Chapter 24: CH 24

The white world made the sun framed by the glass extraordinarily bright. A plum candy was placed on Chen Ruoyu’s open palm as the sun slanted down on it.

Chen Ruoyu stared at the candy in her palm calmly, and Shi Ran’s voice came from her ear: “You eat the candy and wait. I’ll go get it for you.”

Before she finished speaking, the speaker disappeared.

Leaving only a steaming coffee cup, she looked at Chen Ruoyu.

The sweetness of brown sugar wrapped in the sourness of Huamei swept Chen Ruoyu’s mouth again, and the reddish-brown glass candy ball gently rolled on the tip of her tongue.

If this gift was a birthday gift from Shi Ran, then Chen Ruoyu’s was not unacceptable.

As long as it was given to her by Shi Ran, it was all good.

Thinking of this, there was a hurried sound of high heels hitting the ground outside the pantry.

Chen Ruoyu calmly put the candy paper in her hand into her coat pocket and stared blankly at the door that was about to be pushed open.

Shi Ran went quickly and came back quickly.

She held the small red box with a beautiful bow in her hand and handed it to Chen Ruoyu with smiling eyes, “Open it and see if you like it or not.”

Chen Ruoyu raised her hand to accept Shi Ran’s gift.

The bow was undone, and the ribbon hung over the marble tabletop.

Shi Ran looked at the box that was about to be opened by Chen Ruoyu. Her heart was beating inexplicably, and she was a little nervous because of the anticipation, so she pretended to be perverse and said, “After opening it, you can’t say if you don’t like it. It cost me a lot of money. I don’t have the money to buy snacks this month because I have a lot of expenses.”

Chen Ruoyu looked up at the person standing in front of her and opened the box when Shi Ran’s voice fell.

A fine silver necklace lay quietly on the velvet lining, and the incandescent light in the tea room fell on the crystal pendant shaped by ice cubes, exuding a faint light.

Shi Ran’s point was made by Chen Ruoyu, who had always been impersonal.

Under the light, Shi Ran noticed a smile that seemed to flash in Chen Ruoyu’s eyes.

“I love you so much.”

As Chen Ruoyu said, she took out the necklace and motioned to Shi Ran, “Help me bring it on.”

Shi Ran didn’t expect that the gift she gave to Chen Ruoyu would be so liked by her, and she was a little flattered.

She took the necklace from Chen Ruoyu’s hand and approached her unconsciously.

The cold aroma became obvious in the closer distance, only the quietness between the two of them was excessive.

The clean window glass framed the snow scene on the building outside. The soft snow rustled across the window glass with the winter wind, and the warm sunshine became like the moon last night.

Shi Ran, who had always been unruly, looked at Chen Ruoyu’s calm face in her sight and lowered her gaze calmly.

Most of Chen Ruoyu’s face disappeared from Shi Ran’s sight, but the culprit’s lip could not escape her sight.

The dull feeling was like being thawed and thawed by the heating in the pantry and suddenly waking up.

The two of them kissed last night. Although it wasn’t the first time they kissed, it was a kiss other than the night when they both kept silent about each other.

She wished her a happy birthday.

She asked for a kiss for her birthday.

What was this?

Could it be that Chen Ruoyu was also carried away by the beauty?

Shi Ran thought of this, and a freezing voice came from Shi Ran’s ear: “You are distracted.”

When Shi Ran heard the words, she looked at her in surprise. She didn’t pretend that she wasn’t distracted. Instead, she retracted the hand that had helped her put on the necklace, and deliberately provoked the culprit, “Yeah, I was thinking of the kiss last night.”

“I love you so much.”

The pantry was not very soundproof. Shi Ran’s voice was soft, but it was so close that Chen Ruoyu’s earlobes tingled.

She stood upright opposite Shi Ran like this, her originally peaceful heart pounding hard against her heart cavity.

The sunlight outside the window slanted into the pantry, blending with the lights above the two of them.

Shi Ran’s slightly upward-smiling eyes were filled with amorous feelings.

After doing such impulsive behavior yesterday, Chen Ruoyu felt that she should have this kind of awareness, but as calm as she could not control the heat in her palms, the dampness was filled with the warmth of their fingers clasped together last night.

“Yesterday was my first birthday.” Chen Ruoyu said lightly.

“I like it too.”

Chen Ruoyu’s voice was more serious than Shi Ran’s, this seriousness made Shi Ran feel her ears were burning.

There was no object in her words, and she didn’t know if it meant yesterday’s birthday or last night’s kiss. Shi Ran looked at the person in front of her like this, feeling the scorching heat of midsummer in her cold eyes.

She found that every time she teased Chen Ruoyu, she was swayed back by her, intentionally or unintentionally.

Shi Ran had no choice but to change the subject: “Thank you for helping me take down the character of Icarus.”

“You’re suitable.” Chen Ruoyu said in a light voice, returning to her former cold and calm state.

Shi Ran went to Zhou Yuan’s office after coming out of the pantry. The two exchanged their thoughts on the character design of Icarus this time. Shi Ran was very excited. At noon, she asked Xiao Ba to make a meal for herself from the cafeteria and sat alone at the workstation to draw the design.

This time, Xiao Ba came back quickly for lunch, and the whole person’s voice was raised: “Your sweet and sour steak, guess who got the last one from you!”

Shi Ran looked at the excitement on Xiao Ba’s face, as if she had a premonition, and asked, “Who is it?”

“Our boss! Chen Ruoyu!” Xiao Ba’s voice couldn’t help but get higher.

As she spoke, she pulled her chair and came to Shi Ran’s side, and said vividly: “You know, I went to have dinner with Nina, and on the way, I ran into Sister Zhou Yuan and the boss, who also came to the cafeteria. I didn’t think they would have to play sweet and sour steak, but it turned out to be true!”

“But you know, there are few sweet and sour rice dishes at this point. I’m very nervous. I want to try my luck. I bet Sister Zhou Yuan and the boss won’t eat this, and guess what?”

Xiao Ba asked Shi Ran a question, and Shi Ran responded cooperatively, “What’s the matter?”

“Sister Zhou Yuan asked for one, and the boss is going to ask for one too!” Xiao Ba’s face suddenly became gloomy, “I was very emo and our lunch boxes collided in my hand.”

“But do you know what happened?” After speaking, Xiao Ba became excited again, holding Shi Ran’s hand in a tone full of excitement: “The boss heard the voice behind her and asked me if I was. I’ll give you a meal. I nod and say yes, and she’ll give me her share!”

Shi Ran listened, and there was a feeling in her heart that she couldn’t tell.

Besides being happy, her heartbeat sped up a bit, like a popping candy that Xiao Ba suddenly overturned, stepping on the tip of her heart finely and messily.

And when she wanted to reach out to stop it, the popping candies quickly melted away, and the extremely sweet saccharin instantly filled her heart.

sweet.

It makes people feel happier than eating sweet and sour pork ribs.

Shi Ran didn’t know how to react to this incident. She looked sideways at the lunch box on Xiao Ba’s table but found a bright spot: “No…why do you also have a portion in your lunch box?”

“This was given to me by Sister Zhou Yuan!” Xiao Ba said cheerfully, “Sister Zhou Yuan is great. She will give me guidance when she sees the places I can’t design, and her guidance is not that kind of guidance. A bit like teaching a man how to fish rather than giving him a fish.”

Shi Ran looked at the smile on Xiao Ba’s face when she talked about Zhou Yuan, and couldn’t help but tease “tsk” a few times.

When Xiao Ba heard the sound, a rare shyness appeared on her cheeky face. “Aran!”

“I ignore you!”

Xiao Ba stomped her feet, sat in a chair, and rowed back to the workstation next to Shi Ran. Shi Ran also smiled, shook her head, and opened the lunch box on her table.

The sweet and sour short ribs were placed in the middle of the lunch box, and the sweet and sour sauce was thick and looked appetizing.

Shi Ran took a bite of the tender pork ribs and suddenly remembered the last time she went to Chen Ruoyu’s office for lunch. There were also sweet and sour short ribs, and the weight was more than other dishes.

Since she was a child, she liked to eat this kind of sweet and sour mix, such as plum candy and sweet and sour pork ribs.

But how did Chen Ruoyu know?

Shi Ran stared at the small ribs in front of her, a little puzzled.

She opened the phone and clicked into the chat box with Chen Ruoyu. Shi Ran wanted to ask how she knew, but she felt she would give herself an answer similar to “I know”.

Shi Ran thought about quitting the chat with Chen Ruoyu again and thought it was okay.

Anyway, there was meat to eat on the line, so why go to the bottom of it?

Because the lunch was very full, Shi Ran didn’t feel hungry until after getting off work in the afternoon.

The tablet connected to the computer was placed on the table, and the man looked at the sketches on the screen with a less optimistic expression.

She was still in a fog about her Icarus, and she always felt that something was missing when she drew a version.

The inspiration was there, but converting inspiration into pictures was not so smooth.

Xiao Ba had finished her work for the day. While neatly packing her bag, she looks at Shi Ran on the side and says, “Ah Ran, it’s time to get off work. Aren’t you leaving yet?”

Shi Ran slowly turned the pen in her hand and shook her head expressionlessly, “I want to stay for a while. You go first.”

She was originally ugly and aggressive, but she couldn’t see it with a smile on weekdays.

Now the computer’s fluorescent light fell on her face, with the corners of her lips pulled down, making her feel uneasy just by looking at it.

Xiao Ba didn’t dare to say more, knowing that Shi Ran’s drawing was not smooth, so she comforted: “Ah Ran, don’t worry too much. Maybe you will have inspiration on the way home later. Didn’t you say? Relaxation is the greatest source of inspiration.”

“Yeah.” Shi Ran nodded and accepted Xiao Ba’s kindness. Her expression softened a little and she raised her head and warned: “You should also pay attention to safety on the way back.”

“I see. So do you.” Xiao Ba waved to Shi Ran as she spoke and went to the door to clock in and get off work.

As the saying goes, there was a problem with not being positive after getting off work. Just half an hour after work, only Shi Ran’s computer was left in the original painting group.

In this way, she examined the rough figure she had just drawn, put down her arms, and poked towards the snack basket she had put on one side.

It’s just that Shi Ran’s usual actions were taken away today.

As she told Chen Ruoyu in the morning, her daily expenses were too high. The landlord’s house had no surplus food, and there were only a few dried fruit shells in the empty snack basket.

“Ugh!”

The entire original painting group was quiet, and Shi Ran’s sigh was obvious.

She just folded her arms and looked at the computer, her little face even more annoyed than before.

For Shi Ran, not eating was equivalent to cutting off her source of inspiration. How could Icarus fly up to the sky to find his sun without the source of inspiration?

Shi Ran suddenly felt a very familiar warmth behind her.

A slender shadow blocked the light hanging above her head, and a white and slender arm came slowly from behind her line of sight.

Chen Ruoyu rested on Shi Ran’s chair with one hand, pointed at the figure on the computer screen with a square iron box in the other, and suggested in a light voice, “Would it be better to add a set of wings here?”