Chapter 17: Rain

Chapter 17: Rain

It was raining.

The weather lately had been fickle—just the other day it had been sweltering above thirty degrees, yet now a sudden downpour dragged the temperature down by ten in an instant.

Like plunging hot steel into ice water.

Chen Shiyu stepped outside in short sleeves and pants, only to be driven back indoors by the cold wind and stinging rain. Huffing, she ran upstairs to the third floor and pulled on her autumn uniform jacket.

“Why is it raining so hard…”

She checked the cabinet for an umbrella, but came up empty.

“The bus is almost here.” Shen Yan’s voice came from under the eaves. He was scrolling through the bus app, then called into the house, “Forget it if you can’t find one, I’ve got mine.”

Shiyu’s little round cheeks puckered into an expression of undisguised disdain. The kind of face that begged to be pinched.

“Then go ahead and get soaked.”

Shen Yan calmly popped open his umbrella and stepped into the rain.

Shiyu hurried after him, squeezing into the meager shelter beside him.

It was just a small folding umbrella—barely enough for one. With two people, it was… cramped.

Her left shoulder was already damp with rain, but she didn’t mind. Her head was too full with thoughts of salvaging her “collapsed character setting.”

If it were the original Shiyu, hearing Shen Yan call her “wife” would’ve had her hopping with joy on the spot.

But her? She’d completely lost it, flipping out like a lunatic, shouting and blushing like crazy.

And on top of that, she still wasn’t sure whether he’d noticed her fox ears and tail…

From their house, it was a five-minute walk to the bus stop.

Chen Shiyu sneaked a glance upward, studying his profile.

His jawline was clean and sharp, his chin smooth without a hint of stubble, and his Adam’s apple bobbed now and then in a way that was… oddly sexy.

She sucked in a deep breath and smothered the thoughts of a thirsty maiden before they could spiral further.

She’d been through enough now that she wasn’t so easily flustered.

Besides, if she lost her composure, her ears might pop out again.

At a glance, Shen Yan looked as calm as always—eyebrows relaxed, lips faintly curved in his usual easy smile. He was walking and reading at the same time, scrolling through last night’s new webnovel chapter on his phone.

Probably fine? …Probably.

Shiyu stayed wary regardless. The man was too sharp for his own good. Back during Golden Week, after only a few days together, he had already started suspecting her true identity.

But lately, he seemed… duller somehow. Even when she slipped up and acted in ways the “real Shiyu” never would—like her gaming habits—he hadn’t called her out.

“…Why are you staring at me?”

Shen Yan lowered his head, his eyes catching hers.

She immediately looked away. “Because you’re ugly.”

“Then why’d you fall for an ugly guy? Last night you forced me to confess, and now you’re mad about it.”

She sniffed, lips curving in a little huff. “That’s just how women are. I was testing you. How was I supposed to know you’d be so shameless?”

He nearly laughed out loud.

This fox spirit was obviously scrambling to cover her tracks after failing to cut ties.

And he was supposed to just let her succeed? Not a chance.

If the fox wanted to veer left, he’d yank her tail and drag her right. No way he was going to let her have things her way.

So the two of them, tacitly, almost conspiratorially, let last night’s chaos vanish into thin air. They joked and bickered like nothing had happened, until they reached the bus stop.

A few other passengers were already scattered about, waiting. But the stop itself had nothing—no roof, no bench—just a lonely signpost with route numbers, standing in the rain.

The early morning sky was heavy and bleak. Dark clouds blanketed the heavens, the rain and wind growing fiercer with each passing second. Fat raindrops slanted against the umbrellas, soaking every passenger from the waist down.

“What a downpour…”

Chen Shiyu patted the dampness off her shoulder. Then, narrowing her eyes, she cast a sideways glance at Shen Yan. Some buried instinct of masculine competitiveness bubbled up in her, and she quietly stepped onto the roadside curb, pushing herself up on her tiptoes to compare their heights.

—Damn it! Why’s he so tall?!

Shen Yan, eyes on the end of the street, waited for the bus. But out of the corner of his eye, his attention never strayed from Shiyu.

Her autumn uniform jacket was a little big on her, covering her hips. From beneath the hem stretched two long legs wrapped in black pants. Her calves were slim and straight, the soaked fabric clinging faintly to her and tracing out gentle, graceful lines.

And now, that stubborn fox spirit was straining on her toes with a defiant look, for reasons only she understood.

Honestly… kind of cute.

That thought brought a sting of guilt. No matter how he saw it, he never had romantic feelings for his childhood friend. They’d grown up together—practically family. Yet here he was, thinking the fox who had stolen her body was adorable…

“Ugh, when’s the bus coming? I’m about to turn into a drowned rat here!”

Shiyu finally gave up her hopeless height contest.

“Two minutes,” Shen Yan replied.

“I wonder if we’ll run into Chen Jing today…”

Muttering, she shifted closer to Shen Yan, inching toward his arm under the excuse of escaping the rain—so close she nearly brushed against him.

“Hey, do you play any other games? I saw on Steam that some of yours are free-to-play…”

Her old account was locked beyond recovery, all those thousands of yuan sunk into games gone to waste. So naturally, she had her eye on Shen Yan’s library.

“You don’t even have a computer.”

“So what? I’ll buy one sooner or later~”

He almost agreed. “Sure… except, I don’t really have games. Forget it.”

His library was full of… less-than-wholesome games. Tonight, he’d have to set half of them to hidden.

“Ohh? Something indecent in there?” Shiyu cut straight through his excuse, far too familiar with how men thought. Her grin turned sly. “Let me see.”

“They’re just games. What’s there to hide? Besides, you don’t even like playing.”

“Didn’t you just say you don’t have any?”

“I don’t.”

She spun around, closing the distance even more, her face solemn and determined. “Confess honestly! Resist, and your punishment doubles!”

Shen Yan stared down at her serious little face, scratching his head in embarrassment.

“…Weren’t you the one who said you hated games?”

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m making an effort. Just so I’ll have something to talk about with you.”

“…You really don’t have to force yourself.”

She leaned in another step to press him further—but in doing so, her chest brushed against his arm.

Shiyu jolted like a startled rabbit. She sprang away so fast half her body shot back into the rain, her face instantly flushing bright red.

Just then, the bus finally pulled up.

For once, she didn’t even look at him—she dashed through the rain and scrambled aboard.

“What’s with the overreaction…” Shen Yan muttered under his breath. “Fox spirit playing innocent, huh.”

Compared to her, his childhood friend had always been so proactive it gave him headaches—too pushy to outright reject, too familiar to ignore. If anyone fit the stereotype of a seducing fox spirit, it was her.

But this one? This one was on a whole different level. She played “hard to get” like she’d mastered the craft.

Perhaps because of the storm, the bus was emptier than usual. The usual elderly crowd was missing, leaving half the seats free.

Shiyu slid into the very back row by the window.

When she saw Shen Yan coming down the aisle, shaking off his umbrella, she sighed and lifted the schoolbag from the seat beside her, silently giving him space.

“Wipe off—you’re soaked.”

He sat down and fished two packs of tissues out of his bag.

Even that brief dash through the rain had left her almost drenched. Her bangs dripped water onto her cheeks, strands clinging to her face. Messy, pitiful, and yet… carrying a fragile sort of beauty.

She dabbed at her face and hair, gaze wandering to the storm outside.

Shen Yan leaned back in his seat with a yawn, eyes slipping shut for a nap.

In the enclosed space of the bus, her scent seemed to seep into his lungs with every breath…