Shen Yi’s voice remained cold, but she leaned down slightly, closing the distance of her high-and-mighty stature.
Xu Yinian had no choice but to sit up a little. She didn’t dare meet Shen Yi’s eyes, her gaze drifting to the side.
But at that moment, she caught sight of a figure on the top floor of the distant villa.
Her relationship with Shen Yi couldn’t stand the light of day to begin with, let alone the way she was dressed now. Xu Yinian’s voice cracked with a sob of pure terror. “S-someone’s there!”
Caught by this instinctive reliance and search for safety, Shen Yi paused for a moment before looking up. It seemed to be just another guest who wasn’t looking their way. Neither she nor Xu Yinian were providing any material worth reporting.
Shen Yi retracted her gaze and let out a cold snort. “Didn’t you come outside precisely because you knew people could see? What are you afraid of?”
“Do you dare use your little tricks on me again next time?”
Realizing the person’s back was toward them, Xu Yinian hurriedly observed the figure through her panic. The more she looked, the more familiar the silhouette and aura became.
Those clothes… wasn’t that the Ji Yan she had just seen?!
Lu Zhou and Ji Yan had arrived suddenly; it was very likely they had booked the villa right next door…
If she was terrified before, she was in total despair now. She absolutely, absolutely could not let Ji Yan see her!
She frantically leaned against the edge of the pool, turning her back to that direction. With a small, tearful voice, she begged the woman within reach to hand her the bathrobe to cover herself.
“How do you ask for a favor?”
“CEO Sh—”
The title was barely out of her mouth when Xu Yinian realized Shen Yi remained unmoved. The woman was clearly dissatisfied.
Finally, Yinian squeezed out two words in a voice so soft they were almost a breath. “Sister Yi… please.”
It was an appeal to the “Yi” in her name, a far cry from the forbidden distance usually maintained between them.
Shen Yi remained silent for a long time. Just as Yinian began to hesitate, wondering if her plea hadn’t been enough, she saw the older woman reach for a large bath towel from the rack. Shen Yi draped it over her, shielding her entire body.
As Yinian moved to stand, a pair of arms reached out. Ignoring the dripping wet towel and the water clinging to the girl, Shen Yi swept her up into a horizontal carry.
The oversized towel covered Yinian from head to toe, wrapping her in a tight cocoon.
Amidst Yinian’s startled gasp, the mature, steady voice of the elegant CEO reached her ears, radiating a profound sense of security.
“If you don’t want to be photographed, hold on tight.”
A moment later, Shen Yi’s lapels were soaked through by the contact.
By the time the secretary arrived with the change of clothes, Yinian’s bags, and that particular item, she found the CEO’s exorbitantly expensive, handmade formal suit completely drenched.
Before he could even process the shock of seeing the usually cold and imposing CEO Shen in such a disheveled state, he turned the corner and froze.
His meticulously professional, frigid superior was currently dressed in a bathrobe, focused entirely on blow-drying the hair of a flushed, dazed young girl.
The atmosphere screamed of an “aftermath.” Secretary Zhou quickly averted his eyes, suppressing the waves of shock crashing through his mind as he pretended to see nothing.
“CEO Shen, the gif—”
Shen Yi cut him off. “Take it out and give it to me.”
Hearing the voice, Yinian instinctively tried to turn around, but a hand gently pressed down on her head.
“If you mess it up, I’m starting from the beginning.”
Secretary Zhou carefully retrieved the item from an exquisite, gold-inlaid enamel jewelry box. It was an openwork hair tie featuring “Three-Blue” embroidery—a masterpiece in both color and pattern.
To an expert, a closer look would reveal that this was a custom piece made from an authentic antique. They would likely lament it as a “waste of a heavenly treasure.” This small trinket had been repurposed from a Qing Dynasty openwork embroidery patch featuring floral and butterfly motifs, an item won at an auction house in Jiangnan during Shen Yi’s recent business trip.
It lacked a luxury brand logo, yet its value was staggering.
Every time CEO Shen returned from a trip, she would bring a gift for her lover. In the past, Secretary Zhou had been tasked with picking out luxury jewelry or high-end accessories. This time, however, Shen Yi had personally bid on the piece and ordered a rush customization. Her intention was clear: she wanted something whose value Xu Yinian wouldn’t recognize, allowing the girl to wear it comfortably without feeling any burden.
An astronomical price tag was merely a toy for the girl; the genuine value lay in the effort behind it.
Sure enough, Shen Yi didn’t even mention the gift’s origins. She simply reached out and tied Yinian’s hair into a low ponytail.
“I… I wasn’t wearing my hair up before,” Yinian muttered in a small voice. As expected, she didn’t pay the hair tie any mind, but she didn’t dare refuse the gesture either.
“You’re only telling me this after I’ve finished?”
“Won’t I just take it off myself in a bit anyway?”
With that one cold remark, Yinian was silenced. She didn’t dare bring it up again.
Secretary Zhou watched the exchange, realizing his worries during the drive over had been for nothing. It seemed the girl had been coaxed into submission long ago.
***
After being on edge for so long, Yinian realized her anxieties had been largely unnecessary. By the time they left in the car, Ji Yan and the others never had a single chance to spot her with Shen Yi.
She didn’t dare tell Shen Yi that she had moved out of the dorms, fearing she might run into Shen Ruoshuang or Ji Yan if they went back to the apartment. Instead, she asked the driver to stop a short distance away from the school gate.
“Same spot tomorrow evening.”
Shen Yi naturally wasn’t going to let her off the hook for lying. Their Saturday meeting would proceed as scheduled.
Yinian bit her lip. “I… I know.”
Like a startled rabbit, she bolted out of the car. All that remained was a flash of blue and white from the embroidery in her hair as she disappeared into the distance.
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