Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I didn’t answer Shen Tingyu right away.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to.

I had only just crawled out of a terrible relationship, and I didn’t want to mistake any flutter of my heart for a lifeline.

Shen Tingyu didn’t rush me either.

He simply kept doing what he always did: walking me to work, grocery shopping with me, fixing the leaky faucet at home.

And, as a side project, matching wits with the rice cooker.

The first time Zhou Yi met him, she circled him three times.

“So… he’s really that umbrella?”

I nodded.

Zhou Yi looked at Shen Tingyu. “Do you still remember those things you said when you were cursing out Chen Shu?”

Shen Tingyu remained perfectly calm. “I do.”

Zhou Yi was instantly filled with solemn respect.

“Master.”

Shen Tingyu thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t dare claim that.”

“Mainly, he really did deserve to be cursed out.”

Zhou Yi slapped the table on the spot. “Liang Xia, marry him.”

I nearly choked to death on my milk tea.

Shen Tingyu’s ears turned red again.

That night, after Zhou Yi left, Shen Tingyu and I sat on the balcony listening to the rain.

The old Black Umbrella leaned against the wall.

Rainwater tapped against the glass, as if someone were gently knocking on the window.

I asked Shen Tingyu, “What do you want to do in the future?”

He said, “Repair umbrellas.”

I froze for a second.

He looked at the old umbrella.

“My grandfather used to repair umbrellas. I’ve forgotten a lot of things, but my hands still remember.”

“No one really repairs umbrellas anymore.”

“Then I’ll slowly learn something else.”

He paused.

“Anyway, I’m not in a hurry this time.”

Listening to him, something in my heart suddenly softened.

At last, he no longer seemed like an umbrella ready to shield me from disaster at any moment.

He had begun to think about where he wanted to go, and how he wanted to live.

That was good.

It made me feel more at ease than hearing him say he liked me.

I said, “Then you can start by repairing My Umbrella.”

Shen Tingyu looked at me.

“Which one?”

I pointed at the old Black Umbrella by the wall.

“It’s been with me for ten years. It can’t retire too sloppily.”

He smiled.

“All right.”

He reached out and opened his palm.

“Give me the Copper Coin.”

I placed the Copper Coin my grandmother had left me in his hand.

He lowered his head and looked at it for a long time.

“Back then, you were crying really hard.”

I asked, “You remembered?”

“A little.”

“What did I say?”

Shen Tingyu lifted his eyes, a hint of amusement in them.

“You said, ‘Big brother, don’t go.'”

My chest ached.

The next second, he added slowly,

“And then you wiped snot all over my sleeve.”

That little bit of emotion I had instantly shattered.

“Shen Tingyu.”

“Hm?”

“Would it kill you not to say the second half?”

“No.”

He thought for a moment.

“But holding it in feels awful.”