Chapter 17: Bamboo Moon

The next day, Chu Susu woke up before her alarm even went off, roused by her own biological clock. After all, it was a workday—she had to go to work and walk the dog, so she was long accustomed to rising early.

When she first woke, she didn’t realize anything was off, but then she remembered: yesterday, she had brought someone home.

Han Xuan…

Still groggy, Chu Susu reached out and felt around. The spot beside her in the bed was empty, not even a trace of lingering warmth left.

The thin blanket she had covered Han Xuan with was neatly folded to the side, as if everything from last night had never happened.

Chu Susu sniffed. She seemed to smell something, and she heard noises from outside.

“You’re awake?”

As she slipped on her slippers and went out, she caught sight of a back view—someone wiping the table.

Han Xuan turned her head, and only then did Chu Susu notice the lavish breakfast laid out on the table. Pipi’s little bowl had the perfect portion of dog food and water, and it was happily chowing down.

Chu Susu didn’t react at first and frowned. “You…”

Seeing her expression, Han Xuan nervously pursed her lips, looking almost bullied. “I saw you weren’t up yet, so I made breakfast. If you don’t like it, I can go out and buy something else.”

She had gathered her hair into a low ponytail, which had swayed with each movement as she wiped the table earlier. With an apron tied around her, she looked even more gentle than usual.

“How could that be? Getting up so early—thanks for the hard work.” Chu Susu yawned. “But I need to take the dog for a walk first…”

“I already did.”

“What?”

“Pipi was a bit excited this morning. I was afraid it would wake you, and I saw the keys on the table, so I took it out.”

Chu Susu shot it a glance. Sure enough, Pipi looked utterly satisfied, clearly having gotten its exercise.

She was stunned. “You…”

Before she could say anything, Han Xuan asked anxiously, “Sorry, I was a bit presumptuous. You’re not mad, are you?”

She lowered her head, but that cautious, careful expression was etched into Chu Susu’s mind, inexplicably softening her heart. Suddenly, she recalled the past that Han Xuan had mentioned before.

Grown up in a single-parent family, then her mother passed away, and she was raised by relatives…

Yeah, only a kid who grew up dependent on others would act so cautiously, always watching others’ faces. Even staying over one night at someone else’s place, she habitually got up early to work.

It was a little heartbreaking.

Chu Susu wasn’t used to others taking over like this, but thinking of that, she understood a lot more. She reached out and patted Han Xuan’s head, her tone gentle. “Don’t talk nonsense. You helped me out—I’m grateful. Just don’t work so hard next time.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Han Xuan stared at her in a daze, her eyes sparkling like they held stars.

She had cooked porridge, with pumpkin diced into fine, sweet, soft, and glutinous bits that melted in the mouth and stimulated the appetite. The portion was just right—enough to fill Chu Susu to about seventy percent.

After eating her fill, she finally noticed that the table gleamed, the kitchen sparkled like new, and everywhere her eyes landed was spotless. Even Pipi’s little paws, usually filthy from running around, had been wiped clean.

And this hadn’t happened by magic, of course.

“You even cleaned the living room?”

“Mm.” Seeing that she’d noticed, Han Xuan blushed slightly in embarrassment. “I just tidied up a bit.”

This was way beyond “tidying up.” Overnight, it was like a snail girl had appeared in her home, putting everything in perfect order.

Chu Susu set down her spoon. “Han Xuan, you…”

You don’t have to do all this.

Since she’d brought her home, she hadn’t thought Han Xuan would be any trouble.

But looking into Han Xuan’s clear, limpid eyes, Chu Susu felt that accepting it openly would make her feel better, so she swallowed those words and instead gave a shallow smile.

“Thanks for the hard work. Want me to treat you to milk tea later?”

Li Le’er: “Ha? Awesome, Eldest Miss.”

Zhou Xiaoying: “666, for picking up girls, gotta look to Susu.”

Qiao Qian: “+1.”

Chu Susu: “…She just stayed at my place one night. Nothing happened.”

Li Le’er: “No way, two single gals under the covers just sleeping pure???”

Chu Susu: “…Pretty much.”

Qiao Qian had a big mouth and soon spilled in the group chat about seeing Han Xuan at the les bar that night.

The others teased Chu Susu relentlessly, but who would’ve thought the truth was like this? The whole group was shocked.

“So, what’s the situation with you two now?”

Chu Susu: “Gonna feel things out first. Anyway, we work in the same building every day.”

She hadn’t cared much about the pace before, but the awful memory from Xia Zilu had left a scar. Even though she no longer liked Xia Zilu at all, she couldn’t help feeling averse to the term “girlfriend” for the time being.

So she wanted to enjoy her single, free life for a bit first and wasn’t eager to jump into the next relationship.

Not even something ambiguous.

Even if she was really interested in Han Xuan.

Fortunately, this little sheep was introverted and wouldn’t get overly enthusiastic, so the pace, the level of contact—Chu Susu held all the reins.

Plus, this week, Han Xuan had passed her interview. Once the probation period was over, she’d go permanent, and she’d already started working. Working in the same place every day meant even more chances to interact.

In the meeting room, as lunch break approached, Rebecca paused her lengthy presentation and took a sip of water.

The project had made good progress, and they had to report to the client that afternoon, so everyone was too busy to eat properly.

Only Chu Susu had a delicate lunchbox in front of her. She lifted the lid to reveal steaming hot stir-fried green beans and eggplant rice, the aroma instantly wafting out.

Rebecca was eating a vegetable salad and glanced up. “The kid from the art team brought you lunch again? You’re so lucky.”

“Mm.” Chu Susu smiled in response.

Ever since starting work, Han Xuan brought her own lunch every day without fail—and one for Chu Susu too.

Once or twice was fine, but after a while, Chu Susu felt bad, but… her food was just too delicious. Who could say no!

Everyone else had gone downstairs for takeout. Rebecca continued chatting casually. “You two are pretty close?”

“Yeah.”

After working together for a while, she and Rebecca had gotten more familiar. Thanks to that astrology blogger’s “prediction,” Rebecca would share memes with her now and then, and they’d chat a bit.

“Making you lunch every day.” Rebecca smiled ambiguously. “Someone who didn’t know might think you two are little lovebirds.”

The colleagues trickled back in one by one, and they didn’t continue the topic.

But Chu Susu hadn’t missed the deeper meaning in Rebecca’s eyes.

She instantly understood what the other was hinting at.