She admitted that she had a soft personality and no temper, but calling her easy to bully was going too far.
Where was she easy to bully?
Fang Nianchen defended herself, “I just don’t want to cause trouble.”
People with that extreme confidence who came up to hit on her usually didn’t take rejection well. Luckily, that guy just now had only been talkative and hadn’t done anything extreme.
She didn’t want to gamble on probabilistic events—trouble was best avoided altogether.
She couldn’t waste her not-so-long life on irrelevant people.
“Alright, then wasn’t helping you a bit superfluous?” Yu Wan asked seriously, the smile on her face looking forcibly squeezed out to ease the atmosphere.
“How could it be?”
Fang Nianchen knew the gap between her and Yu Wan: she would never coldly jab at someone’s sore spot. But she had to admit it was amazingly effective against shameless types.
This time, the two of them didn’t have much chance to be alone. Their conversation lasted less than a minute before Qiao Yan and Tao Zhixing returned.
People always approached bodhisattvas with reverence.
Qiao Yan put away her usual flippant attitude and greeted her properly, “Director Yu.”
“Good afternoon.” Yu Wan nodded, her expression half-smile, half-something else, making Qiao Yan’s skin crawl.
She wanted to take back her earlier suggestion from lunch that Yu Wan should smile more—better a cold glare than this.
Yu Wan’s gaze swept over them before finally landing on Tao Zhixing.
Fang Nianchen obligingly introduced her, “This is a friend of mine and Qiao Yan’s, Tao Zhixing.”
“Hello, my surname is Yu.” Yu Wan’s self-introduction sounded overly curt.
Fang Nianchen had deliberately omitted that they were high school classmates, fearing they’d start chatting.
Mentioning high school would inevitably bring up Xiao Ning’an. She probably never imagined she could become so important at certain moments, even deciding Fang Nianchen’s fate.
But now, it seemed Yu Wan wasn’t the type to chat easily with them anyway—their personalities were too different.
“I’ve known Xiao Chen since high school. The three of us were classmates.” Speak of the devil, Tao Zhixing had zero emotional perception and assumed Yu Wan’s cold face meant she was shy around strangers.
She even naively thought adding “Fang Nianchen’s high school classmate” would make her less guarded.
“Then you’ve known each other a long time.”
Yu Wan paused after saying that, but her tone didn’t sound like she was wrapping up. Fang Nianchen was sweating bullets, standing there awkwardly.
Luckily, Yu Wan was just being polite, “I envy your friendship.”
The compliment sounded stiff and official coming from her lips. Tao Zhixing, not one to mince words, shrugged, “It’s alright.”
Yu Wan didn’t set down the bow and arrow in her hand and didn’t chat much longer. “You guys play. No need to be too reserved.”
Just having Director Yu standing there was intimidating enough. They could barely breathe, let alone enjoy themselves.
Qiao Yan subtly tugged at Fang Nianchen’s clothes, signaling her to make a quick exit.
“We’ll go check out over there first.”
Yu Wan didn’t look at her, just said “Okay,” like she was acknowledging a work report.
Not long after Fang Nianchen and the others left, Quan Cige wandered over. Seeing her still shooting arrows so methodically, she teased, “If you wanna play Cupid, why not shoot yourself first, then go find Little Sunflower.”
“What’s Little Sunflower?”
“That’s your little friend. The name makes her sound like a little sun—not as blinding as the actual sun, more like a sunflower, always growing toward the sun.” Quan Cige explained eloquently, and with her innocent face, anyone else would have gone along with it.
Unfortunately, Yu Wan shot her down sharply, “Don’t casually give people nicknames. It’s rude.”
“Oh.” Quan Cige pouted, sulking. “Who’s the rude one here? You pull a sour face no matter what I say. Yu Wan, you really need to fix that bad habit of yours. Look, besides me and Qing-jie, who dares get close to you?”
Yu Wan lowered her gaze and nocked an arrow. “I’m your big sister.”
Quan Cige hated when she pulled the elder card. Impatiently, she asked, “So?”
“So you’re being disrespectful and joking about me—can’t I get mad?” As Yu Wan spoke, she drew the bow full, released, and the arrow flew straight and true into the bullseye.
Yu Wan was a cold person, even when angry in her own unique way. The calmer she appeared on the surface, the better she was holding it in.
Her anger flickered subtly, yet burned the hottest.
Quan Cige was speechless, defeated once again. Fuming silently, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out two tickets to hand over. “Tonight, you and her go on the Ferris wheel. I checked it out—the view from up top is great, no one to disturb you. Perfect for chatting.”
She’d noticed Yu Wan in a bad mood at lunch and had gently pried until she figured out why.
After splitting up with Yu Wan earlier, she’d thought of this solution and gone to scout it out.
Yu Wan didn’t take the tickets, just looked at her.
Quan Cige deflated, knowing it was deliberate. She persuaded, “Didn’t you say it yourself? You feel like she’s deliberately avoiding you. Maybe it’s just been too long since you’ve seen each other, and things feel awkward? Instead of guessing and frustrating yourself, why not just ask her directly?”
“I know. I’ll ask.” Yu Wan paused. “Keep the tickets for yourself.”
“Why?” Quan Cige’s worry was written all over her face. “Are you really mad?”
Yu Wan shook her head. “No.”
Quan Cige could be immature plenty of times; it wasn’t enough to truly anger her, let alone reject her to this extent.
Yu Wan pulled two Ferris wheel tickets from her pocket to show her. “I just won them.”
Stalls at tourist spots always had some gimmick—like the archery booth’s grand prize being two Ferris wheel ride vouchers. Cheap price, but high skill threshold.
Few won the big prize, but when Yu Wan nailed all ten arrows into the bullseye, the owner happily handed them over.
“Fine, fine.” Quan Cige realized no matter what she did, it was all for nothing—Yu Wan always had her own way.
She muttered two “fines” in frustration and shrank into herself.
“Thanks.” Yu Wan said it lightly and quickly.
Quan Cige thought she wasn’t sincere and huffed, unmoved.
But in the end, she still kindly reminded her, “Go easy when you ask your questions. Don’t scare her.”
“Got it.”
—
Camping officially started after dark, and once night fell, the campsite buzzed with unprecedented energy. The Ferris wheel lights came on, looking less out of place than during the day.
Tao Zhixing was generous as always, booking three single-person tents to avoid any awkwardness.
Fang Nianchen couldn’t last until dinner—she was so sleepy she nearly ascended and crawled into her tent early.
No one disturbed her, and she fell asleep quickly. About two hours later, she woke up groggily, reached for her phone, and saw a message that shook her to her core.
Yu Wan had messaged her an hour ago.
What really jolted her upright: Yu Wan was asking if she wanted to ride the Ferris wheel.
Honestly, Fang Nianchen had never been on one in her life. To her, it was just a vertical millstone, spinning people around and around. Why would Yu Wan like something like that?
No, shouldn’t she be wondering why Yu Wan was inviting her?
Sitting up too fast made her vision go black for a few seconds. She clutched her face in pain.
Her brain short-circuited; she felt like a total villain for not replying in an hour. Her way to make up for it? Agree immediately, without suspecting Yu Wan’s motives at all.
Freshly woken, her eyes radiated pure, foolish clarity—a state that lasted until she stepped into the cabin.
“I was sleeping just now and didn’t see your message.” Fang Nianchen didn’t need to explain why she hadn’t replied, since Yu Wan hadn’t asked.
But for some reason, she felt uneasy, afraid Yu Wan would think she was ignoring her on purpose.
Yu Wan sounded apologetic. “Sorry to disturb you.”
“No, if I sleep more, I won’t be able to tonight.” Fang Nianchen huddled in the corner, wishing she could squeeze herself into a crack in the door.
The space was too small, filled with Yu Wan’s presence. She didn’t even dare breathe deeply—she was suffocating.
The only sound in the cabin was the mechanical creak of the machinery.
After a brief silence, Yu Wan suddenly spoke. “I want to ask you something.”
“What?” Fang Nianchen hadn’t expected an “interrogation.”
“Lately, I’ve clearly felt you avoiding me, and you keep calling me Director this and Director that.” Yu Wan analyzed based on the situation for once. “Is it because I’m your boss now, and you feel distant from me?”
Was it?
The key wasn’t the answer, but what came after.
Yu Wan asking this meant she was dissatisfied with her behavior.
These were dead-end questions; turning them around might make her brain bleed. Fang Nianchen didn’t want to burden her mind further.
She simply played dumb. “It’s probably just been too long since we’ve seen each other. Last year when I first got back, I barely talked to Qiao Yan and the others too.”
Last year she’d returned to North City; half a year ago, she’d joined Yunqi. She’d just applied randomly—wherever accepted her, she went. No intent to get close to anyone.
“I get it.” Yu Wan nodded. “We haven’t seen each other in five years and haven’t kept in touch much.”
“I remember when we first met, you were always slow to warm up. It took almost half a year before we got close. So, how long will it take this time to adapt to our new identities?”
“Or rather, when will you stop being so afraid of me?”
When Yu Wan asked, a faint smile played at the corners of her mouth, but her straightforward gaze made Fang Nianchen unable to dodge it.
She thought that if the Ferris wheel hadn’t already risen halfway, she would’ve definitely opened the door and jumped right out.
Such pressing questions were too terrifying.
“I’ve already adapted.” Fang Nianchen stubbornly replied without the slightest hesitation. She felt she’d done great today.
She knew to hold off on blushing until she was far away.
“But by the river, when you were about to fall, I reached out to pull you—didn’t you dodge just a little?” Yu Wan coaxed her, recalling bit by bit.
It wasn’t that she lacked the strength; it was just this awkward, laborious dodge, like she was afraid of straining her waist.
“No, back then I couldn’t control—” Fang Nianchen still wanted to play tough, but when Yu Wan suddenly reached out, she panicked instantly, her body tilting back slightly.
Her words cut off as she took on a startled look, glancing at Yu Wan, then at her hand.
“See?” There was a hint of helplessness in Yu Wan’s eyes as she withdrew her probing hand, unable to suppress a low chuckle. “You’re still afraid of me. What’s really going on?”
Just then, the Ferris wheel reached the very top. Fang Nianchen waddled like a penguin, staring desperately at the sky.
She’d underestimated Yu Wan far too much.
Someone who could become a director was truly ruthless—slaying hearts without mercy.
