Chapter 54: “Love Playdough” Part 2

Cui Qijin rubbed her forehead. She caught the eye of the clerk, who had wandered over to give them a weird look, and felt a pang of apology for her girlfriend mistakenly calling the store a roadside spot.

Then she glanced at Chi Buyu, who was gazing at her with big puppy eyes, and replied halfheartedly, “Well, then take me out for a fancy meal when you have time.”

“Wow~” Chi Buyu widened her eyes in surprise. “When did our Muhuo Classmate learn to make demands like that?”

Cui Qijin was startled by how Chi Buyu had zeroed in on the key point. But in a way, her girlfriend wasn’t wrong.

She lowered her lashes, dodging Chi Buyu’s direct gaze, and took another absentminded bite of her sandwich without responding.

Chi Buyu called out to her again.

“Cui Muhuo.”

“What now?” Cui Qijin nearly tacked on “Young Miss.”

But then Chi Buyu turned utterly sincere.

“Next time, I’ll make it up to you with a proper date. I’m really making you put up with this one.”

In that moment, Cui Qijin knew Chi Buyu meant every word. She had actually been enjoying this date just fine—she was happy, because dates weren’t about standardized venues or times anyway. They were about the two of them.

But through the glass door, she saw the earnestness shining in Chi Buyu’s eyes.

So she said, “Sure.”

Was that being disingenuous? She didn’t think so.

–

Before they finished their sandwiches and left the 7-Eleven, Chi Buyu suddenly hiked up her red skirt and darted between the shelves. Finally, she peeked slyly at Cui Qijin over the top of one.

Cui Qijin knew her girlfriend was up to something.

She obligingly looked away.

A minute or two later, Chi Buyu came rushing back, head down, with two cans of ice-cold pineapple beer in hand. But she acted like she was making that same guilty dash to the adult store from before.

Their reflections shimmered in the glass door as they walked out side by side, both in those elegantly flowing skirts. At eleven-thirty on an empty street, they prepared to chug ice-cold beers in the dead of night. Halfway down the road, the clerk in his green uniform shirt burst out from the brightly lit store, clutching two bundles of flowers swaying in the wind. He shouted urgently,

“Hey, Ice Pineapple Beer Misses! You forgot your flowers!”

They both turned, utterly baffled.

Once they saw what it was—

Cui Qijin heard Chi Buyu giggling beside her, like a chick about to burst from its shell.

Chi Buyu watched as Cui Qijin walked over with a look of utter exasperation, accepted the two bouquets, thanked the clerk politely, then turned back. Step by step she approached, her face crossed with those cartoonish black lines of annoyance.

Maybe because Chi Buyu was laughing so hard, Cui Qijin cracked a helpless smile of her own. She handed one bouquet back to her, tensed her jaw like a kid making a pinky promise, and said very seriously,

“Don’t forget next time.”

They continued their date.

Chi Buyu cheerfully waved her flowers at the clerk. His face was indistinct in the distance, but he seemed to be smiling as he watched them go. In that instant, Chi Buyu thought maybe he was wondering—

So there really are people in this world who fall in love in such a weird way.

–

The night breeze had turned chilly. Cui Qijin shrugged off her hoodie and tried to drape it over Chi Buyu. But Chi Buyu pushed her hand away, jutting out her chin stubbornly. “No way.”

Cui Qijin asked, “Why not?”

Chi Buyu pointed at her red skirt, tone full of dissatisfaction. “Come on, this dress is so pretty—I wore it on purpose for you to see. How could I cover it up now!”

Cui Qijin wordlessly slipped her hoodie back on.

With a fizz, Chi Buyu struggled one-handed to pop the tab while hugging her flowers. She passed the ice-cold beer to Cui Qijin first, then freed up her other hand to take hold of hers. Puckering her lips, she said,

“I’ve done my homework—everyone says this one’s great, and the alcohol content—””Glug glug.”

Cui Qijin took it, her fingertips chilled by the condensation, and sipped casually. “It’s fine.”

“But what about the alcohol content?”

She looked over.

Chi Buyu already had the can to her face, glugging down several gulps. When she lowered it, her lips glistened, plump and rosy.

“Not that high either.”

“Then don’t drink it so fast,” Cui Qijin reminded her kindly.

“We’ll see!” “Glug glug.”

Chi Buyu clearly loved pineapple so much she wouldn’t pass up even pineapple beer. Cui Qijin eyed the label cautiously—7%. Was 7% low? Would it even get Chi Buyu drunk?

She had no idea.

In any case—

By the time Cui Qijin realized it, they’d reached the middle of the street. The forecasted light rain hadn’t started yet; the neon lights were dimming, and some film crew was still shooting in the distance. She turned to look at Chi Buyu and saw her teetering along the white line at the road’s edge again.

Cui Qijin fell into step beside her.

She took hold of her soft, warm hand, matching her slow pace. The white line blurred under the dim light, their shadows stretching over it, skirts fluttering in the wind.

The breeze carried the scent of pineapple-laced alcohol. Chi Buyu squeezed Cui Qijin’s hand tighter, as if pop rocks were fizzing in her palm. Suddenly she asked,

“Cui Qijin, do you think you’re drunk?”

Cui Qijin stared at the straight white line. “Nope.”

Chi Buyu went, “Oh,” and shook her head. “Me neither.”

Cui Qijin tossed their nearly empty cans into a trash bin. “Maybe it hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“Yeah…”

Chi Buyu pouted, as if nursing some unhappy secret.

Cui Qijin gave her a puzzled glance but didn’t ask why.

About a minute later—

Chi Buyu shook her hand and fixed her with clear, bright eyes. “Cui Qijin, are you drunk?”

Cui Qijin checked the white line on the ground—it was still straight. She answered honestly. “No.”

Chi Buyu puffed out her cheeks.

She shook her head again, rubbed her chin, and said, “I think I might be a little drunk.”

“Really? Should we head back?”

Cui Qijin didn’t get a chance to check if Chi Buyu was actually drunk.

Chi Buyu stopped walking.

She halted under a streetlamp, the hand holding the flowers tucked behind her back.

Cui Qijin, caught by her grip, couldn’t move either. She waved her free hand in front of Chi Buyu’s face from arm’s length away. “Chi Buyu, why’d you stop?”

Chi Buyu swung their joined hands, staring straight at her.

A faint mist of rain began to drift through the air, softening the streetlamp into a hazy glow that played across Chi Buyu’s face, painting her soft features in a kaleidoscope of colors.

They stood there holding hands under the light, shadows wavering on the roadside pavement—two figures in skirts, each with a bouquet, as if about to cha-cha down the street.

“Chi Buyu?”

Cui Qijin saw her own shadow wave on the damp ground.

Chi Buyu’s hand emerged from behind her flower-like skirt hem, holding two pop tabs atop the blooms.

The mist blurred their shadows.

Chi Buyu held the flowers with the tabs back out to her, grinning dopily—whether from drink or not—and said,

“Cui Muhuo, let’s get married.”

Cui Qijin burst out laughing.

How childish could Chi Buyu be? A grown woman playing roadside wedding with can tabs.

“Chi Buyu, are you playing house?”

She really said it.

Chi Buyu lifted her chin and huffed like a cat, then shook their hands wheedlingly. “Will you marry me? Will you marry me? Will you marry me?”

Cui Qijin laughed so hard she could barely stop.

Even their shadows swayed with her, like they were dancing. Maybe the alcohol was finally hitting. And then, in the next second, a sudden tug on her hand—

Her skirt flared as she jumped forward; their shadows merged on the ground like a scrolled-up oil painting.

Chi Buyu yanked her close, noses almost bumping, her boozy breath warm on Cui Qijin’s face.

“Will you? Will you? Will you marry me?”

Chi Buyu wouldn’t let the matter drop. Her fingertip gently scraped over the soft pulse at Cui Qijin’s wrist, pressing lightly as if wielding a fluffy blob of jelly to threaten her.

“Not getting married? Fine then!”

Chi Buyu seemed genuinely angry now, her hand starting to pull away.

A misty rain drifted softly onto their faces. In the haze, Cui Qijin yanked Chi Buyu back. A tiny figure waved a torch in Chi Buyu’s eyes.

“What are you doing? If we’re not getting married, you still won’t let me leave!”

Chi Buyu looked furious.

Cheers erupted from the nearby film crew, loud and lively. Cui Qijin stared at that little torch-bearer, then suddenly cupped Chi Buyu’s face. Their lazy shadows on the ground drew impossibly close. She cradled Chi Buyu’s soft, warm cheeks, tempted to lean in for a kiss right then—

Chi Buyu’s eyes flew wide open, as if struck by a sudden realization. She shoved Cui Qijin away and clamped a hand over her own mouth.

?

Cui Qijin’s glasses slipped down to the bridge of her nose, fogged from their proximity. It felt like a Chi Shuishui lugging a basin of ice water had dashed straight through her heart.

She blinked in utter bewilderment.

Her fingers loosened their grip.

Unsure what she’d done wrong, she felt deeply aggrieved and longed to rewind to where they’d started.

The next instant, Chi Buyu frantically wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then reached out as if to smear it across Cui Qijin’s lips too.

What?

Cui Qijin dodged Chi Buyu’s hand warily.

Chi Buyu froze for half a second.

Then realization dawned. Her ear tips flushed red as she stomped her foot on the ground, furiously scrubbing at her mouth again. “Stupid Cui Muhuo! It was just lipstick! They say kissing it off directly is poisonous! What if we don’t even last a few days dating before we both drop dead?”

Bang!

A massive crash echoed from the crew. Cui Qijin’s attention snapped toward it. She glimpsed colorful ribbons fluttering in the air through the blur, as if celebrating an actor’s wrap party.

But before she could make out the details, Chi Buyu yelled right in her ear, sounding outraged.

“Cui Muhuo! Even now, you’re zoning out!”

Cui Qijin hadn’t even processed it when the two drawstrings on her hoodie were yanked tight.

The hood snapped shut around her face, and suddenly Chi Shuishui—who’d found a burst of strength—hauled her forward. A gust of wind sent the ribbons tumbling overhead, crashing down to embellish their otherwise solitary date.

Chi Shuishui pressed her head down. Through lenses growing thick with condensation, Cui Qijin saw Chi Buyu’s eyelashes fluttering in panic.

Pineapple-scented booze lingered in the air. Their breaths tangled in disarray, halting on the inhale and exhale.

Chi Buyu cradled her face and kissed her lips—licking more than kissing, clumsy beyond measure, even worse than last time.

The more they kissed, the more Cui Qijin wanted to laugh. So the dummy hadn’t gotten drunk after all. It wasn’t nearly as good as the drunken version.

Chi Buyu gnashed her teeth amid their reluctant parting of breaths and grumbled softly, “What the hell are you laughing at?”

Cui Qijin cupped Chi Buyu’s face in return.

She laughed in muffled gasps, nearly dislodging her glasses to slide between their faces, all while swaying forward for another shaky kiss.

Celebratory cheers for the wrap drifted from afar. Cui Qijin wasn’t sure how long they went on like that. Dazed, she finally pried her eyes open, thinking it was no wonder they said movies drew from real life—like her daily treks along that street of lost love, passing her wandering heart twice over. This years-long voyage had finally wrapped production. Their shadows celebrated with a dance, melding into a single lump of love clay.

And the Chi Shuishui before her—lips smeared from wiping and kissing, a total mess—had no idea how wildly her drunken thoughts could ramble.

In a brief pause between kisses, Chi Shuishui snatched away Cui Qijin’s already-steamed-up glasses. Cui Qijin blinked blankly, the world dissolving into vague color patches. The next moment, Chi Shuishui fumbled the forgotten soda can tab onto her ring finger in a panic, convinced she hadn’t noticed. As if fooling no one but herself, Chi Shuishui hooked an arm around her neck and drawled—

“Fi～nal～ly～ I’ve～ got～ you～ locked～ down～, huh～?”

“Stupid Cui Muhuo～”

Deep in the center of her heart, that tiny Chi Shuishui had finally worn herself out from all the frantic bouncing. Panting, she slumped in the heart chamber, chin propped on her hand as she asked—

So what color would this love clay be?

Cui Qijin thought it would probably be the color of their love.