“Want to crash at my place for the night?”
After those words fell, the space became even quieter than before. They could even hear the turbulent rush of blood surging.
Just as she wondered where this atmosphere was heading, faint footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the room door—sounds that were barely audible but discernible.
She guessed the upstairs room had been cleaned and someone had come to notify them.
Lan Yan immediately tried to pull her hand back, but Liang Jingchuan seemed to anticipate her intention. The moment she shrank back, he gripped it even tighter.
Her heart pounded harder.
The footsteps drew nearer and finally stopped precisely at the door. There was a very light knock. “Senior Sister, are you asleep?”
Lan Yan abruptly stood up and withdrew her hand as well.
She took two steps to the door and opened it.
Zhou Wenshu said, “Senior Sister, do you have any painkillers here?”
“I do. What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”
“I have a bit of a headache and couldn’t sleep.”
“That’s why I didn’t see you tonight.” Lan Yan told Zhou Wenshu to wait a moment and went to get the medicine for him.
As she passed Liang Jingchuan, she kept her eyes straight ahead, skirting around him toward the vanity.
Zhou Wenshu obediently stood at the doorway, but his gaze couldn’t help chasing after her into the room.
Until he saw Liang Jingchuan sitting on the stool at the foot of the bed.
Perhaps noticing his line of sight, Liang Jingchuan looked over with an expressionless face.
Zhou Wenshu had only entered her room once before, when helping Lan Yan carry bottled water. He usually dropped it off and left immediately, never lingering, let alone sitting anywhere in her room.
But family had that convenient privilege.
When she arrived, Lan Yan had brought some common medicines. Fortunately, she hadn’t fallen ill once during this time, so the drugs hadn’t been used much. She checked the outer packaging to confirm they weren’t expired and handed the whole box to Zhou Wenshu.
Zhou Wenshu thanked her, glanced at Liang Jingchuan again, and returned to his own room next door.
Lan Yan didn’t return to the room either. In a calm tone, she said, “I’ll go check upstairs,” and walked out. She never looked at Liang Jingchuan the whole time.
She crossed the corridor and went up to the second floor along the wooden stairs. One guest room door was open, with someone inside tidying the bed. After asking, she confirmed it was that one.
Lan Yan walked in and instinctively started inspecting: whether the toiletries were fully stocked, whether the screens had any holes, and so on—just like Liang Jingchuan had done last time.
Once the maid finished arranging the bedding, Lan Yan followed her back downstairs.
The room door was still open, and Liang Jingchuan had moved to stand by the window.
The moment she entered, his gaze flicked over, and he smiled. “What kind of hospitality is this, leaving a guest alone in the room while you run off?”
“You’re a guest?”
“Then what am I?”
Lan Yan ignored his question and went to the vanity, pulling open the drawer. “The upstairs room is ready—the one with the door open.”
“Mm.”
She took out an incense stick from the drawer, along with a box of matches that had come as a freebie with something, and handed them to Liang Jingchuan. “Not sure if there are mosquitoes. This repels them. Make do with it.”
“Where to stick it?”
Lan Yan rummaged out a small ceramic ornament and pointed to the hole on it.
Liang Jingchuan took everything from her hand. Suddenly, he lowered his head, leaned in to sniff the incense, paused, then looked up at her. “Did I give this to you?”
Lan Yan made a very reluctant “Mm.”
During the last team-building trip, Liang Jingchuan had given it to her along with mango ice cream. She had a habit of using incense sticks and had planned to bring mosquito repellent before coming to Penang, so she finally took it out of storage.
Liang Jingchuan twirled the incense stick between his fingers and lowered his gaze to her. “You’ve been using it?”
Lan Yan furrowed her brows slightly. “…Are you planning to rest or not?”
Only then did Liang Jingchuan leisurely head toward the door, dragging his suitcase, and leave the room.
The air finally seemed to circulate again.
Lan Yan breathed out in relief, sat for a moment, then got up to lock the door from the inside and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
By the time she finished blow-drying her hair and returned to bed, forty minutes had passed.
She plugged her phone into the charger, opened WeChat to check, and found no unread messages.
She placed the phone on the bedside table, turned off the light, and lay down.
In the darkness, she listened to her own breathing.
After a moment, she remembered she hadn’t set an alarm, so she picked up the phone again and set one for five-thirty.
A new WeChat notification suddenly popped up in the top bar.
She immediately opened WeChat.
【ljc: Does Senior Sister have any medicine for insomnia?】
/
Lan Yan didn’t remember when she had fallen asleep. When the alarm rang, she felt utterly awful.
It took ten seconds to realize what the alarm was for. She quickly got up, changed clothes, and did a simple wash-up.
She went to the kitchen and fried two eggs. There was juice in the fridge, so she poured a glass as well.
She messaged Liang Jingchuan on WeChat, telling him to come to the kitchen for breakfast after freshening up.
She sat on a high stool at the island counter, propping her cheek and yawning, waiting several minutes until she heard someone approach the kitchen doorway.
Liang Jingchuan paused his steps. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
Liang Jingchuan pulled out the chair beside her and sat down.
He had changed clothes and just freshened up, so even with dark circles under his eyes, he still exuded a fresh aura.
Lan Yan pushed the fried eggs and juice toward him.
“I was planning to eat at the airport. You didn’t have to get up this early too.”
“If you don’t want it, forget it.”
She reached out routinely to take back the plate, and he routinely blocked her hand.
Liang Jingchuan picked up the fried egg with chopsticks, took a bite, and evaluated it seriously. “Epic-level fried egg.”
Lan Yan was amused. “You’re nuts.”
After a night of revelry, everyone else was still asleep. The entire residence was silent, and the light outside the window hadn’t fully brightened yet.
“You’re not eating?” Liang Jingchuan looked at her.
“I’m going back to catch some more sleep.” She paused. “Won’t see you off.”
“No need. For New Year’s…”
“Don’t blow money playing around, big bro.”
Liang Jingchuan smiled. “I prefer it if you drop the ‘big’ and call me that again.”
Lan Yan reached out to swat his shoulder but suddenly pulled back.
She looked away, her tone two degrees more serious. “I figure I can head back no later than mid-January.”
“Sure?”
“Mm.”
Liang Jingchuan took a sip of juice. “Including remounting that painting by Yu Wancheng?”
Lan Yan nodded.
“Remounting takes a few days?”
“Three at most.”
“Three days later to see you. I’ll remember this debt against Yu Wancheng.”
The corners of Lan Yan’s mouth curved up slightly.
She really couldn’t refute with “annoying” anymore—it just wouldn’t fit the context.
“I’ll pick you up at the airport when you get back.”
“Mm.”
After breakfast, Liang Jingchuan had to head to the airport.
Outside the door, the sun was just peeking out in the distance, and the air carried the damp scent of grass and trees.
They walked through the courtyard to the main gate without talking, only the sound of the suitcase wheels rolling over the stone slabs.
Liang Jingchuan opened the iron gate and held it for her. “Go back and catch up on sleep.”
“You promised not to just show up suddenly again.”
“Can’t guarantee it. If I have no choice.”
Lan Yan huffed. “Isn’t there a cheaper way, like WeChat video…”
“Can we?” He immediately smiled and asked, seizing the opportunity.
“…”
The car he called arrived and pulled up by the roadside.
“Go on in. I’m off.”
Lan Yan nodded. “Safe travels.”
Without saying more, she turned and walked back inside. She kept going until the veranda, and before entering, she couldn’t help turning back for a look.
The car was already gone.
/
Thankfully, work kept her immersed, leaving no time to dwell on random thoughts.
After Christmas, New Year’s Day arrived in the blink of an eye. Compared to the liveliness of Christmas, the Yu Residence was much quieter for the Gregorian New Year. Yu Wancheng and his younger brother Yu Jingzhi had both gone to Hong Kong to reunite with their parents.
Lan Yan booked a table at a restaurant with Zhou Wenshu, and they went out for a big meal, wandered around casually, then returned home to hang out in the living room.
Zhou Wenshu had a good relationship with his parents and video-called home every two or three days to stay in touch.
They had just sat down when the video call from his family came in. Perhaps not wanting to disturb her, he answered and got up to go to the living room.
The living room in the Yu Residence was comfortably furnished, with fresh flower arrangements always in the vases. When Yu Wancheng wasn’t home, Lan Yan often stayed here to paint and read.
Since she wasn’t a painting major, the skills she had built up for her art college entrance exam had rusted quite a bit after university. She usually doodled casually now, relaxing with low-precision little works.
Lu Ying had asked her for a new profile picture, so she sat on the sofa hugging her tablet, sketching with the stylus.
From the living room, Zhou Wenshu’s chatting voice with his parents drifted in faintly.
Lan Yan twirled the stylus between her fingers, sighed, picked up her phone from the coffee table, and video-called Lan Junwen.
No answer. She called Liang Xiaoxia next.
This time, it connected.
Liang Xiaoxia was delighted. “Happy New Year, Yanyan! Have you had dinner?”
“Yes.”
“We haven’t yet. Your dad’s making steamed beef with powder. We were going to call you before eating.”
Liang Xiaoxia switched the camera to rear-facing and walked toward the kitchen with the phone, saying to the person at the stove, “Yanyan’s on video.”
Lan Junwen immediately turned down the heat a bit and greeted Lan Yan with a turn of his head.
The small talk was about the same as Liang Xiaoxia’s.
Halfway through stir-frying the dish, the kitchen signal got spotty. Lan Junwen said a few words, then turned back to his work. Liang Xiaoxia switched the camera back to front-facing, left the kitchen, and returned to the living room.