Chapter 53

In the dead of night, Jiang Lai’s cry rang out through the guesthouse.

“Xia! Wan! Wan!”

The girl, lying on her stomach and scrolling on her phone, jolted and immediately switched off the screen, then put on a fawning smile.

“What is it, my dear young lady?”

Jiang Lai pulled the bathroom door open a crack and asked through gritted teeth, “Did you use up all the hot water when you showered just now?”

Xia Wanwan, feeling a little guilty, let out two awkward laughs. “I don’t think so. There was still some when I finished…”

“But there’s none now!”

Jiang Lai stood there with shampoo foam all over her head, nearly in tears. “I only just got the shampoo on my hair, and now look at this.”

“No way, I only used a little.”

Still unconvinced, Xia Wanwan turned on the tap. Sure enough, it was cold. Embarrassment flashed through her at once. “Sorry, Alai. I didn’t know it would use up all the hot water…”

“Forget it, forget it.”

Irritably, Jiang Lai ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll just make do with cold water.”

“No!”

Xia Wanwan immediately grabbed the bathroom door. “You’ll catch a cold that way.”

“Then what do you suggest…?”

“Why don’t you go check Xizhou’s room? She should have hot water there.”

“That actually makes sense.”

Jiang Lai was tempted, but after thinking it over, she still felt it was inappropriate. “No, Xizhou’s room is on the third floor. I can’t exactly run up there wrapped in a towel, can I? What would people think if they saw me…?”

Xia Wanwan’s eyes lit up. “Then go to my mom’s room.”

“At this hour, Aunt Cheng must be asleep, right? It’d be rude to bother her out of the blue…”

She was still hesitant.

“She won’t be. You don’t know my mom at all.” Xia Wanwan shoved a robe into her hands. “My mom usually sleeps late. At this hour she should still be reading her script and memorizing lines. Besides, it’s you. She won’t get mad.”

Jiang Lai held the robe, uncertain. “Wanwan, I still think this is a little inappropriate. Maybe I should just forget it!”

“Oh, why are you being so slow?”

Xia Wanwan grabbed her outright, dragged her out of the bathroom, and opened the door to peek outside.

“It’s quiet out there. No one’s around.”

“Then I’m going out?”

“Go on, go on…”

Just as the door was closing, Jiang Lai seemed to catch Xia Wanwan stifling a laugh. Suspicion rose in her heart; wasn’t she doing this on purpose?

The hallway window seemed to be open. A cold wind raised goosebumps all over her skin. Rubbing her arms, she hurried toward the woman’s room. Her slippers made soft sounds on the floor, unnaturally clear in the empty corridor.

Knock, knock, knock.

She knocked carefully on the woman’s door, afraid someone else might hear; otherwise, she’d never be able to explain herself.

“Aunt Cheng, are you asleep?” she asked softly.

There was a little noise from inside before the woman’s voice came through. “Wait a moment.”

The door was soon opened from within. Cheng Shuyang was wearing a silk robe, gold-rimmed glasses on her face. Seeing Jiang Lai standing there like this, she seemed momentarily unable to react.

“You…”

Jiang Lai sniffled. “The hot water in my room is gone. I wanted to borrow your bathroom for a quick shower. Don’t worry, I’ll be fast.”

The woman stepped aside to let her in. “Come in first. It’s cold outside; be careful not to catch a chill.”

Jiang Lai slipped inside, instantly wrapped in warmth.

The woman pointed her in the right direction. “The bathroom’s over there. Don’t rush; you can take your time.”

“Then I’m troubling you, Aunt Cheng.”

“It’s nothing.”

The woman returned to the sofa, her hair loosely pinned back. A few stray strands had slipped loose from behind her ear, adding a touch of elegant intelligence to her quiet beauty.

Jiang Lai’s hand was on the bathroom doorknob, but she still couldn’t bring herself to turn it.

“What’s wrong? Can’t you open it?”

The woman lifted a brow when she saw Jiang Lai standing there without moving.

“No, I can. It turns.”

What was she supposed to do? She really liked Cheng Shuyang like this.

Her face reddened as she suppressed the pounding of her heart.

“Alright.”

The sound of water began to trickle from the bathroom. Cheng Shuyang curled up on the sofa with her script, but the words on the A4 pages seemed to float before her eyes; she didn’t remember a single line.

“Honestly…”

Giving up on memorizing her lines, she reached for the remote and turned the room temperature up a little.

The door was gently pushed open a crack, revealing half of Jiang Lai’s head. “Aunt Cheng…”

The woman hummed and looked over at her. “What is it?”

“I think I forgot to bring a bath towel…”

Jiang Lai clutched the doorframe, her ears burning bright red. Water was still dripping from the ends of her hair.

“I’ll get you a clean one. Wait a moment.”

The woman looked away, not daring to look any lower.

Only when her fingertips touched the neatly folded bath towel did she realize her hand was trembling. Carrying it back, she saw Jiang Lai peeking out from the doorway from a distance.

“Here.”

She handed the towel to the girl, staring only at her own toes. “Go in quickly. Put it on before you come out, or you’ll catch a chill.”

“I know!”

Jiang Lai nodded obediently and reached out to take the towel. Her fingertips accidentally brushed the back of the woman’s hand; she hurriedly pulled back and shut the door with a click.

“Alai, be careful. The floor is slippery.”

“I won’t…”

Before she could finish, there was a loud thud from the bathroom.

“Aaah, my butt!”

Then came Jiang Lai’s scream.

Cheng Shuyang’s heart tightened at once. “What happened? Did you fall?”

The door wasn’t locked. She had no time to think; she pushed it open and went straight in. Jiang Lai was lying on the floor, her freshly washed hair sticking messily to her face.

Seeing the woman come in, she instinctively tried to get up, but she pulled something wrong and couldn’t help groaning.

Anger and anxiety surged through Cheng Shuyang as she hurriedly crouched to help her. “How are you? Did you hit anything? Did you bump your head?”

Only when she touched the girl did she realize Jiang Lai was trembling all over; whether from shock or pain, she couldn’t tell.

“Slowly, slowly…”

Jiang Lai’s brow was tightly furrowed as Cheng Shuyang helped her to her feet little by little.

“Are you alright?”

The woman’s hand was on her lower back, her expression full of worry.

Feeling the warmth of that palm, Jiang Lai stiffened. “I’m okay. It’s just my butt that hurts a little…”

Cheng Shuyang let out a helpless sigh. “Why can’t you be more careful? And… I’m really curious. Why are you injured every single day?”

“Uh… I probably can’t answer that for you…”

“You…”

The woman tapped her forehead in exasperation.

“Well, Aunt Cheng, I’m done showering. I should head back to my room.”

“Are you sure you can go back like that?”

“If I take it slow, I should be able to make it…”

The woman was standing by the sofa holding a hair dryer, the plug already ready. “Come over here. I’ll dry your hair.”

“No need, I can do it myself.”

Jiang Lai backed away a little.

The woman said nothing, only patting the empty spot beside her on the sofa and signaling for her to come over.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Lai still shuffled over, limping, and sat down obediently.

The woman carefully combed through the ends of her hair, afraid of tugging and hurting her by accident.

Warm air, mixed with the temperature of the woman’s fingertips, slowly drove the moisture from her hair. Jiang Lai squinted in comfort and yawned.

The woman’s gentle voice came from behind her. “Sleepy?”

Jiang Lai rubbed her sore eyes. “Mm, a little.”

“Bear with it a bit longer. It’ll be done soon.”

A smile curved the woman’s lips as her movements quickened slightly.

Outside the window, the night was thick as an unbroken curtain. In the room, there was only the sound of the hair dryer and the two of them breathing softly.

“Done.”

The woman ran a hand through her hair. Only after making sure it was completely dry did she put down the hair dryer.

“Thank you, Aunt Cheng.”

Jiang Lai looked up at the clock on the wall.

1:15

“Wanwan should be asleep by now. Are you going back, or are you sleeping in my room?”

“Mm…”

Jiang Lai’s fingers picked at the sofa; she glanced toward the door, her gaze drifting.

Just as the woman finished putting the hair dryer away, she spotted that bad habit of hers.

With a soft smack, her hand was tapped lightly but firmly. Jiang Lai pulled it back and looked at the woman aggrievedly.

“Where did you pick up that habit? You need to fix it.”

The woman stood before her, the gold rims of her glasses shining with a gentle luster.

Oh my god, this is way too abstinent!

As Jiang Lai stared, all sorts of indescribable thoughts suddenly flashed through her mind.

Cheng Shuyang could tell at a glance that she wasn’t thinking anything proper; she shot her a glare. “Hurry up. Are you going back to your room, or staying in mine?”

“I didn’t take my room card when I came out. Wanwan might already be asleep…”

She muttered softly, “But if I sleep here, wouldn’t that be a little bad…”

The woman looked at the conflicted girl with amusement. “What’s bad about it? Is the bed not big enough, are you afraid you won’t have room to move, or are you worried I’ll eat you in the middle of the night?”

“No, no!”

Jiang Lai quickly waved her hands to explain. “I’m just afraid people will see and start gossiping…”

The woman’s hand, which had been tidying the bed, paused. “Gossip about what? You and I are both women. Who would think anything else, hmm?”

Jiang Lai had no rebuttal.

That was true. They were both women; that was the perfect cover. To someone who didn’t know better, it would just look like they had a good relationship. No one would ever think any differently…

“So.”

The woman patted the spot beside her. “It’s already very late. Time to rest.”

Jiang Lai stood there thinking for a while. The woman didn’t urge her.

After a moment, her hesitation gradually turned into excitement. She shuffled over to the bed and carefully lifted the blanket to lie down, leaving what felt like a whole river’s width between them.

Cheng Shuyang turned slightly and switched off the main light, leaving only a small night lamp on. When she lay down, the mattress dipped a little; Jiang Lai’s heartbeat skipped as well.

“In the second half of the year, do you have any work arrangements?” the woman asked suddenly, chasing away the drowsiness that had just begun to rise.

“Mm…”

Jiang Lai thought carefully. “There’s an overseas fashion show and a big competition. Other than that, I don’t think there’s much else. What about you?”

“Me?”

The woman gave a low laugh. “Besides starting a new project, it looks like I don’t have anything else either.”

“What kind of project?”

Jiang Lai sounded a little sour. “Still something like Director Zhang’s this time?”

“No. It’s just a cameo role. I won’t be on screen that much.”

“Then…”

Jiang Lai turned to look at her. “If you have time, would you come watch my competition?”

“You said it yourself; if I have time, I will.”

“Mm!”

Jiang Lai nodded hard. “Then I’ll wait for Aunt Cheng to come!”

“Sleep.”

The woman’s voice carried a coaxing warmth. “You still have to get up early tomorrow, or you won’t be able to.”

Jiang Lai hummed in reply, but her eyes were fixed on the ceiling. The scent of the woman lingered around her nose, and sleepiness gradually washed over her.

Before long, she was fast asleep.

Hearing the soft snores from the girl beside her, the woman finally opened her eyes and quietly moved a little closer to the middle.

In the moonlight, the girl’s sleeping face looked especially docile.

The woman lifted a hand, gently touched the tip of the girl’s nose with her finger, and then let it slide down to her lips.

A featherlight kiss landed on her fingertip, vanishing in an instant.