SWG Chapter 6
by Volare“That’s not possible.” Xie Yu walked over to look, “I told her that Tonight Intoxicated gets more customers every night, so her business should be thriving too. Why would she close so early?”
But across the not-so-wide street, the photography studio named “The Fourth Kind of Primary Color” was indeed dark, the sign unlit. Through the translucent glass, the fading daylight couldn’t illuminate the empty, unlit room.
It really looked like it was closed.
Xie Yu clicked her tongue, feeling troubled.
Her boss’s schedule was the opposite of normal people’s. If Xiao Wenyu closed so early every day, how was she going to promote her boss like this!
Wait a minute.
Xie Yu raised her voice and said, “Boss, come and see, the door across the street isn’t closed! Could it be she forgot to close it when she left? Bo…”
Beside her, a blur flashed past. Before she could react, her boss had already dashed into the middle of the road, waiting for a car to pass.
“…ss.” The remaining sound finally dissipated, bringing out a few speechless laughs.
A customer asked curiously, “Why is Boss Ruan in such a hurry?”
Xie Yu crossed her arms and grinned casually, saying, “She bought a Groupon deal across the street and wants to go take pictures today.”
“Across the street? I saw that! How are the photos?”
“They’re quite good. You can go check them out when you have time.”
*
Ruan Shengyi almost jogged across the street. She could even hear the driver cursing with his window down, but she couldn’t care less.
Inside the wide-open doorway was a dark abyss. The remnants of daylight could only illuminate a small area at the entrance. The darkness seemed vast and boundless, swallowing all courage.
Ruan Shengyi slowly exhaled and raised her voice, “Xiao Wenyu, are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here. Just a moment.” The woman’s voice floated from somewhere high and far away, wavering slightly, but carrying a reassuring magic.
As long as she could still talk, everything was fine.
Ruan Shengyi breathed a sigh of relief and remembered that she had her phone. She fumbled in her pocket, took out her phone, and turned on the flashlight.
She was even trembling a little. This was really…
Ruan Shengyi walked into the room, craning her neck to observe the decor—she had only caught a fleeting glimpse of it in the morning, but now she was getting a real close-up look at these decorations.
The flashlight could only illuminate a small area in front of her, but she could roughly distinguish what each area was used for.
The two shops across the street were about the same size, but Xiao Wenyu’s side had significantly more partitions. There was a large waiting area outside, and the innermost area seemed to be the photographer’s workspace, while the different partitions seemed to be simple scenes.
Ruan Shengyi counted roughly on her fingers the expenses needed, and sighed slightly in her heart.
What a wealthy woman!
Finally, footsteps came from inside, moving from far to near. Another light appeared from the end of the corridor, gradually brightening.
The woman was wearing a full-length black dress, with a light gray vest over it. She also had a rope around her neck, which she probably used to hang her camera.
Xiao Wenyu’s voice was always so unhurried, with a hint of a smile, “Boss Ruan is up? We probably can’t take photos right now. I need to deal with something here. I don’t even know what happened…”
“As long as you’re safe.” Ruan Shengyi said, shaking the flashlight in her hand.
The woman’s slightly swaying steps paused for a moment, then she smiled again, “It’s kind of Boss Ruan to come over and check.”
“It’s alright, I’m not very busy.”
The flashlight beam flickered, and Ruan Shengyi squinted slightly, hearing the person beside her say, “Can’t you just accept a compliment frankly?” Her voice carried a soft scolding tone.
Ruan Shengyi: …
Her ears were so hot, so hot that she wasn’t used to it.
No one had ever spoken to her like this before. It was like listening to celestial music that temporarily brightened her ears.
But the woman didn’t seem to want to let her go, her voice moving with her steps, ethereal and distant, saying, “I’m talking to you. Did Boss Ruan’s brain get stuffy from sleeping all day?”
Finally, with a click, the sound of heels landing firmly on the ground.
The flashlight’s light source was very close, so close that Ruan Shengyi could clearly see the other person’s face, and then she thought…
Maybe she shouldn’t have come.
After all, just this slight and ordinary smile was enough to make her panic for a moment.
Why?
Xiao Wenyu clicked her tongue lightly, “Xie Yu said you’re a clam that won’t open its mouth. It seems that’s true.”
These words finally broke the enchanting atmosphere in Ruan Shengyi’s heart. Her head instantly cooled down, the veins on her forehead throbbing, and she squeezed out, “What else did she say?”
“Did Boss Ruan come here to ask about employee gossip?”
“…” That’s not it.
But the woman’s hand holding the flashlight seemed to lift slightly, after all, the light flickered, like teasing someone.
…
Ruan Shengyi cleared her throat lightly, “So, do you need help?”
“I do need a little help. I haven’t adjusted to this place yet. Do you know where the main switch is? It feels like a tripped circuit breaker.”
Ruan Shengyi walked into the room, saying, “The main switch is behind the street. You don’t necessarily need to use the main switch. I’ll check your store’s electrical panel first.”
“The electrical panel is in the back, but it’s a bit high.”
Ruan Shengyi looked at her helplessly, “I know, the layout is the same on both sides.”
Besides, Xiao Wenyu’s voice was high and distant at the beginning, so it was obvious she was on a ladder, probably looking at the electrical panel.
Sure enough, in the corner of the studio, a ladder as tall as a person stood steadily.
Just as Ruan Shengyi grabbed the ladder, she heard the person behind her say nervously, “Let me do it, you just tell me where to look on the electrical panel. This ladder isn’t very stable.”
“But you won’t be stable either.” Ruan Shengyi found it strange.
Xiao Wenyu smiled casually, saying, “I don’t care.”
“…You hold it, I’ll do it.”
After all, she often handled these things, better than letting Xiao Wenyu do it. She would have to hold the ladder and worry about the many things on the electrical panel, how troublesome.
Ruan Shengyi shined the flashlight and carefully checked, clicking her tongue lightly, “There’s nothing wrong here, it hasn’t tripped.”
“Then could it be a problem with the main switch?”
Ruan Shengyi considered retreating from the ladder, saying, “Did you pay the electricity bill for this place?”
“…”
She seemed to have hit the nail on the head. Xiao Wenyu coughed awkwardly several times, softening her voice, “I’ve been too busy lately, I seem to have forgotten about it.”
“…”
Two minutes later, with a ding from the message notification sound, the lights in the store lit up one after another, and in this small studio, a dim little desk lamp also lit up.
Not even as bright as the computer screen on Xiao Wenyu’s desk.
Ruan Shengyi gently touched the desk lamp, saying in a low voice, “Is this enough?”
The woman reached over, turned off the desk lamp, and said very easily, “It’s enough, I don’t look at anything else, just need to be able to edit a picture.”
“…”
This was the first time Ruan Shengyi had truly seen the decoration of this small house. In the corner of the wall was the staircase going upstairs. She didn’t know what was stored upstairs, but Xiao Wenyu probably lived in the small attic.
If the layout upstairs was the same as her side, then that small attic was actually a small room of a few square meters, enough to sleep in, but she couldn’t do anything else.
She usually made something to eat in the small kitchen on the first floor, but on Xiao Wenyu’s side, she hadn’t seen a place left for the kitchen all the way…
Ruan Shengyi: “How do you usually eat?”
The person who had already started continuing to organize pictures paused for a moment, saying, “I order takeout.”
If Ruan Shengyi hadn’t seen the buns placed on the plastic plate in the corner, she might have really believed this woman’s nonsense.
She walked over, her hand trembling as she picked up the plastic plate, “You only ate this much today?”
Of course she was familiar with these buns, they were the buns that Xiao Wenyu had taken from her when they had breakfast together this morning.
From five o’clock in the morning until now, more than ten hours had passed, and in these ten hours…
The woman once again avoided answering, reaching for the bun, saying, “I ate it as a snack in the morning, I forgot to throw it away.”
“Nonsense, that plastic plate is still warm, Xiao Wenyu!”
Xiao Wenyu finally looked at her seriously, her eyes that could have been mesmerizing were full of calmness and a little bit of superficial laughter, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, “What’s wrong, so angry.”
It was like punching cotton, full of force but with nowhere to use it.
Ruan Shengyi didn’t know what to say, or where her identity should be placed, or how to say the many words she wanted to say.
She wanted to ask Xiao Wenyu, aren’t you not sad?
But these words were obviously the kind of words that would offend people as soon as they were spoken, and even make the already uneasy relationship even more rigid.
Besides, Xiao Wenyu…
Ruan Shengyi said softly, “Do you want to go out to eat? Dinner, it just so happens that I haven’t eaten all day.”
Saying is useless, it’s better to do something.
Xiao Wenyu probably didn’t expect things to develop in this direction, and a few traces of surprise were revealed in her beautiful eyes, “Now?”
Ruan Shengyi: “I have a car, what do you want to eat?”
Xiao Wenyu blinked, and laughed lightly, “With Boss Ruan’s schedule, did you buy a car to race on the streets at midnight?”
“…” This person is really…
Xiao Wenyu smiled again, “It’s better to be respectful than to decline, after all, Boss Ruan has been keen on taking me out to eat since the first time we met.”
“…It’s okay if you don’t want to go.”
What is that, how can that be called keen on taking her out to eat…
That’s keen on inviting her to drink, but this person doesn’t touch alcohol, and doesn’t touch colder drinks either, she really started a health regimen at a young age.
This makes her feel so embarrassed.
Ruan Shengyi suddenly realized at this time that she probably couldn’t win against Xiao Wenyu in an argument, so she simply closed her mouth, turned her face stiffly, “Let’s go, go drive.”
A few minutes later…
Xiao Wenyu rarely showed a real smile, and rarely broke her etiquette and pride, both amused and helpless, “This is your car, Boss Ruan?”
“I really can’t tell.”
I really can’t tell, such a cold and cool Ruan Shengyi would secretly drive a pink and cute Chopped Chili Fish Head…
Seriously, she was already prepared to sit in a big car like a black warrior, or some particularly cool motorcycle, that would fit the impression Ruan Shengyi left on her——
A free person, a grand soul.
As a result, it’s so pink, and quite cute.
Xiao Wenyu tilted her head to look at her with a smile, watching this person turn red from the neck all the way to the face, her eyes staring dead at her toes, as if to bury herself in the ground.
Xiao Wenyu decided to give her a chance to explain.
“Do you want to explain?”
Ruan Shengyi replied almost instantly: “I want to!”