Chapter 2  

Upon returning home, the interior was silent, appearing even more desolate. The hourly worker, Sister Zhang, had already left, leaving Shu Pan feeling uneasy. Seeing the meal on the table, she had no appetite.

The more Shu Pan thought, the more her mood plummeted. Suddenly, a phone ring shattered the tranquility. She picked up the phone, and her college classmate and best friend, Ye Xiaomeng’s voice came from the other end. “Hey girl, I’m getting married!!”

“Congratulations! Finally agreed, huh?” Shu Pan asked.

“No choice. He proposed, and my family is also urging us,” Ye Xiaomeng replied. Ye Xiaomeng and Cheng Yang had been together since college. At that time, Cheng Yang was a star player on the school’s basketball team, and Ye Xiaomeng pursued him for two years before finally winning him over. They had been together for almost seven years.

“When are you planning to have the wedding reception?” Shu Pan inquired.

“We haven’t decided yet. We plan to register first and then have the reception. But we should hurry, or it won’t look good wearing a wedding dress with a big belly,” Ye Xiaomeng said shyly.

“Oh wow, Mengmeng, you’re pregnant! Double happiness,” Shu Pan suddenly raised her voice. Ye Xiaomeng already had a child without even being married, while Shu Pan herself… Her mood instantly dimmed.

“Hey, don’t get so excited, I’m pregnant, remember?” Ye Xiaomeng “scolded” her.

“Xiaomeng, what do you think could be the reason if a couple doesn’t want to have children?” Shu Pan asked casually, feeling a pang in her heart.

“If it’s not because the man hasn’t had enough fun and doesn’t want to be tied down, it could be that he doesn’t love the woman. Because a child is the crystallization of the love between two people,” Ye Xiaomeng answered.

Shu Pan stood still under the light, gripping her bag tightly. In fact, she already knew the answer. It was just another confirmation from someone else. Apparently, Gu Shaoting’s attitude towards her was likely the second possibility.

Her thoughts were in disarray as Shu Pan walked into the study, intending to sketch something.

Shu Pan was an interior designer for a company. Recently, she took on a project with a tight deadline. She wanted to focus and make progress, but she found it difficult. She put down the pen and drawings in her hands in frustration and pressed her temples with both hands as she leaned back in her chair.

Suddenly, Shu Pan remembered her first encounter with Gu Shaoting. It was quite dramatic. She had arranged to meet a client at the Left Bank Café to discuss business, but she was delayed due to traffic. When she arrived at the café, she saw a man sitting alone. She walked over and sat across from him, handing him her business card before picking up the design drawings and starting to talk.

Ten minutes later, a deep and magnetic voice came from across the table, “Miss, are you sure you arranged to meet me?” Shu Pan froze upon hearing the voice. Only then did she realize that she had made a big mistake. She quickly stood up and apologized. It turned out that she had rushed to the wrong branch of the Left Bank Café. And that man was Gu Shaoting. In her haste, she had left something on the table, and he contacted her through the phone number on her business card. After a few meetings, Gu Shaoting suddenly proposed to her.

She had always believed that their meeting was a heavenly arrangement, that heaven favored her. But now, it seemed that she had asked for too much.

She had been living in her own dream all along. Shouldn’t she wake up from the dream now?

But what puzzled her the most was why Gu Shaoting treated her this way. If he didn’t like her, why would he marry her? Marriage wasn’t child’s play, so why would he act so childish?

Outside the window, darkness fell, mirroring her mood. When would clarity come?