Chapter 81

The office door swung open, and Li Kui, thinking she looked rather dashing as she stepped out, found Liao Xue standing just outside, waiting patiently.

Li Kui paused, her gaze flickering before a smile curved at the corners of her mouth.

"I have something for you. Coming?" Li Kui stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

Liao Xue looked up. This woman again?

Toward anyone who liked Shen Qiancheng, Liao Xue should feel a natural, sharp hostility. But this woman was capable and polished—exactly the kind of person Liao Xue had always admired and aspired to become.

Liao Xue hesitated a moment, then glanced sideways at the semi-transparent office where the other woman was bent over her work. She gave a slight nod.

The wind in the corridor lingered, blowing cold against Liao Xue's calves.

Li Kui's office was close to Shen Qiancheng's. When she pushed the door open, a layer of dust lay inside, the curtains drawn, as if no one had been there for a long time.

Liao Xue stepped onto the floor and took in the room.

Li Kui strode quickly to the desk after entering and pulled something out of a locked drawer at the very bottom.

"Miss Liao."

When Liao Xue turned around, she saw a diary, about two centimeters thick.

"What is this?"

Seeing the confusion on Liao Xue's face, Li Kui let out a bitter laugh inwardly.

Since her own deep feelings had gone unseen, she would do Shen Qiancheng one last favor.

"Shen Qiancheng's diary from the three years in Switzerland," Li Kui said, holding the diary out for Liao Xue to take. "I didn't steal it—she threw it away. Consider me the one who picked it up."

The diary felt heavy in her hand, and Liao Xue's heart grew heavier along with it.

"I apologize, but I've read it," Li Kui said, though her tone carried little genuine regret. "I really envy you, Liao Xue. She's lucky—the one she loves loves her back."

The gold-embossed word "diary" on the cover felt as scorching as fire.

Liao Xue took a deep breath, raised her eyes to meet Li Kui's, and said firmly yet gently, "Thank you. Her past no longer matters. She and I have an infinite future."

Li Kui nodded but still couldn't let go. "I really am jealous. Every page is about you."

What was there to be jealous of? Liao Xue lifted her chin and offered sincere consolation: "I'm just luckier than you. I met her at the perfect time."

Li Kui smiled faintly at that, a bitter emotion spreading through her heart like snake's venom, and sighed, "She's becoming more and more like you."

Liao Xue said solemnly, "Thank you for taking care of her these three years. She responds poorly to kindness and poorly to harshness—it must have been hard on you."

Li Kui's gaze fixed on the diary, a slight smile at her lips as she said, "I see. Wishing you both a long and happy life together."

After Liao Xue left, Li Kui closed the office door again and walked away without a backward glance.

---

The diary sat in Liao Xue's handbag, bouncing with each step she took.

For dinner, Liao Xue prepared a whole table of dishes.

"Shen Qiancheng, go to the kitchen and get the bowls and chopsticks. Time to eat," Liao Xue called out, setting down the soup bowl and pinching her ear as she hollered to the woman watching TV in the living room.

Shen Qiancheng, sprawled sideways on the couch, scrambled up at the words and dashed into the kitchen without even turning off the TV.

Liao Xue sighed, picked up the remote from the couch, and turned the television off.

Shen Qiancheng's ears were sharp even from the kitchen—her voice arrived before she did: "Why'd you turn off the TV? I want to eat at the coffee table. I was watching a drama!"

She came out grinning with bowls and chopsticks in hand, only to be blocked at the door by Liao Xue, hands on her hips. "No. Eating in front of the TV is bad for your stomach."

Liao Xue wore a cold expression, a pink apron with a little rabbit tied around her waist. It was hard to tell whether the rabbit or Liao Xue was cuter.

Shen Qiancheng stopped dead in her tracks, stared longingly at the distant TV, and listlessly sat down at the dining table to eat.

But her negative mood vanished quickly when she saw the table full of her favorite dishes. Her cheeks puffed out like a little hamster's, her big eyes wide, and her voice muffled as she said, "Delicious! Liao Xue, you're the greatest cook in the world."

Liao Xue, who had spent the whole afternoon working, suddenly felt that all the tedious steps hadn't tired her at all. She propped her head on her hand and smiled, "Slow down. You've got food all over your face."

Shen Qiancheng swallowed a mouthful and asked, "Where?"

Liao Xue leaned in, their eyes meeting at close range, only each other's reflections in their pupils.

Even though they'd done the most intimate things, Shen Qiancheng still blushed. She gaped stupidly at Liao Xue.

Liao Xue chuckled softly, reached out to pick a grain of rice from the dimple at the corner of Shen Qiancheng's mouth, and held her hand out as evidence: "See? Right on your face. This is the proof."

Shen Qiancheng grabbed a tissue and wiped her mouth furiously to hide her embarrassment, then lowered her head and asked, "Any left now?"

Liao Xue suppressed her laugh and said, "No, no more."

After dinner, Liao Xue had Shen Qiancheng put the dishes in the dishwasher while she loaded the washing machine. The home was quiet, warm, and mundane.

When bedtime arrived, Shen Qiancheng's fluffy head rested against Liao Xue's chin, breathing in the calming scent that was uniquely Liao Xue's.

Happiness was tangible right before her eyes. Shen Qiancheng felt that having Liao Xue, having her cooking to eat, her laundry to wear, her body to hold—that was the greatest happiness of all.

Just as Shen Qiancheng was basking in her own bliss, Liao Xue above her reached down and stroked Shen Qiancheng's hair, speaking softly, "I heard you wrote a whole diary about me?"

Shen Qiancheng, half-asleep, snapped her eyes open, even bumping Liao Xue's chin.

Liao Xue's hand rested on Shen Qiancheng's hair, gently smoothing it like stroking a child.

She didn't need to look down to imagine Shen Qiancheng's expression at this very moment.

Her big eyes and big mouth were like three holes spread across her face, her long lashes trembling slightly, her reddened feet wiggling nervously.

It was the face Shen Qiancheng made whenever she'd been caught red-handed after doing something "good"—the look that said, "How did you find out? If you know, where am I supposed to put my face?" Liao Xue thought mischievously that she'd love to turn that expression into a sticker pack, but she could only send it to Shen Qiancheng in their chats.

A wet kiss found Liao Xue's dimple, brushing against it lightly.

Liao Xue lowered her head and pressed the woman beneath her. Their lips met like travelers in a desert, each seizing the scarce moisture from the other's mouth.

When it finally ended, Liao Xue was pondering how many times she could use this leverage. Shen Qiancheng was already drowsy, drifting off.

---

Peaceful days passed slowly as time marched on. Shen Qiancheng lived a wonderful life—waking up to Liao Xue's personal wake-up service, three hearty meals cooked by Liao Xue, and clothes washed by Liao Xue that smelled fresh and soft.

A goodbye kiss in the morning, a goodnight kiss in the evening.

Shen Qiancheng was so happy she felt like her tail would fly off. She was all smiles at work every day, which made her employees nervous, thinking she might be plotting something strange—until the boss's moonlight-like wife started bringing her loving homemade lunches. The way their boss smiled so cheaply at those moments made every single employee at the company come to work reeking of sour, mushy love.

One day, the weather was lovely, but the employees were surprised to find that the wife hadn't come with lunch.

The more they looked at their boss's face, the darker and sourer it seemed.

Oh no, oh no! The boss and the wife must have had a fight!

At the center of it all—Shen Qiancheng was indeed in a foul mood, all because of what had happened the day before yesterday.

On the weekend, Shen Qiancheng had finally agreed to take a break and wanted to spend more time with Liao Xue. Liao Xue must be stir-crazy cooped up at home by herself.

Shen Qiancheng took Liao Xue out for breakfast and then shopping. They wandered and came to a handicraft shop. The decor was vintage with classical music playing—very Swiss style.

Hand in hand, they pushed the door open, and the doorbell swayed in the breeze, letting out a pleasant chime.

The laid-back shopkeeper was lounging in a rocking chair. He didn't even lift an eyelid when someone came in, unafraid of thieves.

The scent of perfume in the shop was a bit heavy. Shen Qiancheng pressed a finger to the tip of her nose, scanning with one glance and deciding there was nothing truly interesting—just another tourist trap for foreigners buying souvenirs.

She held Liao Xue's hand, trailing wherever Liao Xue went, resting her head lazily on Liao Xue's shoulder.

But Liao Xue was fascinated, touching this and that, turning things over in her hands. She held up a small ornament to Shen Qiancheng and asked, tilting her head, "This one's so cute! Buy it for me."

Shen Qiancheng lifted her eyelids for a lazy look and immediately recognized it as a cheap plastic product made in China.

Liao Xue's eyes were glued to Shen Qiancheng's. Shen Qiancheng took it with a smile and said, "Sure. See anything else you like?"

Liao Xue obediently swept her gaze over the shelves, then pressed her lips together and shook her head. "No, that's all."

Shen Qiancheng let go of Liao Xue, shoved one hand in her pocket, and bargained with the shopkeeper in German.

Under Shen Qiancheng's coercion and persuasion, the shopkeeper ended it with the words "A gift for a friend."

Shen Qiancheng flicked her hair back and turned to see Liao Xue holding a diary in her hands.

"I want this one too," Liao Xue said earnestly.

Shen Qiancheng: ...How is this endless?

Seeing Shen Qiancheng's embarrassment and fluster, Liao Xue smiled slyly, set it on the counter, and said in her newly learned German, "Hello, I'd like to buy this. How much is it?"

The shopkeeper propped his cheek on his hand, looked at the blushing "friend" Shen Qiancheng, then at the smiling Liao Xue, and suddenly it clicked: "You're a couple!"

Liao Xue didn't understand, so she nudged Shen Qiancheng with her elbow, her round eyes filled with confusion.

Relying on their language advantage, Shen Qiancheng said decisively, "No. She doesn't want it."

But that sentence Liao Xue could understand. She slapped her hand on the diary. "I want this one. Please sell it to me."

The shopkeeper understood instantly and extended a finger to say, "A gift for a friend."

As they left, Shen Qiancheng turned around and gave a big middle finger, snarling in German, "Hope you close down soon!"

Liao Xue, who had gotten her precious diary, stopped at those words and asked, confused, "What did you say?"

Shen Qiancheng raised the corner of her mouth. "Nothing. I said goodbye."

"I can understand Chinese," came the shopkeeper's gleeful, arrogant voice from behind.

Shen Qiancheng yanked Liao Xue out the door. What a lousy shop—never coming here again!

They took a cab back. Liao Xue solemnly wrote "Shen Qiancheng" and "Liao Xue" on the title page, then took Shen Qiancheng's hand, placed it on her own knee, examined it closely, and drew a ring between the two names.

Shen Qiancheng was too annoyed at the shopkeeper to say a word, lazily letting Liao Xue do whatever she wanted with her hand.

Suddenly, Liao Xue lifted the notebook up beside her cheek, pointed at the drawing, and laughed. "See! Isn't it pretty?"

In that instant, Shen Qiancheng felt a pang of dizziness. When had Liao Xue become so optimistic and lively again?

The anger from the shopkeeper was defeated by one sweet smile from Liao Xue. Shen Qiancheng smiled back. "Very pretty!"

Liao Xue put the notebook down, opened to the first page, and wrote the first line with a permanent marker.

—

Sunday, April 12, 2026, Sunny

Bought a diary with Shen Qiancheng at the handicraft shop. This is its first entry.

Liao Xue closed the notebook and said guiltily, "No matter what, I can never make up for those three years. From now on, every moment of our lives together needs to be recorded."

All of them recorded?

Shen Qiancheng was stunned. How many more moments were there to come?

Liao Xue kept counting on her fingers: "Like recording how many times a certain workaholic skips breakfast to go to work, whether a certain picky eater is still being picky, and whether a certain night owl stayed up again last night."

Once Shen Qiancheng realized who that certain someone was, she used her mouth to cover the other's mouth. The two tumbled into a fit of giggles, and by the time they got home, they skipped dinner and went straight to bed.

The diary lay open, tossed on the carpet, the wind outside masking the sound of panting breaths.

Speak of the devil: Shen Qiancheng woke up late, didn't want breakfast, got caught by Liao Xue, and then, utterly shameless, grabbed her bag and drove off to work.

Liao Xue stood at the dining table in her apron, hands on her hips, letting out a long, exasperated sigh.

Twenty minutes later, Liao Xue, in a trench coat and carrying a food container, stood at the company entrance.

The receptionist at the front desk saw it was Liao Xue, stood up, opened the door for her, and rattled off in German, "Hello, Miss Liao. I'm the receptionist here. So nice to meet you. Are you here to see the boss? She's in her office. Would you like me to take you up?"

Liao Xue couldn't follow the rapid-fire German. She caught only "boss" and the question tone, so she nodded with restraint.

The receptionist was charmed by Liao Xue's smile—

The boss's wife is so pretty, so gentle just like they said, and Chinese like the boss. The boss is really lucky.

Remembering she'd listed Chinese on her resume when she applied, and seeing the wife's dazed expression, the receptionist switched to Chinese enthusiastically: "Hello! I speak a little Chinese."

Liao Xue was pleasantly surprised. "You can speak Chinese? That's amazing."

The receptionist beamed, feeling quite flattered by the praise.

"Yes, and in a few days the boss is taking us all to China. We've all been brushing up on our Chinese. Miss Liao, do you have any recommendations for fun places in China?"

The receptionist asked with genuine sincerity, looking at Liao Xue with hopeful eyes.

But Liao Xue's mind exploded like a thunderclap. What do you mean the boss is taking them back to China?

Her heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, robbed of any breath.

The receptionist kept talking. "The city the boss mentioned is called Tang City..."

Suddenly, a hand landed on the receptionist's own. She looked up to find the boss's wife, her face even paler than before.

Startled, she asked, "Are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital?"

Liao Xue closed her eyes, her mind ringing as if she'd gone deaf.

"I'm fine." Her lips were white as she rested her hand on the receptionist's arm and lifted the thermal container in her other hand. "I just remembered I have something to do. Could you give this breakfast to your boss for me? I need to go."

She gave the receptionist no time to refuse. Stumbling two steps, she left unsteadily and hailed a cab. Resting her head against the gently vibrating window, she didn't notice when a light drizzle began outside.

The hazy, thread-like raindrops streaked down the windowpane, forming trails like tears.

The phone screen lit up, and Liao Xue snapped out of her thoughts to answer it.

"Hello? The breakfast was delicious, but I can only give it 99 points, because it wasn't delivered to me in person by a certain someone," Shen Qiancheng's cheerful voice crackled through the speaker.

Liao Xue paused for three seconds. "Mm."

Shen Qiancheng said, "It's raining out there. Did you bring an umbrella? Your voice sounds weird—did you catch a cold from the wind?"

Liao Xue said, "No."

Shen Qiancheng said, "Alright, alright."

There was a knock at the door on the other end of the line. Shen Qiancheng blew a kiss through the phone. "See you tonight, Little Xue Xue!"

"Mm." A single syllable stuck in Liao Xue's throat.

After a full day of work, Shen Qiancheng stretched and grabbed her bag. Just thinking about someone waiting for her at home made the corners of her mouth curl up involuntarily.

The drive home was quick as lightning. Shen Qiancheng stood at the door, wondering whether today Liao Xue would greet her with a hug or a kiss first.

Full of anticipation, Shen Qiancheng pushed open the door. No one at the entrance. No dinner laid out on the table. Only the faint noise of some variety show drifting from the living room.

Shen Qiancheng frowned, a hollow feeling in her chest.

In the living room, Liao Xue was curled up on the big sofa, her small frame lost in it.

Expressionless, she lifted her arm and kept jabbing the fast-forward button on the remote in irritation.

The TV was playing at a speed so fast that even the actors couldn't get a single word out.

What's going on? Is she upset?

Shen Qiancheng, who rarely had to console anyone—and had only ever tried with Liao Xue, never successfully—suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands or feet.

She scratched her head. "Liao Xue, let's go out to eat."

Liao Xue, as if she'd only just noticed Shen Qiancheng had come home, or perhaps had known all along, said with a flat tone, "Mm."

Shen Qiancheng led Liao Xue out, closed the door, and the two walked down side by side.

Suddenly, Liao Xue quickened her pace, putting distance between them. Shen Qiancheng's hand, reaching out to hold hers, hung suspended in midair.

Shen Qiancheng swore that even if the world ended tomorrow, she would still eat breakfast.

The end of the world was nothing compared to Liao Xue being mad at her.

But there was no regret medicine in this world. She wondered if Liao Xue was now darkly writing down her sin of skipping breakfast in that diary.

Shen Qiancheng's eyes darted around, then she grinned. "Little Xue Xue, my hands are so cold. Your coat pocket looks so warm."

Liao Xue sullenly said, without even opening her eyes to look at her, "I don't have pockets."

Liao Xue's coat was one Shen Qiancheng had spotted a few days ago while passing by and bought because she thought it suited her. It was a British-style camel trench coat with a stand-up collar, and the most noticeable feature was its two huge pockets.

Shen Qiancheng pointed accusingly at the two enormous pockets on the coat she'd bought for Liao Xue and protested, "And what are these?"

Liao Xue shoved her hands into them and said with utter justification, "They're for my own hands."

Left with no choice, Shen Qiancheng had only one path forward: a proper apology.

She shrugged. "Liao Xue, are you mad?"

Liao Xue, who had been walking two steps ahead the whole time, stopped. Oh, so now you finally notice?

Seeing that Liao Xue was affected, Shen Qiancheng felt a wave of grievance herself. It really was Liao Xue who'd kept her up so late and so tired that she couldn't get up this morning!

"Three seconds. Make up with me right now," Shen Qiancheng said, allowing no argument.