“So what if you’re a girl? A girl can still be a heroine!” And then her dad glowered at her.
Since she was little, her dad had trained her. Once he retired from the military, it got even more intense. Ding Sishu figured her dad had inadvertently helped her with her sexuality issues. All that “iron skin, steel bones” conditioning had given her a deep appreciation for soft, delicate women.
If her dad hadn’t chased her around with a machete growing up, maybe she could have grown up to be a soft, delicate woman herself. Not that she could blame him entirely — Ding Sishu had no idea exactly when her yearning for femininity had become a yearning for the female body.
“At least it’s safer than porcupines.” Mother Ding wasn’t thrilled about Ding Sishu being a bodyguard, but she still tried to reassure herself with the porcupine comparison.
“It’s more stable in China.” Father Ding soothed her mother, confident in the national situation. “Shushu being around Nian Qiao is much safer than being around porcupines.”
Dad, you can’t say that. A porcupine at least won’t top you or have a one-night stand with you. Of course, Ding Sishu didn’t dare say it. Her parents were traditional — especially her dad, who was hoping she’d answer the call of the national two-child policy. When the policy had been announced, her dad had video-called her, holding up his phone to read her the baby benefits.
Ding Sishu hadn’t thought it applied to her. “No problem.”
“Really no problem?”
She’d paused. “You don’t need to worry about how it affects me psychologically. I’m just a little concerned about Mom.”
“Mom’s almost at menopause.” Ding Sishu had added.
At the time, Ding Sishu thought her dad wanted a son. The way he’d treated her since childhood made it crystal clear how badly he’d wanted a boy. And of course, her dad was the type to follow the national trend. Back when the state promoted “one child is best,” he’d cast his reluctant gaze upon her.
Nian Qiao was pretty famous in China. So her parents now alternated between “porcupine” and “Nian Qiao,” apparently building toward some kind of analogy. Even over the phone, Ding Sishu found it funny.
Putting porcupines and Nian Qiao in the same sentence — what a mental image. Those middle-aged lovebirds, one move and they’d shattered the national goddess.
“Don’t laugh.” Mother Ding said. “Now that you have a job, you should start thinking about dating.”
“Your mother’s right.” On this issue, Father and Mother Ding were united.
Right — even when she hadn’t had a partner, her dad had been fantasizing about a second child. “Cousin hasn’t found anyone either.”
Thank you, cousin.
“Don’t bring that up. Mentioning her makes me think of your eldest maternal aunt.” Her parents started rambling again. “When your aunt visited Beijing last time to see your cousin, your cousin hugged her and cried. Said she didn’t push hard enough when she was young, and now she wants to date but she’s too old.”
“…” Really? The last time Aunt came over, her cousin’s laughter had been loud enough to pierce walls.
Her parents had received some education, to be fair. But under societal pressure, they still harbored a mystical yearning for “two kids in three years.”
“Look, my taste isn’t the same as your taste. If I find someone and she doesn’t meet your standards, and you try to tear us apart, better not to date at all.” Ding Sishu said.
That made sense to them. “Shushu, you’re not eyeing someone married, are you? We absolutely cannot be homewreckers.”
“It hasn’t gotten to that point yet.”
“Then it’s fine.” Her dad thumped his chest. “As long as she doesn’t disturb social harmony and her character’s decent, whoever you date, we can accept.”
Her dad had just planted a massive flag.
From work problems to love life — so familiarly Chinese. Her parents talked; Ding Sishu listened. A few jokes, and she could skate through.
Ding Sishu had just lain down when she got a message from the captain.
It was already late, so the captain didn’t give a formal speech. She’d called them together to review the route map for the next two days. The little blackboard was covered edge to edge in writing. Over the next two days, they’d be facing a lot of fans. The team needed to make predictions: which routes Nian Qiao could take, and if one got blocked, which alternative to use.
When the meeting ended, the captain spoke to Ding Sishu. “Did you know Miss Nian before? I get the feeling she takes care of you.”
“Ah… maybe because of my cousin?”
The captain thought about it. “That’s true. Your cousin gets along well with Tiantian.”
While the captain was talking, Ding Sishu could hear Nian Qiao’s voice in her ears. Nian Qiao’s voice was beautiful — when she leaned in to speak, it sounded almost… suggestive. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Like it?” That night, too.
That night, Nian Qiao had blindfolded her with something. Nian Qiao had kissed her ear and whispered close, warm breath spilling against the side of her ear. Every honeyed word was a wave of heat.
Even blindfolded now, Ding Sishu could recognize Nian Qiao by voice alone.
Earlier, with her hemming and hawing, her cousin had said she was “suspicious.”
Don’t let anyone discover their relationship.
A secret.
At that moment, Ding Sishu had made a bold decision: hide it even from her cousin. It was about as bold as that time in elementary school when she’d changed a test score from 59 to 60. Her parents had been so touched, they’d treated her to a “sautéed bamboo shoots with cured meat” — i.e., a beating. “If you’d changed it to 69, it wouldn’t have been as obvious as 60. With brains like yours, you’ve basically said goodbye to passing grades.”
As for hiding it from her cousin — her cousin had said, “Shushu, you’re suspicious.”
She said Ding Sishu was suspicious, but she never considered the suspicious part. If Ding Sishu didn’t say anything, her cousin would probably never think of it that way. She’d just assume Ding Sishu had a “crush” on Nian Qiao. To comfort her, her cousin had praised the beauty of unrequited love. “Enjoy the journey. A person goes through dozens of crushes in their lifetime.”
??? Is that supposed to be comforting?
And once this started, it never stopped. During the promotional tour, she followed Nian Qiao all over the country. Sounded fun — in practice, it was just moving from one event venue to another. All the venues looked the same, and there was no time to stop and sightsee.
Ding Sishu genuinely admired Nian Qiao’s stamina. Nian Qiao would be sprinting around in high heels like it was nothing. Occasionally, Nian Qiao would call Ding Sishu into the van. Over time, it became instinct — Nian Qiao would crook a finger, and Ding Sishu would climb in on autopilot.
Step up, sit across from Nian Qiao, close the door. All one smooth motion.
The light clicked on, and she met Nian Qiao’s gaze. Nian Qiao had been watching her the whole time. Ding Sishu felt embarrassed. “It’s always Miss Nian — let me do it this time.”
Previously, Nian Qiao was the one who closed the door.
“Always me… what?”
Ding Sishu’s ears reddened. Every time, Nian Qiao found a way to make an ordinary sentence sound flirtatious.
As Ding Sishu was getting out, Nian Qiao added, “It’s not like I said no.”
Ding Sishu stumbled, nearly face-planting onto the pavement. She turned to look at Nian Qiao, whose expression was perfectly composed. Absolutely next level. Nian Qiao’s flirting game was light-years beyond Ding Sishu’s.
“See that? She just got on the boss’s van.” At the next stop, a coworker whispered to Ding Sishu.
Gossip is best when shared.
“Huh? Isn’t she with the event organizers?” Ding Sishu said.
Seeing that Ding Sishu didn’t know, the coworker immediately perked up. “You’ve been with the boss for how many stops — have you seen ANY organizer get to climb into the boss’s nanny van?”
“This is the boss’s real boyfriend.” The coworker said.
Huh? What about Li Ting?
“Li Ting is just a smokescreen.” The coworker said. “The boss’s real boyfriend is an entrepreneur.”
There’d been an entire internet analysis about Nian Qiao and Li Ting before. It said female celebrities’ marriage choices followed economic trends — whichever industry is booming, that’s the industry the female stars marry into. With the recent boom in entertainment economics, stars themselves were big IPs, so female celebrities mostly married male celebrities. The logic was presented very seriously. Ding Sishu had read it and thought something was off.
Thinking about it more — colleagues marrying colleagues is common in every industry, isn’t it?
Now they were saying Nian Qiao’s boyfriend was an entrepreneur. Two minutes later, the organizer came out. Looking at him, he certainly seemed like a young, successful man.
“Seriously, his assets are in the hundreds of millions.” The coworker said.
That sounded pretty convincing. And Nian Qiao didn’t seem purely homosexual either — bisexual was plausible. A woman who lives life on her own terms.
During a break, Ding Sishu stood there lost in thought. Nian Qiao was walking ahead. She spotted Ding Sishu standing there like an idiot and stopped. “What are you thinking about?”
Nian Qiao’s voice came from above Ding Sishu’s head.
“The c-captain asked me to do something.” Ding Sishu said.
As she spoke, she pointed — utterly flustered.
“Don’t rush.” Nian Qiao’s lips curved. “Go do what you need to do.”
“Oh.”
“Here.” Nian Qiao handed her a bottle of water.
As she took it, Ding Sishu’s fingers brushed Nian Qiao’s. Nian Qiao didn’t let go immediately. Ding Sishu looked up.
“You’re always getting on my van.” Out of nowhere, Nian Qiao said.
Once Nian Qiao walked away, Ding Sishu glanced at the direction she’d been pointing. When Nian Qiao had leaned in, Ding Sishu had just gestured randomly — and she’d pointed directly at the organizer, who was chatting with staff.
Guilty conscience.
So Nian Qiao knew the coworker had been gossiping with her.
Nian Qiao’s point: getting on my van and dating me are two different things. Nian Qiao was terrifying — did she have eyes in the back of her head?
Looking back at Nian Qiao, she’d just reached the van. She turned and winked at Ding Sishu.
Ding Sishu nearly threw the bottle of water in her hand.
Eyes in the back of her head, confirmed?!
“Everyone’s worked hard this period. Miss Nian will be starting a new production soon, so we won’t need this many people following her around. Let me go over the next phase…” After the promotion wrapped, the captain announced the next stage.
Nian Qiao had signed onto a spy film. She’d officially be joining the set in two days. Unless it affected the shoot, she wouldn’t be bringing this many bodyguards anymore.
Ding Sishu felt like she was about to get a “vacation.”
