Upon hearing those three words, Shi Tong was completely stunned. The unexpected events at this wedding were occurring one after another, and within these few short hours, Shi Tong had been in a daze more times than he would in a whole month.

Blinking, Shi Tong subconsciously glanced in Chu Ge's direction.

As someone who grew up with Chu Ge, he naturally knew about the matter between Chu Ge and Situ Ying. He never mentioned Situ Ying because Liang Jinjiang had given him a heads-up in advance.

He thought the wedding would end perfectly like this, but he never dreamed that at the very last moment, he would receive a congratulatory call from Situ Ying, who had been out of touch for years.

The voice of Situ Ying was still continuing over the receiver, but Shi Tong was so astonished that he didn't hear what she said. By the time he returned to his senses, the call had already been disconnected, and Situ Ying's voice was no longer in his ears.

Taking the phone away from his ear in a daze, Shi Tong looked at the phone and then at Chu Ge, feeling torn about whether he should tell Chu Ge about this.

At this wedding, Chu Ge helped him a lot, and finally having news about Situ Ying, it seemed unreasonable not to tell Chu Ge.

But he had just spaced out when he answered the phone, and except for a congratulatory word, he hadn't clearly heard what Situ Ying said. If he told Chu Ge about it, what would he say if Chu Ge asked?

Shi Tong was troubled, and Cao Xu called out to him, so he had to squeeze out an unnatural smile and reluctantly walked over.

"Stone, why so spaced out? Your face looks so strange, are you still thinking about those two hosts?" Since the bride was not by Shi Tong's side, Cao Xu joked.

"No, it's just..."

At this moment, Shi Tong truly couldn't smile, his gaze fixed on Chu Ge, hesitant to speak.

Noticing Shi Tong's complex expression as he looked at him, Chu Ge smiled and said, "What's wrong, Stone? If you have any difficulties, just say it."

"Chu Ge, actually... actually, earlier, Situ Ying called me." After much hesitation, Shi Tong finally said it softly.

Chu Ge had just wanted to take a puff of his cigarette when he suddenly heard Shi Tong's words. His fingers holding the cigarette paused, and he froze, staring at Shi Tong, somewhat doubting his ears.

"Stone, you... who did you say called you?" Cao Xu frowned slightly, asking with an uncertain tone.

"Situ Ying, Sister Ying called me to congratulate." Since he had already spoken, Shi Tong chose to let go and raised his voice slightly.

This time, everyone at the table heard it clearly, and they all turned their gaze towards Chu Ge.

Under the watchful eyes, Chu Ge lowered his head to take a puff of his cigarette, hiding his expression from others. This puff was very harsh, the cigarette tip burning red, and the ash accumulated into a long piece.

The fingers holding the cigarette suddenly trembled slightly, causing the ash to fall off. After a few seconds, Chu Ge raised his head stiffly, "What did she say?"

Hearing Chu Ge's unexpectedly hoarse voice, Shi Tong apologized sincerely, "She... she said congratulations, and then said something else, I... I didn't hear it clearly. How about... I give you the number she called from?"

Chu Ge exhaled a long puff of smoke, unable to release the storm surging in his heart, hesitated and nodded.

With slightly trembling fingers, he saved the number. Chu Ge stood up mechanically, "Everyone, let's gather again when we have time, I'm leaving first."

Cao Xu patted him on the shoulder, and Liang Jinjiang nodded with a solemn expression.

Chu Ge showed a very calm smile, turned around and walked out, yet his hand clutching the phone tightly betrayed his current impossibly calm mood.

Leaving the hotel, Chu Ge seemed to have lost his soul, surrounded by bustling crowds and flowing vehicles, everything seemed to turn into blankness, with only him and the phone in his hand remaining in the world.

He mechanically walked forward, not knowing how long he had walked, he finally sat down on a roadside bench, looking down at the saved number on the phone, his fingers wanted to press it several times but lifted each time.

Even when dismantling a timed bomb, betting his life, he wasn't as hesitant as he was now.

Without any news of Situ Ying, his heart was filled with countless fantasies, but at this moment, the clue lay right in front of him, he didn't know what to say if he called, afraid that everything might change once he called.

One cigarette was finished...

Two cigarettes were finished...

Unknowingly, a pile of cigarette butts already gathered under Chu Ge's feet.

Finally, when Chu Ge reached for the cigarette box again, it was empty.

With a long deep breath, Chu Ge's finger finally pressed down, and when the "beep" sounded in his ear, his heart couldn't help but thump wildly.

In a wait that was almost torturous, the call finally connected.

"Hello?" It was a woman's voice, but Chu Ge only heard one word, and he could tell it wasn't Situ Ying's voice.

"Speak? Who is it?" A prompt came from the other side again.

"Are you sick? If you don't speak, I'm hanging up."

"Wait!" Hearing the other party say this, Chu Ge finally spoke.

"Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Situ Ying."

"Situ Ying? There's no one by that name here, you might have dialed the wrong number."

"No, definitely not, she just called from this phone."

"This is a supermarket, a lot of people make calls from here. Bye now."

Hearing this and the "click" of the phone hanging up, Chu Ge felt his heart sink.

Finally, there was a bit of a clue, is it going to be cut off again?

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, his heart was bitter, his face showing a wry smile.

Why?

His phone number hasn't changed in all these years, so why can Situ Ying call Shi Tong to offer congratulations but not give him a call? Moreover, she clearly called Shi Tong but mentioned nothing about him.

This seems to be a very clear signal now, Situ Ying probably doesn't want him to find her, maybe there's something troubling her, or perhaps…

Chu Ge didn't want to think further about it, even though checking incoming call location is quite easy, he didn't do it, just sat on the bench, dazed, his mind seemingly filled with countless images, yet also a void.

Unknowingly, an afternoon had passed, the sky filled with a fieryred sunset glow.

It was not until a phone rang, breaking his chaotic thoughts.

He glanced at the caller display, showing Qin Ruojing's name, but he really wasn't in the mood right now. After a look, he turned his gaze to the boundless sky, letting the phone ring.

Yet, the phone was persistent, it kept ringing endlessly despite his reluctance to answer.

When the phone rang for the fifth time, Chu Ge finally picked it up, after all, as he had said before, life must go on, and given how many times Qin Ruojing had called, it might be something urgent.

"Chu Ge, are you okay? Why did you take so long to answer the phone?"

The voice carried a lot of concern, and given Chu Ge's current mood, hearing this warmed his heart a bit, despite thinking Qin Ruojing talking to him in this tone was a bit weird, probably because Qin Ruoying was beside her.

"What could be wrong with me, I just didn't hear the phone ring earlier."

"Glad you're alright, are you with your friends now? Will you be home for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be home."

"If you're not busy, come back early. I haven't seen you much today, I really miss you, yesterday night you weren't home and I couldn't sleep well."

This sentence was said with a touch of shyness and gentleness.

Listening to Qin Ruojing's increasingly unusual voice, Chu Ge could even imagine Qin Ruoying letting her use the speakerphone, sneaking beside her with a sly smile.

Thinking of that mischievous sister-in-law, the gloom in Chu Ge's heart dissipated somewhat. It must be said, Qin Ruoying's presence brought both headaches and joy.

"Okay, I got it, I'll be back soon."

"Alright, stay safe, I'll be waiting for you."

After hanging up, Chu Ge shook his head, temporarily pushing Situ Ying's matters into the back of his mind, hailed a taxi to get the Maserati, and returned to the Huafu Garden District.

At the doorstep, Chu Ge opened the door directly and immediately saw Qin Ruojing on the sofa, though there was no sign of Qin Ruoying.

"You're back."

At this moment, Qin Ruojing said with a very gentle expression, then she actually came to the door and thoughtfully handed him a pair of slippers, placing it at his feet.

This kind gesture by Qin Ruojing really surprised Chu Ge, given Qin Ruoying was absent, she didn't need to behave like this at all, right?

Still, after a slight thought, Chu Ge felt relieved, probably his whimsical sister-in-law was playing a trick, creating an illusion of her absence while secretly observing him and Qin Ruojing's actions, looking for something amiss.

He put on the slippers and subtly glanced around the room, noting the bedroom door was closed and the bathroom door was shut too, seemingly affirming his suspicion, perhaps Qin Ruoying was hiding somewhere.

Thinking about it, Chu Ge nodded and smiled, "Yes, I'm back, where's Xiao Ying?"

"When I got back, she wasn't here, who knows where that little rascal's gone off to."

Hearing Qin Ruojing say this, Chu Ge suddenly laughed, thinking she must be doing it deliberately, Qin Ruoying would certainly be gritting her teeth with a plan to settle scores with her sister later.

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