Yu Yixian walked to the vending machine on the first floor. Looking at the dazzling array of drinks, she couldn’t decide which one she wanted to drink for a moment.
She wasn’t actually thirsty; the atmosphere in the patient’s room was simply too stifling.
Although she followed Yang Yuan’s lead in calling Yang Wenxin “Second Sister,” she wasn’t actually very close to Yang Wenxin.
Yang Wenxin was seven years her senior and had taken over the family business at a very young age. She could be considered a model of the “other people’s children” in their social circle. Even when Yixian was in school, she often heard people mention how capable Yang Wenxin was, although her own parents hadn’t held her to such strict standards.
Furthermore, the two of them only saw each other three or four times a year. When they did meet, Yixian would exchange a few polite pleasantries, then they would fall into the kind of silence that had just occurred, and finally, she would find an opportunity to leave.
This time was no exception. She didn’t know Yang Wenxin would be there; if she had known, she would have avoided it.
“Sigh.” Yu Yixian let out a long sigh.
“Why are you standing here sighing?” Ling Yun’s voice appeared behind Yu Yixian.
Yu Yixian was startled by the sudden voice. When she turned around and discovered it was Ling Yun, her face was filled with pleasant surprise.
“Senior!”
Ling Yun reached out and patted Yu Yixian’s head. “What are you feeling depressed about?”
Initially, when Ling Yun saw Yu Yixian downstairs, she was very pleasantly surprised. She was just about to approach when she saw her “little fish” sighing at the vending machine, as if she had encountered some trouble.
Yu Yixian shook her head, not wanting to mention unrelated people. “It’s nothing important. By the way, Senior, have you eaten?”
Seeing that Yu Yixian did not want to talk about it, Ling Yun’s black eyes turned gloomy, and a trace of displeasure slowly rose in her heart, but it was immediately suppressed.
Ling Yun controlled her gloomy emotions and spoke as if changing the subject: “I have. Would you like to see the hair clip?”
After speaking, she took a small brown wooden box out of her pocket.
Yu Yixian did not notice Ling Yun’s momentary shift in mood. She stared at the wooden box with wide, surprised eyes, feeling a bit hesitant. “Is that okay?”
After all, it was a gift for her mentor (the senior’s mother), and it didn’t feel right for her to open it, even though she was admittedly a little curious.
Ling Yun nodded and opened the wooden box herself, revealing the exquisite and delicate hair clip inside.
“It’s a gift you picked out; don’t you want to take a look before giving it away?”
Yu Yixian paused and looked into Ling Yun’s eyes. Why did she feel that the Senior’s tone was a bit off?
Yu Yixian spoke cautiously: “Senior, are you unhappy because I helped you pay for it? I didn’t do it on purpose. My relationship with ‘Juyin Jewelry’ is a bit complicated; it’s hard to explain in a few words. When I have time, I’ll explain it to you properly, okay?”
After spending these days together, Yu Yixian naturally sensed that Ling Yun did not like to owe others anything. However, her relationship with Juyin Jewelry wasn’t that of a normal customer and owner. Grandpa Huang knew that the Senior was her good friend, so naturally, he wouldn’t accept payment. Perhaps the Senior felt uncomfortable because she felt she owed Yixian something.
Yu Yixian could understand Ling Yun’s thoughts, so she came up with a good idea. “Senior, just consider this a return gift for helping me tutor. You predicted so many similar questions for the exam this morning; I will definitely pass this time!”
Ling Yun was silent. She wasn’t unhappy because of this matter, but rather because her little fish hadn’t wanted to tell her why she was upset earlier. However, she hadn’t expected herself to be so unstable that she let her little fish notice, although… the direction of her deduction was a bit off.
If it were in the past, Ling Yun might have suppressed her pathological possessiveness, because she had never possessed Yu Yixian’s wholehearted attention, so what right did she have to control what Yixian paid attention to?
But now, Ling Yun couldn’t control herself. She had obtained Yu Yixian’s attention, even though her little fish didn’t yet know the dark thoughts in her heart. But she still hoped that Yu Yixian’s attention would be focused entirely on her, whether she was happy or unhappy. She didn’t like her little fish being unhappy because of other things, especially while hiding it from her.
“Don’t think too much. I just received a phone call, and there was a small problem on that end. I’m not unhappy.” Ling Yun found a random excuse for her emotions. She bent over slightly, took the initiative to reach out and hold Yu Yixian’s wrist, opened her palm, and placed the small wooden box into it.
Yu Yixian looked into Ling Yun’s eyes again. Ling Yun’s black eyes reflected only her own shadow, with not a trace of haze.
But Yu Yixian vaguely felt that the change in the Senior’s emotions still stemmed from her, but since the Senior said it had nothing to do with it, she felt a bit lost.
However, since the Senior didn’t say, she must have her reasons. Yu Yixian curved her eyes at Ling Yun and looked down at the hair clip in the box.
Grandpa Huang had very skillful hands. The two lily flowers were made with great precision; the petals were thin but retained every detail, and the stamen was dotted with goose yellow, adding a touch of liveliness.
The hair clip as a whole was simple and not heavy. Yu Yixian thought: Perhaps making it into a brooch would also be nice.
“Your mother should like it, right?” Yu Yixian closed the lid, feeling a bit nervous.
“Of course.” Ling Yun placed her hand on the wooden box, her black eyes locked tightly onto Yu Yixian, and she spoke tentatively: “Do… do you want to deliver it yourself?”
Separated only by the small wooden box, their fingers could touch each other’s skin. The cool and warm temperatures intertwined, gradually becoming the same temperature.
Yu Yixian naturally wanted to. Originally, she had planned to use the excuse of delivering food to visit her mentor, but she had been interrupted by Yang Wenxin. She had just been annoyed by this, and she hadn’t expected the Senior to invite her personally!
“Can I?” Yu Yixian’s answer didn’t have the slightest hesitation.
“Of course you can. I’ve mentioned you to Ms. Ling Qian before, and she likes you very much. However, do you want to tell your friend? We can just head back together after delivering the gift.” Ling Yun curled her lips slightly, her tone carrying an imperceptible coaxing.
Yu Yixian thought about it and decided that would be fine. She felt uncomfortable with Yang Wenxin there anyway, so it was better to go with the Senior.
“Won’t you spend more time with your mother, Senior?” Yu Yixian didn’t care much, as Yang Yuan had the nursing staff and that person, Wei Da, even without Yang Wenxin, but shouldn’t the Senior spend more time with her mother?
“Not today. A good friend of Ms. Ling Qian is coming to visit her; if I were there, it would disturb their conversation.”
Ling Yun wasn’t lying about this. Ms. Ling Qian had told her yesterday that Aunt Peilan was coming today and asked her not to come. If she hadn’t already made plans with Yu Yixian today, she might have chosen to work overtime in the afternoon.
“Then do you have anything to do this afternoon, Senior?” Hearing that the Senior didn’t need to accompany her mother, Yu Yixian thought it was only one o’clock and wondered if she could take this opportunity to go on a date with her.
“I’m free this afternoon. Would you like to go for a walk? I heard they transplanted a sea of flowers at Shulin Park, and it’s very beautiful.” Ling Yun immediately understood the meaning behind Yu Yixian’s words and took the initiative to extend the invitation.
“That’s great! Let me go up and tell them first.” Yu Yixian couldn’t wait.
Ling Yun grabbed Yu Yixian just as she was about to leave. “I’ll go with you.”
Yu Yixian naturally wouldn’t refuse.
They got into the elevator. Ling Yun held Yu Yixian’s wrist the entire time; the two of them had a tacit understanding and neither brought it up.
Arriving at the door of Yang Yuan’s ward, Yu Yixian met the eyes of a young, capable-looking woman. The woman was wearing a smoke-grey suit with small high heels, and her light brown hair was tied back. From her clothing to her temperament, she was full of sharpness and poise.
“Miss Yu, are you here to see President Yang?” Secretary Xu recognized at a glance that this beautiful young woman was the one close to her president’s heart, and that she was appearing here today because of this Miss Yu.
However… Secretary Xu lowered her eyelids and immediately noticed that the relationship between Yu Yixian and the girl beside her was unusual.
The act of holding a wrist is different from holding hands. It is like how she might hold a good friend’s hand, but she rarely lets others touch her own wrist.
Generally, this appears in two scenarios: one is that the relationship between you and me is average, but I suddenly need to pull you, so I subconsciously grasp your wrist, but it won’t be for long, which obviously doesn’t fit the current scene.
Then there is only the other option: the two are not yet in an intimate relationship where they hold hands, but are in an ambiguous stage. Holding the wrist naturally expresses closeness to the other person, but also implicitly reveals one’s own possessiveness and control.
It seemed that her own President Yang’s expectations were going to fall through again.
Secretary Xu smiled and stepped aside, making way for them.
Yu Yixian naturally didn’t know that Secretary Xu had thought so much in those few seconds, but she still explained, “I’m not looking for President Yang.”
Intuition told her that if she didn’t explain now, she would definitely have to pay some price later.
“Yixian, you’re back? You—”
Yang Wenxin heard the voices outside and immediately stood up and walked out. The joy on her face had not yet fully unfolded before her eyes locked onto Yu Yixian’s wrist.
Yang Wenxin’s eyes turned cold instantly.
Ling Yun noticed the change in Yang Wenxin’s expression and then noticed the aloofness on Yu Yixian’s face. She narrowed her eyes, seemingly understanding something, and the force of her grip deepened.
Yu Yixian felt the change in the pressure on her wrist and assumed that the Senior was just shy because there were so many strangers around.
Yu Yixian thought about it and simply twisted her wrist to break free from Ling Yun’s grip, then, to Ling Yun’s surprise, she took hold of her hand and smiled at her.
“Second Sister, I’m going in now.” Yu Yixian nodded in greeting, then pulled Ling Yun into the patient’s room.
“Yuanyuan, I’m heading back now. I’ll come visit you again next week.” As Yu Yixian spoke, she winked at Yang Yuan. Having spent more than ten years together, Yang Yuan naturally understood what Yixian was thinking and noticed the cold, refined woman behind her.
Yang Yuan showed an ambiguous smile and raised an eyebrow at Yu Yixian, laughing, “You go get busy, don’t worry about me.”
A good sister shouldn’t disturb you while you’re dating!
Yu Yixian was amused by Yang Yuan’s expression, rolled her eyes lightly at her, and silently mouthed: Call me if anything happens.
Yang Yuan quickly made an “OK” gesture with her hand and drove the person away in mock disgust.
“Second Sister, I’m going now. Goodbye.” After saying goodbye to Yang Yuan, Yu Yixian saw that Yang Wenxin was still standing there, so she politely bid farewell and pulled Ling Yun away.
As they brushed past each other, Ling Yun curled her lips slightly at the hostile look in Yang Wenxin’s eyes, then, in front of Yang Wenxin, she held onto Yu Yixian’s hand and walked away side-by-side with her.
Yang Wenxin: “…”
Secretary Xu, who had watched the whole show from the side: Wow.