The Twenty-Fourth Blood Orange

The light was just beginning to break when the phone alarm buzzed. Shen Qiancheng pulled off her sleep mask, pressed the alarm off, and stared blankly for three seconds before getting up to wash up.

The bedroom door was pushed open gently, careful not to wake the other person on the sofa outside.

Liao Xue was wearing the pure cotton pajamas, and in her sleep, there was none of that awkwardness she had when facing Shen Qiancheng. Her lips curved slightly upward, as if she were having a very sweet dream.

Unable to sleep in, Shen Qiancheng yawned, bent down, and slid her left arm gently beneath Liao Xue's body, while her right arm wrapped around her left shoulder, gathering her into an embrace.

Liao Xue's sleeping face filled her vision. Shen Qiancheng held her breath, carefully lifting her up, her right arm reaching under Liao Xue's knees as she carried her to the bed.

As soon as Liao Xue touched the mattress, she let out an uncomfortable whimper. Shen Qiancheng froze instantly, even her breathing felt too loud.

Fortunately, Liao Xue just turned over automatically, facing the inside of the bed.

Shen Qiancheng let out a long, slow breath, then turned and quietly closed the door.

Sui Shi had already arrived at Shen Corporation and was preparing documents that Shen Qiancheng needed to review and sign today. The moment her phone rang, she picked up immediately.

Shen Qiancheng's voice carried a hoarse, lazy quality with the residual sleepiness: "Have the sofa in my current living quarters removed before nine."

Sui Shi wasn't someone who asked for reasons behind an employer's unreasonable requests, but she was still curious why someone would simply move a sofa out of the blue.

But Shen Qiancheng hung up right after speaking. The busy tone buzzed for two seconds, and Sui Shi immediately called the moving company.

#

The weather was gloomy. The light at eight in the morning was almost identical to that at nine.

Liao Xue felt like she had slept for a long time, her head hazy. When she tried to get up, she realized she was actually in bed.

The pillowcase and quilt gave off a faint scent of lemon, reminding Liao Xue that this was also the scent Shen Qiancheng carried.

Without a doubt, this was Shen Qiancheng's bed.

Liao Xue lowered her head, her long hair cascading down. She couldn't help but wonder where Shen Qiancheng had gone? Last night, hadn't she slept on the sofa and Shen Qiancheng on the bed?

How had it been reversed now?

Liao Xue got out of bed but couldn't find the slippers she had worn last night. She opened the bedroom door barefoot.

A woman in standard professional attire was directing a group of burly women as they moved things back and forth in the living room.

Seeing Liao Xue emerge, Sui Shi pointed to the empty space and said, "Put it here for now."

Then Sui Shi took out an insulated lunchbox from her bag and smiled. "Ms. Liao, you're awake. Have you had breakfast?"

The lunchbox hung midair. Liao Xue didn't take it. Instead, she tilted her head to look at the empty space behind Sui Shi. If she remembered correctly, that spot against the wall used to have a sofa.

"Where's the sofa?"

Sui Shi didn't show any offense at being left hanging. She placed the lunchbox on the table. She likely sensed Liao Xue's underlying hostility toward her.

"Miss Shen said it was broken," Sui Shi said, looking around and smiling in explanation. "The apartment is still too small. Removing the sofa leaves more space. It's a bit cramped with two people."

"Oh." Liao Xue had nowhere to sit. She stood there in her pajamas, hair loose, looking pitiful and alone.

Sui Shi sighed and pointed to the items by the door. "These are things Miss Shen needs for daily life and work. I've organized them all by category."

"Especially this medicine box. Please remind Miss Shen to take them."

Medicine? Liao Xue frowned and looked up. Shen Qiancheng was as sturdy as an ox; what medicine did she need?

Sui Shi hid a smile. "Miss Shen's health has always been handled by a family doctor. As her work assistant, I don't know the details. If you're curious, you can ask Miss Shen directly."

Liao Xue's face showed obvious worry. Sui Shi felt her salary was about to increase, so she added one more reminder: "Ms. Liao, it's you living with Miss Shen, not me."

Whether Liao Xue took it to heart was unclear. Sui Shi messaged Shen Qiancheng on WeChat about the moving details, then specifically mentioned the medicine.

The old fossils at the company weren't easy to deal with. Shen Qiancheng had encountered nothing but obstacles all day. Driving through the night, she grew angrier at every red light. Finally, she pressed the accelerator and arrived at the apartment building.

The doorbell rang. Liao Xue put down her spatula, and still wearing her apron, she opened the door.

There stood Shen Qiancheng in a sharp, casual suit, her black hair neatly tucked behind her ears. Long tassel earrings accentuated the smooth lines of her face.

The moment she saw Liao Xue, Shen Qiancheng's restless heart quieted.

Liao Xue was wearing a beige sweater paired with slim jeans, both hidden beneath her apron. On the apron, a capybara playfully held up a strawberry.

In that instant, Shen Qiancheng's heart was struck.

"Liao Xue," Shen Qiancheng's voice was hoarse. "I'm so tired."

Liao Xue caught the person who leaned into her, her hands restrained at her waist. They were too close; their breaths were distinct.

"You must be exhausted," Liao Xue's voice was muffled against Shen Qiancheng's ear. "Wash up quickly and eat."

"Mm-hmm!" Shen Qiancheng perked up and dashed toward the bathroom in three quick steps.

There seemed to be a faint rose fragrance near Liao Xue's ear. Her hand rested there, feeling the pulse beneath the skin, and she felt her own rhythm falter.

On the dining table were three dishes and a soup—very homey: tomato scrambled eggs, vinegar potatoes, braised pork ribs, and lotus seed and lily soup.

Liao Xue placed the bowl of soup she had ladled in front of Shen Qiancheng. The golden-orange soup was dotted with translucent white fungus and lilies.

"Drink plenty; it calms the mind."

Shen Qiancheng lowered her head and took a subtle sniff—it smelled delicious.

The pressure and disregard she had faced at work, both overt and covert, seemed to dissolve in the fragrant steam.

"So good," Shen Qiancheng sighed after taking a sip, and she drank the entire bowl.

Seeing how satisfied Shen Qiancheng looked, Liao Xue felt that the two hours she had spent simmering the soup had been the most rewarding investment.

Remembering the inexplicably removed sofa, Liao Xue poked at the rice in her bowl and said, "Should we buy a folding bed tomorrow?"

Shen Qiancheng, who had been focusing on her meal, abruptly looked up. "Why buy a folding bed?"

"Miss Shen, the sofa is gone. I have nowhere to sleep."

Shen Qiancheng said, "A folding bed takes up too much space."

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" Liao Xue asked.

Shen Qiancheng suggested, "My bed is quite spacious."

"Shen Qiancheng, is it really that hard to admit you like me?" Liao Xue's voice trembled but was unusually firm.

She was certain: Shen Qiancheng liked her.

A thunderclap seemed to strike from the blue. Those words were the ones Shen Qiancheng hated hearing most. As the final syllable fell, her expression twisted like she had been thrown into boiling water.

A long ten minutes of silence followed. Then Shen Qiancheng spoke calmly, "Do people who are in unrequited love always imagine that the other person will fall for them?"

Liao Xue thought: Don't they? Shen Qiancheng, will you really not fall for me?

Shen Qiancheng's explanation was as pale as her face at that moment: "I have severe difficulty falling asleep. I need someone to hold me. For you, this is also a form of desensitization training—to eliminate any improper thoughts you might have about me."

That question was on the verge of being asked, but Liao Xue swallowed the bitterness inside.

During her eighteen years with the Shen family, and the three years abroad, who had Shen Qiancheng held when she had trouble sleeping?

And herself... Liao Xue lowered her head, staring at the white grains of rice under the bright light, her thoughts growing hazier.

Aren't you rich? Can't you buy a folding bed yourself? Why insist on asking a question when you already know the answer?

After dinner, Shen Qiancheng sat on a small stool—less comfortable than the sofa—and bowed her head to handle work emails. Liao Xue, still in her apron, cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen. It was as if the argument at the table had never happened. As adults, their composure meant deferring their emotions.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Shen Qiancheng's heart jumped. On her phone, Sui Shi had sent a message.

The door opened. A woman in a sales suit smiled and nodded. "Hello, are you Miss Shen? The styles you selected this afternoon have been delivered as scheduled—to this address. Please sign for them."

That afternoon at the store, the saleswoman had been first struck by Shen Qiancheng's innate elegance and refinement, then moved by her no-nonsense decisiveness and swift credit card payment.

She had finally landed her first big order in her sales career, and when Shen Qiancheng requested delivery, she agreed wholeheartedly.

It wasn't until she followed the address on the order that she realized the destination was just an ordinary residential neighborhood.

Clothes worth several hundred thousand could have bought this one-bedroom apartment, yet the client was squeezed into such a small place.

If Shen Qiancheng hadn't paid in full earlier, she would have suspected a prank.

Shen Qiancheng gestured for her to come in. Remembering that the sofa had just been removed that morning, she signed the delivery receipt in irritation and sent the woman on her way.

Less than twenty minutes ago, she had just argued with someone and left things unpleasant.

Shen Qiancheng scratched her ear and walked to the kitchen door. "Liao Xue, are you done cleaning?"

Liao Xue, who was pulling dishes from the dishwasher, trembled. It was always like this.

After breaking down at the revelation, she would come back to provoke her.

Liao Xue sighed. "What is it? I'm coming."

When Liao Xue came out of the kitchen, she saw Shen Qiancheng clumsily hanging clothes still in dust bags on a portable drying rack. Seeing her appear, Shen Qiancheng waved eagerly. "Come look—I bought you new clothes."

New clothes? The image of a floral white dress flashed in Liao Xue's mind—that was her second dress in life, the first Shen Qiancheng had bought her.

In a daze, Liao Xue walked over. A dress with a skirt so wide it could fill the entire living room when spread out, covered in sparkling tiny crystals.

It was less a dress and more like someone's bridal gown.

Shen Qiancheng, like an artist who had dedicated her life to crafting the ultimate masterpiece for her muse, looked at Liao Xue with fervent admiration, eagerly anticipating her trying it on.

Liao Xue's hands, clutching the fabric, trembled slightly. She, Liao Xue, how could she possibly be worthy of such luxurious attire?

"Don't you like it?" Shen Qiancheng took down another piece from the rack. Thinking of those people in the company who gossiped like flies, she wished she could buy Liao Xue the most splendid clothes in the world. If Cinderella were real, she would have snatched all three of her dresses and given them to Liao Xue.

Liao Xue silently placed the clothes back in the dust bag, shook her head, and said, "I like them."

Shen Qiancheng instantly caught Liao Xue's mood. It was that same dead expression, exactly like in Liao Family Village.

"Liao Xue, you can't fool me," Shen Qiancheng asserted with certainty, like catching someone in the nude. "So you must like this one!"

Although Shen Qiancheng disliked those white styled dresses that made Liao Xue look so delicate and pleasing, Liao Xue liked them herself.

Reluctantly, Shen Qiancheng pulled out the white-flowered dress, and visibly, Liao Xue's expression brightened.

She really does look lovely in that, Shen Qiancheng thought, enraptured.

Liao Xue, wearing clothes that Shen Qiancheng had bought, was absolutely beautiful!

Feeling shy under Shen Qiancheng's intense gaze, Liao Xue said, "But what about me getting new clothes and you not buying any? Won't you worry I might overthink?"

Shen Qiancheng said nonchalantly, "Buying clothes for two people would make people overthink."

Liao Xue's clothes clung to her like the quills of a hedgehog: "I don't want them. Return them."

"Didn't you say you like them?" asked Shen Qiancheng.

The answer came on the heels of the question. Shen Qiancheng curled her lips into a smile. "Those few with the wide skirts are for me."

Sigh, it's so troublesome.

#

The moon was bright, casting milk-like light over the ground.

Two tall shadows were cast, their long hair flowing in the wind.

Shen Qiancheng had a habit of walking after dinner. Liao Xue originally hadn't planned to follow, but remembering she had some matters to discuss, she went along.

A cool breeze brushed past, with flower stamens and tender leaves decorating the dreary night.

The two walked in silence, letting strangers pass by, wrapped in their own conversations.

The moon hung high. Liao Xue stared at it, as if she could see her own reflection.

"Miss Shen," Liao Xue spoke softly. The night gave her courage. "Don't be so good to me. You know I can't resist that. My thoughts will only grow stronger."

The words came out of nowhere. Shen Qiancheng couldn't make sense of the cause and effect.

How could one suppress being good to someone?

Shen Qiancheng didn't understand, nor did she feel regret.

She could only answer, "It's desensitization training. You don't think a few cheap pieces of clothing can get you all excited, do you?"

Shen Qiancheng's eyes held a guilt only she herself could comprehend. Liao Xue couldn't read it, so she lowered her head and let the wind be her answer.