Chapter 26: Living Together

◎ “Recording life.” ◎

Du Qiuyan was furious, but she couldn’t stop anything. She could tell that the two of them weren’t just pretending.

Yes, this time, she finally started to believe it.

After walking out and closing the door behind them, Du Qiuyan lay down on the sofa in the living room and made a phone call.

“Find out about Shen Suhui. Is she really dating Yu Ran? If so, when did they start dating?”

“And also, what’s her family situation, where does she work, does she have other friends…”

—–

In the bedroom, the two were still entangled in passion, Yu Ran’s kiss marks were engraved on Shen Suhui’s skin, trailing down her neck.

Shen Suhui’s body was heated from the kisses, growing sensitive, and Yu Ran removed the last piece of clothing.

The person beneath her had fair skin, with flushed cheeks, resembling a ripe lychee. Yu Ran looked at her, slowly becoming infatuated.

Shen Suhui didn’t hide; she lay there, fully exposed, letting Yu Ran admire her.

“We…”

“Are you afraid of doing it here?”

Shen Suhui said, “Would you believe me if I said I’m not afraid?”

“No.”

Shen Suhui smiled, “But if it’s you, I wouldn’t refuse.”

“Why?”

“Because Shen Suhui wouldn’t refuse any request from Yu Ran.”

“…”

Yu Ran looked at her, stunned for a long time. Shen Suhui’s messy hair was spread out on the carpet, and if she bent down slightly, their hair would intertwine, passionately tangled.

Yu Ran laughed helplessly, her tone tinged with sadness. “You really like me, huh?”

“Mm,” Shen Suhui said. “I like you very much.”

“When did your hair get so long?” Shen Suhui reached up and touched Yu Ran’s hair. “It seems like you’ve always had short hair. The last time I saw you with long hair was in high school.”

“So, do you like me with long hair or short hair?”

“Both,” Shen Suhui said seriously. “You look beautiful no matter what.”

“I don’t plan on cutting it,” Yu Ran said, lowering her head to kiss Shen Suhui’s lips.

The kiss didn’t last long. Soon, Yu Ran pulled Shen Suhui up, grabbed her bag, and they headed out.

Shen Suhui didn’t say anything, letting Yu Ran lead her out. As they were leaving, they saw Du Qiuyan.

“Xiao Ran, are you leaving?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Are you sending her home? Then I’ll wait for you here…”

“Du Qiuyan, can’t you understand human language? Or are you so deep into character that you’re acting everywhere?”

“How can you talk to me like that? Xiao Ran…” Du Qiuyan said pitifully, “You never used to…”

“Don’t mention the past!” Yu Ran shouted, “If you still care about our friendship, then keep the past in your heart. Maybe it was once beautiful, but if you bring it up again, I’ll just feel disgusted.”

“…”

“My house doesn’t have cameras, so the performance ends here…”

The living room was spacious enough that Du Qiuyan couldn’t stop Yu Ran from leaving.

After wasting time at Yu’s house until 9 PM, Yu Ran took Shen Suhui to the garage, pressed the key, and the burgundy Koenigsegg sports car made a sound.

“Get in.”

The car was still brand new. Yu Ran had only driven it twice since picking it up last year, as it wasn’t practical to drive it to the hospital every day.

They were heading towards Shen Suhui’s house, and it was clear Yu Ran was in a hurry, as the car speed was much faster than usual.

“You could stay at a hotel nearby, it’s not too late.”

“I like going to your house.”

No matter how upset or serious Yu Ran looked, whenever she looked at Shen Suhui, her expression was always gentle and smiling.

Shen Suhui looked at Yu Ran’s profile, thinking her smile was so precious.

This time, the drive was almost smooth, with no one honking, overtaking, or switching lanes carelessly. The other vehicles on the road maintained a respectful distance.

—-

Arriving on the 17th floor, as soon as the door opened, Yu Ran kissed Shen Suhui and began to remove her jacket. Shen Suhui also undressed, but she was slow. By the time Yu Ran was almost undressed, she started helping her.

The two stumbled their way into the bathroom, turning on the warm light and the shower.

Their hair and bodies got wet from the hot water, and the steam filled the small space, suffocating and stimulating.

Moans and heavy breathing filled the air, and neither of them held back.

“Tomorrow, you still have to work…”

Shen Suhui, breathing heavily, reminded her as she held Yu Ran’s head, tilting it back, letting the scorching kisses fall on her skin.

“It’s only a little after 10, I can sleep at 12 or 1.”

“Mm…” Shen Suhui hummed. “Then 11:30.”

“Depends on how you perform.”

Yu Ran lay on Shen Suhui’s bed, this was her first time doing something intimate at Shen Suhui’s house.

Shen Suhui was afraid that Yu Ran would be too tired, so she lay opposite her, taking on the work herself. Yu Ran held her calf and kissed her ankle.

“This golden anklet…”

Oops.

Shen Suhui shivered, sensitive, and hadn’t had the chance to take it off.

“Is it…”

“What is it?” Yu Ran teased a bit.

“It’s… it’s from Jiang Shiluo. If you don’t like it, I… I’ll take it off.”

“Take it with you…” Yu Ran kissed seriously, her eyes full of treasure, “It’s so beautiful, really beautiful.”

“Hmm…”

“Shen Suhui.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve given a lot.”

Yu Ran looked at the medicine bottle wind chime hanging on the windowsill, lost in thought.

She really liked that wind chime and would always stare at it for a long time.

“I love you.”

Shen Suhui cried, not having time to respond to those three words.

Recently, Yu Ran had been living at Shen Suhui’s house.

—–

After work, she would wait for her at a café. They would buy some ingredients together and go home. If Shen Suhui worked late, she would go find her, and they would go home together.

During night shifts, they only had a few minutes to be intimate before leaving and another few minutes the next morning.

This month had been fulfilling and happy.

The air carried a faint hint of spring. A month passed quickly, and finally, Yu Haowei returned to the country and started calling Yu Ran, urging her to come home.

Several times, Yu Ran ignored it because she was busy with work. On weekends, both of them would rest.

“Today we can finally be together all day. How about we go buy some ingredients and cook together?” Yu Ran hugged Shen Suhui from behind.

“Sure!” Shen Suhui was brushing her teeth at the sink. She spat out the toothpaste foam. “But aren’t you going home today? Uncle Yu has been urging you for days.”

“No rush, I plan to go home tonight.”

“Okay.”

No matter what, since being with Yu Ran, Shen Suhui had become much more optimistic. People should learn to cherish the present.

“By the way, how about we pick up the little tabby from the pet hospital this afternoon? She’s fully recovered now.”

“Oh right, you said you were going to have her spayed…”

“Already done,” Shen Suhui said happily, “I’ve prepared everything—snacks, cat food, toys—all packed in the guest room.”

“OK.”

Yu Ran made breakfast, her first attempt, so it wasn’t perfect, but she made a standard Western-style breakfast.

Probably from her time studying abroad, the fruit salad and sunny side-up eggs were cooked perfectly, to Shen Suhui’s surprise.

They had fruit salad, milk, sunny-side-up eggs, and toast with blueberry jam.

“What do you usually have for breakfast?”

“Sometimes I eat at a café—croissants, yogurt bowls, and things like that,” Shen Suhui said. “If I’m at home, I have noodles, zongzi, fried rice, congee…”

“Sounds delicious,” Yu Ran said. “When I was in the U.S., I also made breakfast every day, but this is the one I do the best. The key is that it tastes good, so I eat it every day.”

Shen Suhui smiled. “Don’t you get tired of it?”

“Yeah, but if you try the local food, you’d appreciate how delicious mine is.”

Shen Suhui thought Yu Ran’s experiences were interesting and asked, “Then I’m sure you can cook other dishes well too?”

“Not really. To be honest, once I tried cooking shrimp, but I ended up setting the kitchen on fire. Another time I made sweet and sour ribs and got food poisoning, had to go to the hospital.”

“Ah?” Shen Suhui asked with concern. “What happened afterward?”

“My mom hired a Chinese aunt to help me, and that’s when my meals finally got back on track.”

Shen Suhui laughed, incredulously, “I didn’t expect you to have things you’re not good at.”

“Of course, no one is perfect.”

“I can cook. Tonight, I’ll cook for you.”

“Okay,” Yu Ran smiled. “Then I’ll help you.”

After breakfast, the two of them went to the biggest shopping mall nearby. Yu Ran pushed the shopping cart, and they moved through the crowd. It felt like a solid sense of happiness.

There were stalls with attendants calling out, and many elderly women were queuing to grab meat and eggs.

“By the way, I can also cook steak.”

Yu Ran went to the meat section and added many raw sirloin steaks to the cart.

Besides that, she grabbed beef rolls, lamb rolls, lamb chops, ribs… all freshly packed in disposable plastic boxes.

“Will we be able to finish all of that?”

“We’ll eat it slowly. I’m living here now, so we’ll eat together.”

Shen Suhui muttered softly, “It sounds like we’re living together.”

“I think it’s like that,” Yu Ran said.

They bought fruits, vegetables, drinks, alcohol, and snacks… so much that it couldn’t fit in the cart. Just when Shen Suhui thought they were done, Yu Ran headed to the household section.

“If we’re living together, we’ll need to get toothbrushes, cups, towels, and things like that, right?” Yu Ran was picking out items seriously. “Should we get matching ones?”

“Of course! But Yu Ran, you still have to go home tonight…” Shen Suhui said.

Yu Ran turned around and looked at her. “Are you afraid I won’t come back?”

“It’s not that I’m afraid you won’t come back, I’m worried about Uncle Yu…”

“Don’t worry, I’m an adult now. He’ll just scold me a little.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Let’s buy these household items first. If I can’t stay at your place tonight, I will eventually, sooner or later.”

Shen Suhui smiled. “Then why are you in such a hurry? Let’s buy the food first, and we can get the rest next time.”

“No!” Yu Ran playfully added two mouthwash cups to the cart. “I can’t wait. Is that okay?”

Shen Suhui didn’t respond, but she smiled happily.

Yu Ran’s childish side seemed to be something only Shen Suhui had seen. In front of others, including her parents, she was always calm and reliable.

The two of them pushed the cart to the checkout line. Shen Suhui, who usually shopped alone, never came to this kind of mall. She would just order online for groceries. As for Yu Ran, she’d never been to a place like this either. So, when they were pushing the cart and squeezed in among the crowd like everyone else, there was a strange but solid sense of happiness.

Shen Suhui opened her phone’s photo album and took a few pictures of the shopping cart full of items and their hands intertwined.

“Recording life.”

“First time shopping with YR, standing in line to check out.”

She didn’t post it on her Moments, but shared it on Weibo.

“You actually have Weibo? And you didn’t tell me.”

Yu Ran playfully said a few awkward words, then stretched her neck to look at what Shen Suhui was editing.

“Let me see what you’ve posted.”

“Not allowed to look right now.”

“Why?”

Shen Suhui smiled and said, “Because we need to check out!”