After her dramatic cousin stopped acting up, the aloof doctor got anxious.

The next morning, as soon as Shen Ruo opened the door, she saw that Shen Yulan had already packed her things. A large suitcase was standing in the corridor, and she was bending down to check if the zipper was zipped up properly.

"Auntie, why didn't you call me?"

Shen Ruo quickly stepped forward to lend a hand and carried the suitcase down the stairs.

Shen Yulan followed behind, carrying a small bag. "You sleep a little longer. I'll leave after I finish breakfast. Your Aunt Zhang's car will pick me up downstairs at 8:30."

On the dining table, Sister Chen had already set out breakfast.

Plain congee, side dishes, fried eggs, and a basket of steamed buns.

Shen Yulan sat down, picked up a small steamed bun and put it into Shen Ruo's bowl, "Come on, breakfast is ready."

Shen Ruo took a bite of the xiaolongbao. "Thank you, Auntie. Please take lots of pictures when you get there and bring them back for me. Snow-capped mountains, lakes, and log cabins—you can't miss any of them."

Shen Yulan waved her hand, "Absolutely! Not only will I take photos, I'll also make videos for you, so you'll be envious, hahaha..."

After saying that, she turned her head and looked at Qi Wenshen, who was drinking porridge across from her. "Wenshen, take good care of my cousin while I'm gone."

Qi Wenshen put down his porridge bowl, glanced at Shen Yulan, and a very subtle smile appeared on his lips. Only Shen Ruo could understand what was hidden in that smile.

"Mom, don't worry, I will take good care of her."

Shen Yulan glanced at him with some surprise.

The last time she went on a trip, she told him to take care of this and that, and he would just grunt or say he knew, but he seemed reluctant, as if she were causing him trouble.

Why were you so agreeable this time?

And she was still smiling?

Shen Yulan didn't think too much about it, assuming it was just because the cousins ​​had spent a lot of time together and had developed a deep bond.

She nodded. "Okay, I'm relieved that you two get along."

Shen Ruo lowered her head and drank her porridge, the bowl obscuring half of her face.

The eyes peeking out from above the rim of the bowl had eyelashes that fluttered.

Qi Wenshen's words, "Take good care of her," made her heart pound.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Yulan dragged her suitcase out the door.

Aunt Zhang's car arrived downstairs on time.

Shen Ruo stood at the door, watching the car's taillights turn the corner and disappear before turning around.

"Let's go to work."

"Um."

Qi Wenshen had his hands in his pockets, and the way he looked at her was like a leopard that had spotted its prey and entered its encirclement.

At noon, after finishing her lunch in the cafeteria, Shen Ruo took out her phone and opened Qi Wenshen's chat window.

[Cousin, I won't be home for dinner tonight. It's Xiao Chen's birthday, we're going to her house to celebrate.]

A few seconds later, my phone vibrated.

She turned it over and saw that Qi Wenshen had replied with a single word: 【Oh.】

Qi Wenshen put down his phone.

All the kisses we shared at noon today turned yellow.

Shen Ruo pulled Zhou Lan out of the hospital gate.

Zhou Lan was pulled along, taking a couple of steps, yelling, "What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"Buy a gift; it's Xiao Chen's birthday, it wouldn't be good to go empty-handed."

"Just send a red envelope, why bother buying a gift?"

Zhou Lan rolled her eyes.

Shen Ruo ignored her, hailed a taxi, and gave the address: not a shopping mall, not a supermarket, but a small street she had never been to before.

As Zhou Lan watched the street scene outside the window grow more and more remote, more and more unfamiliar, and less and less like a place with a gift shop.

She turned her head to look at Shen Ruo, who was wearing a mask, revealing only her eyes, which had a guilty look in them.

The taxi stopped in front of a shop.

Shen Ruo paid the fare, got out of the car, stood by the roadside, staring at the shop sign, and remained motionless.

Zhou Lan followed her gaze and slowly opened her mouth, forming an "O" shape.

She recognized what was written on the sign, and she recognized the items in the shop window.

She nudged Shen Ruo with her elbow with a mischievous grin, her voice low but barely concealing her excitement, "What do you want to buy?"

Shen Ruo stammered, the tips of her ears above her mask already turning red, "It's just... buying some things."

Zhou Lan's eyes lit up.

The fire of the Eight Trigrams spreads like wildfire.

She leaned closer. "Are you planning to have some fun tonight?"

"Shh, keep your voice down."

Shen Ruo quickly covered her mouth, her eyes darting around as if checking to see if any acquaintances were passing by.

The street was deserted and quiet, not a soul in sight.

But Shen Ruo was still as nervous as if she were doing something shameful.

Zhou Lan pulled her hand away, looked her up and down with a calm and collected look that suggested she had been through a lot. "So, which one do you want?"

Shen Ruo was taken aback. "This...we still need to divide it?"

Zhou Lan couldn't help but laugh when she saw her bewildered expression.

She leaned close to Shen Ruo's ear and whispered a scientific explanation to her, speaking with great clarity and understanding.

As Shen Ruo listened, she felt like a boiled crab.

She hadn't expected there to be so many intricacies involved in buying this item; she thought she could simply go, pick it up, pay, and leave.

After Zhou Lan finished speaking, Shen Ruo's face turned so red it could fry an egg.

Zhou Lan glanced at her, then at the shop. Shen Ruo hesitated to go in, instead circling around in place.

Zhou Lan sighed, grabbed her hand, and pushed open the door of the shop.

The wind chimes on the door tinkled once.

Shen Ruo's heart skipped a beat.

The interior of the store is even more abundant than what's displayed in the window.

The shelves were filled with all sorts of things that Shen Ruo had seen before and things she had never seen before.

Behind the cashier sat a beautiful woman, who looked to be in her early thirties. She had exquisite makeup, her hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a black dress. She had a very elegant demeanor.

She looked up at Shen Ruo, smiled, and asked gently, "Which one do you need?"

Shen Ruo opened her mouth and found that her throat felt like it was blocked by something.

How would she know which one to choose?

If she had known this would happen, she would have had the delivery person run the errand.

Zhou Lan, who was standing nearby, saw that she still didn't speak, so she pointed and said, "I want that one."

The beautiful woman glanced at Shen Ruo, then at Zhou Lan, and smiled.

She took a box from under the counter; the packaging was simple, and it had English printed on it.

"This is our best-selling product."

She handed the box over, saying, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, girl. This is a good thing."

Shen Ruo lowered her head, took out her phone from her bag, and scanned the code to pay.

After paying, she stuffed the box into her bag, pulled Zhou Lan, who was still studying a new product on the shelf, and hurriedly walked out of the store.

The wind chimes tinkled again behind me.

After walking a dozen or so steps, Shen Ruo finally let out a long breath.

Zhou Lan was being pulled along by her, still chattering away, "Hey, weren't you going to buy a gift for Xiao Chen? Can this be given as a birthday present? You can give it to him if you want, I'm not packing it for you."

Shen Ruo rolled her eyes at her, took out her phone from her bag, opened WeChat, and sent a red envelope to Xiao Chen.

The note said "Happy Birthday".

"Weren't you going to buy a gift for Xiao Chen?"

Zhou Lan pointed to the bulging box in her bag.

Shen Ruo zipped up her bag tightly, as if afraid the contents would spill out.

"Didn't you say sending a red envelope would be enough?"