind rustled in from outside, messing up both of their hair. Ever since they had passed Shen Caiwei, Shi Nan had been staring out the window in a daze, not saying a word.
When they reached the seaside, the wind became much cooler. Fu Zhao raised a hand to fix her hair and tentatively called out, "Shi Nan?"
But Shi Nan still didn't respond, just kept staring blankly out the window.
Fu Zhao tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Fragments of the memory of her verbal sparring with Shen Caiwei surfaced in her mind. Thinking about Shi Nan's reaction just now, she could indeed sense that something was off.
"Shi Nan?"
She called out several more times, but the other person still didn't react. Fu Zhao furrowed her brow, sighed softly, and pulled the car over to the side of the road. She turned to the side, her voice a little louder.
"Shi Nan... Nannan?"
The word "Nannan" came out, the final sound softened, carried on the sea breeze with a tenderness that even Fu Zhao herself didn't notice.
Shi Nan finally reacted. The light in her eyes flickered, her gaze wandering around before finally settling on Fu Zhao. A faint, shallow smile appeared on her face. "Why did you stop calling me wifey?"
"Weren't you calling me that quite happily just now?"
Fu Zhao pressed her lips together and was silent for a moment before speaking. "That was a special situation. Besides, you said it too. It wasn't just me..."
"Yes, I did." Shi Nan raised an eyebrow, her profile hazy under the flickering lights. "I don't mind calling you that from now on. What? For the sake of fairness, are you going to make up for all the 'wifey's you owe me?"
Fu Zhao's lips moved. "You're better with words."
"What was wrong with you just now? I called you so many times and you didn't answer." She quickly cut off the previous topic and started a new one. "You said you wanted to go for a drive, so why were you so distracted?"
Just then, a gust of wind blew past. Shi Nan raised a hand to tidy the hair at her forehead and lowered her gaze. "It's nothing."
"I just didn't expect," she lifted her eyes, her gaze burning, "that you'd be driving a sports car today. I thought it would be a motorcycle or a little electric scooter."
Fu Zhao's thoughts had been hit spot on. She coughed awkwardly a few times. "Riding a motorcycle or a scooter gets boring after a while. The garage has so many empty cars, so I just randomly drove one out."
"I just haven't driven in a long time and wanted to practice. It wasn't to show off in front of Shen Caiwei." She added this, trying to cover her tracks, which only made it more obvious.
Shi Nan always believed her transparent excuses, and this time was no different. She just gave Fu Zhao's cheek a reassuring squeeze before letting go and chuckling softly. "Alright, I know it wasn't to show off."
The night wind blew gently. Shi Nan leaned back in her seat, her hair brushed aside by the breeze. Her clear eyes, shimmering with a radiant light, seemed to ripple like water as she looked at Fu Zhao with such soft tenderness.
Shi Nan was acting more and more strangely. Whether it was her attitude toward Shen Caiwei earlier or her silence after getting in the car, it was as if she had remembered something unpleasant, or was worried about something.
Fu Zhao was too, but her strangeness was different from Shi Nan's.
She shook her head, which was filled with a thousand thoughts, and rested it gently on the steering wheel. She glanced sideways at Shi Nan, blinked, and lowered her voice. "I just saw a place over there where they're releasing Kongming Lanterns. Do you want to go?"
"I hear that making a wish on a Kongming Lantern is very effective."
"Shi Nan, no matter what you're worried or scared about, you can tell me. I'll help you."
"But if you don't want to say, or can't tell me..."
Fu Zhao thought about how off Shi Nan had been all evening and knew that whatever was weighing on her heart wouldn't be revealed so easily, just like the secret she herself kept hidden. She pursed her lips thoughtfully, her eyes flickering. "Then let's use the Kongming Lanterns to tell the gods. If we're sincere and earnest, heaven won't treat us unfairly."
Shi Nan watched Fu Zhao quietly, feeling as if Fu Zhao's rambling words were turning into a bewitching spell in her ears, making her truly believe that one sentence.
If they were earnest, heaven wouldn't treat them unfairly.
Since she was given a second chance, heaven must be giving her an opportunity, right?
An opportunity to keep the person in front of her.
In that case... shouldn't she also take this opportunity to have a good talk with heaven?
To ask it to be a little kinder to Fu Zhao.
Don't let her die so painfully again this time.
"Okay~"
Shi Nan said softly, "Then let's go together."
Fu Zhao paused for a moment, then smiled. "Of course we'll go together. Would I let you go alone?"
"That's right..." Shi Nan closed her eyes for a moment, softly repeating the sentence. "Would you let me go alone?"
Fu Zhao didn't hear Shi Nan's repetition because she had unbuckled her seatbelt, gotten out of the car, and walked around to open Shi Nan's door. But Shi Nan just sat there, not unbuckling her seatbelt or making any other move, just watching her with a slight shimmer in her eyes.
"It's not far from here, and it's crowded, so it's hard to park anywhere else. It's better if we walk." Fu Zhao explained patiently.
Shi Nan stared at Fu Zhao, her tone light and her demeanor so calm and composed she seemed like someone without hands or feet waiting to be carried out of the car. "Unbuckle my seatbelt for me."
Fu Zhao didn't know what new trap Shi Nan had devised for her to fall into, but seeing the passersby on the roadside stopping to watch them, some of whom looked like they were about to take out their phones to take pictures, gave her a bit of a headache.
Ever since their performance at the closing ceremony, the two of them always attracted attention whenever they walked down the street.
Fu Zhao sighed softly. She met Shi Nan's gaze for a moment, and seeing Shi Nan's "I'm not getting out unless you give in" expression, she finally conceded. Steeling herself, she leaned over, meeting Shi Nan's direct stare, and reached for the buckle on the other side.
But the next second, the person sitting primly in the seat leaned forward slightly and threw herself into her arms.
A warm, soft body quickly filled her embrace.
Her nose was filled with a rich, sweet fragrance, carried by the wind, swirling around her in hundreds of circles.
The sea breeze was slightly damp, carrying strands of brushed-aside hair that fell onto her face, neck, and shoulders, bringing a slight tickling sensation.
A pair of warm hands wrapped around her neck. The person in her arms was warm, her breathing soft, and that warmth gradually spread throughout Fu Zhao's entire body, until it felt like steam was rising from the top of her head.
A gentle pressure settled into the crook of her shoulder as a chin rested there, nuzzling against her, disrupting her breathing.
Her mind exploded into a blank, and she felt dizzy, unable to react. Still, she subconsciously used some strength to try and break free, but she had only moved a little before she was pulled back down, held even tighter. The warmth in the embrace intensified, as if she were about to be kneaded into it.
The voice that came with the wind to her ear was very soft, so soft it was almost inaudible.
"I never called you out on all those times you made transparent excuses..."
"So it's not too much for me to make a transparent excuse to hug you now, is it?"
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