Back Then, I Adored You

Lu Bancheng visited her almost every day—He would either bring food that his housekeeper had made at home or order delivery for her, but Xu Wennuan’s appetite remained poor. At most, she would eat a small bite or two and then just move her chopsticks around her food. In only two weeks, Lu Bancheng had watched Xu Wennuan grow thinner each day, to the point that he’d begun to wonder if he should take her to the hospital for an examination.

On Chinese Valentine’s Day, when Lu Bancheng arrived, he was unexpectedly greeted with the sight of Xu Wennuan in a pretty dress. She was dressed to the nines and standing by her door, looking as though she was getting ready to go out.

Lu Bancheng was at first taken aback before surprise surfaced in his eyes. “Are you going out?”

Xu Wennuan merely nodded at him before she turned around and took out a pair of high heels that matched the color of her dress. Lu Bancheng lifted a lunchbox in his hand, asking, “Do you want to eat something before you go out?”

Xu Wennuan shook her head. “No need.”

Without questioning her, Lu Bancheng put the lunchbox in the refrigerator and said, “Well, you can heat this up and eat it when you get hungry.”

Xu Wennuan said “hmm” in response as she stood up straight on her high heels.

Following her out the door and onto the elevator, he asked, “Where are you going? Do you want a ride?”

Xu Wennuan hesitated until they were exiting the elevator, when she replied, “That would be great if it’s no trouble.”

Lu Bancheng was happy with this answer, and his face beamed. He took out his car key, pressed the unlock button, and took quick strides to the car so that he could pull open the door for Xu Wennuan.

Xu Wennuan was heading to the cafe opposite A High School. She received a call while Lu Bancheng was driving, and he could tell from her tone that she was going there to meet Wu Hao.

As cars were not allowed in the vicinity of the school, Lu Bancheng stopped at the closest intersection, and Xu Wennuan thanked him before she pushed open the car door and exited.

Lu Bancheng remained sitting in the car and watched her walking away through the windshield. Wu Hao, who had been leaning against a tree, straightened up when he saw her about to reach A High School and walked toward her. The two of them exchanged a few words before they entered the cafe.

It was only then that Lu Bancheng retracted his gaze. He initially had wanted to turn the steering wheel and leave, but he hesitated for a while before shutting off the engine. He leaned back against his seat and shut his eyes, leaving an absentminded look on his face.

When he had first met Xu Wennuan, he had not had any ulterior motives toward her. He would never take advantage of any friend’s fiance based on principle alone. Moreover, Wu Hao had almost always been by her side whenever Lu Bancheng had encountered her, when she’d either be acting coquettishly or talking his ear off.

This had been the case up until last year, when he had unintentionally found out during the Gu Company annual meeting that she had been the captain he had known for many years in the mobile game he played. After that, he couldn’t help but start to pay more attention to her.

He had come to know her as the captain in the game when he was overseas. After they had played the game together for so many years, he had always been curious about her, even though he had never seen what she looked like.

After finding out that Xu Wennuan was, in fact, the captain, the curiosity he had felt about her online spilled into reality. Thereafter, he started paying much more attention to her, and his curiosity grew increasingly deeper, as well. Eventually, everything reached a stage where there was no looking back. But curiosity was the final stage, because she was getting married to Wu Hao.