This photograph and the one she kept for herself must have been taken together, but they each chose the expressions they preferred.
After looking at the photo, she walked around the room again, quite appreciating the décor. It was definitely the work of a master, a heavy metal rock European style that somehow didn't clash when used in a bedroom, though it had a somewhat otherworldly feel.
She was curious about what Yang Sijie's house looked like beyond this bedroom. The entire place felt so quiet, as if no one was home.
She stepped out of the bedroom and stood by the railing, stunned by the sheer size of the villa.
Was Yang Sijie the only one living in such a large house?
The bedroom was on the second floor. From the railing on the second floor, she could see the white sofa on the first floor, a massive ultra-thin LCD television that almost covered an entire wall, and a crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling all the way down to the living room above.
The ultra-luxurious crystal chandelier, even without being lit, refracted its natural, captivating glow under the illumination of the motion-sensor lights on the second-floor corridor.
She walked downstairs, looking for Yang Sijie. She noticed that at intervals, motion-sensor lights of different colors would illuminate. Without the main lights on in the villa, it didn't feel dark or frightening.
Instead, it made her want to discover the color of the next motion-sensor light. If she ran, she could probably turn this villa into a colorful, dreamlike castle.
The thought of a colorful castle suddenly reminded her of how Yang Sijie, as a child, had fought with other children at the orphanage, getting bruised and battered, just to get a pink princess dress.
She remembered a batch of donated children's clothes, and there was only one pink princess dress among them. The girls all wanted that dress, but she couldn't snatch it from the older children.
Just as she had given up hope of getting the dress, Yang Sijie called her out of the dormitory one evening before bedtime and handed her a package wrapped in newspaper.
When she took the package, she thought it was food. Seeing the fresh bloodstains on his face and a bruised eye, she was about to ask who he had fought with when he turned and ran away.
Gu Susu returned to the dormitory and waited until everyone else was asleep before quietly opening the newspaper. She discovered it was the pink princess dress she had wanted and was overjoyed.
The next day, she deliberately put on the dress and went to find him by the lake outside the orphanage.
He was indeed sitting on the embankment by the lake, swinging his legs and throwing pebbles into the water.
"Brother Sijie, look, quickly, look, doesn't this look good on me?" she called from afar, spinning around, and then ran up to him.
Yang Sijie turned to look at her and said without blinking, "It looks good, really good."
Gu Susu happily hopped and sat beside him, swinging her legs like he was, "Thank you. Did you get into a fight for this dress? Does your face still hurt?"
Yang Sijie, like a hero, shook his head nonchalantly and said, "This is nothing, it doesn't hurt."
Gu Susu took out a warm egg she had been holding in her palm and handed it to him, "Auntie Wang said boiled eggs can reduce bruises, put this on."
Yang Sijie took the egg and placed it on his injured cheek, but said, "You girls are so troublesome. Why do you all like such ugly dresses?"
"What are you talking about? This is a princess dress. I see little foreign celebrities on TV wearing dresses like this, they look so beautiful."
Yang Sijie said in a voice almost too quiet to hear, "You look better in it than they do."
"Really?" Gu Susu, flattered by the compliment, immediately stood up and spun around, "Do I look like a little princess? I saw princesses on TV living in big castles with colorful rainbows..."
Yang Sijie interrupted her daydream with a laugh, "That's all lies. How can a rainbow be inside a house? It only hangs in the sky. Television is all lies."
"No, it's not! That castle has a rainbow, it's a colorful castle!" Gu Susu argued earnestly.
Yang Sijie scoffed, "You girls just like unrealistic fantasies."
Gu Susu's face flushed with annoyance, "Who's having unrealistic fantasies? There must be castles like that somewhere in the world!"
"Alright, alright. If there are such castles, besides princesses, are there princes? Who is your prince?"
His teasing question made Gu Susu's face even redder. She stomped her foot in annoyance and said, "Brother Sijie, I'm not playing with you anymore!"
With that, she turned and ran away.
Yang Sijie watched her pink dress disappear as she ran, not understanding why she was angry. He ran his hand through his hair, looking utterly bewildered.
He still remembered to shout after her retreating figure, "If no one is your prince, I can reluctantly be..."
Later, she even took a photo with Yang Sijie wearing that dress. Then, Yang Sijie was adopted and taken away. Her favorite pink princess dress was inexplicably torn to shreds by someone.
She was heartbroken. She took it to the orphanage's caregiver aunties, but no one could mend the pink princess dress properly.
The dress became a pile of rags, and she could never wear it again.
From then on, she was determined to become a fashion designer and create the most beautiful princess dress in the world.
After becoming a designer, she designed many outfits, but she could never design the princess dress of her dreams.
She walked from the living room to the dining room and then to the kitchen on the first floor, letting the colorful motion-sensor lights turn on and off, on and off, as she paced, reminiscing about the past.
Just as she was lost in her memories, the crystal chandelier in the center of the villa suddenly lit up entirely.
She looked up, unaccustomed to such beautiful, intense light, and couldn't open her eyes.
After a while, she adjusted and saw Yang Sijie walking gracefully down the stairs, dressed in a white silk casual suit with Chinese styling.
The boy of the past had transformed into a tall, composed man exuding an awe-inspiring aura.
Gu Susu simply stared as Yang Sijie walked up to her.
Yang Sijie gently touched her forehead with his palm and said, "You've finally broken your fever. Why aren't you resting in your room?"
Gu Susu came back to her senses and asked, "I think I took your room. Where did you rest?"
"I was just having an overseas business conference in the study." Yang Sijie pointed to other rooms and said, "Don't worry about me, there are other rooms here where you can rest."
Gu Susu said "oh" and then asked, "This house... is this house yours? You've achieved a lot now, haven't you?"
Yang Sijie smiled and said humbly, "It's much better compared to the past. Actually, it's not entirely my own ability, I'm just helping my adoptive parents manage the company."
Gu Susu said with envy, "Brother Sijie, you are so lucky to have met such good adoptive parents."
Yang Sijie smiled gently and said, "Go back to your room and rest. Are you hungry? What would you like to eat? I'll make it."
Gu Susu said in surprise, "You still cook yourself at your status now?"