Chapter 58 Part 1

Meng Ning had thought that Wen Zenian stayed for breakfast to talk things over—to decide whether she should stay or leave.

Staying would be a torment for both her and Wen Zenian.

But leaving? Whether out of fondness or resentment, Wen Zenian probably wouldn’t let her slip away so easily.

Meng Ning’s deepest guilt from the past involved Wen Zenian, and Wen Zenian’s most painful memories held traces of her own blood and flesh. Their feelings had grown alongside those festering wounds—how could they ever be peeled apart and laid bare in the sunlight?

“It’s like we’re dating.” The words meant nothing on their own.

But drop the “like,” turn it into “we’re dating,” and who would dare to even entertain those four words for real?

Wen Zenian finished breakfast and left. And just like that, Meng Ning realized she hadn’t figured it out either.

How exactly to handle the tangled bond between them.

Meng Ning had asked Doctor Han, and though she still couldn’t hold a regular job, she wanted to volunteer at the stray cat shelter.

Doctor Han approved, saying it would be good for her mental health.

Qi Xiao had visited once on her day off, helping Meng Ning scoop cat litter. “God, Ning, I never realized you were so noble.”

Meng Ning shook her head. “I’m not noble. I just really want to work at 7-Eleven—they pay twenty-one bucks an hour.”

Qi Xiao burst out laughing. “Yeah, right. At twenty-one an hour, you’d need a lifetime to pay back what you owe her. I bet she did it on purpose!”

Meng Ning nodded in agreement. “She did it on purpose.”

Deliberately piling on the guilt to chain her down, tethering her firmly to this world.

After they finished scooping the litter, Qi Xiao gave Meng Ning a playful shove. “I dragged myself here on my day off to help you. Treat me to some ice cream.”

Meng Ning stared at her in shock. “You’re asking a broke person like me to treat you? Isn’t that a bit heartless?”

“This place is in the middle of nowhere. The cab here cost me fifty bucks—I can’t keep shelling out more.”

“Who said you had to take a cab? Why not the bus?”

“No way, I overslept.” Qi Xiao grinned cheekily.

There was no 7-Eleven nearby, just an old-fashioned corner store. They headed to the freezer case, where Qi Xiao grabbed a bitter coffee popsicle. Glancing back, she saw Meng Ning eyeing it hopefully.

“No way,” Qi Xiao said, stunned. “Not even bitter coffee?”

“It’s three fifty—pretty pricey.” Meng Ning suggested, “How about Green Mood instead?”

“You’re so stingy!”

Qi Xiao grumbled as she tossed the bitter coffee back and picked up a Green Mood. Meng Ning smiled, grabbing one for herself, then scanned to pay.

Qi Xiao knew how weighed down Meng Ning could get. If she didn’t let her buy even a single popsicle after all this help, Meng Ning might overthink it.

The two of them sat outside the store, eating their Green Mood popsicles. The seats were classic old-school style—white plastic backs and tabletops welded to steel frames. Years of wear had cracked the surface like a turtle’s shell.

As they chatted idly about her volunteer work, Meng Ning said, “The hardest part isn’t bathing the cats or scooping litter. It’s taking them for neutering. God, I’ve taken so many poor cats’ balls away. They wake up and glare at me like I’ve betrayed them. Am I earning merit or ruining my karma? Sometimes I wonder if in my next life, heaven will punish me by making me a cat born without any.”

Qi Xiao savored her hard-won Green Mood, slurping it slowly. “Then why keep doing it? Sounds like you’re deeply devoted to your charity work.”

Meng Ning quirked her lips. “I could be a female cat! They don’t have balls to begin with. Are you dumb or what?”

Qi Xiao froze for a second, then shoved her hard. Meng Ning nearly flung her Green Mood across the lot. These days, even one felt like a luxury—she clutched it tight.

“Not bad, Meng Ning,” Qi Xiao said. “Didn’t know you were so sly.”

Meng Ning just smiled, lips pursed.

Qi Xiao pulled out her phone to check the time. “I gotta head out. That script-killing game I played last time was pretty good. I promised Song Xiao I’d take her after her shift today. If I leave now, I can still catch the bus. Any later, and it’ll be a cab again.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’ll be okay handling the rest alone?”

Meng Ning held up her Green Mood in one hand and flexed her other arm.

Qi Xiao eyed her clear, bright expression. “If you come back as a kitten next life, you’ll be one of those super pretty female cats—a calico, the kind that drives all the boys wild.”

Meng Ning paused.

Oh. Even as a cat, she still liked females.

Nice. Real nice.

Qi Xiao headed toward the bus stop, licking her Green Mood, but halfway there she remembered—she’d pulled out the script-killing brochure to show Meng Ning and forgotten to take it back. It wasn’t a big deal, but she’d planned to show it to Song Xiao.

Glancing at the time, she figured she could make it and doubled back.

From afar, she spotted Meng Ning still at that rickety little table outside the store, probably finishing her Green Mood before heading back to work. Qi Xiao raised her hand to wave, then noticed someone sitting with her—another volunteer, most likely a colleague.

Meng Ning gave the other woman a faint smile. They exchanged a few brief words. The colleague pulled out her phone to scroll, and Meng Ning fell silent.

The store behind her had walls the color of dried mud, with window frames painted a soft red. A gentle breeze stirred the stray hairs at her temples. She gazed off a little vacantly, not bothering to brush them away. She’d eaten two-thirds of her Green Mood, leaving a stubby wooden stick that she nibbled absently.

Suddenly, Qi Xiao’s chest tightened with a pang of sorrow. She didn’t call out to Meng Ning—instead, she turned and walked away.

Just then, a Maybach on the roadside gave a light honk, startling her into a jump.

She hadn’t even grazed the thing— was this a scam attempt? For a split second, she considered playing along and flopping dramatically to the ground for a reverse hustle. Then the window rolled down, revealing Wen Zenian’s elegantly sculpted face.

Qi Xiao checked the license plate, then looked at Wen Zenian.

Wen Zenian had bought a car?

Was she scrapping the Paris plans to stick around here long-term?

“Heading back to the city?” Wen Zenian asked coolly. “I can give you a ride.”

Qi Xiao had no idea how long Wen Zenian’s car had been parked there. Wen Zenian rolled down the window with calm poise, her expression blending seamlessly with the soft suburban breeze rustling the willows.

Qi Xiao felt like her day off had been a total disaster. Not only had she blown fifty bucks on a cab, shoveled three hours of cat litter, and only broken even with a buck-fifty Green Mood—she’d run into her boss’s boss’s boss.

Was there anything scarier than hitching a ride with the boss?

Yes. Hitching with the boss and being stuck alone with her for over an hour to get back downtown.

Luckily, Wen Zenian drove in silence, showing no interest in small talk.

Qi Xiao turned to stare out the window, though the barren suburban scenery offered nothing worth seeing—like a programmer’s hairline.

After a while, her extrovert nature got the better of her.

She bit her lip.

Bit it again.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back. “Um… you saw it too, right?”

Wen Zenian didn’t ask what. She just replied, “Mm. I saw.”

Qi Xiao’s heart ached instantly.

In that moment, she and Wen Zenian were comrades in the same trench.

She’d just seen Meng Ning sitting quietly with her volunteer colleague—no forced chatter, no exaggerated smiles. It reminded her of the early days when she’d first met Meng Ning. But ever since Meng Ning had been pulled from the sea, whenever she faced Qi Xiao or Wen Zenian, she came on too strong.

Always talking too much. Smiling too much.

Sometimes Qi Xiao tried to think positively—that night Meng Ning had swum into the sea, only to realize she still had attachments to the world, so she’d turned a corner. Hadn’t Wen Zenian said Meng Ning had been outgoing as a kid, with a mischievous streak? Maybe this was her breakthrough: not until it’s broken can it be rebuilt.

But seeing her today, Qi Xiao knew it wasn’t that simple.

Meng Ning didn’t know how to act naturally around them, so she overcompensated with chatter and smiles. Afraid that any silence would remind them of her foolish past.

And Wen Zenian had it even worse.

She made Meng Ning think of even older follies.

Qi Xiao turned to Wen Zenian. “Don’t you feel sorry for Meng Ning? She seems so exhausted.”

Wen Zenian paused, letting a small silence hang between them.

Then she said, “I feel sorry for her. And just a little… for myself.”

Qi Xiao nearly lost it.

She whipped her head back to the window. Such an empath—what Wen Zenian said almost brought tears to her eyes.

Wen Zenian had never outright admitted she liked Meng Ning.

She’d only said, so restrainedly, “And just a little… for myself.”

Damn it, Qi Xiao cursed inwardly. Why was mutual attraction always this damn hard?

Three days later, Wen Zenian returned to the apartment.

Meng Ning was crouched in front of the sofa, doing something.

Wen Zenian walked over. “What are you up to?”

“Oh, nothing.” Meng Ning stood up.

After starting her volunteer work, her clothes sometimes picked up cat hair. She’d just run a handheld vacuum over them and was checking if it was all gone.

Wen Zenian knew about the volunteering but had never asked. So Meng Ning figured she wasn’t interested.

A faint stuffiness stirred in Wen Zenian’s chest.

Meng Ning had been living here for a while now, but she acted like she didn’t want to leave any trace—like even a single cat hair on the sofa would be an imposition.

Seeing Wen Zenian just standing there, Meng Ning asked, “Why not come sit down?”

“Want to take a walk downstairs?” Wen Zenian suggested.

“Hm?”

“I had a bit to drink. Could use some fresh air.”

Meng Ning hesitated, then murmured softly, “Does your job always involve drinking?”

Wen Zenian glanced at her. “You gonna manage me?”

Meng Ning fell silent.

Wen Zenian let out a soft breath. “Just a little.”

She realized she kept using that phrase lately—”just a little.”

A little sad. A little alcohol. Everything in utmost restraint—a mere little bit.

She quirked her lips in faint self-mockery.

Meng Ning was sharp; she must have noticed. But she didn’t ask what the smile meant. Instead, she said, “I’ll go change. Be quick.”

With that, she headed to her bedroom.

Wen Zenian circled to the sofa and flopped down, leaning back and draping her arm across her eyes.

Meng Ning emerged in a T-shirt and jeans.

She saw Wen Zenian sitting there, thumbing through messages on her phone. Quietly, she waited until Wen Zenian looked up. “Busy with work?”

If so, no walk.

But Wen Zenian set the phone down and stood. “Let’s go.”