Chapter 10: Ten

Kong Jian had grown accustomed to Ning Yan’s habit of slipping into a skirt first thing in the morning just to go see Chen Yan.

The moment she took the breakfast from Ning Yan’s hands, she spotted the anomaly.

“What’s this?”

The takeout bag holding the small wontons didn’t contain just a bowl of them—there was also a piece of strawberry-flavored chocolate.

“Senior doesn’t like chocolate, so I didn’t get any for her. I was rushed today and didn’t have time for snacks. I’ll take you to the supermarket after lunch.”

“No, why on earth did you buy chocolate for that guy? I only asked you to bring a bowl of wontons.”

“Isn’t she Senior’s best friend?”

Kong Jian had mentioned Xi Yunyun to her a few times, figuring the girl wouldn’t give her a second thought. She hadn’t expected her to remember.

“Oh, you want me to introduce you?”

Ning Yan shook her head. “Not yet.”

Kong Jian: ?

She offered no further explanation. “Heading out first. See you at noon, Senior.”

As she carried her things upstairs, Kong Jian suddenly halted, a memory flashing through her mind.

Back when she’d taken that milk tea from Xi Yunyun’s ex-boyfriend, he’d said something eerily similar.

“You’re Yunyun’s best friend, so of course I have to butter you up.”

The boy had given a shy smile then, the sincerity in his eyes enough to melt anyone.

~~~

Kong Jian’s grandmother lived in N City. Though she’d only spent a year there, she loved it dearly.

Her last visit had been over Spring Festival.

Last National Day, she’d stayed at her uncle’s place in A City without venturing out, sparing herself the scramble for tickets during peak season.

Which was why, now that vacation had arrived, she suddenly realized she hadn’t bought hers yet.

Xi Yunyun was packing her bags. “I’m heading to W City with my aunt and the others for a few days. Back Friday afternoon. Mom and Dad are away, so just fingerprint your way in. Oh, and don’t forget to grab Xiao Jian from the girl across the hall.”

Xiao Jian was the stray cat Xi Yunyun had adopted. Kong Jian had protested the name for days, only for Xi Yunyun to shut it down with one vote.

“Got it. Go enjoy yourself.”

Her other two roommates left together minutes later.

The once-lively dorm fell silent, leaving Kong Jian alone.

She’d promised Kong Yaoguang she’d head back tonight, but with no tickets in sight, she was at a loss.

Her boyfriend—who handled logistics for freshman military training and had gone MIA for over a week—finally messaged.

【Chen Yan: You home yet?】

【Still in the dorm. Not for National Day—going to Grandma’s.】

【Chen Yan: Where’s that? Driving to M City tomorrow. Can swing by.】

M City and N City were neighbors.

Kong Jian replied, then checked the ticketing app for bus options.

Chen Yan’s next message took a moment.

【Chen Yan: Safe travels. Tomorrow after drinks with friends, I’ll come get you.】

She ignored him. No buses either. Looked like National Day at home was off the table.

After a moment’s thought, she eyed ride-sharing apps. Pricey, sure, but worth it to see Grandma.

Before the app even loaded, another message pinged with the same question.

【Ning Yan: Senior home yet?】

Kong Jian wasn’t in the mood; getting back to N City came first.

No reply? Ning Yan called straightaway.

Kong Jian declined a few times before giving in, her frustration crackling through the line.

“What?”

“Senior home yet? My family’s in A City too. I can drive you if you need.” Ning Yan brushed off the edge in her voice, her tone soft and soothing as ever.

“No. Not going back. That all? Hanging up.”

“Senior’s staying on campus for National Day? Not heading home?”

Kong Jian: “N City. Bye. No time right now.”

Her uncharacteristically icy tone must’ve worked—Ning Yan didn’t call back.

Kong Jian waited nearly ten minutes. No rides. Time check: five to six.

Kong Yaoguang ate early; he was likely waiting. She paused the search to call and explain.

Undeterred, Ning Yan rang again.

Desperate to update the family, Kong Jian answered sharply. “One more call and you’re blocked.”

“Senior, I just went to get the car.”

“Senior probably couldn’t snag a ticket, right? I’m downstairs at your dorm. Have you packed up your stuff to head home? I’ll drive you back. Be good, no rush—just grab your luggage and come down. If we don’t leave soon, we might not roll into town until the crack of dawn.”

…

Kong Jian rarely felt this bashful in front of Ning Yan.

The girl who’d helped load her suitcase into the trunk seemed to pick up on her flustered avoidance of eye contact and let out a soft chuckle. “Whenever Senior’s around me, it’s like your prickly temper just won’t behave.”

Catching the teasing lilt in her words, Kong Jian’s already wandering gaze grew even hazier.

Ning Yan clasped her slender wrist and firmly guided the little hedgehog—who looked ready to dig a hole and hide right then and there—into the passenger seat. With a click, she fastened the seatbelt for her. “But I really like you like this, Senior.”

As she straightened up, her fingertips paused. She fought back the urge with every ounce of willpower, barely resisting the impulse to lean down and claim those lips.

“This just proves you treat me different from everyone else, doesn’t it, Senior?”

She didn’t wait for an answer. With that hint of intimate ambiguity hanging in the air, she leaned in to close the car door.

Kong Jian sank back into the plush seat, her back practically melting into it. Ning Yan’s words rang crystal clear in her ears—and it was precisely because they were so clear that her heart was still pounding like a drum.

Heavy. Resonant.

“Send me the address, Senior. I’ll plug it into the GPS.”

Finally regaining some composure, Kong Jian half-closed her eyes, quickly typed a few words into the chat, locked her phone, and turned to gaze quietly out the window.

The GPS voice chimed to life in the car, and Ning Yan set her phone aside before smoothly starting the engine and pulling forward.

A long silence stretched on before Kong Jian, who hadn’t spoken, suddenly piped up.

“Did you tell your parents?”

“Hm?”

“About driving me home.”

Ning Yan smiled. “Senior, I’m an adult.”

Kong Jian huffed through her nose in a mix of mock annoyance and irritation, refusing to say another word.

To Ning Yan, she looked just like a pufferfish that had puffed up at the slightest poke—utterly adorable, with no other word to describe her.

“Is this trip back to N City to see a friend, Senior?”

“My grandpa.”

“Oh. Is Grandpa waiting for you to have dinner together?”

Kong Jian stiffened at once and hurriedly dialed Kong Yaoguang.

The old man picked up quickly. She explained the situation, glanced at Ning Yan’s phone out of the corner of her eye, gave an estimated time close to what the GPS predicted, chatted a bit more, and then hung up, reassured.

Ning Yan’s eyes scanned the nearby shops before settling on a Chinese restaurant. “Let’s grab dinner first, Senior. There’s a convenience store right around here too—we can pick up some snacks after and munch on the road.”

The restaurant operated on a pay-first, eat-later system.

Just as Ning Yan pulled up her payment code for the cashier to scan, Kong Jian slapped her hand over the screen, quick as a flash to pay herself.

But she was a beat too slow. The payment chimed through successfully. Ning Yan caught Kong Jian’s hand mid-air, guided it back to her side, and headed to their table with the receipt in hand.

Kong Jian looked up at her, displeased. “I should be covering this meal. Gas for a round trip to N City from here won’t be cheap.”

It had only just hit her, from the cashier’s glance asking who’d pay, that something was off.

Ever since she’d met Ning Yan, every meal or outing together—Ning Yan had footed the bill every time.

Kong Jian had never been like that before. Even with Xi Yunyun, she made a point to cover costs in other ways.

She remembered trying to pay at first. But somehow, it had become routine for Ning Yan to handle everything.

Realizing it now, she cringed at how casually she’d accepted it.

No way to retroactively split the past bills without making Ning Yan think she was nuts.

All she could do was cut her losses starting now.

But Ning Yan’s expression darkened instead. Her smooth jawline tensed as she silently unpacked Kong Jian’s utensils, then said coolly with a mocking edge, “Why the sudden urge to nickel-and-dime me, Senior?”

Kong Jian found her resentment baffling. “Even brothers keep clear accounts. Let alone me being older—can’t have you paying every time.”

The girl let out a soft scoff. “When you go out with Brother Chen Yan, he always pays, right? Well, yeah—who could blame you? He’s your official boyfriend. No guilty conscience there.”

“…”

Why did this girl always drip with that passive-aggressive tea whenever Chen Yan came up?

“What happens between Chen Yan and me is none of your business. When we need gas later, I’ll pay. Don’t argue.”

Ning Yan had nearly finished fiddling with the utensils in her hand. At those words, she set them down at once and shot Kong Jian a chilling, fathomless look before rising to her feet. “I’ll step out for a moment. Go ahead and eat when the food arrives.”

This was the first time Ning Yan had gotten so upset with her.

Maybe it was because Ning Yan had always indulged her so much in the past that Kong Jian had forgotten—even people got angry. And Ning Yan, who had never truly held a grudge against her before, would probably be more terrifying than a volcanic eruption if she ever did blow up for real.

After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed her bag and hurried out the door anyway.

Ning Yan hadn’t gone far. She was standing by the utility pole at the crossroad.

The girl was dressed in a long skirt, her slightly wavy hair cascading softly from the crown of her head and veiling about seventy or eighty percent of her delicate profile.

By now, night had fully fallen. When Kong Jian looked over, Ning Yan was exhaling a plume of pale smoke with practiced ease, straight ahead of her.

Kong Jian froze. Her eyes drifted downward, landing on that hand—which ought to belong on piano keys—clutching a slender cigarette aglow with a red ember.

This Ning Yan felt utterly unfamiliar, like some elf who had strayed into the mortal realm and been tainted by its vulgarity with a touch of bewitching allure.

Still breathtakingly beautiful, but laced with something wicked.

For a moment, Kong Jian wasn’t sure whether to call out to her. She had the sense that this side of Ning Yan was something she didn’t want anyone—least of all her—to see.

The thought had barely formed when she considered pretending she hadn’t noticed and heading back inside. But at that exact moment, Ning Yan turned her head.

From that middling distance, Kong Jian caught sight of eyes shrouded in smoke, cold as the world’s iciest frost.

The face that always curved faintly at the corners held not a trace of its usual smile—like a mask to chill the blood, every line screaming “strangers keep out.”

That version of Ning Yan pierced her straight through. Kong Jian blinked reflexively, and when her vision cleared on the scene ahead, Ning Yan was already walking toward her.

The mask vanished. Her face lit up with that familiar, harmless smile once more.

It all felt like nothing but an illusion.

But Kong Jian knew better. It wasn’t.

That Ning Yan from moments ago… that might have been the real one.

And this one beaming at her now, all eight teeth on display, might be the one hiding behind a facade.

The realization startled her. As Ning Yan drew near, she couldn’t help but take a step back.

Ning Yan’s pupils contracted sharply. Her lips stayed curved in a smile, but it looked stiff, unnatural.

She said nothing, just stood there with her head slightly bowed, those ink-dark eyes—praised by countless admirers—fixed intently on Kong Jian.

In an instant, it was as if Kong Jian could peer through the calm surface of those eyes to the storm of emotions beneath, reading the silent stubbornness there too.

For the first time…

Kong Jian reached out first and took her hand. She asked no questions.

Her touch was so gentle, it made one ache to claim her completely.

“Let’s go eat.”

Ning Yan’s gaze locked fiercely, almost feverishly, on their joined hands. Just moments before, cigarette smoke had ghosted over them.

She curved her lips in silence—a faint smile like always, but laced today with a hint of madness.

With a flip of her wrist, she turned their grip around, seizing control once more.

“Senior Sister, don’t ever say anything like that again to make me sad.”

Otherwise… she wasn’t sure she could hold herself back—

From branding her prey with an indelible mark of her own.

Kong Jian felt helpless in the face of this rare petulance. “Did your money grow on trees or get blown in by the wind? Do your parents even know how extravagantly you’re living out here?”

Ning Yan answered without a hint of reserve. “Senior Sister, my family is so loaded, I doubt you could even imagine it.”

“…”

“I’m thrilled that you want to save money for my sake, but the truth is, even if you did absolutely nothing, I could support you for life. So, Senior Sister—if you try to draw such a clear line between us again, I won’t thank you for it. I’ll get mad. Got it?”

“Support my foot!”

Ning Yan smiled and made a suggestion. “If it really bothers you, Senior Sister, I’ve got a great solution.”

Kong Jian’s brow twitched. It was definitely not a good one.

“Money means nothing to me, but my inner world is awfully fragile. If you want to keep the accounts straight, why not help fill it out a bit more? That would make me so happy.”

She spread her other hand and began counting off on her fingers. “Eating together adds a splash of color to my inner world. A movie together? That brings two splashes. As for the rest, you haven’t done them with me yet, so who knows what effect they’d have. But tonight, there’s one thing you could do for me.”

“I’ll take back what I said. Pay if you want to. I don’t care anymore.”

No way in hell would she repay a cash debt with some nonsense about “filling” this girl’s mental world!

Ning Yan ignored her. “After we finish dinner, Senior Sister, give Grandpa another call. Tell him not to bother specially preparing the guest room for me. I can just share a room with you.”

“When did I ever say you could stay over?!”

The little girl sniffled, on the verge of tears. “So that’s your plan, Senior Sister? It’ll be the middle of the night by the time we get home. You’re really heartless enough to kick me out the door and make me drive back all alone? Aren’t you afraid I’ll be too tired to drive safely and something happens to me on the road—”

They still had a long drive ahead, and Kong Jian had been burned one too many times by Xi Yunyun’s occasional jinx that actually came true. She wasn’t about to listen to any more ominous words right now. Face darkening, she clamped a hand over the girl’s mouth. “Fine, fine! I’ll have Grandpa prepare another room for you. You can stay over, but don’t even think about sharing with me!”

“Senior Sister, you’re so cruel! We rarely make the trip home, and you’d have an old man stay up late cleaning out a guest room that hasn’t been used in ages? Grandpa’s got to be pretty elderly by now, right? Carrying water back and forth to wipe everything down—you can really bear to put him through that?”

Two veins bulged on Kong Jian’s forehead. She couldn’t hold back any longer and snapped irritably, “Got it, got it! We won’t trouble Grandpa, all right?!”

I’ll clean a room for you myself later!!!

~~~