Emerging from the shopping mall, Luo Yanzhi glanced at her wrist frequently to check the time. Sensing her busyness, Ning Ruohuan offered a thoughtful suggestion: “It’s getting late; you should head back first. I’ll wander around here for a bit and catch a taxi home later.”
Luo Yanzhi remained silent. Her porcelain-white face was tinted with a faint crimson glow from the sun. She tilted her head slightly to avoid the direct glare, revealing a small mole just below her earlobe that added an inadvertent touch of sensuality to her silhouette.
In public, she always maintained an air of indifferent detachment and silence.
Whenever Ning Ruohuan saw this side of Luo Yanzhi, a secret sense of “little happiness” would swell in her heart. This other side of Luo Yanzhi was something only she could see; what outsiders glimpsed was nothing more than a cold, frozen mask.
“I’m not busy.” Luo Yanzhi seemed to be waiting for something. Her light brown pupils reflected Ning Ruohuan’s face as she stared unblinkingly at her, her thumb and forefinger pressing together.
The summer rain arrived with unexpected suddenness. In the fleeting moment of hesitation, a torrential downpour erupted, bringing with it a heavy, oppressive humidity. For a moment, the only sound was the rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain.
Leaving was now impossible. The crowd gathered at the mall entrance began to surge back inside, and the floor instantly became slick and wet.
Ning Ruohuan took Luo Yanzhi by the arm and pulled her back a few steps. She hadn’t checked the weather forecast before coming out, but opening her phone now, it indeed showed a rain warning for the day.
Mindful of Luo Yanzhi’s afternoon schedule, she said, “Yanyan, wait here for a moment. I’ll go buy an umbrella and then see you back.”
Luo Yanzhi complied obediently: “Alright, sorry to trouble you, Sister.”
Watching Ning Ruohuan’s figure recede into the distance, Luo Yanzhi tapped on her phone.
Secretary: President Luo, I am coming to pick you up now.
Luo Yanzhi replied: [No need
Less than five minutes later, Ning Ruohuan reappeared holding a simple, solid-colored umbrella. She shook the new umbrella and pressed the release button on the handle with her well-defined fingers. “It’s raining, so there were a lot of people buying umbrellas. Shall we go now?”
Luo Yanzhi nodded: “Yes.”
The umbrella opened, blocking out the rain and creating a cramped space just large enough for two. Ning Ruohuan tilted the umbrella toward Luo Yanzhi, shielding her completely. Rainwater rolled down the edges of the umbrella, forming dense strings of droplets. Half of Ning Ruohuan’s own clothes were soaked, clinging uncomfortably to her body.
Inside the Office of the Chairman of the Luo Group
the secretary brought in clean towels. Ning Ruohuan thanked her politely.
Her hair was matted together, and her skin bore the residue of the rainwater. For someone who valued tidiness, this was nothing short of mental torture.
Luo Yanzhi took a towel and stood before Ning Ruohuan, beginning to dry her with focused sincerity. Her movements were as gentle as her voice: “Sister, is it uncomfortable?”
Ning Ruohuan leaned forward slightly: “It’s alright.”
Her hair was rubbed back and forth, her scalp tugged occasionally. It wasn’t painful, but the sensation was prominent. The air was thick with the earthy scent of rain, and Ning Ruohuan instinctively slowed her breathing to adjust.
“I can do it myself.”
“Are you and Wan Yunxin very close?”
The two different sentences overlapped.
Ning Ruohuan didn’t catch it: “What did you say?”
Luo Yanzhi’s fingers brushed intentionally or unintentionally over the other woman’s collarbone. She pushed Ning Ruohuan down into the office chair, her arms restricting her movements. “When I came down at noon, I saw you sitting in Wan Yunxin’s car. What were you doing that required you to be so close to her?”
The towel pressed down against her collarbone.
“It’s not a big deal, I’m just a little curious. You don’t have to answer, Sister,” Luo Yanzhi said as if mentioning it in passing. She smiled lightly and set down the towel, pointing to a partition behind her. “Sister, there’s a lounge in there with a bathroom. You can go wash up.”
She thought for a moment. “As for clothes, is it okay if you wear mine?” She gestured to their relative heights. “You should be able to fit into them.”
This was the first time Ning Ruohuan had stayed in Luo Yanzhi’s office for such a long period. She listened to Luo Yanzhi’s arrangements, and only after she finished did Ning Ruohuan let out a breath and explain.
“I was waiting for you outside, and it just so happened that Wan Yunxin had business with you. We met in front of the security room. She invited me into her car to escape the heat. I was close to her because something got in her eye and I was helping her look at it. Then you arrived.”
As if she had anticipated the explanation, Luo Yanzhi hugged her playfully, rubbing her cheek against Ning Ruohuan’s neck. She said softly, “Why so serious, Sister? I was just asking out of curiosity. I believe you.”
This kind of thing had happened before. Ning Ruohuan once had an experience where she didn’t explain, and Luo Yanzhi had asked casually just like this. When she had answered casually, Luo Yanzhi hadn’t been satisfied, finding ways to interrogate her for details and piecing together a version of events entirely different from the truth based on tiny clues.
Ning Ruohuan closed her eyes and returned the embrace: “Yanyan…”
Luo Yanzhi: “Hmm? What is it, Sister?”
The tip of Ning Ruohuan’s tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth. She wanted to ask why Luo Yanzhi hadn’t messaged her after the meeting at noon. She knew she was waiting outside, yet she had gone to eat with someone else as if she didn’t exist.
But when the words reached her lips, she couldn’t say them: “It’s nothing.”
Luo Yanzhi smiled. “Then can you stay with me today? Work is so tiring. Looking at you makes me feel much more relaxed.”
Ning Ruohuan’s heart throbbed heavily. Bitterness filled her chest, but the feeling of being needed gradually gained the upper hand, suppressing her faint dissatisfaction.
Luo Yanzhi leaned against her shoulders, pulling back slightly to look at her with total sincerity. “I’m sorry, Sister, I was too much just now. I do believe you; it’s just that I’m so insecure. I’m afraid you’ll fall for someone else and won’t want me anymore.”
Her eyes turned red, her voice carrying a faint, fragile tremor of tears. “I care about you too much. I love you too much. Sister, don’t be mad at me, okay?”
The woman exposed all her vulnerability, her shimmering eyes containing a well of emotion. She reached up clumsily to rub her eyes but tilted her head up stubbornly.
She was both noble and prideful.
She skillfully manipulated Ning Ruohuan’s nerves.