ORCBRB – Chapter 32
Chapter 32
An assistant from the mall was arranged to carry her purchases. In the time she waited for Jian Cenyu, Sang Shi'an browsed several more luxury stores. She skimmed through them without finding anything she particularly liked, but still bought quite a bit.
She thought about how she had brought Jian Cenyu meals several times during her hospital stay, helped with the discharge procedures, and even retaliated against Jian Zhenyang yesterday. Not to mention the value of Jian Zhenyang's injuries, the partnership he lost was worth far more than this one million. So, it was fine for her to spend this money.
After successfully convincing herself, Sang Shi'an's mood brightened considerably for the next half hour. When she saw clothes that caught her eye, she didn't find it troublesome to go in and try them on, depleting the balance on her card like a spendthrift.
When Jian Cenyu's call came in again, Sang Shi'an took the male assistant carrying her shopping bags to the parking garage.
When the elevator doors opened, a wave of cold air rushed in from outside. Sang Shi'an hunched her shoulders and urged the assistant to hurry and follow her as she searched for the parking spot number Jian Cenyu had given her.
She wasn't good with directions and spent seven or eight minutes before finally finding parking spot C203. Jian Cenyu was waiting by the front of the car, dressed in a creamy white cashmere coat. The light pouring down from above the parking spot seemed to cast a soft-focus filter over her.
Sang Shi'an exhaled a puff of white mist, suddenly feeling that the people at their university really had good taste.
Noticing the footsteps from her direction, Jian Cenyu slowly looked over. Her ethereal face showed displeasure upon seeing Sang Shi'an's thin jacket. She frowned and walked quickly toward them.
"Where's your coat?" Jian Cenyu touched the back of Sang Shi'an's hand, her expression turning even colder. "You came out dressed like this today?"
Sang Shi'an was so cold she hissed, unable to speak for a moment.
She thought: Surely Jian Cenyu isn't going to take off her coat and give it to me, like in a TV drama?
But the next second, it really happened.
Sang Shi'an quickly pressed down on Jian Cenyu's hand as she started to take off her coat, hastily saying, "It's in one of the shopping bags. I just bought this dress, doesn't it look good?"
"It looks good." Jian Cenyu's words were perfunctory; she didn't even glance at Sang Shi'an's outfit before going straight to rummaging through the dozen or so shopping bags.
The male assistant from the mall delivered the items and, without asking for a tip, tactfully left.
Jian Cenyu pulled out a thick coat and draped it over Sang Shi'an's thin shoulders. "Let's put everything you bought in the car. Where do you want to go for dinner?"
"Any-anywhere is fine. Why don't we just find a place in this mall?" After loading the items, Sang Shi'an, while Jian Cenyu wasn't looking, secretly tossed the thick coat back into the car, just a second before Jian Cenyu locked the doors.
Jian Cenyu turned and saw the coat was gone. She looked at Sang Shi'an as if she were looking at a rebellious teenager, hesitating for several seconds before speaking.
Sang Shi'an turned her head and walked ahead. Jian Cenyu compromised, "Then walk faster. It's warm inside the mall."
Sang Shi'an's lips curved, and her steps became visibly lighter. The elevator ascended, and as she stepped back onto the mall floor, warmth finally returned to her nearly frozen body.
The two entered a Hong Kong-style restaurant. It was already past seven, so they didn't need to wait and could order immediately.
After ordering, the waiter brought two classic milk teas. Sang Shi'an casually mentioned, "I've spent most of the money you transferred me. I'll send the rest back to you now, and the other part I'll—"
"You don't have to transfer it back," Jian Cenyu said. "Consider it a gift for the past four years of birthdays."
For those four years, Sang Shi'an had deliberately avoided any gathering where she might see Jian Cenyu. Yet, every year on her birthday, she would still receive a gift from Jian Cenyu. She never opened a single one, having Sang Shiyue return them all.
Technically, Jian Cenyu did owe her four years of birthday gifts. Sang Shi'an bit her lip, the tips of her ears turning red. "Oh."
Jian Cenyu watched Sang Shi'an's reaction and smiled. "What's wrong today? Did you get frozen in the parking garage? Is that why you're so quiet?"
Sang Shi'an touched the new sapphire bracelet on her wrist and glanced at her. "Is this how you make up for birthday gifts? Don't you know the birthday girl is always right? Whatever I say or do is correct."
Jian Cenyu let out a meaningful "Oh" and played along. "So, should I order you a small cake and ask the waiter for some candles?"
She was a grown adult, and they were going to ask for candles in a Hong Kong-style restaurant?
The waiter would probably laugh at them, right?
Sang Shi'an was speechless. "Jian Cenyu, it's not that I'm quiet. It's that you've been talking more and more lately."
Speaking of which, Sang Shi'an found it strange. "Do you know how you were voted campus belle? It's because of your cold and aloof temperament, your unapproachable aura, like you have a holy glow. If they knew you were like this in private, you definitely wouldn't be elected next semester. You'd just have to cry in secret."
Jian Cenyu looked at the corner of Sang Shi'an's mouth, which was threatening to curl up, and had a sudden realization. "So when you weren't elected this semester, you cried in secret?"
Sang Shi'an: Ah—!
Sang Shi'an's face was expressionless. "I'll give you one more chance to speak properly."
She deliberately emphasized the words "speak properly." Jian Cenyu suppressed a laugh and said, "I would be sad."
But she didn't look like she would be sad at all.
Sang Shi'an didn't want to talk to Jian Cenyu anymore and started drinking her milk tea.
Jian Cenyu, worried she would get full and not be able to eat dinner, brought up another topic. "So you think I was better before?"
Not really.
After they reunited, Sang Shi'an had always been biased against Jian Cenyu. No matter what Jian Cenyu said or did, she would interpret it as having an ulterior motive. That's why their relationship had been so strained for the first two months.
Now, even if Jian Cenyu talked a bit more, Sang Shi'an could listen to her calmly.
She could even offer a few responses.
But Sang Shi'an didn't want to admit that her own attitude had changed. She maintained a cold expression. "What does how you talk or act have to do with me?"
Jian Cenyu smiled and replied, "As long as you don't mind."
Sang Shi'an frowned. "What is there for me to mind? That's a strange thing to say."
The waiter started bringing the dishes, and Jian Cenyu didn't explain further, picking up her chopsticks to eat.
Sang Shi'an still remembered her therapist's advice. Every time she picked up food, she would unconsciously raise her head, letting her gaze sweep over Jian Cenyu before landing on the dish, trying to find an answer in her.
But this wasn't something she could find just by looking.
Sang Shi'an fell into a state of self-anxiety, feeling terribly uncomfortable, as if there was a battle raging inside her. She no longer felt it was some unknown fear.
This was clearly an unknown force whetting her appetite, tempting her so much that she wished she could glue her eyes to Jian Cenyu to find a definitive answer.
Jian Cenyu keenly sensed that Sang Shi'an's mood was off. She put down her chopsticks and asked, "Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?"
Sang Shi'an nodded, then quickly shook her head. "No, no. Maybe I still haven't recovered from being frozen in the parking garage."
Jian Cenyu reached out and touched the back of Sang Shi'an's hand. "Your hand isn't cold anymore. I'll go ask them to hurry up with the soup. It'll be better after you warm your stomach."
The restaurant was short-staffed, so Jian Cenyu left her seat to find the nearest waiter.
Sang Shi'an watched Jian Cenyu's back, chewing on her chopsticks in frustration. When Jian Cenyu returned, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "Jian Cenyu, don't you think I've been really strange lately?"
Jian Cenyu was taken aback. "Strange? Why?"
"For example, I became so violent, like a delinquent, and beat someone up. I called you over on such a cold day to pay and have dinner with me. And even though you already gave me birthday gifts, I'm still keeping your money."
Sang Shi'an analyzed it for Jian Cenyu, point by point. "And I interrupted someone halfway through their confession to you. When you wanted to hire a lawyer to deal with the school rumors once and for all, I insisted on stopping you. I'm not the well-behaved little sister you used to know anymore. Shouldn't you find that strange and annoying?"
Just like how Jian Cenyu liked Kitty, wasn't it because Kitty was always compliant, the epitome of obedience?
She had been so abnormal lately. Hadn't Jian Cenyu noticed at all?
Jian Cenyu: ...
Jian Cenyu chuckled. "An'an, people have many sides. After not seeing each other for years, neither of us is the same person we were back then. I can't even be the person I was, so of course I wouldn't use that to judge you."
That wasn't what Sang Shi'an wanted to hear. "But I think I'm being really strange!"
The therapist couldn't give her an answer. Could it be that Jian Cenyu, the person involved, couldn't either?
"If we're really talking about change, maybe it's because you've grown up, you have your own ideas, and you know how to take care of your big sister?" Jian Cenyu studied Sang Shi'an seriously. "You're very assertive. That's not a bad thing."
Sang Shi'an blinked, her heart settling slightly. "That's true. After all, you're a grown-up but you can't even protect yourself. We've known each other for so many years, I can't just stand by and do nothing."
Jian Cenyu: ...
But seeing that Sang Shi'an finally had some appetite, Jian Cenyu didn't argue. "Let's eat first."
Sang Shi'an nodded and finally stopped stealing glances at Jian Cenyu, able to eat normally.
As they were finishing up, Jian Cenyu went to the restroom. Sang Shi'an took out her lipstick to touch up her makeup. Before she could even blend the edges, a young man approached her.
She refused him several times, but the man was harder to shake off than the guys at school. He acted overly familiar and sat right down in Jian Cenyu's seat, insisting on getting her WeChat before he would leave.
Sang Shi'an pressed the service bell several times, but the busy waiters didn't respond.
Jian Cenyu's bag was still on the seat, right next to the man. Sang Shi'an couldn't just leave, so she could only listen numbly until Jian Cenyu returned. Sang Shi'an waved at her as if she'd seen her savior.
Jian Cenyu's gaze shifted between the two of them, and she immediately understood the situation. She spoke to the man politely yet forcefully, "I'm sorry, sir, but she has a girlfriend."
Sang Shi'an: ...
The man's compliments faltered. He looked at Jian Cenyu in disbelief. "What? You... you two are..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Jian Cenyu remained polite. "That's right. Sir, you can leave now."
Jian Cenyu leaned down, her fingertip brushing along the edge of Sang Shi'an's freshly lipsticked lower lip, wiping away the excess color. She was incredibly patient, as if she had done it countless times before.
The man left, muttering curses under his breath.
Sang Shi'an caught the lingering scent of lemon hand soap on Jian Cenyu's fingertips. She closed her eyes, trying hard to control her breathing so Jian Cenyu's hand wouldn't feel it.
This wasn't the first time Jian Cenyu had used this excuse to get rid of persistent men when Sang Shi'an was being hit on.
But this time, Sang Shi'an could clearly hear the sound of her own heart beating.
Girlfriend.
It was quite useful, and it sounded strangely nice.
That familiar thought she couldn't bring herself to accept appeared again. Sang Shi'an's mind, which hadn't had a romantic spark in twenty years, finally started turning quickly.
She thought she finally knew the reason for her abnormal behavior.
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