Chapter 6

“You… are you moving back in?”

The words stuck in Wen Qingyan’s throat. Restraint and shyness made it impossible for her to say such a thing.

Even with Si Nanyu hanging her head in dejection, she couldn’t shake Wen Qingyan’s resolve.

As far as she was concerned, Si Nanyu was unpredictable. Every time Wen Qingyan had softened, it had only given this person another chance to hurt her.

Take that Friday, before the street racing. Si Nanyu had wheedled and coaxed her way into Wen Qingyan’s room, been so sweet and intimate, only to brush her off and act cheeky the moment Wen Qingyan offered a few gentle reminders.

Her words hadn’t affected Si Nanyu in the slightest. She went racing the very next day anyway.

Wen Qingyan had been so disappointed in her that she couldn’t even be bothered to speak to her.

But she didn’t believe it. She didn’t believe Si Nanyu had simply lost her memories and become eighteen again.

Then… what did their ten years together even count for?

“Go take a bath. Don’t oversleep tomorrow.” Wen Qingyan reined in her emotions, said this one line to Si Nanyu, who still had her head lowered, and turned back to her own room.

She didn’t lie down. Instead she sat at the dressing table, staring blankly, her mind empty.

Nothing at all.

Only after a long while did she stir. Bending down, she rummaged through the lower shelf and pulled out a combination lockbox. She raised a hand and brushed gently across it, a trace of tenderness flashing through her eyes.

But the tenderness didn’t last. Wen Qingyan’s pupils contracted sharply, her gaze fixed on the ring finger of her left hand.

Aside from the faint mark left by a ring, it was bare.

Her ring was gone!

Wen Qingyan put the lockbox back where it belonged and opened the door with hurried, disordered steps. Before she could see clearly, she stumbled straight into a soft, damp embrace.

“Te… Teacher Wen!” Si Nanyu cried out in alarm, hands raised on either side of Wen Qingyan, not daring to move an inch.

Only after Wen Qingyan had steadied herself did Si Nanyu take a step back, cheeks flushed, and ask, “Teacher Wen, did you… drop this in the bathroom?”

Held in her hand was Wen Qingyan’s lost ring.

A platinum plain ring, simple and elegant in design.

Wen Qingyan had worn it for years, and no one had ever asked whether it was a wedding ring. But now Si Nanyu lifted her reddened face, eyes bright, and asked, “Is this… a wedding ring?”

Wen Qingyan’s face darkened. She was just about to accuse Si Nanyu of putting on an act when the girl mumbled another question: “Then where’s mine?”

That was like pouring oil on fire.

Wen Qingyan snatched the ring back, her voice cold as ice. “How would I know where you hid your ring?”

Hidden… where???

Si Nanyu lowered her head and looked at her own ring finger. Sure enough…

Completely clean, without a single mark, not the slightest sign it had ever held a ring. Nothing like Wen Qingyan’s finger.

She lifted her eyes to check Wen Qingyan’s hand, but Wen Qingyan shut the door without mercy.

Si Nanyu stood frozen at the doorway, hands covering her face, silently cursing herself. This is a sin!

What on earth was twenty-eight-year-old me doing???!!!

Si Nanyu went back to her room with one hand still half-covering her face.

When Wen Qingyan had opened the door, she’d caught a glimpse inside. This room was clearly less than half the size of the other one. A guest room.

And it was an absolute mess, stuff scattered everywhere.

None of it seemed particularly useful.

Si Nanyu wasn’t especially a neat freak, but even she found this level of chaos uncomfortable.

Especially since… she was living under the same roof as Wen Qingyan. How could twenty-eight-year-old her be this careless!

Disgusted with her older self yet again, Si Nanyu threw herself into tidying up.

Given her personality, cleaning the place wouldn’t actually take long. The problem was that she kept getting distracted by curious little things.

Figures and models, for instance, plus quite a few gadgets and musical instruments.

Si Nanyu genuinely loved this kind of stuff. But in her own understanding of herself, eighteen-year-old Si Nanyu could indulge freely, while twenty-eight-year-old Si Nanyu was supposed to be working hard and building a life. She was a person with a plan…

She would never have allowed herself to let playthings derail her ambitions.

And yet these “toys” filled half the room, leaving her utterly ashamed.

Then Wen Qingyan’s cool voice drifted in from the doorway: “Si Nanyu, stop playing around. You have work tomorrow.”

Wen Qingyan left as soon as she’d spoken. By the time Si Nanyu snapped out of it, opened the door, and asked what work she did, it was too late.

Wen Qingyan’s door was shut tight, and Si Nanyu didn’t dare knock.

After hesitating for a long while, she returned to her room, gave up on tidying, and went to sleep with a heart full of unease.

That night, she dreamed again, and the person in the dream was still Wen Qingyan.

Only this Wen Qingyan wasn’t the familiar-yet-stranger standing before her now, but the Wen Qingyan from right after she’d sent that confession text.

And to Si Nanyu’s complete shock, in the dream, Wen Qingyan had rejected her confession and even blocked her on WeChat!!!!

Si Nanyu woke up drenched in sweat. She looked around in a daze, desperately wishing she could go back to right after the Gaokao, so she could keep pursuing Wen Qingyan…!

So she ducked her head and burrowed back under the covers.

Falling back asleep after a shock like that was never easy, and Si Nanyu was no exception. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, until Wen Qingyan came to her.

“Si Nanyu, get up and have breakfast.”

The click of high heels sounded pleasant, and Wen Qingyan’s voice was a touch warmer than it had been last night.

Which was enough to restore Si Nanyu’s sanity.

Even if she did go back into that dream… there was no way she would actually go on pursuing Wen Qingyan again.

Because she was a coward!

She’d only dared to type out that confession text while drunk. Even if Wen Qingyan had rejected her, she would never have dared to… pester her afterward.

The thing was, right now Si Nanyu was dying to know whether Wen Qingyan really had rejected her like in the dream. And if she had, how on earth had the two of them ended up together?

The unknown made Si Nanyu lose her composure all over again.

After a quick wash, Si Nanyu came out and saw several takeout boxes on the table along with Wen Qingyan, who had nearly finished eating. Keeping her voice low, she asked, “Teacher Wen, about my text, did you re—”

Wen Qingyan didn’t register what she was saying. She was busy sending a WeChat voice message: “Teacher Yang, Si Nanyu has recovered. I’ve sent her the new class schedule.”

Si Nanyu: “!”

Class schedule???

Was she still in school???

With the conversation derailed like that, the question about the text got swallowed back down, and Si Nanyu’s mind switched tracks entirely, now full of thoughts about this class schedule.

By the time Wen Qingyan had put on her coat and was waiting for her, she was still battling her pumpkin congee.

She shoveled in a big mouthful, cleaned up the trash, then trotted over to Wen Qingyan’s side.

White shirt, black pants, hair in a ponytail. Si Nanyu’s outfit was fresh and crisp, practically identical to Wen Qingyan’s apart from the coat.

But this look made Wen Qingyan frown. The question slipped out before she could stop it: “Didn’t you hate this outfit more than anything?”

“Me? Hate it? How could I… I love it.” Si Nanyu looked down at herself, then over at Wen Qingyan.

The first real perk twenty-eight had given her was this: dressed in a professional outfit similar to Wen Qingyan’s, she finally didn’t look like a child wearing an adult’s clothes.

So she pushed back, then flashed Wen Qingyan a sweet smile.

The smile left Wen Qingyan dazed, and she dropped the whole question of whether Si Nanyu hated the outfit or loved it.

“Let’s go. You’re coming to work with me today.”

“After we get off, you’re picking up your car.”

Si Nanyu already knew what that car looked like by now. She really did like it. But since Wen Qingyan hadn’t looked happy bringing it up, she didn’t dare ask anything about the car, just followed quietly behind.

Only after they got off the elevator did she work up the nerve to ask, “Teacher Wen, I… what do I do for work now?”

Wen Qingyan glanced at her. “Music teacher.” Then she opened the car door and gestured for Si Nanyu to get in.

Si Nanyu didn’t move. Surprise crossed her face.

Astonishment that… she had become a teacher, of all things.

Wen Qingyan, however, had been accumulating impatience all morning, and let out a cold laugh.

Si Nanyu turned toward the sound, and the disbelief on her own face made Wen Qingyan feel a flicker of embarrassment.

She had no strength left to explain. Whatever she said, Wen Qingyan simply wouldn’t believe her.

Even the truth was hard for anyone to accept. But having Wen Qingyan look at her like that still hurt.

Her eyes stung. Unwilling to let Wen Qingyan see her like this, she squeezed her eyes shut hard, then went around to the other side to get in.

Wen Qingyan wasn’t paying her any attention at all, already climbing into the nearer door.

And then…

She saw Si Nanyu standing in front of the car door as if serving a punishment, head down, face red…

The window rolled down. Wen Qingyan adjusted her glasses and asked with a laugh, “What are you up to now?”

“I’m not up to anything.”

Si Nanyu’s voice was small, tinged with a trace of annoyance. Wen Qingyan knew her well and knew that this version of her rarely spoke to her like this anymore; normally it was all claws and barbs.

So she patiently asked again, “Then what’s wrong with you?”

That tone made Si Nanyu’s face flush as red as an apple. Hands clasped behind her back, she sputtered for a long moment before finally confessing, “I… I… I can’t find the door handle…!”