Chapter 67. Merry Christmas.
After taking a shower, the two went downstairs again to rescue the apple pie that had been forgotten in the oven.
After exercising for half a day, they were indeed a little hungry again. Shang Shu happily cut the golden finished product into small pieces, then divided it in half, and gave Gu Sui a small piece.
The living room was lit only by a warm yellow floor lamp and the scented candle they had just lit on the table.
Nestled on the sofa, enjoying the soft and sweet apple pie, Shang Shu mischievously tilted her head back and asked Gu Sui with a smile, "Is it delicious?"
"Mmm, delicious."
"So... is this one tastier or the previous one?"
Gu Sui smiled, knowing that the little girl was setting a trap for her. So she moistened her lips, pinched Shang Shu's chin, and kissed away the crumbs on her lips: "This is the best."
The strong cinnamon apple scent couldn't mask the fragrance of Gu Sui. Now, they were using the same shower gel, but it smelled better on Gu Sui. Shang Shu returned the kiss while greedily inhaling the scent.
The kiss brought a beautiful blush to their cheeks, and they finally released each other, panting.
"Close your eyes." Shang Shu's voice was as soft as snowflakes, her earlobes pink in the candlelight.
In this moment, at this very moment, she spoke in a sweet, delicate voice the words Gu Sui had said to her on the night of their first kiss many years ago.
Gu Sui obediently closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly with her breath.
"No peeking."
"Hmm, I won't look."
Shang Shu took a deep breath, gently took out the ring she had carefully placed on her body while Gu Sui was taking a bath, slowly and gently took Gu Sui's left hand, slightly raised his slender middle finger, carefully pinched the silver ring and placed it on his fingertip, leading it slowly through the pink and white knuckles, finally stopping at the base of his finger.
She knew it suited Gu Sui perfectly.
Meeting Gu Sui's moist eyes, Shang Shu swallowed the snowflakes that had been rising in her throat: "Merry Christmas."
Gu Sui's chest rose and fell gently. The ring wasn't cold at all; it still carried the warmth of the young girl. The style was simple and elegant, and the size was just right.
"These rings were made by my own hands. They're not fancy; I just engraved 'us' inside." Shang Shu stared at the plain white silver ring on Gu Sui's hand and suddenly felt a little shy.
She pursed her lips and continued, "I hope the love between us is pure, unrelated to everything else, just because of you and me."
She didn't spell it out too clearly because she knew Gu Sui would understand.
Shang Shu opened her palm, looked at the other ring in her hand, then raised her head and once again captured the moon in her eyes.
"So, if you think the same way, could you help me put it on too?"
The tiny S&S nestled in the candlelight, casting an even smaller shadow. Gu Sui looked at it without speaking, seemingly understanding something.
She picked up the ring, carefully took Shang Shu's hand, and placed it in her own palm.
Inch by inch, the other silver ring finally reached its destination.
Gu Sui did not let go. She gently stroked Shang Shu's knuckles with her fingertips, then slowly brought them to her lips, lowered her eyes, and reverently placed a kiss on her.
"Ah Shu, Merry Christmas."
The hour and minute hands had already overlapped, and the second hand had finally completed its last few ticks of this cycle, briefly joining the number twelve. Christmas Eve had passed, and now it truly was Christmas.
Perhaps the sense of ritual is so magical for some people. Even if both parties have already tacitly agreed to each other and are already officially recognized as a couple, they will still be very excited when they actually wear the tokens that symbolize their relationship.
In the passionate latter half of the night, they made love again. Shang Shu would intentionally or unintentionally rub her ring against his full breasts, confirming the reality of everything with her lover's reaction over and over again, until Gu Sui intermittently called for a stop, his wrists so soft that he could barely push her away. Only then did Shang Shu stop.
Exhausted, Gu Sui collapsed onto the bed, too weak to even take a bath. Shang Shu smiled as she carefully wiped him down. At first, she could hear Gu Sui talking to her softly, but when she came out of the bathroom, she found that he had fallen asleep. She had no choice but to cover Gu Sui with the blanket and then snuggle into his arms to sleep with him.
In the morning, Shang Shu was woken up by Song Lanye's phone call. Seeing the caller ID, she immediately became more awake and subconsciously glanced at Gu Sui.
Because she moved to the waterfront to live with Gu Sui, she told Song Lanye after returning from the hospital that she should not send her messages about any further business-related matters, but should call her directly.
"What's wrong?" Gu Sui frowned and moved, asking half-asleep.
"It's nothing, I'll take this call from Lan Ye." Shang Shu quickly turned off the ringer, whispered in someone's ear, and got out of bed.
Afraid of disturbing Gu Sui's sleep, Shang Shu didn't dare to move too much. The screen had already turned into a missed call. As soon as she opened the balcony door, her still somewhat groggy head was instantly cleared by the cold wind.
Shang Shu pulled her outer garment tighter and called Song Lan back.
"Lan Ye, is there any news?" Shang Shu asked as soon as the call connected.
During this time, she had Song Lan keep an eye on Shang Wei's situation while secretly investigating Secretary Kong's movements, so she was eager to know news from both sides.
"Chairman Shang is still in the hospital, but the ward is still under tight security, and we can't find out the specifics of his condition for the time being." Song Lan paused and switched the phone to the other ear.
"Secretary Kong's situation is probably a bit tricky. She did go back to her hometown, but our people haven't been able to find her in either place. I just found out the latest news: she's about to take a flight from Macau to Frankfurt, departing at 2 PM tomorrow, so—"
"So, tomorrow at the airport is the last chance to see her." Shang Shu leaned on the railing, her brows furrowed.
After settling back in her hometown, she immediately went abroad, a very typical route. If nothing unexpected happened, she would probably never see Secretary Kong again in Macau, and it would be difficult to find out where he was abroad. However, Shang Shu did not expect it to happen so quickly.
"Yes," Song Lan affirmed.
Shang Shu rubbed her temples, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I will personally go to the airport to wait for you tomorrow."
She wasn't sure if she could catch the person, but she had to make one last effort for this lead.
After hanging up the phone, Shang Shu felt a wave of frustration. She tried to compose herself and stood there for a while before returning to the master bedroom.
Seeing Shang Shu return, Gu Sui, still half asleep, pulled the person sitting by the bed back into the covers. She couldn't sleep soundly after the little girl left.
Touching Shang Shu's somewhat cold hands, Gu Sui frowned deeply, his voice slightly nasal from just waking up: "Why are your hands so cold?"
Shang Shu buried her head in Gu Sui's neck, concealing her expression, and said in a languid voice, "Hmm, then warm me up."
Gu Sui was no longer sleepy. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and took the other person's hand, placing it on his body.
"Just kidding, don't catch a cold." Shang Shu chuckled and withdrew her hand, turning over to lie flat.
Gu Sui looked at Shang Shu's profile: "What did Lan Ye call about?"
"It's nothing, it's just company business. I'll go over tomorrow," Shang Shu blinked, looking at the ceiling, and leaned her head back down. "Lie with me a little longer, I'm so sleepy."
"Mmm." Gu Sui stretched out his arm for the girl to rest her head on, closed his eyes, and gently inhaled the girl's sweet fragrance.
The two of them took a short nap, but Shang Shu woke up first. She had something on her mind and was a bit confused; she hadn't actually slept much.
Shang Shu picked up her phone and swiped around casually. After a while, Lin Lang's Christmas greetings popped up on the screen. She smiled and replied with "Merry Christmas," followed by Lin Lang's sarcastic teasing.
[How's it going, my "newlywed" wife? Haven't been going out much lately, have you?]
Two seconds later, Lin Lang added another message: [Bedroom door.]
Shang Shu couldn't help but laugh, gently shaking her shoulders under the covers as she replied, "Your imagination is still too limited."
Lin Lang instantly replied with a bright yellow heart emoji, and after typing for a while, typed: "As the mistress of the waterfront, you don't even know to invite us over."
"Us?" Shang Shu raised an eyebrow, grasping the key point.
"I just blurted it out." Lin Lang tried to salvage the situation.
Shang Shu sat up slightly, squinting as she typed: [Don't pretend, tell the truth.]
About a minute later, Lin Lang sent a picture. Shang Shu opened it and saw a photo of the living room taken while sitting on the sofa. There were small bottles of wine and desserts on the coffee table, and Mount Fuji could be seen in the distance through the large floor-to-ceiling windows.
They went out to have fun.
Just as Shang Shu was about to continue questioning what this had to do with what she had just asked, a sudden inspiration struck her. She opened the photo again to examine it closely and, sure enough, saw a corner of Gu Xiangyi's figure in the corner of the photo.
[What's going on? Are you two together?] She knew that was the Lin family's house. It was one thing to go abroad with someone, but to bring them all home must mean something was up.
The chat window flashed between showing "typing" and Lin Lang's name at the top, before finally displaying two words: "[Doesn't count.]"
It means yes or no, and what does it mean to not count?
Shang Shu touched her earlobe, unsure of where to begin her question.
The person beside her stirred. Shang Shu turned her head and found Gu Sui staring at her with a smile, not knowing how long he had been watching her.
"Awake?" She leaned down and gave Gu Sui a light kiss on the lips.
"Hmm," Gu Sui also sat up and leaned against the headboard, placing his hand on the other person's waist and gently stroking it, "What are you looking at? Your ears are all red."
Shang Shu bit her lower lip, feeling inexplicably guilty: "Um... Xiangyi went abroad for fun," she added in a low voice, "with Lin Lang."
"oh."
You know?
"have no idea."
Shang Shu was speechless. How could this person be so calm? She locked her phone and tentatively asked, "You... don't you have anything to say?"
Gu Sui brushed her eyelashes twice, then moved her lips and said, "I love you very much."
"Huh?" Shang Shu was taken aback at first, but then she realized what Gu Sui was doing when she saw his faint smile. She gently poked Gu Sui's shoulder. "You don't seem to care at all."
“They are all adults,” Gu Sui said only half a sentence, touched the ring on his hand, and said softly to Shang Shu, “I only care about you.”
Shang Shu leaned closer, resting her forehead against his chest and chuckling softly. Her sweet words swept away the previous annoyance.
Recalling Lin Lang's earlier comment about the mistress of the waterfront, Shang Shu realized that both of her cohabitations had naturally resulted from moving into Gu Sui's house.
She gently played with Gu Sui's fingers: "Why is it that I'm the one living by the water, and you're not coming back to Yijing Bay with me?"
"Do you want to?" Gu Sui was taken aback; she had never thought of this question before.
Shang Shu shook her head. She didn't have any particular attachment to it. The three years she lived in Yijing Bay weren't exactly happy, especially since it was much more waterfront.
She joked, "It's just that I feel like I'm always taking advantage of you."
Gu Sui frowned upon hearing this, clearly disagreeing with the statement.
She straightened up and said somewhat seriously, "I'm the one taking advantage, A-Shu."
Gu Sui suddenly felt a little guilty. Whether in the past or now, Shang Shu had always accommodated her, lived in places she was familiar with, and catered to her lifestyle. She had never said a word of reluctance. But even though she was older, she had always taken it for granted and never considered others.
Seeing that Gu Sui was taking it seriously, Shang Shu quickly smoothed Gu Sui's brow: "Alright, I was just saying it casually."
Gu Sui took that hand, pondered for a moment, and then said seriously, "A-Shu, shall we go pick out a house?"
"Huh?" Shang Shu didn't know how Gu Sui made that connection.
“Let’s choose your preferred location, your preferred apartment type, your preferred decorating style, and your preferred furniture. Let’s pick one that doesn’t belong to the business owners or the Gu family, but only to the two of us, okay?” Gu Sui said earnestly, his eyes burning with determination.
Knowing that Gu Sui wasn't joking, Shang Shu was somewhat moved. Houses were never a rare thing for them; in fact, they had so many that they couldn't possibly live in them all.
But she understood that Gu Sui wasn't talking about a house, but a "home," the home she had longed for in her heart, a home that belonged only to them.
She gently pinched Gu Sui's hand and laughed, "If that's the case, how many buildings are left in the entire Macau?"
Gu Sui hesitated for a moment, then her eyebrows curved into a smile.
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