Hearing the noise, they both turned to look.
"Brother, come sit," Shi Miao said. "Have you had dinner?"
Min Ting reached out and pulled out a dining chair next to him.
Shi Wenli said he had eaten at the hospital, glancing at the dishes on the table—a plate of hand-made shrimp balls, a plate of beef balls, and two portions of greens; none were large portions. "Why hotpot again?" He took the seat.
During their honeymoon, just from what his sister had told him, they had eaten hotpot at least three times.
Min Ting responded: "She didn't have an appetite for dinner, and now she suddenly craved hotpot."
Shi Miao handed her brother a clean pair of chopsticks: "Try it. The shrimp balls and beef balls are homemade by the housekeeper."
Shi Wenli wasn't hungry; he took the chopsticks and set them aside: "You eat."
He was thinking about how to tell his sister and brother-in-law that he and Xu Qinghe were together. He had prepared a draft on the way, but facing them in person was a different matter.
Min Ting glanced at his watch. If his brother-in-law didn't have something important, he wouldn't come so late. "Someone introduced another blind date to you?" he asked proactively.
The brother-in-law hit the nail on the head. Shi Wenli nodded: "I came to tell you about this."
Shi Miao had just picked up a meatball but didn't get to eat it; she looked at her brother. Min Ting remembered last time when the director of the neighboring hospital called his brother-in-law to a dinner, which turned out to be a set-up blind date, and he barely managed to decline. He thought it was another introduction by a leader. "If it's inconvenient for you to refuse, I'll go to the dinner with you."
Shi Wenli followed his brother-in-law's words: "I've already accepted. We're together."
Shi Miao was taken aback; the meatball slipped off her chopsticks and rolled onto the table. She quickly covered it with her hand. "Who introduced her? That's impressive."
For so many years, her brother had always been thoughtful in everything he did, never impulsive. He had previously declined Dean Jiang's introduction, unceremoniously refused the vice dean's goodwill, and politely turned down Director Liu's enthusiasm. He said he wasn't considering marriage for now. Yet within a week, he had a girlfriend.
"Who introduced her?" Shi Miao pressed again.
Shi Wenli said: "Zhao Mingde."
Still in shock, Shi Miao couldn't be happy for her brother. She couldn't understand: "Why did you agree as soon as Director Zhao made the match?" Her brother didn't have a deep friendship with Director Zhao; theoretically, it wouldn't be hard to refuse.
Min Ting saw through it: "It has nothing to do with who made the match. It's the person on the other end that your brother is willing." He and Shi Miao were introduced on a blind date; before that, he never thought about getting married so early. So he fully understood Shi Wenli's decision, which might seem untimely to others.
Shi Miao was overthinking out of concern and hadn't considered this aspect. "What does the other party do? Also a colleague?" Now that her brother had found someone he wanted to be with, she was more excited than anyone. "Do you have a photo? Let me see."
Shi Wenli said: "You know her. Director Zhao's student."
Director Zhao had many students, but at that moment, only one came to Shi Miao's mind. She couldn't believe it, her eyes wide: "Don't tell me it's Xu Qinghe?"
Shi Wenli nodded: "It's her."
Excited, the meatball she had just picked up fell on the table again. Shi Miao laughed at herself, speechless. Min Ting handed her a soup spoon: "Don't use chopsticks anymore."
Her brother actually ended up with Xu Qinghe. Shi Miao was still incredulous, stammering: "No wonder. No wonder Xu Qinghe went to your place last night. I was wondering why the vase you chose didn't seem like your style. She drives Director Zhao crazy every day; why would he set her up?"
As she spoke, Min Ting smiled and interjected: "She's just like you."
Shi Miao laughed and scolded him: "Don't talk nonsense. I never drove our director crazy." She quickly pulled the topic back to her brother, eager to know: "When are you planning the wedding? Have you chosen a date? I'm not busy now; I can prepare the wedding for you."
Shi Wenli laughed dryly: "...We've only been together for five days."
"Five days is not short."
"..."
Shi Miao finally ate a meatball and said indistinctly: "You and I are different from Min Ting and me. You've known each other for so many years; you don't need to get to know each other. Apart from me, no one knows you better than Xu Qinghe." With such a relationship, even if the wedding were tomorrow, she wouldn't consider it a flash marriage.
Shi Wenli admitted: "Because we've been friends for so long, there's more to overcome as a couple than with strangers. Even now, she and I are still adapting to being boyfriend and girlfriend."
Shi Miao gradually calmed down. She put herself in their shoes: transitioning from friends of many years to lovers, and only deciding to be together after being set up by a matchmaker—there would indeed be many awkward moments, especially intimate ones. But once the awkward phase passed, the feelings would definitely be stronger than those of strangers meeting through blind dates.
She scooped up another beef ball and put it in her mouth; only then did she taste its deliciousness. Her brother finally had his own home. She no longer had to worry about him spending the reunion days alone in the lab or the on-call room. At this moment, she was happier than when she herself fell in love.
She looked at Min Ting: "Why have you been so quiet?"
"..." Min Ting laughed. Having a sister-in-law a few years younger than him, wasn't it normal to be quiet?
Shi Wenli understood his brother-in-law's silence at this moment.
Shi Miao asked her brother: "When do you plan to go public with Qinghe?"
Shi Wenli: "Around April or May next year."
Having said what needed to be said, he glanced at the time and prepared to leave. He said to his sister, "You enjoy your hotpot; I'm heading back."
Min Ting got up to see him off, but Shi Wenli declined.
His car drove out of the new neighborhood's underground garage. On the way back, the city was lit up with bright lights. Before 9:00, he entered the house.
No one was in the living room; the bathroom light was on, and the sound of a hairdryer came from inside.
In the bathroom, Xu Qinghe heard the sounds of opening and closing the door. One advantage of a small house was that no matter which room you were in, you could hear the door. Besides, the bathroom was close to the entrance.
She had just finished blow-drying her hair and turned off the hairdryer. The house suddenly became very quiet. Then she heard him place his car keys on the entrance cabinet. The metal keychain hitting the surface made a soft sound. For the first time, she felt what it was like when he came home—ordinary, yet so reassuring.
Shi Wenli took off his coat and hung it up, then went to the kitchen to pour a glass of warm water. He had returned half an hour earlier than expected. He wasn't sure if she had heard him come in. Standing by the dining table, he spoke toward the bathroom: "Qinghe, I'm back. The water on the table is for you. I'll go to my room first."
"Okay," Xu Qinghe replied through the frosted glass door. She had finished dressing and was doing skincare. This was only the second night, and she was already getting used to having him at home. The next second, she reminded herself that she was only staying here for a few days; she shouldn't get too used to it, or she wouldn't want to live apart from him.