Chapter 60

Shen Siyan’s hand, the one holding the reins, shifted slightly.

The morning mist had begun to thin, and in the distance Lu Lan’s crisp sounds of tidying horse tack drifted over. In the quiet, they looked into each other’s eyes.

“Maybe,” Shen Siyan said with a smile. “But it’s not that different. We rarely kept in touch before either.”

As she said the second half, Shen Siyan looked away and turned her gaze to the distant mountains, her profile especially calm in the morning light.

Wei Xiaolu’s heartbeat wasn’t quite as frantic as before. It seemed to settle along with her.

“Maybe they just need a little more time to accept it,” she said, stepping forward and taking Shen Siyan’s hand. “Give them some more time. Society’s changing so fast these days; they’ll come around eventually.”

Shen Siyan nodded.

Then, suddenly, she turned and looked at Wei Xiaolu. “Have you come out to your parents?”

Good heavens.

Just hearing the question was enough to jolt her; Wei Xiaolu let go of Shen Siyan’s hand at once.

“No. I don’t dare,” Wei Xiaolu said, waving her hands. “My parents run a noodle shop in our little town. There’s no way they’d accept something like this.”

“Then it’s better not to say anything. No need to upset Uncle and Auntie,” Shen Siyan nodded. “Actually, if you hint at it a little in everyday life, and then a few years later they notice you still haven’t married, they’ll probably figure it out on their own. That’s better than saying it directly.”

As soon as they started talking about this kind of thing, Wei Xiaolu felt a dull tightness in her chest, and her mood sank too, as if she’d run straight into a wall.

She didn’t want to think about these real-world problems.

Though sooner or later, she’d still have to face them.

“Oh,” Wei Xiaolu said, taking Shen Siyan’s hand again. “Then I’ll do what you said and slowly prepare them mentally.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she brightened. “Sis, I want to ride a horse.”

“Sure,” Shen Siyuan said, tilting her head. “Go on up.”

Wei Xiaolu stood there for a long time without moving, mumbling and hesitating. In the end, she said, “I want to ride together with you.”

“What, so if you fall, you’ve got someone to cushion you?” Shen Siyuan leaned against the horse and grinned wickedly.

“...” Wei Xiaolu put her hands on her hips. “Where’s your sense of romance? Why is it only ever used to tease me?”

“Romance?” Shen Siyan swung herself up onto the horse in one smooth motion and held a hand out to her. “Right here. Come on, baby.”

At last, Wei Xiaolu got what she wanted and rode around the arena with Shen Siyan to her heart’s content.

After lunch, they also helped Lu Lan tidy up the ranch a little.

There usually weren’t many visitors; on weekends, at most two. They’d stayed the longest this weekend, and when it was time to say goodbye, Lu Lan even patted Shen Siyan and said, “Come again when you get the chance. I was really happy you could come.”

“If I get the chance, come visit me in the city too,” Shen Siyan said, waving goodbye.

Lu Lan didn’t answer, only smiled and waved back. “Go on, go on.”

Wei Xiaolu also said goodbye to her. “Lu Lan-jie, see you again if I get the chance!”

After the goodbyes, the car pulled away from the ranch, and the atmosphere suddenly dropped from lively and noisy to a quiet that belonged only to the two of them.

But Wei Xiaolu didn’t feel as lost as she had when they arrived. The horseback ride had given her so much; after a quiet moment, she couldn’t help complaining to Shen Siyan about falling off the horse earlier. Thank goodness there hadn’t been any video; even thinking about it now still made her cringe.

“No video, no,” Shen Siyan said after a pause. “But the ranch has surveillance. I’ll ask Lu Lan to cut that section out later.”

Wei Xiaolu: “...”

Wei Xiaolu: “I never should’ve said anything.”

Shen Siyan burst out laughing. Wei Xiaolu immediately ordered her to drive properly with all the authority she could muster, so Shen Siyan stopped laughing and quietly switched the hand she was using to drive from her right to her left.

Then her right hand gradually moved closer, lifted Wei Xiaolu’s hand, slipped her fingers in, and laced them together.

Overwhelmed by the happiness of being in love, Wei Xiaolu made a goofy little “eh-heh-heh” sound.

Shen Siyan smiled too. “If you want to watch something, just play it on the screen yourself.”

“No need,” Wei Xiaolu said, giving their joined hands a little shake. “I want to talk to you, Sis.”

“Okay.” Shen Siyan pulled her hand over and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Shen Siyan’s holiday had already been used up; she was starting work again the next morning. Wei Xiaolu always had the faint feeling that their honeymoon had ended before it had even begun. She told Shen Siyan she hated to part, and Shen Siyan simply turned the steering wheel. “We’re not going back so early today. Let’s find somewhere else and I’ll stay with you a little longer.”

This time, Wei Xiaolu chose the destination. She shouted excitedly, “Let’s go shopping.”

“Okay.” Shen Siyan squeezed her hand. “We can buy you a winter coat while we’re at it.”

Shen Siyan was still a genius when it came to outfits. Wei Xiaolu didn’t want to spend her money and insisted on paying herself, but Shen Siyan put together such a perfect look that Wei Xiaolu was too busy admiring herself in the mirror to notice when the bill had already been settled on the other side.

“I’m definitely going to go home wearing this and brag to my parents about you,” Wei Xiaolu said after they left the store, wrapping herself around Shen Siyan’s arm. “I’ll wear this straight home and say it was a gift from you.”

“I’m counting on you to improve my image,” Shen Siyan said, pinching her nose and giving it a little shake. “And when we get back, you’re not allowed to call me CEO Shen anymore.”

“Yes!” Wei Xiaolu stood at attention and saluted. “Understood, Leader.”

Shen Siyan straightened up too. “A leader who exists solely to serve you, right?”

Wei Xiaolu said nothing, only pursed her lips with a strange little grin.

After shopping, and on Shen Siyan’s suggestion, the two of them found a private restaurant for dinner. By the time they finished and headed back, it was almost ten. After parking in the garage, their hands were still clasped, and neither of them let go first.

Wei Xiaolu deliberately held on tight. “Leader, let go.”

Spreading her fingers, Shen Siyan looked at her and raised a brow.

“How am I supposed to get out of the car if you don’t let go?” Wei Xiaolu played dumb.

Shen Siyan smiled and leaned closer. Wei Xiaolu leaned back, muttering, “What are you doing?” But really, she knew exactly what Shen Siyan was about to do, so when she had nowhere left to retreat, she grinned, hugged Shen Siyan back, and kissed her first.

They’d barely kissed twice when Shen Siyan suddenly pulled away, opened the door, and got out. “All right, I’ve let go. Get out of the car.”

Wei Xiaolu suddenly felt that Shen Siyan was even more boring and childish than she was; but as soon as she got out of the car, she ran over and took Shen Siyan’s hand again.

“Sis,” she leaned against Shen Siyan, “are we going out again next weekend?”

“Next time I’ll take you somewhere different.” Shen Siyan said.

“Yay.” Wei Xiaolu bounced with happiness.

With the arrival of a new week, the lingering effects of Shen Siyan’s leave showed themselves in full force once work started.

Over the next few days, Shen Siyan was so busy that even her speech seemed to leave afterimages. The backlog of work needed her to clear it up; overtime became the norm, and on two days she couldn’t even spare time to come back and have lunch with Wei Xiaolu.

But that didn’t affect her at all.

Because this week, Wei Xiaolu had suddenly become even busier than Shen Siyan... The companies she’d applied to began sending out notices for assessments and written tests one after another. Sometimes, when Shen Siyan came home, Wei Xiaolu was still in the room taking an exam; Shen Siyan could only wait for her. But Wei Xiaolu never let anyone wait for nothing. As soon as she came out, she would throw her arms around Shen Siyan and welcome her sister home from work.

Once or twice was fine, but they’d agreed to go on a date over the weekend, and Wei Xiaolu got held up by written tests and interviews, so she couldn’t go far. By Sunday night, after finishing the written test, it was already ten-thirty, and the wonderful weekend had vanished without a trace.

She stood somewhat guilty at the door to Shen Siyan’s room.

“It’s Monday again tomorrow,” Wei Xiaolu said softly.

Shen Siyan paused her work and looked back. “Finished your exam?”

“Mm.” Wei Xiaolu scratched her head. “If I get through the interviews over the next two weeks, I should finally be able to rest.”

Shen Siyan said nothing. She walked over, hooked her finger around Wei Xiaolu’s hand, and led her outside.

“What are we doing?” Wei Xiaolu asked, leaning forward in confusion.

Shen Siyan stopped at the entryway. “You haven’t relaxed at all this week. Doesn't little sister want to go out for a walk?”

“Yes!” Wei Xiaolu answered without hesitation. Then she glanced at the time. “But it’s almost eleven now. Where can we even go?”

“You decide first.” Shen Siyan handed her the down coat. “If you can’t think of anywhere, I’ll take you to the seaside.”

“The seaside? But won’t it be cold at this hour?” It was the dead of winter and late at night; Wei Xiaolu wasn’t especially willing to go.

“Drive over there,” Shen Siyan said, helping her wrap the scarf around her neck. “If you don’t want to get out, then we’ll just look at the night view.”

That was more like it to Wei Xiaolu. “I’m willing.”

Strictly speaking, the place they were going wasn’t the seaside, but an inland river. Because the waterway was so wide that the opposite bank couldn’t be seen, the locals called it the sea.

The car stopped on top of the embankment.

Once the engine was turned off, the world was wrapped in a damp silence. There was no noise of people, no crashing surf; only the flickering lights of buildings, reflected in the dark water as faint, blurry shadows.

Wei Xiaolu had been here when she was little. In summer, her parents had brought her and Wei Jialuo here to swim. At high tide, the waves were taller than people; from the shore, she’d seen Wei Zongqing swallowed by the water, and she’d clung to Tang Xiaofen, crying hysterically.

Thinking of childhood made her want to laugh. Shen Siyan asked what she was laughing at; Wei Xiaolu had wanted to tell her, but then she thought of Shen Siyan’s strained relationship with her parents and changed course, saying only, “It feels romantic.”

“Then how about this?” Shen Siyan suddenly turned around and lifted a small bag from the back seat.

“Wah—” Wei Xiaolu had a feeling what it might be; her heart started pounding.

While she waited for Shen Siyan to open the jewelry box, she gave herself plenty of time to prepare. But when she saw Shen Siyan take out a pair of diamond-studded bracelets, her head still went dizzy, and her heart couldn’t help racing.

“This is...”

“I had these custom-made as couple bracelets.” As she spoke, Shen Siyan picked up the one with deer antlers in the middle and put it on her own wrist.

“There’s a little deer here.” Wei Xiaolu pointed at her wrist with a silly grin.

“There is one here too.” Shen Siyan pointed at her own chest.

Oh my!

Wei Xiaolu shoved Shen Siyan once. “Ew, gross, that’s so cringe.”

Smiling, Shen Siyan picked up the other bracelet, took Wei Xiaolu’s left hand, and slipped it on for her.

Wei Xiaolu turned the bracelet over and over. It was all diamonds, and she couldn’t find any extra special pattern. She looked at it in confusion. “Why isn’t there a you on it?”

“There aren’t any animal motifs in my name,” Shen Siyan said.

Wei Xiaolu tilted her head, thinking for a moment. “You could put an S.”

“This is neater,” Shen Siyan said, holding up her wrist to look. “Just put the S in your heart; no need to ruin the design.”

Wei Xiaolu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her teasing tone.

But if it was about sweet talk, who couldn’t do that? Wei Xiaolu lifted her chin and boasted with a pat to her chest, “The rent here isn’t cheap. If S wants to move in, it has to pay.”

“How do you pay?” Shen Siyan asked, reaching out and pressing a hand over her heart through her sweater.

“Every day one ki— what are you doing!”

Wei Xiaolu slapped away the hand that had touched her left chest and shoved open the car door to bolt outside.

Right after that, Shen Siyan got out of the car too, carrying Wei Xiaolu’s down coat and leaning against the door with an openly smug smile. “Didn’t you say you were afraid of the cold?”

“Now I’m more afraid of you.” Wei Xiaolu ran a few more steps away.

Shen Siyan laughed for a while longer; then, perhaps sensing the cold, she chased after her and opened the down coat wide to wrap her up completely.

“Don’t catch a chill.”

Wei Xiaolu had already run herself a little tired. The white breath she exhaled seemed like smoke from a fire that had burned itself out.

Watching her for a moment, Shen Siyan lifted her face in both hands and bent down to press a light kiss to her lips.

Wei Xiaolu was still a little dazed.

Then Shen Siyan brushed her cheek with her fingers and smiled. “Rent.”