Between them, it was just a simple employment relationship.
Su Ziyan had warned himself of this more than once, just to make himself recognize the nature of their relationship.
After all, she was his boss, no matter how you looked at it.
He should be mindful of the sense of boundaries between them.
When did his strict defenses first begin to crack?
Probably that time they went out together.
Xia Zhi crossed the street dangerously just to buy him a bouquet of flowers.
He had chased after her, scolding her harshly out of concern, but instead of getting upset, she cheerfully apologized.
“I’m really happy that you care about me this much,” she said.
From that moment on, the boundary Su Ziyan had carefully maintained between them came crashing down.
He no longer saw her as just his boss.
Until the year he finished his sophomore year and started his junior year.
Xia Zhi, who had gradually become busier, found time to meet him.
She earnestly told him she no longer needed someone to take care of her, so they should end their relationship.
When Su Ziyan heard her words, his emotions scattered like a palette knocked over by a cat, all kinds of complex colors mixed together until he couldn’t tell them apart.
In the end, he just smiled and said, “Congratulations.”
That was their last exchange.
Back in his dorm, Su Ziyan found himself sleepless for once.
He thought he should feel relieved and happy for her, but there was an inexplicable sense of loss in his heart.
It felt like a dog he had raised since it was a puppy had suddenly run away one day and never came back.
But when he thought about it, maybe it wasn’t a bad thing, right?
After all, he genuinely considered her a friend.
This employment relationship had always been a barrier between them, wasn’t it?
Friendship shouldn’t be tainted by the stench of money or unequal relationships.
Only then could it be pure.
Thinking like that, once those ties were gone, they could have the purest friendship.
After mulling it over for a long time, Su Ziyan had an epiphany.
Ignoring how late it was, he pulled out his phone and started typing a message: “By the way, we never celebrated your full recovery. Got any free time soon? Let me take you out to eat.”
But the message didn’t send.
In its place was a red exclamation mark, with a line of small text below: “Your message has been rejected. You are not yet on this user’s friend list.”
The moment he saw the screen, all those tangled emotions vanished without a trace.
He finally calmed down.
It was fine.
At least he could get a good night’s sleep now.
***
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Shi Lingge’s voice snapped Su Ziyan out of his memories.
“What’s wrong? Finally remember who my Young Lady is?”
“Ah… there is indeed a person named Xia Zhi among the people I’ve known,” Su Ziyan said.
“But it’s been years since we last contacted each other. I don’t recall anything in my memory that would make her hate me this much.”
“I’m wondering if I misremembered something, or if the person in question isn’t the Xia Zhi I knew.”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
Shi Lingge paused, then replied, “You’ll have to settle things with the Young Lady yourself when the time comes.”
“You’re right.”
Su Ziyan nodded.
“When I get the chance, I’ll ask her what exactly is going on.”
Looking back, things had ended very abruptly back then, like a story cut off halfway.
If she really was that Xia Zhi…
Clearing things up would at least give their bond a proper conclusion.
Su Ziyan pushed aside his doubts and asked, “By the way, did your Young Lady ever tell you about what happened between us?”
“She never said a thing.”
Shi Lingge shook her head.
“I only found out a few days ago that the Young Lady had an enemy like you, and ordered you to be brought back.”
“But is she really an enemy? I don’t think so…” Shi Lingge’s voice paused, then continued, “Anyway, I don’t know the details of your relationship. You’ll have to sort it out yourselves, but…”
“If possible, I hope you can help or look after the Young Lady. After all, she’s the life-saver of your little sister.”
“Heh, so that’s what you were getting at.”
Su Ziyan was taken aback, then said with a headache, “Given the current situation, forget about me taking care of her. If she doesn’t put a dog chain on me and make me bark, I’d consider myself lucky.”
“I still have faith in you. I mean, you tricked me into being your little sister with just a few words, didn’t you?”
Shi Lingge covered her mouth with a light laugh.
“Besides, the Young Lady is actually very easy to handle!”
“I certainly can’t see that.”
“Really! Why would I lie to you?”
Shi Lingge couldn’t hide her smile anymore and continued, “I mean, the worst thing she could think of is stopping her enemy from committing suicide, tying them up, and bringing them home to offer good food and drink. How hard can she be to handle?”
Su Ziyan raised an eyebrow at her laughter, thinking, ‘She conveniently left out the part where your Young Lady made me act like a dog, lick her foot, and bark.’
The two chatted idly as they went to eat breakfast.
Afterward, Shi Lingge took Su Ziyan by the hand and led him to the garden for a stroll to get some fresh air.
It was a beautiful sunny day with a gentle breeze.
They walked side by side, exchanging casual words now and then, like a pair of real siblings.
As they talked, Su Ziyan suddenly recalled the question Xia Zhi had asked him the night before.
“What do you think love is? And what is hate?”
Shi Lingge was caught off guard by the sudden question.
After a moment’s thought, she replied, “My answer is the same as yours, Brother. I don’t have anyone I truly hate, so I can’t say about hate. But love is indeed a curse.”
Su Ziyan looked at her curiously, wondering why she too thought love was a curse.
Shi Lingge understood his questioning gaze and continued:
“Because love is something incredibly beautiful—so beautiful that it makes a person see everything about the other as perfect, so beautiful that it makes the one who loves feel inferior.”
“Just like a mouse afraid of the light.”
Su Ziyan fell silent.
Shi Lingge was right.
It was precisely because of love that he had become so insecure.
Maybe Xu Duyan was the same?
He suddenly felt he couldn’t see through his elder sister.
But as expected, love really was a curse.
“So you see, love is a curse after all!”
Shi Lingge said, reaching up to touch her left cheek, covered in scars, and suddenly laughed.
“But even so, I still want to love.”