Chapter 58

It was almost nine o’clock, and Fang Nianchen was preparing to head home.

Yu Wan walked her to the door, her gaze drifting uncomfortably to the side of her body, not daring to look straight into her eyes.

The sincerity in her eyes was a scorching burn to the current her.

Even though she was still wearing a smile on her face: “Then I’ll be off. See you tomorrow.”

“Let me know when you get home,” Yu Wan instructed uneasily.

As autumn set in, it was completely dark before eight o’clock, and her place was quite a distance from Fang Nianchen’s home. It took ten minutes to walk to the subway station.

She had offered to see Fang Nianchen all the way to the subway station, but she’d been refused.

The reason was that Fang Nianchen felt even less reassured about her—especially after the incident last time, which made her feel that the neighborhood’s security was sorely lacking. Otherwise, how could someone with ill intentions like Chen Yuyang sneak in and nearly succeed?

Just thinking about it made her back run cold.

“Mm. Got it.” Fang Nianchen noticed she still wasn’t very happy. After hesitating for a moment, she silently raised her hand, looped it around her arm, and gently hugged her, softly saying, “I’ll tell you right away when I get back.”

Enveloped in warmth, Yu Wan’s heart thumped hard from her actions.

Her fingers stiffened slightly, but she slowly wrapped her arms around her waist, tightening the embrace as she buried her face in her shoulder.

Fang Nianchen had entered the role of lover much faster than she had imagined. Kisses and hugs—as long as they started once, she would do them openly the second and third times.

After gently and attentively noticing her emotions, she surprised her with this warmth.

Perhaps it was Shi Yumei’s call tonight that had hollowed out the strength she had painstakingly built up. Beneath the illusion, she was teetering on the edge of collapse.

Shi Yumei had found her so easily, bringing not only a body full of debts but also the debt collectors. Loan sharks were always dangerous and devoid of humanity—who knew what they might do.

Helpless, anxious.

Back then, when she learned that the wealthy merchant had been thrown in prison and Shi Yumei had racked up millions more in foreign debts, Yu Wan had felt the exact same way.

But at that time, she had been all alone, and her solitude had dulled her fear. It didn’t matter how it was for just one person.

But now was different.

Compared to Shi Yumei and the unknown dangers that were coming, she seemed more worried that Fang Nianchen would leave her because of all these messy trivialities.

Her heart was filled with unease; there had never been a moment more confused than now. Her only thought was to hold tightly onto Fang Nianchen, to feel her presence.

To let her know that, at least at this moment, she still possessed her.

“Can I… not leave tonight?” Fang Nianchen asked softly.

When alone, it was inevitable to overthink. Those struggles in the dead of night were all too familiar to her.

This hug felt too much like clutching desperately onto something, and she could sense it, so she was reluctant to leave. She didn’t want to let Yu Wan digest these negative emotions alone.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Yu Wan; she just had a premonition that she needed her very much right now.

Sure enough, Yu Wan mumbled, “Is that okay?”

“What about the little cat and dog at your place? Is it okay if you don’t go back to them?”

“Don’t worry about them. I filled up their food and water this morning. It’d be fine even if I didn’t go back for three days, let alone just one night.” Fang Nianchen patted her lightly in a soothing manner. “I’ll go to work with you tomorrow morning.”

With that, she cheekily added, “Hitch a ride with President Yu.”

Yu Wan finally smiled. “Okay…”

With permission granted, Fang Nianchen took off her shoes again and went back inside to change into pajamas.

Little Briquette, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about why she had come and gone again. It was completely captivated by a can of food, paying no attention whatsoever to the two-legged creature in the house.

After washing up, Yu Wan carried her laptop to the dining table to handle some work.

At the end of the month, Yu Wan’s overtime hours were still within reasonable limits. Fang Nianchen didn’t presume on her “girlfriend” status to disturb her. Instead, she sat in the living room reading a book, staying perfectly still to minimize her presence.

Yu Wan had something on her mind, and it was obvious she wasn’t focused while working; she paused to think far more often than usual.

Whenever the regular sound of keystrokes by her ear stopped, Fang Nianchen would shift her gaze to look at her.

She realized she was getting a bit impatient. Ever since earlier, her heart had been restless from not knowing what Yu Wan was hiding.

But she shouldn’t be.

Senior had said to give her some more time, and she would tell her herself.

But…

She somewhat hated the feeling of things slipping out of her control.

The nth time Yu Wan stopped and sank into a long bout of contemplation, Fang Nianchen walked over to the dining table.

Seeing her approach, Yu Wan glanced sideways. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just taking a look.”

Yu Wan smiled. “What’s so interesting about this?”

The screen was filled with dense lines of text—enough to give anyone a headache just looking at it.

“I’m just curious what you do at work every day.” Fang Nianchen pulled out a chair nearby and sat down, scooting closer to her. “Will it bother you?”

“Nope.” Yu Wan propped her chin on her hand as she looked at her. “But my work is pretty boring.”

“There’s no such thing as non-boring work in the world.”

“There is.” Yu Wan watched her serious expression, like that of an older worker worn down by the job, and chuckled. “You’re still young. Later on, you can think about switching to a job you actually like.”

Like? What even counted as “like”?

She didn’t even know what she liked.

Fang Nianchen’s gaze suddenly dimmed for a moment, but it was only an instant before it brightened again. “We’ll talk about that later. I don’t hate my current job.”

After Fang Nianchen sat beside her, Yu Wan surprisingly found herself much more focused. She stopped dwelling on random thoughts, and her work wrapped up quickly.

Turning her head, she saw Fang Nianchen staring intently at the computer screen, looking as if she were afraid to miss a single word.

Seeing her so serious, Yu Wan couldn’t help but smile. “Are you actually interested in this?”

“It’s alright…” In truth, Fang Nianchen had always resisted things like business, even though she herself had majored in commerce.

Qingyuan University’s business program was one of the top in the country, and a large portion of graduates went on to inherit family companies—Xiao Ning’an was one of them.

Though this kind of worry-free life of fine clothes and good food made many envious, it came with plenty of restrictions.

Xiao Ning’an always thought that facing those rigid shareholders at the company and handling all sorts of big and small matters was the most boring job in the world. Over time, even she would end up turning as hypocritical and repulsive as they were.

Fang Nianchen rarely agreed with Xiao Ning’an’s views, but on this point, they saw eye to eye.

Just thinking about stepping into that field meant inevitably losing herself made her feel utter terror.

Yu Wan closed her laptop. “I just realized you have potential to be a boss. You were basically supervising me just now.”

A very rigid and strict boss at that.

So Yu Wan jokingly called her “President Fang,” though it was hard to imagine her in a suit, looking all stern—it didn’t match her image at all.

Likewise, Fang Nianchen wasn’t used to the title either. She bashfully lowered her head and mumbled softly, “Are you done?”

“All done. Let’s go to bed.” Yu Wan stood up, patted her head, and headed to the bedroom.

Fang Nianchen followed behind her. Only when they got to the bedroom did she realize that Little Briquette had beaten them to the bed.

The last time it peed on the bed, Yu Wan had flown into a rage and given it a thorough scolding. For a long while after, Little Briquette hadn’t dared to get on the bed again.

But Little Briquette was boldly impudent by nature. After pretending for just a few days, it started acting up again, and no one could do anything about it.

So Yu Wan got into bed and scooped it onto her lap to nest there, making space for Fang Nianchen.

The two lay side by side on the bed, the night quiet and serene.

Yu Wan rolled over to face Fang Nianchen directly, resting her hand on her waist and drawing closer, pulling her into her arms.

With her embrace filled with reassurance, she finally let out a breath and temporarily settled down.

“Good night,” Yu Wan said.

“Good night,” Fang Nianchen softly replied. After a pause, she gently kissed her forehead. “Sweet dreams.”

This was the phrase she had most wanted to say to Yu Wan after every “good night” before.

“Hmph…” Yu Wan’s laughter was light and cheerful, very close to her—like a feather brushing over her collar, warm breath scattering across her collarbone.

Fang Nianchen was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Wan looked up and returned a kiss on her chin. “I think you’re a bit too good at this. Is this really your first relationship?”

“Really…?” Fang Nianchen said helplessly. “You don’t believe me?”

Couldn’t she understand that Fang Nianchen was just born with a lot of romantic cells?

“I believe you—” Yu Wan drew out her tone and patted her. “Go to sleep.”

She believed that Fang Nianchen wouldn’t deceive her.

Embracing each other, the temperature under the covers was comfortable, and they had a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, the two went to the company together. When they were still a few hundred meters away from the Yunqi building, Fang Nianchen wanted to get out of the car.

In her words, this was the morning rush hour for work, and the chance of running into colleagues was very high.

The scene from last time when they ate breakfast together had been chaotic enough, and Qiao Yan had even taken a photo. This was a special period, and she didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

Yu Wan understood her concerns and agreed to let her out of the car.

Once at the company, the sweetness and stability from last night were swept away by the mountain of piled-up work.

In the office, Secretary Cao was reporting work to her. Yu Wan listened while unconsciously flipping open her phone to check.

Fortunately, her mother hadn’t called yet, which meant she hadn’t arrived in North City.

She didn’t know when Shi Yumei would come. Not seeing her had instead become the main reason making her restless.

“President Yu?” Secretary Cao called her softly.

Yu Wan finally shifted her gaze from the phone. “Mm.”

“You’re going to Hua City next Tuesday for a week. I’ve already booked the tickets. See if there’s anything else you need me to prepare?”

Yu Wan was silent for a moment before speaking. “No need. What time is the flight?”

“Afternoon, so you’ll arrive just in time for dinner and can rest up before working.” After Secretary Cao finished, she noticed reluctance on her face for the first time. “What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t expected to be separated from Fang Nianchen so soon, and for a whole week at that. Though she knew it was work and couldn’t be pushed off, she still felt a bit down.

“I got it.” Yu Wan lowered her eyes. “Go ahead with your work.”

Secretary Cao gave her a worried glance before leaving silently.

After work that evening, with no word from Shi Yumei all day, Yu Wan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Nianchen had messaged her in advance, saying she would head home early to cook.

Seeing the message, Yu Wan teasingly replied that she didn’t feel like she was in a relationship—instead, it was like she’d hired a nanny auntie to cook every day.

Fang Nianchen righteously replied once again with “I want to.”

Truth be told, Yu Wan found it hard to accept these favors with peace of mind. Fang Nianchen’s job wasn’t any easier than hers—in fact, it was even more tiring when busy.

She thought that when she had free time, she would definitely make it up to Fang Nianchen properly.

When she got home, the house was once again filled with the mouthwatering aroma of food. Fang Nianchen was sitting at the dining table with her back to her. Seeing her come in, she stood up and rushed over at lightning speed.

Yu Wan had just changed her shoes and stood up when she saw her face right in front of her, startling her.

But she immediately laughed. “What are you doing?”

Fang Nianchen didn’t speak at first. She pulled one hand out from behind her back and held it up in front of her. “Welcome home!”

On Fang Nianchen’s hand was a brown little dog hand puppet, with a streak of white fur in the middle of its face, looking all fluffy.

Yu Wan smiled and pointed at the little dog as she asked her, “What’s this?”

“This is the Happiness-Detecting Little Dog. It can smell unhappiness on you.”

Her voice was higher-pitched than usual, as if deliberately matching the hand puppet, dubbing it.

The sudden childishness made Yu Wan unable to stop laughing. Her eyes narrowed as she played along. “Then sniff me. Am I happy now?”

Fang Nianchen held up the little dog hand puppet, her fingers twitching slightly so the dog’s paws opened and closed, nimbly moving right up to her.

Fang Nianchen squatted down and then stood up, scanning her from bottom to top. “Report: The little dog detects that you’re very happy right now!”

Yu Wan patted the little dog’s head as a reward. “You’re so awesome.”

“But…” Fang Nianchen held up the little dog hand puppet, maneuvering it to bow its head slightly. “The little dog thinks you weren’t very happy before you came in.”

“So the little dog wants to ask, what made you unhappy?”

Suddenly meeting Fang Nianchen’s eyes, Yu Wan froze for a moment.

The smile on her face unconsciously faded, and she tiredly withdrew the hand that had been petting the little dog’s head.

“No, I was happy all day.” Yu Wan forced a relaxed smile.

Was that really true?

Fang Nianchen opened her mouth, wanting to say more.

“I’m starving. Can we eat now?” There was a hint of coquettishness in Yu Wan’s words.

“Of course.” In the end, she couldn’t ask. The hand in the puppet dropped. “Go wash your hands first. I’ll serve the rice.”

“Okay.” Yu Wan turned, but then seemed to remember something and turned back. Cupping her face, she pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “This is the reward for detecting my happiness today.”

Before she could recover from the sudden kiss, Yu Wan had gone into the bathroom, closed the door, and turned on the light.

Fang Nianchen stood in the entryway, dazed for a few seconds. She took off the hand puppet and set it aside, her fingers gently touching the spot Yu Wan had kissed.

A reward, huh…

At least, her reward was sweet.