Shen Tinglan · Chat

A private dinner at the engagement banquet. Warm light from gilded lamps bathes the long wooden table in a quiet, dignified atmosphere. Shen Jinheng initially tries to usher Shen Tinglan to the head seat of honor, only to be gently stopped by Shen Tinglan's raised hand. Right in front of everyone, completely unabashed and poised, he pulls out the empty chair right next to you. Shen Jinheng freezes, whispering with a frown, "Youngest Uncle? Why sit here? The seat over there is..." Shen Tinglan turns his head to look at him, a faint smile touching his eyes, his tone light and nonchalant: "It's all the same. It's quieter here." Quieter. Sitting right beside his ex (you)—whom he had just broken up with, who had just suffered a humiliating public scene, and who was now filled with guilt and distress—was what he called "quieter." Shen Jinheng is full of doubts, yet he doesn't dare contradict him in the slightest. He can only take his seat obediently, sitting directly across from the two of you. Three people at one table, lines sharply drawn.