Spring Night of Misty Rain - Chapter 31

Xu Luosu’s ability to take action was terrifyingly efficient. That very evening, she had already finalized a plan to take Shen Zeyu diving in the sea the next day.

Although Jinwu had its own seas and rivers and Shen Zeyu knew how to swim, this would be her first time diving into the open ocean. Just the thought of it gave her a massive headache.

Fortunately, as the instigator, Xu Luosu abandoned her usual domineering style. After dinner, she pulled Shen Zeyu to sit on the courtyard swing and shared some videos of her past diving trips.

Under the crescent moon, the two sat shoulder-to-shoulder, gazing together at the tablet on Xu Luosu’s lap.

In the dim depths of the deep sea, Xu Luosu was visible wearing a fish-like diving suit. With a searchlight mounted on her head, she parted the “meadows” of overgrown seaweed as she descended deeper. Countless fish were startled, darting out from the “grass” in clusters.

As they swarmed above her, Xu Luosu’s lithe figure swiveled on the seabed. She tilted her light upward. The beam hit the schools of fish, illuminating a kaleidoscope of colors. They gathered together, spinning into a vortex like a storm—a scene as beautiful as a graceful waltz, leaving one in awe.

The vibrant colors of the fish lit up Shen Zeyu’s eyes. They sparkled slightly as she asked, “Where was this taken?”

Xu Luosu curled her lips into a smile and tapped the screen. “It’s right here at this resort. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Shen Zeyu nodded and gave a soft, “Mm.”

Xu Luosu swiped the screen and opened another video. “This is one I took the year before last in the East China Sea. I dived sixty meters and saw a school of anglerfish…”

In the video, Xu Luosu was surrounded by a glowing school of fish, drifting through the pitch-black depths. Immersed in the swarm, she looked like a small boat being pushed along by the Milky Way.

Shen Zeyu’s eyes grew even brighter.

Seeing that she was interested, Xu Luosu struck while the iron was hot. “There are also jellyfish. If we go a bit deeper, we can see bioluminescent jellyfish.”

“I’ve heard that near Antarctica, there are even more bioluminescent plankton.” Mentioning this, Xu Luosu’s face was full of longing. She looked down at Shen Zeyu, who was holding the tablet, her gaze tender. “We can treat this time as an initial experience. If you really find it fun, Senior Sister, we can find a professional trainer and go to Antarctica together.”

Shen Zeyu looked up abruptly, her eyes shimmering. “Are there mermaids in Antarctica?”

“Huh?”

The question was so sudden and nonsensical that Xu Luosu blinked, looking utterly lost. Her dazed expression successfully amused Shen Zeyu, who curled her lips into a smile and retracted her gaze. “Nothing. I’m just joking with you.”

After teasing Xu Luosu, Shen Zeyu pointed at the jellyfish on the screen and asked curiously, “Where were these jellyfish from?”

She steered the topic away, and before Xu Luosu had time to overthink it, she simply followed the new line of conversation.

Once they finished watching the diving videos, Shen Zeyu asked curiously, “What made you think of going diving?”

Xu Luosu thought for a moment before answering, “I think it was in the fourth grade. The school organized a trip to the aquarium. I saw many glowing jellyfish and wanted to touch them with my own hands…”

As she spoke, she propped her hands on the swing seat, tilting her head slightly to look at the night sky.

At that moment, the crescent moon was curved like a hook, resembling her smiling eyes. The moonlight draped over her silver silk nightgown like a layer of gauze. Shen Zeyu gazed at her profile; the fine peach fuzz on her skin caught the moonlight, making her face seem to glow softly.

Shen Zeyu’s gaze lingered for a second, but she didn’t dare look for long and quickly pulled her eyes away.

She swayed on the swing, her gaze falling on the distant coconut grove as she spoke in a neutral tone, “Is that so? It seems you have quite a few hobbies. Besides diving, what else do you like?”

Xu Luosu’s body swayed with the swing, causing her voice to drift closer and then further away. “Hmm… let me think…”

“Hiking, mountain climbing, skydiving, skiing, cycling, surfing…”

She listed a string of hobbies, all of which were expensive and dangerous. Reaching the last one, Xu Luosu gripped the swing rope beside her and suddenly turned her head, saying with a beaming smile, “And making money!”

Shen Zeyu was speechless. “You… except for the last one, the others are far too dangerous. Doesn’t your family try to control you?”

Xu Luosu extended her long legs and pushed off the ground, using the momentum to make the swing go higher. The sudden height startled Shen Zeyu, who quickly grabbed the rope at her side. “Hey—”

At that moment, Xu Luosu’s hand reached over and firmly grasped hers.

Feeling the warmth covering the back of her hand, Shen Zeyu immediately turned her head to look at her.

While holding her hand, Xu Luosu gazed at the moon and said nonchalantly, “They try, but I am free. They can’t control me that much.”

“Besides… life only happens once. While we’re alive, we should experience everything properly.” Xu Luosu tilted her head, looking at Shen Zeyu with full focus. “Don’t you agree, Senior Sister?”

Xu Luosu had eyes with very clear distinctions between the black and white. In the dark of the night, the deeper the shadows grew, the more profound her dark pupils appeared. Anyone held in such a steady gaze would feel the illusion of being cherished in the palm of her hand.

But it was only an illusion.

Shen Zeyu smiled and nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”

She pulled her hand out of Xu Luosu’s palm, resting it on the swing as if nothing had happened, and repeated Xu Luosu’s words: “Life only happens once. We shouldn’t waste our years.”

Xu Luosu’s eyes were brimming with laughter. She leaned slightly toward Shen Zeyu, asking with interest, “What about you, Senior Sister? Besides writing, what other hobbies do you have?”

“Me?” Shen Zeyu tilted her head and thought. Looking back over the first thirty years of her life, she suddenly realized it was so simple it was almost bland.

After a while, she replied, “It seems I don’t have any other hobbies. If I had to count something, ceramics barely makes the list.”

Xu Luosu didn’t seem surprised. She leaned closer to Shen Zeyu, her tone becoming even more curious. “Oh? Then when you aren’t creating, what do you do to pass the time?”

Shen Zeyu counted on her fingers. “Watching movies, reading, sleeping, things like that…” After counting three, she reluctantly pressed down a fourth finger. “And now I have to add working out.”

Xu Luosu was stunned. “Do you never go out to play with friends?”

Shen Zeyu was perplexed. “Why would I go out to play with friends?”

She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world, leaving Xu Luosu’s mind momentarily stalled.

It took quite a while for Xu Luosu to gather her thoughts. She spoke with some hesitation, “You know, to maintain the relationship? Look… for example, you, Director Qin, and Teacher Meng Fei—don’t you guys go out for dinner or travel together?”

Shen Zeyu frowned slightly, pondering for a moment before saying, “Generally speaking, dinners are for networking. If it’s not necessary, I prefer not to attend. As for what you said about ‘maintaining relationships with friends’…” Shen Zeyu paused before continuing, “I think you understand the weight of the word ‘friend.’ Those who don’t know how to respect or care for each other aren’t friends; they are just ‘familiar faces.'”

With her father passing away early and her mother remarrying, Shen Zeyu—who was raised by her grandmother—had seen the coldness of the world many times. Especially after her grandmother passed away and she donated her grandmother’s ceramics to the Jinwu Ceramic Museum to establish a specialized gallery, ninety percent of the relatives and friends who had claimed they would look after her disappeared.

The human heart is the most fickle thing.

Despite this, the precocious Shen Zeyu had tried time and again to believe in others. It was only when she was completely disappointed that she withdrew her scarred and broken heart. She had been much more lively in her youth, but since entering this industry, her personality had grown colder by the day, and she became increasingly averse to socializing.

The cold mask was for self-protection, but for those who truly loved her, she would repay them in her own way. Like the five million she gave to Chen Ci, or the pair of earrings she gave to Xu Luosu, and her repeated collaborations with Qin Zhiyue.

Shen Zeyu’s words sent Xu Luosu into deep thought. After a long while, Xu Luosu spoke, hesitatingly, “Then… I want to ask, Senior Sister, what does coming out to play with me this time seem like to you?”

If it were someone like Lin Pei asking this, Shen Zeyu would have found it far too ambiguous. But the person across from her was Xu Luosu—a willful person who sometimes lacked social common sense—so Shen Zeyu didn’t bother interpreting if there was a deeper meaning.

Shen Zeyu answered truthfully, “What else could it be? A ‘team-building’ trip with the boss.”

Since Xu Luosu’s company was indeed on a team-building retreat and she was technically an employee, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that answer.

Xu Luosu was choked by her response. She lowered her eyes, her expression full of sorrow. “I thought you would say it was traveling with a friend.”

She sounded so aggrieved. Thanks to her exes, Shen Zeyu was completely immune to this act. She rolled her eyes and said crossly, “What did you say when you brought me here? You said the climate in Cangnan was warm and suitable for writing scripts. Who goes on vacation to write scripts! If this isn’t a business trip, what is it?!”

Shen Zeyu was eloquent in her defense. With her small curls, she looked like a young office worker complaining about an unscrupulous boss. She usually looked half-dead, so it was rare to see her this lively—vibrant enough to look like a high schooler.

As Xu Luosu watched her, a sense of tenderness grew in her heart. She couldn’t help but reach out with both hands, cupping Shen Zeyu’s cheeks and giving them a hard rub.

“Ow!” Shen Zeyu was pained by the rubbing. She swiped at Xu Luosu’s wrist with a “claw.” “What are you doing?!”

Xu Luosu wasn’t annoyed at being hit. She smiled brightly. “That’s what you get for speaking ill of me!”

Shen Zeyu, feeling she was in the wrong, rubbed her own face and muttered something under her breath without speaking further.

Under the moonlight, Xu Luosu’s smile grew even wider. She leaned in toward Shen Zeyu and asked with a grin, “Then what about the earrings? Those earrings you gave me—were they a gift for a friend?”

Shen Zeyu’s hand stopped instantly.

Xu Luosu moved closer. A gentle night breeze blew, carrying the unique scent of lychee from Shen Zeyu’s body. “Let me guess… when we were doing the makeup trial, my birthday had just passed. That was my birthday gift, wasn’t it?”

From childhood to adulthood, Xu Luosu had always been a straightforward and blunt person. If something happened, her first reaction was to ask clearly and then solve it; she would never spend time guessing. Only with Shen Zeyu did she not dare to ask too much.

Shen Zeyu’s heart was too delicate, too fine—like a precious Teinopalpus aureus butterfly; even a slightly turbulent wind or rain could tear her apart. Therefore, regarding everything about her, Xu Luosu could only observe, digest, and bury it in her heart. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t ask. Given the right timing, she could speak of many things.

Like now.

She gazed at Shen Zeyu’s pale face and saw her lower her head in thought for a moment before looking up at her. “It was a gift, but not a birthday gift.”

Different from the expected answer, Xu Luosu’s pupils dilated slightly, her eyes filled with shock. “What… does that mean?”

Shen Zeyu looked embarrassed—

In that instant, a smile slowly bloomed on Xu Luosu’s face. Bracing against the night wind, she reached out her hand toward Shen Zeyu. “The gift…”

Shen Zeyu didn’t react immediately. “What?”

Xu Luosu kept her hand extended and lifted her chin, acting as if it were the most logical thing in the world. “My birthday gift. Give it to me.”

What a proud face.

Shen Zeyu didn’t hesitate to raise her hand and “slap” it down onto her palm. “Dream on! Once you’ve passed this village, there’s no more shop!”

“Hey… how can you be like this…” Xu Luosu reached out and grabbed the hem of Shen Zeyu’s clothes, starting to fake-cry with a series of “wuwuwu” sounds. “Senior Sister, you’re a bully… I want a gift, I want my birthday gift…”

This drama act started so suddenly that Shen Zeyu had to reach out and pull Xu Luosu’s hand away from her clothes. “In your dreams. It’s been half a year. Wait until next year.”

Instead of stopping, Xu Luosu’s crying intensified. “No… wuwuwuwu… I want this year’s gift…” She wrapped her arms around Shen Zeyu’s shoulders, leaning her entire weight against her.

Wrapped in that warm aura, Shen Zeyu felt like she was burning up. She struggled to push the other woman away, saying through gritted teeth, “Stop the fake crying. I’m not falling for it…”

“Let go… let go of me…”

Xu Luosu was an actress after all. Hearing this, she immediately broke into a full-on wail. “Waaaa… Senior Sister is bullying me… the gift… my gift…”

This time, she actually squeezed out a few tears. The warm breath and tears dripped onto Shen Zeyu’s neck, and she immediately gave in. Her pushing hands lost their strength, and she could only shout in a breakdown, “Let go, let go of me! I’ll give it to you the moment we get back to Jinwu!”

The person trapping her finally let go, sniffled, and said with a slight sob, “That’s more like it.”

Shen Zeyu looked up at her, only to see Xu Luosu tilting her head back slightly, swallowing back the tears at the corners of her eyes. Under the moonlight, her eyes rippled like autumn waves, the corners slightly red, looking pitiable and lovely.

Shen Zeyu was stunned for a moment before finally squeezing out a sentence: “You’re really something…” She had actually managed to cry.

Xu Luosu glanced at her sideways, a tear suddenly rolling down. “Who told you to say I was fake-crying?”

Her voice carried a sob as if she were carrying endless grievances. Shen Zeyu couldn’t stand seeing women cry. Seeing this, she immediately closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and said, “My fault, my fault. Stop crying…”

“Hmph…” Xu Luosu gave a light snort. She curled her right index finger, pressing it to the corner of her eye to wipe away the tears bit by bit. “You don’t understand how important you are to me, yet you still laugh at me…”

“I was truly happy to receive a birthday gift from you. So happy… so very happy…”

She used “so happy” three times in a row, leaving the usually subtle Shen Zeyu stunned.

Shen Zeyu opened her eyes to look at Xu Luosu, the words in her heart slipping out: “Are you really that happy?”

“Yes.” Xu Luosu nodded, tilting her head to look at Shen Zeyu. her tone had returned to normal. “To me, Senior Sister is a very important friend. If you receive something from an important person, shouldn’t you be happy?”

She ended the crying joke, her face full of smiles. “That’s why I really want this gift.”

“Regardless of whether you see it as a gift for the boss, for a junior sister, or for a friend… I really want it.”

The thoughts of youth are both simple and pure, yet intense and direct. Just because there is a connection with you in this world, they are happy beyond measure.

That night, Shen Zeyu lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Even with an increased dose of medication, her mind kept looping back to Xu Luosu’s three “so happys.” By the end, only one thought remained in her heart: “Since ancient times, the ‘natural’ type always defeats the ‘tsundere’…”

Terrifying. It was truly terrifying. If this continued, she would definitely fall into the same pit twice. After leaving Cangnan, she had to stay away from Xu Luosu as quickly as possible.