Hanging up the phone, Yan Nianyi casually placed the hair dryer on the side corner of the cabinet and obediently sat on the sofa to wait for Yueyi to step out.
Warm liquid cascaded over her body from the showerhead, and Yueyi’s groggy brain gradually cleared up, though a faint, lingering ache continued to needle her mind.
Pressing the switch, the water flow instantly cut off. She picked up the hanging towel and meticulously wiped away the water droplets clinging to her skin. Her fingertips, hovering near her bathrobe, suddenly froze in mid-air.
Yueyi’s gaze turned dark and inscrutable as she glanced toward the bathroom door, her eyes seeming to pierce right through the solid frosted glass to see the person waiting outside.
Swiveling her wrist away, she pressed a hand against her still-throbbing temple, reached for the pajamas on the rack, and put them on.
The glass door slid open. The woman was dressed in a pure white pajama set with long pants and sleeves, wrapped up completely. Her loose hair was slightly disheveled, and droplets of water tracked down the ends of her strands, rolling into sparkling beads before falling.
Her gaze paused for a few seconds on the figure seated on the sofa. Yueyi walked over to the cabinet, picked up the hair dryer, and plugged it into the outlet.
Yan Nianyi immediately sprang up from the sofa, eagerly taking the hair dryer from the woman’s hand. “Big Sister, let me blow-dry your hair.”
“Mhm.” Yueyi offered no objection, seating herself on the adjustable chair. She adjusted it to a comfortable height and closed her eyes to rest.
Yan Nianyi stood behind the woman, holding her palm beneath the nozzle to check the temperature before lifting a section of Yueyi’s hair and blow-drying it with intense concentration.
The seated woman’s head reached right around the level of her chest, allowing Yan Nianyi to look down and take in the long, fair swan-like neck. Her collarbones extended outward on either side, vanishing beneath the collar of her shirt.
Water droplets rolled down, inadvertently slipping into the woman’s collar and sending a cool chill across her skin.
Yan Nianyi held the hair dryer in one hand while her other hand continuously and softly combed through Yueyi’s soft strands of hair.
Enveloped in the familiar scents of her hair and body, Yan Nianyi let out a satisfied sigh in the depths of her heart.
Ten minutes later, sensing that the hair was nearly dry, Yan Nianyi quietly switched off the hair dryer.
Yueyi rubbed the corners of her eyes. “Thank you for the trouble.”
Yan Nianyi’s figure froze for a fraction of a second before the corners of her lips curved into a natural arc. “Why are you being so formal with me, Big Sister?”
Yueyi smiled and pointed toward the guest bedroom. “There’s a bed made up in the guest room. I will bring you a quilt in a moment, is that alright?”
The woman’s expression was serene and her manners impeccable, leaving no room for anyone to refuse.
“Okay,” Yan Nianyi agreed with a bright smile.
Yueyi turned and walked toward the master bedroom.
Watching the woman’s retreating back, Yan Nianyi rolled the tip of her tongue inside her cheek for half a turn. There is no rush, take it slow.
Before long, Yueyi emerged carrying a quilt of moderate thickness and entered the guest bedroom, with Yan Nianyi obediently trailing behind her.
Switching on the light in the guest room, the interior layout and furnishings came into view.
A few landscape paintings hung on the light blue walls, neatly preserved inside picture frames.
Against the wall near the door stood a large wardrobe.
A vanity, a computer desk, and other essentials were all fully furnished, and there was even a high-spec desktop computer.
Yan Nianyi’s brows twitched. “Did Big Sister decorate this room specifically?”
She couldn’t imagine why Yueyi would bother elaborately decorating a guest room in a place where she only stayed temporarily.
Yueyi spread out the quilt, arranged the pillows, and raised her head to look at the landscape paintings on the wall. The calmness in her eyes was replaced by tenderness. “Are these paintings nice? My younger sister painted all of them.”
Pride was clearly evident in her steady tone.
“Whenever I have a place of my own, I always leave a room for my younger sister. Who knows when she might want to come over and visit,” Yueyi said, pulling her gaze back with a trace of reluctance. “There always has to be a place for her.”
“I see,” Yan Nianyi nodded.
It was hard to tell whether she felt envious that Yueyi’s younger sister was treated with such deep care, or jealous that the sister could gain Yueyi’s complete attention so effortlessly without having to do a thing.
Still, if it was just a sister, it didn’t matter.
“You’ve been on a plane all day, get some rest early,” Yueyi said, offering a goodnight.
“Goodnight, Big Sister,” Yan Nianyi responded obediently.
As Yueyi left, she gently pulled the door shut behind her.
Yan Nianyi fell backward, collapsing with satisfaction onto the soft mattress.
The newly fetched quilt carried a faint, clean fragrance that was distinct from Yueyi’s personal scent. Yan Nianyi spread her arms wide, silently releasing all the tension from her body.
She bent her long legs, her slipper-clad feet resting against the floor as she unlocked her phone to check her latest notifications.
During the more than fifty days she had been away, she had survived entirely on daily photos of Yueyi sent to her by someone else.
In her hidden album, the counter at the top had already reached the hundreds.
Two fingers pressed against the screen, zooming in and further zooming in. The face in the photo expanded until a few faint blue-purple veins became faintly visible across the surface of the skin.
Yan Nianyi took a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly, pressed her forehead against the screen, and whispered under her breath, “Big Sister.”
Back in the master bedroom, Yueyi pulled back the top layer of covers, finally allowing her fatigue-worn body to relax.
Confirming her alarm was set properly, she placed her phone back on the bedside table.
With a tap, she turned off the room lights, and the space instantly fell quiet.
Closing her eyes, everything that had happened today replayed at high speed in her mind.
Countless faces flickered past. As sleepiness grew heavier, the image of Yan Nianyi pressing down on her hand while she held her chopsticks locked into place.
This child.
At six in the morning, the sky over the city was just beginning to grow bright. The phone on the bedside table suddenly emitted a clear chime.
Before it could even finish its first ring, a fair, slender hand reached out from beneath the covers, its fingers landing with pinpoint accuracy on the glowing cancel icon in the center of the screen.
Yueyi furrowed her brows slightly, shaking her head side to side in a small motion. A few seconds later, her eyes fluttered open.
Any remaining sleepiness was instantly replaced by alertness.
She rolled out of bed, pulled out today’s outfit from the wardrobe, and headed into the bathroom to wash up.
On her way back out, her gaze swept casually past the guest bedroom, where the door had been left cracked open by a sliver at some point.
She passed by at a slow pace, resting four fingers loosely against the doorknob. With a slight push, accompanied by a faint click, the door latch clicked shut.
“Big Sister.” A familiar voice came from nearby.
Yueyi turned around in surprise.
The young girl was wearing the exact same pajamas from the night before. Her eyes flashed with a bright, luminous light, and looking fully prepared, she spoke in a brisk tone, “Is Big Sister heading to the office now? I made breakfast for you.”
As if echoing the girl’s words, a sweet fragrance drifted out from the kitchen at just the right moment.
It was the aroma of freshly baked bread.
“Wait for me, Big Sister.” Before Yueyi could reply, Yan Nianyi darted into the kitchen.
Yueyi resignedly lowered the hand she had just raised, checked the time, and walked over to the living room sofa to sit down.
Yan Nianyi emerged from the kitchen a moment later, holding a sealed carton of milk and a packaged loaf of bread.
“Breakfast, Big Sister.” The girl’s eyes were filled with a dazzling brilliance.
“Mhm.” Yueyi accepted it with both hands, looking at the vibrant energy of the person before her with a hint of hesitation. “Actually, you didn’t need to go out of your way to make breakfast for me.”
“Did you not sleep well last night?” Yueyi’s fingertip affectionately brushed across the lower eyelid of the young girl.
Yan Nianyi’s eyelashes fluttered uncontrollably twice, grazing softly against the back of Yueyi’s finger.
“I slept very well,” Yan Nianyi said, revealing two faint dimples beside her cheeks. “I just wanted to make a meal for Big Sister.”
Yueyi gave a soft laugh and ruffled her hair. “Get some more sleep, I’m heading to the office.”
“Goodbye, Big Sister.”
“Goodbye.”
When the door lock clicked shut with a crisp electronic chime, Yan Nianyi lowered her gaze to look at her hand, which was pressed against the fabric of her pajama pants. The skin was bright red.
It was a burn from rushing to grab the bread and forgetting to put on her specialized heatproof gloves, though fortunately she had reacted quickly enough to keep blisters from forming.
“I wonder if Big Sister would feel bad if she saw this.” Yan Nianyi brought the burned area to her lips, sucked on it gently, and then headed into the bathroom to run it under cold water.
Emerging from the bathroom, Yan Nianyi walked up to the master bedroom door. She stared at the dark wooden panel in silence for a moment, but ultimately decided not to go inside.
The secretary was already waiting downstairs for quite some time. Catching sight of Yueyi coming out, she immediately stepped out of the vehicle and pulled open the rear door. “Director Yue.”
Yueyi gave a soft hum.
Seeing the items in Yueyi’s hands, Wang Lin paused for a brief second. Her professionalism as a secretary kept her from asking questions. After closing the back door, she walked around the front of the car and slid into the driver’s seat.
Standing by the window, Yan Nianyi watched the car turn its nose around and vanish into the distance. She reined in the emotions in her eyes, took a few steps back, and retreated into the guest bedroom.
At the top floor of the Yue Corporation headquarters, inside the chairman’s office.
Yueyi set down the bread she was holding. A breakfast meal had already been placed on her desk in advance, accompanied by a steaming cup of coffee.
It had been set there by someone from the secretary’s office shortly before her arrival.
Yueyi used her ten fingers to tear open the outer plastic wrap of the bread.
It was still warm.
She inserted the straw into the milk carton.
Eating her breakfast while looking through the day’s financial reports.
When she finished, she had her secretary clear away the untouched breakfast set that had been prepared earlier.
Outside the chairman’s office, the newly hired secretarial assistant picked up the untouched meal, looking puzzled as she asked Wang Lin in a low voice, “Was today’s preparation not to Director Yue’s liking?”
This kind of situation had never happened before.
“Director Yue brought her own breakfast today,” Wang Lin said, looking slightly intrigued as well. “It must have been made by Director Yue’s younger sister. After all, with the May Day holiday here, her sister should be out of school.”
The assistant nodded thoughtfully. “True.”
Naturally, they both attributed this breakfast to Yueyi’s own younger sister.
Yan Nianyi slept in until nine-thirty.
She changed into her washed and dried clothes and sent a message to Yueyi.
“Big Sister, I’m heading home now.” Yan Nianyi.
After waiting for a moment with no reply coming from the other end, Yan Nianyi didn’t grow impatient. She cast a glance around the room’s layout, then pulled open the front door with a lingering reluctance. “Time to go.”
Stepping out of the apartment complex, Yan Nianyi lowered her gaze to check the messages on her phone.
It was a text from Yan Pin: “You finally came back, you need to visit home at least once. Mom and Dad miss you.”
From yesterday until now, she hadn’t even set foot inside her own family’s house, which admittedly did feel a bit wrong.
Before long, a black Bentley pulled up in front of her. The car had barely come to a halt before the person in the driver’s seat rushed out, hurrying around the majority of the vehicle body.
“Eldest Miss, Young Director Yan sent me to pick you up.” The middle-aged man bowed slightly, pulled open the car door, and placed a hand over the top of the frame to prevent the woman from bumping her head.
“Are my dad and mom home?” Yan Nianyi crossed her hands over her abdomen.
“Director Yan and Madam are both in,” the middle-aged man replied.
Yan Nianyi nodded and closed her eyes to rest.
The apartment where Yueyi lived was roughly a thirty-minute drive from the Yan residence.
“Ding-dong.” The notification sound for an incoming message rang out.
Yan Nianyi lifted her eyelids. The screen clearly displayed the contact’s name for the sender.
“Big Sister.” She unlocked her screen and tapped open the message thread.
“Okay, take care on your way.” Yueyi.
“Mhm mhm.” Yan Nianyi bit her lower lip and promptly sent a second text.
“Big Sister, was today’s breakfast to your liking?”