Pet Romance

“This boy is called Yu Chu, he is your aunt’s son. He is also Yu Ran’s half-brother,” Shen’s mother took a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly, and then slowly opened them. Her eyes seemed less spirited than before. Shen Qian was somewhat astonished, turning her head to look at Yu Ran in a daze. Yu Ran just smiled gently, “So you knew each other.” In the photo album, most of the subsequent photos were of Shen Qian and Yu Chu, until the last few where Shen’s mother appeared. Shen Qian stared blankly at these photos, her head suddenly started to hurt, like a rewind, recalling fragments… “Brother, you’re so handsome, you must have lots of girls chasing after you, right?” Shen Qian stared at a newly developed photo, teasing the little handsome guy in it. The little handsome guy replied, “Too many to count, but none as cute as Qianqian, I don’t want any of them.” “Hmph… give you an inch, and you take a mile,” Shen Qian grabbed a piece of clothing beside her and threw it at him. Shen’s mother helplessly said, “Alright, alright, stop fooling around, let’s eat.” The two of them scampered to the dining table. Shen Qian couldn’t help but frown, trying not to think about it, realizing that the more she thought, the more her head hurt. She continued flipping through the photos, but the pages after were blank. Shen Qian was stunned and looked up at Shen’s mother. Shen’s mother smiled, “The rest are your secrets, you were afraid I’d find out, so you left many pages blank. Just keep flipping.” Shen Qian continued as instructed, and after flipping for a while, she saw a photo that was scribbled all over, featuring Shen Qian and Yu Ran. Clearly, this photo was taken intentionally. They had moved the chairs to the back of the classroom in front of the blackboard, still in their school uniforms, sitting upright with beaming smiles. On the blackboard behind them was a not-so-pretty large red character: ‘囍’. Their laughter was sweet, showing off their white teeth. This comical photo was heavily doodled; both had “three” written on their foreheads, Yu Ran had a mustache drawn, and with a red marker, he added something on his hand – a small box with three beautifully written characters inside: “Marriage Certificate.” Yu Ran silently gazed at this photo, his eyes somewhat vacant. This funny photo was Shen Qian’s idea. At that time, he didn’t tell her that he was repeating a year; she thought he was leaving, so she dragged him to borrow a camera from a photo studio and had Nan Nan take the picture. When the photos were developed, Shen Qian excitedly handed it to him, “Here, this is our wedding photo, make sure to put it somewhere visible in university, and show it off for an hour or two every now and then.” “Qianqian, we are so silly.” “You’re the silly one. Just do as I say, put it in a visible place, and wave it around every day.” “Every day seeing you this silly, I might lose my appetite.” “Who told you to look at it? I want others to see, so they know you’re mine. Who would want you, a second-hand good? Hmph.” Shen Qian suddenly picked up a pen and wrote on the bottom right corner of the photo: “Qianqian, my baby, I love you, kisses.” He couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, “You’re so shameless, talking to yourself.” Shen Qian grabbed his arm, swinging the silly photo back and forth, self-satisfied, “I’ll add a few strokes to the other photos later, it’s really fun.” “You wouldn’t write, ‘Ranran, my baby, I love your little thing the most’, would you?” Shen Qian poked him, “Yes, I like it so much I want to keep it after castrating you.” “Then you won’t be happy in the future.” Shen Qian nonchalantly said, “I can find someone else to make me happy. It’s not just you.” “You’re right, you reminded me, I shouldn’t just make you happy.” “…” Later, a certain man realized how hard it was to make just one person happy… Recalling this, Yu Ran couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Shen Qian, upon seeing this silly photo, had a face full of black lines. Heavens, was she really that silly back then? Sillier than now? She quickly turned the page, but it was still that photo, only without the doodles, with a line written in the bottom right corner: “Shen Qian is Yu Ran’s queen.” “…” Shen Qian was silent for a moment, then asked Yu Ran, “Did you write this?” “Do you think that’s possible? You wrote it yourself.” “…” Shen Qian suspected she was somewhat delusional in her youth. She flipped another page, still the same photo, with the bottom right corner in marker: “Yu Ran is Shen Qian’s knight.” “…” Shen Qian fell silent again; she thought she might have had some fantasies during her teenage years. She turned another page, and it was still that photo. Shen Qian rolled her eyes; did they only take one photo? This photo was clean, with no writing, but there was a note tucked beside it. The words on it were still legible: “Goodbye.” Shen Qian was stunned; she searched further, but there was nothing else. She looked at Yu Ran in confusion, “What does ‘goodbye’ mean?” Yu Ran didn’t speak, just gripped Shen Qian’s hand tightly, even fearing she might pull away, his grip was quite strong. Shen Qian’s hand hurt from the grip, but she didn’t make a sound, instead, she looked at Shen’s mother with an inquiring gaze, “What does ‘goodbye’ mean?” Shen’s mother said, “You left with your mother, so it was goodbye.” Shen Qian was half-convinced, turning her gaze to Yu Ran, who smiled faintly, “‘Goodbye’ means to meet again.” “…” *** The two were staying in Shen Qian’s small room with a bed only a meter wide, very narrow. Shen Qian wanted Yu Ran to stay at a hotel, but he refused, insisting on sharing the small bed with her. Shen Qian rolled her eyes at him, “You’re asking for trouble. I won’t sleep curled up, if you fall off the bed, don’t blame me.” “I’ll lie down, and you can sleep on top of me.” Yu Ran sat on the bed, bouncing a bit, feeling the bed still had some spring to it. He then took off his shoes and got on the bed, waving at her with a seductive smile, “Come.” Shen Qian walked over and sat squarely on his legs. He grimaced in pain, lifting her up to place her where it didn’t hurt, “You almost sat on your happiness.” Shen Qian glanced at him and didn’t speak, “I’m staying home with my mom for half a month, you really plan to stick with me?” “I’m quite free, once I’ve got you sorted, I’ll go work to support my wife and kids.” “…” Shen Qian leaned into his embrace, rubbing against him, “Actually, I’ve already been sorted by you. Look at you, so handsome, with money, looking all gentle on the outside but a beast underneath.” “You have a unique way of complimenting people; I really like when you say I’m a beast underneath.”