“I.”
“You.”
The two of them spoke at the same time.
Wen Ye pinched the seam of her trousers. “Gu Sheng, you go first.”
Gu Sheng lifted her gaze from Wen Ye’s hands and looked right into her eyes. “Are you living by yourself right now?”
Wen Ye was slightly startled, let out a soft ah, and answered, “Yes.”
Gu Sheng tried her best to look casual. She took a small sip from her cup, then smiled gently at the corners of her mouth. “Move in and live with me.” Her tone sounded somewhat helpless. “This place is a bit big, and my parents don’t live with me either. Being by yourself is just way too quiet.”
Wen Ye, who had just been told right before entering that Gu Sheng preferred quietness, fell silent for a few seconds. She fingered the seam of her trousers and casually found a topic to continue. “But my rent hasn’t expired yet.”
Before her voice had even faded, Gu Sheng had already replied, “Then move when it expires.”
To be honest, Wen Ye was very tempted. It wasn’t because she coveted how luxurious the place was. She didn’t have parents, and the first person who had grown close to her was Gu Sheng. Even though she later met Director Lin, Teacher Sun, Auntie Zhang, and others who treated her very well, Gu Sheng remained the most special person in her heart.
To Wen Ye, Gu Sheng was like a friend and also like family. In short, she really wanted to stay together with Gu Sheng.
Seeing that Wen Ye stopped talking, Gu Sheng thought she wasn’t willing. “Wen Ye, do you not want to live with me?”
Wen Ye shook her head.
“Shaking your head means you don’t want to?” Gu Sheng spoke in a soft, gentle voice; she was only ever this patient with Wen Ye.
Wen Ye stammered, “I want to.”
Gu Sheng instantly let out a sigh of relief. If she wanted to, it would be easy to handle. She knew what Wen Ye was feeling awkward about. She pulled Wen Ye’s hand over, her thumb tapping against the back of Wen Ye’s hand. “You want to pay me rent, right? But I’ll only charge you the same rent as your current place.”
Wen Ye protested, “That’s not enough.” The studio apartment she was currently renting only cost 2800 in rent. How could that tiny bit of money possibly be enough to rent a villa, especially an old Western-style house on Wenkang Road?
Gu Sheng said, “I’m the landlord, I make the rules.”
After saying that, she lowered her gaze to look at her cup, her voice dropping along with it. “I don’t know how you got through these past few years. I haven’t slept a few good nights, always dreaming about what happened back then. I get so scared when I wake up, sometimes not knowing whether I’m actually at home or in that dark little room.”
Listening to this, Wen Ye felt a sour ache in her heart. She remembered that she had been just like that in the beginning, unable to sleep whole nights through. But how had Gu Sheng managed to carry that for so long? Had she not received timely psychological intervention?
“My lease expires in a month. I’ll come over once my side expires, okay? I need to pack up and organize things too.” Wen Ye pushed aside all her other thoughts; she wanted to come and accompany Gu Sheng. As a fellow survivor of that nightmare, she had an obligation to help Gu Sheng walk out of it.
The corners of Gu Sheng’s mouth curved up slightly. Her eyes, which had just been shimmering with tears, regained their clarity, like autumn waters reflecting Wen Ye. “Thank you, Wen Ye.”
She checked the time. “Do you still have anything to do this afternoon? If not, stay for dinner.”
Today’s job at Gu Sheng’s place was her last order, so Wen Ye nodded. “Alright.”
Downstairs, the housekeeper received the menu sent by the eldest miss, which sprawled in a grand list across the entire screen. She paused silently for a few seconds. Well, exactly how many people were eating today?
But she was a professional; she shouldn’t worry about things she didn’t need to worry about.
An hour and a half later, Wen Ye sat at the dining table, wondering if there were still people who hadn’t arrived yet.
Gu Sheng picked up food for Wen Ye. “Why aren’t you using your chopsticks? Are there no dishes you like? Tell me what you like to eat, and I’ll have them make it next time.” With that, she picked up a soup bowl and ladled soup for Wen Ye.
Wen Ye hurriedly said, “No, no, it’s just too extravagant. Do you normally cook this much just for yourself?”
The housekeeper sat diagonally opposite her at the long table, chewing quietly while answering Wen Ye internally: No, the eldest miss usually has no appetite for anything. Most of the time she just takes a casual bite of the dishes and drinks a couple of sips of soup before saying she’s full, no matter how the chefs try to mix up the dishes.
Gu Sheng replied vaguely, “Pretty much.”
Wen Ye didn’t suspect a thing and popped the shrimp meat Gu Sheng had picked out for her into her mouth.
Seeing that she enjoyed it, Gu Sheng focused on serving her food, placing a bit of everything on her plate.
Wen Ye noticed that Gu Sheng kept giving her food while hardly eating anything herself. She picked up a piece of crab meat and prepared to put it in Gu Sheng’s bowl. Before she even set it down, she realized that Gu Sheng had all along been using public chopsticks to serve her, but without paying attention, she had just used her own personal chopsticks which she had already eaten with to serve Gu Sheng.
Embarrassed, Wen Ye wanted to pull her chopsticks back. But Gu Sheng directly took the food off her chopsticks, put it in her mouth, and chewed it slowly and thoroughly. After swallowing, she turned her head with a smile and said, “Delicious.”
Wen Ye’s clear eyes curved into crescents. “If it’s delicious, you should eat more too.”
Gu Sheng smiled softly. “Okay.”
After dinner, Wen Ye chatted with Gu Sheng for a long time. Gu Sheng asked about every minute detail of her experiences over the years, and Wen Ye patiently answered, telling Gu Sheng bit by bit about entering the orphanage and meeting Director Lin who treated her so well, about which middle school and university she attended, about her roommates in college, and about how she ended up doing this job.
Gu Sheng carefully stored away in her heart all those times she wasn’t by Wen Ye’s side, correcting the imagined versions of Wen Ye’s past in her mind.
Wen Ye also asked about Gu Sheng’s past. Hearing that Gu Sheng was now a company CEO, she first said, “That’s amazing,” and then her heart ached a little. “Must it be very tiring?”
Gu Sheng replied, “Not tiring.”
Having chatted about so much, Gu Sheng suddenly thought of a very important question: had Wen Ye ever been in a relationship?
She didn’t know what kind of feelings Wen Ye had toward her. Did she view her as an older sister like family? Or as her closest and best friend? Or did she want to become lovers with herself?
Just thinking about the word lovers made her heart skip a beat.
Gu Sheng steadied her composure and asked, seemingly offhand, “Have you ever been in a relationship?”
Without hesitating for even a second, Wen Ye answered, “Nope. I feel like I just don’t like anyone.”
Don’t like anyone? Gu Sheng’s lips pressed down slightly. “So have a lot of people confessed their feelings to you?”
Wen Ye thought about it earnestly. “Around five, I guess.”
Watching her look like she was genuinely counting, Gu Sheng’s recently fluttering heart cooled down a bit. She tried her best to maintain outward peace, making herself look like an ordinary friend caring about a companion’s romantic life. “Were they guys, or girls? Wen Ye must be very popular with girls, right?”
Wen Ye’s face turned a little red, and she didn’t answer directly. “I’m not that popular.”
At this, Wen Ye became curious about Gu Sheng as well. “Gu Sheng must have a lot of people liking her. What about you? Have you been in a relationship?”
Gu Sheng looked at her deeply. “No. I don’t like men.”
Wen Ye was startled. She hadn’t expected Gu Sheng to be so frank with her, telling her about something as private as this. She asked cautiously, “Then, have you ever dated a girlfriend?”
Gu Sheng turned her head away so she wouldn’t have to look at her, her voice turning completely cold. “No.”
Alright, she could basically confirm that Wen Ye currently had no romantic thoughts toward her; otherwise, she wouldn’t have reacted like that.
Chatting until close to nine o’clock, Wen Ye spoke up, “It’s getting late. I’m heading home, Gu Sheng.”
Gu Sheng took out her phone. “Wait, give me your contact info first.”
“Oh right, I almost forgot to add you.” Wen Ye took out her phone, opened WeChat, pulled up her QR code, and handed it to Gu Sheng.
Gu Sheng added her on WeChat, saved Wen Ye’s phone number, opened Wen Ye’s contact card to add her own number, set it as a star contact, and seeing that Wen Ye’s emergency contact slot was empty, conveniently filled in her own number as well.
Wen Ye looked at it and didn’t think anything was wrong. She didn’t have a partner and didn’t mess around with those things anyway. If Gu Sheng wanted to add her, so be it, what harm was there?
After finishing all this, Gu Sheng picked up her car keys and told Wen Ye, “I’ll drive you back.”
Wen Ye politely declined, “I rode my electric scooter here this afternoon.”
Gu Sheng looked outside. “It’s so dark now. Riding a scooter isn’t safe.”
Aren’t there streetlights? Wen Ye thought Gu Sheng was being a bit strange. “But I still need to use the scooter for work tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll find someone with a truck to haul it back for you,” Gu Sheng said as she took out her phone, ready to make a call.
Wen Ye hurriedly stopped her. “Why make things so complicated? Wouldn’t it be easier if I just rode it back? There are streetlights the whole way, and I’m not taking back alleys. Don’t worry.”
Gu Sheng twirled her phone in a circle, lowered her head, and when she looked back up, her eye rims were slightly red.
“Hey, don’t cry! I’ll just ride in your car, alright? I’ll leave the electric scooter parked at your place and come pick it up some other time.” Wen Ye was genuinely terrified of her crying.
Why is Gu Sheng still such a crybaby even after growing up? How can she manage people as a boss if she’s like this? And why does she insist on holding my hand when walking? I’m not a kid anymore, am I afraid of getting lost?
Gu Sheng’s fingers gently pinched the palm of Wen Ye’s hand, brushing against a thin layer of calluses, causing a sour ache to bubble up in her chest.
Wen Ye followed Gu Sheng down to the garage and walked over to a pure black car. Gu Sheng pressed the car key, the headlights lit up, and a silver angel slowly rose from the hood. Wen Ye recognized this car; the big boss at her previous company had bought one and often drove it around to inspect stores, showing it off for ages.
Gu Sheng pulled open the passenger door, placing her hand above the door frame to shield Wen Ye’s head. After Wen Ye settled into the seat, she pulled the seatbelt across, leaned over, and moved to buckle it for Wen Ye.
Wen Ye felt a bit flustered by Gu Sheng’s attentiveness. She self-consciously wanted to take the buckle from her. “I can do it myself. I know how to buckle this.”
Gu Sheng’s hand reached down past Wen Ye’s waist, clicking the buckle into place with a crisp snap. She didn’t pull her hand back; maintaining the posture of enclosing Wen Ye within her field of vision, she smiled gently. “I know.”
The scent lingering on Gu Sheng enveloped her, invading her nasal passages. Wen Ye froze. What is this? Why does it feel like the domineering CEO novels my college roommates loved to read, especially right after I found out Gu Sheng likes women?
The strange atmosphere made her a bit restless. She looked away, avoiding eye contact with Gu Sheng, and nodded randomly. “You should drive already.”
So cute. Gu Sheng lowered her gaze to hide the emotions swirling in the depths of her eyes, stood up, closed the door, walked around the front of the car, and climbed into the driver’s seat.
After starting the car, she turned on the seat heaters and air conditioning, adjusted the temperature, and asked Wen Ye, “Is the temperature okay?”
Wen Ye replied, “Yes, it’s very comfortable.”
With that, she glanced at Gu Sheng. Is she this considerate with all her friends? It’s a bit over the top. Don’t lesbians usually maintain more boundaries with friends?
As she pulled her gaze back, she noticed a small peace talisman hanging underneath the rearview mirror, enclosed in a transparent protective case. Could this be the one I gave her? Wen Ye wasn’t quite sure and took a couple of extra glances.
Gu Sheng noticed Wen Ye’s gaze, looked over at the peace talisman as well, and spoke in a soft voice, as if immersed in certain memories, “You gave this to me. I’ve kept it by my side all along.”
Wen Ye lifted her wrist in a playful display of rivalry. “I’ve also been wearing the bracelet you gave me the whole time.”
Gu Sheng smiled, punched the address Wen Ye had given her into the navigation system, and drove off.
Nighttime road conditions weren’t as congested as the evening rush hour, but Shencheng’s nightlife was vibrant and traffic volume wasn’t small. It still took them close to forty minutes to drive to the downstairs of the apartment building where Wen Ye lived.
Gu Sheng found a parking spot by the roadside, got out of the car with Wen Ye, ignored the envious gazes of neighboring residents watching them step out of such a luxury vehicle, and walked alongside Wen Ye toward the apartment building.
Arriving downstairs, Wen Ye stopped in her tracks and said to Gu Sheng, “Gu Sheng, thanks for bringing me back. You should head back now, drive carefully on the way, and let me know when you arrive.”
Gu Sheng tilted her head slightly. “I’m not going up?”
“You’re going up?” Wen Ye had thought she was just dropping her off at the building entrance.
Gu Sheng nodded, looking completely matter-of-fact.