After being reborn, my sister insisted on marrying me.

early morning.

Lin Siyan opened her eyes to the sound of Chen Xinyi's breathing.

Chen Xinyi slept opposite her, her eyelashes closed, her breathing even, her sleeping posture as domineering as ever.

One leg was sticking out of the blanket and pressing down on her calf, while her left hand was still holding a strand of her hair.

Lin Siyan turned her head and looked at it for a while.

She gently moved Chen Xinyi's legs off her body and pulled her own hair out from between Chen Xinyi's fingers.

I got up and went to the restroom.

She stared at herself in the mirror while brushing her teeth.

Foam overflowed from the corner of his mouth, as if he had vomited.

She had insomnia again last night.

This is the third time this week.

The closer it got to July 18th, the less sleep she got.

She knows what day it is today.

A very special anniversary for Wei Yi and Chen Xinyi.

Chen Xinyi marked a heart on her phone calendar and wrote "Seventeenth Year" in the notes.

Seventeen years ago today, Wei Yi, who was just over one year old, was brought into the Chen family and became the only man in her life.

She had waited seventeen years for this day.

Lin Siyan knew this from the very beginning.

The person in the mirror didn't look well; there was a dark spot under their eyes.

She splashed cold water on her face and told herself she was fine.

When I came out after washing up, there was another person in the living room.

The nanny, Aunt Zheng, was cleaning, her apron neatly tied.

Wei Yi suggested hiring this nanny, saying that he wasn't short of money.

The two older sisters have to attend classes and run their businesses, so they shouldn't waste their limited time on cleaning and cooking.

Aunt Zheng is around forty years old, a local from Yanjing. She has only been here for a few days, so it's too early to tell what kind of person she is.

"Good morning, Miss Lin. You're up so early today?"

"I can't sleep."

Aunt Zheng glanced at her but didn't ask any further questions, then put away her cleaning tools. "There's soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table, I just bought them, they're still warm. I'll fry a few more eggs, Miss Lin, please eat first."

Lin Siyan looked around.

Chen Xinyi was still asleep. Wei Yi's room door was open, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone downstairs to practice boxing again.

She sat down at the dining table and broke off half a fried dough stick, dipping it into the soy milk.

As Aunt Zheng brought over the fried eggs, she suddenly leaned closer and lowered her voice, "Miss Lin, you don't look too well today. Is something on your mind?"

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night."

Aunt Zheng looked at her for a few seconds, gently patted her shoulder, didn't ask any further questions, and went back to the kitchen to continue her work.

The tap was running, and Lin Siyan chewed on the soggy fried dough sticks, feeling that they had no taste in her mouth.

9:30 a.m.

Chen Xinyi went out to the Heytea construction site to oversee the renovations, changing her shoes at the door before leaving.

She hummed "The Most Dazzling Ethnic Trend," the tune drifting off to Siberia without her realizing it. She even turned back to smile at Lin Siyan before closing the door.

Lin Siyan went to a coffee shop to handle the accounts, but halfway there she realized she had left her folder at home, so she went back to get it.

She stopped when she passed the cake shop in Wudaokou.

Wei Yi stood in front of the counter, separated by glass.

There was a freshly opened cake box in front of him, and the shop assistant was checking the design for him.

It's a bit far away, so I can't see exactly what's depicted. I can only vaguely make out two animals, one big and one small.

Wei Yi closed the box, stored it in the refrigerator, and left with a smile on his face before turning into the Chow Tai Fook restaurant next door.

A few minutes later he came out with a small, dark blue velvet box in his hand.

He put the box in his pocket and hailed a taxi on the roadside.

Lin Siyan stood across the street. She recognized the color.

Chow Tai Fook's ring box.

Her mother also has one; it was a gift from her father to her parents last year on their 25th wedding anniversary.

A pair of wedding rings, one for each person.

A ring. Today is the adoption anniversary, and he bought a ring.

The July sun seemed to suddenly get closer, making the back of my neck feel hot.

She turned and walked towards the coffee shop, forgetting to go back to get the folder. She later asked Kim Se-rin to retrieve it for her.

When I returned to the apartment in the afternoon, Wei Yi was sitting in front of the coffee table in the living room, fiddling with something.

Upon hearing the door open, he quickly stuffed his things into the coffee table drawer, his movements as swift as if he were hiding stolen goods.

"Sister Siyan, you're back."

"Um."

She went to the kitchen to pour herself some water and leaned against the island counter to drink it slowly. Her gaze fell on the coffee table drawer, which wasn't closed properly, revealing a section of white ribbon.

The kind of cakes that are tied to boxes at cake shops.

She didn't say anything.

Chen Xinyi was also at home. She was changing clothes in her room, and you could hear her muttering to herself through the door: "Too formal...this is too casual...I wore this last time..."

Lin Siyan stood in the middle of the living room, holding a water glass.

On the left is Wei Yi, who is hiding the ring, and on the right is Chen Xinyi, who is changing clothes.

She was sandwiched between two people who were preparing for the ceremony, like an audience member who had accidentally wandered into a rehearsal.

But at least the audience can watch the play; she doesn't even dare to watch it.

Just thinking about it makes my heart ache unbearably.

She finished her water, put the cup in the sink, and went to the kitchen to help Aunt Zheng wash vegetables.

Around 5 p.m., Chen Xinyi pulled her aside.

"Siyan, could you stay at the coffee shop tonight?"

Chen Xinyi's eyes flickered for a rare moment as she said this, her fingers twisting the hem of her skirt. "I'll have Aunt Zheng bring you food later."

Lin Siyan looked into her eyes.

Those peach blossom eyes were no longer clear; something was swirling within them.

It's anticipation, it's nervousness, it's longing and unease about tonight.

She has known Chen Xinyi for almost three years.

From the girl in the white dress in the freshman hallway to the successful businesswoman who owns three stores, she had seen her in every form, but never like this.

Like a flower trembling slightly just before it blooms.

"it is good."

Chen Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief and took her hand. "You're the best."

Lin Siyan looked down at the hand that was being held.

Chen Xinyi's fingers were very soft, and her ring finger was still hollow.

In a few hours, it won't be like that anymore.

She picked up her bag and went out the door.

As the security door closed, I heard Chen Xinyi humming a different song in the kitchen.

This time I didn't sing off-key.

She leaned against the wall outside the door for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and walked towards the elevator.

night.

The coffee shop was empty.

After all the staff had gone home, she wiped down all the tables and chairs, rewrote the menu three times, and disassembled, cleaned, and put back the coffee machine on the bar.

It was only a little past ten o'clock when I finished all this.

She made herself an Americano and sat by the window.

The traffic on Xueyuan Road outside the window gradually thinned out, and the halo of the streetlights blurred on the glass.

Lin Siyan became disoriented.

The hallway. A white dress. The question asked for directions: "Excuse me, do you know which direction the sixth floor of Dongfeng Building is in?"

She had just arrived and didn't know the way.

But she also happened to be looking for the sixth floor of Dongfeng Building, which was the dormitory she had just been assigned to.

She said we'd look for it together, and Chen Xinyi happily agreed.

The hem of her skirt swayed in her line of sight, and then the two of them were surprised to find that they were actually roommates in the same dormitory.

That's when it started.

From then on, she took the accounting exam to help her manage the accounts, learned to cook because she was a picky eater, and stayed up all night to help her organize contracts and supplier information.

Chen Xinyi thought she did all these things incidentally. Only she knew that wasn't the case.

Even with all that she did, it couldn't compare to Wei Yi doing nothing.

No, Wei Yi did it today.

He bought a ring, ordered a cake, and prepared a dinner party.

He gave the person who had waited seventeen years what she wanted that night.

Thinking about it that way, she should thank him instead.

She smiled at the remaining coffee in the cup. She washed the cup and wiped the bar counter for the third time.

It was a little past one in the morning.

She locked the coffee shop door. When she reached the entrance of the residential complex, she stopped and looked up at the twelfth floor.

The master bedroom light in apartment 1203 was still on.

She stood by the flower bed for a long time.

The July night breeze still carried the heat accumulated during the day, making it sticky on the skin.

A stray cat peeked out from behind the trash can, glanced at her, and then retreated.

She felt more pitiful than the cat.

She recalled the moment she saw the ring box during the day.

Standing across the street, I suddenly felt a strong urge to turn around and leave, to go back to the South, back to the Yangtze River Delta region, to be her only daughter again, and to continue being that obedient girl who never lifted a finger.

At least I don't have to stare blankly out the master bedroom window here.

This thought has popped into my head more than once.

It's been happening more and more frequently these past few days, like boiling water that just won't go down in a pot.

But every time it pops up, it's always met with the same screen that sends it back.

In the picture, Chen Xinyi is standing in the corridor of Renmin University, with that smile and that skirt.

She sighed as she looked at the roses in the flower bed.

Around 2 a.m., the lights in the master bedroom went out.

She stood up and went upstairs.

I opened the door; the living room was quiet.

The candles had long since gone out, but the air still smelled of wax and red wine.

An open cake box sat on the coffee table, with more than half a cake remaining inside.

On the cake surface is a cat and a mouse. The cat is drawn very large, and the mouse is drawn very small. The mouse is running in front, and the cat is chasing behind.

She stood in front of the coffee table, looking down at it for a long time.

What does this mean?

Is Chen Xinyi the cat that chases after Wei Yi, or is Wei Yi the cat that makes Chen Xinyi run around in circles?

Regardless of the answer, there is no third animal in the painting.

Next to the cake box was an empty velvet ring box.

Dark blue, with two indentations on the velvet lining, a large circle and a small circle.

They should already be wearing them on their hands.

She picked up the fork next to her, cut a small piece of cake, and put it in her mouth.

Most of the cream melted, becoming cloyingly sweet and turning bitter at the back of the tongue.

She chewed twice and forced herself to swallow.

Put the fork into the sink.

As she approached the master bedroom, she could faintly hear Chen Xinyi's even breathing, as well as the man's steady breathing.

Everyone's asleep.

She tiptoed into the bathroom and closed the door.

She stood in the dark for a long time, then smiled at herself in the mirror.

"As long as she's happy. You can just stand by and watch."

Tears fell without warning.

She reached out to wipe it off, but it fell down again, so she wiped it off again.

I turned on the tap, scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it on my face; the sound of the water drowned out all other noises.

After turning off the tap, she stood in front of the mirror for a while longer.

Should I leave tomorrow?

She couldn't come up with an answer even after thinking about it all night.