Su Yirao quietly looked at her, not retracting her outstretched hand. She responded with equal seriousness, "I can do it myself. Give it to me."
Guan Qingtong hesitated for a moment but, seeing Su Yirao's insistence, she didn't argue further. She handed over the disinfectant and burn ointment, then stepped out of the curtain to give Su Yirao privacy.
"Does it hurt?"
Su Yirao unbuttoned her white chiffon blouse, revealing her delicate skin around her collarbone, which had turned a deep red. She gently sprayed the burn area with disinfectant.
"It's manageable."
In truth, it hurt a lot. But sometimes, playing the victim requires enduring pain.
"That man didn't even apologize in the end. Such a shame," Guan Qingtong said indignantly.
Su Yirao paused in her movements with the cotton swab and asked, "What made you rush in like that? Weren't you afraid?"
"Of course I was scared, but... when he hurt you, I got so angry. I just felt like..."
Guan Qingtong's voice grew softer. "Sister, I didn't really think it through. I just knew that you're someone important to me, and I had to protect you."
Su Yirao chuckled softly at that. "I'm not your benefactor. If you trust me so much, aren't you afraid I might turn against you someday?"
"Why would you do that? We have no enmity between us. Why would you hurt me?"
"That's not a given. I'm quite a schemer, you know," Su Yirao said lightly. "I'm someone who's willing to hurt even myself. Hurting you would be no big deal."
A brief silence fell outside the curtain.
It lasted until Su Yirao finished applying the ointment and started to feel a bit bored. Then Guan Qingtong spoke again.
"Eleven o'clock. Something was bound to happen at the café. Sister, was that your plan?"
Su Yirao replied, "Not too slow, I see. Yes, this was the backup plan I agreed on with Zhou Huiying."
"The original plan was to use this incident to gain sympathy online, then have some food bloggers visit and make our café a hotspot with a story. Although things played out a bit differently, the result is about the same. Now, the video of our unfortunate encounter with that troublemaker is probably starting to gain traction online."
Guan Qingtong was silent for a long time.
"Sister, doesn't it hurt?"
Su Yirao, who was cleaning up the burn ointment, paused briefly before smiling. "I thought you'd say I'm scheming and scary."
"Marketing stunts happen all the time. If you don't do it, someone else will. Besides, you hurt yourself, not anyone else. I don't find it scary—if anything, it makes me feel sorry for you."
As soon as Guan Qingtong finished speaking, Su Yirao pulled back the curtain and stood before her with a calm expression.
"Guan Qingtong, it's a pity."
"Pity? What's a pity?" Guan Qingtong asked, confused.
Pity that you and I are destined to be at odds. Otherwise, we could've been friends.
"It's nothing," Su Yirao quickly changed the topic. "Do you usually stay here?"
Su Yirao glanced at the neatly folded clothes on the bed beside her.
"Ah, you noticed," Guan Qingtong said sheepishly. "We had to give up our rented place to cover my mom's medical expenses. But Zhou Huiying is a great boss—since the café is close to the hospital, she lets me take time off to care for my mom. And I don't need to hire a nurse since I'm here at night."
"Xiao Lin..." Su Yirao murmured thoughtfully. "She's been looking for a place to stay recently, hasn't she?"
"Xiao Lin? Yeah, I think so," Guan Qingtong replied, a bit puzzled.
She didn't understand why Su Yirao addressed Lin Youqi affectionately as "Xiao Lin" while always using her full name, Guan Qingtong. They both did similar work, yet it seemed like her efforts were often overlooked by Su Yirao, while Lin Youqi received praise multiple times a day.
Not only Lin Youqi, but other café employees also said that Sister Su was a supportive and encouraging leader. But Guan Qingtong felt she had never been genuinely praised by Su Yirao.
Su Yirao mused, "I've been thinking—aren't you all recent graduates? You're all probably struggling to find a place to stay, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," Guan Qingtong agreed, thinking of her coworkers, including Lin Youqi. Unlike her, though, they all needed to find housing.
"I see," Su Yirao nodded, as if coming to a decision.
Guan Qingtong opened her mouth, feeling a pang of disappointment since Su Yirao had mentioned Xiao Lin. But she didn't dare ask what was on Su Yirao's mind.
...
"Qi Yu" café—anticipating your arrival.
Anticipating the unexpected meeting with someone special, anticipating the serendipitous stories to unfold here...
As part of Su Yirao's strategy to make the café go viral, this slogan spread across various video apps. Once the food bloggers posted about their visit, more and more people came to check out the café.
A week passed since "Qi Yu" café's opening, and the staff had worked tirelessly during this time.
With business off to a good start, Zhou Huiying and Su Yirao, as the approachable bosses, decided to organize a team-building event to reward their hardworking staff.
During the dinner party at the hotel, followed by a night of fun at the city's most famous karaoke bar, Zhou Huiying, beer in hand, announced an exciting new benefit: "Qi Yu" would be providing employee housing. The news caused the young female employees, fresh out of school, to squeal with excitement.
Guan Qingtong was happy too, but then she heard Su Yirao's voice.
"Xiao Lin, since you and Guan Qingtong are about the same age, it would be nice for you two girls to room together. That way, you won't have to go through the hassle of renting a place," Su Yirao suggested.
"Wow, wow, wow! It's like you and Sister Ying can read my mind!" Lin Youqi squealed, throwing her arms around Su Yirao. "You're both amazing!"
Su Yirao gently pushed Lin Youqi away with a smile. "Okay, enough. I appreciate the gratitude, but no hugs—it's too hot for that."
They could joke and laugh together.
Guan Qingtong wanted to get closer to Su Yirao too, but it always seemed like Su Yirao was deliberately keeping her at a distance...
This feeling had been growing ever since the café was about to open.
Now, it was something she could no longer ignore.
Sometimes, she envied Xiao Lin's ability to interact with Sister Su so freely.
Guan Qingtong glanced at the dice on the table, then took a couple of sips of her drink before picking up the dice cup with a playful smile.
"Since we have so many people here, why don't we play a game of Truth or Dare? Whoever rolls the highest number gets to choose someone to either answer a question truthfully or complete a dare."
Everyone, being young and free of other commitments, eagerly agreed with laughter.
Zhou Huiying joked, "Qingtong, this is a different twist on the usual rules! Are you secretly a dice-rolling expert, hoping to settle some scores?"
Guan Qingtong's hand paused mid-air, feeling a bit exposed. Thankfully, everyone else just laughed it off as another one of Zhou Huiying's jokes.
In the dim light of the karaoke room, surrounded by music and laughter, a spot was cleared on the table for the dice cup.
Guan Qingtong didn't want to appear too eager, so she played it safe for the first few rounds.
Meanwhile, the popular Su Yirao and Zhou Huiying kept getting picked to do silly dares or answer funny questions, like doing goofy faces, squatting in place, or even being asked about the possibility of a raise.
The atmosphere was lively and fun, but after hearing Lin Youqi gossip about Su Yirao's love life, Guan Qingtong couldn't stay still any longer.
Heart pounding, she applied the dice-rolling tricks her gambling father had taught her, silently praying for the highest roll.
Then, she waited, anticipation growing as she prepared to reveal the dice.