59 The Secret Between Us

Chen Yuang was in a hurry and did not notice the two familiar faces standing at the door of the shengjian shop, nor did he hear the young master's gentle call.

The woman beside him, although she tied her curly hair into a bun today and wrapped a colorful triangular silk scarf on her head, dressed like a lady, could not hide the wildness and unrestrainedness in her bones. Ni Yue recognized her at a glance - she was the woman who walked towards the whispering room with Chen Yuang affectionately that night.

Seeing this eye-catching pair of handsome men and beautiful women slip into the hotel gate as smoothly as flowing water, as if they were regulars there, Ni Yue's heart suddenly sank.

That heart, which had just been warmed by the young master's family story and the hot wok steam from the shengjian shop, fell into an ice hole the next second.

She couldn't believe her eyes: What Chen Yuang meant by "going to the gym first" was to check into a hotel with a hot girl?

This guy keeps claiming to be inexperienced and a virgin, but is he actually lying?!

Thinking back to his usual sweet talk and the way he handled the eye mask play during our first kiss with ease and precision, how could he look inexperienced at all?

Only then did she realize: Chen Yuang's flirting with her was nothing more than a diversion from the colorful and extravagant life!

Just like a person who loves Sichuan cuisine, he will occasionally eat one or two simple meals to balance his intestinal flora.

That’s right, she is the one Chen Yuang uses to balance the intestinal flora!

In this situation, any questioning was meaningless. She no longer wanted to know why Chen Yuang lied, nor did she want to know who the woman next to him was.

She picked up her phone and without hesitation, sent the "Lantern Goddess" into the small dark room.

From then on, Chen Yuang completely disappeared from Ni Yue's world, as if he had never been there.

No matter how cruel one is, there will always be sadness and sorrow. Although it is not as exaggerated as living every day like a year, Ni Yue will inevitably experience several emotional fluctuations.

From time to time, when she thought of this unrequited love, her nose would feel sore, her eyes would secretly wet, and then secretly dry.

There were a few nights when she lay in bed, feeling extremely anxious. She couldn't help but pull Chen Yuang off the blacklist, waited for a moment, and found that he didn't move at all, so she blocked him again viciously, and then quietly squeezed out two tears.

Fortunately, there is not much time to be sad.

The topics of the first congress of "Shangshan Ruoshui" are being implemented one by one.

Ni Yue established a complete set of rules for the volunteer/intern recruitment program she was responsible for, and took the opportunity to update the company's original employee handbook and personnel management system. The originally cobbled-together makeshift team finally became more formal at the institutional level.

At the same time, due to the significant role of official media interviews in attracting traffic, they received a number of job inquiries and applications. Zhang Chenling handed these over to Ni Yue. She knew very well that in the people-oriented service industry, scientific team management may be more important than operations, and Ni Yue was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. She was relieved to hand over the work to Ni Yue.

On the other hand, the reputation of Shangshanruoshui gradually penetrated the sinking market, and Zhang Chenling's work phone rang from morning to night, orders came in one after another, and her schedule for the next month was almost full.

Fortunately, Xiao Ma Ge returned to the Shangshanruoshui family under the attention of the public, and once again contributed his van that was almost eliminated.

The new bathtub that Zhang Chenling bought online was also delivered.

So, the two teams began to bathe, bathe, and bathe non-stop...

The sample of new customers continues to expand, constantly refreshing everyone's understanding of human suffering:

There's an old lady who developed a skin disease from not bathing for years, with flakes of skin falling off as soon as she lifts her clothes; there's a former sports influencer who was knocked down and left paralyzed from the waist down while skiing in Altay; and there's a young mother who jumped from a building due to postpartum depression and became disabled...

At the same time, new stories are happening with old customers.

One of Ni Yue's most caring clients, Ms. Zhuang, moved from the city center to the suburbs as scheduled.

On the day of moving, Ni Yue and Xu Zhiqian sent her there together. Miss Zhuang had been trying to refuse, but unable to resist Ni Yue's enthusiasm, she had to reluctantly accept her kindness.

Early in the morning, a light drizzle fell from the sky.

Miss Zhuang put on makeup as usual, but she couldn't hide the worry on her face.

As they were about to reach their destination, the three of them were chatting idly in the car when she suddenly shouted, "Stop the car! I want to get off!"

"?"

Xu Zhiqian didn't brake, but just eased off the accelerator slightly. "The navigation said it was only a few hundred meters away. Why are we getting off here?"

"I want to walk over there by myself and breathe some fresh air!" Miss Zhuang explained.

Ni Yue smiled and said, "Don't be ridiculous! We're almost there. Let's check in first, put our luggage away, and then we can go out for a walk!"

Ni Yue also had her own little plans in mind. They happened to pass by a lake just now. She was afraid that Miss Zhuang would do something stupid again. She thought that it would be safer to stay in the sanatorium with someone watching over her.

Miss Zhuang lowered her head and said nothing more, but her hands were nervously rubbing the corners of her clothes.

It was not until they arrived at their destination and accompanied Miss Zhuang to the front desk to check in that Ni Yue and Xu Zhiqian suddenly realized - she had been hiding something!

She kept claiming she was going to a nursing home, but in reality, it was the hospice department of the nursing home!

As an only child born in the 1980s who lost both parents early, unfortunately divorced, and was seriously ill, Miss Zhuang was inevitably going to die alone. Therefore, she was not here to recuperate, but to wait for death!

Her illness is more serious than they thought!

Realizing her previous negligence, Ni Yue felt as if she had been hit by a club. Then, she figured out why Miss Zhuang wanted to commit suicide before - she would die sooner or later anyway, so it would be better to die early than to live a miserable life.

It felt like rain was falling in my heart.

"I'm just worried that if the disease worsens, it will be very troublesome to change rooms..." Miss Zhuang explained to Ni Yue and Xu Zhiqian with an embarrassed look on her face, but it was difficult to justify herself.

Ni Yue opened and closed his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.

Miss Zhuang stayed in a single room, which was in good condition and had a private bathroom, but no bathtub.

After helping her arrange everything, Ni Yue took her hand and told her, "Contact us anytime you want to take a bath!"

Miss Zhuang shook her head and accidentally revealed the truth: "Maybe the doctor won't allow me to take a bath in a few days."

Ni Yue's throat choked, and he forced a smile, pretending to be relaxed. "If you need someone to chat, feel free to send me a WeChat message. Even when I'm not showering, I can chat with you! If I have time, I'll come to see you. If you want to eat anything, I can bring it to you from the city center. By the way, do you like shengjian (stir-fried dumplings)? I recently found a really delicious one..."

In the end, the two women hugged each other tightly, just like the time when Miss Zhuang climbed out of the bathtub to open the door for Ni Yue, and they let their tears fall on each other's shoulders.

Before leaving, Ni Yue still said: "Goodbye!"

On the way back to the city center, she cried bitterly, as if she had foreseen a final farewell.

Xu Zhiqian comforted her by calling her "little sister" all the way. After secretly taking the young master out to meet the shengjian cook, their relationship inexplicably became harmonious, perhaps because they had a secret that needed to be protected together. So, naturally, Ni Yue no longer minded Xu Zhiqian calling her "little sister."

In a daze, a week passed by in the bustling city.

That night, the two exhausted teams gathered together and chatted quietly, and Zhang Chenling treated everyone to a drink.

Ni Yue hadn't seen King B for a while. Although the two had been communicating through WeChat, Ni Yue was a little worried when he saw from afar that his forehead was dark and his eyes were dull, so he hurried to the window to talk to him.

Seeing Ni Yue, King B jumped out of the window like a savior, pulled her arm and led her to a secluded corner, whispering, "You've come at the right time. I have something to ask of you!"

Ni Yue's hair stood on end when she heard this, fearing that she would hear some bad news next. She stuttered for a moment, "Yes, it's Sister Running Ball... What's wrong?"

"No, no, no!" King B shook his head in denial, "I'm not asking you to help her, I'm asking you to help me!"

After a pause, he added: "Actually, it's also to help her!"

"..." Ni Yue was confused, "What's going on?"

"Have you been following her novels recently?" King B asked back.

Ni Yue was stunned. She had been too busy these days and indeed had not clicked into the online literature app. However, she did not seem to have received any update reminders from Sister Paoqiu.

"It seems you don't know yet, her book has not been updated for five or six days! There are hundreds of comments asking for updates, and some readers are cursing and have a very bad attitude!" King B said angrily.

"I'm going to the comment section to help her maintain order. Anyone who dares to say something rude will be shot!" Ni Yue gritted his teeth and took out his phone.

"No, no, no!" King B quickly stopped him. "I'm not asking you to do this! Actually, I didn't read her any of the comments section, but you know her personality. She's been so upset about the hiatus that she couldn't sleep for several nights... But, we talked it over in the middle of the night last night and came up with a solution!"

"What method?" Ni Yue was curious.

Wang leaned close to Ni Yue's ear and whispered mysteriously, "She dictates, and I write!"

"Huh?!" Ni Yue's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of it?!"

King B raised his face, his expression not relaxed. "But you know, her language function has deteriorated, her speech is very slurred, and now she has to lie down most of the time, so I can only provide a rough outline of what she is saying. I have to fill it in myself!"

"So?..." Ni Yue raised an eyebrow, probably guessing King B's intention.

"You're a die-hard fan of Running Ball Sister and are very familiar with her word choice. Can you help me fill in the blanks?"

As Ni Yue expected, she had just guessed what was happening.

Before she could answer, King B said, "But you absolutely cannot let Sister Paoqiu know about this! When her eyes are better, even if you come to her house to help her bathe, you can't tell her!"

Ni Yue was puzzled, "Why is this?"

"Haha!" King B laughed bitterly. "She said you're her most devoted reader, and she should keep you a secret and not deprive you of the joy of reading. And I'm her least devoted reader, so I'm more suitable to be the writer!"

Ni Yue chuckled, "That seems to make sense!"

"But how could even the most inattentive reader possibly imitate the author's word choice? It's a paradox!" King B said helplessly. "So, besides you, I can't find anyone else to help me. Furthermore, this concerns Sister Paoqiu's reputation as an author, so I can't tell anyone else except you! So, you're not allowed to tell anyone either. This is a secret between the two of us!"

"I understand!" Ni Yue stared at King B closely, his tone more resolute than ever before, "Let's help her write together!"