“I f*cking swear! Sang Sang, you finally answered the phone, huh? What the hell happened yesterday? Why did you leave first? Hey, did you hook up with someone? Otherwise, how could you be out of touch for so long…”

Wen Qian’s voice came through the phone incessantly. Ji Sang decided to put it on speakerphone and placed her phone on the desk. She looked at her course materials, typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Wen Qian asked about what happened yesterday, and she herself hadn’t sorted it out yet.

Her fingers paused on the keyboard as she recalled the scene in the underground parking lot just now.

“Us?” When Wen Zhiyu asked her, Wen Jian naturally placed his long arm on her shoulder and even possessively pressed her into his embrace.

Her nose bumped into his stiff chest, and it hurt a little. She touched her nose with her fingers and glanced at Wen Zhiyu’s darkened face.

Wen Zhiyu’s chest heaved with anger, his trembling finger in mid-air resembling a sieve.

Wen Jian swatted away his finger and casually said, “Stop making baseless accusations against your sister-in-law. You didn’t even greet her when you saw her. Don’t you understand basic manners?”

Wen Zhiyu: “…”

He was so angry he nearly spewed blood.

Ji Sang listened to the word ‘sister-in-law’ and looked at Wen Zhiyu again.

What should she do?

Why did she feel a strange little flutter in her heart?

Wen Zhiyu anxiously said, “Brother, do you know who Ji Sang is…”

“What is she? Wen Zhiyu, regardless of what Ji Sang used to be, now, at this moment, understand this: she is your sister-in-law. She is your eldest brother’s girlfriend and soon-to-be wife.” Wen Jian remained calm and composed, his tall figure almost blocking Ji Sang in front of him. There was nothing particularly emotional in his black eyes as he spoke to Wen Zhiyu.

Wen Zhiyu was probably intimidated by the powerful aura emanating from the man in front of him. He gritted his teeth and said, “Brother, are you serious?”

Wen Jian firmly held Ji Sang’s hand, his fingers interlocking with hers, and then he looked at Wen Zhiyu. “Wen Zhiyu, you’re wrong. ‘Wen Zhiyu, you should know that your brother, me, never plays around when it comes to relationships.”

“It’s not a game.”

“It’s real.”

—

“Ji Sang! Ji Sang! Are you even listening?” Wen Qian finally noticed something was off on the other end of the phone and shouted angrily.

Ji Sang’s thoughts were interrupted, and she called out seriously, “Wen Qian.”

“Hmm?”

Ji Sang sighed and couldn’t think straight at the moment. She didn’t know what to say. The words on the tip of her tongue turned into a simple statement, “It’s nothing.”

Wen Qian, who was eager to hear some gossip, became instantly curious. She angrily retorted, “Damn it! You can’t just leave me hanging like that! It’s like eating noodles without garlic!”

Ji Sang couldn’t help but laugh at her teasing.

“Come on, tell me. What’s going on?”

Ji Sang pondered for a moment, remembering the last words Wen Jian said to Wen Zhiyu, ‘Wen Zhiyu, you should know that your brother, me, never plays around when it comes to relationships.’

She opened her mouth but couldn’t find a proper way to express it. Eventually, she blurted out, “I think… I might actually be in love.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a scream from the other end of the phone. “Ah! Ji Sang! What did you say? I didn’t hear wrong, did I?!”

Ji Sang calmly hung up the phone.

In reality, she was in a period of being single, so exploring a relationship wasn’t entirely out of the question. Plus, seeing Wen Zhiyu’s defeated expression made her feel incredibly satisfied.

Therefore, when Wen Jian sent her another message on WeChat, Ji Sang didn’t feel too averse to it.

Wen Jian: [A new restaurant opened in Lan Yue City. I’ve made a reservation for tonight. After I finish my work, can I pick you up?]

Ji Sang glanced at the time and quickly replied: [Sure, sounds good. I have class first.]

Wen Jian: [Okay.]

After reading the message, Ji Sang put her phone away and carried her teaching materials to the lecture hall.

Ji Sang’s advanced mathematics class was a required course, and the lecture hall was already packed. As soon as Ji Sang entered the classroom, she saw Wen Zhiyu. Since she started dating Wen Zhiyu, he always sat in the back row during her classes. Today, however, it was strange to see him sitting right in front of her.

Due to the events earlier in the morning, Wen Zhiyu had a look on his face as if he had eaten a fly.

Ji Sang glanced at him but didn’t pay him any further attention.

Coincidentally, the bell rang, and the lecture hall quickly quieted down. Ji Sang, as usual, greeted the students below and started the class.

Advanced mathematics was both interesting and boring.

Wen Zhiyu attentively attended Ji Sang’s class for the first time, his gaze never leaving her. He had never noticed before, but Ji Sang was quite beautiful.

Her skin was fair, and her black hair had a slight curl. It was tied up in a ponytail, swaying back and forth with the movement of her fingers on the teaching materials. Today, she wore a light yellow shirt with small daisy patterns on it. A silk scarf was tied in a bow around her slender swan-like neck, partially concealing something…

As Ji Sang walked past Wen Zhiyu’s seat, he suddenly pulled her scarf.

“Ah…”

Ji Sang let out a cry.

The scarf was slippery and fell off.

Her fair neck revealed a beautiful and vibrant strawberry mark.

Immediately, a commotion spread throughout the lecture hall.

The boy sitting next to Wen Zhiyu, who was also his roommate, forcefully hooked his arm around Wen Zhiyu’s and exclaimed, “Damn it! You, dude! Since when did you start dating Teacher Ji?”

Ji Sang stared at Wen Zhiyu with dark eyes. She took a deep breath to suppress the anger in her chest and said, “Wen Zhiyu! Get out!”

Wen Zhiyu pushed the boy next to him aside, stood up from his seat, and glared at the love bite on her neck with a reddened gaze. He laughed bitterly in anger, “Ji Sang, how shameless can you be? Just because I didn’t agree to date you, you seduced my brother?”

All the students turned their attention to them.

Ji Sang felt a mixture of embarrassment and anger from being watched. She angrily said, “…Get out.”

Wen Zhiyu gritted his teeth and kicked the desk hard, then walked out.

The disruption ruined the rest of Ji Sang’s class.

After class, Ji Sang went back to her office with the teaching materials in hand.

Wen Zhiyu was standing at the entrance of the office.

Ji Sang didn’t even glance at him and walked past him.

Wen Zhiyu grabbed her arm. “Ji Sang!”

Ji Sang shook off his hand and silently stared at him.

Something inside Wen Zhiyu’s chest felt like it had been violently struck. He couldn’t express the discomfort he felt. He opened his mouth but ultimately couldn’t say anything.

Ji Sang turned and walked away.

Just as Ji Sang arrived at the office, Liu Meili approached her, wearing a smile and holding a Starbucks coffee. “Old Ji, thank you!”

Ji Sang was taken aback and saw Feng Jianguo happily holding the same coffee, with a big smile on his face. “Teacher Ji, your boyfriend knows how to be a boyfriend.”

Ji Sang: “…Huh?”

Just then, Ji Sang’s phone rang.

It was a call from Wen Jian.

Ji Sang walked to the desk, put down the teaching materials, and noticed a thick latte on the desk. Next to the cup were blue baby’s breath flowers wrapped in newspaper, giving off a nostalgic 80s vibe.

Ji Sang glanced at it and answered the phone.

Wen Jian’s low magnetic voice came from the other end. “Class is over?”

Ji Sang asked, “Did you order the coffee?”

“And flowers. This is my first time being someone’s boyfriend. Secretary Chen told me that girls like flowers. Do you like them?”

Ji Sang played with the flowers with her fingers and looked at the beautiful colors. Suddenly, her bad mood wasn’t as uncomfortable. “My colleagues…”

“Yeah, I ordered afternoon tea. Thank them for taking care of my girlfriend all these years.”

His voice was warm, giving an inexplicable sense of comfort.

All the annoying emotions from class suddenly dissipated.

Ji Sang chuckled softly. “Who… is your girlfriend now?”

There was a slight pause on the other end. “After sleeping together, right?”

Ji Sang choked.

“Sang Sang, believe me.”

“At no moment have I been more serious, serious about… pursuing you.”

It felt like someone had thrown a small pebble into Ji Sang’s heart, causing ripples to spread. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” his voice was low and focused. “Sincerely aiming for marriage.”

…