Chapter 59

Lu Lan accepted the fact that Shen Siyan had a girlfriend by thoroughly cleaning up the shattered beer bottles.

“Then we really need to drink,” Lu Lan said, grabbing a fresh case of beer and lifting her brows. “I’m giving you two a chance to tell me all about it.”

Since she’d been invited to speak, Wei Xiaolu very much wanted to put on a good show.

But when she opened her mouth, she found herself at a loss for words.

Between her and Shen Siyan, there was only the ordinary routine of a composed superior and an intern. No dramatic twists of love and hate, no grand vows of eternal devotion, not even a clear starting point for where their feelings had begun.

She turned her eyes to Shen Siyan.

Shen Siyan smiled knowingly at her. “There’s not that much to tell, really. We just liked each other.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Lu Lan popped open a bottle cap. “Then let me ask you this. How long?”

“How long what?” Shen Siyan picked up a bottle and took a sip.

“How long have you been together?” Lu Lan glanced at Wei Xiaolu and pointed at the skewers. “Eat, girl.”

Wei Xiaolu reached for the barbecue, and a soft laugh brushed past her ear. Shen Siyan’s voice followed right after. “We’re planning to be together for a long time.”

Lu Lan propped her forehead on her hand and gave a helpless smile. “Hey, that’s not what I meant.”

Wei Xiaolu also smiled, putting a lamb skewer into Shen Siyan’s hand and answering for her, “We’ve been together for a week.”

“That’s not long,” Lu Lan said, clinking her bottle against Shen Siyan’s. “If you want to be together for a long time, that won’t be easy to hide.”

“We’re not planning to hide it,” Shen Siyan said. “I told you already.”

“Hey.” Lu Lan waved a hand. “I don’t mean that. What about everyone else? Especially your family. Weren’t they always pushing you to go on blind dates? If they find out, won’t they skin you alive?”

That was a sharp question.

Wei Xiaolu felt a little sorry for Shen Siyan. They had only just gotten together and hadn’t even had time to enjoy the sweetness of a new romance; why jump straight to such stifling problems?

But... Shen Siyan had already broken with her family, so this question didn’t really matter at the moment anyway.

“They know.”

After Shen Siyan said it calmly, the silence around the table deepened even further.

Lu Lan, sitting across from her, was so shocked she couldn’t speak. Wei Xiaolu used that look of stunned silence to confirm that she herself hadn’t misheard.

Shen Siyan smiled and said again, “They know I like girls.”

“Then were your parents forcing you to go on blind dates because of that?” Lu Lan asked.

“No.” Shen Siyan put an arm around Wei Xiaolu. “I had someone I liked, and I didn’t want them arranging things for me, so I said it plainly.”

Lu Lan was silent for a moment, then slapped the table. “That you’re still alive and sitting here in front of me is a miracle.”

“Your method works,” Shen Siyan said, clinking glasses with her. “If it’s time to cut ties, then cut them cleanly.”

“Wow, impressive. Anyway, you’re perfectly capable on your own,” Lu Lan laughed. “Bring your girlfriend here to my little hideout anytime.”

“Didn’t she come today?” Shen Siyan said, laughing with her.

Wei Xiaolu was a little out of it through the meal. After hearing the other reason for Shen Siyan’s split with her family, the lamb no longer seemed quite so fragrant.

After two more plates, it was getting late. Lu Lan took them to the guest room, then shamelessly waved a hand and said, “Hey, keep your voices down. My wooden house doesn’t block sound.”

“!” Wei Xiaolu’s chest tightened.

Shen Siyan herded Lu Lan out. “Then you should keep your voice down too. And don’t go drinking and then singing and dancing; we might have to report you.”

In the end, Lu Lan shot the two of them a teasing look and left after closing the door.

The room was suddenly quiet.

The nervousness, the shyness—everything cooled with the air.

There was only one bed. After Shen Siyan made it up, she asked which side Wei Xiaolu wanted to sleep on. Wei Xiaolu politely said, “You pick first, sister.” Shen Siyan pushed the choice back to her, and in the end Wei Xiaolu said she’d sleep on the left side.

Bathing was the same; it went back and forth between “you go first” and “you go first.” In the end, Shen Siyan settled it. “Then I’ll go first. The bathroom’ll be warmer after I’m done.”

Shen Siyan went to shower. The running water inside wasn’t even loud, but Wei Xiaolu still felt like it was giving her a headache.

Now she couldn’t sit still and couldn’t stand still; talking would be even stranger. It was like her mouth only worked when she was flirting, and in any other situation it had simply stopped functioning.

Sigh.

And that still wasn’t the most frustrating part. The most tormenting thing was this:

How could two people who got along so well end up feeling less familiar after they started dating?

After they’d both bathed and gotten into bed, Wei Xiaolu scrolled through her phone for a while before she finally couldn’t hold back anymore. She turned over to face Shen Siyan. “Sister.”

“Mm?” Shen Siyan was typing. The avatar looked familiar, like some coworker from before.

Wei Xiaolu was suddenly afraid of disturbing her work, so she quietly said it was nothing and picked up her phone again to keep watching horse-riding tutorials.

After a while,

she saw out of the corner of her eye that Shen Siyan had finished replying and put her phone down.

“Little sister,” Shen Siyan asked, “sleeping?”

“...Huh?” Wei Xiaolu stiffened all over.

“Tired?”

“Not really,” Wei Xiaolu said, then wanted to change her answer. With the light on and each of them doing their own thing, this felt a little strange. “Maybe we should sleep. We still have to ride tomorrow.”

“Mm.” Shen Siyan turned off the light. “Good night.”

“Good night, beautiful.” Wei Xiaolu just wanted to end all of this quickly and lie there with her eyes closed.

Who would have thought that in the dark, Shen Siyan’s voice would come closer. “What did you just call me?”

Wei Xiaolu hid her face behind the blanket. “Beautiful.”

“Call me something else.” Shen Siyan laughed softly.

Having discovered that Shen Siyan actually didn’t like that nickname, Wei Xiaolu snickered under the covers. “Not changing it. Beautiful.”

“Mm?” Shen Siyan leaned closer. “What did you say? Didn’t catch that.”

Maybe the blanket was muffling her voice. Wei Xiaolu lifted it away. “Beautiful.”

Her laughter hadn’t even fully faded when a hand settled behind her head and a kiss landed.

She was under attack!

The world’s number one brave hero, Wei Xiaolu, immediately reached up and wrapped her arms around Shen Siyan’s neck, kissing her back without the slightest hesitation.

There was no technique to speak of; she bit and nibbled at whatever she could catch. Even Wei Xiaolu thought she was being a little fierce, and worried that if she kept kissing like this, Shen Siyan would think she was desperate. So she gradually slowed down, and in the end pulled back from Shen Siyan’s lips.

“...” Wei Xiaolu didn’t dare make too much of a fuss, but she did want to stir things up a little. So she blew softly by Shen Siyan’s ear and whispered, “Did you hear me? Beautiful.”

“I heard you,” Shen Siyan said, pressing her lips to her ear. “My baby.”

“Ah!” Wei Xiaolu couldn’t take it and ducked back into her turtle shell, covering her face. “No more, no more. I’m embarrassed!”

Shen Siyan laughed and pulled her out from under the blanket. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Sleep!” Wei Xiaolu turned her back.

Shen Siyan’s voice came from behind her. “Okay, baby.”

Before, she had always been the one chirping away with “Okay, CEO Shen,” “Got it, CEO Shen,” “Will do, CEO Shen.” Hearing Shen Siyan say it like that now made Wei Xiaolu secretly delighted, and she shouted again, “I’m really going to sleep!”

Shen Siyan only smiled, her voice coaxing. “Okay then, baby.”

As expected, she had trouble falling asleep... Wei Xiaolu lay there clutching the blanket for more than an hour in the dark before she finally drifted off in a daze.

The next morning, she was woken by noise. Wei Xiaolu sat up groggily, and Shen Siyan was already gone from the room. She got up, went to the window, pushed it open hard, and looked outside.

The morning light was pale and faint; a thin layer of mist lay over the pasture.

Through that mist, a horse was running.

Shen Siyan was on its back, dressed in black riding gear, her hair tied into a high ponytail, back straight, leaning slightly forward. The way she held the reins was cool and effortless, and Wei Xiaolu stared a little blankly.

“What’re you looking at?” Lu Lan appeared outside the window and handed her her gear. “Come on out with us.”

“This is my first time riding a horse.” Wei Xiaolu took it and thanked her.

“Well, that part I’m not covering,” Lu Lan said, hands on her hips and grinning. “Siyan’s definitely the one teaching you.”

Wei Xiaolu smiled too, lips pressed together.

After she put on the riding pants and short boots, Wei Xiaolu walked out to the pasture. Shen Siyan noticed her quickly, hopped down, and led the horse over.

“Sister.”

Shen Siyan arched a brow. “Did you eat breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry,” Wei Xiaolu shook her head. “I want to learn horse riding from you.”

“Come on.” Shen Siyan took her hand with her other hand.

The basics didn’t sound difficult. Wei Xiaolu said she understood and was eager to try.

Shen Siyan stopped explaining, demonstrated once for her, then jumped down and braced Wei Xiaolu’s waist as she lifted her up. “Relax. Heels down, back straight.”

At last, with Coach Shen’s help, Wei Xiaolu climbed shakily into the saddle.

Her point of view rose. The horse beneath her shifted, and the whole world rocked with it.

She gripped the saddle horn and kept her balance, discovering that she was adjusting better than she’d expected. She couldn’t help smiling. “It doesn’t seem that hard.”

“Mm, very good.” Shen Siyan walked alongside her at the same slow pace.

Wei Xiaolu looked down at Shen Siyan and had the strange feeling that this scene looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

“Want to try a trot?” Shen Siyan asked.

Wei Xiaolu also wanted to charge across the field like Shen Siyan had just done, so she nodded immediately. “Let’s try.”

The horse was very familiar with Shen Siyan’s commands. After a couple of tugs on the reins, it quickened its pace and broke into a light, brisk trot.

The rhythm changed all at once.

The rise and fall of the horse’s back grew much more intense; Wei Xiaolu suddenly could no longer control her own body. She stiffened like a plank, lurching and bouncing all over the saddle.

“Ah!” she cried in panic. “A-ah, what do I do? Shen Siyan! What am I supposed to do!”

“Don’t panic. Follow its rhythm.”

Before Shen Siyan had even finished speaking, Wei Xiaolu felt her body tilt. The world spun; she was about to kiss the ground.

She instinctively shut her eyes tight, bracing for the pain of a fall.

An arm steadied her around the waist, keeping her from going down completely; only when her feet hit the ground did she jolt, the soles of her feet going numb.

So embarrassing...

Wei Xiaolu lowered her head, too ashamed to look at Shen Siyan. “Sigh, I’m a little dumb. My coordination is terrible.”

And Shen Siyan actually laughed at her.

“I just can’t ride a horse!” Wei Xiaolu shoved her. “You didn’t teach me properly.”

“Want to ride some more?” Shen Siyan brushed the sweat-damp hair from her forehead. “I can teach you again.”

“Let me catch my breath first,” Wei Xiaolu said, clutching her chest. “I’m still recovering from the shock.”

Shen Siyan led the horse along on her left side. “Then let’s just walk around.”

So the two of them strolled like that.

The morning mist brushed against their faces, cool and damp. Wei Xiaolu closed her eyes and enjoyed the natural comfort of it all.

No wonder Lu Lan could breathe this kind of free air every day; no wonder she lived so unrestrainedly.

While she was feeling sentimental, Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help but wonder: if Shen Siyan’s break with her family had been influenced by Lu Lan, would she someday also choose to live alone in some quiet place and enjoy life?

“Sister, do you like it here?” Wei Xiaolu interrupted Shen Siyan’s explanation.

Shen Siyan, who had been offering horse-riding theory support, paused in surprise. After a moment, she smiled. “I do.”

“Then in the future, would you live like Lu Lan sister does,” Wei Xiaolu asked, “with this kind of back-to-nature life?”

This time, Shen Siyan didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“Oh.” So even though both of them had fallen out with their families, Shen Siyan and Lu Lan were still not quite the same.

After walking a few more steps, Wei Xiaolu finally remembered to ask, “Why?”

Shen Siyan gave a soft laugh. “I’m not like Lu Lan. Her world is complete even when she’s alone.”

Wei Xiaolu’s heart stirred. She listened closely.

“I like dealing with people, and I like building connections with them,” Shen Siyan said as they walked, her hand resting on the horse’s back. “I also need that kind of relationship between people to make myself feel more complete.”

She made not being able to stand loneliness sound so high-minded. Wei Xiaolu secretly smiled to herself, but still agreed aloud, “People are social animals, after all.”

But the moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly stopped and froze.

Wait. Something was wrong.

Shen Siyan reined the horse in and turned to look at her. “What is it, baby?”

Her gaze landed on Shen Siyan’s face, and Wei Xiaolu felt as if pieces in her head were quickly fitting together.

Right. Shen Siyan had always been like this; she cared deeply about the ties between people.

At the company, she organized meals and team-building outings, actively creating a good work atmosphere. When she went out of town on business, she would take the initiative to contact an old friend at the winery and maintain old classmate ties. Even with that fake blind date candidate, she hadn’t treated him like a stranger across the table; occasionally, she could even help Qi Lang out with things, enough to count as half a friend. When they went out to have fun, she didn’t just pick any random place; she had to come to a friend’s venue and gather there once. Even in the relationship between the two of them, most of the progress had probably been pushed forward by Shen Siyan.

For someone who valued relationships this much, why... had she chosen to cut things off completely with her family?

A thought flashed through her mind like lightning in the morning mist.

If Shen Siyan truly needed and enjoyed the bonds between people, then her decision to sever ties with her family definitely did not come from a real desire to “escape” or “be independent.”

It looked more like reluctant self-protection, after being unable to get the acceptance she wanted.

Wei Xiaolu’s heartbeat suddenly quickened. “Sister.”

“Mm?” Shen Siyan looked at her questioningly.

“Were you maybe... actually...” Wei Xiaolu couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Actually what?” Shen Siyan asked.

Wei Xiaolu thought it over. They were already girlfriends; asking about family matters shouldn’t be too much, right? So she said it outright. “Actually, you didn’t really want to break with your family that completely, did you?”