But for now, while she was still the “little sister,” she could not overstep.
Her one small comfort was a promise they had made years ago. Because their swaps had been so unpredictable over the years, and because neither of them could accept the shadow of a third person in a relationship, they had agreed that during swaps, neither of them was allowed to have a lover.
Shao Yu glanced coolly at Song Yingqiu.
Song Yingqiu was smiling down at her phone, replying to someone.
Which meant that to this day, Song Yingqiu had never belonged to anyone.
As for what came after…
Shao Yu thought for a moment, took out her phone, and searched for the time of the 《No Regrets》 premiere.
“Saturday night. I’m free.”
Song Yingqiu looked up at that.
Shao Yu’s gaze was calm, her expression composed.
“Take me with you to the premiere.”
Song Yingqiu’s brows rose in surprise. “You’re interested?”
She had only mentioned it offhandedly; she’d never imagined Shao Yu, always indifferent to show business, would actually take the bait.
Shao Yu gave a noncommittal hum.
Song Yingqiu hadn’t planned to attend, just send a gift, but with Shao Yu in rare high spirits, of course she’d accompany her.
She opened her chat with Chao Yushan to say she was bringing someone to the premiere.
Typing, she said:
“Sure, I’ll take you along for the fun. Their film crew’s a fun bunch.”
Shao Yu said, “You’ve visited the set before.”
The reply came back quickly. Song Yingqiu skimmed just enough to confirm she’d secured premiere passes for Shao Yu, then ignored the rest.
She pressed the phone face down and lifted her eyes, smiling at Shao Yu.
That remark of Shao Yu’s had been far too certain, her face wearing the knowing look of someone who had seen right through her.
Of each other, they knew too much.
This everywhere-present intimacy was something Song Yingqiu thoroughly enjoyed.
She reached over and pinched Shao Yu’s cheek, her tone as affectionate as the gesture.
“My Shao Yu is so clever.”
Beneath her fingers, Shao Yu’s face flushed a faint pink.
“Hm?”
Before Song Yingqiu could see it clearly, Shao Yu pulled her hand away and turned her head, the movement stiff with embarrassment.
“We’re almost there.”
Shao Yu’s appointment with the landlord was at five in the afternoon; she had arrived at the complex early to scope out the surroundings.
She hadn’t expected Song Yingqiu to tag along.
Song Yingqiu had just gotten back from a business trip and had to be exhausted, so after the driver took the car to the parking lot, Shao Yu walked a stretch of the roadside and stopped in front of a café.
She appraised the café critically. Not a big place, small and dainty, but reasonably well kept.
They had some desserts too; if Song Yingqiu didn’t want coffee, she could eat something.
Shao Yu turned and gestured to Song Yingqiu, who was ambling along behind her.
“I’m going to look around the neighborhood. Wait here?”
“Hm? I’ll come with you.”
“You’ve been burning the midnight oil all week. Rest your feet.”
“Look at you, so thoughtful?”
“What would you like to drink? Want something to eat as well? They have the Basque you like.”
“You’ve already scouted it all out? Fine. Hurry back.”
Song Yingqiu settled into a booth. Shao Yu ordered her a latte and a slice of Basque cheesecake at the counter.
After paying, on her way out, Shao Yu said:
“I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
Song Yingqiu nodded, all smiles.
Shao Yu’s tall figure disappeared through the door, heading north.
The latte and cake arrived quickly. Song Yingqiu sipped hers slowly, left the cake untouched, and scrolled through her phone.
Work had swallowed her these past few days, and she’d neglected a lot of messages; the red badge of unread texts was about to break into triple digits.
As usual she answered selectively, until she reached Wen Xinxian’s message.
Wen Xinxian: Sister Yingqiu, Zong Qiang’s putting together a get-together. Are you and Doctor Shao coming?
That seemed to be the opening move; nearly every chat below it carried the words “Doctor Shao” or “little sister,” many of them begging her to bring Shao Yu out to play.
Like little imps crowding her field of view with gossip-hungry curiosity, eager to gawk at her and Shao Yu.
Even Ning Wanmei had messaged her.
Ning Wanmei: Shao Yu went to Lingguan?
Ning Wanmei was Song Yingqiu’s childhood friend who had moved to Xiangwu early on. They rarely met, but they were close.
And it was precisely because Ning Wanmei had settled in Xiangwu that in the early years, when Song Yingqiu couldn’t go there, she had often asked Ning Wanmei to act as go-between.
Song Yingqiu replied: She came a few days ago. I won’t need to trouble you anymore
Ning Wanmei’s reply came fast.
Ning Wanmei: And you’re telling me this because…?
Song Yingqiu: When you’re back in Lingguan, we’ll take you out to dinner
Ning Wanmei: That sounds like you two are family
Song Yingqiu: Isn’t my little sister and I exactly that?
Ning Wanmei: I know that, but plenty of people have dug this far as to reach me. Including your cousin
Song Yingqiu frowned silently, stabbing at the half-eaten cake with her fork, her good mood soured by a fair margin.
She replied, “Ignore them,” and looked up to find Shao Yu back.
She stopped reading, picked up her bag and rose, hooked Shao Yu’s arm as she passed and swept her out the door at a brisk clip:
“Done looking? Come on, apartment time.”
Before Shao Yu could get out a word, she was swept out the door on that gust.
She’d been gone only a dozen or so minutes. The old district might not be glamorous and its roads cramped, but the streets were clean, and the shop owners nearby looked peaceable.
The surroundings were comfortable, the commute short. Shao Yu was about seventy percent satisfied.
As for the apartment itself, it was above passing grade too. The landlord was her senior’s friend and had introduced everything in careful detail.
Fourth floor, one bedroom and a living room, ventilation and light both fine. The only real drawbacks were a tiny balcony, a tiny kitchen, and no furniture.
Shao Yu wandered through the apartment, doing the math on how far the rent could reasonably be bargained down.
She had some savings after years of work, but twelve months’ rent plus a matching deposit all at once was no small expense.
Shao Yu also wanted to check how noisy the place got at night, but the landlord was called away on some errand, telling them to keep looking and left midway.
Once the landlord was gone, Shao Yu let her attention drift to Song Yingqiu.
She couldn’t tell what had put her out, but ever since they left the café, Song Yingqiu had been all edges.
She’d inspected the apartment like she was auditing a corporate project, heels clicking, more the lady of the house than the landlord.
Arms crossed, Song Yingqiu made a slow circuit of the living room.
Then she declared, leaving no room for argument: “Forget renting. Come live with me.”
Shao Yu pressed her pale lips together. “It’s closer to the hospital here.”
Rejected, Song Yingqiu didn’t frown. She laid out her case for Shao Yu with crisp logic:
“That place smells of fresh paint, so it was repainted recently, and with cheap materials. Bad for your health. The people upstairs must have picked up their kid just now. Did you hear the child shout a second ago? You like it quiet, and old buildings all have terrible soundproofing. When kids get loud, you won’t have a leg to stand on. Oh, and your neighbor’s door is wide open; they’re renovating in there too. Could you stand that?”
Song Yingqiu looked at her. With Shao Yu’s powers of observation, there was no way she’d missed these red flags.
Suspicion crept into Song Yingqiu’s gaze.
“You didn’t notice any of it?”
“…”
Shao Yu was momentarily speechless.
Of course she’d noticed. But overall the apartment was decent, and what rental was ever flawless?
Song Yingqiu delivered the verdict. “In short, apart from the shorter commute, living with me is the superior option in every way.”
Shao Yu couldn’t refute a word of it.
The one and most important reason was the one she couldn’t tell Song Yingqiu.
She wanted so badly to be close to Song Yingqiu, but if she truly lived with her, she could not guarantee she wouldn’t lose control.
Song Yingqiu came closer without warning, the suspicion in her expression magnifying before Shao Yu’s eyes:
“I’ve got it. You must be…”
At this distance, Song Yingqiu’s pale irises seemed able to reflect the secret she had buried deepest, looking past the body to her very soul.
Shao Yu reined in the body that wanted to retreat, her long-prepared excuse stretched thin as paper.
“I don’t want to be financially dependent—”
“I knew it.”
Her unfinished words cut off, Song Yingqiu pronounced, “That’s the only explanation that makes sense.”
Shao Yu dipped her head slightly and gave a nearly inaudible hum.
Yes. To Song Yingqiu, naturally, that was the only explanation that made sense.
Swallowing a flicker of misplaced disappointment, Shao Yu gathered her reason again and lifted her head, about to say they should call the landlord back to discuss rent and terms, when Song Yingqiu spoke again:
“You’ll just pay rent to me.”
“Hm?”
Song Yingqiu said, “I’ll charge you this apartment’s rate. Why make some other landlord money when you could make it for me? The commute’s a bit longer, true, but it’s only about ten minutes by car. I’ll have my driver drop you off on the way. I checked; it’s on the route.”
She paused, then turned her liquid eyes on Shao Yu.
“I want us to commute together, you know. Don’t you want that too?”
Shao Yu’s heartbeat skipped.
Everything before that she could have parried. But who on earth could withstand Song Yingqiu’s coaxing?
It was Song Yingqiu’s invincible weapon. Shao Yu knew it well, knew how skillfully it was wielded, and here it was, turned on her.
What good was knowing Song Yingqiu better than anyone? One light tug, and she collapsed in rout.
Despairing at her own weakness in the face of Song Yingqiu, Shao Yu nonetheless gave a slow nod under her expectant gaze, her tone that of someone accepting her fate, edged with a sigh:
“Understood, landlord. I’ll make you money from now on.”
Only after settling the matter of Shao Yu living with her did Song Yingqiu’s mood improve.
By her own logic, Shao Yu belonged with her in the first place. She had tagged along to view the apartment fully intending to nitpick and talk Shao Yu around.
But in her imagination, the whole process should have been gentle and sweet, nowhere near so aggressive…
During her evening skincare ritual, President Song, in the habit of reviewing her day before bed, began a session of self-reflection.
True, she hadn’t taken anything out on Shao Yu, but her tone and manner at the time could hardly be called gentle.
She never let herself loose like that in front of others. But face to face with Shao Yu… they were so familiar that concealing anything never even occurred to her. It had all come purely from instinct.
The more Song Yingqiu thought about it, the more she felt she couldn’t let something like this open a rift with the little sister she’d just gotten back. What if Shao Yu minded?
Resolved, she slapped on the last of her night cream, patted her cheeks, and padded over in her slippers to knock on the neighboring door.
When Shao Yu opened it, her expression flickered oddly. Her gaze paused somewhere below Song Yingqiu’s neck, then darted away just as quickly.
“It’s late. What is it?”
Song Yingqiu said, “Sis came to have a little heart-to-heart.”
Shao Yu said, “I’m going to bed.”
Song Yingqiu said, “We’ll talk on the bed. I won’t keep you up, just a few words.”
Shao Yu nearly lost her grip on her expression and simply went cold-faced, reaching to close the door.
“I have an early start tomorrow…”
But Song Yingqiu, reading her sour look as confirmation of her suspicion, braced a hand against the door and said mournfully:
“Did I upset you today?”
Shao Yu: ?
What drama was this?
“No.”
“Then let me in.”
“…”
Shao Yu gave up on being a doorstop and stepped back, only to be marched straight onto the bed by Song Yingqiu.
Both of them fully clothed, they sat side by side against the headboard, shoulders touching, and Song Yingqiu, the considerate big sister, tucked a thin blanket over the pair of them.
Song Yingqiu soon made her purpose known in words, her voice soft and sweet, honeyed flattery flowing free of charge:
“This afternoon I got far too high-handed. It’s just the mess with the family… never mind them. My tone was wrong, and Sis apologizes. Don’t be upset anymore, okay?”
“You know how I am. I handle everyone else just fine. You’re the only one I ever let myself act like this around.”
“What I’m most afraid of is you being unhappy. Whatever you want your big sis to do, she’ll do it. As long as you forgive her, hmm? How about it?”
“…Shao Yu? Why aren’t you talking? Are you still sulking?”
Leaning against the headboard, Shao Yu looked cold on the surface, but her face had gone numb. Half of her body was frozen stiff; the other half had turned to mush.
Sulk? She wouldn’t dare.
She was half ruined already from the way Song Yingqiu was toying with her.
