At that moment, Shen Hanyin felt more than just the embarrassment of having her carefully maintained disguise over the past several days exposed. There was also the humiliation of facing Jiang Yanbei in such a disheveled state.
She immediately wrapped herself tightly in a blanket, took Suisui from Jiang Yanbei’s arms, then turned around and rushed back into the bedroom, slamming the door shut in one fluid motion.
Jiang Yanbei stood there, somewhat stunned.
On the very first day, he had actually suspected something. Shen Yan didn’t really seem like a boy. But there were plenty of possible explanations, maybe he was simply a late bloomer, or perhaps it was just his personality. Out of respect for other people’s privacy, Jiang Yanbei had chosen not to pry and had simply treated him like a younger brother. Their time living together had been fairly peaceful.
He really had gone out that morning. At the entrance of the apartment building, two groups of people had gotten into a fight. He waited for a while, but neither side showed any sign of stopping. Suddenly, he felt like taking a day off from scavenging and returned home instead.
Only Suisui had been in the living room.
Jiang Yanbei carried Suisui into the bedroom, intending to secretly feed the little cat a piece of beef jerky.
Then this happened.
Should he knock on the door and apologize?
After all, she had taken him in for so long.
The problem was, Jiang Yanbei had absolutely no idea how to handle a situation like this. So he simply sat in the living room, waiting. Once Shen Yan calmed down, or rather, Shen Hanyin, she would probably come out, right?
…
That evening, there was still no movement from the bedroom.
Jiang Yanbei cooked rice, made a plate of shrimp, and stir-fried some mushrooms.
His cooking skills were limited, and Shen Yan had always been picky about food. After thinking for a moment, he took out an apple as well and knocked on the bedroom door.
“Shen Yan, come out and eat.”
Lying on the bed, Shen Hanyin had spent the entire afternoon beating herself up over what had happened.
She felt embarrassed.
Humiliated.
Awkward.
But they were living under the same roof. She couldn’t hide in the bedroom forever.
She comforted herself. At least she had been wearing clothes. It wasn’t like she’d been completely exposed. There was nothing that shameful about it.
Besides, it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Now she no longer needed to wear thick layers indoors or spend time putting on makeup every day.
Shen Hanyin opened the door.
She found Jiang Yanbei standing there with an almost apologetic smile on his face.
The sight made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
Thinking about it carefully, this wasn’t really Jiang Yanbei’s fault. She had deliberately disguised herself from the beginning, and it was her own carelessness that had exposed her identity.
Sure, barging into her home and insisting on staying had been wrong.
But this was the extreme-cold apocalypse.
He had never harmed her.
He had never coveted her supplies.
He even contributed food for himself.
If he had moved into someone else’s home under these circumstances, he would practically qualify as a heavenly roommate.
Walking into the dining area, Shen Hanyin glanced at the food on the table.
“Young Master Jiang went looting today?”
“I picked them up on the road. The apple is for you.”
“That must’ve been hard to find. I don’t want it.”
Jiang Yanbei placed the apple beside her seat anyway.
“Regardless, I’m sorry.”
Shen Hanyin looked at him.
“My name is Shen Hanyin.”
“Mm. Shen Hanyin. You can pretend I never found out.”
“You don’t need to apologize. This was my own mistake.”
Jiang Yanbei was genuinely surprised.
He had expected to be ignored for quite some time.
After all, he had forced his way into her home in the beginning. Even though he hadn’t known she was a woman back then, he was still the one in the wrong.
After a pause, Shen Hanyin said,
“Now that you know I’m a woman, can you be a gentleman and move out?”
“No.”
His refusal came instantly.
“I really don’t have anywhere else to go. Besides, your place is safe.”
Before this, Jiang Yanbei had been living in hotels. When he was desperately searching for a place to stay, Shen Hanyin had happened to appear.
Back then, she had seemed to be a young man living alone.
Moving in had been the perfect solution.
“You’re that skilled. Are you really unable to survive without these few doors protecting you?”
“If you’ve already got one piece of candy, would you refuse a second one?”
“Ridiculous logic.”
She had only asked casually anyway.
Truthfully, she hadn’t expected him to move out.
If their positions were reversed, she wouldn’t leave a place this comfortable either.
The negotiation ended in failure.
Shen Hanyin picked up a mushroom and tasted it.
As expected.
It tasted almost raw.
“Young Master Jiang’s cooking is truly impressive. Pure, original flavor.”
Hearing the obvious disdain in her words, Jiang Yanbei pushed the shrimp toward her.
“Then eat these instead.”
Shen Hanyin peeled a shrimp.
Boiled shrimp was boiled shrimp. There wasn’t much room for disaster.
What a waste of perfectly good mushrooms.
…
Neither of them dwelled on the incident afterward.
In Shen Hanyin’s mind, Jiang Yanbei was a soldier.
He had never explicitly said so, but she had already come to that conclusion herself.
Most people naturally held soldiers in high regard and trusted them instinctively. After spending so many days together, she had absolutely no concern that Jiang Yanbei would reveal her identity as a woman.
In fact, no longer having to pretend to be a man at home made life easier.
As long as Jiang Yanbei stayed, being male or female didn’t really make much difference to her.
As for Jiang Yanbei, his thoughts were even simpler:
No matter whether she was a man or a woman, he was merely staying here temporarily.
A gentleman’s conscience was clear.
…
Life continued without any major changes.
To be fair, Jiang Yanbei was an excellent roommate.
Other than needing to cook one extra portion of food, Shen Hanyin felt no inconvenience whatsoever.
In fact, Jiang Yanbei handled most of the household chores.
Her admiration for soldiers grew even stronger.
Sometimes she couldn’t help marveling at how frightening habits could be.
On days when Jiang Yanbei was nowhere to be seen, she would unconsciously wonder where he had gone.
When standing by the window, her eyes would instinctively search for him outside, checking whether he had returned.
Whenever she was bored, she painted pictures of Suisui.
The finished paintings had already accumulated into a thick stack.
One day, after looking through them, Jiang Yanbei asked suspiciously,
“Shen Hanyin, are you really an art student?”
Clearly, he had doubts about her artistic abilities.
But honestly, her paintings weren’t very good.
Oil painting had simply been a hobby she picked up during her freshman year of college. She had learned on and off for only a short period of time.
She wasn’t some genius.
Of course her paintings weren’t great.
“No. And I’m already a junior.”
“Haida University?”
“Mm.”
At this point, there was no reason to keep something like that secret.
It was a trivial matter.
Besides, lying all the time was exhausting.
Sometimes Shen Hanyin felt that Jiang Yanbei was actually a pretty decent person.
In this frozen apocalypse, having someone to talk to made life feel far less monotonous.
…
One morning, Shen Hanyin came out of the bedroom carrying Suisui.
She heard noises coming from the entryway.
Walking over, she discovered Jiang Yanbei attaching something to the door.
It was a “Fu” character.
The paper had been dyed red with paint, and the character itself had been written neatly and carefully.
After finishing, Jiang Yanbei turned around.
“I borrowed some of your paint.”
Then he smiled.
“Happy New Year, Shen Hanyin.”
He reached down and patted Suisui’s head.
“And Happy New Year to Suisui too.”
“It’s already New Year?”
“Mm. This year’s New Year came a little late.”
“Happy New Year.”
Shen Hanyin returned the greeting generously.
Back in the living room, Jiang Yanbei picked up a box from the coffee table and handed it to her.
“This is for you.”
It was a box of chocolates.
Under current circumstances, chocolate was extremely valuable.
But it was a New Year’s gift.
Shen Hanyin was a little superstitious. She didn’t want to reject a gift given during the New Year.
“Thank you.”
Jiang Yanbei blinked in surprise.
After living together for so long, he knew she was someone with very strong personal boundaries and an intense sense of independence.
He had already prepared several arguments to persuade her to accept the gift.
Yet none of them were needed.
…
Suisui suddenly leaped into Jiang Yanbei’s arms.
Sitting down on the sofa, Jiang Yanbei held a red cord and began tying it around the cat’s neck.
After thinking for a moment, Shen Hanyin returned to her bedroom.
Back when she had raided the jewelry store, she had collected quite a bit of jewelry.
From her spatial storage, she took out a jade blessing pendant, placed it inside a decorative lucky pouch, and also grabbed a small red padded jacket for Suisui.
Returning to the living room, she found Jiang Yanbei had already finished putting the red cord on Suisui.
She held the items out to him.
“New Year’s gift.”
Jiang Yanbei accepted the pouch.
A warmth spread through his chest.
Perhaps Shen Hanyin wasn’t nearly as cold as she appeared.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Suisui’s clothes?”
“Mm.”
Jiang Yanbei handed the cat back to her.
“Then you dress her. I’ll open my gift.”
He scooted deeper into the sofa while Shen Hanyin dressed Suisui in the little red jacket.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yanbei opened the pouch and took out the blessing pendant.
After Shen Hanyin finished changing Suisui’s clothes, he grinned and held the pendant out toward her.
“Put it on me too.”
Shen Hanyin ignored him.
Unfazed, Jiang Yanbei simply put it on himself.
Looking at Suisui in her new outfit, he smiled brightly.
“Suisui looks beautiful.”
“Our Suisui will live a long life, a hundred years.”
Shen Hanyin paused.
Those four words struck directly at the softest part of her heart.
She gently squeezed Suisui’s ears and silently made a New Year’s wish:
May Shen Suisui live a long life, a hundred years.