The Secret of Second Marriage

I treated Shen Xing as an ordinary friend. We went shopping together, visited all the major tourist attractions, and even listened to Peking Opera and crosstalk at a very large teahouse, I think it was called something like Crosstalk Club.

After the opera, Shen Xin and I walked out of the alley. The warm sunlight shone on the ancient alley of Beijing, where tourists came and went, as well as vendors selling candied hawthorns.

Shen Xing saw me and saw the candied hawthorns. She went over and squeezed into the group of children to get me a skewer of candied hawthorns. I didn't eat them; I couldn't bear to. I said, "Tangtang likes them."

"Sister, you need to love yourself first before you can love your child properly. Tangtang likes to eat it, and you like to eat it too, so I'll just buy two servings."

He went back and bought another serving of candied hawthorn skewers, the kind I love. They were wrapped in a thin layer of transparent paper that looked like it could be eaten, and then put in a bag before handing them to me.

I said thank you.

We stopped by a restaurant in a tourist alley. It was a relatively quiet place with a long history and served various roast ducks and signature dishes.

Shen Xing ordered my favorite roast duck, along with several meat and vegetable dishes. She asked the waiter for a cup of jasmine tea, rinsed the tableware several times with boiling water, brewed the tea again, and brought it to me, saying, "Sister, thank you for coming out with me today."

"Shen Xing, you've helped me so many times, we're friends, but you can't stay so lonely forever, you should find someone to keep you company."

There are so many actresses on the Hengdian film set. I remember your last film was a suspense drama where you played a prince who fell in love with Mi Le, a popular young actress in the entertainment industry.

At the last press conference, you two had such a big argument, I thought you were already in a relationship.

I say.

Honestly, I'm almost 10 years older than Shen Xing, and I feel really embarrassed to date such a young and handsome guy. My previous views on love were all about finding a man with a stable career, maturity, wealth, and more ability than me.

But what I didn't expect was that the connection between Shen Xing and me would go through so many twists and turns over such a long time.

Shen Xing shook her head and said, "That's all official publicity to generate buzz and create hype. As for the manga, I'm not in a relationship. Don't listen to what the entertainment media and gossip magazines write; it's all lies."

What I mean is, you could actually have a girlfriend.

I've brought up the topic to this point; I'm such an idiot, you know exactly what I'm trying to say.

But Shen Xing's bitter smile contained jealousy and a little sadness: "Sister, you know perfectly well who I like, yet you still tell me to find a girlfriend. How am I supposed to find someone when I have someone in my heart? If I do that, I'll be letting other girls down."

So I still like to think of that person's name silently in the quiet of the night, pray for her, hope that she is happy, hope that she is joyful, and hope that she is safe.

This must be what love is.

I blushed when I heard Shen Xing's confession, and changed the subject without saying anything more.

When we finished our meal and were about to leave, the red box in my bag fell out and landed on the ground, where Shen Xing saw it.

He opened the box, glanced at it, and said to me with a hint of amazement and envy in his eyes, "Sister, can I have this ring?"

"Take it if you like it, anyway, the owner of this ring and I can't get married."

I say.

Shen Xing carefully wrapped the ring I gave him in a handkerchief and placed it in the pocket near his chest, like a child who had found a treasure.

Around 3 or 4 pm, we drove to the South Dynasty Stadium and waited until after 5 pm before we were finally allowed to go in for the concert.

That evening, Shen Xing and I went to see a concert. Jay Chou's concert at the Bird's Nest Stadium was a huge success, with amazing light and stage shows.

I noticed that Shen Xing seemed preoccupied, so after the concert, I asked him, "What did you come to see me about today?"

"Man, I'm leaving the entertainment industry. Can you have a child with me? I'll keep his mother a secret forever; I just want a child with you."

Shen Xing said.