The test results did not come out until late afternoon. Although there was nothing major, she had suffered quite a few external injuries, and by nightfall, a high fever set in.
Dizzy and disoriented, Qin Peiran sat leaning against the wall for quite a while before she finally regained her senses. She slowly opened her eyes. Before her was the painfully familiar muddy path of the urban village.
Wild weeds grew densely along both sides of the narrow road, and bloated hairy caterpillars crowded together on top of overburdened, crumbling leaves, crawling along at a slow pace.
Qin Peiran felt like throwing up.
Her arms lacked strength, forcing her to prop herself up against the ground. A bitter taste welled up in her stomach, followed by a thick, overpowering stench of blood.
She threw up onto her own hands, a mix of yellowish-green and dark red.
“Mom, look at that big sister.” A woman holding a toddler of three or five walked past, casting a cautious glance toward Qin Peiran’s direction.
“Never mind her. That’s an unwanted child.”
The voices gradually faded away. Propping herself up with her arms, Qin Peiran sat up and wiped her hands with her filthy sleeve.
She hadn’t eaten anything for days.
“I’m not an unwanted child.” Curling her tiny body into a tight ball with her knees clutched to her chest, Qin Peiran repeated a lie even she didn’t believe. “I’m not.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” An aged and bizarre sound reached Qin Peiran’s ears. Raising her heavy head from where it had been buried in her knees, she followed the sound.
An elderly grandmother was squatting in front of her. The steamed bun in her hand and her graying hair were both stained with dark, grimy dust.
Qin Peiran looked at those wrinkled yet pure and clean eyes, staring blankly at that piece of steamed bun.
Her throat bobbed, and she spoke. “For me?”
That hand pushed the bun a little further toward Qin Peiran.
As if afraid the other person might suddenly change her mind, Qin Peiran practically snatched it from her hands. Her throat, her jaw, and almost even her fingers were nearly swallowed whole into her stomach.
Only after she finished eating did she notice that the grandmother hadn’t left yet. Instead, she was squatting beside Qin Peiran, clumsily writing something on a cigarette box paper using a grayish-green stone.
Qin Peiran leaned in closer, and the grandmother handed that torn piece of cigarette box paper over to her.
The grayish-green lines wound across the snow-white cardboard, the grandmother’s handwriting slanting and awkward.
Written with stiff strokes were the softest words in the world: I’ll raise you from now on.
Qin Peiran had never believed that good fortune would descend upon her one after another. Not until she was pulled up from the ground by Lou Fan, hearing with her own ears as this unimaginably beautiful woman bit down on her lip and spoke with absolute clarity: “I’ll raise you from now on.”
“Liar.” Qin Peiran murmured.
“Mm?” Holding a dampened facial wipe, Lou Fan was just about to wipe the face of the sleeping Qin Peiran when she caught the person on the hospital bed murmuring a few words in her sleep.
The voice was too soft, and Lou Fan didn’t catch it clearly, so she simply dismissed it as sleep-talking.
Fortunately, Qin Peiran’s fever came and went quickly. After picking up her medicine on Sunday and sleeping for a whole day at home, the fever broke by Monday.
“Why don’t you take a leave of absence with your counselor?” Feeling a bit uneasy, Lou Fan peeled the pills out of their aluminum blister pack and handed them over along with a cup of warm water. “Take your medicine first, drink less water, and I’ve heated up some milk for you. You have to finish your breakfast, alright? You didn’t really eat anything yesterday.”
Qin Peiran still lacked strength, but at the mention of asking the counselor for leave, she still shook her head. “No need for leave, I’m fine.”
Lou Fan didn’t press further either. Once breakfast was finished, she drove her to school.
“Let me know immediately if anything happens.” With one hand resting on the steering wheel, Lou Fan turned her body slightly toward Qin Peiran, who was about to get out of the car.
Nothing more will happen, Lou Fan thought to herself.
Arriving at the company, Lou Fan spent half an hour organizing the report compiled over the weekend, printed it into a booklet, and knocked on Chen Man’s office door.
“Come in.”
Wearing gold-rimmed glasses behind a spacious desk, Chen Man sat with two neat stacks of documents placed squarely before her, while a mechanical arm holding a display screen struggled to squeeze out from between them.
“President Chen, this is the report for the Suzhou Winter Exhibition. Please take a look.”
“Alright, leave it here. I’ll check it later.”
Lou Fan set the documents down, but made no move to leave.
“Hm?” Tired from reading, Chen Man casually set aside the material in her hand and adjusted her glasses by the frames. “Is there something else?”
“There is.” Lou Fan admitted openly. “I have a favor to ask President Chen for help with.”
“Speak.”
“You remember what we discussed with the R&D department last week regarding changing the MEMS foundry, right?”
Chen Man rubbed her temples. “Of course. That factory in Suzhou falls short of the one in Haishi in terms of both product stability and pricing. Xiao Wang should still be discussing the details. If there are no other issues, we can sign the contract soon.”
Taking a sip of the coffee beside her, Chen Man raised her head to look at Lou Fan. “Why? Is there a problem?”
“There’s no issue with the products.” Lou Fan lowered her gaze slightly and continued, “but Manager Lü from their company, who came to talk to us about cooperation last time, has some problems.”
Lou Fan concisely recounted the entire incident, and Chen Man’s sharp, astute eyes narrowed perceptively.
“I will verify this.” Chen Man made a gesture indicating she understood, signaling to Lou Fan that she could leave. “If your cousin’s situation is true, I will naturally reconsider the cooperation matters.”
“Thank you, President Chen.”
Lou Fan stepped out of the office, the corners of her mouth twitching upward into a slight smile as she whispered, “A debt owed by someone else, paid in full. Fair and square.”
Just doing this wasn’t enough. Walking back to her workstation, Lou Fan pulled out her phone and opened her chat window with You Ye.
Lou Fan: [Didn’t you have a friend who dropped out after middle school?]
You Ye: [Yeah, nobody managed him at home, now he’s just hanging out on the streets.]
Lou Fan: [Give me his contact info. I have a small favor I need him to help with.]
The screen showed You Ye typing for a long time before finally sending the contact card over without another word.
With only one final warning attached: [Don’t do anything reckless.]
“Am I someone who does reckless things?” Lou Fan brought the bottom edge of her phone close to her lips, a hypocritical smile playing on her lips. “Just a small favor, don’t worry.”
News regarding the Lü family arrived once more a month later.
With the year-end approaching, many contracts were being rushed for renewal. Walking into the meeting room, Lou Fan caught sight of an unfamiliar face.
“Where is Manager Lü, who was coordinating with us before?” Lou Fan asked, feigning casualness as she pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Manager Lü has left our company due to career planning,” the other person replied deferentially, producing a name card. “From now on, I will be the one coordinating with your esteemed company.”
Lou Fan smiled and exchanged business cards with the opposite party. “Happy cooperation.”
“Happy cooperation.”
Treading right at the closing hour, Lou Fan finally stepped out of the meeting room. She tidied up her documents, grabbed her bag, and headed outside.
“Sister Lin, you haven’t congratulated me yet! Aren’t you going to treat me to a milk tea?” Ahead was Yan Li pestering Lin Yao, watching as Lin Yao made a playful swiping motion at Yan Li’s forehead. “I bet President Chen got so annoyed by you that she finally made you a regular employee!”
“Sister Lin, how can you say that! Can’t it be because I’宁m hardworking, responsible, cute, charming, kind, and gentle?”
Lin Yao burst out laughing, just in time to catch sight of Lou Fan behind them. “Hey, Lou Fan, have you ever seen an intern like this?” She pointed at Yan Li’s head.
Lou Fan quickened her pace and joined in the banter. “Yeah, aren’t interns in workplace dramas supposed to follow seniors around respectfully serving tea and water? This one at our company. Tsk tsk, I reckon she’ll be climbing onto our heads to act wildly in a few days.”
Exiting the building, Lin Yao headed toward the subway station while Lou Fan walked with Yan Li toward the parking lot.
“Sister Lou, I’m so heartbroken. To think you’d view me that way.” Yan Li finished bidding farewell to Lin Yao and continued walking backward. “Do I look like that kind of person?”
“That’s hard to say.” Lou Fan still wore a smile, but the next second she saw Yan Li abruptly lose her balance, stumbling forward in a panic.
“Careful!” With quick reflexes, she caught the girl, grabbing her by the collar until Yan Li regained her footing.
“Watch where you’re walking, who taught you that?” It was November already, and night fell early. With sparse lighting around, Lou Fan pointed her index finger at Yan Li from a distance. “If you trip and knock yourself silly and President Chen fires you, I’m not speaking up for you.”
Yan Li glanced down at the curb that had nearly caused her a nasty fall, then looked back at Lou Fan. “Sister, my bad. Whose bright idea was it to put a curb like this in the parking lot?” She muttered as she turned around, only to have her forehead pressed back by Lou Fan’s hand.
“Wait.” Lou Fan said.
Lou Fan was taller than Yan Li and wore high heels, so when she leaned forward, she bent her waist slightly.
The two were standing very close, and Yan Li’s figure was completely blocked from view by Lou Fan. When Qin Peiran looked over from behind in the distance, she only saw a blurry silhouette.
It looked as though they were kissing foreheads.
“Figures.” A trace of out-of-place amusement appeared on Qin Peiran’s cold face. Using her fingertips, she pierced through a casually plucked leaf, folded it, crushed it into pieces, and finally tossed it onto the ground. “So that’s the kind you like.”
“Hm?” Yan Li watched Lou Fan lean in closer, her scallion-like fingers lightly sweeping across her bangs.
“There.” Lou Fan straightened up, shook a tiny cluster of white fluff pinched between her fingertips, and then let go. “Alright, it’s getting late, hurry home. Ride safely on the way, don’t fall again.”
“No way!” Yan Li shook her head, lowering it to pat her hair down. Seeing nothing else was on it, she resumed her beaming, cheerful expression. “Then I’m off, Sister Lou, see you tomorrow!”
“See you tomorrow.” Lou Fan waved at her, turning around to walk toward her car.
Standing beneath the tree, Qin Peiran found that the already dim light was further blocked by the tree canopy, shrouding the upper half of her face in shadow so Lou Fan couldn’t catch her eyes.
Those thin lips parted and closed with a gentle, smiling tone: “Elder sister, let’s go home.”
Lou Fan patted her shoulder, walking around to the driver’s seat out of habit, and just as she pulled open the car door to step inside, the back of her hand suddenly felt searingly hot.
Qin Peiran’s hands were always warm, even in the month of November. She wore a pair of khaki cargo pants and a black cotton-padded jacket on top, looking completely uncoordinated season-wise with Lou Fan, who was bundled up in a padded short coat.
Yet even so, Qin Peiran’s hands were much warmer than Lou Fan’s.
“Hm?” Lou Fan froze outside the car door, watching wide-eyed as Qin Peiran stepped past her and slid inside.
“Get in, elder sister.” Casually rolling down the car window, Qin Peiran rested half her arm along the frame, pointed her right hand toward the passenger seat, and spoke in a coaxing tone, “I’ve practiced for a long time, you know.”
Lou Fan initially had no intention of riding in a car driven by Qin Peiran.
For no other reason than she was terrified!
When on earth did this kid get her driver’s license, and when did she learn to drive? She had no clue, who would dare ride with her!
Yet seeing that with every second of hesitation, an expression of grievance crept onto that cold, little-lily-like face, Lou Fan sighed and gave in to her wishes.
Shifting gears and making a turn, Qin Peiran’s movements flowed as smoothly as water. Sitting in the passenger seat, Lou Fan flipped through the still-fresh driver’s license, gently tapping her fingernail against the ID photo. “No wonder, you disappeared every weekend lately. So you went off to learn driving.”
Qin Peiran remained silent, merely glancing at the relatively empty road ahead and leaning over to tap the center console touchscreen.
That song, Heartbeats, once again filled the quiet cabin.
Humming unconsciously, Lou Fan seemed to recall something. Leaning toward the side window, she tilted her head to look at Qin Peiran.
Her long hair rubbed fuzzily against the glass window before sliding smoothly down with her movement. Under the purple ambient lighting inside the car, her eyes curved into a bewitching arc.
“Hey.” Stretching out her arm, Lou Fan reached the back of Qin Peiran’s hand as it rested on the center console shifting gears, tapping her fingertips lightly against it.
Merely calling out to her, she withdrew her hand the moment Qin Peiran acknowledged her with a soft “Mm.”
“So you weren’t in a relationship? You lied to me?”
“No.” Qin Peiran rounded a corner, inevitably casting a glance toward the passenger side.
Lou Fan maintained her posture, her eyes fixed steadily on Qin Peiran.
“What is it?”
Lou Fan let out a hum from her nose, shook her head, and leaned back. “Just wondering what goes on inside that little head of yours.”
Qin Peiran didn’t answer, and then she heard Lou Fan ask, “Oh right, that Lü guy, hasn’t he been giving you trouble lately?”
“No.” Qin Peiran drove the car into the underground parking garage of the residential complex, reducing her speed to a crawl. “He dropped out of school. Heard his whole family left Haishi.”
“Is that so?” Lou Fan yawned. All of this was well within her expectations. “That’s good.”
Putting the car in park and cutting the engine, Qin Peiran kept it steady but made no move to get out immediately. The purple ambient light strip stretched from Lou Fan’s waist all the way to Qin Peiran’s field of vision, prompting her to follow the line upward. “Heard from classmates that he seemed to have been beaten up by people from the streets, looked pretty pathetic.”
“Oh?” Lazily yawning against the seatback, Lou Fan met Qin Peiran’s gaze, her long eyelashes fluttering as she smiled carelessly. “Well, that’s pretty unlucky for him.”
Those peach-blossom eyes stared burningly at Qin Peiran, her long lashes flickering as she smiled nonchalantly. “Still, serves him right, doesn’t it?”
Lou Fan must have been getting sleepy. Understandable, considering she had been busy the whole day, and the rocking motion of the car had coaxed out every trace of laziness hiding in her bones. Soft from head to toe, she was a bit more lucid than when drunk, yet added an extra layer of coquettish languor compared to normal, like a kitten made of water, or soft silk draped across the passenger seat.
Qin Peiran suddenly recalled what had happened back in the parking lot, at that time, with Lou Fan turning her back to her and interacting with Yan Li, what kind of expression had she worn?
“Elder sister,” Qin Peiran spoke up suddenly. “Give me a hug.”