Chapter 7

When I woke up again, I was lying in bed in my bedroom, and daylight was streaming in.

The fever seemed to have subsided, and my mind was exceptionally clear.

Staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, I turned my head and picked up the phone by my bedside.

Dozens of unread WeChat messages and missed calls flooded in.

There were ones from colleagues, my best friend, the real estate agent, and even Zhao Yue had sent me a message last night saying, “I’m sorry.”

But there was nothing from Lu He.

I opened our chat window-the last message was from two days ago.

I had said that a new romance movie was out, with great reviews, perfect for couples, and asked if he wanted to go that evening.

He replied without hesitation, “Sure, I’ll buy the tickets.”

But that night Zhao Yue came over, and Lu He ditched me without a second thought.

I waited for him at the cinema for a long time, sent countless WeChat messages, made countless calls, but it was like throwing stones into the sea-no response at all.

Forcing myself not to dwell on it, I threw off the covers and got out of bed to wash up in the bathroom.

On my way downstairs, passing the kitchen, I saw a tall, upright figure.

The clay pot was bubbling with steam, and several lively fresh shrimp were on the cutting board. From his phone’s speaker, a food blogger’s seafood porridge tutorial was playing.

The man stood motionless, looking a bit lost.

After a while, he finally reacted and began making the porridge step by step, following the blogger’s instructions.

I noticed that when the blogger mentioned adding scallions, he seemed to miss it and skipped that step entirely.

Finally noticing me watching him, the man paused, slowly turned his head, and met my gaze.

“Zhang Jia?”

Only then did I recognize him-it was Shen Xianzhi.

Shen Xianzhi calmly turned off his phone screen, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“You just recovered from a fever, you should eat something light. Go sit on the sofa for a bit, the porridge will be ready soon.”

I nodded instinctively and replied, “Okay.”

Just as I turned, he called out to me again.

“By the way, there’s something I’d like to ask your opinion about.”

I tilted my head slightly, “Hm?”

“Our company is investing in a new project here, so I might be staying for a while.”

He paused, his tone softening. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you last night before coming back early. Sorry.”

I looked into his eyes, vaguely recalling how he carried me from the sofa to the bedroom last night, poured me water, fed me medicine-he’d practically taken care of me the whole night.

My feelings were a little complicated.

Actually, apart from that one brief encounter, Lu He rarely mentioned this uncle to me. When he did, it was only in passing.

I really hadn’t expected him to be so…

Helpful?

Seeing me silent, Shen Xianzhi’s eyes flickered. One hand slipped into his pocket, the other hung naturally at his side. He spoke softly,

“Will me staying here bother you?”

As he said this, he suddenly smiled, “If it’s inconvenient, I can find another place.”

I was slightly taken aback.

Then I remembered I’d be moving out in a few days anyway, so I said, “This is your house after all, it’s no trouble.”

……

Shen Xianzhi was still in the kitchen making porridge. Bored, I took out my phone and scrolled through my Moments.

The first post was from Zhao Yue, just a short while ago.

The photo was taken in a movie theater.

The man in the picture was dressed in black, head slightly bowed, showing only half his profile.

But I recognized him at a glance-it was Lu He.

The movie they watched today was the same one Lu He had stood me up for last time.

Zhao Yue happened to capture the final subtitle at the end of the film: for all the lovers

Dedicated to all lovers in the world.