Chapter 281: She had to be sure first.

She had to know she could keep a woman happy, keep a child safe, keep a family together, and still be standing when the world tried to tear it all apart.

Because if she could not do that, then any feeling she had would be unfair.

That thought made her chest heat up in a different way.

Yan Cijin came out of the bathroom after a while with the little girl wrapped in a towel. The child’s hair was still damp and fluffy, and she looked like a freshly washed little bun. Yan Cijin had a towel hanging around her neck too, and a few drops of water still clung to the side of her face. Bai Li, who had been pretending to read the group chat again, looked up without thinking. Their eyes met for a second, and Bai Li’s heart gave a tiny kick she refused to acknowledge on the spot.

Yan Cijin noticed the way Bai Li had looked at her and immediately became a little stiff. The memory of the earlier misunderstanding was still hanging between them in a weird, thin thread. She had already decided not to say anything for now, but that did not mean she was ready to be totally calm. Bai Li’s look was too natural, too quiet, and too direct in a way that made her wonder whether Bai Li had secretly understood everything and was just enjoying watching her panic.

She tightened her hold on the little girl and walked over. "LiLi is done. Her hair is still a little wet. Can I borrow your hair dryer?"

"Of course," Bai Li said, then got up right away.

Yan Cijin watched her move and felt a little safer for some reason, but also even more confused. Bai Li was always like this. Gentle when it mattered. Smooth when she moved. Strong when she needed to be. And then, when Yan Cijin was just about to think too much, Bai Li would suddenly do something casual and ordinary like she was not making anyone’s heart do backflips at all.

Bai Li took out the hair dryer and handed it over, then looked at the little girl. "LiLi, come here. Auntie will help blow your hair dry."

The little girl looked up at her and smiled so much her eyes almost disappeared. "Auntie, you’re like my mommy."

Yan Cijin’s hand froze for half a second.

Bai Li also froze.

The room went silent in the weirdest way.

The little girl clearly did not understand what she had just dropped into the room. She just blinked and tilted her head, as innocent as could be. Then she added, "Mommy also helps me dry my hair like this."

Yan Cijin’s face turned red so fast it looked almost violent. "LiLi."

The little girl immediately shut her mouth, but her eyes were still full of questions, like she had just said something very normal and did not understand why the adults around her had all gone strange at once.

Bai Li coughed once and bent down to pick the little girl up again. "Then Auntie will help you dry it too. Let’s see if Auntie is better or Mommy is better."

Yan Cijin stood there holding the towel, and her ears got red all the way to the tips. She stared at Bai Li for a second, then quickly looked away as if she had suddenly found the wall very interesting. The words the little girl had said were innocent, but the timing was too deadly. Bai Li’s voice was also too calm, like she was pretending she had not heard a thing, which somehow made it worse.

The hair dryer started buzzing soon after, filling the room with a low noise. Bai Li held the little girl carefully, running her fingers through the child’s wet hair with a patience that felt almost too gentle. The little girl sat in her arms, obedient for once, while Yan Cijin stood nearby and watched. The way Bai Li focused on the child was so steady that Yan Cijin accidentally ended up watching Bai Li instead. The sweat on Bai Li’s neck had mostly dried by now, but there were still a few damp spots along her collarbone and the side of her shirt. Her posture was relaxed, but not lazy. Her hands were steady. Her face was calm. And when she lowered her eyes, the lashes near her eyes cast a faint shadow that made her look a little too nice to stare at for too long.

Yan Cijin had to tell herself to breathe normally.

Bai Li, meanwhile, was also not as calm as she looked. The little girl was sitting close to her, but her attention kept slipping toward the woman standing nearby. Yan Cijin was not doing anything on purpose, and that was exactly the problem. She was just there. Quiet, a little damp, a little tired, with a very pretty face and a way of standing that made Bai Li think of someone who had already been through a lot but still had enough spine left to keep going. Bai Li could feel the heat in her own chest again, and it was annoying because she was still not ready to deal with it properly.

The apocalypse had made her careful about everything, and feelings were the hardest thing to handle.

She did not want something fragile.

She wanted something real.

A relationship was not worth anything if she could not protect the person she loved. She did not want to just grab hold of someone because she liked the feeling. If she ever crossed that line with Yan Cijin, then it had to be because she was ready to give her all of it. Her loyalty. Her trust. Her protection. Her life, if that was what it came to. Nothing less would be fair. Not to Yan Cijin, not to LiLi, not to herself.

So for now, she let the silence sit where it was.

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TO BE CONTINUED.