After hanging up with Sima, Mengying was even more confused. Betrothed at eight years old? And his grandmother arranged it? Mengying felt she needed to sort through all this tangled information carefully.
The first weekend she went home after meeting Sima, she had asked Aunt Mei to verify who Brother White really was. But Aunt Mei claimed the time gap was too long and her memory had faded. She provided no useful information. Mengying had hoped to find answers through Sima Jing, but the information he gave didn't quite match her experiences either. Perhaps she was overthinking this. Maybe they were just two people who happened to look somewhat similar. Mengying decided not to dwell on it for now and focus on preparing for her final exams instead.
"Xiaomeng, Xiaomeng."
Mengying had just finished her last final exam and was walking back to the dorm with Jiajia when she heard Sima Jing's eager voice from behind. Mengying stopped. Jiajia, who had been complaining about getting some calculus problems wrong, immediately fell silent. She glanced at Mengying, apparently planning to leave on her own.
"Jiajia, don't leave," Mengying said, holding onto her friend's arm.
After his last call, Mengying had sensed that Sima Jing probably had feelings for her. She didn't want to give him false encouragement, so she preferred not to be alone with him. After that phone call, she had continued to use exam preparation as an excuse to stop attending art lessons. If there was nothing particularly important today, Mengying didn't intend to chat with him longer than necessary.
So she turned to Sima and asked, "Sima, you found me in such a hurry. Is something wrong?"
Sima greeted Jiajia warmly, then said, "Yes, there is something. My mother finally agreed to let me have my own art exhibition. I wanted to invite you—" he hesitated and added the 's', "—all to attend." Mengying found this amusing. So Sima was still being considerate of Jiajia's feelings.
From previous conversations with Sima, Mengying had learned that he transferred to Anya University because his mother opposed him studying architecture. His mother wanted him to inherit the family business and major in finance, so he transferred abroad in protest.
"Congratulations. Your mother finally agreed to let you pursue art," Mengying said politely.
"So will you come to my art exhibition?" Sima's tone was full of anticipation.
"No problem. We'll come to cheer you on, right, Jiajia?" Mengying looked at Jiajia. Jiajia passively nodded.
"However, my exhibition will be held near my home. Would you be willing to come? It will be during winter break next month," Sima asked carefully.
"Your home? Do you mean in Daheng?" Mengying hadn't expected Daheng to suddenly appear like this.
"Yes. I'll go back to Daheng during winter break for the exhibition. Will you come?"
Mengying hesitated before answering, "I'd need to discuss it with my aunt first. I'll get back to you soon. Jiajia, would you like to go?"
"Daheng, huh? I'd be interested in going. Sima, you'll take care of us, right? Food, lodging, airfare?" Jiajia suddenly became animated.
"No problem. As long as you're both willing to come, I'll cover everything," Sima said generously.
That evening, Mengying drove home to discuss the Daheng travel plans with Aunt Mei. The Zhuang family's residence in the northern suburbs of Anya was a standalone house worth roughly two million dollars. Twice the average price of homes in the city center, but it was middle-priced for her neighborhood. The subdivision had no public transportation. Multiple attempts by the city to establish public transit services had been collectively rejected by residents. So Mengying had to drive home.
Normally, the drive from Anya University in the city center to her suburban villa took less than an hour. But today it took her an extra half hour because she noticed a car tailing her from the moment she left the city. At one point, it nearly hit her rear bumper. She sped up and took several detours before losing it. Reckless drivers seemed to be increasing lately. Mengying was glad her driving skills were good enough to shake off the tail. Finally, she arrived at her suburban villa.
The Zhuang villa was a conventionally designed Western-style house, quietly hidden among similar properties around it.
As Mengying had expected, Aunt Mei strongly opposed the Daheng travel plans. Although Mengying pointed out that international travel during holidays was common among Anya University students, Aunt Mei insisted that Mengying was still too young for cross-country trips, even with classmates. Uncle Qiang gently noted that they didn't have the budget for it and would need approval from "madam" to discuss further.
Mengying had just returned to her bedroom when Sima Jing's call came through.
"So, how did it go? Did you work it out?"
"Sima, I have a question for you. What is the family name of the girl your brother is betrothed to?"
"I can't quite remember. My mother mentioned it once. It was arranged by the Yuwen grandmother. The Yuwen family hardly interacted with us Simas to begin with, and my brother is such an ice block. How would I know these details?" Sima seemed to be getting impatient with the topic.
"Your brother's grandmother is surnamed Yuwen?"
"Didn't I tell you that last time? Though I heard there was something odd about the incident when his grandmother passed away. I'm not really clear on it."
Sima paused as if deep in thought. But he quickly snapped back and firmly steered the conversation back to the main topic. "Why do you keep asking about his family? Let's focus on what matters. Will you come to my art exhibition or not?"
"Why did you leave Daheng to study so far away at Anya this year?" Mengying ignored his question and suddenly changed the subject.
"Didn't I tell you? If I stayed in front of my mother, there's no way she'd let me study architecture. She'd force me to major in finance."
"But why Anya University specifically? There are plenty of architecture schools as good as Anya, and Daheng and Anya are oceans apart."
"Oh, it's all because of the Anya University library. One day my brother brought home a magazine with the Anya library on its cover. The moment I saw it, I thought, I have to go to this university just for that library. And let me tell you, that photographer really captured the essence of the library's design. The way the glass creates transparency and merges the architecture with the surrounding forest and river—it's all captured in the photo. The magazine even had several interior shots of the librar—"
"I'll attend your art exhibition," Mengying suddenly interrupted Sima's rambling.
"Your thoughts jump around pretty fast, don't they?" Sima complained from the other end of the line.