The overlapping voices caused both of them to freeze for a moment. Immediately following that, excited words rang out once more in unison.
“I didn’t!”
“It wasn’t me!”
As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere, which had been silent enough to make one’s heart skip a beat, suddenly became strange.
Jiang Ling and Shen Yue stared at each other with wide eyes, neither appearing to understand what the other was saying.
The silence was eventually broken by Shen Yue. “When was I ever angry?”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling’s mouth instantly turned downward. She stared piteously at the innocent-looking Shen Yue, her voice tinged with a hint of urgency. “Last time!”
Seeing Jiang Ling so anxious that she looked ready to stand up and debate her, Shen Yue became even more confused about what had happened. Her memory gradually drifted back. Last time…
Didn’t they go to a gourmet food shop last time?
Although the food served in the end hadn’t met their expectations, Shen Yue wouldn’t have been angry over such an insignificant little matter, would she?
Thinking this, Shen Yue’s gaze became even more puzzled. “I wasn’t angry last time.”
“You weren’t angry?!”
Jiang Ling’s pupils dilated instantly, her eyes filled with disbelief. Involuntarily, the image of Shen Yue’s mocking and playful expression surfaced in her mind, and she pursed her lips.
‘Is this what you city folk call not being angry?’
However, looking at Shen Yue’s vivid and unconcealed expression, Jiang Ling could vaguely tell that she truly wasn’t lying. Her voice took on a hint of testing and caution. “But if I remember correctly, you gave me a severe scolding last time — “
“Wait.”
Shen Yue raised a hand to stop Jiang Ling’s words. A more obvious look of astonishment appeared amidst her confusion. “Scolded you?”
“Yeah!”
At the mention of this, Jiang Ling’s emotions immediately became excited. She leaned forward slightly and began to describe the scene vividly. “It was just yesterday when you asked me to go to that Western restaurant! You even said you had decided to sell the music to me!”
“I was so happy at the time, thinking I had finally persuaded you. But after I got there, you first ordered a table full of vegetable salads, and then you scolded me… *sob sob*…”
Toward the end, Jiang Ling couldn’t help but whimper a couple of times.
In truth, it hadn’t quite reached the level of a “scolding,” but as a sensitive and fragile little seaweed, Jiang Ling naturally couldn’t handle it, so she couldn’t help but exaggerate a little.
These words left Shen Yue completely bewildered.
‘What on earth is she talking about?’
A Western restaurant, music, promising her?
‘Did I somehow lose a part of my memory without knowing it?’
After finishing her speech, Jiang Ling panted softly. She picked up her drink and took a large gulp, barely managing to calm her heart completely. Then, she stared seriously into Shen Yue’s eyes, trying to find some trace of guilt or apology.
But she only saw deep confusion.
It was as if this matter had nothing to do with Shen Yue.
In fact, Shen Yue truly didn’t know about any of this. She just looked straight at the slightly uncomfortable Jiang Ling with her clear eyes and gave her answer.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, because I was at home writing songs all day yesterday. I only ordered delivery once and didn’t speak to anyone else.”
As soon as she said this, the astonishment in Jiang Ling’s eyes grew. Her small face scrunched up, and she asked back in a muffled voice, “Are you saying that everything just now was my imagination?”
“Even though I’m a sensitive person, I wouldn’t imagine something that never happened… Oh, right! I still have the chat logs you sent me!”
Suddenly remembering the remaining evidence, Jiang Ling’s expression became joyful. She hurriedly pulled up their chat history and pushed the phone in front of Shen Yue.
Shen Yue looked down.
On the table, within Jiang Ling’s phone screen, their brief conversation was clearly displayed. The content really was her inviting Jiang Ling out.
“That’s impossible.”
Shen Yue frowned, took out her own phone, navigated to the same interface, and placed it beside the other for comparison.
The moment it was placed there, Jiang Ling’s eyes widened again.
Those few sentences really weren’t in Shen Yue’s chat history.
“Ha… Should I go to the hospital for a checkup?”
Jiang Ling muttered to herself, scratching her head irritably.
Although Shen Yue was also puzzled, she didn’t jump to conclusions. Instead, she asked again for details about what happened yesterday. “According to your memory, where did we meet?”
“I’ll send you the location.”
Jiang Ling took her phone and sent the location of that high-end, atmospheric Western restaurant to Shen Yue.
The moment Shen Yue saw the location, her brow furrowed. She tapped her finger on the screen and let out a helpless sigh. “When I was talking to you then, did you notice anything unusual?”
Seeing her expression, which seemed to suggest she had anticipated something, Jiang Ling unconsciously sank into her memories.
Anything unusual?
Perhaps out of a self-protection mechanism, Jiang Ling didn’t remember the scolding words very clearly, but she roughly knew that the other woman had beckoned with her hand, and she had trotted over eagerly.
The two of them had been very close. By the bright light overhead, she had even seen that inconspicuous mole under Shen Yue’s right eye.
So, Jiang Ling naturally raised her eyes to look for it. Her gaze wandered across Shen Yue’s face for a moment before she hurriedly withdrew it and asked, “Did you get your mole removed?”
Hearing this, the helplessness on Shen Yue’s face deepened. She placed her phone back on the table. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with a subtle sense of apology.
“I’m sorry.”
Hearing her sudden apology, Jiang Ling was stunned.
Before she could ask, Shen Yue tapped her phone twice and turned it around so Jiang Ling could clearly see the photo on it.
“Do you remember me telling you that I have a younger sister? The one who used to listen to me play music when we were kids? Her name is Shen Ran. We are identical twins and look almost exactly the same. The only difference is the mole at the corner of the eye.”
Jiang Ling looked at the screen in dumbfounded silence. Two little girls were beaming at the camera. Her gaze shifted back and forth stubbornly, and finally, her head slumped down heavily.
“They really do look exactly the same — “
Shen Yue didn’t need to say anything more. Jiang Ling had already guessed that the person who invited her to the Western restaurant that night was most likely not Shen Yue, but that Shen Ran whom she had never met.
“She has been willful and bold since she was a child.”
Speaking of this, Shen Yue’s brow furrowed tighter, appearing helpless toward her mischievous younger sister. “I’m about the only one who can persuade her, but Ranran is good at acting pitiful. Sometimes I get led in circles by her.”
After a long pause, Shen Yue adjusted her sitting position, her expression solemn. “So, this incident was probably a trick she pulled. I’m truly sorry.”
“Um… It doesn’t matter. As long as I know you’re not angry with me, it’s fine.”
Jiang Ling’s anger came and went quickly because she was never one to hold a grudge. Furthermore, from beginning to end, she had only been worried about what she would do if Shen Yue didn’t want to talk to her anymore.
Now that she knew it was all just a misunderstanding, Jiang Ling felt a bit more at ease. At the same time, another doubt sprouted in her mind. “But why would your sister do that?”
Shen Yue remained silent for a while before parting her red lips. “What did she say to you?”
Jiang Ling noticed that Shen Yue seemed a bit down, so she immediately told her everything Shen Ran had said that day.
After hearing it, Shen Yue’s expression became even more lonely. Her knuckles turned slightly white from gripping her phone. After a long while, she let out a heavy sigh.
“She’s probably worried about me.”
Shen Yue’s eyes looked a bit dazed, as if she were remembering something from the past. Her voice softened. “Back when I was young, my parents wouldn’t allow me to compose music. They said it was an unorthodox path taken by people who lacked ambition. Moreover, I hadn’t gone through systematic study, so no one had high hopes for me.”
“Ranran was the first and only audience member who stayed by my side from beginning to end.”
Talking about her sister, Shen Yue’s face softened, and she spoke at length about their past.
Whether before or after her rebirth, Jiang Ling had always been an only child and had never had such a novel experience. Therefore, she didn’t interrupt or show any sign of impatience. Instead, she listened seriously and with curiosity to every emotion revealed in Shen Yue’s words.
They spoke for an unknown amount of time. It wasn’t until Shen Yue belatedly realized her mouth was a bit dry that she suddenly noticed she had been talking for quite a while. A hint of fluster appeared in her eyes. “I’m sorry. Did I speak for too long?”
“No.”
Jiang Ling shook her head with a smile. “I actually quite liked listening to it. You’ve never spoken this much before. I feel like I’ve learned a bit more about you.”
Looking at Jiang Ling’s bright smile reflected in the warm light, Shen Yue noticed that the corners of her own lips had also curved up slightly. She lowered her eyes shyly and stirred the ice cubes that had mostly melted.
“I understand this matter now, but what did you mean by that sentence earlier? What do you mean you weren’t planning on being friends with me anymore?”
Jiang Ling remembered Shen Yue’s complex expression from earlier and asked curiously.
Hearing this, a blush climbed onto the tips of Shen Yue’s ears. She was too embarrassed to say that she had been troubled for a long time over her own overthinking, only to find out it was a misunderstanding. She looked away and responded in as calm a tone as possible, “It’s nothing. I just misunderstood.”
Jiang Ling watched her hand move rapidly, nearly stirring the ice in her cup into a whirlpool. She vaguely guessed that Shen Yue was likely a bit embarrassed, so she tactfully refrained from asking more.
The barrier between them, which had felt like a transparent wall, vanished in an instant.
“But it really scared the life out of me. Your sister is so scary.”
Jiang Ling patted her chest, her heart still fluttering. She felt that if she closed her eyes, she would see Shen Ran’s aggressive appearance.
This caused Shen Yue’s eyebrows to knit together again. After a moment of thought, she navigated to Shen Ran’s chat box on her phone and sent a message: “Come to my house tonight.” Then, she looked up at Jiang Ling and spoke in a tone that left almost no room for doubt.
“Come sleep at my house tonight.”