Chapter 164: Chapter 162: A Sister Is a Sister, After All

“No, thank you. I’ve already bought something else.”

Wang Xinxin refused the item Chen Zhengnian offered. After a polite thank you, she turned to leave.

She was the type who could let things go. If Chen Zhengnian saw her as a sister, then she would dutifully be a sister.

There were plenty of fish in the sea; why get hung up on just him?

With that, Wang Xinxin walked out of the cooperative. Chen Zhengnian frowned and hurried after her.

Just outside the cooperative’s entrance, Wang Xinxin was talking to a young man.

He’d seen the young man before. He worked at the commune with Wang Xinxin.

He was young, not bad-looking, and always smiled when he spoke to people.

The same Wang Xinxin who had just coldly refused him was now beaming at this young man.

A sour feeling suddenly churned in Chen Zhengnian’s gut.

The young man was holding an oil-paper packet, smiling as he pressed it into Wang Xinxin’s hands. “I just bought some sugar cakes. They’re still warm. Have a taste.”

Wang Xinxin didn’t refuse. She took it, broke off half, and handed it back to him. “Let’s eat together.”

The sight of them walking side-by-side, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun as they chatted and laughed, was painful for Chen Zhengnian to watch.

He clutched the patterned cloth in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

He was the one who said he saw her as a sister, yet now he felt as if something was caught in his throat, choking him into silence.

The way the young man looked at Wang Xinxin was filled with an emotion Chen Zhengnian knew all too well.

It was the same way Wang Xinxin used to look at him—her eyes sparkling with a joy she couldn’t hide.

“Chen… Chen Lü…”

The young man saw him first and greeted him with a smile. “You’re out shopping, too?”

At the sound of his voice, Wang Xinxin looked up. The smile on her face faded as she gave a polite nod. “Brother Chen.”

That “Brother Chen” was so polite yet distant it felt like a needle to Chen Zhengnian’s heart.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Mm,” he grunted in response.

The young man, however, was enthusiastic. He patted Wang Xinxin’s arm. “Let me walk you home. It’s on my way.”

Wang Xinxin smiled and agreed. Just as the two of them were turning to leave, Chen Zhengnian suddenly spoke up. “Xinxin, wait a second.”

He strode forward and thrust the patterned cloth into her arms. “Take this.”

This time, before Wang Xinxin could refuse, he added another sentence.

“Consider it… a thank you for mending my clothes last time.”

Wang Xinxin looked up at him. She saw the tips of his ears flush red and his gaze dart away, unable to meet hers. The feelings she had worked so hard to suppress began to stir once more.

The young man, seeing all this clearly from the side, smiled and tried to smooth things over. “I didn’t realize Chen Lü was so thoughtful. This cloth is beautiful. It’s perfect for Xinxin.”

Chen Zhengnian didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on Wang Xinxin.

She bit her lip, but in the end, she folded the cloth and placed it in her basket. “Thank you, Brother Chen.”

Her voice was softer this time, without the earlier distance.

Watching their backs as they walked away side-by-side again, Chen Zhengnian suddenly found the young man’s laughter exceptionally grating.

Meanwhile, as the young man and Wang Xinxin walked home, he asked her with a laugh, “Chen Lü is interested in you, isn’t he?”

“Sun Zhijie! Don’t be ridiculous. He sees me as a sister, and I see him as a brother.”

Wang Xinxin said the words with a bitter edge.

Sun Zhijie smiled so wide his eyes nearly disappeared.

“You say that, but do you even believe it yourself?”

Wang Xinxin was caught off guard by the question, and the sugar cake in her hand suddenly lost its appeal.

She stopped abruptly and turned to glare at Sun Zhijie. “Why wouldn’t I believe it? He said it himself.”

The setting sun stretched her shadow long.

Sun Zhijie’s smile faded, and he looked at her seriously. “Words can change. Why do you think he insisted on giving you that cloth?”

She pressed her lips together, not saying a word, her fingertips squeezing the sugar cake until it grew soft.

In truth, she had noticed it even before Sun Zhijie said anything.

The redness of Chen Zhengnian’s ears, his darting eyes…

“He used to always say I was clumsy. Last time when I mended his clothes, the stitches were all crooked, and he laughed at how clumsy my hands were.”

“So did he wear it afterward?” Sun Zhijie pressed.

“He did,”

she blurted out, then immediately clamped her mouth shut in frustration.

Sun Zhijie couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh, you. You’re just playing dumb.”

“When you first plant wheat, who knows how many ears it will grow? Feelings are like crops—you have to see how they develop.”

“He never said he *doesn’t* like you, and it’s not like you’re his actual sister.”

“He’s older than you, and he’s a cadre. He probably has more to consider.”

After saying his piece, Sun Zhijie shrugged. “This kind of thing is between the two of you. If you really didn’t care, why would you feel so wronged?”

Listening to Sun Zhijie’s words, Wang Xinxin bit her lip.

“You think you know everything. You’ve bought all your things, so when are you going back to the city?”

She had come with Sun Zhijie today specifically to help him buy things for his trip back to the city.

He was going back. Going home to get married.

His bride-to-be was a mutual friend of theirs.

Sun Zhijie scratched his head, kicking at a small pebble on the side of the road. “Day after tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I’ve already bought the ticket.”

He glanced at Wang Xinxin’s profile and suddenly sighed.

“To be honest, I don’t want to leave so soon. I was hoping to see just how tall this ’crop’ of yours could grow.”

Wang Xinxin’s steps faltered. The patterned cloth in her basket suddenly felt heavy.

“What’s there to see? He’s a cadre, I’m a commune member. We were never on the same path to begin with.”

“Then who was it that was just blushing over a piece of cloth?”

Sun Zhijie laughed from behind her. “Besides, last time you sprained your ankle, didn’t he carry you on his back for a good while?”

The way he looked at her back then wasn’t the way one looks at a sister, either.

“He was just being kind.”

She was being stubborn. Sun Zhijie caught up to her, his teasing expression suddenly gone.

“Xinxin, let me be serious for a moment. I’m going back to the city to get married because my fiancée and I have been together for five years. We know each other inside and out. But you and Chen Zhengnian are different. You know better than anyone how he really treats you.”

“I’m the one who really sees you as a little sister. To be honest with you, he’s older, he overthinks things, and sometimes he’s just slow to catch on.”

“He’s an old-timer. You’ve got to give him some time.”

He pointed to the patterned cloth in her basket. “That cloth is a hot item. It was the last piece at the co-op. You really think he saved it for you just to thank you for mending his clothes?”

They reached a fork in the road, and Sun Zhijie turned left. “This is my stop. Don’t come see me off the day after tomorrow. I don’t want to see you bawling your eyes out.”

Wang Xinxin glared at him, but as he turned away, she said softly, “Be safe on your journey.”

She watched Sun Zhijie’s back disappear at the mouth of the alley before slowly starting for home.

The sun had completely set, leaving only a faint orange-red glow on the horizon.

She suddenly stopped walking and pulled the cloth out from her basket.

The fabric was printed with tiny daisies. It was the very pattern she had lingered on for a few extra moments when she and Chen Zhengnian passed by the co-op last time.

At the time, she had even told him that this cloth would surely make a beautiful shirt.

He hadn’t responded then, only remarking that she was a young girl who was always thinking about such things.

“I’m not going to go looking for him.”

She would never admit how happy she would be if what Sun Zhijie said was true.

’I’ve already taken the initiative once. This time, I absolutely won’t be the one to make the first move.’

“Xinxin? Why are you just standing outside? Not heading home?”

Just as she was lost in thought, Su Tang’s voice came from behind her.

“Su Tang, you’re off work?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep