Su Yang hadn't expected Xu Lize to dig this up. Knowing she couldn't dodge it, she nodded toward the closed wooden door and murmured, "The name of this private room is... fitting for tonight, and yet not."
Her voice was soft and a little sweet. A faint smile curved her lips; her eyes arched like tiny crescent moons, lively and tinged with that particular charm of youth.
Xu Lize lingered on her face for a few seconds, then, curious, asked, "What's it called?"
"'Rather be the peach and the apricot,'" she said.
Xu tilted his head in puzzlement, clearly not following. Su Yang resigned herself to explaining.
"'Rather be the peach and the apricot' comes from a tune by Zhang Xian," she began. "It's the lament of a woman whose bitterness and grief have no outlet. She envies the peach and apricot blossoms — at least they can marry the east wind and be carried away. A woman locked in her boudoir has nowhere to put her longing..."
Once she mentioned poetry, her words found their stride. What she meant to be a few sentences turned into a careful recital; without realizing it, she had recited the whole lyric and then translated its meaning into plain speech for him.
Just as she finished, someone knocked at the door.
A waiter pushed in a large tray of sashimi, followed by a casually dressed, spiky‑haired handsome man. He took off his shoes as if it were the most natural thing, then paused as his eyes fell on Su Yang; his face registered a brief, unmistakable surprise.
Xu Lize, meanwhile, was dolling out soy sauce and squeezing a dab of wasabi into Su Yang's small dish. He glanced at the newcomer and said lightly, "Yangyang, tell Mr. Lu what you just told me."
Su Yang's hand, still holding her hot towel, trembled. She hadn't caught what Xu had said through the hum of the conversation — only that diminutive, intimate "Yangyang." It landed in her chest like a pebble thrown into still water; a ripple of awareness spread through her.
"Tell you what?" the newcomer asked after sizing her up, then lounged down beside Xu Lize with a grin. "Third brother, did you plant a GPS on me? It's not often I come to Chunchen House and you follow right behind."
Xu shot him a look. "Worried I'd stiff you for the bill?"
Lu Yanke — the man — threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I wouldn't dare. Have a good meal, charge it to me, okay? Put it on my tab!"
"We're not keeping tabs today," Xu said, seeing Su Yang frozen at the table. He tapped the sashimi platter toward her with a crooked finger. "Try a bit of everything. Once you taste them a few times you'll know what you like."
Lu stared at Xu in sudden interest, then rose, circled the long table and, without much ceremony, planted himself down beside Su Yang. She had just lifted her chopsticks for a slice of salmon; his sudden proximity made her hands clumsy.
"What's your name, little sister? How are you related to my third brother?" he asked, propping his chin on his hand.
"Hey — Fifth, sit down!" Xu scolded immediately, all business.
But Lu wasn't cowed. He scooted closer. "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you his relative?"
"She’s Su, Su Yang. She’s the eldest daughter of Chairman Su," Xu said to him, flat and unhurried.
For a heartbeat the air in the room chilled. Lu kept smiling and joking, but Su Yang saw his look change; a sliver of caution now sat in his eyes.
Later, at the cashier, they ran into Lu again. Xu handed over the bill and Lu, with a sweeping gesture, paid without even offering a discount. After he collected the money, he angled his body so he could see Su Yang browsing the guestbook a few steps away and asked Xu in a low voice, "Third brother, are you sure about this?"
Xu smirked. "It’s my wedding. Why are you so worked up?"
"Well, what about Sijia?" Lu pressed, dropping the teasing tone.
Xu's brow lifted and his voice cooled. "What does that have to do with her?"
Lu hesitated; he knew something about Xu and Ren Sijia was tangled and messy, and he didn't want to prod where it could hurt. So he changed tack. "Isn't Su Quansheng's daughter called Su Qian? This Su—Su what — who is she? What's her background?"
When Su Quansheng's business had been at its peak a few years back, Su Qian had been a name in their circle: pretty, flashy, generous with her money, a little wild but harmless enough. Lu was surprised to hear of another daughter.
"Doesn’t matter who she used to be. The point is, as long as her name is Su…" Xu said, almost as if discussing the weather. "I’ll marry whoever I want."
"Really one of Su Quansheng's daughters?" Lu widened his eyes. "I thought he only had Su Qian. Third brother, don't get conned."
"I checked. It's true." Xu had already looked into it; his life was, after all, not the place for surprises. "We’ll just register. No banquet."
Lu's face fell, theatrically wounded. "No wedding? Come on, a wedding is every girl's dream. How can you take that away from her?"
"People want different things. Rights and duties are negotiated, not guaranteed." Xu's voice was dismissive. He rapped his phone on the countertop for emphasis and fixed Lu with a cold look. "And keep your ideas to yourself. Don't you dare turn this into one of your pranks."
Lu knew enough to obey. He pressed a finger to his lips, made a theatrical shushing gesture and grinned through an exaggerated snub. "All right, all right. I saw nothing, I heard nothing."