Chapter 40

Li Mo had originally intended to stay quiet, but when Wen Xihan called out “Chairman Li,” she was inevitably pulled into the conversation.

With a slight raise of her eyebrow, Li Mo calmly replied, “Good evening, Ruan Ruan.”

Li Mo and Ruan Su were classmates, and with their families having business dealings, Ruan Xinyi had practically grown up under Li Mo’s watch.

However, Li Mo had an even colder personality than Ruan Su. She was strict, decisive, rarely smiled, and often seemed unapproachable. Ruan Xinyi had always been somewhat intimidated by her.

Ruan Xinyi gave an awkward laugh and tightened her grip on Wen Xihan’s wrist.

Sensing the increasing pressure on her wrist, Wen Xihan couldn’t help but glance at Ruan Xinyi.

She saw Ruan Xinyi’s chin tense, trying her best to appear relaxed.

Wen Xihan bit her tongue, suppressing a smile.

As expected, this little bunny was still as scared of Li Mo as before.

It really was tough on this little face-obsessed girl. She obviously liked this beautiful lady very much, but every time she saw her, she froze up. It was that mix of wanting to get closer but also hesitating.

Li Mo, seemingly deep in thought, briefly glanced at their clasped hands. She narrowed her eyes slightly and asked in a low voice, “Sister?”

Had she just heard Ruan Xinyi call Wen Xihan “sister”?

But weren’t they...?

“Mm.” Ruan Xinyi’s expression was sincere as she explained earnestly, “It’s after work hours, and besides, General Manager Wen isn’t much older than me, so I just call her sister.”

At this, a hint of amusement flashed in Li Mo’s eyes. Her lips curved slightly as her gaze shifted to Wen Xihan.

Wen Xihan: “…”

Noticing that Ruan Xinyi hadn’t seen, she subtly shook her head at Li Mo.

Li Mo understood immediately. The smile in her eyes deepened, and she spoke in her usual calm tone, “I have some things to take care of. I’ll be going now.”

Ruan Xinyi quickly responded, almost as if she feared Li Mo would change her mind. “Then, Chairman Li, please take care. We won’t see you off.”

Wen Xihan: “???”

What did this have to do with her?

Wen Xihan quickly gestured with her eyes, hoping Li Mo would take her along.

Li Mo pretended not to see, her tone becoming a little more serious as she said to Ruan Xinyi, “Still calling me ‘Chairman Li’?”

“…”

After all, she had just mentioned that it was after work hours, but now she was still calling her “Chairman Li” again. Ruan Xinyi blushed slightly, lowering her voice to say, “Li… Aunt Li.”

“Mm.” Li Mo was satisfied with this and left.

As soon as Li Mo was gone, Wen Xihan, taking advantage of the moment when Ruan Xinyi wasn’t paying attention, swiftly withdrew her hand.

Ruan Xinyi cleared her throat a couple of times and, after adjusting her hair, casually started a new topic. “Do you want to check it out over there?”

Wen Xihan, puzzled, asked, “What?”

Ruan Xinyi gazed at her, her eyes sparkling, and without holding back, her voice laced with clear anticipation, invited, “There’s a sugar painting stall over there. Would you like to go check it out?”

Afraid that Wen Xihan would refuse, Ruan Xinyi quickly added, “My roommates are over there too, and it’s still early, so we could hang around a bit more before heading back.”

“I didn’t drive, so I was hoping to go with you, Sister.”

Wen Xihan believed the first part of what Ruan Xinyi said, but the second part seemed fishy. The way she glanced at her was exactly the same as before.

With an inward sigh, Wen Xihan simply replied, “I didn’t drive either.”

Ruan Xinyi immediately followed up, “Great! We can take the bus together.”

Wen Xihan: “…”

In the end, Wen Xihan went with Ruan Xinyi to the sugar painting stall.

Wen Xihan didn’t go to browse but instead stood nearby, clearly interested.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun, seeing Ruan Xinyi had brought a cool, elegant lady with her, widened her eyes and whispered to Cheng Yue, “What’s going on with Xinyi? She came to buy flowers and now she’s bringing someone along?”

Cheng Yue gave her a look that said “figure it out yourself” and responded, “What do you think is going on?”

Jiang Yun, curious, observed Wen Xihan’s graceful back and nudged Cheng Yue’s arm, silently suggesting, “Her back alone is stunning. Aren’t you curious about her face?”

Cheng Yue claimed she wasn’t curious but stepped ahead toward Ruan Xinyi.

Jiang Yun blinked, realizing what was happening. She quickly followed, muttering, “Contradictory old prude.”

“Xinyi.” Cheng Yue seemed genuinely uninterested in Wen Xihan, merely glancing at her politely before quickly averting her gaze. She spoke with a tone as casual as if mentioning something trivial, “The counselor called. She said there are a few things to fix in the paper I submitted. I’ll just head back with Jiang Yun.”

Jiang Yun nearly dropped her jaw at Cheng Yue’s composed delivery. Although she didn’t want to leave so soon, years of mutual understanding kept her from interrupting Cheng Yue. She forced herself to restrain her gaze and stood a bit behind her.

Ruan Xinyi eyed the two of them suspiciously, half-believing, half-doubting, and asked, “So suddenly? Didn’t you submit your paper over half a month ago?”

Cheng Yue spoke in a calm voice, "It’s that SCI paper." She then tucked her hand behind her back and subtly made a gesture.

"...” Jiang Yun agreed, "The counselor just rushed me a bit, and I also want to go back early to tidy up since I’ll be moving dorms in a couple of days."

Upon hearing them, Ruan Xinyi didn't feel the need to say more: "Okay, you two send a message in the group when you arrive."

She raised her hand and hailed a taxi by the side of the road. Jiang Yun looked at Cheng Yue with a smile, teasing, "Cheng Yue, aren’t you curious at all? You’re leaving so early."

Cheng Yue replied nonchalantly, "Why? Do you want to stay and be a third wheel?"

Jiang Yun was momentarily taken aback, then heard Cheng Yue continue, "Xinyi should be chasing her. Otherwise, do you really think Xinyi would have so many candies prepared in the car for no reason?"

Jiang Yun furrowed her brows, thinking carefully, then asked again, "How do you know?"

Cheng Yue smiled lightly, her voice especially soft, "Because the look in her eyes when she likes someone is unmistakable."

Ruan Xinyi liked Wen Xihan. The way she looked at her was passionate, tender, restrained yet bold.

As for whether Wen Xihan liked Ruan Xinyi, Cheng Yue couldn’t tell yet.

Maybe there was something, though; otherwise, Wen Xihan wouldn’t have followed Ruan Xinyi over.

However, one thing Cheng Yue was sure of was that Wen Xihan was very indulgent with Ruan Xinyi. Although her gaze toward her was helpless, there was a lot of patience and affection in it—affection that even Wen Xihan didn’t seem to notice.

The next moment, Jiang Yun seemed to recall something and shook Cheng Yue’s arm. "Cheng Yue, do you think she looks familiar? Like we’ve seen her somewhere before..."

Cheng Yue nodded, her tone calm: "She’s Xinyi’s neighbor."

Jiang Yun: "???"

---

After a while, probably because the novelty had worn off, the children gathered around the sugar painting stall decreased, and the stall owner slowed down the sugar-making process.

Ruan Xinyi glanced at the payment code hanging by the stall, pulled out her phone, paid, and then asked, "Want to try, sister?"

Wen Xihan shook her head, politely refusing, "No, thank you."

"Sister, help me hold this." Ruan Xinyi handed her the sunflower, rubbing her hands and blowing warm air into her palms. "I’ll try to see if I can get a bigger animal."

Wen Xihan smiled slightly and watched with interest as Ruan Xinyi turned the wooden pointer.

The small axle made a crisp turning sound, and after a few moments, the pointer slowed down, moved half a circle, and finally stopped steadily in the middle of a small box.

The pattern in the box had faded somewhat, and after a few seconds, Ruan Xinyi could barely make out what seemed like a rose.

The stall owner only glanced at it before using a small spoon to scoop up some melted sugar and started making the sugar flower.

His hands were steady, and the sugar lines flowed smoothly, quickly forming the outline of a rose.

After drawing the last petal, the stall owner, not waiting for the sugar to completely solidify, inserted a wooden stick and handed the sugar flower to Ruan Xinyi.

Ruan Xinyi took it and immediately passed it to Wen Xihan with the same familiar excuse, "There are two more chances, can you hold it for me again?"

Wen Xihan kindly accepted it. After Ruan Xinyi spun the pointer to reveal a peacock, a smile appeared in Wen Xihan’s eyes.

"Last time, do you want to try, sister?" Ruan Xinyi held the sugar peacock and asked Wen Xihan again.

This time, Wen Xihan didn’t refuse. She moved the sunflower and the sugar flower to the same hand and gently spun the wooden pointer.

The pointer turned round and round until it stopped at an image that looked like either a wild duck or a mandarin duck.

This pattern, like the peacock, was available as a ready-made shape. The stall owner hesitated for a moment before handing it to Wen Xihan.

"Thank you," Wen Xihan took it, turning the small wooden stick to inspect the pattern.

Ruan Xinyi looked at her for a brief moment, feeling flustered. The light from the stall reflected in her eyes, like countless stars twinkling.

After leaving the sugar painting stall, the two wandered aimlessly around the square.

Wen Xihan returned the sunflower to Ruan Xinyi, but when it came to returning the sugar flower, Ruan Xinyi refused, saying the peacock in her hand counted for the other two.

Wen Xihan didn’t insist, lightly biting a corner of the sugar flower and spoke softly, "I have a little niece."

Ruan Xinyi wasn’t very surprised, as she had suspected this before. Now that Wen Xihan brought it up, she quietly waited for her to continue.

"She used to really like turning sugar paintings. She would always try to get a dragon or a phoenix," Wen Xihan continued, taking another bite of the sugar, her tone slightly meaningful.

Ruan Xinyi, used to these types of comments, replied casually, "Kids, of course, always want to get the biggest one. Like those little kids earlier, they compare who got the biggest one, who’s better."

"Is that so?" Wen Xihan looked at Ruan Xinyi deeply and then added, "But I just recently found out she doesn’t really like eating sugar."

"Well, that’s fine," Ruan Xinyi comforted, "Nowadays, kids all love sugar, but your niece doesn’t. That’s actually good, no need to worry about cavities."

"...” Wen Xihan’s lips twitched, and she turned her head away in silence.

Ruan Xinyi seized the moment to change the topic, "Sister, do you know why your little niece doesn’t like sugar?"

Wen Xihan paused for a moment, "Because she had cavities before..."

Ruan Xinyi: "..."

"We should go back," Wen Xihan said with a slight smile after seeing Ruan Xinyi's frustrated profile.

"Okay," Ruan Xinyi, trying not to make it obvious, tucked the sunflower into the crook of her arm and pulled out her phone to check how to get back to the apartment. Just then, Wen Xihan asked, "Where did you park your car?"

Ruan Xinyi: "???!!!"

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