During dinner, Shao Yuye kept wanting to ask how her date had gone today. But the words stuck in his throat, rolling around again and again, and in the end he still couldn’t decide whether to ask.
Seeing the constipated look on his face, Yu Cheng immediately knew his friend had started overthinking again.
They had been teammates for a year and were best friends, so Yu Cheng understood him extremely well.
Although Shao Yuye looked cool and aloof on the outside, he was actually an incredibly sensitive person.
That was probably because his mother had abandoned him when he was young.
Shen Wanwan had become the vessel for all his longing and fantasies about family.
He had searched for her for so many years. After finally finding her again and experiencing the joy of being reunited, what remained in his heart was an overwhelming fear of losing her again. Just like when they’d failed that game before. He’d been terrified Shen Wanwan would be angry, so helpless that he’d even gone online asking strangers for advice.
The problem was that Shen Wanwan herself had such a reserved personality.
She rarely showed her emotions. Because Shao Yuye cared about her so much, he constantly overanalyzed every expression and reaction she had.
He was always afraid of upsetting his little sister, afraid that the sister he’d finally gotten back would drift away from him once more, so he treated her with constant caution.
As an outsider, Yu Cheng could see it all much more clearly.
Shen Wanwan might seem aloof, and it looked as though she was always the one being looked after by her Brother, but in reality, she almost never refused anything Shao Yuye asked of her.
If he wanted to know so badly…
Why not just ask?
So Yu Cheng did exactly that.
“Wanwan, did you go on a date with your boyfriend?”
“!”
Shao Yuye’s eyes flew wide open. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
This bastard Yu Cheng had really just asked it!
How did he have the nerve?!
“Yeah.”
Shen Wanwan took a bite of the stir-fried beef with green peppers.
Fresh, fragrant, silky, tender.
Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise as she looked at her Brother.
“It’s delicious!”
Being praised by his sister, Shao Yuye scratched his head shyly.
“If you like it, then eat more!”
Yu Cheng, however, had already forgotten his original question after that interruption. Looking at Shen Wanwan suspiciously, he asked, “Are you serious?”
He’d watched <Extreme Challenge>, after all. He’d seen Shen Wanwan trick Shao Yuye into drinking that awful ‘snake grass water’ by pretending it tasted good.
“Just kidding.”
Yu Cheng let out a sigh of relief.
—That’s more like it!
—A pampered young master like Shao Yuye couldn’t possibly cook that well.
Meanwhile, Shen Wanwan picked up another piece.
Then another.
Then another.
—…Damn.
—If it isn’t good, why do you keep eating it?!
—Who are you trying to fool? A three-year-old?
Yu Cheng looked unconvinced.
“I think you’re messing with me. And I have evidence!”
A soft laugh escaped Shen Wanwan’s lips.
Finally unable to resist anymore, Yu Cheng eagerly reached out with his chopsticks.
But just as he picked up a piece of beef, Shao Yuye’s chopsticks shot in from nowhere and deftly snatched it away.
“People who look down on my cooking don’t deserve to eat it. You can leave now.”
Yu Cheng: “… Come on…”
Their chopsticks clashed back and forth in midair with rapid *clack clack clack* sounds, as though they were filming a martial arts movie.
Watching the two of them fight over food, Shen Wanwan was speechless.
They were both twenty-five years old.
How could they both be this childish?
Left with no other choice, Yu Cheng picked up another piece and pleaded, “Come on, Brother Ye~ I want to try your god-tier beef too!”
“…”
Shao Yuye released his chopsticks, stood up, and headed for the kitchen.
“…Where’s my knife?!”
With these two walking disasters constantly bickering, the house had become much livelier.
Calmly swallowing a mouthful of rice, Shen Wanwan delivered a perfectly timed verdict.
“Childish.”
Yu Cheng leaned over with a grin.
“When you have time, bring your boyfriend to meet your Brother and me. We’ll help vet him.”
Shen Wanwan lazily lifted her eyelids.
“I’ll think about it.”
Yu Cheng took that response as a yes.
Since they were chatting anyway, he kept the conversation going.
“Why do you even need to think about it? Afraid we’ll scare him?”
That made Shen Wanwan almost laugh.
She looked at him with a hint of affectionate pity.
—Has it ever occurred to you…
—…that maybe I’m worried he’ll scare you instead?
Every word of their conversation reached Shao Yuye’s ears.
Seeing that his sister had no intention of answering further, he finally walked out of the kitchen and said in an exceptionally green-tea tone, “Why are you so interested in my little sister’s love life? Got a crush on her or something?”
Yu Cheng: “…” You shameless bastard. You’ve already gotten everything you wanted, and now you’re still acting smug? Have some restraint.
After dinner, Yu Cheng suggested they play some games together.
Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye readily agreed.
As Shao Yuye’s ace wingman, Yu Cheng pulled Liang Jing into the call as well, making it a four-man squad.
The moment Liang Jing joined the voice chat, he immediately started showering Shen Wanwan with enthusiasm.
“Good evening, Wanwan! Have you had dinner yet?”
Shao Yuye: “…”
Why did that line sound so familiar?
Shen Wanwan politely replied, “Good evening. Yes, I have.”
Yu Cheng then casually steered the conversation where he wanted it to go.
“Hey, we’re four people. Why don’t we find one more and queue as five?”
“Sure, let’s invite Lin—”
Before Shao Yuye could finish, Yu Cheng silently kicked him under the table.
What was that for?!
Shao Yuye glared at him, but Yu Cheng simply turned to Shen Wanwan and naturally asked,
“Wanwan, do you have any friends or classmates who play this game? Invite one of them so we can five-stack.”
It instantly clicked for Shao Yuye.
He mentally gave Yu Cheng a huge thumbs-up.
—Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
Shen Wanwan shook her head.
“No.”
What a perfect setup.
Yu Cheng continued, “Then how about you…” invite your little boyfriend to play with us?
Before he could finish, Liang Jing cut in excitedly.
“We’re short one? Just call Lin Xia! Hang on, I’ll give him a call!”
Shao Yuye & Yu Cheng: “…”
Shao Yuye tried to stop him.
“Lin Xia’s probably busy, isn’t he?”
But Liang Jing had already gone silent in the voice chat.
His status even showed as offline.
Apparently he’d already gone to make the call.
A short while later, his icon lit back up.
“Done!”
Shao Yuye & Yu Cheng: “…” You’re frighteningly efficient.
Two minutes later, Lin Xia joined the team voice chat.
The first thing he said after entering was exactly what Liang Jing had asked earlier—”Wanwan? Good evening. Have you had dinner yet?”
Shao Yuye: “…” Where’s my forty-meter blade?!
Still, Shao Yuye’s moods came and went quickly.
His happiness was simple.
Before long, winning the first match had him grinning again.
They’d all been teammates before, so their coordination was impeccable.
Although Shen Wanwan hadn’t played much, she improved incredibly fast. Besides, with four teammates protecting a single carry, she rarely died.
Whenever a team fight broke out, Shao Yuye would shout, “Protect my sister! Protect my sister!”
The others would immediately form up around her.
And if the enemy managed to gank and kill her, the four of them would charge straight through enemy towers together just to kill her attacker and avenge her.
Their philosophy was simple—No one bullies our girl.
That night’s gaming session made Shen Wanwan genuinely happy.
It was something she had never experienced before in her life.
She had long known that what ifs were meaningless.
Yet at that moment, she couldn’t help entertaining one small, unrealistic fantasy.
What if…
What if their father hadn’t been Shao Hongyuan?
What if there hadn’t been all those painful conflicts between their parents? What if they had never divorced…?
If she had grown up with her Brother, if they’d spent their adolescence together…
Would he have played with her every day?
Or would he complain she was annoying while helplessly bringing her along anyway?
After agreeing to play together again sometime, the evening grew late. Yu Cheng said goodbye and headed home.
Before leaving, however, he couldn’t resist laying another trap.
“Wanwan, next time bring your boyfriend along to play!”
Shen Wanwan smiled.
“Sure.”
She took the little cake from the refrigerator and handed it to him.
“This is for your cousin.”
Yu Cheng: “…I’ll thank you on her behalf.”
After seeing Yu Cheng off, Shao Yuye returned to the living room in an excellent mood and started tidying up the sofa.
Shen Wanwan gestured for him to sit down.
“Brother, I have something to tell you.”
His reactions throughout the day had already made everything obvious.
He wanted to know about her relationship. He was worried she’d be deceived. That was why he’d gone to such lengths, dropping hints and fishing for bits of information beside her all day.
But there was no need for any of that.
As long as he wanted to know, she would never hide anything from him.
“What is it?”
Shao Yuye put the cushions back in place and sat beside her.
He was still immersed in the joy of their victories that evening, an excited smile lingering on his face.
Shen Wanwan dropped a bombshell without any warning.
“Mom arranged a childhood engagement for me.”
Shao Yuye froze.
Without thinking, he blurted out, “So that ‘876’ is your childhood fiancé?”
Shen Wanwan didn’t bother asking who ‘876’ was supposed to be. She simply shook her head.
“No.
“It’s Su Tingxuan.”
Shao Yuye’s hand jerked.
For a moment, he thought he’d misheard.
“Su Tingxuan?!
“Your… your fiancé?”
Shao Yuye didn’t actually have a particularly deep impression of Su Tingxuan.
The guy, as Shao Yuye remembered him, was fair-skinned and clean-cut, the kind who looked refined and gentlemanly.
But hadn’t Su Tingxuan been getting awfully cozy with Bai Ling on that reality show?
His expression turned serious in an instant.
“You went to see him today? If I remember correctly, Su Tingxuan’s been flirting with Bai Ling the whole time on that show. And you were willing to put up with that?!
“Is Shen Mingzhen out of her mind? She wanted you to marry a guy like that?! Come on, I’m taking you home. That engagement is getting called off no matter what!”
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
“What kind of asshole is he? He’s engaged to you, yet he’s pretending to be single on a dating show and hitting on other women? See? I told you, there isn’t a single decent man out there!”
He got so worked up that he even insulted himself in the process.
A warm feeling spread through Shen Wanwan’s heart. She quickly soothed him.
“No. We’ve already broken up. The engagement has been canceled.”
Shao Yuye’s anger vanished in an instant.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
“That’s good.”
So she’d gone there today to officially end things?
Still, the sudden flood of information left his brain completely overwhelmed.
He wanted to say something, but no words came.
It felt as though he and his sister had been living in two entirely different worlds.
A powerful sense of unfamiliarity washed over him. He realized just how little he actually knew about her.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Shen Wanwan brushed the matter aside casually.
“It was already over. I didn’t think it was worth bringing up.”
“Good!
“That scumbag deserved to get dumped!
“Su Tingxuan? Absolutely not. Totally unacceptable!”
Knowing his sister hadn’t fallen into that jerk’s trap, Shao Yuye was genuinely delighted.
“Oh, there’s one more thing.”
Shen Wanwan looked him straight in the eyes. This time, her tone carried an unusual solemnity.
It immediately gave Shao Yuye the feeling that she was about to reveal something even more important.
But what could possibly be better news than her breaking up with a cheating scumbag?
“What is it?”
He grinned broadly as he asked.
Shen Wanwan calmly tightened her grip on his hand.
“My fiancé now… is Qi Luozhou.”