translated_Chapter 20

20: The Watcher at the Edge of the Sky

Finding her phone, it was already noon the next day.

After replying to the WeChat messages, she didn’t know what else to look at.

Almost involuntarily, she opened the photo album.

Besides the photos taken for work, the rest were only group photos with Qiu Shi.

And the specially saved photos of the Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner with the two siblings.

Two equally beautiful people on either side of her, Qiu Ci quietly eating dumplings, Qiu Shi watching her younger brother.

“Humph…” Tsukimi Rin sneered, searched for a long time, but didn’t want to delete a single one.

Why did she break up just because Qiu Shi wanted to withdraw?

She should find a bunch of this woman’s black history and ruin her reputation.

Tsukimi Rin was speechless at her own thoughts. A decent breakup was fine, no need to entangle further. Four years, she was just twenty-one years old, she was still young.

Just as she was thinking, a knock on the door sounded.

Her assistant? Why didn’t they call?

Or Qiu Shi.

Tsukimi Rin’s hand rested on the doorknob.

No, she couldn’t think about her. Qiu Shi always disappointed her at times like this.

Tsukimi Rin took a deep breath and opened the door.

The woman, dressed in casual clothes, was standing at the door with a tired expression.

“Qiu Shi…” Tsukimi Rin murmured.

“It’s me. The ticket was bought twenty hours ago. The time difference is too hard to calculate. I’m so sleepy, Rin-chan.” Qiu Shi collapsed onto Tsukimi Rin, clutching her head in pain.

Tsukimi Rin supported her and helped her onto the familiar bed.

Qiu Shi was really tired. Before receiving Tsukimi Rin’s call, she had attended an interview, then a dinner party. She barely made it home, but couldn’t sleep after receiving the call, so she bought a plane ticket and came. She had been restless and unable to sleep on the plane as well.

Thankfully, Tsukimi Rin was still willing to take her in.

She slept all the way until the afternoon, awakened by the aroma of food.

Tsukimi Rin had stir-fried two small dishes and was drinking congee by herself.

Qiu Shi naturally sat down across the table. “Still angry? Wife.”

“Let’s talk.”

“Didn’t you say you’d forgive me if I came to Japan, hmm?” Qiu Shi was good at acting spoiled and selling her looks.

“I said if you came, we could talk.” Tsukimi Rin’s cold demeanor highlighted Qiu Shi’s panic, which made Tsukimi Rin feel a little better.

Qiu Shi took a deep breath. “Tsukimi Rin, think carefully. Could you have gotten to where you are today without my financial backing at every step?”

Tsukimi Rin was silent. It was true, she owed Qiu Shi an unknown amount of money. “I’ll pay it back. I’ll make a list these few days and send it to you.”

“That’s not what I meant, Rinrin. Wait for me a few years. I’ve sent my younger brother to Paris to study finance. After he gets his master’s degree, I’ll give him all these shares and positions. Then I’ll take some money and we can be free.”

“The money we have now is enough for us to live on. I can earn money too. You’re not crippled.”

“You don’t understand. If I don’t do anything, when my adoptive father passes away, my brother and I will be eaten by the other shareholders and relatives, leaving no bones behind. My father’s young lover has already bought us huge insurance policies. This is to threaten me. They want me to give up voluntarily. I won’t. The quickest way for us to lose our inheritance rights is an accidental death. My brother and I are the only children left.”

Tsukimi Rin didn’t say anything more. Yes, her social circle was full of dangerous calculations. Tsukimi Rin’s family business was small, not so troublesome.

“Wait for me a few years. When my brother and I are stable, I’ll throw everything to him, and I’ll come to be with you, okay? We’re only twenty-one years old. It doesn’t matter if we mess around for a few years.”

“So, for the next few years, I have to endure you not being by my side, and publicly acknowledge that you’re dating a man.” Tsukimi Rin gazed into the woman’s eyes. Qiu Shi’s eyes were brownish-gray, while Qiu Ci’s were light green. This was the only physical difference between the two of them. “Why don’t you guess why I don’t date men?”

“Just a few years, please, just give me a few years. Three years, okay? Just three years.” Qiu Shi pleaded with Tsukimi Rin to agree.

Two conflicting thoughts were battling in Tsukimi Rin’s mind. You can’t be together. You definitely won’t be able to handle it.

Agree with her. She can wait for you for three years. Why can’t you wait for her? That promised trip hasn’t been fulfilled yet.

Qiu Shi reached across the table and hugged her.

The familiar embrace, warm and a bit weary.

Qiu Shi had also been hungry and had taken a twenty-hour flight to come here.

“I promise, within three years, I won’t have any excessive contact with Qin Yishan, okay, Rin-chan?”

Finally, that softest part of her heart gained the upper hand. “Throw away the ring first.”

Qiu Shi let go of her. Her hands swiftly took off the ring on her middle finger.

The glittering, expensive diamond ring was thrown into the trash can.

Tsukimi Rin filled a bowl of congee for Qiu Shi.

Qiu Shi chattered on and on about sending her younger brother to study finance.

Qiu Ci certainly wouldn’t be willing, but unfortunately, like Tsukimi Rin, he couldn’t resist Qiu Shi’s coaxing.

These three years would be harder for Tsukimi Rin than the past four.

Qiu Shi was never by her side. That person was sometimes in China, sometimes in New York, or Switzerland.

Because of the time difference, there were few phone calls.

Occasionally, she would see praise in interviews on the internet.

“Global Wealth’s largest shareholder, Ai La, a true beacon for women.”

“Ai La appointed Chief Executive Officer of CW’s branch in the China region, the youngest CEO.”

“Details of Ai La’s romance with the young master of the Overseas Chinese financial family.”

Every time she saw this kind of news, Tsukimi Rin would always click on it.

These bigwigs who paid attention to finance, and the gossip-loving netizens, would never imagine that this young female president had a girlfriend in Tokyo.

After another three months of not seeing each other, Tsukimi Rin gradually got used to the days without Qiu Shi by her side, no longer feeling as miserable as she had in the past few years when she couldn’t bear to leave Qiu Shi even for eating or sleeping.

But when she called that night, Tsukimi Rin couldn’t help but say, “I miss you, Qiu Shi.”

“Baby, I miss you too. I was attending a symposium in Switzerland a while ago…”

“I really miss you. Come to Tokyo.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. In those few seconds, Qiu Shi’s expression gradually changed from anger and impatience to tenderness, and finally she said: “Wait for me, okay?”

Twenty hours later, she arrived in Tokyo, tired once again.

What’s the date today? She couldn’t calculate the time difference.

In any case, she would go to Tsukimi Rin’s house first.

When she got home, she collapsed on the bed and complained: “Baby, my back hurts so much.”

“I’ll rub it for you.” Qiu Shi changed into her pajamas and lay on the bed, gently massaging Qiu Shi’s back.

“Once I turned twenty-five, I felt like my whole body deteriorated. It’s so uncomfortable, either my back hurts or my legs hurt.” Qiu Shi wasn’t lying. She had been feeling unwell lately.

“Are you deficient in calcium? Have you been checked?”

“Too busy.”

Tsukimi Rin remembered, oh yeah, they were twenty-five now.