Chapter 27: Going or Not Going

The car started smoothly.

Su Mi sat snugly against the back of the passenger seat, slowly feeling the warmth returning to the car. The driver, a Beta, drove steadily and with focus, not glancing around.

Su Mi took a look at him, then turned her head to sneak a peek at the back seat.

What she saw made her fall silent.

Shen Han had her elbow propped on the car door’s armrest, lazily gazing out the window.

Xu Nanqiao, also feeling a bit awkward, leaned against the other side, intently watching the scenery outside.

Su Mi: “…”

How could she invite Xu Nanqiao into the car and then not know how to start a conversation?

Summoning her courage, Su Mi broke the silence in the car with a topic she thought might be easy to discuss.

She turned around and asked, “Sister, you came back so quickly. I heard from Secretary Zhuang that you were supposed to have another half month of vacation?”

As soon as she spoke, the temperature in the car seemed to drop again.

Su Mi: Did I say something wrong?

Shen Han glanced at her lightly, “I had business to attend to.”

Su Mi praised without thinking, “You really are amazing, Sister. Your dedication to work is what has taken Shen Corporation to such heights.”

Shen Han put her elbow down, clasped her hands together on her lap, and leaned back.

The head sticking out from the front seat was particularly conspicuous.

Shen Han closed her eyes for a moment.

“Blinding,” she said simply.

Su Mi interpreted this as Shen Han feeling car sick from being dazzled by her.

She obediently shrank back into her seat and started browsing her optical brain, looking at various complaints about the unified exam on Star Network.

True to Shen Han’s driver’s reputation, the ride was both smooth and fast, and they soon arrived at Nanyuan.

Su Mi hopped out of the car and walked around to the left side to find Xu Nanqiao.

Her hand almost habitually reached for Xu Nanqiao’s arm but stopped abruptly when her gaze swept over Shen Han, who had just gotten out of the car. She quickly lowered her hand.

She stood by Xu Nanqiao’s side, restrained, and whispered, “Just now before getting in the car, Ren Yue said she wanted to join us for the graduation trip.”

The graduation trip at Loran Public School is a traditional event for graduates. Every year after the unified exams, the school collaborates with the Anhe Mountain Scenic Area ¹ in the outskirts of the capital. They reserve the entire mountain for a day of hiking, a night of camping, and then free activities after watching the sunrise before heading home the next day.

Su Mi enjoyed participating in such group activities and had signed up early.

But Xu Nanqiao was still hesitant about whether to join.

Their homeroom teacher was ill and wouldn’t be going on the trip. Xu Nanqiao’s mother was worried about safety without a familiar teacher present and hadn’t given her consent yet.

Su Mi understood. After all, Xu Nanqiao was an Omega, and the trip was just a recreational activity. Whether she went or not didn’t matter much. They’d have plenty of chances to hang out together in the future.

A bit of a pity, but not too much. She wasn’t in a hurry to persuade her.

Seeing Shen Han already entering the Nanyuan villa, she patted Xu Nanqiao’s arm, “We’ll talk later. Let’s go inside.”

Inside the villa, Xu Nanqiao followed Shen Han upstairs first.

Su Mi wandered into the kitchen to select ingredients for the hot pot.

During the preparation for the exam, the blackening value had remained relatively stable, and she checked it every few days.

Maybe Shen Han had also managed well during her overseas vacation; the increase in the blackening value was very slow. Over more than a month, it had only risen by five points from before she went abroad.

Currently, the task was stuck at an 86% blackening value.

Thinking about this made Su Mi a bit upset.

When they came downstairs to eat hot pot after studying, Su Mi checked the blackening value again.

80%.

It seemed that reading with Xu Nanqiao was effective.

But it was strange. In the few months she had been here, Shen Han’s blackening value had never dropped below 80%.

Every time it was about to drop below 80%, the first digit seemed to get stuck firmly.

It made her task progress seem slow.

But Su Mi had a good mindset. She knew that during this period, both she and Xu Nanqiao were busy with exams and it was impossible to have Xu Nanqiao stop studying to fall in love.

And from another perspective, the task progress was still good.

The male and female leads didn’t even have each other’s contact information yet.

So, no matter what, there were no signs of a plot point that would cause Shen Han’s blackening value to surge.

The slow decrease in blackening value was just the surface-level task progress.

The absence of the original plot’s romantic subplot was the underlying task progress.

Su Mi was very satisfied.

She picked up a piece of meat for Xu Nanqiao, praising her excellent student.

Sharing dishes at the cafeteria had become a habit for them, so Xu Nanqiao didn’t find it unusual and just ate it without a word.

But only after picking up the meat did Su Mi realize—Shen Han was also here.

Would she get jealous over this too?

Su Mi carefully glanced at her.

Thankfully, Shen Han was busy eating vegetables and wasn’t paying attention to them.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Han’s progress in enlightenment was also good.

She had taken the initiative to find Xu Nanqiao several times recently, no longer making Xu Nanqiao visit her every time.

Although Shen Han said she came back early for work, the fact that she immediately sought out Xu Nanqiao upon returning indicated that missing her was also a reason for coming back.

Too bad her emotional intelligence was still low, Su Mi lamented. Why didn’t she ever take the initiative to chat with Xu Nanqiao when they were together?

Her frequent glances at Shen Han were soon noticed.

She received a cold stare in return.

Su Mi almost choked on a mouthful of food.

After swallowing with difficulty, a brilliant idea came to her.

The graduation trip allowed bringing family members. Since that’s the case—

Turning her head, Su Mi asked Xu Nanqiao, “Your mom is worried about safety because there won’t be any teachers. How about we bring an adult with us?”

Xu Nanqiao: “An adult? Who?”

Su Mi pouted, “My sister.”

Her eyes sparkled, genuinely thinking it was a good idea.

Shen Han was reliable and capable, and attending the first trip after finishing school together, climbing mountains, camping, and watching the sunrise and sunset, would be very memorable.

Xu Nanqiao hesitated, seemingly reluctant to answer.

They were sitting at a small round table specially set up for the hot pot, with Shen Han across from them. Xu Nanqiao and Su Mi were very close.

Xu Nanqiao lowered her head slightly, mumbling, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. My mom doesn’t know Shen Zong, and explaining it would be more troublesome.”

Su Mi thought for a moment and agreed. That made sense.

Xu Nanqiao’s personality was evident.

She sighed, “If you change your mind and decide to go, be sure to tell me first.”

Since Shen Han wasn’t joining their conversation, they moved on to other topics, leisurely finishing their hot pot.

Shen Han had gone upstairs mid-meal to handle business, leaving the driver to take them home.

When Su Mi got home, Su Ziyu and Wen Zisu were in the living room.

Seeing her come in, Wen Zisu brought out prepared fruit from the kitchen.

They didn’t ask how she did on the exam, just letting her be.

But they did ask, “Is your good friend going on the graduation trip?”

After the past two months, they were quite familiar with Xu Nanqiao and referred to her as “good friend” at home.

Su Mi sat on the sofa, took the fruit, and said, “Her mom is still hesitating. She’s worried about safety since Nanqiao is an Omega and will be staying out overnight.”

Wen Zisu leaned on the sofa’s armrest, reaching for a small tomato.

Su Ziyu commented, “Different families have different concerns. You said she’s from a single-parent family, with two Omegas, so naturally, they’re more cautious about safety.”

Wen Zisu, eating the tomato, joked, “Our Yaya is also an Omega. Should we be worried too?”

Su Ziyu laughed, glancing at Su Mi, “Her? I think she’s forgotten she’s an Omega.”

Su Mi chuckled, stuffing a small tomato into her mouth.

That was true.

Since she crossed over, she had been living as a Beta, so she didn’t really feel like an Omega.

Wen Zisu ruffled Su Mi’s hair, “Just be careful, okay? Call us if anything happens. But don’t worry too much; the graduation trips are always safe.”

Su Mi nodded.

She then asked sweetly, “Are you coming with me? We could bring Xiao Yi and make it a family trip.”

Su Ziyu laughed, “It’s a trip for you students; we won’t join in.”

Su Mi sighed, “I was thinking if we had an adult, Nanqiao’s mom might agree.”

Su Ziyu said, “You could ask Shen Han. She…”

After a moment of thought, Su Ziyu said, “It seems that a few years ago, when she graduated from Loran Public School, she didn’t participate in that year’s graduation trip.”

Su Mi was curious, “Why not?”

Su Ziyu shrugged, “I don’t know, but a few days later I went to a banquet, and someone asked me about it, so I have some impression.”

She mentioned it casually and couldn’t recall the details, so she didn’t continue.

When Su Mi returned to her room, she really started to consider it seriously.

Because Xu Nanqiao sent a message: My mom agreed (^▽^)

Su Mi: Great OWO!

She couldn’t help but think, since Xu Nanqiao was going—and since Shen Han hadn’t been on a graduation trip before—

Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to create a wonderful memory?

Su Mi paced back and forth on the balcony of her room, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

She opened her optical brain and clicked on the ink crane avatar at the top of her contacts.

: Sister, are you busy? [/Knock Knock]

After a while, Shen Han replied: Suddenly being polite?

Su Mi: …

Well, she’s not wrong.

She scratched the side of her face, recalling how she used to leave messages for Shen Han when she was abroad, taking advantage of the time difference.

Not bothering with Shen Han’s time, she would just send messages, thinking Shen Han would see them when she woke up.

But now Shen Han was back…

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Su Mi sent a smiley face emoji.

: I saw you were busy when we left Nanyuan ^^

Shen Han: Not too busy. What’s up?

Su Mi guessed that Shen Han might be in a good mood.

Summoning her courage, she explained the graduation trip.

: Sister, do you want to go with us? Nanqiao’s mom already agreed! I heard from my mom that you didn’t go on the graduation trip when you graduated, so you can make up for it this time, hey.

Shen Han was silent for a while.

Then she inexplicably replied with three words: Why should I?

Su Mi thought for a bit: To commemorate graduation? Don’t let life’s regrets stay! This is the perfect chance to make up for it~

Su Mi: I heard the scenery on the mountain is beautiful! We can camp and watch the sunset and sunrise; it’ll be amazing. We can also sit around the campfire and tell ghost stories, hehe.

She sent related posts and pictures, trying to tempt Shen Han.

But Shen Han didn’t reply.

Su Mi waited for a while, feeling a bit disappointed.

She consoled herself that Shen Han was busy with work, and it was normal not to have time for a trip.

Standing on the balcony and looking at the starry sky, she felt the chill of the early summer night.

Su Mi rubbed her arms, gave up waiting, and went back inside to sleep.

Late at night, her optical brain silently lit up.

Shen Han had replied with a single word: Fine.

---

Author’s Note:
Su Mi: A soft and fragrant standard Omega (blindly)!

T/N:
¹ The closest thing I could find related to Anhe Mountain was the beautiful mountains near Taipei; which would make sense if they were talking about the “Capital” (I’ve kept it at Capital, but the translation could be “First City”). The mountains around Anhe Village in Taipei, Taiwan are beautiful and have scenic hikes you could take. I’m not posting pictures of the mountains because I’m not certain this is the one the author was referring to.