Chapter 26: Senior Sister, Let’s Add Each Other on WeChat

“Man Man, are you home?” Si Jiahe’s voice came from the other end, especially clear in the quiet car.

She had previously mentioned to Si Jiahe in a conversation that she had plans with Madam Yang on Tuesday night.

Hearing Si Jiahe’s voice, Tang Man subconsciously lowered the volume of her phone a little before answering him.

“Not home yet, on the way.”

“Taking a taxi again?” Because the voice was adjusted too low, Tang Man had to concentrate very hard to hear the voice on the other end.

Tang Man said no, someone was giving her a ride home.

The other end was silent for a moment before Si Jiahe’s soft voice hesitantly rang out, asking her, “Who is it?”

“Someone from my mom’s boyfriend’s side.”

When Si Jiahe heard this, he thought it was the driver sending her and just said “oh” without any further concern. Instead, he brought up something else, “Then Man Man, can I come over to see you tomorrow night?”

They hadn’t seen each other for two days, especially on Tang Man’s workdays when she rarely replied to messages. This really didn’t seem like a dating relationship. Si Jiahe had been particularly uneasy these past two days.

He said, “Man Man, I miss you.”

Acting coquettish again.

Tang Man didn’t make a sound, but Si Jiahe on the other end spoke with a sense of uneasiness, “Man Man, are we in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship now?”

Tang Man turned her head to look at the neon lights constantly moving backwards outside the window, as well as the fleeting phantoms of passing vehicles. She said absent-mindedly, “Of course.”

Si Jiahe’s voice immediately rose a few notches on the other end, as if he had gained confidence from Tang Man’s words. He said affirmatively, “Man Man, then I’ll come pick you up from work tomorrow afternoon.”

“Then we can go to the supermarket together to buy some ingredients. You’re always eating takeout, which is not good for your health. I’ll make you whatever you want to eat then.”

The boy was still dreaming. Perhaps because of the hardships of his youth, he yearned for family life more than Tang Man. Going to the supermarket, which seemed a bit boring in Tang Man’s eyes, felt extraordinary to Si Jiahe, especially in Tang Man’s company.

At such times, he always had the illusion that the two of them would live together like this in the future, and this illusion gave him a certain sense of happiness.

Tang Man thought for a moment and felt there was no need to refute anymore. She softly agreed and accepted Si Jiahe’s words, only saying, “No need to pick me up from work tomorrow. You can go directly to my apartment. I’ll send you the passcode later.”

Si Jiahe cheered on the other end, calling out Tang Man’s name like a child. That joy was very contagious. At first, Tang Man was also smiling and responding to him, feeling that the gloom brought by the news of Madam Yang’s marriage tonight had also dissipated a little. But after a while, she started feeling annoyed.

Because Si Jiahe was the kind of person who would entirely climb up the pole you gave him, completely lacking any self-awareness. At this point, once he got excited, he couldn’t come down. Later on, Tang Man couldn’t be bothered to respond anymore. She said a few more words to the person on the other end and then hung up.

After hanging up the phone, she turned to look at Pei Ling on the side, just in time to meet his gaze as he turned his head to look over. It wasn’t her illusion just now. During the phone call, Pei Ling had been turning his head to look at her from time to time.

“What’s wrong?”

Tang Man was fiddling with her phone in her hand. At this moment, the music that had been interrupted by the phone call earlier started playing again in the quiet car, restoring the somewhat lonely atmosphere to normal. She also returned Pei Ling’s gaze, “You’ve been looking at me. Is there something?”

“Was that a call from Senior Brother Du?”

Pei Ling coughed lightly, a little embarrassed. His gaze averted from Tang Man’s as he casually asked.

Only then was Tang Man a little surprised. She didn’t answer his question but instead asked, “You know Du Henian?”

Pei Ling’s gaze fell on the windshield in front. A car with its high beams on was coming towards them. He felt his eyes stinging a little and subconsciously turned his head towards the other side window.

In the interplay of light and shadow, that car passed by in an instant. Tang Man waited for a good while without getting an answer from him and couldn’t help turning her head to glance at the young man in the driver’s seat.

Sometimes light and shadow can easily give rise to an illusion and may also evoke some memories in an instant.

Tang Man’s gaze fell on that shadow on the side of his tall, straight nose bridge. In the blending of light and shadow, a person’s facial features can easily take on a different stunning quality from usual.

Because the change of light and dark can make even flat features appear unfathomably deep, and Pei Ling’s features were not the fierce kind of handsomeness. He had a unique kind of refined elegance, his entire being exuding the grace of a Song Dynasty white porcelain.

Just in that moment, Tang Man suddenly remembered where she had seen him before.

Just a week or two ago, in that bookstore outside the school, the young man who had been sitting by the window should have been Pei Ling. That young man was so eye-catching that he even made her guess for quite a while.

She suddenly smiled in a meaningful way, not knowing if this was an unexpected coincidence or a long-planned arrangement.

And at this moment, Pei Ling suddenly turned his head to look at Tang Man. He seemed to want to say something, but when he met Tang Man’s smiling gaze, he suddenly forgot what he was about to say and choked up, his heart filled with an indescribable awkwardness.

At this moment, he was like a teen experiencing the first stirrings of love, shy and awkward.

He looked away, his hands on the steering wheel uncomfortably rubbing the leather surface a few times, calming himself down. Only after appearing to have regained his composure did he answer Tang Man’s earlier question, “Senior Brother Du is very famous in our year.”

After saying that, he seemed to feel that something was off and hurriedly added, “Senior Sister is also very famous.”

Tang Man asked with a half-smile, “Is that so?”

She knew she was famous, but when mentioned, it was usually accompanied by Du Henian, followed by a comment about a talented man and a beautiful woman.

When bringing up Du Henian’s talent and his promising youth, and then adding a sentence about her looks, it was as if she was worthy of Du Henian because she was good-looking.

Pei Ling smiled, “Senior Sister was already very famous in high school.”

Her photo was still posted on the bulletin board. It wasn’t because she was good-looking, but because Tang Man was an honor student in that year. An honor student with a rare beauty was easily made the main focus of promotion.