Chapter 23 Part 1

The sharp weapon was thrown onto the already fragile glaze, and in an instant, shards littered the ground, like colorful clouds scattered by the wind.

As Yun Huizhi’s words fell, Chu Ruoyou’s face paled considerably. Her lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

A dizziness as intense as heatstroke washed over her. Yun Huizhi felt lightheaded, her eyes stinging.

Barely managing to suppress her loss of composure, she said, “You go ahead and do your thing. I’ll start cooking.”

She fled the scene.

–

Jianjia Town was an earthly paradise—for those with money and time, of course.

Chu Ruoyou had money, and Yun Huizhi had time. On that basis, their interactions had always been easy and pleasant.

Hence, it created a misunderstanding, making them think that this ease and pleasantness existed solely because of each other.

So much so that Yun Huizhi forgot her place, letting her mouth run off to say things she shouldn’t have. Very impolite and ill-bred.

Her grievance was real; anyone would be devastated being stabbed by someone they had feelings for.

But she didn’t blame Chu Ruoyou for snapping at her. Chu Ruoyou was right about everything.

First, whoever she chatted with was her freedom. What business was it of an outsider?

All the psychological activity when Chu Ruoyou replied to messages was her own choice. An outsider might see bitterness, but as long as she found joy in it, there was no problem.

Second, she truly didn’t understand everything about Chu Ruoyou. She’d only heard fragments.

Maybe she was dealing with other thorny issues or people that made her uneasy. Maybe she hadn’t been constantly engaging with that person at all and had just casually replied.

And maybe that man had saved her life. Even if their marriage couldn’t work, Chu Ruoyou still considered him a very important person.

She shouldn’t have deemed him unworthy. That was disrespectful to Chu Ruoyou.

Lastly, Yun Huizhi reflected, her lecturing of Chu Ruoyou was utterly ridiculous.

Someone was paying to be here and have fun, a genuine client. Her very purpose was to heal. Not being fully healed yet wasn’t her fault.

“Not your place,” those words were chosen excellently.

She wondered what subject Chu Ruoyou taught. Chinese, perhaps?

But her aura when scolding people somehow felt more like a math teacher.

Yun Huizhi was bad at math, so all her math teachers growing up had been fierce to her, and consequently, her math only got worse.

And the final final point, putting all rational analysis aside, Yun Huizhi asked herself honestly: Was she really unhappy because she felt sorry for Chu Ruoyou?

Was her reluctance to let Chu Ruoyou go to a bar and get drunk really just out of concern for her health?

It seemed… maybe not.

Might as well admit it. She was jealous.

Jealousy is the easiest nutrient to draw from the barren soil of a dark night. Without any effort, it blooms into vast swathes of dazzling flowers—poisonous, long-lived.

She was jealous.

She was using all her strength to stay by Chu Ruoyou’s side, and she only had the right to stay because she was receiving money. Yet the one Chu Ruoyou cherished and thought of was a former acquaintance far away.

That’s why she felt sour, her insides soaked in vinegar. The jealousy made her unrecognizable.

The moment she felt sour, she couldn’t help but show it, couldn’t help but blurt out words that didn’t suit her role.

Now she’d made Chu Ruoyou angry and was full of grievance herself. Asking for trouble indeed.

Humans are always like this. Because their capacity to bear and digest happiness is extremely limited, they love creating trouble for themselves, landing themselves in unnecessary predicaments.

None of this needed to have happened. Things were super simple to begin with. She should have just secretly been happy.

She was spending her boring days in town, and a fun, easy-on-the-eyes older sister came along to pass the time with her for a few days. This was already an unexpected delight.

But she wasn’t content, and she recklessly pushed them both into a confrontational place.

She hung her head in the kitchen, listlessly chopping and prepping vegetables, feeling weak. Maybe it was because the weather was hot.

After saying those things, she’d left the room, gone out alone to buy groceries, returned to the inn, and started cooking.

She had long understood that there was absolutely no future between her and Chu Ruoyou. So why invest real emotions? Just enjoy the moment.

Today she’d really been careless!

Damn, what if she scared Chu Ruoyou away!

So stupid!

Her wrist suddenly exerted force, wanting to vent all her pent-up frustration on the cutting board. The cleaver chopped fiercely and urgently. A chili seed popped out and, by unfortunate coincidence, hit her near the eye.

The sting wasn’t very noticeable at first. She tried to wipe it away, but raising her hand only spread it wider.

It burned her eye so badly, she couldn’t control the tears that started falling.

She had to put down the knife and, with one eye half-open, rush to the faucet to rinse it out.

Only after feeling better did she dry her face, using a tissue to wipe the tears from her eye socket.

Yun Huizhi thought silently, everything requires skill, even chopping vegetables. If you can’t control your force and use too much, trouble arises.

She was like a philosopher.

In times of dissatisfaction, everyone becomes a temporary philosopher.

When Chu Ruoyou walked into the kitchen, Yun Huizhi was squatting on the floor, using a tissue to wipe her tears.

The hair on her forehead had gotten wet while rinsing her eyes earlier, leaving it damp, making her look pitifully vulnerable.

Seeing the figure appear at the doorway, Yun Huizhi looked up, one eye still red, her glistening eyes looking innocent and pitiable.

She blinked somewhat awkwardly, like an employee caught slacking off by the boss, and said apologetically, “Are you hungry? Gotta wait a bit, I haven’t started cooking yet.”

Chu Ruoyou didn’t speak, her expression complex.

Unable to read her face, Yun Huizhi suddenly panicked, a bad premonition rising. She was afraid Chu Ruoyou had specifically come to tell her she was leaving.

So much so that when Chu Ruoyou walked over and reached out to pull her up from the floor, she flinched away slightly.

She thought, better let me stay squatting to listen. Lest I feel dizzy and sick after standing up to hear it.

Her evasive movement was like the chili seed that had bounced into her eye—it made Chu Ruoyou’s expression flicker.

Yun Huizhi must dislike her now.

A girl with good looks and a sunny personality should be used to being adored. Who else would turn hostile and coldly reprimand her like she did?

Seeing Yun Huizhi not moving, Chu Ruoyou felt awkward herself and stood up.

Chu Ruoyou didn’t ask the obvious question, whether she had been crying. She thought, Yun Huizhi is so proud, she’d say she was just teared up from chopping chilies.

Seeing her mood was relatively stable, Chu Ruoyou said, “Don’t make it now. I’m not hungry. Let’s go out and rest for a bit. Let’s talk.”

Yun Huizhi had just taken half a step out but stopped when she heard Chu Ruoyou wanted to talk.

Just as she thought. She was going to bring up leaving, wasn’t she?

Yun Huizhi hated her loose tongue more than ever. Now she regretted it so much, she wished she could be crushed under the Twin Pagodas to change the feng shui and atone for her sins!

What a strange analogy, she thought privately, that was a bit inappropriate. Better drop the analogy.

Chu Ruoyou looked back and asked, “What’s wrong?”

With red-rimmed eyes, Yun Huizhi said, “Can it wait until after we eat?”

She was afraid that after the talk, she’d have no energy to cook or appetite to eat.

Chu Ruoyou paused, her voice very soft, “Do you not want to talk to me?”

“I do.”

Yun Huizhi honestly said, “I just feel what you want to say, I don’t want to hear right now. Eating is more important. Let’s talk after the meal.”

“You know what I want to say? And yet you don’t want to hear it?”

Chu Ruoyou furrowed her brows, asking her.

She looked even more like a math teacher!

—I taught this type of problem last class, didn’t I? And you still got it wrong. Is your mind even on your studies?

Yun Huizhi was jolted by her own imaginary scenario. She whispered, “I know.”

Either continued criticism, or saying we can’t keep playing together nicely, let’s just part ways early.

Right. She knew.

Seeing her deeply furrowed brow, Chu Ruoyou had no choice but to swallow her words.

If she didn’t want to hear it, then forget it. Made sense; who would want to hear the voice of the culprit after being angered to tears?

Chu Ruoyou turned to leave, giving her peace.

The expression on her face before she turned made Yun Huizhi suddenly panic. She blurted out, “I know you’re angry at me and want to leave, but…”

Before she could finish, Chu Ruoyou stopped, turned back, and fiercely scolded, “You know jack, dummy.”

Wah, she called me a dummy.

Yun Huizhi pouted, looking very unwilling, but inside, her tail was wagging like crazy.

Chu Ruoyou wasn’t planning to leave? Hehe.

“Come out here!”

Chu Ruoyou’s tone was harsh. Yun Huizhi obediently followed her out of the kitchen, like a student obediently following the math teacher into the office.

There was a fridge in the dining area. Yun Huizhi sensed Chu Ruoyou was quite warm and was about to get her an ice-cold water, but then she saw two cups of milk tea on the center table.

From her favorite shop.

Only then did she understand where the thin sheen of sweat on Chu Ruoyou’s face earlier had come from.

Hard to say if she was moved or anxious. Yun Huizhi wasn’t overjoyed; she asked worriedly, “How long did you wait in line?”

“Not long.”

Chu Ruoyou downplayed it, walking casually to the table and sitting down. “Drink it quickly, it won’t taste good if it sits.”

Yun Huizhi sat down beside her but insisted on getting to the bottom of it, “How long is ‘not long’?”

Chu Ruoyou said coolly, “Weren’t you just saying you didn’t want to talk to me? Then I don’t want to tell you either.”

“I just assumed…”

Yun Huizhi suddenly didn’t want to finish. She was already a big dummy anyway.

She busied herself taking the milk teas out of the paper bag, puncturing both cups with straws.

The jasmine-flavored one she yielded to Chu Ruoyou, knowing she liked it. The lychee-flavored one for herself.

The fruit flavor was sweet and clear, the tea aroma rich.

One sip down, and not only did her mood lift, but even the discomfort in her eye from the chili slowly faded.

She drank several mouthfuls in a row, then carefully asked Chu Ruoyou, who looked like she was watching a pig drink water, “What did you want to say to me?”

“I want to apologize. I’m sorry.”

Hearing Chu Ruoyou’s calm voice, she suddenly widened her eyes.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t imagined Chu Ruoyou apologizing, but she was still surprised. Chu Ruoyou’s mouth was usually the sharpest, yet her apology came with no detours whatsoever.

Chu Ruoyou’s expression was so serious it seemed full of deep affection. Her eye shape was very beautiful. Coupled with her mild myopia, which meant she didn’t wear glasses, when she looked somewhere, even casually, there was a hint of focused intensity that resembled deep affection.

The truth was, she looked at Little Zhang and even stray dogs with that same profound gaze.

Yun Huizhi had noticed that long ago.

The layered sweetness of the milk tea spread rampantly through her mouth, melting into a Good Medicine that bandaged the wound from the knife two hours ago. But it still wasn’t entirely comfortable.

Yun Huizhi blinked at her, then lowered her head, obediently self-reflecting, “It wasn’t your fault. I had no sense of boundaries. I said things that offended you.”

“You were right.”

Yun Huizhi’s eyes sparkled when she looked at people, even brighter after crying, refracting a faint light that made hearts soften.

Chu Ruoyou couldn’t help but stroke her head, following the ponytail down, then gently patting her back, saying, “I am spineless. The chat was indeed unhappy. Every reply was a drain on my good mood. I just hadn’t realized it myself. Fancy you noticing—truly the eyes of a pilot.”

She hadn’t replied to Ren Yuhan again. Those two days of dialogue hadn’t brought the expected comfort and had nearly ruined her recent leisure and ease.

Chu Ruoyou deleted her chat thread.

Yun Huizhi was praised so much she felt utterly out of sorts and also didn’t agree with her own earlier words.

“That’s not spineless, you just value emotions deeply. You’re not a machine—how could you input a command and instantly stop liking someone?”

Chu Ruoyou smiled, her brows and eyes softening, “Mm, of course. But you also got something wrong. For instance, I wasn’t going to drink my sorrows away for him. I just felt he was bothering me, a bit annoying. He was pulling my attention away. I wanted to go somewhere lively to shift my focus. You can think of it as saying goodbye to the past, not wallowing in old attachments.”

Yun Huizhi hung her head, “I’m sorry, then let me apologize to you. I thought too little of you. I don’t understand you at all, yet I just spouted nonsense.”

Chu Ruoyou didn’t blame her for not understanding. If she understood, Chu Ruoyou wouldn’t be idling away her time with her.