Shen NingXin actually heard of the ghost story Qiu YiBai was telling a long time ago.
It was kind of cliche, where you could basically guess the plot development, but to cooperate with her, Shen NingXin didn’t say anything and simply listened along.
When Qiu YiBai finished the last sentence, Shen NingXin hurriedly nodded and said, “It’s so scary.”
She guessed that this was Qiu YiBai’s intention.
It had to be to try and scare her, otherwise why would she be telling a ghost story at night.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai’s voice came from over the “fortress”.
Her tone was different from the dark and gloomy one she had when telling the story and instead, it held a sense of pride and ridicule.
“Is it that scary?” she said, “Shen NingXin, you’re already so old and you’re still afraid of ghosts ah.”
I gave you a rope and you really started to climb1.
Shen NingXin didn’t want to argue with her, so she went along with her words and nodded, admitting, “Yeah, it scared me to death.”
Such a simple sentence would probably satisfy her for a while.
She sighed internally, thinking about how it was like she was coaxing a child. Shen NingXin yawned and hugged her doll even more tightly. “President Qiu, since you finished the story, I’ll be going to sleep then.”
“Aren’t you scared, though?” Qiu YiBai paused after she heard her words. “You’re still able to fall asleep?”
“It’s alright.” Shen NingXin nodded. “President Qiu, if you need anything, tell me . . .”
After speaking, soon there was no voice.
After some moments, Qiu YiBai slightly propped herself up to look in her direction. When she saw that this person was sleeping so soundly, she retracted her gaze, a little unhappy.
With a cold “Hmph”, she tucked in her feet that were outside the blanket, then turned over to get ready to sleep, too.
“. . . . . .”
Shen NingXin suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.
The dishes last night were a bit salty, so she drank a lot of water before going to bed out of thirst, and now she wanted to use the bathroom.
The person beside her was making no movements, probably sleeping soundly right now.
Shen NingXin was afraid of waking her up, so she didn’t open the lights and simply got up and began to walk in the dark with her phone in her hand.
But halfway through, she suddenly tripped on something.
She then remembered that both of their suitcases were placed around this area.
Sighing helplessly, Shen NingXin had no choice but to silently increase her phone’s brightness to use it as a source of light.
She actually walked for quite a bit. By now, she was on the side where Qiu YiBai was sleeping, getting closer to the bathroom.
Victory was in sight!
She let out a long breath of relief. Just as she was about to raise her foot to take another step, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Qiu YiBai jerk on the bed.
Qiu YiBai seemed to be frightened by her and immediately sat up straight to open the light, fear evident on her face.
Shen NingXin was also frightened by her, quickly opening her mouth to explain, “President Qiu, it’s me!”
“Oh . . .” After a moment, Qiu YiBai finally answered, then asked her in a low voice, “Shen NingXin, what are you doing not sleeping at night?!”
There was dissatisfaction in her tone.
Shen NingXin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I was just going to the bathroom.”
“How about you, President Qiu, you haven’t fallen asleep yet?”
As soon as her voice fell, Qiu YiBai was silent for a few seconds before she reluctantly squeezed out a lie from her mouth, “I fell asleep long ago, but there was a bug that hopped on me just now and woke me up.”
In order words, I wasn’t frightened by you.
And it wasn’t because I was too scared to sleep after that ghost story.
Seriously.
Shen NingXin sighed and didn’t expose her. She then nodded and quickly went to the bathroom.
Afterward, she hurriedly came back and laid on the bed again, then gently created a small gap in the fortress.
She moved closer and looked at Qiu YiBai on the other side, softly telling her, “President Qiu, if there are any problems, tell me.”
“I’m always here.”
So . . . don’t be afraid.
How ambiguous her words were.
It was midnight, the surrounding area surprisingly quiet. She could even clearly hear the sound of Shen NingXin’s breathing in her ears, not to mention her gentle and genuine words.
Like a firework, they exploded in the bottom of her heart, causing the surrounding air to gradually become hotter and hotter.
Qiu YiBai’s ears reddened inadvertently.
Thankfully, the darkness was a barrier, so she didn’t lose her face in front of this person.
“Okay, okay, I know.” After a moment, she responded with a blush. To cover up her embarrassment, her tone inevitably became stronger as she said, “Go to sleep now.”
“Alrighty.” Noticing her shyness, a smile grew in Shen NingXin’s eyes.
“Then I’ll go to sleep now hah,” she added, “Goodnight, President Qiu.”
“En, goodnight.” Qiu YiBai nodded, then subconsciously raised her hand to cover up the small gap.
Halfway through fixing it, she suddenly thought of something and didn’t continue anymore.
Oh well, just keep like that.
It’s not bad.
—
The night was long.
What happened just now was a small thing, and Shen NingXin didn’t care too much about it, quickly falling asleep again.
After that, for some reason . . . she had that dream again.
In her dream, there was a river.
The river was cold and smelled revolting, like a snake flicking its tongue as it wrapped around her body, slowly tightening, blocking her breathing and vision.
The only thing left was her hearing.
The only thing she could hear was the sound of the raging river and the laugher of that group of people.
The laughter sounded unpleasant, as though about to pierce her eardrums when it reached her ears. It was also like an invisible large hand, pushing her in the dream so that she continuously sank and fell.
She couldn’t call for help and was about to die.
Shen NingXin couldn’t stop trembling in her dream, and her thoughts were on a rampage.
She wanted to grab onto something yet couldn’t grab onto anything.
When she finally caught something, it was too small.
Shen NingXin gave up the struggle and allowed herself to fall indefinitely in the river, letting the cold gradually engulf her.
Mocking herself, she thought that perhaps she might even die in this dream today.
As she thought, with a move of a finger, she suddenly felt something.
She was taken aback for a moment, then her desire to survive became stronger again, so she subconsciously clasped onto it.
This time, she finally received a response.
It was a hand. She didn’t know who’s hand, but it was warm and powerful, forcefully pulling her up, leading her to break free from this inescapable nightmare.
When she arrived onshore, the sky had already brightened.
Sunshine gradually shone through, bringing along warm air and a pleasant smell.
Shen NingXin slowly opened her eyes.
The doll in her arms had been deformed from her squeezing and was currently lying beside her, as though reminding her how terrifying the dream was.
When she turned her head, she still saw the tall fortress that had been laid by Qiu YiBai.
Everything was no different from before she went to bed.
The only change was that Qiu YiBai reached out through the small gap and was holding her hand tightly.
“. . . . . .”
—
After roughly having breakfast, everyone got on the bus in order, ready to go to the next location.
Shen NingXin didn’t sleep well last night, yawing subconsciously right as she sat down.
Turning her head, she discovered that Qiu YiBai was also yawning.
Shen NingXin was taken aback when she saw this, and an apology grew in her heart.
She was the reason why Qiu YiBai couldn’t sleep well last night.
For this trip, she purposely brought the doll she typically held onto. She thought that she wouldn’t have any more nightmares, but unexpectedly, the nightmare came on schedule.
Perhaps she was too noisy while sleeping and disturbed Qiu YiBai, so when morning came, she discovered this person held her hand at some point.
Based on Qiu YiBai’s expression, she probably woke up a while ago. Upon seeing Shen NingXin get up, Qiu YiBai subconsciously complained angrily, saying, Shen NingXin, why do you move around so much when sleeping.
It was blue under her eyes, obvious that she didn’t sleep well.
Shen NingXin was about to die of guilt.
Not knowing what Qiu YiBai may have heard last night, she hurriedly asked this person when washing up.
But she wasn’t successful. This person was probably so angry at her that she refused to disclose a single word.
Shen NingXin had to give up and quickly apologized several times in a row, finally managing to coax her.
There weren’t many places they were going to today. They were basically going to visit a few scenic spots then check out the souvenir spot to buy something, and the trip was more or less over after that.
Since she didn’t sleep well last night, Shen NingXin wasn’t very energetic when playing today, and the same was for Qiu YiBai.
She couldn’t help but sigh when she saw this. She felt guilty in her heart, so she decided that she’d secretly buy something for Qiu YiBai at the souvenir shop.
Finally, it came to that time.
Because it was in the grassland, the souvenir shop typically sold things like milk tablets, milk tea, beef jerky, and so on. Shen NingXin placed things inside her cart as she walked around and unknowingly ended up with a lot at the end.
At the checkout, she purposely divided the items into two bags, preparing to give one to Qiu YiBai as a gift on the bus.
Thinking of this, she subconsciously raised her head and looked at Qiu YiBai in the near distance.
She then found that she had also finished shopping and was about to check out.
Shen NingXin stood on her toes, wanting to see what exactly this person bought and if there were any duplicates.
But when she looked, she discovered that there was nothing in front of Qiu YiBai.
It seemed like she was holding something in her hand, but Shen NingXin couldn’t make out what it was since she was holding onto it too tightly.
But as long as there were no duplicates, it’s fine.
Shen NingXin nodded, then retracted her gaze.
A few minutes later, everyone gathered in front of the bus, and it soon started again, setting off for the way home.
Everyone’s homes were scattered around in various communities, making it unrealistic to send everybody back one by one, so in the end, they decided to return to the company first, and if anybody wanted to go down along the way, they could.
The bus stopped and started repeatedly before finally reaching the destination.
As soon as Shen NingXin exited with her small bag on her back, she immediately saw how there were a lot of people waiting to pick her coworkers up. Even if there weren’t anybody, they still had cars, and after they seated their children inside, they quickly disappeared into the distance.
Only she had nothing.
Seeing that the bus was almost out of sight at this moment, Shen NingXin said goodbye to her colleagues and turned to catch the bus.
Before she could make a move, Qiu YiBai suddenly came to her side.
Unlike normal, her tone was peaceful as she asked, “Shen NingXin, how do you plan on going back?”
“I’ll be taking the bus,” Shen NingXin said.
As soon as her voice fell, the corner of Qiu YiBai’s mouth twitched in dissatisfaction. “Don’t you think that’s too troublesome?”
“I’m going home now, too,” she then said, “Since you live close to me anyway, let’s go together.”
Turns out she came here to invite her.
This person wasn’t angry at her anymore ah.
For some reason, Shen NingXin suddenly felt relieved.
Thinking that she could take advantage of this and give Qiu YiBai the souvenir, Shen NingXin nodded in the end and got into her car.
They soon arrived at their destination.
Shen NingXin finished packing her things, and thinking that the timing seemed right, she handed the bag of souvenirs over.
She lifted her lips earnestly and said in a very light tone, “Thank you for sending me back, President Qiu. And also thank you for taking care of me these past few days. There’s nothing I can express, so I bought you something.”
“If you don’t mind . . . please accept it.”
Her words were very sincere.
After hearing her words, Qiu YiBai stared at her for a long while, and in the end, didn’t refuse her and raised her hand to accept it.
Seeing this, Shen NingXin immediately became happy, then thanked her again before turning around to leave.
Before she could take more than a few steps, Qiu YiBai suddenly called her name from behind.
Her tone was quite serious, as though about to say something important.
Shen NingXin stopped when she heard her words, quickly turning around to respond, “President Qiu, what’s . . .”
Before she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of a round wooden pendant in Qiu YiBai’s hand.
At this moment, the sun was about to go down, leaving only a few rays of light splitting down the horizon, creating a beautiful scene when combined with the light golden clouds.
And Qiu YiBai was standing in the afterglow at this moment, leaning her waist and legs against the car, beautiful beyond words.
Shen NingXin was stunned, and it took a while before she finally regained her sense.
She was about to speak, but Qiu YiBai was a step ahead of her.
She said, “This is for you.”
After speaking, she immediately raised her hand and gently placed the small pendant on the palm of Shen NingXin’s hand.
Shen NingXin looked down and suddenly remembered that this was the protection amulet the tour guide introduced before. Engraved on it was a hero who was admired by thousands of people.
It was said to ensure good health, peace, and joy.
When she realized this, Shen NingXin felt warmth in her heart.
“There was nothing I wanted at that time, and when I saw this, I happened to get it, thinking that it might suit you.” When she looked up, Qiu YiBai was looking at her, too.
Her cheeks were slightly red from the sun, and her ears were stained with the color of the sky. “I hope it can protect you.”
“Don’t have any more nightmares.”
Original is pole and not “rope”, but the latter sounds better to me. It means like I gave you the opportunity and you really had to take it.
Shen NingXin actually heard of the ghost story Qiu YiBai was telling a long time ago.
It was kind of cliche, where you could basically guess the plot development, but to cooperate with her, Shen NingXin didn’t say anything and simply listened along.
When Qiu YiBai finished the last sentence, Shen NingXin hurriedly nodded and said, “It’s so scary.”
She guessed that this was Qiu YiBai’s intention.
It had to be to try and scare her, otherwise why would she be telling a ghost story at night.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Qiu YiBai’s voice came from over the “fortress”.
Her tone was different from the dark and gloomy one she had when telling the story and instead, it held a sense of pride and ridicule.
“Is it that scary?” she said, “Shen NingXin, you’re already so old and you’re still afraid of ghosts ah.”
I gave you a rope and you really started to climb1.
Shen NingXin didn’t want to argue with her, so she went along with her words and nodded, admitting, “Yeah, it scared me to death.”
Such a simple sentence would probably satisfy her for a while.
She sighed internally, thinking about how it was like she was coaxing a child. Shen NingXin yawned and hugged her doll even more tightly. “President Qiu, since you finished the story, I’ll be going to sleep then.”
“Aren’t you scared, though?” Qiu YiBai paused after she heard her words. “You’re still able to fall asleep?”
“It’s alright.” Shen NingXin nodded. “President Qiu, if you need anything, tell me . . .”
After speaking, soon there was no voice.
After some moments, Qiu YiBai slightly propped herself up to look in her direction. When she saw that this person was sleeping so soundly, she retracted her gaze, a little unhappy.
With a cold “Hmph”, she tucked in her feet that were outside the blanket, then turned over to get ready to sleep, too.
“. . . . . .”
Shen NingXin suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.
The dishes last night were a bit salty, so she drank a lot of water before going to bed out of thirst, and now she wanted to use the bathroom.
The person beside her was making no movements, probably sleeping soundly right now.
Shen NingXin was afraid of waking her up, so she didn’t open the lights and simply got up and began to walk in the dark with her phone in her hand.
But halfway through, she suddenly tripped on something.
She then remembered that both of their suitcases were placed around this area.
Sighing helplessly, Shen NingXin had no choice but to silently increase her phone’s brightness to use it as a source of light.
She actually walked for quite a bit. By now, she was on the side where Qiu YiBai was sleeping, getting closer to the bathroom.
Victory was in sight!
She let out a long breath of relief. Just as she was about to raise her foot to take another step, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Qiu YiBai jerk on the bed.
Qiu YiBai seemed to be frightened by her and immediately sat up straight to open the light, fear evident on her face.
Shen NingXin was also frightened by her, quickly opening her mouth to explain, “President Qiu, it’s me!”
“Oh . . .” After a moment, Qiu YiBai finally answered, then asked her in a low voice, “Shen NingXin, what are you doing not sleeping at night?!”
There was dissatisfaction in her tone.
Shen NingXin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I was just going to the bathroom.”
“How about you, President Qiu, you haven’t fallen asleep yet?”
As soon as her voice fell, Qiu YiBai was silent for a few seconds before she reluctantly squeezed out a lie from her mouth, “I fell asleep long ago, but there was a bug that hopped on me just now and woke me up.”
In order words, I wasn’t frightened by you.
And it wasn’t because I was too scared to sleep after that ghost story.
Seriously.
Shen NingXin sighed and didn’t expose her. She then nodded and quickly went to the bathroom.
Afterward, she hurriedly came back and laid on the bed again, then gently created a small gap in the fortress.
She moved closer and looked at Qiu YiBai on the other side, softly telling her, “President Qiu, if there are any problems, tell me.”
“I’m always here.”
So . . . don’t be afraid.
How ambiguous her words were.
It was midnight, the surrounding area surprisingly quiet. She could even clearly hear the sound of Shen NingXin’s breathing in her ears, not to mention her gentle and genuine words.
Like a firework, they exploded in the bottom of her heart, causing the surrounding air to gradually become hotter and hotter.
Qiu YiBai’s ears reddened inadvertently.
Thankfully, the darkness was a barrier, so she didn’t lose her face in front of this person.
“Okay, okay, I know.” After a moment, she responded with a blush. To cover up her embarrassment, her tone inevitably became stronger as she said, “Go to sleep now.”
“Alrighty.” Noticing her shyness, a smile grew in Shen NingXin’s eyes.
“Then I’ll go to sleep now hah,” she added, “Goodnight, President Qiu.”
“En, goodnight.” Qiu YiBai nodded, then subconsciously raised her hand to cover up the small gap.
Halfway through fixing it, she suddenly thought of something and didn’t continue anymore.
Oh well, just keep like that.
It’s not bad.
—
The night was long.
What happened just now was a small thing, and Shen NingXin didn’t care too much about it, quickly falling asleep again.
After that, for some reason . . . she had that dream again.
In her dream, there was a river.
The river was cold and smelled revolting, like a snake flicking its tongue as it wrapped around her body, slowly tightening, blocking her breathing and vision.
The only thing left was her hearing.
The only thing she could hear was the sound of the raging river and the laugher of that group of people.
The laughter sounded unpleasant, as though about to pierce her eardrums when it reached her ears. It was also like an invisible large hand, pushing her in the dream so that she continuously sank and fell.
She couldn’t call for help and was about to die.
Shen NingXin couldn’t stop trembling in her dream, and her thoughts were on a rampage.
She wanted to grab onto something yet couldn’t grab onto anything.
When she finally caught something, it was too small.
Shen NingXin gave up the struggle and allowed herself to fall indefinitely in the river, letting the cold gradually engulf her.
Mocking herself, she thought that perhaps she might even die in this dream today.
As she thought, with a move of a finger, she suddenly felt something.
She was taken aback for a moment, then her desire to survive became stronger again, so she subconsciously clasped onto it.
This time, she finally received a response.
It was a hand. She didn’t know who’s hand, but it was warm and powerful, forcefully pulling her up, leading her to break free from this inescapable nightmare.
When she arrived onshore, the sky had already brightened.
Sunshine gradually shone through, bringing along warm air and a pleasant smell.
Shen NingXin slowly opened her eyes.
The doll in her arms had been deformed from her squeezing and was currently lying beside her, as though reminding her how terrifying the dream was.
When she turned her head, she still saw the tall fortress that had been laid by Qiu YiBai.
Everything was no different from before she went to bed.
The only change was that Qiu YiBai reached out through the small gap and was holding her hand tightly.
“. . . . . .”
—
After roughly having breakfast, everyone got on the bus in order, ready to go to the next location.
Shen NingXin didn’t sleep well last night, yawing subconsciously right as she sat down.
Turning her head, she discovered that Qiu YiBai was also yawning.
Shen NingXin was taken aback when she saw this, and an apology grew in her heart.
She was the reason why Qiu YiBai couldn’t sleep well last night.
For this trip, she purposely brought the doll she typically held onto. She thought that she wouldn’t have any more nightmares, but unexpectedly, the nightmare came on schedule.
Perhaps she was too noisy while sleeping and disturbed Qiu YiBai, so when morning came, she discovered this person held her hand at some point.
Based on Qiu YiBai’s expression, she probably woke up a while ago. Upon seeing Shen NingXin get up, Qiu YiBai subconsciously complained angrily, saying, Shen NingXin, why do you move around so much when sleeping.
It was blue under her eyes, obvious that she didn’t sleep well.
Shen NingXin was about to die of guilt.
Not knowing what Qiu YiBai may have heard last night, she hurriedly asked this person when washing up.
But she wasn’t successful. This person was probably so angry at her that she refused to disclose a single word.
Shen NingXin had to give up and quickly apologized several times in a row, finally managing to coax her.
There weren’t many places they were going to today. They were basically going to visit a few scenic spots then check out the souvenir spot to buy something, and the trip was more or less over after that.
Since she didn’t sleep well last night, Shen NingXin wasn’t very energetic when playing today, and the same was for Qiu YiBai.
She couldn’t help but sigh when she saw this. She felt guilty in her heart, so she decided that she’d secretly buy something for Qiu YiBai at the souvenir shop.
Finally, it came to that time.
Because it was in the grassland, the souvenir shop typically sold things like milk tablets, milk tea, beef jerky, and so on. Shen NingXin placed things inside her cart as she walked around and unknowingly ended up with a lot at the end.
At the checkout, she purposely divided the items into two bags, preparing to give one to Qiu YiBai as a gift on the bus.
Thinking of this, she subconsciously raised her head and looked at Qiu YiBai in the near distance.
She then found that she had also finished shopping and was about to check out.
Shen NingXin stood on her toes, wanting to see what exactly this person bought and if there were any duplicates.
But when she looked, she discovered that there was nothing in front of Qiu YiBai.
It seemed like she was holding something in her hand, but Shen NingXin couldn’t make out what it was since she was holding onto it too tightly.
But as long as there were no duplicates, it’s fine.
Shen NingXin nodded, then retracted her gaze.
A few minutes later, everyone gathered in front of the bus, and it soon started again, setting off for the way home.
Everyone’s homes were scattered around in various communities, making it unrealistic to send everybody back one by one, so in the end, they decided to return to the company first, and if anybody wanted to go down along the way, they could.
The bus stopped and started repeatedly before finally reaching the destination.
As soon as Shen NingXin exited with her small bag on her back, she immediately saw how there were a lot of people waiting to pick her coworkers up. Even if there weren’t anybody, they still had cars, and after they seated their children inside, they quickly disappeared into the distance.
Only she had nothing.
Seeing that the bus was almost out of sight at this moment, Shen NingXin said goodbye to her colleagues and turned to catch the bus.
Before she could make a move, Qiu YiBai suddenly came to her side.
Unlike normal, her tone was peaceful as she asked, “Shen NingXin, how do you plan on going back?”
“I’ll be taking the bus,” Shen NingXin said.
As soon as her voice fell, the corner of Qiu YiBai’s mouth twitched in dissatisfaction. “Don’t you think that’s too troublesome?”
“I’m going home now, too,” she then said, “Since you live close to me anyway, let’s go together.”
Turns out she came here to invite her.
This person wasn’t angry at her anymore ah.
For some reason, Shen NingXin suddenly felt relieved.
Thinking that she could take advantage of this and give Qiu YiBai the souvenir, Shen NingXin nodded in the end and got into her car.
They soon arrived at their destination.
Shen NingXin finished packing her things, and thinking that the timing seemed right, she handed the bag of souvenirs over.
She lifted her lips earnestly and said in a very light tone, “Thank you for sending me back, President Qiu. And also thank you for taking care of me these past few days. There’s nothing I can express, so I bought you something.”
“If you don’t mind . . . please accept it.”
Her words were very sincere.
After hearing her words, Qiu YiBai stared at her for a long while, and in the end, didn’t refuse her and raised her hand to accept it.
Seeing this, Shen NingXin immediately became happy, then thanked her again before turning around to leave.
Before she could take more than a few steps, Qiu YiBai suddenly called her name from behind.
Her tone was quite serious, as though about to say something important.
Shen NingXin stopped when she heard her words, quickly turning around to respond, “President Qiu, what’s . . .”
Before she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of a round wooden pendant in Qiu YiBai’s hand.
At this moment, the sun was about to go down, leaving only a few rays of light splitting down the horizon, creating a beautiful scene when combined with the light golden clouds.
And Qiu YiBai was standing in the afterglow at this moment, leaning her waist and legs against the car, beautiful beyond words.
Shen NingXin was stunned, and it took a while before she finally regained her sense.
She was about to speak, but Qiu YiBai was a step ahead of her.
She said, “This is for you.”
After speaking, she immediately raised her hand and gently placed the small pendant on the palm of Shen NingXin’s hand.
Shen NingXin looked down and suddenly remembered that this was the protection amulet the tour guide introduced before. Engraved on it was a hero who was admired by thousands of people.
It was said to ensure good health, peace, and joy.
When she realized this, Shen NingXin felt warmth in her heart.
“There was nothing I wanted at that time, and when I saw this, I happened to get it, thinking that it might suit you.” When she looked up, Qiu YiBai was looking at her, too.
Her cheeks were slightly red from the sun, and her ears were stained with the color of the sky. “I hope it can protect you.”
“Don’t have any more nightmares.”
Original is pole and not “rope”, but the latter sounds better to me. It means like I gave you the opportunity and you really had to take it.