CH 37

After Su Chang finished taking a shower, the living room lights were off and there was no sound.

She didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol or because she was used to wearing her pajamas into the bathroom at home, anyway, she forgot to grab her pajamas beforehand.

Even her physical habits were not prepared to be a guest.

She dried her body before walking out of the bathroom naked. Fortunately, the master bedroom and bathroom were connected as a small suite, otherwise, she might have felt very embarrassed.

But her body felt so comfortable and at ease that she didn’t even get goosebumps from feeling exposed. It still treated this space with a familiar smell as a safe haven, as it was still used to being the master.

She went to the wardrobe and familiarly opened the second-to-last drawer at the bottom of the rightmost door. There were three clean sets of pajamas – one belonged to Yu Zhou and one belonged to her. When they broke up, hers was still hanging on the balcony and Yu Zhou had put it in the drawer after taking it down.

There was also another set, which also belonged to Yu Zhou, but because the color was too close to the set Su Chang usually wore, they used to exchange them often.

Su Chang hesitated for a moment before she took this set, put it on and then opened the quilt to lay down.

The scent of body wash as well as Yu Zhou’s distinctive body fragrance enveloped her immediately, becoming so familiar that it was lethal.

The most malicious part was the pillow, as the scent of shampoo was the strongest, making it easy for someone who had been drinking to feel as if there was someone lying beside them.

Su Chang sighed and closed her eyes, feeling her nose itch. She opened her eyes and instinctively looked for tissues.

There were none on the bedside table, so she opened the first drawer, and sure enough, there was a pack of blue tissues. She took them out before seeing a few small finger cots lying in the depths of the drawer, not very hidden.

Scattered and lonely, they seemed to be on the verge of being forgotten.

She placed the tissues on the bedside table and closed her eyes again, but no matter if she was lying down, curling up on her side, or stretching out her body, it was all the same.

Her mind was full of Yu Zhou.

It wasn’t the Yu Zhou who sat in front of her speaking softly, nor the Yu Zhou who joked around, but the Yu Zhou lying in the dark on this soft bed, softer than the bed itself.

Yu Zhou seemed carefree but was actually a bit timid, especially when it came to being in bed, she liked to take things slow and couldn’t handle anything fast. She enjoyed gentle kisses from Su Chang while being slowly made love to her.

Fortunately, Su Chang didn’t like it to be intense either. She was very patient, repeating the same movements back and forth, in and out.

Yu Zhou wouldn’t have big reactions, even her moans were soft. It was only when she was close to there that she would grab Su Chang’s arm while calling her name softly, “Su Chang, Su Chang.”

It sounded like a breathy whisper, more dulcet than anything Su Chang had ever heard with her most discerning ears.

Su Chang’s index finger traced the cotton sheet, caressing it a few times. The fading moonlight shone on half of her face.

The most diligent one was the sun on duty, which would rise in a few hours.

Xiang Wan woke up from a nearly comatose sleep with a splitting headache. She glanced at her yellow suspender dress as she smelled the strong scent of alcohol. Xiang Wan put on her slippers before she went out of her room, she then noticed Yu Zhou tidying up the coffee table.

Yu Zhou sorted out the fruits they bought yesterday, she threw away a few bad ones and put the rest in the refrigerator. She then walked towards Xiang Wan with a plastic bag. Just as Xiang Wan was about to speak, Yu Zhou raised a finger, “Shh.”

“Ms. Su is sleeping inside,” she whispered.

“Ms. Su?” Xiang Wan frowned, glancing at the closed master bedroom door.

“Yeah,” Yu Zhou walked towards the kitchen, her voice gradually getting louder, “You drank too much yesterday so we two brought you back. You were so heavy that we were all exhausted. So, I let Ms. Su stay over.”

Xiang Wan watched her open the refrigerator door.

“What about you?”

“I slept in the living room on the sofa,” Yu Zhou put the fruits in the fridge.

“Why didn’t you sleep together with me?”

“You didn’t even take a shower,” Yu Zhou looked disgusted and then laughed, “And you kept reciting ‘The Book of Rites.'”

Xiang Wan looked away slyly, “I see.”

“What?”

“This time the reason is not about being lesbian,” Xiang Wan smiled.

“Being dirty is indeed more important than sexual orientation,” Yu Zhou said.

With Xiang Wan’s smell, even a dog would be repulsed, let alone discussing straight or lesbian

Xiang Wan was unhappy as she let out a soft hum. Yu Zhou took out a few eggs, “Go take a shower. Don’t wash your clothes yet. I’ll hang them for you. Come out and eat later.”

“Okay.”

When the fried eggs and toast were served, Yu Zhou ate a few bites first. Then, she told Xiang Wan, who had finished taking a shower, that she needed to go to the express cabinet at the south gate of the community to pick up a package. She told Xiang Wan to eat by herself and that each of them had one fried egg, so she shouldn’t eat more.

Xiang Wan agreed; as soon as Yu Zhou went out, Su Chang came out.

Wearing a homewear-style pajama, she had already washed and combed her hair smoothly. Even dressed casually, she looked particularly attractive.

Seeing her come out, Xiang Wan greeted her and asked her to eat fried eggs.

Su Chang nodded as she sat down, asking, “Where is she?”

Xiang Wan replied, “She went downstairs to pick up a package. That contract needs to be sent back urgently. It should have been picked up yesterday.”

“Contract?”

“The contract to sign with Changpei.”

“She,” Su Chang raised her eyes, “is signing a contract?”

“Yes.” Xiang Wan took a sip of milk.

“Didn’t she dislike signing contracts?” Su Chang hesitated for a moment but still asked.

“But she’s running short of money,” Xiang Wan said.

Su Chang’s movement of biting the toast slowed down with her eyelashes casting a shadow on her fair face.

Xiang Wan finished eating, pulled back the chair and stood up. She unskillfully hung the yellow suspender dress from yesterday on a hanger, heading for the balcony.

Realizing that she might want to hang the clothes, Su Chang reminded her, “It hasn’t been washed.”

“No need to wash it,” Xiang Wan shook her head.

“Why?”

The door lock moved as Yu Zhou came back in. Seeing the situation of the two, she explained to Su Chang while changing her shoes, “This dress is too cheap, only costing a little over 100 yuan. I’m afraid if it’s washed, it’ll turn into pickles. Although it’s cheap, it’s still a new dress that was bought specifically. It’d be a pity if it got ruined by washing. I didn’t expect we were going to the bar yesterday, now that it got smelly, I thought if I could air it out, she could wear it one more time and take some pictures or something before washing it. It’s quite nice looking.”

She spoke naturally, holding two bunches of small vegetables that she had bought from a stall at the door after picking up the package.

But Su Chang looked at her, breathing long and quiet, without saying anything else.

She suddenly realized that her superiority was indeed a derogatory term. She had already learned about Yu Zhou’s resignation from the crew, but since reuniting with Yu Zhou, she had never paid attention to “how Yu Zhou lives.”

In her world, life had never been an issue.

So she indulged in pride, love, regret, and unwilling struggle, never realizing that Yu Zhou might have to consider other problems first.

Yu Zhou was very open and didn’t hide anything, but this openness exposed Su Chang’s complete misunderstanding of her.

The sound of splashing water came from the kitchen as Yu Zhou washed the fruits.

Xiang Wan sat down at the dining table, checking her phone for any incoming messages.

After a while, she heard Su Chang ask, “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What do you plan to do?” Su Chang wasn’t good at inquiring or caring about other people’s situations, so her words didn’t come out smoothly.

“In the past few days, I’ve contacted a few online audio drama crews on Weibo and sent my audition recordings, but there’s been no response,” Xiang Wan recalled the professional terms and spoke quite completely. “However, a few days ago, a planner asked me for a small role with few lines. I’ve already sent my recordings and I think it won’t be long before they’ll be heard.”

Su Chang was silent for about ten seconds, then looked up and asked, “Which planner? Let me see.”

Xiang Wan found the message and handed it over, “This person.”

Su Chang glanced at it as she laughed slightly playfully.

“What?” Xiang Wan looked at her.

“He’s unreliable, it won’t work out,” Su Chang said.

Seeing Xiang Wan’s puzzled expression, she rarely explained, “He has at least a dozen authorized projects in hand, but none of them has been produced.”

Listening to Yu Zhou’s movements in the kitchen, Su Chang sighed, “If you’re really interested in this field, I can introduce you to a club. They regularly produce commercial audio dramas, and there’s payment.”

“That club,” she paused, “also needs screenwriters.”

Xiang Wan met her gaze and understood.

She smiled softly and pondered for a moment before propping up her phone, speaking gently, “Since you’re helping me, I’ll help you too.”

“Hm?” Su Chang looked up.

Xiang Wan extended her index finger and tapped the camera, “Look here.”

Her thumb pressed the shutter button, taking a photo with a click.

She frowned, opened her Weibo and posted the photo relying on her memory.

Then she smiled and said, “In this way, many people will praise you.”

On the Weibo homepage, an account named “Xiang Wan” posted a photo of Su Chang in her pajamas, still without any caption.

The comments came in quickly, but they were not praises. Instead, they were—

“???”

“What the?”

“What is this?”

“Su Chang????????”