Chapter 50 Part 4

Yu Wan shook her head lightly. “I’m fine.”

“Then let’s head back quick and get some early sleep.”

At the hotel entrance, seeing no one following, Yu Wan stopped. “You go ahead.”

“Huh?” Secretary Cao was puzzled. “Then how will you get back?”

“Someone else is picking me up.”

“Who?” Secretary Cao asked, then saw she didn’t seem eager to say and shut up. “Want me to wait with you?”

“No need.” Yu Wan shook her head in refusal.

She was afraid she couldn’t get hold of the person and end up looking pathetic in front of her.

Secretary Cao knew her limits and didn’t pry, though she glanced back every few steps before getting into a taxi by the road soon after.

The surroundings quieted. Yu Wan sniffed, enduring the churning in her stomach, and sat on a step. She gazed at the night sky and took a deep breath.

Sure enough, she still preferred daytime.

Daytime had sun and clouds—everything bright. Not like the gloomy night, full of worries.

These past few days on the business trip had sunny skies every day, but her mood hadn’t improved much.

If she had to pinpoint a reason, it was definitely that Fang Nianchen hadn’t taken the initiative to contact her.

She’d even told her she could call anytime.

Had she not made it clear enough?

Maybe she should’ve said: Call me, because when I’m bored, I think of you.

Since they met, if she didn’t seek out Fang Nianchen, Fang Nianchen wouldn’t appear in her sight—or worse, she’d get scared and hide.

Actually, Yu Wan had been vaguely unhappy for a while.

Not for any other reason—just grumbling that Fang Nianchen couldn’t be more proactive?

That small dissatisfaction had finally swelled at the hospital entrance after getting an unsatisfactory answer.

In an instant, it exploded.

Fang Nianchen said she’d never even imagined it.

Why couldn’t she imagine it?

After drinking, her mind was full of Fang Nianchen. When she felt bad, she thought of her and wanted to see her even more.

Drunk, her thoughts were unusually sensitive, her emotions abundant.

On a whim from who-knows-where, she dialed the number. No answer.

Of course—nowadays, people didn’t just keep phone numbers for calling others. WeChat was used more.

Plus, it’d been so long; maybe Fang Nianchen had changed her number.

Yu Wan let out a long sigh.

She properly made a WeChat call this time, and the other side picked up right away.

“Hello?”

Hearing that familiar voice, Yu Wan just grinned foolishly, forgetting to reply for a moment.

Until Fang Nianchen patiently asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m at the Guancheng Hotel.” Yu Wan paused. “I drank and can’t drive. Can you come pick me up?”

No hesitation on the other end. “Right away.”

The call ended. Yu Wan clutched her phone, covered her flushed face, then smiled happily.

Great, she didn’t get rejected.

Tonight, heaven was in a good mood, sending rain after days—pouring harder, the cooler temperature refreshing.

Midway, hotel staff came out to ask if she needed help. Yu Wan refused with a light smile.

She said, “Someone’s coming to pick me up.”

She didn’t know where Fang Nianchen was rushing from, but the wait felt endless—strangely, knowing she’d definitely come kept her from getting impatient.

It was deep night, only the sound of raindrops on leaves.

Yu Wan reached out to catch them—rain on skin didn’t hurt, just a tingling numbness.

She could feel it: Fang Nianchen did care about her.

If not, why rush to rescue her?

If not, how could she bear to refuse every request?

But why… did she always react like that to her tests?

At least, cold beyond expectation.

Was it shyness? Or dodging her aggressiveness?

Yu Wan thought scientists’ study of human nature was laughably superficial. People’s thoughts branched into countless possibilities—combinations more than genes.

Humans, made of such complex structures, couldn’t be explained by science.

What about philosophers? Hordes delved into the heart, only to drive themselves mad.

The approaching car from afar, its headlights drawing near, snapped her out of her thoughts.

Yu Wan had a premonition: the person inside was Fang Nianchen.

Watching her draw closer stirred inexplicable emotions.

She hadn’t been rejected, hadn’t lost her—yet she truly didn’t know what to do.

Keep whitewashing peace, pretending nothing happened like before?

She wasn’t content with that.

—

Fang Nianchen sat in the taxi. As she arrived at the hotel entrance, she spotted a dark silhouette from afar and knew it was Yu Wan.

She paid the fare and got out of the car, opened her umbrella without delay, and practically ran all the way here. Her pant legs were soaked through, dripping wet.

But she didn’t care much.

She was slightly out of breath from running, her voice laced with anxiety as she asked, “Did she drink a lot?”

Yu Wan looked up at her, unsure how drunk she was—her gaze unfocused—but she was still stubborn on her lips. “Didn’t drink much.”

With that, she tried to stand, but her feet slipped, and she swayed. Fang Nianchen hurriedly supported her.

And this was supposed to be “not much”?

She usually hated those meaningless drinking culture rituals the most, and today, she even wanted to throw those potbellied, greasy men into wooden barrels and seal them up, letting them drink their fill.

Fang Nianchen anxiously cautioned her, “Take it slow, don’t fall.”

“I’m fine.” Yu Wan borrowed her strength to stand straight but wouldn’t let her keep holding on.

Fang Nianchen’s hand was just loosely on her arm, and she easily shook it off with little effort. Once she stood steady this time, she let out a long breath to stay calm.

But Fang Nianchen’s hand never dropped, always ready to catch her.

Only when Yu Wan’s gaze flicked over did she withdraw it and stand properly.

Unexpectedly, Yu Wan admitted to being drunk. “Maybe I did drink a bit too much…”

Seeing she still had some sober awareness, Fang Nianchen smiled helplessly, calling this sober intoxication.

Not completely drunk—just waiting for the right moment to be.

“Sometimes when you drink too much, it’s not the alcohol’s fault; it’s the person’s,” Yu Wan said solemnly, educating her. “Maybe that person was in a bad mood.”

Her alcohol tolerance wasn’t bad; it was just that with her worries weighing on her, she drank too quickly, making herself feel awful.

“In a bad mood… because of me?” On the way here, Fang Nianchen had been mulling over what Yin Chi had told her, and now suddenly singled out, her heart burned.

She hadn’t done anything wrong.

She had once tasted the bitterness of unreciprocated anticipation—sour, stifling.

Back then, she was the thorough victim, holding a grudge pathetically for so many years… though it wasn’t that deep.

Just that memory unreasonably highlighted that experience in red, and countless inexplicable grievances at night stemmed from it.

The world’s myriad causes and effects cycled without pattern—the only rule being there were no rules.

So she, unknowingly, had used excessive rationality and calm that others found annoying to drown Yu Wan’s cautious probes, stirring up her passionate heart only to toss it into an ice-filled pool.

Fleeting as a wisp of smoke, scattered by the wind—pitifully faint.

It gave her a bit of that “the dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon” déjà vu.

So Yu Wan having the same thought, and her little retaliation, was just doing what she herself had once wanted to do but hadn’t dared.

Yu Wan didn’t answer directly. Instead, she glared at her with those misty eyes.

The stubbornness in her gaze grew thicker—the more restrained, the more aggrieved.

“What do you think?” Yu Wan’s voice was moistened by the rain. “Who do you think is the person I care about most?”

Perhaps the rain had intensified; the wind restlessly teased the umbrella, making her voice tremble.

Fang Nianchen thought she looked thinly dressed and must be cold.

She handed her the umbrella and took off her own jacket to drape over Yu Wan.

Yu Wan silently accepted the care, then grabbed her hand and pressed it to her shoulder, refusing to let go. She insisted stubbornly, “You have to answer.”

President Yu was throwing a tantrum.

Of course—who could stand someone so evasive as herself? Without pushing, there’d be no getting the answer she wanted.

Her cold hand warmed in the other’s grasp. Fang Nianchen lowered her head and smiled faintly.

“It’s me.”

“The person you care about most is me, right?”

She hadn’t drunk, so her mind was clear, yet in that clarity, there was a lightness.

The kind of “care” she hoped for.

At this point, she couldn’t let herself think these words were just a joke or teasing anymore.

Friends wouldn’t feel this way, wouldn’t desperately want the other to realize that in their heart, she was the most important, the most special existence.

Sure enough, Yu Wan gripped her hand tighter and nodded.

The downpour wasn’t suitable for chatting.

Fang Nianchen took the umbrella from her hand. “Where’s your car parked?”

Yu Wan released her hand, her mood sinking. “Back there.”

Unexpectedly, hearing this, Fang Nianchen took her hand and pulled her toward the parking lot.

Shocked, in the instant she was grabbed, she instinctively tried to pull back.

Fang Nianchen didn’t let her, holding firm. “I have something to ask you.”

She had something to ask, but she wouldn’t say it right away.

Fang Nianchen led Yu Wan to the parking lot.

But Yu Wan couldn’t hold back first. “What do you want to ask?”

Fang Nianchen was silent for a moment. “You haven’t come to find me all week.”

Once the words were out, it wasn’t a question—it was a certain, faintly accusatory statement.

“You didn’t tell me anything.” And now she was bossing her around—capitalism exploiting people couldn’t be much worse.

Yu Wan carefully pondered her words and concluded, “I didn’t chat with you, didn’t tell you I was on a business trip… You’re mad?”

It wasn’t a wild guess; there was an uncharacteristic sullenness in Fang Nianchen’s tone.

“Mm… Not really mad, just a bit worried.” Fang Nianchen reached out to steady the car frame, shielding her head so she wouldn’t bump it.

“Worried?” Drunk, Yu Wan was a bit slow, repeating the last two words.

“Yeah. Worried you hated me, didn’t want to talk to me anymore.” It wasn’t as hard as she’d imagined; the words came out smoothly.

It was more like coming tonight was precisely to say this.

Facing the known truth largely dispelled her anxiety.

Yu Wan settled safely into the car. Fang Nianchen breathed a slight sigh of relief, leaning down to help buckle her seatbelt.

The car interior was dimly lit; she couldn’t see where the buckle slot was.

Fang Nianchen leaned in further, enveloping Yu Wan entirely.

Warmth pressed close, and Yu Wan’s heart gradually warmed. Fang Nianchen had a reassuring scent, more soothing than a vast clear sky.

Looking at her focused profile, she recalled that afternoon when the little rascal had circled around casually just to be called back for the meeting.

Yu Wan knew full well that Fang Nianchen had lingered so long hoping she’d call her back.

Her little schemes were too easy to read—not something you’d bear to expose.

Yu Wan teased her for being foolish but couldn’t help indulging her.

That serious profile from that afternoon had captivated her. Just like now.

In the hazy light, she wondered if some decisions could be different?

After buckling it, Fang Nianchen started to straighten up but felt her collar tugged.

“Hm?” A soft hum from her nose, patiently asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t be mad…” Yu Wan’s voice was soft and sensual. “I don’t hate you.”

Tugging her collar, she leaned close to her ear. “I’ve always liked you.”