After settling Yan Yu in, Su Qinghan fled as if escaping.
The brief physical contact just now had thrown her heartbeat completely out of order.
Su Qinghan had never experienced this feeling before.
In the past, when she was with Yan Yu, her heart was calm.
Later, when Jiang Muyun returned to the country, she chose to end her relationship with Yan Yu and go back to Jiang Muyun.
During those days, her mood hadn’t been this stirred either; no one had been able to disturb her emotions.
She thought she was that kind of person—calm, restrained, unaffected by anything.
But now.
She realized she was wrong.
‘Why? Why does only Yan Yu provoke this reaction in me?’
‘This feeling… it’s as if… the feeling of being in love?’
‘Impossible, it must not be that. It must be because I walked too fast, so my heart is racing!’
She absolutely did not think of herself as someone easily troubled by love.
Su Qinghan shook her head fiercely, telling herself this.
After borrowing the repair tools, she came back and simply fixed the wheelchair.
On the way back to return the tools, Su Qinghan noticed a small kiosk on the right side of the corridor.
Above the window of the kiosk hung a handwritten sign.
“Ocean-themed ice cream: dolphins, whales, starfish, clownfish.”
Inside the freezer, animal-shaped ice creams were neatly arranged, exquisitely made.
Su Qinghan walked over and bought two.
One was dolphin-shaped, with light blue cream dotted with two chocolate bean eyes; the other was clownfish-shaped.
She turned back and found Yan Yu sitting in her seat.
“Um… do you want one?”
Yan Yu did not refuse her kindness.
So she handed the dolphin-shaped one to Yan Yu.
As she handed it over, her fingers touched Yan Yu’s fingers.
Just a light touch, a touch and then separation.
It was like two strings vibrating at the same frequency for a moment.
Su Qinghan’s fingers retracted slightly.
“Your body… is it okay for you to eat this?” she asked, pretending to be nonchalant.
Yan Yu thought for a moment, then nodded.
“The doctor said I can have a little.”
“That’s good.”
Su Qinghan lowered her head, her mind somewhat chaotic.
“…Also, your hand is very cold. Next time, wear more clothes.”
After saying this, she rarely showed a hint of shyness.
When handing over the ice cream just now, their hands had lightly touched.
Only a fraction of a second of contact, but Su Qinghan clearly felt the temperature of Yan Yu’s fingertips.
That coolness seemed to spread from her fingertips all the way up, through her veins, reaching her heart, making that already irregularly beating heart even more chaotic.
She didn’t know if Yan Yu had noticed her unusual behavior.
She only knew that she didn’t dare to look up at Yan Yu.
Yan Yu sat in the wheelchair, holding the dolphin-shaped ice cream, taking small bites.
Her gaze fell on Su Qinghan’s profile.
That profile that was pretending to be calm while eating ice cream.
At that moment, a very subtle feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.
Very light, very faint, like bubbles rising from the bottom of the heart, lingering on the surface for a moment, then silently bursting.
The woman who had once looked down on Yan Yu and wanted to discard her like an old piece of clothing was now, under her careful design, finally beginning to develop a different feeling toward her.
Three years.
The love that was promised had turned into a transaction in Su Qinghan’s eyes.
Every silent companionship over the three years, every time she held back her words, every grievance she swallowed alone in the dead of night.
Those efforts that went unseen, those expectations that went unreciprocated.
They were like ships sinking into the deep sea, lying quietly in the pitch-black depths.
Now that Su Qinghan had a conflict with Jiang Muyun, she only then remembered to look back and give her another glance.
But how could Yan Yu accept such cheap, charity-like “goodwill”?
She would not forget what Su Qinghan had done to her.
She would not forget those icy stares, nor those perfunctory tones.
She would not forget lying alone in a hospital bed, the liquid in the IV drip falling drop by drop, while her phone screen never lit up.
The act, she would put on.
But she was not a real substitute, let alone some lovesick supporting female character.
To her, Su Qinghan was just a tool for farming money and skills—nothing more.
Yan Yu lowered her eyelids, then raised them, her gaze becoming soft and warm again.
It was time to make the next move.
Since Su Qinghan had already changed toward her, she wouldn’t just blindly pretend to be devoted and please Su Qinghan.
She would pull all the characters into her script, making everyone a link in advancing the role-playing progress.
The day’s experience at the aquarium ended quickly.
At the exit of the exhibition area, there was a souvenir stall.
The wooden table was covered with dark blue velvet, displaying various small items: postcards, fridge magnets, plush toys, keychains…
Prices ranged from a dozen yuan to over a hundred.
Yan Yu’s wheelchair suddenly stopped as it passed that stall.
Su Qinghan also stopped, looked down at Yan Yu, and was about to ask what was wrong.
She noticed that Yan Yu’s gaze was fixed on a keychain.
It was a shell-shaped keychain, with a milky white shell and delicate patterns on the surface.
In the middle of the shell was set a small round gem, a very light blue, clear and bright.
The metal fastener was rose gold.
Yan Yu looked at that keychain, and the light in her eyes changed.
“What’s wrong?” Su Qinghan asked.
“Qinghan.”
Yan Yu didn’t answer directly, but turned her head to look at her.
“Over the years, you’ve given me many gifts, but you’ve rarely accepted any return gifts from me…”
Su Qinghan was startled, then gently shrugged, a carefree smile floating on her lips.
“I don’t need your gift, don’t waste the money.”
Su Qinghan indeed didn’t need it.
She was the eldest miss of the Su family; what hadn’t she seen, used, or possessed?
A keychain that cost a few dozen yuan really meant nothing in her eyes.
But Yan Yu was very insistent.
Her voice was not loud, but there was a stubbornness in her tone that refused to be refused.
“But I want to give it to you.”
Then she wheeled herself to the stall and stopped in front of that shell keychain.
“I want this one.”
She said to the stall owner.
The stall owner was a young girl with twin ponytails and a very sweet smile.
“Eighty yuan.”
Yan Yu paid.
The metal fastener jingled in her palm, and the blue gem on the shell glinted under the light.
She turned her head, her gaze landing on Su Qinghan.
Su Qinghan stood still, hands in her jacket pockets, expression a little troubled.
She opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something to refuse.
But Yan Yu didn’t give her a chance to speak.
Yan Yu wheeled herself in front of Su Qinghan, looked up, and held the keychain up in front of Su Qinghan with both hands.
“Qinghan, this is for you.”
Su Qinghan lowered her head, looking at the keychain lying in that slender, fair palm.
The shell’s patterns were clearly visible under the light, the blue gem quietly set in it.
Su Qinghan hesitated.
Yan Yu blinked, her eyelashes fluttering lightly.
“This… is it not okay?”
That tone, that expression, that slight tilt of the head—a pitiful look that said, “If you refuse me, I’ll be very sad.”
Su Qinghan’s lips twitched slightly.
“No… it’s not that it’s not okay.”
Yan Yu beamed a smile, picked up the keychain from her palm, leaned forward slightly, and clipped it onto the metal ring of Su Qinghan’s handbag.
As she clipped it, she said softly:
“Qinghan, I know everything.”
“Although I’ve long understood that there would be others by your side. But… I still hope… that you can understand my feelings.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Then she withdrew her hand, looked up, and met Su Qinghan’s eyes.
“Even if I can’t be by your side, I hope you can be happy.”
Su Qinghan stood there, as if pinned down by something.
She couldn’t speak.
Not because she had nothing to say, but because she had too much to say, so much that it was stuck in her throat, and not a single word could come out.
That keychain was clipped on her handbag; the milky white shell unexpectedly matched the dark brown leather, and the pale blue gem quietly sparkled next to the metal ring of her bag.
“…Thank you.”
Her voice was very small.
Yan Yu smiled and didn’t reply.
“Then… how about I treat you to dinner tonight?” Su Qinghan said.
“Really? Is that okay?” Yan Yu asked.
“Mm, since we’re out, having a meal is nothing. I know a famous Western restaurant nearby.”
Su Qinghan unconsciously took her hand out of her pocket and lightly touched that shell, feeling a strange sensation in her heart.
“Okay.”
Yan Yu smiled.
“Thank you for being willing to eat with me, Qinghan.”
The two of them visited a few more exhibition halls in the aquarium, took some photos, and then left the hall.
By now the sun was setting, and it was dinner time.
Su Qinghan pushed her to the reserved restaurant.
It was a seaside Western restaurant with a white exterior and huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the aquarium and the waterfront park.
The interior was minimalist, clearly not a cheap place.
Yan Yu had been thinking that having dinner with Su Qinghan would be a good opportunity to continue advancing their relationship.
However.
At that moment.
Su Qinghan’s phone rang.
“Ring ring——”
The ringtone was especially jarring in the twilight, breaking the quiet and delicate atmosphere between them.
Su Qinghan frowned, pulled out her phone from her pocket, and glanced down at the screen.
Her expression changed in that instant.
Yan Yu didn’t deliberately look at her phone screen, but her peripheral vision still caught the name on the caller display.
Three words. Jiang Muyun.
Yan Yu lowered her eyelids, pretending not to have seen that name.
The ringtone kept ringing.
Once, then again, like a small hammer tapping unhurriedly on Su Qinghan’s heart.
She held the phone, her knuckles turning slightly white.
“Qinghan?”
Yan Yu’s voice came from beside her.
Su Qinghan snapped back to reality and looked up.
Yan Yu was looking at her, with no reproach, no questioning, and even no particular emotion.
Just quietly looking at her, as if waiting for her to make a decision.
“What’s wrong?” Yan Yu asked. “Aren’t you going to answer?”
Su Qinghan opened her mouth, wanting to say “It’s nothing,” but those three words got stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out.
Clearly it was not “nothing.”
Her expression, her movements, the way her hand holding the phone trembled slightly—every detail was saying “something is going on.”
Su Qinghan felt as if she were standing in the center of a stage, with a spotlight on her; her usually composed face was now covered in embarrassment.
People around passed by, their gazes accidentally sweeping over, then looking away.
She didn’t know what to do.
The ringtone continued.
‘Answer or not?’
If she answered, Jiang Muyun would definitely ask where she was and who she was with.
Given that woman’s personality, these two questions were almost inevitable.
And Su Qinghan couldn’t tell the truth—how could she say it?
“I’m at the aquarium with Yan Yu.”
Once those words were spoken, the nature would completely change.
Not “just friends going out for a walk,” but unequivocal “betrayal.”
At least that’s how Jiang Muyun would see it.
But what if she didn’t answer?
Su Qinghan’s peripheral vision fell on Yan Yu.
That girl was sitting in the wheelchair, her hands resting quietly on her knees.
She didn’t urge or press; she was just waiting.
Waiting for Su Qinghan to make a choice.
Su Qinghan clearly knew that no matter what she chose, she would hurt one of them.
She had always prided herself on being calm, always felt she could control everything.
But at this moment, she discovered she couldn’t control anything.
She couldn’t even control her own heart.
That heart, from the first second she saw Yan Yu, had already lost its peace.
And Jiang Muyun’s phone call seemed to spread all the chaos out in the sunlight, making her unable to deceive herself any longer.
“Qinghan.”
Yan Yu spoke again.
“You said… you were going to have dinner with me tonight, right?”