"No way!" Shen Yi said hurriedly. "Besides, that’s not a hobby, it’s a sickness. They’re both in the terminal stage, completely incurable. Didn’t you see I’ve already disowned Shen Zhengfeng? I was worried he’d infect me. Oh, right, Donghong is going bankrupt, and debt collectors are showing up at his door every day. Plus, Li Xiaomei had to pay out so much money for him. I imagine things aren’t as sweet between them as they used to be."
Although Shen Yi was changing the subject, Qin Jiao didn’t press the issue. She had only been making a casual joke, after all.
’He wouldn’t dare.’
’If he dared, I’d kick him to the curb in a heartbeat and let him drown. He’d never get another chance to two-time anyone.’
Speaking of Shen Zhengfeng and Li Xiaomei, Qin Jiao smiled faintly and said, "When you can’t have someone, they’re the cinnabar mole on your heart, the white moonlight in the sky. But once you have them, after being steeped in the mundane trivialities of life, the cinnabar mole becomes a smear of mosquito blood, and the white moonlight becomes a sticky grain of rice on your collar."
’A selfish man like Shen Zhengfeng was probably already having regrets.’
Qin Jiao and Shen Yi’s relationship was growing increasingly intimate, which was evident from their daily conversations and the small, shared gestures in every smile and glance.
Shen Feng and Sun Lili saw them too. A dark look flashed in Shen Feng’s eyes, but Sun Lili simply glanced in their direction and murmured, "They seem so great together."
’In truth, she was a little envious.’
Sun Lili had breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that Qin Jiao had no interest in Shen Feng whatsoever.
’If it were anyone else vying for Shen Feng’s affection, even his ex-girlfriend, Sun Lili didn’t think she would lose.’
’But Qin Jiao was a different story.’
’If Qin Jiao wanted to compete for him, she wouldn’t stand a chance.’
That’s just how people are sometimes. When someone is a little better than you, you might feel resentful and always want to compare yourself, to compete.
But when that person is leagues ahead of you, so far beyond you, you lose any desire to compete. All that’s left is admiration.
Sun Lili was filled with admiration for Qin Jiao.
Believing Qin Jiao could succeed at anything she tried, she failed to notice the man beside her, whose eyes were full of darkness as he watched the retreating figures of Qin Jiao and Shen Yi.
The movie was an old film, *Romance on Lushan Mountain*. Foreign films had yet to be widely imported, and most people still watched movies on videotape. Shen Yi leaned close to Qin Jiao’s ear and whispered, "When I get my hands on a copy of *Titanic* on video, we’ll watch it at home together."
’It probably wasn’t out yet. But unlike *Romance on Lushan Mountain*, where a couple would blush beet-red from a simple peck on the cheek, the scenes in *Titanic* were a lot more... stimulating.’
Qin Jiao was exasperated and gave him a light shove. "Alright, you. Just watch the movie."
Shen Yi chuckled. He didn’t dare press his luck by leaning in again, but in the pitch-dark theater, he reached out and took her hand.
Qin Jiao playfully scraped her nail across his palm, and Shen Yi’s grin only widened.
’They weren’t really doing anything, yet it felt incredibly cheesy. Qin Jiao found it amusing. If you added in their ages from her past life, they were both well past the age for this sort of thing.’
’Yet here they were, acting like a couple of teenagers in love. And it was surprisingly sweet.’
After the movie, the two of them walked out hand in hand. Not far ahead, they saw the retreating figures of Shen Feng and Sun Lili again. Sun Lili was clinging to Shen Feng’s arm, and they looked quite sweet as well.
Qin Jiao couldn’t help but sigh. ’Sometimes, falling in love is easy. It’s falling *out* of love that’s so hard.’
She said quietly to Shen Yi, "They remind me of the entanglement between your mother and those other two back then."
His survival instincts on high alert, Shen Yi said, "Jiao Jiao, don’t worry. I will never be like Shen Zhengfeng. In my past life, this life, and the next, I will only ever have you."
"Don’t jinx it."