Chapter 3: Tu Bai

☁Dessert．

【Chapter#003 Tu Bai】

A very simple and ordinary name.

The girl nodded.

Chu Susu figured she wasn’t one to appreciate art, but for some reason, she really liked this painting. She carefully folded the paper and held it in her hand. “It’s painted so well—you’re the one I should be thanking.”

The girl named Han Xuan waved her hand.

“Right.” Chu Susu smiled lightly, took out her phone, and waved it in front of Han Xuan, going straight for it. “Can I get your WeChat?”

Her tone was gentle, trailing up slightly at the end. Her voice was already clear and bright, laced with a sweetness she herself hadn’t noticed.

Han Xuan was stunned for a moment, her eyes full of confusion as she asked softly, “WeChat?”

She looked dazed—adorably so.

“Yeah.”

Chu Susu watched Han Xuan and suddenly felt like she was just like that painting, growing on her the more she looked. From head to toe, hair to lips, voice to personality—it was all her type.

Han Xuan asked in bewilderment, “Why?”

“Don’t want to? You can refuse, no problem.” Chu Susu softened her tone, not wanting to scare her.

Han Xuan shook her head quickly, afraid of being misunderstood. “N-No… I’m just… a bit curious about the reason.”

When Chu Susu smiled, a little tiger tooth peeked out against her lip—playful and lively. Afraid of overwhelming the girl in front of her, she deliberately reined in her presence.

“Does it need a reason?”

Han Xuan was completely led along by her. Caught by those upward-tilted, beautiful eyes, she couldn’t help but obediently go, “Oh,” then took out her own phone and added her as instructed. “N… No need.”

But her voice was so soft that Chu Susu didn’t hear it. She casually asked, “Right, do you have an older sister?”

“I do.”

Han Xuan was puzzled again but didn’t voice it, just staring at her curiously.

Chu Susu tapped to approve on her phone, then teased her mischievously with the words Han Xuan had used to shut down that guy earlier. “So, if I call myself ‘jie,’ would that be appropriate?”

Amid her irrepressible light laughter, she saw the girl across from her blush again.

Han Xuan bit her lower lip, looking soft and fluffy, like a little animal in a huff—won’t bite, but putting on a fierce face.

“Alright, alright.” Chu Susu raised her hands in surrender for her own bad-taste joke. “Just kidding, don’t be mad.”

With this back-and-forth chatter, the atmosphere warmed up just right. But Han Xuan glanced at the time and suddenly stood up. “I-I should go.”

“Heading home?” Chu Susu frowned slightly and stood up too. “I’m driving—I can give you a ride.”

It was so late—letting this cute little lamb go back alone seemed dangerous. What if she ran into another guy like that one?

She hadn’t looked closely before, but now Chu Susu realized Han Xuan’s height didn’t quite match her face. Chu Susu was about 1.7 meters in shoes, and Han Xuan standing there was slim and tall—even…

A subtle centimeter or two taller than her.

“No need.”

Han Xuan curved her lips slightly, revealing two round dimples on her face—very sweet. “Then… let’s keep in touch…”

“Susu.”

She paused, then called Chu Susu’s name again briefly as a farewell, raised her phone, pursed her lips unnaturally, and left.

Her skirt fluttered gracefully with her retreating figure, soon vanishing into the crowd.

Chu Susu snapped back and wanted to call out to her.

But Huang Mao suddenly popped up from somewhere and stopped her. “Susu-jie, Qian-jie opened some booze over there—she sent me to get you…”

“Stop.”

Chu Susu grabbed her jacket, not in the mood to listen, and tossed her car keys at him. “Bring my car over.”

Huang Mao shut up and obeyed.

But by the time she pushed through the crowd to the outside, staring at the empty night, she found nothing.

In just a blink, Han Xuan was gone, leaving Chu Susu standing there, a bit dazed.

She’d practically jogged the whole way and still hadn’t caught up.

There was no public transit nearby, no taxis in sight—Han Xuan couldn’t have walked fast enough to just vanish into thin air.

…Maybe she walked really fast.

If not for the painting still clutched in her hand, Chu Susu might have thought their chance encounter was just an illusion.

Han Xuan’s WeChat was now in her contacts, but the chat box was empty.

Chu Susu stared at her reflection, smoothed her long hair, and pulled out a vape, taking a shallow puff.

Peach oolong flavor—like sipping refreshing fruit tea.

The doorman had brought her car and bag over, but since she hadn’t caught Han Xuan, there was no one to send home.

“Need me to park it for you?” the doorman asked politely.

Turning back, the stylish colored glass of the door sliced like a sharp blade, separating the still-rowdy Playhouse from the quiet night of the Imperial Capital.

Just one door apart, yet like two worlds.

“Did you see a girl in a black skirt at the door earlier?”

The doorman thought for a moment. “Sorry, too many guests in black skirts—I didn’t notice. Want me to look for her?”

“Nah, forget it.”

Chu Susu yawned, thought for a bit, and still took the keys.

With Han Xuan gone, it felt like she’d taken Chu Susu’s heart with her—the spark of interest vanished in a puff, and the day’s fatigue and boredom crashed back.

She suddenly lost all interest in continuing the fun and wanted to go home.

Her phone buzzed— a message from Qiao Qian: “Where’d you go? Don’t tell me you left straight with that girl…?!”

The others in the group chat were blowing up, @-ing her left and right:

“Huang Mao said the Eldest Miss left with someone? What’s the deal? We were only gone a minute!”

“Secretly hunting beauty, traitor!”

Chu Susu privately replied to Qiao Qian with four words: “I’m covering the bill.”

She’d already told the doorman and Huang Mao.

Qiao Qian, afraid of misunderstanding, quickly explained: “I didn’t mean it like that—just asking where you went? We just opened the booze and you leave? Everyone’s waiting for you…”

“Nah, I’m really beat.” Chu Susu got in the car, buckling her seatbelt while switching to the group chat. “Sorry guys, too sleepy to keep going—wanna go home and crash. Don’t let me kill the vibe.”

She sniffed—somehow catching Han Xuan’s scent again.

Group replies: “Alright, Susu was dozing off here earlier anyway. Work’s tough.”

“Eldest Miss, get some rest~”

These friends loved teasingly calling her Eldest Miss.

Someone spotted the key point: “Wait, going home to sleep alone, or with company?”

“…Alone!”

“Sisters, no-prize guess: Think this heartthrob little beauty’s getting swept away by the Eldest Miss?”

“I say yes. TBH, Eldest Miss is gorgeous—I’d let a Sea King like that toy with my heart.”

“+1.” “+1!” “+10086!”

Chu Susu: “Stinky straight girls, paw off!”

“+1. No one seriously doubts Eldest Miss’s charm, right? Alright alright, Susu, head home and sleep. Call you next time—you gotta come. Miss you~”

Followed by a massive kissy emoji, then the screen filled with sequential “blechs.”

Chu Susu laughed and joined in with a blech, plus a voice message: “Heading home, you guys don’t party too late either—stay safe.”

She switched back—Han Xuan’s chat was still blank.

From a young age, Chu Susu had a natural radar for orientations, able to quickly sense if a girl had that vibe right at first contact.

In those brief moments with Han Xuan, she was certain the girl wasn’t straight. Of course, gut feeling alone wasn’t enough—further confirmation was needed.

For some reason, thinking of the group calling Han Xuan “heartthrob little beauty,” Chu Susu glanced at the rearview mirror and cracked a small smile.

Heartthrob?

The answer was obvious: yes.

Or rather, the kind from “love at first sight” that actually piqued her interest.

As she drove past, she didn’t notice the few familiar-faced guys by the roadside.

One spat on the ground and griped.

“Tonight’s been real unlucky.”

He got a not-too-light punch from the guy next to him. “You got the nerve to say that? All your fault—we got kicked out with you!”

“Drink less next time. Security was right there and you still tried groping that soft girl? As your bro, gotta say—you’re a total retard.”

“Fuck, I didn’t!” The man gritted his teeth, wanted to argue but felt it too embarrassing. “…Whatever, not arguing with you idiots.”

That was no soft girl, fuck.

Even with his head spinning from booze, he still remembered: the girl had looked soft and pitiful, the kind you’d take pity on, but the next second, she parted her lips and said one word.

“Scram.”

Light and cold.

The motion of tucking her hair behind her ear perfectly hid her mouth shape from the side—no one else knew but him.

The man froze for a second—the contrast was too huge; he thought he’d misheard.

While he was dazed, Han Xuan lowered her eyes to mask her emotions. Before he could speak, she dumped her full glass of booze right on his pants.

The location was under the table, in the blind spot of the lights.

The man felt a chill run through his entire body and flew into a rage. He immediately shot to his feet, wanting to point right at her and let loose a torrent of curses.

But right after that, he was chased out.

He felt he was so damn innocent—he clearly hadn’t done a thing! And yet, even now, the wine staining his pants hadn’t dried; it was still sopping wet.

Recalling up to this point, he suddenly remembered that the girl’s gaze had been glued to that meddlesome woman who showed up later, not leaving her for a second.

And that final expression of hers that had given him goosebumps all over.

When she was shielded behind that woman, her eyes swirled with an ambiguous light, and the corners of her lips curved downward.

The palm tightly clutching hers betrayed her extreme forbearance and restraint. In the end, she merely bowed her head slightly and quickly sniffed the fragrance wafting from the hair of the person in front of her.

Just like a dessert deliberately saved for last.

Liking it so much, yet reluctant to take even a single bite.