SWG Chapter 18
by VolareRuan Shengyi couldn’t figure it out. She spent the whole night trying to understand what Xiao Wenyu’s last “thank you” meant. She couldn’t rashly ask, so she could only hold this question in her heart, repeatedly torturing the glassware in her bar.
She had been busy these past two days and had told Xiao Wenyu in advance to eat and rest on time, and that she wouldn’t be calling her out to dinner these days.
So, after wiping another round of glasses, the bar owner Ruan gently knocked on the table, “Xie Yu, keep an eye on things for a while, I’m going to the back to touch up my makeup.”
“Got it.” Xie Yu twisted into the bar.
Ruan Shengyi walked towards the dressing room. As soon as she opened the door, she heard Xie Yu’s usual long, drawn-out tone in the hall, saying, “Welcoooome!”
It was said that she had followed a popular trend on Douyin a long time ago, and once she learned it, she couldn’t change it. It suited her nonchalant personality, so Ruan Shengyi didn’t urge her to change it.
She closed the door, separating the bustling atmosphere from the outside, and then leaned against the door panel, letting out a long sigh.
If she got busy, would she stop thinking wildly?
But when she decided to get closer to Xiao Wenyu a few days ago, she didn’t feel so uncomfortable. Why, now that the two of them are gradually getting closer, does she feel so uncomfortable in her heart?
Ruan Shengyi leaned against the door panel and slowly slid down to squat on the ground, burying herself in her knees, letting out a long sigh.
Why, exactly?
Outside the door—
At this time, there weren’t many people yet. After Xie Yu drawled out the welcome, she held the drink menu and greeted the guest who looked a bit lost.
“Zhao Wen.” The lost guest saw someone coming to greet her, took the initiative to introduce herself in a gentle voice, and even nodded slightly in greeting.
This courteous but familiar attitude stunned Xie Yu for a moment. She subconsciously bowed and guided the lady to a seat, “You can sit here first and see what you’d like to drink.”
“Just a drink will do.” Zhao Wen smiled slightly.
Her voice didn’t have the bold air hidden in the vocal cords of Northwesterners, but rather a hazy feeling of the misty rain in Jiangnan. Her attitude towards people showed that her family background was extraordinary. She even took the drink Xie Yu offered with both hands.
Xie Yu was a little dizzy, standing by the table, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Zhao Wen took a sip and looked at her with a smile, “Are you the owner here?”
“Oh, ah, no, no, no.” Xie Yu shook her head vigorously, “I’m the bartender. The owner went to change clothes.”
“Boss!” Xie Yu hollered.
The person sitting there covered her lips and chuckled, inexplicably causing Xie Yu to blush deeply. She scratched her head and said softly, “You sit first, I’ll go call our boss.”
Her loud voice had already been shouted out, and now to make up for it with such gentleness seemed a little like covering up.
But Zhao Wen still nodded slightly, “Thank you.” She simply took politeness to the extreme.
Xie Yu scratched her head and trotted away.
Not long after, the person who had just changed clothes was pushed out by Xie Yu all the way. She only had time to turn her head and ask, “What exactly happened?”
Xie Yu said nervously, “An immortal has descended to earth. She’s at least five thousand years old. I really can’t handle it.”
Ruan Shengyi had seen people who made Xie Yu nervous, but she had never seen anyone who could make Xie Yu this nervous. For a moment, she didn’t dare to be careless. After buttoning her cuffs, she walked a few steps to the guest.
Today, she had chosen a two-piece vest shirt with some fluff. It had been too long since she had worn it, and she had forgotten that the cuffs of this shirt were difficult to button, causing her to fumble all the way, losing some of her composure.
Before she could speak, the guest took the lead in nodding her head slightly, and in a gentle and elegant voice, said, “Zhao Wen.”
She raised her hand, not wanting to shake hands, but rather, as if she were the host, made a gesture to invite Ruan Shengyi to sit down.
Ruan Shengyi couldn’t figure out what was going on in her mind, fluctuating between the options of the urban management bureau and the people from above coming to inspect secretly. She didn’t know how to start the conversation for a moment, but her outward expression was very serious. She coughed lightly, adjusted her clothes, and sat down.
Ruan Shengyi tried to regain the initiative, saying, “Ruan Shengyi. Yuan as in the currency, Sheng as in grand occasion, Yi as in significance. Nice to meet you.”
For some reason, this feeling of losing the initiative felt familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on where it was familiar from.
Zhao Wen lightly raised the corners of her lips upon hearing this, “Nice to meet you.”
“If your name was given to you by your mother, then she really loves you.”
“…” Ruan Shengyi was stunned instantly.
It had to be said that this person’s eyes were too sharp, and her words didn’t match her Jiangnan-esque voice. They carried a bit of the wind and sand from the desert, drenching Ruan Shengyi’s heart all at once.
She clutched her pants tightly, so as not to make any noise.
Yes, she had said in her heart that she hated and resented that crazy woman.
But she had never doubted her love and expectations for her.
But why did this woman say these things?
A dense chill instantly rose from Ruan Shengyi’s back.
Had the people from her hometown found her and sent someone to try to persuade her?
Or were they going to take away the things that crazy woman had left her, even if she had escaped more than a thousand kilometers away, were they still going to deprive her of everything?
She tried to lower her voice, saying in a deep voice, “What do you want? If there’s nothing else, excuse me, I can’t keep you company.” But the trembling in her voice couldn’t be concealed. Her thoughts seemed to be thrown out naked.
Knowing that she had been exposed, she wanted to leave this place even more urgently.
“Don’t be nervous.” Zhao Wen suddenly curved her eyebrows and took another slow sip of her drink, “I just want to chat with you, with no malicious intent.”
Ruan Shengyi couldn’t believe her.
The price of trust was heavy, and Ruan Shengyi couldn’t afford that price now.
But she also tried to calm down and slowly sized up the person in front of her—
Zhao Wen looked very young, but time had still left its traces on her, not just wrinkles, but also the gentleness and grace. Every move was like a shadow left by an old calendar, warm.
She was wearing a very lazy, long cardigan in a coffee color, one that could reach her knees, covering the clothes on her body. But Ruan Shengyi thought that under the cardigan should be a well-tailored cheongsam, or a slim-fitting long dress, clothes that could complement her temperament.
Because she had long hair dyed a warm brown, simply tied back with a scarf. Such a hairstyle, not paired with a cheongsam or a slim-fitting long dress, would be too wasteful.
Could such a woman, who seemed to have come from the misty rain of Jiangnan holding an umbrella, be an accomplice of those weasels hidden in the boundless yellow sand?
Ruan Shengyi clenched her fingers, suppressing a breath in the back of her tongue.
Zhao Wen didn’t say much, maybe waiting for the other person to calm down, and then asked, “Are only these kinds of drinks and alcohol available? Do you have milk and coffee?”
“We have milk.” Ruan Shengyi nodded, “A friend of mine has a bad stomach, doesn’t drink alcohol, and doesn’t drink cold drinks, so we keep some milk.”
Why did she say so much?
But facing Zhao Wen, she always seemed to uncontrollably say more.
Zhao Wen curved her eyebrows again, smiled gracefully, and said softly, “The owner is very thoughtful. The business must be quite good, right?”
“Not bad.” Ruan Shengyi answered concisely.
The more she said, the more mistakes she would make. She couldn’t trust the person in front of her yet.
But for some reason, she always felt a bit of familiarity from the person in front of her, not just from the warmth of the old days, but also something…an inexplicable familiarity.
This was too strange.
“Boss, are you from Chuncheng?”
Ruan Shengyi was startled, “That involves privacy, I’m afraid I can’t answer.”
“No problem. Please give me two cups of milk, to go, thank you.”
The woman took the milk and walked gracefully outside.
At this moment, Ruan Shengyi realized that she was indeed wearing a dark green cheongsam, with a slight slit at the hem, revealing her slender ankles.
What would Xiao Wenyu look like in a cheongsam?
Ruan Shengyi thought absentmindedly.
Xie Yu walked over and patted her shoulder, “Boss, stop looking, or I’ll tell Boss Xiao.”
“…” Ruan Shengyi glared at her, “Nonsense.”
The woman seemed to be a separator between the liveliness and tranquility of the store. She pushed open the door, taking away the peace that came with her. The noisy bustle brushed past her.
Then, she glanced back at the store.
Ruan Shengyi silently tightened her clasped hands.
She was really crazy. At this moment, she was actually wondering what kind of charm Xiao Wenyu would have if she looked back like that too.
Would her chestnut brown, slightly curly hair flutter gently in the wind, adding a bit of warmth to her gaze?
She really wanted to see Xiao Wenyu.
But the store was so busy right now. If she went to see Xiao Wenyu…
Xie Yu would tear her apart.
Ruan Shengyi coughed a few times and turned back, silently pulling on her sleeves.
Work, work comes first.
She didn’t see Zhao Wen carrying the milk into the photo studio across the street.
*
The sky was already half dark. Xiao Wenyu was processing the photos she had taken during the day. She habitually wore headphones but didn’t play any music. The quiet environment was like a space she had left for herself.
Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door.
Xiao Wenyu was trying out filters, and without turning her head, she said, “Please wait outside for a moment. You can choose the photos you want to take or the clothes you want to try on.”
Then, the person standing at the door cleared her throat softly.
She didn’t even need to call out, Xiao Wenyu had already gotten up in surprise. But she still softened her voice and gently called out, “Xiao Wenyu, I came to see you.”
This was a rare moment when Xiao Wenyu could relax. She walked to the door in a few strides and threw herself into the arms of the person who had come, softening her voice, “Mom, I thought you were still angry.”
“Such a big girl, still so clumsy!” Zhao Wen scolded her with a smile, raising her hand to tap her forehead, “Slow down, slow down, don’t hurt my granddaughter.”
The woman raised her hand and waved the cup in front of Xiao Wenyu, “Look, what is this?”
“You went to the store across the street?”
“You recognized it so quickly?”
“…”
Xiao Wenyu had always found it difficult to hide her thoughts from this mother of hers.
She had always thought that Zhao Wen was a beautiful woman who had stepped out of an ancient Jiangnan painting. Choosing to come to the Northwest back then was already very unexpected, and to be able to be favored by her native Northwestern wife was even more…
Xiao Wenyu didn’t dare to think about it, afraid that Zhao Wen would see her thoughts.
It was always like this, Zhao Wen could see everything she was thinking.
Like now, she familiarly touched Xiao Wenyu’s slightly red earlobe, gently rubbing it, and lowered her voice, “Mom will wait for you upstairs. You go ahead and get busy first, and we’ll chat slowly.”
This meant that she had already seen through everything.