The designated driver’s car wasn’t registered, so it couldn’t enter the villa district. Song Nanyin didn’t press the matter. She stepped out early and strolled slowly toward Liu Zhaoran’s home on her own.

Actually, she could have gone back to her own place tonight. But when she got in the car, she had subconsciously given Liu Zhaoran’s address. By the time she came to her senses, the car was already halfway there, so there was no point in making a special effort to change it.

This was the first time Song Nanyin had walked down this street. The air along the coastal road was wonderful. The sea breeze blowing in carried the damp of rain, along with a crisp, clean ocean scent.

The greenery around here was lovely, with coconut trees planted on both sides. She just had no idea whether those coconuts were fit to drink.

“The air really is nice. Are you out for a stroll too?” Song Nanyin murmured to the little cat that had crept up to her feet at some point. The stray was pure black, with only its eyes a brilliant green.

The stray was probably used to being fed by people, so it wasn’t afraid of humans at all. It walked at her feet, even lifting a small paw to bat at her. Unfortunately, Song Nanyin didn’t have any food for a cat in her pockets. She stopped and looked around, spotting a vending machine not far away.

The machine thoughtfully stocked little snacks for cats and dogs, along with a few adult products. At that point, Song Nanyin didn’t know whether to praise the vending machine for its thoughtfulness or say it had nothing but smut on its mind.

Did the vending machine really think that someone like Liu Zhaoran, perpetually in heat, would want car sex on the way home, and was that why it stocked condoms and finger cots in a roadside machine?

Whether the vending machine had nothing but smut on its mind was anyone’s guess, but while paying for the cat snacks, Song Nanyin was annoyed with herself for thinking about Liu Zhaoran again.

She paid by scanning a QR code and, feigning nonchalance, slid her phone over to her messages. Sure enough, there was no reply, only a boring video Chai Yue had shared.

“Here you go. Eat up.” Song Nanyin bought a can of cat food and some cat treats, opened both, and fed them to the cat. Clearly long accustomed to being fed, the cat expertly ate the treats first, then lowered its head to the canned food.

Seeing it eating happily, Song Nanyin didn’t keep it company any longer. After all, a cat with food in front of it wouldn’t care how a passerby like her was feeling.

Fortunately, Jiahai City wasn’t cold all year round. The cat could roam around here, with plenty of idle people to feed her. She wouldn’t starve to death; she would just feel lonely now and then.

Thinking this, Song Nanyin glanced back at the cat still eating from the can, smiled, and walked on alone.

Back in the house, the living room glowed with a dim yellow light, as if welcoming someone who had come back much too early. Right, it was only 10 PM. This was exactly the time when bars were at their liveliest. Perhaps even the living room hadn’t expected her to be home this early.

Song Nanyin showered, changed into comfortable clothes, and sat on the sofa watching the drama she hadn’t finished that morning.

As for Liu Zhaoran, who had promised to watch it with her, she was probably still having a good time at the bar. She had talked about spending Christmas together, but in reality she had dumped Song Nanyin the moment she got to the bar, talking to her less than she talked to Sister Xia.

Realizing she was thinking about Liu Zhaoran again, Song Nanyin crunched her shrimp chips noisily. She suddenly felt like a bitter, abandoned wife, complaining for nearly two hours, all because Liu Zhaoran had said she would spend Christmas with her and then ditched her at the bar.

A bit childish, wasn’t it? Yes, very childish. She wasn’t a grade-schooler anymore. Even a stray cat knew how to find its own amusement. So, Song Nanyin, you aren’t about to be outdone by a street cat, are you?

With that thought, Song Nanyin finally felt the discomfort in her heart lessen a little. She finished the drama, then casually found some comedy movies to watch.

Just then, a noise came from the door. Song Nanyin immediately lay back on the sofa, stretched out, and switched her tone to one of casual indifference.

“Hey, back this late? Have a good time? This movie is pretty good.” Song Nanyin’s voice was completely relaxed, as if she had been immersed in the film, spent a lazy weekend, and happened to be there when Liu Zhaoran came home.

However, apart from that noise just now, there was no other sound in the house. Song Nanyin couldn’t help turning to look, and saw that the noise was just a slipper that had fallen from the rack by the door onto the floor. As for Liu Zhaoran, there wasn’t even a shadow of her.

Her ridiculous pretense had been witnessed only by the air. On top of her embarrassment, Song Nanyin finally realized just how low her spirits had sunk. The spacious living room felt empty with only herself in it.

What exactly was her relationship with Liu Zhaoran, anyway?

Humans were sentimental creatures. When alone, they grew mawkish. Otherwise, Song Nanyin wouldn’t have let herself think about this question, the definition of her relationship with Liu Zhaoran.

They were colleagues, true enough, but colleagues didn’t live together. They were friends, barely, but friends didn’t have sex with each other, let alone go through seven or eight finger cots in a single night.

Thinking of the little moments she had spent with Liu Zhaoran lately, Song Nanyin subtly realized she couldn’t find a fitting word to describe the two of them. Perhaps the most fitting was the phrase written in black and white in the contract: cohabiting bed partners.

It wasn’t anything special, so not spending Christmas together was actually pretty normal, right? Song Nanyin thought, and realized again that the root of her grievances had somehow become tangled up with Christmas once more.

So she blamed the whole problem on Christmas. It was all that damned Christmas’s fault. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be overthinking so much.

She and Liu Zhaoran were just fuck buddies. It was only that Liu Zhaoran provided food and lodging, improved her quality of life, and took care of her physical needs. With that thought, Song Nanyin decided she shouldn’t keep dwelling on these things.

She would get back to her own fun: watching dramas and eating shrimp chips.

With this thought, the little knots in her heart seemed to dissolve along with it. She hugged a pillow, and the living room lights dimmed. She sat on the oversized sofa, watching the screen, but her eyes weren’t focused on it.

The hand resting at her side quietly slid over her phone. Every few minutes, she would light it up, and after confirming that no messages had come in, Song Nanyin would turn it off again.

The gathering didn’t break up until 2 AM. Liu Zhaoran had arranged a designated driver in advance, who dropped her at the door of her home. She didn’t go in right away. Instead, she leaned against the iron railing, took a cigarette from her pocket, and took a drag.

She had drunk quite a lot tonight. At first, she could still approach it with the intention of savoring the taste, but by the end, it had become one of those social occasions where you had to force yourself to drink even when you couldn’t take another drop.

It was while drinking with Sister Xia that Liu Zhaoran learned Song Nanyin had already left. She had thought Song Nanyin would get used to the lively scene and take the initiative to chat with people who interested her. She hadn’t expected that woman to leave in such a hurry, having stayed no more than an hour.

Liu Zhaoran knew that what she had done was perhaps not quite right, and she had seen the messages Song Nanyin sent her. But strangely, she didn’t want to reply.

Even if Song Nanyin had come over to tell her she was leaving, all Liu Zhaoran could do was find someone to take her back, and by no means leave with her.

For Liu Zhaoran, this was a social engagement she had to attend. Even if she had let Song Nanyin down a little, she couldn’t leave early for her sake.

After a menthol cigarette, her somewhat muddled mind finally cleared considerably. Liu Zhaoran sprayed some freshener into her mouth and over her body, and only after confirming that these smells wouldn’t be carried into the house did she push open the door and walk in.

To her surprise, a faint light still glowed in the living room, and the projector was still playing a movie. The Little Lion, who had left early, was lying on the sofa with a big bag of shrimp chips in her arms, fast asleep.

Looking at Song Nanyin’s sleeping face, Liu Zhaoran felt the weariness of body and mind inexplicably melt away at that moment. She didn’t go touch her right away. Instead, she padded barefoot into the ground-floor bathroom, washed herself, changed clothes, sat down beside the sofa, and snatched the shrimp chips from the other woman’s hand.

“Mm?” Song Nanyin was roused by the noise. She glanced at the shrimp chips in Liu Zhaoran’s hand and frowned slightly. Damn that Black-Hearted Lotus. The first thing she did when she got home was steal her shrimp chips. Just because Christmas was over, did she have to be so rude?

Yes, Song Nanyin was quite sure she was still hung up on Christmas. What a petty bitch she was, she told herself. Of course, when it came to being a bitch, she thought Liu Zhaoran, the shrimp-chip thief, still had her beat.

“Is the first thing you do when you get home really steal my snacks?” Song Nanyin complained in a low voice, her tone carrying a plaintiveness she hadn’t noticed herself. Hearing this, Liu Zhaoran smiled a little.

She found that this feeling of coming home after drinking and finding someone waiting for her in the house wasn’t bad at all. Even though Song Nanyin hadn’t stayed up specially to wait for her, Liu Zhaoran was willing to deliberately misinterpret it that way.

“I just thought that if the shrimp chips were left unsealed, they wouldn’t taste as good tomorrow.” Liu Zhaoran offered a high-sounding reason to show that she wasn’t stealing the chips.

“Oh, so you had a good time?” Song Nanyin glanced at the time. It was past 2 AM, almost 3. If she hadn’t been having a good time, she wouldn’t have come back this late.

“It was just some social obligations I couldn’t get out of. Sorry, I was too busy tonight and didn’t have time to check my phone. This is a gift I bought for you. You should like it. It’s a limited-edition pastry from the bar.”

Liu Zhaoran was suddenly glad she hadn’t turned down the pastry Sister Xia had forced on her. It was a good choice, since she could use it to coax the Little Lion. Two birds with one stone.

Hearing that Liu Zhaoran hadn’t forgotten to bring her something, the resentment in Song Nanyin’s heart lessened a little. She gave an “oh,” sat up to take it, and found that it was indeed an exquisite-looking cake that seemed to use good ingredients.

She gave an “mm” and ate the cream on top with her fork. It was sweet without being cloying. That sweetness was nothing like industrial saccharin; it carried the mellow richness of cream.

Song Nanyin figured a few bites wouldn’t make her fat, so she poked another piece. At that moment, Liu Zhaoran leaned in and ate the cake before she could put it into her mouth.

“Sorry, you were eating so earnestly, I wanted a taste too.” Liu Zhaoran said with a smile. In truth, she didn’t like sweets at all. She just saw how seriously Song Nanyin was eating and wanted to snatch food from her mouth.

Liu Zhaoran liked taking things from other people’s hands. Even cake was no exception.

“You used my fork. How am I supposed to eat?” Song Nanyin rolled her eyes at Liu Zhaoran, thinking she was truly annoying. The cake was a gift for her, and Liu Zhaoran still had to steal a bite of it.

“What does it matter? There’s nothing the two of us haven’t done. And I think the fork tastes even sweeter after Team Leader Song has used it.”

Liu Zhaoran was beaming. Looking at the cream lingering at the corner of Song Nanyin’s mouth, her heartstrings stirred slightly. She went ahead and straddled Song Nanyin’s lap, lowering her head to prove through action that they could share not only a fork, but also the same “mouth.”

“What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.”

Feeling Liu Zhaoran’s hands wandering restlessly over her chest, Song Nanyin once again suspected that Liu Zhaoran had a breast fetish, or was jealous that her chest was bigger than Liu Zhaoran’s. Otherwise, why would she grope and bite at them every time, sucking and nibbling away?

“Tomorrow is a day off, Team Leader Song. I have physiological needs. Please help me take care of them. I gave you a Christmas gift. Now, it’s your turn to return the favor.”