Compatibility - Chapter 57
Chapter 57
"I've packed the headache medicine, the stomach medicine, and the warm clothes." Song Nanyin crouched in front of the suitcase, murmuring as she counted the little things to put in, carefully sorting each compartment into place.
Liu Zhaoran leaned against the wall watching her serious expression. She couldn't help walking over and reaching out to brush her face, and when she tried to touch her a few more times, Song Nanyin raised a hand and swatted her away.
"Stop it, I'm busy. Think about what else you need to bring. Oh, right, I haven't put in sanitary pads yet." Suddenly remembering this, Song Nanyin got up, went to the bathroom, and came back with a pack of sanitary pads to put inside.
"We can just buy them when we get there, can't we?" Liu Zhaoran said softly, the smile at the corner of her mouth curling up and never coming down. She said that, but she didn't stop Song Nanyin.
"I wonder if they can get this brand and style over there. Though, you don't seem to have a particular favorite?" Song Nanyin thought for a moment, then turned back to give Liu Zhaoran a puzzled look.
The two had lived together for nearly half a year, yet she'd never seen Liu Zhaoran take out sanitary pads, nor seen her have a period. At first she'd thought Liu Zhaoran had irregular periods, but now that she thought about it, it really seemed like she'd never had one?
"I really am not picky about these. Team Leader, just pack the one you like." Liu Zhaoran met Song Nanyin's questioning gaze and answered softly.
Hearing this, Song Nanyin dismissed the doubts in her mind. She figured Liu Zhaoran probably just had light periods, and since Liu Zhaoran was also the one who took out the trash at home, not having seen it didn't mean it hadn't happened.
"Alright, then we'll take all this. I'll see you off tomorrow."
"No need. Going back and forth so early is too tiring for you. I'll just call a car."
Liu Zhaoran said it softly, and seeing that Song Nanyin still wanted to say something, simply stepped forward and kissed her, stopping her words.
The two of them had spent a fairly nice New Year together. Song Nanyin hadn't expected that right after the New Year break, Liu Zhaoran would go on a business trip to another province. This time, Zhang Kai didn't have Song Nanyin go along, instead choosing another person from the Planning Department to accompany her.
When she heard about the arrangement, Liu Zhaoran had also raised with Zhang Kai the hope of switching to Song Nanyin. After all, the two often collaborated on projects, and it was more convenient to discuss things.
In the past, Zhang Kai would have agreed without hesitation. This time, though, he insisted on not letting Song Nanyin go. Liu Zhaoran vaguely sensed something off about Zhang Kai and didn't bring it up again.
"Why did you suddenly kiss me?" After the kiss ended, Song Nanyin, who had gotten the benefit yet still played innocent, licked her lips. Her face said she hadn't had enough; her mouth said the opposite. Fortunately, Liu Zhaoran was long used to her lack of candor. When the Little Lion said no, that meant yes.
"Team Leader, I don't know how long this business trip will take. It could be a week, or ten days to half a month, or even longer. Are you sure you want to spend our time on idle chat?"
Liu Zhaoran gently stroked Song Nanyin's collarbone, tapping on it. Song Nanyin understood what she meant, and she was happy to go a little wild with Liu Zhaoran before the trip.
Time heals many things. By now, thinking back on that heartbreak no longer hurt Song Nanyin as much. Compared with an unspoken crush she could never obtain, being able to embrace Liu Zhaoran, kiss Liu Zhaoran, even go to bed and make love with her, she was already luckier than many people.
Even if they weren't lovers, at least she was, so far, the person closest to Liu Zhaoran, right?
The two of them fooled around until the early hours. Liu Zhaoran deliberately tired Song Nanyin out until she fell asleep, so the Little Lion wouldn't get up specially to see her off and could instead sleep in properly at home.
So when Song Nanyin woke up, it was already noon with the sun high in the sky. She immediately opened her phone and found that Liu Zhaoran had already boarded the plane, and felt a pang of disappointment. But when she saw the messages Liu Zhaoran had sent on WeChat, a smile spread back across her face.
"I've arrived at the airport."
"I've boarded."
"I'll call you when I get there."
Song Nanyin looked at Liu Zhaoran's messages, grinning wide, and quickly typed a reply: "What's all this, making it seem like I really miss you? Just work hard over there."
Song Nanyin thought Liu Zhaoran was exaggerating, and a bit narcissistic too. People can live without anyone. Besides, she didn't love Liu Zhaoran so much that she couldn't live without her. It was only ten days or half a month apart; it would pass in the blink of an eye.
And so, on the first day Liu Zhaoran was away, Song Nanyin tidied the house, flipping over the blanket Liu Zhaoran had slept under yesterday and kneading it several times, marked a big red X on the calendar, and at midnight, couldn't wait to mark the next day's red X too...
On the second day Liu Zhaoran was away, the agonizing Monday arrived. Song Nanyin discovered that workdays without Liu Zhaoran secretly bringing her coffee were absolutely unbearable.
And why were there no posts from Liu Zhaoran on the forum? That damn woman said goodnight yesterday and then stopped replying...
On the ninth day Liu Zhaoran was away, Song Nanyin stared blankly at her computer. Proposals, documents, she had no mind for work at all. Like a grade-schooler about to go to summer camp, her head held only one word: impatient.
"Chai Yue, what are you doing?" Song Nanyin finally couldn't contain the "anguish" in her heart and decided to chat with Chai Yue.
"Watching a movie at home. What else would I be doing? What's wrong with you? You sound so listless." Chai Yue casually tore open a bag of chips and started eating. After a moment, she saw Song Nanyin send a sticker of a kitten rolling around.
"Nothing. I just feel a bit bored. You and your boyfriend were long-distance before, right? Didn't it feel strange?"
"Why would it feel strange? We could video call. It wasn't like we'd never see each other again. What? Missing your girl?"
Chai Yue knew Song Nanyin too well. The moment the other spoke, she knew what Song Nanyin wanted to say. Her little scheme seen through, Song Nanyin awkwardly pressed her lips together, unwilling to just admit it.
"Who's missing her? I'm just worried she can't handle the work, and then I'll have to clean up her mess. Usually her business trips are done in a few days. It's already been nine days and she still hasn't come back."
And she'd sent so few messages too. Song Nanyin grumbled to herself, though she didn't say that out loud. Yeah, that was her last shred of stubbornness.
"Tsk tsk. Saying all that is just another way of saying you miss her. If you really miss her that badly, just video call her."
"I told you I don't miss her. Forget it. I'm done talking."
Song Nanyin turned off her phone in frustration, but her heart felt as if a kitten had jumped inside, clawing at her insides, leaving her restless and uneasy. She barely endured to the end of the workday, then simply went to Chai Yue's place. It wasn't as if she had anything to do at home anyway.
The two sat on the carpet chatting and drinking. After a few cups, a flush colored Song Nanyin's cheeks, slightly tipsy.
"Chai Yue, is that damn woman Liu Zhaoran really that busy? The last time she messaged me was three days ago. She said she had to go deal with something, then vanished."
Song Nanyin muttered quietly, raised her drink, downed a big gulp, and burped. Chai Yue watched her with a crooked smile, seeing how she looked like a pining little wife, and couldn't hold back a laugh.
"What? Weren't you saying this morning that you didn't miss her? Confessing now?"
"Mm... I... that was fake, forced. Can't you tell? Who doesn't go mad? We're all just holding it together."
After a few drinks, Song Nanyin had completely forgotten her double-talk, replaced by honesty. She buried her head in a throw pillow, muttering, every word of it cursing Liu Zhaoran.
Chai Yue really hadn't expected Song Nanyin to care this much about Liu Zhaoran. She almost felt sorry for her, though she still found it hilarious...
"How about this: you don't want to be the one reaching out to her, right? Then you can lure her into coming to you. Like, post something on Moments, to prove that without her, you're doing just fine." Chai Yue, schemer number two, began to offer advice. Song Nanyin listened, her eyes lighting up, feeling this method was workable.
Song Nanyin picked up a few bottles of wine, planning an affected, staged photo. After a moment, she felt her clothes were too bulky, so she simply took off her jacket, wearing only the slip dress, and deliberately pulled one strap down.
Song Nanyin was the type whose face flushed and head lightened when she drank. The most obvious change was that her eyes lost focus and turned dreamy. Right now, her hair was a bit messy, her emerald-green eyes wrapped in a watery mist, and a patch of pink stained her cheeks.
The flimsy slip dress didn't cover much, especially with Song Nanyin deliberately pulling one side down; a large expanse of fair chest was exposed, her full, round breasts faintly visible. Chai Yue accidentally stole a glance, immediately averted her eyes, and muttered inwardly that one mustn't look at what is improper and that she was a true straight woman...
Song Nanyin took the photo and posted it on Moments with the caption "good night," visible only to Liu Zhaoran. Done, she set down her phone contentedly and waited for Liu Zhaoran to come to her on her own.
But a minute passed, ten minutes, half an hour. The phone was as quiet as the dead, and Liu Zhaoran sent nothing at all.
Song Nanyin frowned and shot a glare at Chai Yue beside her, feeling that this one had offered nothing but a rotten idea.
"I posted the photo, and she didn't message me. Not even a like."
"Maybe she's too busy and hasn't had time to check Moments yet? Wait a bit longer. Don't be anxious."
An hour later, the phone still hadn't stirred. By then, Song Nanyin had sobered up considerably. She was a bit angry, but more than that, self-mocking. She'd been getting too full of herself lately. She'd actually forgotten that her relationship with Liu Zhaoran meant nothing at all.
Right. They were just coworkers, fuck buddies, at most friends. And no one had ever made a rule that you had to message a friend every day during a business trip.
"Forget it. I'm heading back."
"Are you okay? Why don't you just stay here? Don't go back tonight."
"I'm fine. I've sobered up, and I have work tomorrow. It's too inconvenient to stay here."
Song Nanyin curved a smile at Chai Yue to keep her from worrying, called a car, and returned to the home of her and Liu Zhaoran. The pretense she'd kept up outside fell away the instant the door latched.
Song Nanyin frowned at the utterly silent phone and quietly deleted that photo from Moments. She suddenly felt like a clown in a one-woman show. There wasn't even an audience to play along, yet she'd gone and sunk herself into it.
After showering, Song Nanyin lay in bed, hugging her own blanket in grievance and tossing Liu Zhaoran's to one side. She was cursing Liu Zhaoran in her heart when the sudden ringtone startled her.
Song Nanyin patted her chest and opened her phone. The person calling on video wasn't Chai Yue, but Liu Zhaoran. Looking at the green call button, Song Nanyin frowned, feeling she couldn't be so spineless as to answer the moment she saw it.
Wait ten seconds. Just ten seconds...
But what if that Black-Hearted Lotus hung up?
Make it five seconds then...
Answer...
"What?" Song Nanyin answered the video after one second, feigning listlessness. She glanced at Liu Zhaoran. The woman had probably just showered and was lying on the hotel bed. Her damp hair was still dripping, and she was casually dabbing at it with a towel.
The pale yellow light illuminated her jet-black hair and fair skin. It was a picture that should have looked perfectly cozy, yet Song Nanyin tasted a hint of something suggestive in it. Probably because Liu Zhaoran's gaze was too hot.
"Nothing. I just missed my Team Leader, so I wanted to see what you were doing. Heading to bed?"
"Mm, yeah. Nothing to do anyway, so I'm turning in early."
"Then... why aren't you wearing that nightgown from before? Weren't you at Chai Yue's place?"
The moment Liu Zhaoran said that, Song Nanyin's body went stiff for a beat. She immediately realized that Liu Zhaoran hadn't failed to see her Moments post. She'd seen it and sent no message, or rather, she'd seen it and was only now video-calling her.
The embarrassment of having her little scheme exposed made Song Nanyin blush. She stammered, rapidly running through possible excuses in her mind. But in the end, she couldn't come up with one and could only stiffly change the subject.
"Have you been busy with work lately? Still not done?"
"Almost. Does Team Leader miss me a lot?"
Liu Zhaoran was in an excellent mood. She shifted to lean against the bed and tossed the soaked towel aside. Seeing the nightgown on her slip as she moved, revealing a stretch of slender collarbone, Song Nanyin's gaze drifted.
"Don't flatter yourself. I just asked casually."
"So Team Leader doesn't miss me at all. I'm a little sad. You have no idea how much I miss you. Just now, when I saw the photo you posted on Moments, I had only one thought."
Liu Zhaoran paused there. Song Nanyin saw a hint of amusement surface in her eyes and grew even more curious about the thought she'd mentioned...
"What thought? Don't stop halfway."
"Then turn off the light, Team Leader, put your phone to your ear, and I'll tell you quietly."
Liu Zhaoran's voice seemed to carry a certain magic. Song Nanyin listened and couldn't help but obey. She turned off the main light, leaving only an ambient lamp. She put the phone to her ear, and Liu Zhaoran's breathing came through, as if that person were lying right beside her, close at hand.
"I just masturbated looking at Team Leader's photo. The Little Lion actually wore such a sexy nightgown for other people to see while I was away. When I get back, I'm going to..."
Fuck you to death.
Good luck little lion
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