Yang Ce thought wickedly. But while one hand of Yang Puqi's was up to mischief, the other was not idle either—deftly he unbuttoned Zhou Yanning's pajamas and stripped her upper body completely bare.

The villa's heating ran twenty-four hours anyway, so there was not the slightest chill; one could go about with nothing on at all and not catch cold. "Sister Lin, don't you think we've been neglecting Yang Ce a bit these past few days?" Chen Shutang sat on the bed hugging her knees, curled up under the quilt, and asked Lin Yanhe, who was sitting in the same posture beside her.

"I don't know," Lin Yanhe said, shaking her head.

"You—you just don't have a mind of your own. One day he's going to bully you to death." Chen Shutang gave a helpless laugh. "Are you dying to go find Yang Ce right now?"

"I—I'm not!" Lin Yanhe's face flushed scarlet at once, and she shook her head hurriedly.

"You little traitor." Chen Shutang giggled and reached over to tickle Lin Yanhe's armpits.

"Ah—Sister Mengyan, stop it! I can't take it, ha ha—" But Lin Yanhe was not about to be outdone; she reached out and groped at Chen Shutang's chest. "Yang Ce loves touching you here—" "You wicked girl, you've got it backward, haven't you? How would you know—unless Yang Ce likes touching yours, and that's how you found out?" Chen Shutang saw straight through Lin Yanhe's fib.

The two girls tumbled together, laughing and scuffling, and only stopped when they were too tired to go on, each collapsing onto her own side of the bed.

"Sister Lin, how about you go keep Yang Ce company tonight? It's rather pitiful, him all alone. After we came upstairs just now, I saw how disappointed he looked, and I couldn't bear it." Chen Shutang sighed, her tone returning to normal as she spoke to Lin Yanhe.

"I—Sister Mengyan, you go instead." Lin Yanhe did rather want to see Yang Juehuan, but she felt it would be better to let Chen Shutang go.

"Me, go? Go where?" Chen Shutang laughed. "It's not as if I can't go find him anytime I want. In Yang Lanxu's eyes I'm probably a rather petty, small-minded sort. If I always monopolized him, he might not say anything, but he'd surely resent me for it in his heart."

"That's not true at all, Sister Mengyan. I think you're very magnanimous." Lin Yanhe meant it from the bottom of her heart. "When you first found out about me and Yan, you didn't—you didn't try to stop us. I'm very grateful."

"Come to think of it, you and Yan were involved first. Yang Cenbin is a soft-hearted person, and I still want to thank you for not using that to threaten him, to make Yang Ce and me break up." Chen Shutang sighed and spoke softly.

"Of course I wouldn't." Lin Yanhe shook her head and said with certainty. "The way things are now, I'm already very content. Sister Mengyan, let the two of us be good sisters for life—all right?"

"Of course. And Jiajia too—she's the one I brought into this house, without ever discussing it with you. I was afraid you might have objections." Chen Shutang nodded, then said.

"Those things—Sister Mengyan, you just decide them. I have no objections at all," Lin Yanhe said indifferently.

"All right, enough of this. Go on, quick. Yang Ce's probably waiting till he's frantic, and in a moment he'll be cross with me." Chen Shutang patted Lin Yanhe and urged her on.

"I—I go?" Lin Yanhe sounded uncertain. "You really want me to go?"

"I told you to go, so go. You're clearly thinking about it, yet you keep hesitating this way and that—you'll have to change that habit of yours." Chen Shutang put on a stern face. "If you don't go, I'll be angry."

"Then—then I'll go." Lin Yanhe hesitated a moment, then climbed out of bed. But then she turned back to Chen Shutang. "Sister Mengyan, why don't the two of us go together?"

"Together?" Chen Shutang was stunned, then stared at Lin Yanhe like a fool. "How—how would we go together?"

"We're good sisters, so we ought to be together," Lin Yanhe said, her face red.

If Yang Ce had been there, he would have been overjoyed, praising Sister Lin to the skies as a goddess descended to earth—to have come up with such a magnificent idea, it deserved commendation.

"That—that's not really proper, is it?" Chen Shutang's face was red too. True, she and Lin Yanhe were now as close as real sisters; for several nights they had slept in the same bed, and even just now they had bathed together. There was nothing left to be bashful about between them.

But doing *that* was different. Yang Ce could only be with one person at a time—so what was the other supposed to do, stand there and watch? Chen Shutang blushed at the very thought. If it were her watching Sister Lin and Yan, that might be all right, but if the situation were reversed and Sister Lin were watching her, how could she ever face anyone again?

You wicked girl, to come up with such a brazen idea, Chen Shutang thought, mortified beyond words. She tapped Lin Yanhe on the head. "I don't know what goes on in that little head of yours. Yang Ce, that lecher, must have corrupted you."

"It's not like that." Lin Yanhe sounded rather aggrieved. "I just thought, we're sisters, so good things ought to be shared."

"You—Yang Minlan, you're being wicked, and you call it a good thing?" Chen Shutang was caught between laughter and tears. "I don't know what potion he's given you."

"But—but when he's wicked to me, I like it too, and it feels good too," Lin Yanhe said in a small voice. "Sister Mengyan, don't you feel the same?"

"I—" Chen Shutang was instantly at a loss for words. Lin Yanhe was right, after all. Ah, she had thought she could recruit an ally, but she had never imagined that Sister Lin, whatever the circumstances, was a little traitor. Chen Shutang had no way out, so she steeled herself and said, "Fine, then we'll go together. But it's agreed—only Yang Minlan gets to be wicked with you. I'll just be at your side, keeping you company."

"Sister Mengyan, you're even more wicked." Lin Yanhe was overcome with shyness at these words and lowered her head, not daring to look at Chen Shutang.

But Chen Shutang's curiosity was roused; she wanted to see just what it was like between Sister Lin and Yan. Without another word she pulled Lin Yanhe up, and the two of them headed for Yang Juehuan's room.

At first Lin Yanhe was still a little sheepish, but after a couple of steps she no longer felt anything much about it. After all, she and Sister Mengyan had agreed to be good sisters for life—so what was there to fear? Sooner or later there would be a day when she got to watch them in return. The two tiptoed to the door of Yang Juehuan's room. Chen Shutang was about to knock when Lin Yanhe stopped her. "Sister Mengyan, what if Yang Ce has already fallen asleep? It wouldn't be right to disturb him, would it?"

Chen Shutang found it amusing. No one knew Yang Juehuan's temperament better than she did. She thought to herself: he'd be only too glad to be disturbed by us—the more often, the better.

Still, not knocking was fine too. Chen Shutang decided to just push the door open herself; if Yang Ce was asleep, giving him a fright would be fun enough.

So she nodded, softly grasped the door handle, and pushed it open.

"Gah—"

To be continued.

1012. Discovered

"Gah—" Chen Shutang and Lin Yanhe both gaped in astonishment at the same instant. Chen Shutang reached out to cover Lin Yanhe's mouth so she would not make a sound, while Lin Yanhe instinctively moved to cover Chen Shutang's mouth.

Then the two let go at the same time and looked at each other with a smile.

Yang Ce had in fact noticed the commotion outside long ago, but after a glance with his ability he had paid it no mind—rather, he was pleasantly surprised. What had gotten into today? Usually not a single one of them came, and now all three were on their way.