Decayed Vulgarian chapter 17

Why

Shen Xun lowered his gaze and began, “I…”

Even though he avoided eye contact, he could still sense Meng Yuan Cen’s lingering gaze. Shen Xun put on a brave front, finishing the remaining half of his awkward lie, “I thought I mistook you for someone else.”

Upon hearing this, Meng Yuan Cen’s eyes slightly shifted, making a circuit around the lower half of Shen Xun’s face that wasn’t covered by bangs. He chose not to continue the questioning and instead said abruptly, “Because you had something to do, I brought my little sister with me to watch the movie. Yuan Ning is behind us.”

After speaking, he turned to look.

The oppressive feeling of their locked gazes finally dissipated. Shen Xun tentatively raised his eyes, following Meng Yuan Cen’s direction. He saw the girl with the short black hair and high heels running towards them.

Shen Xun had seen the only family photo of Meng Yuan Cen in his friend’s circle, but the picture had low resolution, and he couldn’t see his sister’s features. He hadn’t managed to remember what Meng Yuan Cen’s sister looked like.

Now that he saw her, he realized it was his sister, which explained why they were going home together. The siblings didn’t resemble each other much, perhaps taking after their respective parents.

Shen Xun suddenly felt relieved. His anxious heart descended a notch, accompanied by an inexplicable sense of lightness. He attributed the awkwardness of being caught by Meng Yuan Cen watching a movie with Liang Yan.

After Meng Yuan Ning stood beside them, Meng Yuan Cen introduced her to Shen Xun. “This is my sister, Meng Yuan Ning.”

He then introduced him to Yuan Ning. “This is Shen Xun.”

Meng Yuan Ning suddenly understood after hearing the name.

 “Hello.”

After speaking, she extended her hand, but she immediately felt her older brother’s piercing gaze. Meng Yuan Ning realized the situation and felt a mixture of amusement and helplessness. However, she couldn’t retract her hand now, as that would be even stranger. So, her palm remained suspended in the chilly air for a moment.

Shen Xun, on the other hand, had his professional habit reawakened. He never initiated handshakes, and when someone reached out to shake his hand, he always hesitated instinctively for a moment.

Meng Yuan Ning’s palm hung in the air for a full second before a gentle touch landed on it. It was the young man next to Shen Xun, who lightly tapped her hand as a courteous greeting. “Hello.”

Meng Yuan Ning smiled at the young man. “Hello.”

With someone helping to ease the awkwardness, she decided not to retract her hand.

The atmosphere turned strangely quiet.

For some unknown reason, Meng Yuan Cen remained silent. Shen Xun, who was a bit of a social recluse and rarely spoke in front of strangers, knew that saying more might lead to mistakes. He didn’t think to introduce the young man to the others.

“I’m Liang Yan, and I’m Shen Xun’s best friend,” Liang Yan finally broke the silence.

Meng Yuan Cen looked at Liang Yan for a moment, his gaze passing lightly over him before returning. “Meng Yuan Cen.”

Liang Yan nodded. “Hello.”

Meng Yuan Cen responded, “Hello.”

The residual silence gradually dissipated.

The bright light from the overhead bulb glided across the silver rim of Meng Yuan Cen’s glasses. His glasses reflected back the fluctuating light, making his eyes appear enigmatic. Meng Yuan Cen remained briefly silent, waiting for something that never came.

When he didn’t receive whatever he was waiting for, Meng Yuan Cen’s gaze finally shifted away from Shen Xun’s face, bypassing his eyebrows.

“Well, my sister and I are leaving. We have things to do,” Meng Yuan Cen said.

Shen Xun wondered if he was just being oversensitive, but it seemed like Meng Yuan Cen had emphasized the words “have things to do.” It was almost the same phrase Shen Xun used when declining his invitation on WeChat.

When Shen Xun snapped out of it, Meng Yuan Cen had already disappeared into the stairwell, leaving only the sound of his heels tapping on the tiles. It grew fainter as he moved further away.

Shen Xun still couldn’t help thinking about how he had no backbone. His first thought was to go back and take the elevator.

“What’s this?” Liang Yan suddenly asked.

Shen Xun followed the voice and saw that Liang Yan was holding a purple plush ball and a pink bunny. They were connected by a circular metal chain link, which was wider than the link itself.

“I just picked this up from the floor,” Liang Yan said. “Is it Miss Meng’s?”

With just one look, it was clear that it was.

Liang Yan quickly ran toward the stairwell, taking a dozen steps in two strides before spotting Meng Yuan Ning’s back. “Miss Meng!”

The siblings were in the middle of chatting and didn’t hear him, so Liang Yan called out again, ” Miss Yuan Ning!”

Meng Yuan Ning finally turned around at the corner of the stairs. “Yes?”

With Liang Yan’s fast pace and slightly breathless voice, he raised the plush ball and bunny in his hand. “Is this… yours?”

Meng Yuan Ning pulled out her phone and looked at the pendant; only a bald chain was left. It was indeed hers. “Yes, it’s mine. Thank you.”

Seeing that Meng Yuan Ning and Liang Yan still had a considerable distance between them, she suggested, “Just toss it to me, I can catch it.”

However, Liang Yan didn’t follow her advice. Instead, he climbed a few more steps and personally placed the plush ball and bunny into Meng Yuan Ning’s palm.

“Thank you,” Meng Yuan Ning said, a bit bewildered. She thought for a moment and couldn’t help but smile. “Why didn’t you just toss it to me directly?”

Liang Yan responded, “If I didn’t throw it well and you couldn’t catch it, you’d have to go pick it up. It would be more troublesome.”

By this time, Shen Xun had also caught up. Together with Liang Yan, he said his goodbyes to the Meng siblings. They had already descended more than half the stairs, so it was too late to go back and take the elevator. Shen Xun decided to speed up and create some distance between himself and Meng Yuan Cen.

On the way, Liang Yan checked his phone and said, “I think it’s still early. How about we go around for a bit more?”

Shen Xun softly declined, “Let’s just rest. Don’t overexert yourself. I also need to go home.”

Liang Yan didn’t mind, “It’s not a big deal. Even though it’s quite far from your place, you could crash at the hotel with me.”

Shen Xun: “…No, thanks.”

He didn’t dare to look back, so he had no idea about the distance between him and Meng Yuan Cen. The stairwell was quiet, with few people and little noise. Shen Xun couldn’t help but wonder if Meng Yuan Cen could hear their conversation.

In the parking lot, Meng Yuan Ning opened the car door and slid inside. Meng Yuan Cen was already in the driver’s seat when the door closed. Meng Yuan Ning couldn’t help but turn to him and ask, “So, what happened between you and Shen Xun?”

Meng Yuan Cen remained silent.

Meng Yuan Ning continued, “Wait, why am I feeling a bit lost here? So, did you invite Shen Xan to the movies, and he declined, so you went with someone else? Then you bumped into each other at the cinema?”

Meng Yuan Cen answered her question indirectly, “Did you fasten your seatbelt? If not, please do it now.”

Meng Yuan Ning pulled the seatbelt over her right shoulder while inquiring, “So, am I right?”

Meng Yuan Cen finally gave a somewhat reluctant response, “I’m not sure.”

Meng Yuan Ning grew impatient, “How can you not be sure? This could be my future sister-in-law.”

Meng Yuan Cen skillfully steered the wheel, and the car smoothly merged onto the road. He deliberately remained silent for a moment, but Meng Yuan Ning continued to gaze at him expectantly. He couldn’t avoid explaining, “If we assume the worst, Shen Xun didn’t want to watch a movie with me and made up an excuse. However, he accidentally ran into me. If we give him the benefit of the doubt, he might have agreed to someone else’s invitation first, and it became a matter of who he had promised to first.”

Meng Yuan Ning quickly responded, “It’s definitely the latter.”

Meng Yuan Cen chose not to respond.

“But…” Meng Yuan Ning suddenly remembered something, “There’s something I still don’t understand.”

“I’m sure he looked in our direction a moment ago. I even made eye contact with him more than once. I just didn’t know who he was at the time and was wondering why he was staring at us.”

Meng Yuan Cen pursed his lips. “What are you trying to say?”

“I just want to point out that he should have seen you. So why didn’t he come up to you and say hello? Why did he take a detour?” Meng Yuan Ning recollected. “And I remember we weren’t that far apart, so the possibility of him mistaking you for someone else seems unlikely, unless he’s nearsighted. Do you believe his excuse of mistaking you?”

Meng Yuan Cen replied, “He’s not nearsighted.”

Meng Yuan Ning couldn’t get a response out of him.

Meng Yuan Ning playfully suggested, “Doesn’t Shen Xun have a best friend? What’s his name… Liang Yan, right? How about I help you get some information from Liang Yan? If you need it, of course.”

Meng Yuan Cen immediately declined, “No need.”

With the conversation at this point, Meng Yuan Ning had no choice but to stay silent. She took out the purple plush ball and pink bunny from her pocket and began to work on reattaching the broken chain link.