Chapter 10: Shy
Wen Yu didn’t imply anything else; she was simply surprised by Ye Qizhen’s appetite. Although she had only eaten a few bites tonight, she wasn’t hungry. However, seeing Ye Qizhen’s eyes light up when mentioning a delicious rice noodle shop, she found it quite amusing. “Let’s go.”
“Mn, my treat,” Ye Qizhen said.
“Why?”
“Compensation for misunderstanding you before,” Ye Qizhen explained with a smile.
Hearing “compensation,” Wen Yu smiled too.
The small shop was hard to find. Even with navigation, Ye Qizhen spent some time locating it. The red lightbox sign was simple, with just six words: Nancheng Specialty Rice Noodles. Perhaps good wine needs no bush; despite its location, many customers came to patronize it, especially now during dinner time.
The menu on the wall was dazzling.
Ye Qizhen asked Wen Yu, “What do you want to eat?”
Wen Yu looked at the densely packed dishes and felt a headache coming on. This was more brain-taxing than planning homework. Whether food tasted good or not had never been her concern; she was someone with zero requirements for food, capable of eating only dry bread for a week straight. She chose to throw the question back to Ye Qizhen. “What about you?”
“Beef rice noodles are their specialty. How about we order one soup version and one dry-mixed version, and eat together?” When talking about food, Ye Qizhen was an expert. Smelling the aroma now made her crave it.
“Whatever you say.” Wen Yu expressed no objection.
“Can you handle spicy food?”
“It’s okay,” Wen Yu said.
“Then shall we get medium spicy?”
“Mn.” Seeing someone looking like a greedy cat, Wen Yu wanted to laugh.
…
After asking about Wen Yu’s preferences one by one, Ye Qizhen placed the order.
Wen Yu stood aside. Hearing the server announce a number, she glanced at Ye Qizhen, thought for a moment, and took out her phone to scan the payment QR code on the wall.
In a few taps, the payment was complete.
Ye Qizhen was a step too slow. “I said it was my treat?”
“You can treat next time,” Wen Yu said casually.
Ye Qizhen fussed over it. “Then I still owe you one.”
Wen Yu raised an eyebrow and said, “You can treat twice.”
Treat twice? Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu silently. Why do I feel like this person did it on purpose? Is she afraid of being lonely? Ye Qizhen suddenly thought of this. Although Wen Yu usually seemed to enjoy being alone, people weren’t always as they appeared on the surface. Her intuition told her Wen Yu was like her in this regard: even if she felt lonely, she wouldn’t admit it verbally.
Seeing Ye Qizhen hesitate, Wen Yu asked again, “Not willing?”
Ye Qizhen answered with a beaming smile, “Willing.”
Business here was very good, and the inside of the shop was full. Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu had to sit at a small table outside. The weather was cool tonight with a breeze, making the open air more comfortable and pleasant than staying indoors.
One bowl of soup noodles, one bowl of dry-mixed noodles. Ye Qizhen went to ask the owner for two small bowls so one person could eat both flavors. After carefully wiping the chopsticks with a tissue, she handed them to Wen Yu. “Here.”
Is she this thoughtful to everyone? Wen Yu wondered as she took the chopsticks.
Ye Qizhen knew how to take care of people. Going out to eat with her was worry-free and comfortable—like not worrying about no one cooking the ingredients when eating hot pot, or no one flipping the meat when eating barbecue.
The small shop was noisy and lively, full of the aura of mundane life. Wen Yu looked around, wondering how long it had been since she visited such a place.
If she were alone, she would never come to a place like this; it would only make her look even more solitary. But right now, she wasn’t alone. Ye Qizhen sat opposite her, head lowered, eating earnestly.
Wen Yu had never seen anyone eat with such relish. She believed now that Ye Qizhen didn’t like Guan Ming. If she were heartbroken, how could she eat so heartlessly and with such gusto? It was obvious she was truly satisfied.
Yet not long ago, she was crying like that…
Amazing.
When Ye Qizhen was in a bad mood, her appetite was larger than usual. She was very good at comforting herself; basically, after a good meal, her mood would improve. Moreover, having someone with her was much better than being alone, just like now.
She suddenly wanted to say thank you to Wen Yu again, thanking her for keeping her company tonight.
Otherwise, she would be all alone again.
Wen Yu inexplicably felt her appetite stirred, not by the aroma of the rice noodles, but by the eating manner of the person in front of her. She took a small bite, tasting it carefully. She had to admit, the taste was much better than dry bread.
Ye Qizhen vaguely sensed the person opposite looking at her. She looked up, and sure enough, Wen Yu happened to see her left cheek slightly bulging. Instantly, Wen Yu wanted to take out her phone and capture this scene.
“What, never seen a girl who can eat as much as me?” Their eyes met, and Ye Qizhen made fun of herself. She admitted she was deliberately teasing Wen Yu. She could tell Wen Yu had something on her mind and hoped that because of her, the other party’s mood would improve slightly tonight.
Wen Yu rested her chin in her hand, watching her, and slowly nodded.
Giving no face at all.
Ye Qizhen felt helpless yet amused. “Student Wen, must you be so blunt?”
At this moment, Wen Yu pulled a tissue from the side and handed it to Ye Qizhen, smiling as she said, “Student Ye, you’ve got food on your face.”
Only then did Ye Qizhen realize, wiping her face in embarrassment.
As they continued eating, their conversation became more natural.
“Is the taste okay?”
“Mn.” Wen Yu broke precedent tonight and ate quite a bit.
“Try the fried egg, it’s delicious soaked in the soup.”
…
Wen Yu drank a mouthful of hot soup and inadvertently glanced at Ye Qizhen’s smiling face. For a moment, she felt that she wasn’t so out of place in this world. She, too, could smile and be happy over trivial little things.
The portion of the small bowl of rice noodles wasn’t particularly large, and the two finished it unknowingly. However, their stomachs were stuffed. Ye Qizhen had already eaten dinner, and Wen Yu, even with a good appetite, still had a bird’s stomach and couldn’t hold much.
After eating, they walked along the river to digest. Wen Yu didn’t talk much, and Ye Qizhen wasn’t a chatterbox either. Walking together was leisurely and calm. Occasionally exchanging a few sentences kept it from being awkwardly silent.
Bang, bang, bang sounds came from the distance.
“There are fireworks today.” Ye Qizhen couldn’t help stopping and leaning on the riverside railing to watch.
Wen Yu stopped too. She turned to look at Ye Qizhen, who was watching the fireworks. Can she be this happy just seeing fireworks? She couldn’t help asking, “Are fireworks that good-looking? I heard Jiangzhou Park has several shows every month.”
“Don’t you think encountering them by chance is more surprising than coming specifically to see them?” Ye Qizhen tilted her head slightly and said to Wen Yu.
Perhaps because of the fireworks flickering in the sky, when Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen saying this, her smiling eyes seemed to sparkle with stars. She didn’t answer but leaned lazily against the railing and smiled along with her.
The night was thick, her smile faint and light. With such exquisite features, she would definitely look good in photos. Ye Qizhen gazed at Wen Yu’s brows and eyes, unconsciously becoming a bit entranced. Wen Yu was a strange person; even when she smiled, she wouldn’t make you feel she was happy.
Am I thinking too much?
At best, she and Wen Yu had just dissolved their “love rival” status; they didn’t even count as friends.
Thinking this, Ye Qizhen continued to look at the night sky. Under the huge black curtain, red, green, yellow, and white fireworks bloomed one after another. Wen Yu also calmed down to appreciate this surprise. She thought coming out to the gathering tonight was the right choice; it was more interesting than staying alone.
It was past nine o’clock after watching the fireworks. Since their stomachs were still bloated, Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu walked another kilometer to the subway station to take the subway back to school. There weren’t many people at the station where they boarded, just no seats available.
The next stop was Jiangzhou Road Station, close to the scenic area. The passenger flow was huge, and since it was night, tourists were returning. Many people got on, and few got off. As soon as the screen doors opened, the crowd surged in, squeezing inward while saying “move in a bit more,” sticking together like boiling glutinous rice balls.
Ye Qizhen had long heard of the horrors of Nancheng Line 5, and tonight she finally experienced it firsthand. The pushing from behind was intense. By the time she reacted, she had practically pinned Wen Yu into the corner in a “hooligan” posture, face to face.
“Sorry…” Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu, extremely embarrassed, attempting to pull back a bit to create distance. But behind her was like an indestructible wall of people—there was no way to retreat.
Seeing a man behind Ye Qizhen, Wen Yu said to her, “It’s okay, come closer.”
When she lowered her voice, her tone was gentle. Ye Qizhen discovered she seemed to have no resistance to beautiful and gentle girls. More precisely, like Wen Yu right now. She couldn’t say why, but she just couldn’t help looking a few more times.
“Am I squishing you?” Ye Qizhen asked softly again.
“It’s fine.” Wen Yu’s voice was also soft. When the other’s warm breath brushed past her cheek, she felt that tingling sensation in her heart again, reminding her of the military training incident. She didn’t like overly intimate contact with people, especially males, but that time when Ye Qizhen hugged her, she didn’t feel repulsed at all.
Qi Yun had asked her that day if she was bent.
Actually, she had wondered about this herself—why did her heart never race for boys?
During the brief conversation, both stared straight at each other’s faces.
Being so close, Wen Yu naturally noticed Ye Qizhen’s gaze. She suddenly remembered what Qi Yun often said: You can easily judge if a girl is bent or straight by the look in her eyes when she looks at another girl.
She inexplicably felt that when Ye Qizhen looked at her…
It looked like how Qi Yun looked at girls.
After staring at each other for two seconds, Ye Qizhen restrained herself a bit. She turned her head slightly away, lowering her eyelids at the right time. Her gaze swept from Wen Yu’s neck to her collarbone, noticing a small mole below it. Also, her skin was so white.
Wen Yu also lowered her eyes, quietly staring at Ye Qizhen’s long eyelashes. She remembered another remark from Qi Yun: When lesbians have intimate contact with girls, they get unnaturally shy…
She smiled in her heart again.
Where are my thoughts going?
Five stops passed in a row before the people in the carriage gradually thinned out. A young couple next to them left, freeing up exactly two seats.
Sitting side by side, Wen Yu didn’t speak, and Ye Qizhen didn’t initiate conversation either. She stared blankly at the blinking green dots on the route map. Three stops left to their destination. She suddenly remembered something. “Wen Yu.”
Wen Yu turned sideways, waiting for her to continue.
“Let’s add each other on WeChat?” Ye Qizhen said, thinking she still owed her two meals. At least adding WeChat would make it convenient to contact her. If someone owed her a meal, she wouldn’t remember it, but if she owed someone a meal, she absolutely wouldn’t forget.
Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen and was silent for a while.
Just adding WeChat, what’s with that expression? Ye Qizhen didn’t quite understand.
