“There’s no time to change. We have to go first. My family must be on their way.”
Seeing that Xu Yinian’s clothes were already stained with blood from her own, Bai Ran handed her the clean He Yan work uniform she was holding.
Xu Yinian looked at the woman who was still holding things together even now. Only the way Bai Ran wrapped her coat tightly around herself betrayed her inner collapse. Xu Yinian felt another wave of bitter sadness.
Once they were clear of the area, Bai Ran finally told her everything.
Apparently, the reason she had been out of contact these past few days was that she had refused the family’s arranged marriage. The Bai family had forcibly taken her back, filed a sick leave with the school on her behalf, and locked her up. They had confiscated her phone, ID card, and money.
It wasn’t until the meeting today that she finally had a chance to get out and slip a note to a waiter to contact Xu Yinian.
She claimed her prospective fiancé had tried to drug her, and when she found out, he tried to force himself on her. She had grabbed a dinner knife from the table in a panic and fought back. The bruises, fingerprints, and cuts on her body were all sustained during the struggle.
“If this gets out, it will be a scandal. They won’t call the police; they’ll likely settle it privately. But I can’t let the Bai family take me back. Even if it’s not this man, there will be another…”
As Bai Ran spoke, her gentle voice was visibly trembling.
Xu Yinian immediately squeezed her hand. The promise she had made without thinking earlier became an unshakable resolve. “I’ll take you away. You can hide.”
“I just got paid for my voice acting job. I can help you rent a place. You can stay there.”
Xu Yinian had intended to save that money to pay back her uncle, so the funds were untouched. Her uncle could wait a little longer, but Sister Ran’s situation was urgent. It was clear which was the priority.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t much money. In a city as expensive as the capital, she could probably only afford a dilapidated rental in poor condition. Sister Ran was so sickly and had grown up in such a wealthy environment—could she even get used to it?
Xu Yinian suddenly remembered the card Shen Yi had given her. But in that same instant, she shook her head vigorously to dispel the thought. Aside from the fact that she absolutely could not touch that money, explaining where it came from to Sister Ran would be an impossible task.
“Niannian…”
The tremor in Bai Ran’s voice changed. It wasn’t despair anymore. Every syllable was thick with an uncontrollable nasality and sobbing warmth.
“You are the first person in the world to ever be this good to me.”
As Bai Ran said this, those eyes—usually so practiced at performing various emotions—flickered with a genuine moment of daze.
She was the first, and the only one.
She was so good that after losing her, Bai Ran’s entire world had collapsed. For twelve years, Bai Ran had discarded her true self, molding herself into a completely different person based on the girl’s preferences.
Struggling through treatment, returning to the Bai family, and climbing to the peak of power step by step—it was all to find her again, to atone for her sins.
If Niannian wanted it, all the wealth, power, and status Bai Ran had fought for would be hers. Her very life would be hers.
She hadn’t expected their reunion to be so dramatic, coming far sooner than anticipated. She wasn’t strong enough yet, leaving her vulnerable to being manipulated by others.
In these two months, whether it was through dependency, admiration, soft-heartedness, or sympathy… Bai Ran would deliberately guide every feeling until it became “love.”
…
Since Xinyu Medical controlled so much of the capital’s healthcare, they couldn’t go to a hospital.
The two of them looked far too disheveled and conspicuous, so they didn’t even dare board a bus. Instead, Xu Yinian bought water, iodine, and bandages from a street-side pharmacy.
They sat side-by-side on the steps next to the pharmacy, pouring water for each other to wash away the blood.
Xu Yinian focused intensely on moistening a bandage. When she looked up, she met those amber eyes quietly waiting for her care.
Just like their first meeting in September, they reflected the warm winter sun, brimming with an overflowing smile. Except… unlike the mature, elder-sisterly tolerance of the past, those eyes now showed a fragile dependency meant only for her.
Bai Ran curled her lips into a bashful smile. “This is the first time I’ve been taken care of by Niannian.”
“…”
“I like it so much.”
As that gentle, shy whisper fell, Xu Yinian’s cheeks flushed crimson. She opened her mouth, but suddenly, she couldn’t bring herself to say “Sister Ran.”
The atmosphere between them was different now. Every familiar endearment or touch had become heavy and thick with tension.
Xu Yinian gave a muffled “Mm…” in response. Then she snapped out of it—Wait, why did I just say ‘mm’ to that?!
In her panic, she instinctively gripped the wet bandage and reached out to wipe the blood from Bai Ran’s face. But a second later, she realized exactly where she was wiping, and her fingertips gave a violent jerk.
As Bai Ran’s lips moved with her speech, Xu Yinian’s gaze hadn’t left her mouth. Her first reflex had been to follow the blood trail… which meant she was wiping Sister Ran’s blood-stained lips.
To make matters worse, that instinctive jerk of her hand caused her finger to press firmly against them.
Bai Ran had just taken a few sips of water. Her lips, which had been dry and pale, were now glistening and moist. Whether it was the water or…
“Niannian…”
The muffled voice came from beneath her finger as it moved in an ambiguous, rubbing motion. A slow, long breath brushed against her damp fingertip.
Bai Ran’s pale cheeks flushed deeper, as if dyed with a seductive hue.
“I-It’s okay!”
Xu Yinian snapped back to reality and hastily hid her finger behind the bandage. She forced herself to look away, hurriedly following her memory to wipe the blood away.
The blood was gone… but why did the lips look even more vivid and wet? As if they had been bullied.
Xu Yinian didn’t dare look again. She stared straight ahead, moving the bandage to the side of Bai Ran’s cheek to continue cleaning.
“Niannian…” Bai Ran began, hesitant.
“It hurts a little.”
Her raspy voice gave those words a strange, soft lilt at the end.
Sensing that Xu Yinian was about to spiral into guilt, those glistening lips moved again, quickly adding, “But… I like it too.”
As soon as the words left her lips, she seemed to realize exactly what she had said. A sickly, feverish flush crept across her cheeks, deepening into a shade of crimson that looked almost painful.
Her frail, bashful appearance was like a delicate flower heavy with dew, seemingly ready to be plucked at the slightest whim.
“I didn’t… I didn’t mean it like that,” she stammered.
Xu Yinian snapped out of her daze, coughing violently as if she had suddenly choked on thin air.
Which “meaning” did she mean? That she liked… the pain?
