Thirty-Second Blood Orange

The wide asphalt road sprawled in all directions, and the crabapple trees by the roadside had fewer leaves than blossoms. Liao Xue pedaled her bike, hands steady on the handlebars, eyes fixed ahead, completely oblivious to the luxury car parked abruptly at the curb.

In the driver's seat of that luxury car, Su Tongqin sat with her legs crossed, watching Liao Xue ride past with an unreadable expression. Cigarette in hand, she rested her arm on her thigh as Liao Xue's slender figure receded into the spring breeze.

Last time she'd been so full of fight, hadn't she? Shen Qiancheng couldn't even spare a car for her?

Su Tongqin stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and drove to the entrance of Shen Corporation's building.

She took the elevator to Shen Qiancheng's floor, where Sui Shi was already waiting.

Sui Shi bowed, gesturing the way. "President Shen is waiting for you in her office."

As she walked, Su Tongqin looked around, noting that the bright office environment was a hundred times better than the Su family's own headquarters.

At the door to Shen Qiancheng's office, Sui Shi announced, "This is our president's office."

A keypad lock glowed blue at the entrance, and Su Tongqin eyed it with displeasure. "What's this? Hmm?"

Sui Shi gave a dry laugh, then knocked and said, "President Shen, Ms. Su is here."

The lock clicked, and the door swung open. Sui Shi smiled. "Please, Ms. Su."

Su Tongqin tossed her hair and strode in, her sarcasm trailing right behind.

"Ha. Locking your office door too? You're this cautious, President Shen?"

Shen Qiancheng lifted her eyelids, her tone barbed. "Your lunatic of a brother—what wouldn't he do?"

Su Tongqin glanced around the office. Behind the blinds sat a few potted plants; a sofa and coffee table for visitors took up one corner, the red-and-black color scheme adding to the formal, businesslike air.

Su Tongqin felt a bit disappointed—she'd half expected Shen Qiancheng to display something more macabre, like glass jars with eyeballs floating in them.

Uninvited, Su Tongqin settled onto the sofa and tapped the table. "Let me design your wedding dress, Shen Qiancheng. You've got some nerve."

Shen Qiancheng stayed at her desk, still signing documents. "Your mother—my mother-in-law—asked for it."

"Calling her that before you've even tied the knot?" Su Tongqin was appalled. She wanted to knock some sense into Shen Qiancheng with her pistol.

"So why are you here?" Shen Qiancheng finished her paperwork and propped her chin on her hand.

Su Tongqin unlocked her tablet and sent a file to Shen Qiancheng's account, her tone syrupy sweet. "You're so busy. I went to the Shen family residence looking for you, but you weren't there, so I had to ambush you at the office. Come on, let's get your measurements, Miss Shen."

She beckoned, as if coaxing a puppy. "Come here."

Shen Qiancheng clicked her tongue but didn't move. Instead, she leaned back, relaxed, and said, "Ms. Su is taking my measurements personally?"

"Who else? I couldn't even get through the door to your office—let alone anyone else."

Shen Qiancheng stood up, straightening. Su Tongqin began measuring, not forgetting to chat. "Where are you living now, and where have you tucked away your beloved? I can't find either."

Shen Qiancheng spread her arms, exasperated. "You just didn't look. I'm not hiding, you know—Shi Jianren and Su Zeye both found me. You... tsk, not doing so great at your job."

"Fine, fine, you're the best! But you give your heart and soul, and that person doesn't appreciate it." Su Tongqin paused, unsure whether to continue. "At the bar that time, she deliberately approached Su Zeye."

"So I could play the hero and save her?" Shen Qiancheng said, suddenly enlightened.

Su Tongqin rolled her eyes dramatically. "She was following Su Zeye, not you."

"Su Zeye is my fiancé. Following him is basically following me." Shen Qiancheng reasoned logically.

Su Tongqin tried to offer a counterexample to make her see clearly. "If she married Su Zeye, that would also count as marrying you."

"That's different." Shen Qiancheng rebutted immediately.

The conversation veered off course again...

"Aren't you curious why Su Zeye got so fixated on Liao Xue?" Su Tongqin steered it back.

"It's hard not to notice Liao Xue." Shen Qiancheng said proudly.

With that striking face and otherworldly aura, who wouldn't be moved and feel a strong urge to protect her?

Completely speechless, Su Tongqin tugged at Shen Qiancheng's waist. "...She was deliberately approaching Su Zeye before, but once she started living with you, she stopped."

At this point, even a hopeless romantic would have to sober up, right?

But Shen Qiancheng was lost in her own line of reasoning: "Was she trying to make me jealous?"

"Take some brain tonic." Su Tongqin stood up to leave, but Shen Qiancheng caught her.

"What's the rush? Think you can get out without the passcode?" Shen Qiancheng was smiling—she loved to provoke Su Tongqin, but she didn't want to actually push her over the edge.

Su Tongqin clenched her jaw and said, "I have my pistol. Worth a shot."

Shen Qiancheng gasped. "You carry that around for no reason?"

Su Tongqin's lips curved into a pleased smile. "Specially for you."

Shen Qiancheng shut her eyes, grinding her teeth. "You're something else."

Neither of them wanted headlines about a shooting at Shen Corporation, so Shen Qiancheng typed in the passcode and smiled. "Don't skip out on that wedding dress."

###

Work was relentless. To strengthen her position on the board, Shen Qiancheng kept a tight leash on project blueprints and progress, afraid that opponents would find an opening.

After a full day in high heels, Sui Shi drove her home.

Headlights swept past the window as the clock neared nine in the evening. The farther they drove into the residential area, the fewer people they passed on the streets.

Shen Qiancheng, exhausted, dozed in the back seat, her soft hair falling across her face in a languid cascade.

The car pulled to a steady stop at the building. Light shone from the upstairs windows, waiting for the one who was supposed to come home.

Shen Qiancheng slept soundly, and Sui Shi hesitated about waking her.

The car's headlights cut through the dark like twin beams of fire, and someone stood in their glow.

A mid-length blue skirt with a trench coat over it—a subtle variation of what Shen Qiancheng herself was wearing.

Someone tapped on the window. Shen Qiancheng opened her eyes groggily, and as the window rolled down, the night wind poured in, chasing away whatever drowsiness remained.

"Shen Qiancheng, why are you only getting off work now?"

Shen Qiancheng rubbed her brow, then reached out and covered Liao Xue's eyes. "I'm so tired, Liao Xue."

Sui Shi stood by the car door, watching Liao Xue help Shen Qiancheng out. She started to reach out to assist, but Shen Qiancheng shot her a glare where Liao Xue couldn't see. Sui Shi wisely stepped back.

Sui Shi said politely, "Ms. Liao, I'll be going now."

What kind of assistant drives her boss home and then has to take a cab herself? Might as well rent an apartment in the same building.

The staircase was bathed in moonlight and lamplight, weaving a dreamlike glow.

As the door swung open, the raucous noise of a TV set spilled out.

Shen Qiancheng steadied herself against the wall to change shoes. Her open trench coat shifted, revealing a waist bound by a belt. She glanced inside and said, "Stayed home watching TV all day? Why not get out for some air?"

Liao Xue pulled Shen Qiancheng's slippers from the shoe cabinet, her voice muffled by a cold. "It's boring out there."

"True enough," Shen Qiancheng nodded, switching shoes and walking in. "Safer at home. What's for dinner tonight?"

Liao Xue went into the kitchen and brought out the dishes. "Sauerkraut fish, stir-fried potatoes, and razor clams."

Every day, the thing Shen Qiancheng most looked forward to was sitting at the table and eating Liao Xue's cooking. She obediently settled into her seat at the table, eagerly took a bite, chewed a few times, then frowned. "Why is it so salty? You shouldn't eat too much salt when you're sick, and no seafood either."

Liao Xue froze. What was Shen Qiancheng doing? Showing concern? Did she really mean it?

The irritation and disgust in Shen Qiancheng's eyes when she'd left that morning had been as blinding as staring into the sun.

She hadn't had time to forget that yet...

Liao Xue swallowed back her wavering tone. "Your stomach is sensitive..."

Shen Qiancheng did have a delicate stomach; she couldn't handle spicy or overly salty food, let alone that plate of obviously undercooked seafood.

Shen Qiancheng put down her chopsticks, realization dawning. Her eyes burned with barely contained fury. "So that's it? You're retaliating like this, even dragging yourself into it?"

Liao Xue panicked, pointing at the millet porridge. "There's also this..."

But that wasn't what had angered Shen Qiancheng. She was furious that Liao Xue never took care of herself, always putting herself last.

Then, all at once, Shen Qiancheng was amused. "You went and made a whole table of food, and now we're both just drinking millet porridge?"

It was like when Liao Xue had approached Su Zeye to get back at her, and now the fire had burnt back onto her own hands.

After three years apart, she'd picked up some mischievous tricks.

She was getting too bold; she needed to be taught a lesson.

The two of them drank five bowls of millet porridge, and their stomachs were bloated.

A walk, a shower, blow-drying hair, washing up, and skincare—they fell into the rhythm that suited them best, each knowing what the other was doing even in silence.

Finally, they lay down on the same bed.

Liao Xue rested her head on the pillow, her eyes on Shen Qiancheng, who had her eyes closed.

Shen Qiancheng's lashes were so long.

"Shen Qiancheng," Liao Xue called out softly, her voice as gentle as the clouds in the sky.

Shen Qiancheng was too tired to open her eyes, but she hummed a question.

Liao Xue asked, "Can you not get married?"

Shen Qiancheng didn't answer; she was already asleep.

###

In a dim, sealed space, the only light came from a single bulb hanging from a metal shade. The limited illumination cast an even more suffocating dread over the tense atmosphere in the room.

Su Tongqin wore a pair of brown leather boots, and she stomped hard on a bloodied head.

"Are you going to talk?" She pressed the muzzle of her gun against the captive's temple—a single moment of indecision separated life from death. "Who sent you?"

The man trembled. One of his eyes had been gouged out, and his mouth was clamped shut like stone.

Su Tongqin let out a sinister laugh. "I already know what's going on. If you'd talked yesterday, your life might have been put to good use. Too bad. Some people have faster mouths than you."

She gave his head a violent kick, then raised her hand and fired once.

"Ms. Su, there's a call for you." Fu Rong stood outside the door, knocking expressionlessly.

Su Tongqin washed her hands, then took the phone. She frowned at the caller ID.

"Fine."

After the call ended, she pocketed the phone, and Fu Rong handed her a bottle of water with consideration.

Su Tongqin sighed. "Lately, it's been anything but calm. Stay sharp on your missions."

Fu Rong nodded without expression, and Su Tongqin pressed her lips together, teasing, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Fu Rong's confusion was a subtle one, only a slight lift of her brow.

What a wooden doll. She wasn't even as interesting as the guy moments ago.

Su Tongqin draped an arm over Fu Rong's shoulder. "If you don't use your mouth, you might as well donate it, Fu Rong. At seven tonight, drive me to Heber Restaurant."

###

Seven in the evening, at Heber Restaurant.

Su Tongqin pushed open the private room door. Shen Qiancheng was already there, lounging on the sofa in a double-breasted vintage yellow suit, looking up at her.

"Want a wedding dress design in one day?" Su Tongqin greeted Shen Qiancheng with a jab. "Afraid the night runs long, are you?"

Shen Qiancheng was agitated. "Don't have it yet, so let's talk business."

Oh? Su Tongqin raised an eyebrow. Shen Qiancheng having business? Did something happen with the Shen Corporation? Or the Su family?

Shen Qiancheng set down her wine glass and pulled up several photos on her phone.

Su Tongqin frowned as she looked, and by the end, her brow was even more furrowed.

"You want to use this to call off the engagement?"

Shen Qiancheng shook her head. "Can I even call it off?"

Su Tongqin shook her head too. "The odds are zero."

"I need the key to that place," Shen Qiancheng said, determined. "Name your price."

Su Tongqin beckoned, and Fu Rong walked over.

"Step outside," Su Tongqin said, holding out a hand. "Tell them the meeting is cancelled."

Fu Rong complied and left, the door clicking shut behind her.

Su Tongqin took a deep breath and said, "Have you lost your mind? You know what that place is. Why do you want the key to it?"

Shen Qiancheng listened as Su Tongqin rattled off her objections like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, but her resolve never wavered.

"Can you get it or not?"

Su Tongqin sighed. She didn't know what Shen Qiancheng was really up to, but this couldn't possibly involve her.

Shen Qiancheng promised firmly, "You have your concerns, and I have my reasons. Su Tongqin, help me this once."