This approachable, gentle kindness was like a sudden breeze of spring air, dissolving all the tension and anxiety in the room.
The terror on the server’s face was replaced by such profound gratitude she looked ready to cry.
Before heading to the lounge to change, Bai Ran turned to the manager who had hurried over. With a faint smile, she said, “I hope I’ll still see her the next time I visit.”
She was asking the manager not to fire the server over this.
Hearing that final, bone-deep act of kindness, the server finally choked out a sob. “Thank you…”
No one saw the moment Bai Ran turned around. Every trace of warmth in her eyes vanished instantly, leaving them hollow.
When she eventually emerged from the lounge, she wasn’t surprised to find Shen Ruoshuang waiting by the door.
“You’re here for Xu Yinian,” Shen Ruoshuang said, her gaze cutting and cold. She had no patience left for pleasantries. “What is your relationship with her?”
“Are you scared?” Bai Ran leaned lazily against the doorframe, her smile deepening.
“I suppose it makes sense. Even after having so much time, you can’t even get a single WeChat reply from her. Why don’t you tell me what happened between you two? What could make someone as good-natured as Niannian so terrified of you?”
“I’m starting to think those students at Yuanwu No. 1 High weren’t telling the full truth. They said it was because she—”
The closer she got to the killing blow, the slower Bai Ran’s voice became. Combined with her soft tone, it sounded incredibly gentle.
“Bai Ran!”
Shen Ruoshuang’s voice was laced with suppressed fury. In an instant, her cold eyes were flooded with danger, the red veins in her Peach Blossom Eyes standing out vividly.
Before their reunion, Shen Ruoshuang had only wanted to bury that incident forever. It was Xu Yinian’s nightmare, but it was also her own quagmire.
The most pathetic part was that Xu Yinian could run away—she could pretend to forget—but Shen Ruoshuang was the one truly trapped. She had given her heart away and lost everything.
“You can’t win against me.”
Bai Ran cast a haughty glance at Shen Ruoshuang, her voice brimming with certainty. She tossed the stained dress directly into the trash and walked straight back toward the dining room.
After dinner, it was late.
Inside the car, Shen Yi rubbed her temples wearily, closing her eyes for a nap. “Take me to the apartment. There’s a morning meeting tomorrow.”
The secretary turned to ask Shen Ruoshuang her destination, but through the rearview mirror, she saw that the girl’s eyes looked wrong—empty and hollow, stripped of their usual sharp pride.
“Miss, are you going back to school?” she asked cautiously, fearing another argument between mother and daughter.
“Take me to the villa.”
If she went back to the dorm in this state, Shen Ruoshuang wasn’t sure what her obsession would drive her to do to Xu Yinian. Aside from retreating to her safe zone to lick her wounds in private, what else could she do?
The Shen family owned many properties, but Shen Ruoshuang rarely stayed anywhere besides her own apartment and the main house of this mountain villa. After all, this was the only place where Shen Yi’s lovers were strictly forbidden from setting foot.
Because she had given prior notice that she would only stay for one night and return to school early the next morning, the butler and the maids weren’t disturbed.
The massive villa was dark, hidden within the mountain woods, appearing even more silent than usual.
So, when Shen Ruoshuang opened the door, she almost forgot about the tiny black shadow that would come stumbling toward her.
No matter when she returned, it could always recognize her footsteps and run out to greet her.
“Meow, meow~” a dainty cry rang out.
In the light from the doorway, an orange-and-white cat flopped onto the ground with a soft thud. It rolled onto its back, meowing as it exposed its belly to act spoiled. Its hind legs looked stiff and uncoordinated, but it still struggled to roll over to grab its owner’s attention.
“Buwang, keep it down. Everyone is asleep.”
Shen Ruoshuang couldn’t help but reach out to rub its belly.
But before she could touch it, Buwang batted her hand away with a paw. Its claws, which hadn’t been trimmed in a long time, were sharp. They easily left a thin red scratch on the back of Shen Ruoshuang’s hand—it didn’t bleed, but the mark was prominent.
Buwang didn’t allow anyone to touch its belly. The swat was a tiny warning. It usually didn’t use its claws, but this time they were simply too long.
Realizing it had done something wrong, the cat let out a soft mew and began to lick the scratch on her hand.
Shen Ruoshuang wasn’t angry. She stroked Buwang’s head, though her voice was tinged with loneliness. “Even now, is she the only one allowed to touch your belly? What’s so good about her anyway?”
A scene from that autumn in Yuanwu town flickered before her eyes.
A soft, obedient girl had been crouching in a corner, using a spoon to feed a sickly kitten from a tin. Her voice had been a gentle whisper: “It’s good, right? You have to eat your fill so you can survive…”
“…She’s good in every way,” Shen Ruoshuang answered her own question, feeling like a fool.
Right then, her phone screen suddenly lit up in the darkness.
Shen Ruoshuang glanced at it and saw the green notification for a WeChat message. She froze for a second, but her fingers had already subconsciously tapped into the app.
Xyn: [Thank you. Stay safe.]
It was past eleven. Xu Yinian must have confirmed that she wasn’t staying at the school tonight before sending that message. Such a brief phrase didn’t seem to match the soft, shy girl she knew in person.
The light from the screen reflected in Shen Ruoshuang’s eyes, making them sparkle like starlight.
Something touched the softest part of her heart.
…I’ll just pretend there’s a little bit of room for me in your heart, too.
The weekend buff stacked with the rainy weather, but X University still didn’t give the students a day off. Everyone was moved into the indoor gymnasium to continue military training.
Because of her sprained ankle, Xu Yinian had been granted a week of rest. With only two days left of the weekend, she would have to report to the Injury Company soon.
The weather was poor, the rain persistent, and the temperature had dropped.
