Chapter 22 Part 2

Jiang Ruoning bit her lip, head down as Shi Sui pulled her inside. The door clicked shut, and Shi Sui turned on the entryway light with a snap. The room lit up. By the door was a shoe rack opposite a full-length mirror. In the mirror, Jiang Ruoning looked embarrassed.

Shi Sui pulled a pair of slippers from the rack and handed them to her.

Jiang Ruoning looked down. Minions.

This clashed wildly with her image of Shi Sui’s taste. She froze. Shi Sui changed into her pair—also Minions, but pink. The ones for Jiang Ruoning were yellow.

Same style, different colors.

At a glance, they looked like couple slippers.

Was this really Shi Sui’s taste?

Jiang Ruoning asked curiously, “You bought these?”

Shi Sui nodded. “Bought them a while back. Moved in in a rush, haven’t replaced them.”

Jiang Ruoning slipped them on—surprisingly a good fit. She was tall, so slippers at others’ homes were usually too small, forcing shoe covers. But these fit perfectly.

Then she thought of Shi Sui’s height.

Almost the same as hers.

So, not surprising.

Shi Sui lowered her head, and sure enough, Jiang Ruoning still didn’t like wearing socks. She had noticed it back at the clinic when Jiang Ruoning lay on the bed, but now, watching her up close as she changed shoes, it left Shi Sui feeling a bit dazed.

They used to change shoes the moment they got home.

Jiang Ruoning wiggled her feet in the slippers in front of her and asked, “Aren’t they cute?”

She smiled. “They are cute.”

They had bought the slippers on a whim at a night market. Jiang Ruoning had spotted the pair at first glance, slipped them on the moment they got home that night, snapped a photo to send to their group chat, and said happily to her, “Let them be jealous.”

Shi Sui looked down and said to Jiang Ruoning, “They’re pretty cute.”

Jiang Ruoning gave an awkward smile to ease the tension.

It had been a long time since anyone had called her cute.

With her tall figure, whether it was colleagues or fans, they always used more mature words to describe her: sexy, alluring and enchanting, beautiful and glamorous. It was rare to hear “cute.”

Jiang Ruoning wiggled her feet again. “Cute?”

Shi Sui teased her. “Yeah, the slippers are cute.”

Jiang Ruoning: …

Ha!

Hilarious!

She had totally misread the situation!

She suspected Shi Sui did it on purpose, revenge for her lie just now.

Jiang Ruoning held it in, and as Shi Sui turned to head to the living room, she finally blurted out, “Sorry.”

Shi Sui turned back.

Jiang Ruoning stood at the entryway, met her gaze, and softly explained, “Just now with Sister Xiao Man, she…”

Shi Sui cut her off. “It’s fine. I mentioned you were here to see me without asking you first. We’re even.”

Jiang Ruoning laughed. “But I was here to see you.”

Shi Sui asked, “So, are you going to make it up to me?”

Jiang Ruoning choked. “Let’s call it even.”

Shi Sui lowered her head with a smile and asked, “What would you like to drink?”

Jiang Ruoning wasn’t very thirsty, but she didn’t want to just sit there empty-handed. “Plain water is fine.”

Shi Sui went into the kitchen to pour her some water.

Jiang Ruoning stood in the living room.

Shi Sui’s apartment had a different layout from Sister Xiao Man’s. Perhaps because Xiao Man had a child, her place was full of kid stuff and not as open and bright. Shi Sui’s had square ceiling lights overhead in stark white. The living room had no dropped ceiling, making it feel tall. Jiang Ruoning looked around; the wallpaper was pale yellow—a warm color she loved—with gold-embroidered floral patterns blooming along the walls like flowers. It was beautiful.

When Shi Sui returned to the living room with the glass, Jiang Ruoning’s fingers were touching the wallpaper.

The apartment had come fully furnished, but many things had been replaced after they moved in: the sofa, the wallpaper, the curtains. Even the bedding sets had been picked out by Jiang Ruoning.

Shi Sui desperately wanted to ask her: Does it feel familiar?

But she couldn’t say a word. She just stood silently beside Jiang Ruoning, head lowered.

Jiang Ruoning turned her head, startled to see Shi Sui standing there, and said, “Why so quiet?”

Shi Sui replied, “You seemed really into it.”

“This wallpaper is nice,” Jiang Ruoning said. “The craftsmanship is so fine. It must have been expensive.”

Shi Sui said, “It’s pricier than regular wallpaper.”

Back then, she had dragged Jiang Ruoning to store after store, unsatisfied, until they went shopping at the mall and Jiang Ruoning spotted this one. That week, Jiang Ruoning had a full schedule, so by the time she returned, the wallpaper was already up. She lay on it and said, “It looks good!”

She had praised it: “It really does. Now it feels like home.”

Later, they gradually added little things bit by bit: pots and pans, drinking glasses, bowls and chopsticks. But eventually, her mother had smashed them all, and the apartment had nearly been lost too.

Jiang Ruoning took a sip of the warm water, her gaze sweeping from the wallpaper to the TV stand. The coffee table was a small oval one, not big enough for two magazines. The sofa was fabric-upholstered. Jiang Ruoning sat down and patted it. “This sofa’s held up for years without much dust.”

Shi Sui said, “It has a cover.”

Thank goodness it was covered, or she wouldn’t have been able to show Jiang Ruoning the sofa and blanket she had personally chosen.

Jiang Ruoning said, “It’s pretty wide.”

She liked wide sofas; that’s why she bought the boat-shaped one at home—it enveloped her whole body, soft and light as air. Shi Sui sat beside her and said, “Do you like this style?”

“I do,” Jiang Ruoning said. “My sofa at home is this wide too. I love lying on it to sleep.”

Shi Sui looked at her face and said, “I like it too.”

Jiang Ruoning turned her head.

Shi Sui added, “I like sleeping on the sofa too.”

Jiang Ruoning grinned. “We have similar tastes.”

Shi Sui looked down and murmured softly, “Yeah.”

Over all these years, she had remembered Jiang Ruoning’s preferences.

Remembered them until they became her own.

Shi Sui took a shallow sip of her warm water. Jiang Ruoning asked, “Honey water?”

“Yeah.” Shi Sui held her cup under Jiang Ruoning’s nose. “Want some?”

Jiang Ruoning didn’t think twice and took a natural sip. As the sweetness filled her mouth, she looked up to see Shi Sui watching her. She suddenly remembered it was Shi Sui’s cup—and choked. The honey water she hadn’t swallowed yet sprayed out.

Shi Sui was too close.

She couldn’t escape.

Jiang Ruoning immediately set the cup down, grabbed tissues from the coffee table, and wiped at Shi Sui.

Shi Sui saw her flustering about and soothed, “It’s okay.”

Jiang Ruoning curled her toes. “Sorry, sorry.”

The skirt was sheer, and now wet, the outline of her underwear faintly visible. Jiang Ruoning had originally wanted to show off her figure, but Shi Sui’s chest was much fuller than hers. As she fumbled and patted, Shi Sui’s cleavage teasingly appeared and disappeared.

One droplet clung stubbornly right above the crevice.

Teetering on the edge.

Jiang Ruoning: …

She crumpled the tissue in her fist.

Shi Sui calmly took the tissue from her hand and wiped the water away right in front of her.

Jiang Ruoning swallowed.

She kept her eyes firmly ahead.

Shi Sui tossed the tissue in the trash, then offered her own cup to Jiang Ruoning. Afraid of repeating the mishap, Jiang Ruoning waved it off and even asked, “Do you want to change clothes?”

Shi Sui asked, “Are you going to wear it home?”

“No, I mean…” Jiang Ruoning pointed at her chest. “It’s… wet.”

Shi Sui glanced down, casually wiped it, and said, “It’s fine.”

You’re fine, but I’m not!

Jiang Ruoning’s peripheral vision kept drifting to Shi Sui’s chest.

She had watched countless lingerie runway shows without her gaze ever wandering.

Was she getting older?

Hornier?

Or had all these years of celibacy deepened her desires?

How terrifying.

Jiang Ruoning averted her eyes. Shi Sui, seemingly oblivious, scooted closer. Jiang Ruoning shifted away; Shi Sui inched nearer and reached out, draping over Jiang Ruoning’s shoulder.

Was she going to hug her?

Should she play hard to get and push back a little?

A storm raged in Jiang Ruoning’s mind as Shi Sui’s hand brushed her shoulder and grabbed the TV remote from the sofa armrest.

Shi Sui asked, “Want to watch TV?”

Jiang Ruoning: …

She gritted her teeth. “Sure.”

Shi Sui turned on the TV and asked, “What movie do you like?”

Jiang Ruoning forced her attention to the screen. It was hard—Shi Sui sat too close. A faint fragrance tickled her nose, perhaps because she was wearing Shi Sui’s clothes; the scent felt familiar.

Familiar enough to meld with her body.

Jiang Ruoning shifted uncomfortably and pointed randomly at one. “Haven’t seen that middle one.”

Shi Sui clicked it.

The movie poster was half black, half white, like a yin-yang symbol, with two crooked characters in the middle: 【Hello】.

Probably the title.

Jiang Ruoning thought it was some profound arthouse film. But as soon as it started—a rainy night, a figure in a black raincoat wielding a massive machete—her heart jumped. Then the living room lights snapped off. She whipped her head around, eyes wide!

Shi Sui met her gaze.

Jiang Ruoning’s eyes gleamed especially bright in the dark, the TV light flickering in them like a flame. She asked, “Why’d you turn off the lights?”

Shi Sui replied, “I like watching horror movies with the lights off.”

Jiang Ruoning was speechless, then paused. “This is a horror movie?”

As she spoke, the machete-wielder on screen swung down, severing a head.

Jiang Ruoning rubbed her nose.

So gory.

And the poster looked so minimalist and fresh.

Fraud!

Total fraud!

She suppressed her slight discomfort, leaning back against the sofa. A hand stealthily reached over amid a jump scare in the movie, nearly making her leap. Once she saw it was Shi Sui’s, she asked, “What?”

Shi Sui didn’t turn her head. “Lend me your hand.”

Jiang Ruoning froze.

Lend her hand?

Which one?

She glanced at her own hand, then at Shi Sui’s outstretched one, and slowly placed hers in Shi Sui’s palm. The warm skin contact sent a jolt like electricity through her, shivers racing over her body. Shi Sui turned her head, and Jiang Ruoning’s heart pounded wildly in the darkness, her face flushing, eyes darting everywhere. When Shi Sui said nothing for a long moment, she forced composure. “What?”

Shi Sui said, “Phone.”

Phone?

Jiang Ruoning realized in a flash.

She hadn’t said “lend me your hand”—it was “give me your phone”!

Damn!

In the dark, Jiang Ruoning turned away, squeezing her eyes shut. She tried to pull her hand back from Shi Sui’s palm, but Shi Sui gripped it tight. She opened her eyes, blinked twice, and twisted her head.

Shi Sui leaned over, one hand holding hers firmly, the other snatching the phone from beside her.

A faint, alluring fragrance filled the air.

Jiang Ruoning’s hand was gripped tightly by Shi Sui.

Shi Sui’s fingers accidentally scraped over her palm.

A sound nearly escaped Jiang Ruoning’s throat. Her other hand clamped desperately over her thin lips, her cheeks redder than Shi Sui’s after a drink.