ORCBRB – Chapter 11
Chapter 11
A storm raged in Sang Shi'an's mind.
For a moment, she almost suspected she couldn't read Chinese characters anymore.
Fortunately, Sang Shi'an had been startled by Jian Cenyu's mention of 'special hobbies' at the beginning of the semester, so she was somewhat mentally prepared. But the most crucial thing was—
Jian Cenyu had been searching for same-sex content.
Not heterosexual AV.
But same-sex, lesbian films.
Then she recalled Jian Cenyu's reaction when she saw Jiang Xinqi and her girlfriend kissing at the Japanese restaurant.
Those glassy, light-colored eyes had merely glanced over them, without a ripple of emotion.
At the time, she had been in shock over her friend suddenly coming out, and had even repeatedly stressed to Jian Cenyu not to show any unusual reaction, lest she hurt Jiang Xinqi's feelings.
So she hadn't noticed just how calm Jian Cenyu was—so calm that she was completely unfazed by seeing Jiang Xinqi kissing her partner.
Sang Shi'an thought numbly, no wonder Jian Cenyu was indifferent to the forum posts spreading rumors about them being lesbians. No wonder Jian Cenyu had specifically stopped her that day to ask, 'Who said I'm against homosexuality?'
Would a heterosexual person search for lesbian films?
Even if it was just out of curiosity, they wouldn't have a full screen of such search records, right?
The only explanation was—Jian Cenyu liked watching this stuff. Or to be more precise, Jian Cenyu's sexual orientation—was women.
A shiver ran down Sang Shi'an's spine.
She was done for.
She had only known that Jian Cenyu had some special hobbies, but she had always assumed they were directed at men.
Now that she knew Jian Cenyu's sexual orientation, Sang Shi'an finally realized—so were those special hobbies meant to be enjoyed with women?
She had been living under the same roof with such a dangerous person for over two months?
And Jian Cenyu hadn't done anything to her? Late at night, with the doors and windows locked, and she was so good-looking... No, no, no, that wasn't the point. The point was, she had just managed to ease the tension with Jian Cenyu. Wouldn't it be too obvious if she started distancing herself again?
Sang Shi'an was panicking.
With a trembling hand, she clicked on the most recent search entry.
The page loaded. The computer was using a VPN to bypass the firewall, and a slew of blush-inducing websites popped up.
Sang Shi'an's body went completely stiff. She bit her lip hard as a wave of shame spread from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears.
She hadn't misjudged Jian Cenyu; these records were genuinely what Jian Cenyu herself had searched for and wanted to watch.
The computer's trackpad was overly sensitive, and the cursor accidentally clicked on a video. Abrupt gasps and the wet sounds of entanglement filled the air.
She scrambled to close the webpage, but just then—
Click—
The front door opened. First, a gust of wind blew in long strands of hair, followed by a well-tailored trench coat.
After entering, Jian Cenyu took off her coat. White sleeve garters fit snugly on her arms, and her silk white shirt was tucked into her skirt, exuding an ascetic aura. She had just loosened her black tie halfway when she heard Sang Shi'an suddenly bump into the desk as she stood up.
Jian Cenyu turned her head and suddenly called out, "Sang Shi'an?"
"Ah?" Sang Shi'an had frantically closed all the webpages as she stood up. Stumbling upon Jian Cenyu's private matters was shocking enough, but being caught in the act as Jian Cenyu came home made the hair on her arms stand on end.
Jian Cenyu put down her coat and walked to the entrance of the study. She probably noticed the scattered tissue box and other pens next to the computer, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Why are you always so clumsy?" Jian Cenyu habitually started to tidy up the desk for her.
Sang Shi'an didn't stop her. Her eyes darted back and forth, following Jian Cenyu's outstretched hand, then flicking over to the computer screen several times, trying to check if she had closed the webpages completely.
Her unusual behavior immediately caught Jian Cenyu's attention.
"Is there a problem with the computer?"
Sang Shi'an's hand trembled.
In her panic, Jian Cenyu moved behind her. One hand reached over from the right and covered the trackpad. A warm breath carrying Jian Cenyu's unique scent enveloped her—a cool, ethereal, woody fragrance mixed with a hint of moisture.
Her gaze was fixed, and she could vaguely see the sleeve garters still fastened tightly on Jian Cenyu's arm.
They were similar in height. Perhaps thinking it was inconvenient for her to stand, Jian Cenyu placed her other hand on Sang Shi'an's shoulder and pressed her down into the chair.
Caught off guard, Sang Shi'an instinctively looked up, and their eyes met.
Jian Cenyu's clear, cool voice entered her ears, making them tingle. "Did it already restart?"
Sang Shi'an was too nervous to speak. Her left shoulder, held down by the hand, was incredibly stiff. She parted her lips and managed to force out an, "Mhm."
The hand on her shoulder lifted, then immediately pressed against Sang Shi'an's forehead. The palm brushed over her brow, creating a slight tickle. "Why is your face so red? Did you sneak off to drink again?"
"...No."
The hand unhurriedly left her forehead and moved down.
It then cupped her chin, gently lifting her head, which she had deliberately lowered.
Bathed in the dazzling halo of the crystal chandelier, Sang Shi'an met those light-colored eyes.
For an instant, Sang Shi'an's breath caught.
Did Jian Cenyu see... did she figure it out?
"Your pupils are normal. Are you sure you're not feeling unwell?"
Her heart was pounding rapidly. The image of Jian Cenyu's neat shirt seemed to fade, replaced by scenes from the video she had seen on the computer.
Sang Shi'an swallowed unconsciously. The subtle movement made her chin seem to deliberately brush against the cool, delicate skin of Jian Cenyu's fingertips.
Sang Shi'an managed to steady her voice. "...I'm really fine."
"Maybe it's just too stuffy in here." A hint of an indistinct smile was woven into Jian Cenyu's mellow voice.
She turned and opened the window a little.
Cool air flooded in, and Sang Shi'an's tense nerves finally settled a bit. The feeling of being caressed still lingered on her chin. Sang Shi'an stood up. "I'm going out for a bit."
Afraid that her attempt to flee was too obvious, she offered a rare explanation. "I'm meeting a friend to buy a computer."
"I just got back from the office. If you had said something earlier, I could have stopped by the mall and picked one up for you."
Speaking of which, Sang Shi'an remembered that she had cracked her phone screen the other day, and Jian Cenyu had paid for the new one. She lowered her head and transferred the money to Jian Cenyu. "For the phone last time, thank you."
Jian Cenyu acknowledged it. As Sang Shi'an was rushing, she called out to her again, "Did you save the files on the computer you were using?"
"Ah, I haven't revised my thesis yet, so there's nothing to save." After saying that, Sang Shi'an felt that admitting she hadn't worked on her thesis for so long was like admitting she'd been using the browser. So she quickly added, "The computer crashed as soon as I turned it on. I-I've been struggling with it for a while."
So she hadn't touched anything she shouldn't have, nor had she seen anything she shouldn't have seen.
A response came from behind her. It sounded somewhat pleased, though not obviously so. Sang Shi'an didn't try to confirm it, quickly changing her shoes and hurrying out the door.
Once inside the elevator, she leaned against the wall, her mind blank, and let out a deep breath.
What was all this?
The temperature dropped at night. After buying her computer, Sang Shi'an wandered aimlessly down the street, hugging the new device. Someone came up to ask for her WeChat, and unluckily, it was a girl.
Like a frightened bird, Sang Shi'an quickly apologized and hurried away.
How had she never noticed so many lesbians around her before?
Jiang Xinqi had been turned, and Jian Cenyu... well, maybe she had always liked girls. And then there was Su Ningyue, whom she had once seen with someone but hadn't gotten a clear look at...
Ahhhhhhh.
She stopped, took out her phone, and scrolled through her chat list. From top to bottom, among the people she frequently talked to, she couldn't find a single person she could confide in about this.
Finally, after standing in the cold wind for two hours, she resignedly drifted back to the Zuo'an Community.
The night was filled with terrifying nightmares.
The next morning, Sang Shi'an, sporting two dark circles under her eyes, strode to the entryway before Jian Cenyu could come out of the bathroom.
As she closed the door, she thought she heard Jian Cenyu call her name.
Anyway, she pretended not to hear.
The first major class in the morning was Economic Law.
The second was Tax Law.
The professor seemed to be in a bad mood today, lecturing by reading straight from the textbook, which was incredibly dull.
Sang Shi'an was listless, only able to see the professor's mouth opening and closing. When she finally snapped out of it, she found she had scrawled 'Jian Cenyu' several times in her notebook.
Sang Shi'an: ......
Sang Shi'an exaggeratedly flipped the page, the large movement drawing glances from those around her.
Su Ningyue was jolted out of her drowsiness by the move. "What are you doing, making such a racket?"
"I..."
Before Sang Shi'an could speak, the professor's gaze swept over to her. "The student in the fifth row wearing the blue jacket, please answer my last question. In this problem, what is Company A's output tax?"
A wave of suppressed laughter went through the room.
Sang Shi'an stood up, feeling dizzy as she looked at the ten-plus lines of business operations in the problem description.
"The sales amount is the difference between the buying and selling price at the end of '21, minus the bond loss, with a tax rate of six percent. The output tax should be... "
Jiang Xinqi wrote a few large numbers on a piece of paper. Sang Shi'an shot her a grateful look and announced the result, "One hundred twenty-eight thousand three hundred, option C."
"Mhm, you may sit down." The professor moved on to the next question.
When the bell rang, Su Ningyue teased Sang Shi'an as she packed her things. "What's with you? Making such a scene just from dozing off? Were you up to no good last night?"
Sang Shi'an's eyes flickered.
She really had been up to no good.
When she got home, she found that Jian Cenyu hadn't taken the computer back to her room, so she had quietly opened the browser again and taken pictures of the search history.
She encrypted them in her photo album with a single tap.
But she couldn't tell Su Ningyue and the others about this.
So Sang Shi'an could only own up to 'dozing off,' bantering as usual. "You were asleep too! Let's not laugh at each other!"
Su Ningyue laughed, pushed her hand away, and suggested, "It's almost time for lunch. Do you want to ask Senior Jian out for a meal?"
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