Chapter Sixteen

Qu Qi was startled when Jing Ling opened the door after knocking.

"Aunt Jing...?"

Jing Ling had a face mask on. When he saw it was her, he didn't even bother with formalities and waved for her to come in and close the door.

Qu Qi bent down to put on the slippers Jing Ling had thrown to her, then realized what was happening: "You're on annual leave? Why are you back in the country at this time?"

“There’s a business deal in China. Have you eaten yet?” Jing Ling pinched Qu Qi’s cheek and mumbled because he had a face mask on. “Xiao Xi hasn’t gotten up yet. Go wake her up, and I’ll make breakfast for you two.”

Qu Qi nodded and then shook her head, leaning back on the sofa: "I've eaten, you don't need to do anything else. I came to find Xiaoyu to do her homework. We agreed to meet at Wanyue City at ten o'clock, it's already so late and she's still not up."

She was typing away on her phone, oblivious to Jing Ling's momentary pause.

"Her desk lamp was on until 2 a.m. last night, I don't know what she was doing." Jing Ling glanced at her, went to the refrigerator next to the island counter to get a bottle of orange juice, and asked casually, "Who was there? How many people?"

Qu Qi was engrossed in a group chat, constantly tossing emojis around. Hearing this, she didn't even look up and casually replied, "It's our class's Chinese language group, five people."

She took the iced orange juice Jing Ling handed her, shivered from the cold, and subconsciously looked up, hearing Jing Ling ask, "Are there any boys?"

Qu Qi's hand holding the orange juice froze.

Her brain raced, considering the meaning of Jing Ling's words from all angles.

Suspecting that You Congxi is in a relationship too early?

Or is it just a simple question?

Qu Qi slowly brought the orange juice to her chest, deciding to play dumb: "...Huh?"

Jing Ling turned to look at You Congxi's tightly closed door, then turned back to stare at Qu Qi for a few moments, as if judging whether she was trustworthy.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he waved to her, signaling her to come closer.

They already have intelligence on this.

Qu Qi was engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

Gossip or best friend? Gossip or best friend...

After struggling for a few seconds, Qu Qi's eyes sharpened, and he inwardly despised himself.

Is there even a need to choose?

That must be it.

I'm so sorry, best friend!

I don't want to hear gossip, I just want to talk to my mom.

She slowly moved closer...

What are you two doing sitting there?

The tightly closed door was pushed open with a bang. You Congxi squinted, still recovering from the dim environment caused by the closed curtains.

She glanced at the two people sitting stiffly on the sofa with a hazy look in her eyes, feeling a little annoyed: "Are you playing 'Red Light, Green Light'? You two are almost old age, how can you still be so childish?"

The setting suns: "..."

With her hair a mess, You Congxi glared at the two of them, thinking she was giving them a warning but actually still half asleep. Then, with a bang, she went back inside and slammed the door back in its place.

Qu Qi patted his chest in relief, thankfully he hadn't had a chance to hear Jing Ling's gossip yet.

Then, she lowered her voice and asked Jing Ling, "Why is she getting more and more grumpy when she wakes up? Did you upset her yesterday?"

You Congxi gets grumpy when he wakes up if he doesn't get enough sleep, but he can usually control it. At most, he'll just be quiet and unresponsive. But today, I don't know what's wrong with him; he's acting like a fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Jing Ling pressed down the peeling edge of the face mask, feeling guilty: "How could that be? I'm trying to avoid her like the plague. She has such a bad temper. I don't know who she took after."

"......"

Qu Qi didn't hear any gossip even after leaving the house.

You Congxi washed up quickly, grabbed a piece of clothing from the wardrobe, put it on, ate a piece of bread, and pulled Qu Qi outside.

Jingling chased after him, calling out, "Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"I'm not eating anymore." You Congxi held the bread in her hand and waved it casually. "Leave the key in the usual place when you leave."

Qu Qi checked her phone to see how many minutes until the car she had called would arrive, then glanced at the girl next to her who had a normal expression: "Did you have a fight with your aunt?"

You Congxi was checking the contents of her schoolbag when she heard this and glanced at her: "No, why do you ask?"

There was no argument. At most, she had a fantastical, melodramatic dream all night long, where Jing Ling and You Yuanming would occasionally turn their heads to kiss their lovers in their arms while they were getting a divorce at the Civil Affairs Bureau, each holding a child. She turned to leave but ended up bumping into Shen Yue's arms.

She must have been provoked by Jing Ling; she's completely lost her mind.

"Just asking, but I noticed the auntie's expression was a bit unnatural."

Qu Qi knew about You Congxi's family situation. Seeing that she wasn't in a good mood, he changed the subject: "Did you stay up late again last night? Look at your dark circles, they're practically hanging down to your feet."

The car arrived, and You Congxi opened the car door for Qu Qi before getting in on the other side.

Qu Qi gave the last digit of the number, and You Congxi took off her schoolbag, put it on her lap, and covered her mouth to yawn.

"I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night doing my homework, and the test papers were piled up like a mountain."

Qu Qi gave her a thumbs up: "I admire you the most over the years for this: you always do your homework first, no matter what."

You Congxi glanced at her and said, "Over the years, I admire you the most for this: no matter when, you always go to school on the first day of the semester to finish your homework."

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and casually said, "What were you doing with my mom this morning? Your heads were practically touching, and then she..."

"It's nothing!" Qu Qi's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately retorted.

You Congxi stopped talking and raised an eyebrow at her.

Qu Qi felt uneasy under her gaze, but still stubbornly insisted, "There really is nothing there!"

You Congxi had only asked casually, but she didn't expect to accidentally uncover something. Qu Qi really couldn't keep secrets as always.

“Oh,” she said slowly, sitting up abruptly, her voice flat, “Then I can only tell Dahai that he returned the phone to the wrong person, that he shouldn’t have given it back to me, he should have given it back to…”

"I'll talk! I'll talk, okay?!" Qu Qi gave up.

Last week, Lu Botao caught her playing on her phone. Just when she thought her precious phone and she were about to die heroically, You Congxi rescued her and her precious phone by riding on auspicious clouds.

She's a grateful person. Now that things have come to this, I'm sorry, Aunt Jingling!

Adhering to the life motto of "better to die than to die myself," Qu Qi made up his mind and told the whole story: "Actually, it's nothing. It's just that my aunt asked me where we were going and if there were any men with us. She wanted to whisper something to me, but you opened the door and came out, so we didn't get to say it."

Then, Qu Qi concluded, "You Congxi, you're in a relationship. Which guy?"

Just as You Congxi was about to speak, both of their phones rang at the same time.

She ignored it; she had more important things to do. She wanted Qu Qi to know which man she was with—

"Chen Yue..."

"No!" You Congxi felt a jolt to her nerves and immediately retorted, "It wasn't him. I didn't date anyone early either."

"...ask us what we want to drink." Qu Qi silently added the second half of the sentence.

"......"

The swim in the Congxi River has stalled.

"Well, I mean... it's not what she said, I didn't have a relationship in my early years."

"Oh," Qu Qi nodded, "What would you like to drink? I just had a glass of iced orange juice, and I don't really feel like drinking anything right now."

“…I’m fine with anything.” You Congxi replied blankly.

It just passed by so quietly? That's not like her at all...

Shouldn't we be getting to the bottom of this? Is Qu Qi also possessed by a ghost?

After typing away with her fingers, Qu Qi saw You Congxi still staring at her with her mouth slightly open. She smiled and said, "I was just teasing you. Why are you so excited? I've always known that no matter who else is dating you, you're the first to fall in love. You're practically immune to romance. Parents are all like that, so suspicious. My mom even suspected that I was dating you."

You Congxi: "

You Congxi: "Auntie has such an open mind."

Qu Qi: "Speaking of this, Shen Yue is a savior of single life. He's arrogant, picky, and has a bad temper. At first, people in the school's group chat said he was gay, but later they all said he was a narcissist. It's hilarious. I want to see who can date you two."

You Congxi: "...Hmm."

“By the way,” Qu Qi glanced at the backpack on her lap, “I have a feeling that Shen Yue likes you. He smiles as soon as he sees you, like a different person. It doesn’t match what they said in the school group chat.”

You Congxi froze, her ears ringing. She couldn't hear what Qu Qi said after that, only the word "like".

Something throbbed in her chest, like the door slamming against the wall in the morning, one thud after another, so loud that her breath caught in her throat for a few seconds. In that slight moment of suffocation, she seemed to return to that chaotic scene in her dream, where the man's embrace shut everything out, leaving only his strong arms and the faint scent of soap.

"Little Fish??" Qu Qi waved her hand back and forth in front of You Congxi's eyes, frowning. "Why are you daydreaming again? Do you think my analysis is right? That dog Shen Yue definitely wants to steal you away from me and make you his male best friend. What a scheming man!"

"......"

Qu Qi nudged her with her elbow: "If I and Shen Yue fell into the water, who would you save?"

"...I pushed He Qizheng and Yin Zixuan into the water, and I sat on the shore. We did our group assignments together."

Qu Qi: "...You want to die if you go swimming in Congxi."

While dodging Qu Qi's tickling attacks, You Congxi was distracted and thought that perhaps what Qu Qi said was true. Shen Yue treated her as a friend, and the dream she had only showed that she considered Shen Yue a good friend, without any other meaning. After all, she had only ever hugged her friends.

That's right, who says a man and a woman can only have love?

shallow.

-

It was already quite late when the two of them arrived.

Wanyue City was quite crowded on the weekend, and the City Book Bar on the first floor was packed with people.

The air conditioning in the bookstore was on full blast. When You Congxi pushed open the door, she could clearly feel a blast of Siberian cold air hitting her face, and she felt as if every pore on her body had opened up.

There were too many people, so You Congxi squinted and scanned the area, trying to find the other members of the group.

Qu Qi followed closely behind, letting out a long breath and humming contentedly.

Hearing the noise, You Congxi turned around and asked her for help: "Don't you feel that all these backs of their heads look the same? And their profiles too?"

Qu Qi: "......"

Qu Qi: "Promise me you won't go out alone if you have face blindness, okay?"

You Congxi gave up and decided to follow behind Qu Qi. She was just looking for fun anyway, and she was quite aware of her face blindness.

With Qu Qi holding her arm, You Congxi paused, her gaze lingering, and murmured, "I think I see them."

"Illusion, little baby."

"...Really. Is it in the right corner?"

Qu Qi looked over in the direction she was referring to, only to see the backs of several unfamiliar heads.

She sighed, just about to pull You Congxi along to continue the search.

You Congxi felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head.

A passerby hurrying by.

"What's wrong?" Qu Qi asked, puzzled, as she couldn't move the person.

You Congxi turned around, shook his head, and gestured for Qu Qi to continue walking forward.

My other wrist, which was hanging by my side, felt a little itchy.

She reached out and scratched it.

"Where exactly are they sitting?" Qu Qi felt like she was about to lose her way.

You Congxi froze.

The boy's husky voice, tinged with laughter, reached my ears.

“You touched my hand,” Shen Yue waved the finger that had been touched in front of You Congxi’s eyes, “You’re being a pervert, You Xiaoyu.”