Chapter 2

Song Yingqiu flexed her fingers, savoring the clean, fresh feeling, then straightened up. “There, there. I was just too happy to see you, that’s all. I forgot about your thing with cleanliness.”

Wrapping her arm around Shao Yu’s again, she smiled. “Sis apologizes. Can we go now?”

Song Yingqiu rarely called herself “Sis.” This one was clearly coquettish, intimate beyond measure.

The softness and warmth of Song Yingqiu’s body kept washing over her.

Like a butterfly with its wings half spread, she leaned toward Shao Yu, her collarbone-length hair swaying at her chest, a bewitchingly beautiful face that made Shao Yu’s heart nearly leap out of control after a single look.

But she would never let Song Yingqiu hear it beat.

Shao Yu quickly composed herself and gave a quiet yes.

Song Yingqiu was genuinely happy; anyone could see it, her heels clicking light and quick. Led along by her, Shao Yu reached Wen Xinxian’s booth within minutes.

They were spotted before they even got close.

It was far too loud; from a distance their friends could only pull exaggerated faces. Up close, the questions nearly drowned the two of them:

“You two know each other?”

“How come we’ve never seen her? Yingqiu, you’ve been hiding her, haven’t you!”

“No wonder Doctor Shao took one look and left earlier. So it was because Sister Yingqiu wasn’t here.”

“Introduce us, come on!”

…

“Behave.”

Song Yingqiu chided them lightly and sat down with Shao Yu.

She looked at the curious, gossip-hungry faces arrayed before her, rested a hand loosely on Shao Yu’s shoulder, and drawled:

“You all know her name by now, I’m sure, so let me make it official. This is Shao Yu. She was in Xiangwu before, so you’ve never met. You’ll be seeing plenty of her now that she’s come to work in Lingguan.”

Resting her chin on Shao Yu’s shoulder, she curved her lips at her friends:

“Shao Yu isn’t my blood sister, but she’s as good as one. Look after her for me from now on.”

When Song Yingqiu finished, everyone went blank.

Not a partner? Not even a friend?

A little sister…?

Besides, Song Yingqiu had always let nothing and no one stick to her. When had anyone ever seen her sweep a person under her wing this openly?

They had all been excited over Shao Yu before; now their expressions scattered in every direction.

Astonishment. Appraisal. Sourness. Suspicion.

One of them, wine bottle in hand, voiced what everyone was thinking:

“You’re really not girlfriends?”

Song Yingqiu gave her a sidelong look, amused. “Of course not.”

“Then do I have a chance? Hello, Sister Shao, which hospital are you at? My family has connections in the medical field too…”

Before Shao Yu could answer, Song Yingqiu’s arm tightened around her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. “Save it. My little sister focuses on her work. No fooling around with romance.”

Mercilessly, she added, “Just call her Doctor Shao.”

All this “big sis, little sis” business, Song Yingqiu had heard plenty of in her life, but hearing her friends call Shao Yu by it grated on her ears.

The girl cried out, “Wow, Song Yingqiu, you’re a total sis-con?”

Song Yingqiu arched a brow, her smile taking on a reckless edge. “What if I am?”

Jeering cheers erupted, and everyone piled on to “denounce” her, the booth descending into joyous chaos.

Wen Xinxian urged Song Yingqiu to drink along with the rest, dying to climb onto the table herself, yet her gaze kept sliding, helplessly, to Shao Yu at Song Yingqiu’s side.

She wasn’t the only one. Many were the same: daunted by Shao Yu’s air, and yet unable to stop their eyes from drifting over.

Beside the naturally flamboyant Song Yingqiu, most people faded into invisible backdrops. Shao Yu was the exception.

Her looks made it impossible to overlook her. Even sitting silent against the cushions, all distance and cool, she seemed neither timid nor out of place.

As if she possessed the power to command the whole room and simply had no interest in playing, choosing instead to hover at its edges, untouched by any of it.

Wen Xinxian shook her head, thinking she must have had too much to drink. Since when did she start imagining a cold, buttoned-up doctor as some nightclub queen in Sister Yingqiu’s mold…

And there it was. She suddenly understood why her mind had gone there.

She picked up a glass and set it in front of Shao Yu, seizing the chance to talk. “Ahem, hello, Doctor Shao. I’m your sister’s childhood friend, Wen Xinxian.”

Shao Yu looked at her, didn’t touch the drink, and nodded. “Hello.”

Wen Xinxian would never know that Shao Yu had known her for years.

Every shameless, wheedling scene she’d ever played out with “Song Yingqiu,” Shao Yu had witnessed in full.

Including the one who’d just called her “Sister Shao.” Shao Yu not only knew her name was Zong Qiang; she knew that after being dumped by her first love in high school, Zong Qiang had cried her heart out, and it had been Shao Yu who handed her the tissue.

Now she had come to Lingguan in person, which meant she would have to meet these friends all over again, as herself.

Wen Xinxian knew none of this, too busy sharing her discovery:

“I think you and Sister Yingqiu look alike!”

Shao Yu raised a brow. “In what way?”

Wen Xinxian mimicked her posture.

“Right there! One time at Drunken Haze, this same booth, Sister Yingqiu sat exactly like that. Your expressions are unbelievably alike!”

Completely different features, so how could they strike the exact same pose and spirit?

A wild idea struck Wen Xinxian. “Don’t tell me… you and Sister Yingqiu are actually half sisters by the same father, ow!”

Her head smacked, Wen Xinxian turned around to find Song Yingqiu calmly lowering her hand.

“Sister Yingqiu…”

Song Yingqiu waved over an employee. “Little Mo, my friend here has lost her mind. Get her a bowl of sobering soup.”

Little Mo said, “Right away, Sister Yingqiu!”

Wen Xinxian: “…”

Song Yingqiu swept the drink away from in front of Shao Yu with a glance.

“Talk nonsense if you must, but serving her alcohol?”

Wen Xinxian muttered, “Doctor Shao isn’t some underage high schooler…”

Song Yingqiu snorted a laugh. “Still no. She doesn’t drink.”

Stretching, she picked up her bag and told the group, “Shao Yu just got to Lingguan today, so we’re heading back. We’ll gather another day.”

Shao Yu rose and inclined her head in farewell. The two turned and vanished toward the door, leaving a table of friends exchanging looks.

Song Yingqiu, leaving early? Unprecedented.

“Incredible. First time I’ve ever seen Sister Yingqiu like this.”

“You’re telling me they’re not playing some big-sis-little-sis role game? I don’t buy it.”

“I’m just jealous. Beautiful people only cling to other beautiful people, huh? Either one of them, I’d take.”

“I’m heartbroken tonight. Heartbroken times two.”

…

Whatever anyone chose to believe, two things were universally agreed upon.

From today on, Song Yingqiu had a gorgeous, frostily cool little sister.

And the sis-con label on her was never coming off.

Everyone here loved to play and gossip, and by the end of the night, amid heated group chats and private messages, the news that Song Yingqiu had acquired a stunning little sister had spread through the entire circle of friends.

Stepping out of Drunken Haze, the air turned abruptly fresh.

Only now could Shao Yu finally breathe freely.

To play Song Yingqiu during their swaps, she had visited plenty of nightclubs in her body. Managing it was no problem; liking it was another matter entirely.

Song Yingqiu knew this too, and explained as they walked:

“They threw me a birthday party. I had to say hello before leaving.”

Shao Yu said, “Mm. Good chance to meet them.”

Song Yingqiu said, “Right? I wanted everyone to meet you. You already know all of them anyway.”

Shao Yu said, “A few looked unfamiliar.”

Song Yingqiu said, “If you can’t place them, they don’t matter. People others dragged along. I can’t keep them straight either. Ignore them.”

Song Yingqiu hadn’t driven herself tonight, and Shao Yu had only just arrived in Lingguan with no car, so the two walked to the curb to hail a cab.

Walking shoulder to shoulder like ordinary friends. In all their lives, it was the first time.

Shao Yu’s peripheral vision drifted, uncontrollably, toward Song Yingqiu.

Song Yingqiu wore her blazer draped over her shoulders, and the night wind lifted the thin hem of her dress, baring smooth, straight calves.

She herself had long been used to walking against the cold; one hand held the blazer closed while the other tap-tap-tapped out replies, utterly unbothered.

But the nights of early spring were cold.

Shao Yu’s feet shifted, and she drifted, silent and unremarked, around to Song Yingqiu’s other side, putting herself in the wind’s path.

Song Yingqiu suddenly made a small sound of surprise.

Shao Yu pressed her lips together and fixed her eyes deliberately on the passing cars. “What?”

Song Yingqiu stepped around to face her, smiling.

Shao Yu held still for two seconds. Just as she braced for Song Yingqiu to tease her about her maneuvering, Song Yingqiu reached out instead and measured the space above their heads with her hand.

“Three centimeters taller, so what? Standing side by side we’re practically the same height. Don’t you think?”

“…?”

No wait — she realized a beat later what this was about.

Shao Yu stepped back, leveling her gaze between them, and happened to look straight into Song Yingqiu’s light-filled eyes.

They really were about the same.

“Mm.” Shao Yu pointed out evenly, “But you’re wearing heels.”

“Did you have to say it out loud?”

At Song Yingqiu’s indignant little grumble, Shao Yu’s mood seemed to lift, a small smile opening across her face.

“You should smile more.”

Song Yingqiu was about to say something else when an empty cab pulled up. She cried out, “Got one!” and forgot whatever it was.

While they waited, Shao Yu had been the one to suggest stopping by the hotel she’d booked first.

Song Yingqiu wholeheartedly agreed. Shao Yu had come all the way to Lingguan and still needed a hotel? Were all her houses just for show?

There was no time tonight to set up a proper nest for her, but she could stay where Song Yingqiu was staying for now. Home was always more comfortable than a hotel.

Their opinions aligned, and the taxi sped them to their destination.

The suitcase had already been sent up by the front desk, and Song Yingqiu followed Shao Yu straight upstairs.

She looked over the room and pronounced judgment on the five-star hotel with a critical eye. “Passable. Barely livable. But come home with me anyway. You’ve stayed at my place plenty. Hmm?”

Though it ended in an upturned, questioning lilt, Song Yingqiu had no intention of accepting a second answer.

Of course her little sister belonged at home. What could be less safe than some hotel?

Besides, for the two of them, each other’s home was their second home. They had shared the same toothbrush before; what was there to be polite about?

Shao Yu raised no objection, then took a sudden phone call.

Song Yingqiu settled onto the sofa to wait for her to finish, only to see Shao Yu hang up and go open the door.

Muffled voices drifted faintly from the doorway. Then the door closed, and Shao Yu came back carrying a box.

Song Yingqiu’s gaze landed on the cake inside and she blinked.

Shao Yu walked toward her slowly and set the cake on the small round table in front of Song Yingqiu.

Untying the ribbon as she spoke, she said in a low voice:

“I asked the front desk to prepare it when I got to the hotel. I didn’t know we’d be moving again tonight… though I suppose it’s the same anywhere.”

As long as it was with Song Yingqiu, that was enough.

Shao Yu’s fingers were deft; in a few strokes she stripped the packaging away entirely, and the cake sat pretty before the two of them.

Pure, clean white, trimmed with simple, elegant creamwork.

“You’ve already had cake with them tonight, I imagine.”

Shao Yu looked at Song Yingqiu, and taking advantage of the moment, let herself look at her, carefully, boldly:

“Celebrate with me one more time, Sis.”