Chapter 34

The shop selling scented candles wasn’t large, but the warm yellow lighting gave it a luxurious feel.

Floral and herbal scents jostled and blended together in various notes.

Not as bold as perfume, they released their aromas subtly. The scents wafted over unhurriedly, delivering molecules in an orderly fashion.

Fang Nianchen paused in front of a row of floral and fruity scented candles, bending down to identify the familiar fragrance.

Daisy and lime—an improbable pairing, one serene, the other overly vibrant. Just thinking about it made her tongue tingle sourly.

“This one’s interesting; it smells like champagne when lit.” Yin Chi nudged her with an elbow. “Buy this one, buy this one. It’ll definitely be unique.”

Fang Nianchen glanced at her. “No.”

Not everyone was a booze hound like her. Besides, anything remotely boozy just gave off a dizzying vibe.

“Then what are you getting her?” Yin Chi peeked over. It was all lavender, guava, lemon. “These scents are so cliché.”

At least to her, they just evoked the bathroom of a five-star hotel.

“It’s fine.” Fang Nianchen picked one up. It was pricey—she’d never splurge on it for herself—but as a gift for Yu Wan, she wasn’t stingy. “How about this? Daisy and lemon.”

Ordinary, but not ordinary enough to be overlooked.

“Whatever.” Yin Chi felt this kid was getting less obedient by the day. Unhappily, she asked, “Just hers? What about mine?”

Fang Nianchen knew her birthday, but Yin Chi herself never celebrated it.

Yin Chi could only find excuses during normal times to shower her with gifts. That umbrella had been forcefully shoved into Fang Nianchen’s hands right before they parted last time. A long-handled one from a renowned British artisan, not cheap at all. She didn’t care about the money, but thinking about how this little rascal had never given her a proper gift while being so attentive to others made her feel unbalanced.

“Isn’t your birthday not until next month?”

“Does that mean I can’t have a gift if it’s not my birthday?” Yin Chi shot back, unceremoniously picking up the scented candle she’d eyed earlier. “This one.”

Fang Nianchen pretended to wince at the price. “So expensive…”

“Cut it out. This one’s way cheaper than the one in your hand, and they’re doing a discount for buying two today.” Yin Chi thought to herself, how had she turned so stingy?

“Then buy two for yourself, same ones.”

“Hey?” Yin Chi was pissed off and raised her hand as if to swat her, threatening, “I’ll knock you out today and sleep with you myself. Same difference.”

Of course, she wouldn’t actually hit her. Fang Nianchen still played along, stepping back half a pace, finally unable to hold back her laughter. “Alright, alright, I’ll buy it for you. I was just teasing.”

She wasn’t that stingy. Yin Chi’s request wasn’t over the top, especially since her birthday was next month.

Fang Nianchen nodded with a smile, and only then did Yin Chi realize her heartbroken-over-money miser act had been fake. Just as she thought—she couldn’t possibly be stingy.

Sneaky little punk.

The mood livened up. Yin Chi suddenly felt great and circled around to her side to pick a gift box for the candles, glancing at her profile. “Little brat, who’d you learn that from?”

“From you.”

“As if.” Yin Chi reached out to ruffle her hair, using a bit of force as punishment. She’d wanted to do that for a while.

“What are you doing…” Fang Nianchen quickly slipped out from under her hand, disgruntledly combing through her messed-up hair. “You ruined it.”

“Serves you right.”

After checkout, Yin Chi drove her home and rolled down the window. “I’m mainly here in North City for work this time, won’t stay long. Latest by next Friday, I’ll be gone. You’ve been behaving lately, and I’ll be super busy next, no time to come find you.”

Fang Nianchen nodded obediently. “Okay.”

“You can’t even try to keep me here? Who knows when we’ll meet next.” Yin Chi was dissatisfied, then suddenly remembered something. “Did you know your family’s branch opened in the UK? The operations there are handled by a professional manager now, and they have collaborations with our family projects.”

It had been over a year since she’d contacted home, so Fang Nianchen naturally didn’t know. She shook her head.

“I’ll definitely meet your parents later, but just so we’re clear, I won’t mention you’re in North City. If they find you, don’t suspect me.” Yin Chi gave her a heads-up to prevent overthinking.

“Of course not. I know what kind of person you are.” Fang Nianchen said as she turned to leave. “I’ll head in now. Tell me before you go, and I’ll see you off.”

“That’s more like it.”

Fang Nianchen only went upstairs after Yin Chi’s car left. As soon as she entered, she placed the purchased scented candle on the shoe cabinet.

She had just bent down to change shoes when Pan-fried Dumpling charged over, nearly knocking her down.

Fang Nianchen simply sat on the floor with the momentum, cupping its face and giving it a rub.

Pan-fried Dumpling, like all the stray cats at home, had developed the good habit of not making a fuss. It was excessively quiet. Bad moods took root in the silence, bearing fruit that quickly fell to the ground.

Yin Chi said she was enjoying the process of secret love.

Fang Nianchen wondered: Was she really enjoying the secret love process?

A little, maybe.

At least liking an outstanding person forced her to become outstanding too, so she could stand confidently beside her.

The floor was cold, so Fang Nianchen only sat for a moment before getting up to wash up in the bathroom.

After tidying up, she solemnly placed the scented candle on the bookshelf.

This was a gift for Yu Wan and had to be treated with care until handed over.

Just past nine, Fang Nianchen’s eyelids grew heavy. Two consecutive nights of insomnia over the weekend had worn her out, and the beer only amplified her drowsiness—she couldn’t resist.

Lying in bed, the room pitch black. She felt a few cats come over, jumping onto the bed and snuggling beside her. Cozy and reassuring.

But Yin Chi’s words suddenly popped into her mind: that she was an exquisite egoist. And what else?

Battling sleepiness, Fang Nianchen painfully rummaged through her memories.

Oh, Yin Chi had also said that if Yu Wan confessed first, she’d immediately back off.

Back off? What did that mean? And why?

Why…

Her consciousness blurred more and more. She fell asleep before figuring it out.

She was too exhausted and slept deeply. The next morning, the alarm woke her, but everything she’d pondered before sleep was completely forgotten.

It was like someone had scooped out a chunk of her brain—empty and hollow. She sat on the bed lost in thought for half the morning before realizing it was a waste of time. If she couldn’t remember, it probably wasn’t important.

Over the next few days, Qiao Yan stopped chatting with her. They’d just nod in greeting, likely because the awkwardness from that conversation hadn’t faded.

Some things said too plainly, thinking they’d resolve issues, only made them more complicated. Like Jenga—pulling out one block and making the already unstable structure wobble.

This week, on the contrary, Shen Yi came to her every day with work questions, and Fang Nianchen patiently answered them all. Her patience had much to do with her upcoming department transfer.

By week’s end, news of her transfer had basically spread.

Xiang Xiaoyun sighed “what a pity” a few times in front of her but didn’t pry into the reason for her “departure,” afraid of overstepping and angering her again.

Fang Nianchen was quite satisfied with her current approach—at least she knew to keep her distance.

On Friday afternoon, Qiao Yan bought milk tea for Fang Nianchen to ease things.

“Thanks.” Fang Nianchen took it, knowing she had something to say, and waited quietly.

“Good thing you’re just transferring departments, not quitting. We can still see each other.” Qiao Yan sat beside her, cradling her milk tea. “The planning department folks are all older; they might bully newbies. If you get wronged, tell me—your sis has your back.”

“How? Beat them all up?”

“Nah, I’d lose in a fight.” Qiao Yan was clever. “As the saying goes, if bullied, find the parent. I’ll tell Bodhisattva Yu to stand up for you.”

“Sure.” Fang Nianchen knew she was joking. What era was this? Still playing office politics? Work was tiring enough.

Fang Nianchen cleaned her desk spotless and glanced at Quan Cige’s signed photo in the corner—just extra baggage she had no intention of taking.

Plus, knowing Quan Cige was Yu Wan’s blood sister, keeping her photo felt inexplicably awkward.

“Want this?” Fang Nianchen picked up the frame and asked Qiao Yan. Come to think of it, Qiao Yan had given her the frame.

“You’re giving away Quan Cige’s signed photo? I saw online someone offering thousands for it.” Qiao Yan couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning the photo’s potential value. In her eyes, no fool would give away money for free.

But since it was Fang Nianchen saying it, it suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.

“I’m not her fan, so keeping it isn’t useful. Didn’t you chase her dramas for a while before?” Fang Nianchen stuck to her usual line of disinterest and dislike.

Qiao Yan shook her head. “Forget it.”

Suddenly, she remembered that Xiang Xiaoyun was a die-hard fan of Quan Cige. “Why don’t you give it to Xiang Xiaoyun? Last time Quan Cige came to the company to record a show, she got pulled into a meeting and couldn’t go to the scene. She was so depressed she nearly cried.”

When Xiang Xiaoyun came back from the meeting and heard that Quan Cige had already left, she looked utterly dejected, like she’d lost her soul. It was truly pitiful.

That works too.

Fang Nianchen thought about the knot between her and Xiang Xiaoyun. If it wasn’t resolved, would it turn into something like what happened between her and Qiao Yan that day?

Just thinking about it made her feel there were too many uncontrollable factors. She had always hated things slipping out of her control.

Xiang Xiaoyun’s workstation was near the door, a high-risk zone for slacking off, but Fang Nianchen figured since today was her last day working here, she had no qualms.

Xiang Xiaoyun was furtively scrolling on her phone under some documents, not noticing Fang Nianchen approach until she spoke up, startling her so much she nearly jumped out of her seat.

“It’s you…” Xiang Xiaoyun patted her chest in lingering fear. “What’s up?”

“Here, for you.” Fang Nianchen had zero intention of telling her the story behind the signed photo. Too much hassle.

“Huh?” Sure enough, just as Qiao Yan said, Xiang Xiaoyun’s eyes lit up when she saw Quan Cige in the photo and the signature beside it. She looked at Fang Nianchen. “For me?”

Her eyes were full of disbelief.

“Really?” Xiang Xiaoyun’s sense of propriety chose the worst moment to kick in. “Really giving it to me? Why aren’t you keeping it?”

“Qiao Yan said you like Teacher Quan. I think you need it more than I do.”

“Oh my god… Then what can I give you in exchange?” Xiang Xiaoyun started rummaging through her desk as she spoke, but it was piled high with documents and scrap paper—nothing useful at all.

No luck, so Xiang Xiaoyun simply asked, “Do you like any celebrities? What about Jin Ai? I have her signed photo. We can trade.”

Fang Nianchen smiled and declined. “No need. I don’t have any favorite celebrities.”

“Then let me give you something else.” Xiang Xiaoyun couldn’t contain her excitement and started chattering away at her. “Oh my god, you have no idea how much I like her. My ex-girlfriend was her fan too, but she works at the hospital and is even busier than me. We wage slaves never had time for Xiao Ge’s various events.”

“If she knew I got Xiao Ge’s autograph, she’d die of jealousy?” Xiang Xiaoyun muttered to herself, nodding smugly. “Definitely. She’d be so sour!”

“Xiao Chen, thank you so much. Really, thank you!”

Xiang Xiaoyun was so thrilled she was gesturing wildly. That was fine, but the words “ex-girlfriend” caught Fang Nianchen’s attention.

Her sensitivity to the topic made her forget to hold back for a moment, and she actually asked, “You… ex-girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” Xiang Xiaoyun didn’t dodge at all. “I’m a lesbian. So what?”

The sudden coming-out was explosive. Fang Nianchen’s mind went blank, and she suddenly had no idea what to say.

After a long pause, she tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Ah, oh…”

Her awkward smile slipped out, and she realized her reaction was a bit off.

“What’s wrong? You too?” Xiang Xiaoyun’s old habit flared up again. Fang Nianchen’s sudden friendliness, combined with the Quan Cige signed photo, had her so excited she was beside herself. She forgot to hold back and forgot Fang Nianchen’s sensitivity about “privacy.”

In the end, sexual orientation was still a pretty private matter in today’s society.

“I… no.” Fang Nianchen’s hands clenched nervously as she tried to act serious, her throat tight. “I’m straight… straight girl.”

She didn’t want to talk about liking girls, and she had no intention of letting her know.

“Huh? Did I get it wrong? Is my gaydar broken?” Xiang Xiaoyun fell into self-doubt, propping her head and racking her brains. “That shouldn’t be…”

She thought Fang Nianchen was gay.

Super gay. Not just the usual style of dress, but the vibe she gave off.

Right, her eyes—that casual aloofness wasn’t something straight girls had!

Xiang Xiaoyun eyed Fang Nianchen suspiciously again. “You really…”

She wanted to ask if Fang Nianchen was really straight?

But with one glance, she saw Director Yu standing right behind Fang Nianchen. No idea when she’d arrived—completely silent.

Like a ghost!

Xiang Xiaoyun was so scared she nearly bit her tongue.

Caught by the boss twice in a row, she felt socially dead. More importantly, both times it was with Fang Nianchen.

Fang Nianchen was leaving, but she still had to stay here. She had no idea what mood Director Yu was in today—would she make an example out of her?

Xiang Xiaoyun was full of anxiety, focused entirely on self-preservation, and didn’t even think that Fang Nianchen was the one in real danger right now.

“I’m really straight.” Under her scrutiny, Fang Nianchen felt inexplicably nervous and took a step back, only to feel like she’d bumped into something.

She turned slowly and saw who was standing behind her.

Straight girl… no, Director Yu.

Suddenly, Fang Nianchen’s mind felt like it had been cleaved in two with a single stroke. Half was still brainstorming how to convince Xiang Xiaoyun of her “straight girl” status.

The other half froze upon seeing Yu Wan, shattering into tiny shards that pricked at her scalp.

Yu Wan glanced at her and said indifferently, “You’re stepping on my foot.”