Chapter 7
Shen Zhao had no choice but to accept Song Ling’s suggestion.
They would share a room.
After checking in at the front desk, they went upstairs together and took their luggage to the room.
The hotel wasn’t particularly upscale compared with hotels back home, but as the best hotel in Teriberka, it had all the necessary amenities.
Shen Zhao followed Song Ling down the hall with her luggage. Their room was 307. Song Ling opened the door, and Shen Zhao stopped just inside, startled by what she saw.
It was a room with one large bed.
Which meant there was only one bed in the room.
There wasn’t even a sofa.
Shen Zhao instinctively looked at Song Ling. As though she understood, Song Ling turned to look at her too. Their eyes met, and the air seemed to still for a moment. Neither of them spoke.
Song Ling turned away, went inside, and set down her luggage.
Then she asked, “Would you like to shower first?”
Shen Zhao stood there blankly, holding a suitcase in each hand. “Huh? Oh, okay. Do you want to go first?”
Her heart was beating a little fast, and even her breathing had quickened without her noticing.
Song Ling gave nothing away. Without looking at her, she said in a low voice, “You go first.”
Still somewhat dazed, Shen Zhao nodded. “Okay.”
The room wasn’t large. It held a bed two meters wide and two meters long, with the bathroom directly beside it. The bathroom was partly open and enclosed in glass; from the bed, you could see straight inside.
Its one advantage was a large balcony with an excellent view. According to the hotel’s advertisement, there was even a chance of seeing the Northern Lights from it at night.
Shen Zhao put down her luggage, took out a change of clothes, and went into the bathroom.
She hadn’t washed properly in almost two days. Even though the weather here was cold, she was uncomfortable with that.
Once inside, she saw Song Ling’s figure through the transparent glass.
Holding her clothes, Shen Zhao pressed her lips together. A curtain ran around the glass enclosure. She went over and pulled it shut, blocking the view between the bathroom and the room.
Song Ling took what she needed from her suitcase. As she stood up, she heard water rushing in the bathroom.
She paused and looked toward the glass wall, something unreadable in her eyes.
The weather was cold, and the glass soon misted over. Bright bathroom lights outlined the figure within. The curtain hid Shen Zhao from view, but together with the sound of running water, it somehow made the scene all the more enticing.
Song Ling’s breathing grew a little heavier. She turned her face away, grabbed her cigarettes and lighter from the bedside table, and went out onto the balcony.
There was still some daylight. Song Ling rested both hands on the balcony railing, then tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing the refined outline of her profile, at once coolly beautiful and soft.
She turned her head and flicked her lighter. The flame illuminated the pale, clean lines of her face. Song Ling drew a deep breath and slipped the lighter into her pocket.
White smoke passed her crimson lips, rose slowly, then dispersed into the air.
With one hand in her coat pocket, her fingers suddenly touched something.
She took it out. It was the blue stud earring.
The Oppenheimer—the Oppenheimer Blue Diamond—was among the finest blue diamonds, though few people would recognize it.
She had bought it on behalf of the Song Group at a charity auction that day. In her hurry afterward, she had simply put it in her pocket.
The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon.
Darkness came early this far north. The sun had appeared briefly in the morning before sinking out of sight.
Snow stretched in every direction, pristine and beautiful.
As Song Ling admired this rarely seen landscape, she found herself in an unusually pleasant mood.
She did not know how much time passed. When her cigarette had burned down, its ash drifting away on the air, she pressed the stub out on the balcony.
A voice suddenly came from behind her. “I’m done.”
Song Ling discreetly dropped the cigarette stub into the trash and turned around. Shen Zhao had changed into a beige turtleneck sweater. Her hair was still dripping wet, falling untidily over her shoulders.
Song Ling frowned. “Why didn’t you dry your hair?”
Shen Zhao held a towel. At Song Ling’s words, she hurriedly put it over her head and rubbed her hair at random. “I’ll just towel it off. The room’s heated, so it’ll dry on its own.”
Song Ling’s frown deepened as she stepped back inside.
“It’s colder here than it is back home. You don’t want to catch a cold.” She looked at Shen Zhao and tipped her chin toward the bathroom. “Go dry it. I’m not in a hurry.”
Still holding the towel around her head with both hands, Shen Zhao looked up at her. She wasn’t sure why, but Song Ling’s words sounded almost like an order—one she instinctively found hard to refuse.
She blinked twice, her eyes still damp. “Okay,” she said, then went back into the bathroom.
A phone on the bedside table suddenly chimed with a text message.
It was Shen Zhao’s phone. Song Ling glanced at it.
The message was a birthday reminder. In her pocket, Song Ling’s fingers tightened around the blue diamond.
After they had both showered and rested for a while, they ordered food to the hotel. By three in the afternoon, it was completely dark outside.
The hotel staff had kindly told them that the Northern Lights were expected after nightfall.
So, after a quick return to their room to get ready, they set out for the aurora viewing site to watch for the main event of the trip—the Northern Lights.
Because it was the National Day holiday, Shen Zhao saw quite a few Asian faces.
The viewing site stood beside the Arctic Ocean. Because of the area’s geography and the warm Atlantic current, this was one of the few ice-free ports in the far north.
So close to the Arctic Ocean, Shen Zhao could clearly hear the sea roaring. Wave after wave lent the dark night a mysterious sense of discovery.
She tipped her head back and searched every part of the sky, afraid she might miss the slightest sign of the Northern Lights.
“Will they really appear tonight?” Shen Zhao asked, craning her neck to look around. “I’ve never seen them before.”
Song Ling stood behind her, looking down at her. “If we’re lucky, they will.”
“Is tomorrow your birthday?” Song Ling suddenly asked.
Shen Zhao turned back in surprise. “How did you know?”
Song Ling smiled faintly. “I happened to see the text on your phone.” She looked down at Shen Zhao. “Happy birthday.”
Shen Zhao’s eyes curved beautifully as she smiled. “Thank you. You’re the first person to wish me a happy birthday.”
A smile entered Song Ling’s eyes. “Though I’m a little early.”
Shen Zhao smiled without answering.
Song Ling took the blue diamond from her coat pocket. Looking down at it, she said, “Meeting in a foreign country is a kind of fate. And with your birthday falling now too, it’s fate upon fate. I left in a hurry and didn’t bring anything suitable to give you. Take this earring as your birthday present.”
Shen Zhao froze. She recognized the blue diamond between Song Ling’s fingers—the one that had been left in the jacket she’d taken to the dry cleaner’s. She pressed her lips together. “I… This is too valuable. I can’t accept it…”
“It isn’t worth much,” Song Ling said gently. “It’s just an ordinary stone.”
As she spoke, she stepped closer, brushed the hair away from the side of Shen Zhao’s face, and put the earring on her.
“It was a little gift from someone else. Don’t give it another thought. My ears aren’t pierced, so I have no use for it. I’m just passing the gift along.”
Hearing that, Shen Zhao instinctively looked at Song Ling’s earlobes. They were pale and smooth, without piercings.
Song Ling’s fingers were cool. When they accidentally brushed the skin of her ear, a ticklish sensation ran down Shen Zhao’s neck. Their closeness made her feel strangely overwhelmed. She stepped back twice and touched her earlobe.
A tiny diamond stud.
She caught the faint scent of shampoo, the same one provided at the hotel.
Shen Zhao’s heart thudded, and she felt a little nervous.
She looked up and met Song Ling’s dark eyes. Her heart seemed to skip a beat, and her breathing grew softer without her realizing it.
Gazing at Song Ling’s beautiful face, Shen Zhao whispered, “Thank you.”
Song Ling gave her a polite little smile. “You’re welcome.”
Suddenly, someone nearby shouted, “The Northern Lights are here!”
Shen Zhao and Song Ling looked up together. A ribbon-like shape had appeared in the gray sky, though it wasn’t green yet.
Shen Zhao had researched this already.
The aurora did look gray when it first appeared. It took time to develop. After a little while, the gray band turned gray-green, and gradually its green grew deeper and deeper, shining with dazzling light.
Exclamations rose from the crowd. Everyone was enthralled.
Green aurora spread across the sky, its light emerging in flashes through gaps in the clouds. A few minutes later, the clouds parted, revealing a rare star-filled sky.
The Northern Lights flared beneath the stars, casting green light over everyone’s faces. The sight was breathtaking.
It was like the most romantic fairyland. The green ribbons gradually widened, as though someone had overturned a pot of green paint and splashed it across the sky. Broad swathes of aurora shifted overhead, wild and otherworldly.
Shen Zhao forgot everything else for a moment and simply stared up at the spectacle.
Overwhelmed, she had only one thought.
—If only Si’er were here beside her.
She took out her phone and photographed the aurora filling the sky, then recorded a video.
She suddenly remembered what Song Ling had said earlier that day: [Our eyes are the best cameras in the world.]
Even the finest camera could not capture a sight this beautiful.
Shen Zhao closed her eyes. If people could make wishes on shooting stars, surely they could make wishes beneath Northern Lights this beautiful and dreamlike.
She made a wish: [May my family be safe, and may the person I love stay by my side forever.]
Song Ling, too, was looking up at the beautiful, otherworldly aurora. Gradually, her gaze settled on the person in front of her. Shen Zhao’s eyes were tightly shut, her expression solemn.
She was probably making a wish.
Song Ling suddenly wanted to know what Shen Zhao had wished for.
But whatever it was, it probably had nothing to do with her.
The brilliant display lasted for quite some time before slowly fading toward the horizon. Dark clouds gathered across the sky again, though beneath the lingering green glow, they looked like a fairyland in a celestial palace.
Shen Zhao’s excitement lingered. A guide at the viewing site explained that the weather had turned unusually good after the blizzard. They should be able to see Northern Lights of this quality every night for the next few days.
Shen Zhao’s trip was scheduled for seven days in all. Excluding the travel days at either end, she had less than five days to spend there.
She had set aside three nights in Teriberka. The remaining two days were for other activities in Murmansk.
Shen Zhao and Song Ling stayed out in the snow for a long time. There was a shop nearby, and Shen Zhao bought some food to take back to the hotel.
It was already late when they returned.
Shen Zhao was still too excited to feel sleepy. She had even forgotten how tired she’d been during the day.
Only when she entered their hotel room and saw the large bed did she suddenly calm down.
She remembered the problem she had long since pushed to the back of her mind.
Tonight, she was going to sleep with a woman she barely knew.
In the same bed.
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