The front door creaked open with a trace of impatience. Standing on the other side, hands on her hips, was Liang Yanzhu, her brows slightly raised.
"Feng? It's you?" she said, blinking in surprise. "Where have you been all weekend? I haven't seen a trace of you. Don't tell me you've been home quietly studying. Hah! I don't buy that for a second. Spill it—where did you sneak off to, you little rascal?"
Doug Feng ignored her teasing completely. His brows were furrowed, his voice unusually serious.
"Zhu sister… is it true? Are you really getting engaged?"
The smile on Liang Yanzhu's face froze.
She paused for a heartbeat, then glanced back inside the house, as if afraid someone might be listening. Her voice dropped into a whisper.
"Where did you hear that?" she asked, not with anger, but with a hint of weariness.
Before Doug Feng could answer, she pressed a finger to her lips and said quietly, "Come. Let's take a walk. I'll tell you everything."
"…Alright."
Doug Feng nodded. A subtle wave of relief passed through him. Her reaction said enough—this engagement wasn't something she truly wanted. There had to be a reason.
After all, who in their right mind gets engaged to someone they barely know after just two weeks?
The evening breeze carried a whisper of coolness as the two of them walked side by side along the narrow path between the rows of houses. The sky had darkened into a smoky indigo, the moon trying its best to pierce through the thickening clouds. Stars blinked anxiously overhead, as if powerless to stop what was about to unfold.
"Feng," Liang Yanzhu said softly.
"Yeah?" he replied, keeping his pace just half a step behind hers.
"You… were upset when you heard about the engagement, weren't you?"
She didn't look at him. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the sky—the way the moon kept slipping in and out of view, struggling against the gathering clouds. Her voice was calm, but a tremor hid beneath it, like a leaf quivering on a quiet lake.
Doug Feng inhaled, then let the words tumble out before he could second-guess them.
"No. I wasn't upset," he said. "I was angry."
"Angry?" she repeated, surprised.
"I don't like that guy," Doug Feng said bluntly. "Yang Weicheng… he's not good enough for you. Zhu sister, if you're really getting married, I'll be happy for you—if it's someone you love, and who truly loves you. Someone who deserves you. Someone who will take care of you, respect you, protect you… not someone you barely know just because he's offering money."
His voice cracked a little at the end. "You're not… just anyone. You can't marry someone just because life cornered you."
Liang Yanzhu stopped walking.
She stood still, her back to him. Her long hair fluttered in the breeze. The streetlamp flickered once above them, casting their shadows long and thin on the pavement.
"…Do you really think that highly of me?" she asked quietly. "That I'm… worth all that?"
She turned around slowly, facing him now. She was a full head shorter than Doug Feng, but the way she looked up at him—eyes wide, glistening in the moonlight—made him feel like the ground beneath him was slipping away.
Her gaze pierced through him, deep and searching. There was something swimming behind those eyes. Pain, maybe. Or guilt. Or something warmer—something dangerously close to hope.
Doug Feng didn't know what possessed him, but in that moment, he stepped forward, closed the gap between them, and—without a word—wrapped his arms around her.
She didn't pull away. Instead, her body leaned into his, her head resting gently against his chest.
His heart was pounding so hard, he was sure she could hear it.
"…Don't talk," she murmured. "Just let me borrow your chest for a little while. Is that okay?"
Doug Feng swallowed. "Yeah. It's okay."
And then, she closed her eyes.
The world seemed to fall silent.
For a long while, they stood there under the watchful moon, cloaked by the hush of night, saying nothing. The tension in her shoulders slowly melted. Her breathing calmed. His hands tightened just a little around her back, not wanting to let go.
It wasn't a romantic embrace, not exactly.
It was something heavier—like a moment frozen in time where burdens were shared, not explained. A silent understanding. A shelter, even if temporary.
Liang Yanzhu finally spoke again, her voice soft.
"I didn't want to do it, Feng. The engagement, I mean. But my mom's health… the surgery can't wait. And his family offered enough to cover it. I didn't know what else to do."
Doug Feng didn't answer immediately. He just held her tighter.
"Then let me help," he said eventually. "I'll find a way. I'll ask my dad, my mom. I'll get a part-time job. Whatever it takes. But please… don't marry someone you don't love."
She gave a quiet, almost broken laugh against his chest.
"You're just a high schooler, you silly kid," she said. "What can you do?"
"I may be a kid," he said, "but I'm not going to stand by and watch you throw your life away."
She looked up at him again.
And for the first time in a long while, a real smile broke across her face—tired, yes, but genuine.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The clouds parted just enough for the moon to bathe them in pale silver light. In that soft glow, two shadows stood locked in a quiet embrace. No words. No promises.
But something had changed.
For Doug Feng, the meaning of "Zhu sister" had shifted forever. She wasn't just the teasing, beautiful girl next door anymore.
She was someone worth fighting for.