The Way of Chen Qin

"Who are you?" Ye Shuang appeared beside the man, gripping his wrist and yanking him up.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing?!"

Ye Shuang didn’t respond. Perhaps due to the commotion, a patrolling security guard approached to check on the situation. After learning that Chen Qin had been harassed and touched inappropriately, they escorted the man away.

"I—I just grabbed her arm on reflex, I didn’t do anything!"

Chen Qin, spotting Ye Shuang, immediately put on a pitiful expression and pointed at her wrist. "It hurts… Ye Shuang, rub it for me…"

"You never cried about pain when we used to fight as kids," Ye Shuang said. "And why did you just call me 'husband'?"

"Emergency situation," Chen Qin replied, taking off her sunglasses and blinking her starry eyes. "You recognized me even with these on?"

"I don’t know. I just had a feeling it was you." Ye Shuang wasn’t lying—they’d grown up together, and he could always tell it was her at a glance. Maybe it was also her flashy, high-end outfit.

She had that rich-girl aura, standing out like a crane among chickens.

"Hmm—" At this point, Chen Qin finally noticed Bai Yuyou beside Ye Shuang. Well, she’d actually noticed earlier but had tried to convince herself she was seeing things.

Bai Yuyou stood there quietly, just holding onto the hem of Ye Shuang’s shirt.

"You brought a girl along to pick me up?" Chen Qin gave Ye Shuang a pointed look. "That’s a bit much, don’t you think?"

"You messaged me while Yuyou and I were about to go shopping," Ye Shuang explained.

"What were you buying?" Chen Qin asked.

"Uh…" Ye Shuang thought for a moment. "Clothes."

"Underwear," Bai Yuyou added softly.

The air grew still.

"Oh. So I interrupted your date," Chen Qin said coldly before turning on her heel and walking away.

Ye Shuang watched her retreating figure, counting silently in his head. "Three… two… one…"

Sure enough, Chen Qin suddenly stopped, glanced back tentatively, and when she saw Ye Shuang still standing there—watching her with an amused smile—she bit her lip, stomped her high heel, and marched back.

"You heartless man. You didn’t even chase after me."

"Why would I chase you if you’re not actually mad?" Ye Shuang said.

He knew Chen Qin too well—he could always tell when she was genuinely upset and when she was faking it.

Chen Qin suddenly decided that Ye Shuang being this perceptive wasn’t entirely a good thing. She crossed her arms. "Buy me lunch, and I’ll forgive you."

"Sure thing, Miss Chen," Ye Shuang chuckled.

Since it was nearly lunchtime, Ye Shuang drove the two to a nearby restaurant.

On the way, Chen Qin sat in the passenger seat, chattering about recent events—not because Ye Shuang had asked her to, but because she’d naturally claimed the spot, leaving Bai Yuyou to sit in the back.

Ye Shuang drove, occasionally responding to Chen Qin’s chatter.

Meanwhile, Bai Yuyou, sitting in the back, realized this scene felt familiar. Yes… back when they’d driven home from school, it had been like this too—except then, she’d been the one in the passenger seat.

She wanted to join the conversation but couldn’t follow much of it. Their talk was peppered with foreign phrases, Cantonese, and topics she didn’t understand.

The feeling reminded her of something.

In the classroom, she’d often sat in the corner, eavesdropping on classmates discussing things she couldn’t grasp. Unable to contribute, she’d felt like an outsider in their world.

Just then, Chen Qin flipped down the passenger-side vanity mirror.

She’d meant to check if her makeup needed touching up, but instead, she caught sight of Bai Yuyou in the reflection—head bowed, fingers fidgeting absently, long hair spilling over the seat, her whole demeanor quiet and distant.

Chen Qin reapplied her lipstick, then turned to Ye Shuang. "Ye Shuang, let’s go underwear shopping together later."

Ye Shuang blinked.

"What’s with that look?" Chen Qin smirked. "Or would you prefer to take her shopping for underwear yourself?"

Ye Shuang sighed. He hadn’t even considered that, but if Chen Qin was willing to help Bai Yuyou pick something out, that’d be ideal.

At a red light, Ye Shuang glanced back. "Yuyou, how about Chen Qin goes underwear shopping with you later?"

Bai Yuyou, snapped out of her daze, looked up and nodded.

"Okay."

"Where are we eating?" Chen Qin asked. "Just so you know, I’m not eating any mushy curry paste or whatever."

"Just a regular restaurant. The food’s fine," Ye Shuang said, though he hadn’t put much thought into the choice.

Chen Qin turned to Bai Yuyou. "What do you like to eat?"

Bai Yuyou answered without thinking. "Ye Shuang’s cooking."

"Then I want that too," Chen Qin declared, swiveling back to Ye Shuang. "I haven’t had it in ages."

Ye Shuang: "…"

"If we go grocery shopping now and cook, it’ll be too late to go shopping afterward… and don’t you have an evening flight?"

"I don’t care. I want it. You two can go underwear shopping at night instead."

Ye Shuang: "?"

Since when was it just the two of them?

"Yuyou, what do you think?" Ye Shuang asked.

Bai Yuyou whispered, "I want to eat."

Of course—she was a foodie at heart.

But what Ye Shuang didn’t realize was that Chen Qin, in her own way, had drawn Bai Yuyou into the conversation, pulling her out of the quiet isolation she’d been in moments ago.

Chen Qin knew what Bai Yuyou had been through and was looking out for her in her own style.

Soon, Ye Shuang detoured to a market for groceries.

After parking in the neighborhood, Chen Qin stepped out and eyed the rundown complex. "Does this place even have an elevator?"

"Nope," Ye Shuang said. "If you can’t handle the stairs—"

"You’ll carry me?"

"No, I was going to say you could wait in the car."

Chen Qin pouted. "I can climb."

Back at the apartment, Ye Shuang started washing rice for the rice cooker while Bai Yuyou helped prep ingredients.

As for Chen Qin? Her culinary skills began and ended at cooking rice—and with her illustrious history of setting three pots on fire, Ye Shuang firmly directed her to the living room couch.

"Where does Ye Shuang sleep?" Chen Qin mused aloud, scanning the room until her gaze landed on a bedroom door.

"Ye Shuang, I’m going to check out your room."

"Sure," Ye Shuang replied absently while chopping vegetables—then froze.

Because…

He and Bai Yuyou shared a bed.