Chapter 20 The Pendant "I like you, so what?"...
It was nearly dusk when they left the Supermarket Management Bureau. After dinner, Tu Nan, a typical office worker, had to go to work at 9 a.m. the next day, so she said goodbye to her colleagues with regret. Shu Qing and Qi Yun, who didn't care about weekdays or weekends, took the auspicious bird back to the photo studio, ordered tea, and continued chatting about the studio.
“I’ll find someone to renovate the photo studio,” Qi Yun pointed at the floor plan. “We don’t need the dressing room anymore. We can create several photo studios with different styles. We can keep Facai at the front desk. We can open up this meeting room and the prop room next door and turn them into a lounge for everyone, and build a comfortable play area for the little monsters.”
Shuqing was looking for suitable decorations for the playground on a shopping app, muttering to herself and pointing at a climbing trellis covered with plants, jumping around excitedly.
She added the climbing frame to her shopping cart, stared at Niannian for a while, and said with certainty, "Niannian's reaction is much faster than before."
Qi Yun nodded in deep agreement.
Shu Qing thought back for a moment—needless to say, her first two videos were still viral, even if they were controversial. After the situation was clarified, Nian Nian's situation improved significantly. Yesterday, she uploaded another video of Xiao Hong and Nian Nian's daily life. The data wasn't as good as her carefully crafted videos, but everyday videos still have an audience, and the response was still good.
Looking at Niannian today, she hardly seems slow at all, which shows that her "golden touch" is indeed effective.
In that case... could she also try her luck and make a fortune through kidnapping?
Shu Qing found some paper and pen and started doodling. Qi Yun sat down to watch, and after a couple of glances, he understood and asked, "For the next video, do you want to film yourself getting rich?"
"Hmm." Shu Qing drew a few strokes, but felt it wasn't good, so she tore it up. "I feel that the antagonistic relationship between Xiao Hong and Fa Cai is something we can use as a joke, but I'm worried that Fa Cai might be scared."
Qi Yun wanted to touch the little snake demon clinging to Shu Qing, but didn't dare. He could only ask, "Why does Xiao Hong seem to be sleeping the whole time?"
Except for waking up at dinner time to eat a little something, it seemed to sleep all day, being unusually well-behaved.
"It's alright, it's been like this for the past two days. I asked Jiu Su, and it's just tired." Shu Qing lowered her head and gently stroked the little snake's head, her voice becoming much softer without her noticing. "Last time I was sick, it was quite frightened. Let it rest well these next few days."
Qi Yun nodded understandingly. Afraid of disturbing Shu Qing's work by sitting there, she took Niannian to another table and began to write a plan to attract investment. Although she was a rich second-generation, if she really wanted to start a business and attract investment from her family, she had to write a decent PowerPoint presentation.
Shu Qing chewed on her pen, feeling dissatisfied with her drawings no matter how she tried. She tore up each page as she drew, her mind racing with frustration. Finally, she resigned herself to her fate and unlocked her phone.
“We found a lucky bird today,” she typed to Jiu Su. “We want to film a video of it, but we don’t have much information from the Supermarket Management Bureau. We only know that it has five-colored feathers and can bring good fortune… Is there any other information?”
After sending it, she felt that removing the title "senior" made it seem too cold and stiff, so she also picked a "snake acting cute" emoji and sent it along with it—this was a set of emojis she specially made using Xiao Hong as material, which she gave to her fans as a treat, with the excuse of "thank you all for your support and trust in the Jin Yao Yao incident."
The truth is, she just wanted to show off her snake cubs to everyone.
Since she couldn't paint today, Shuqing simply said goodbye and went home, planning to wait until she received Jiusu's reply tomorrow before trying again.
To her surprise, the next day, instead of receiving a reply from Jiu Su, Jiu Su herself showed up at her door and politely knocked.
He was still the same as before, always dressed in white from head to toe, as if getting even a little more color would bind him to the mortal world, from which he could never escape.
This time it was even worse than the last time we met. Last time at least she had red lips and white teeth, but this time her lips were so white they were almost transparent, like a ghost about to be annihilated.
So much so that when Shu Qing opened the door, she was stunned, and the first thing she instinctively asked was, "Are you alright?"
Jiu Su shook her head.
Shu Qing pulled him: "Then come in and sit down quickly. Don't stand in the hallway and let the draft blow on you."
"It's inconvenient," Jiu Su refused. "I only have a few words to say, and I'll leave after that."
One sentence made Shu Qing both angry and amused—when she was sick and bedridden, he came to her house to cook for her, and she didn't find it inconvenient then. Now that they're more or less familiar, and she's healthy and well-dressed, he suddenly thinks it's inconvenient?
What's wrong? He had a clear conscience before, but now he feels guilty?
Jiu Su handed her a small pendant. It looked like a teardrop-shaped, translucent white jade, crystal clear, smooth and pure, containing a dazzling red droplet with winding red threads, which was quite beautiful.
The moment Shu Qing saw it, she inexplicably thought of Xiao Hong.
She was quite puzzled: if this exquisite and beautiful pendant were given to her in a suitable gift box, it would definitely be a gift from a man to a woman, expressing his affection.
But Jiu Su was handed to her so casually, like a colleague passing a pen or a USB drive, without even a chain to hang it on. She could only stare at Jiu Su, unsure of what he was trying to say.
“Remember to carry it with you at all times,” Jiu Su said calmly. “Your ‘golden finger’ isn’t all good and bad, and you should already be aware of that.”
Shu Qing's eyebrows twitched. She had never mentioned the golden finger to Jiu Su before.
She had mentioned it to Tu Nan once, but Tu Nan didn't believe her, so she never told anyone else.
How did he know that, or did he figure it out himself?
But the most pressing matter wasn't investigating Jiu Su's source of information. Shu Qing asked, "You said I was sick last time because...?"
Jiu Su nodded.
"So this thing," Shu Qing held the pendant in her hand and examined it repeatedly, "can it ward off the bad things for me?"
“Yes,” Jiu Su added, “but it’s not permanent. Once it turns cloudy and grayish-black, you can no longer wear it and should throw it away as soon as possible. I will get you a new one.”
Shu Qing silently clutched it in her hand, remaining silent for a long time. Seeing Jiu Su nod at her and turn to leave, she called out to him, "Wait a minute."
She simply went inside, grabbed the key card, closed the door behind her, and led Jiu Su to the common lounge area of Jiajia Apartment. She asked him to sit down, poured him two glasses of water, and adopted a posture as if she had a lot to say.
"Thank you," Shu Qing said with a smile. "I'm a thick-skinned person, and it's not a big deal for me to owe others a little favor, but I seem to owe you a bit too much."
There wasn't a trace of color left on Jiu Su's face.
Shu Qing quickly added, "Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean we shouldn't keep in touch... I mean, I feel a little uneasy and want to do something to repay you."
Jiu Su listened in silence.
"Most people, they only care about a few things: power, wealth, fame, sex, oh, and maybe emotional value." Shu Qing held up her fist to Jiu Su, said one thing, then extended one finger and waved her palm in front of him.
“Power… I’ll skip that one, I don’t have any.” She listed them off one by one. “Wealth and fame, maybe I can offer a little, but I think if you were after that, you would have already laid it out to me and signed a contract, so it probably isn’t you.”
"There's nothing I can do but assume you're interested in me, and what you want is my looks and emotional value." Shu Qing said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand. "Perfect, I'm single, and I find you very pleasing to the eye. We can just be open about it."
"I'm pretty busy, and I see you're pretty busy too. Why don't we just be straightforward with each other? There's no need to drag this out for so long, is there?"
Jiu Su's throat bobbed as she stared intently at her. When she smiled, her eyes curved like two fluffy hooks, hooking into her heart year after year, unforgettable every day.
If it weren't for the deeper wounds he had suffered, he probably would have been lured in willingly and captured by her.
He gazed at her for a moment, then finally lowered his eyes and refused, saying, "I already made myself clear last time."
Shu Qing was already mentally prepared for this. She withdrew her hand, rested her chin on her hand, stared at Jiu Su, and asked him in return, "So what exactly do you want?"
Jiu Su's lips twitched slightly, but she remained silent in the end—"Can't I just not want anything?" It would be too fake to say that, and he knew he couldn't convince anyone.
"If you don't tell me, I'll be very worried. What is it that you want that I can't give up?" Shu Qing said expressionlessly, "For example, Xiao Hong."
She pressed on, "There are quite a few people and monsters hiding from Xiao Hong. But so far, you're the only one Xiao Hong is hiding from. I don't understand why."
"Is it strange that monsters are avoiding me?" Jiu Su replied coldly. "Don't worry, I have no interest in your Little Red."
Shu Qing extracted some information from the first half of his sentence, and a whole bunch of guesses came to mind. She forcibly suppressed and cleared her mind, propping her chin up and waiting for Jiu Su to continue.
She was forcing a smile, trying her best to suppress it, but the smile still shone through her eyes. Her eyes were bright as morning stars as she stared at Jiu Su with anticipation.
Jiu Su understood in an instant that she was trying to trick him into revealing information—she had never suspected him of having ulterior motives; she was just deliberately provoking him to make him admit whether he liked her or not.
Not only that, she also logically and methodically eliminated all the options, leaving him no room for denial...
What a cunning girl.
“Yes, just as you thought,” Jiu Su lifted her eyelashes, her sharp gaze meeting hers, “but so what?”
A note from the author:
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1. "Give it a boost": A gaming term meaning to provide a temporary assistance or enhancement.
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