“Xie An, are you trying to lose weight or something? Why are you so heavy? I’m telling you, this is the only time in my life I’ll do this—no next time. You’re such a grown adult, and you still want a piggyback ride? Are you a kid? I’ve gone crazy, actually carrying my ex-girlfriend like this?”
Xu Qingzhou grumbled nonstop while dutifully carrying her on her back.
What grudge did she have? What resentment?
Why was she making trouble for herself?
Seriously.
Xie An lay obediently on her back.
It was true that she was taller than Xu Qingzhou.
But only by a little.
Maybe seven or eight centimeters, and perhaps a tad heavier.
“Don’t move around, or I’ll drop you!”
Xu Qingzhou put on a fierce, intimidating face as she scolded her.
It had been so many years since their breakup.
Yet Xie An still hadn’t kicked her habit of getting handsy.
The hand Xie An had been using to stroke her ear quickly withdrew.
Afraid that Xu Qingzhou would really toss her off.
Xu Qingzhou carried her all the way back to her own home like that.
She dumped her straight onto the sofa.
Originally, she had planned to watch Xie An in her drunken state and then ditch the hassle.
But… she had gone and made trouble for herself.
“Sobering-up soup… Xie An, did I owe you in a past life? Is that why I have to deal with this in this one?”
Xie An took the bowl of sobering-up soup with both hands and sipped it slowly.
She looked just like a cat that had successfully stolen some fish.
What was the point of talking to a drunkard?
Seriously. Xu Qingzhou went to the entryway and grabbed a pair of slippers.
She walked over, half-squatted down, and put them on Xie An’s feet.
Muttering under her breath the whole time.
“I must’ve owed you in a past life. We’re exes, aren’t we? And here I am taking care of you like this? Huh? How are you gonna make this up to me? If we convert it to cash, at least twenty thousand for my hard work, right? Seriously.”
“What’s so funny? The other foot—hurry up!”
Xie An extended her other foot, and Xu Qingzhou grumbled as she slipped the slipper on.
Then she put the discarded shoes away in the shoe cabinet.
Only after finishing all that did she let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m an idiot too. Why did I take you to the club? Your tolerance is so bad—if someone had taken advantage of you, wouldn’t I regret it for life? Here’s your sleepwear. Change into it yourself, got it? I won’t look. Change on your own. I’m going to shower.”
“And stay put here, you hear me?”
Xie An nodded in a daze.
The corners of her eyes beneath her tear ducts had already turned pink.
Xu Qingzhou had carried Xie An the whole way, and her body reeked of alcohol.
She couldn’t stand it.
Shower first. As for what happened to Xie An?
Who cared?
She had done everything she could.
Grabbing her own sleepwear, she headed straight to the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.
Xie An lay on the sofa in a hazy daze and dozed off.
A Q-version keychain of an angry Xu Qingzhou dangled from her phone.
She had commissioned someone to make it.
Tangyuan was woken by their commotion and stretched lazily.
It hopped right onto the sofa.
It burrowed into Xie An’s arms, curling up in the exact same position and pose before falling asleep.
When Xu Qingzhou emerged from her shower, she saw the person and the cat curled up asleep in identical positions.
They did look kinda cute.
She pulled out her phone and snapped a few photos.
It wasn’t that she liked Xie An—it was purely that she had an eye for beauty.
No one could resist stopping to admire something beautiful, right?
But Xie An had hogged her sofa bed.
Which meant she could sleep in the actual bed tonight, right?
Aside from that one stormy night when they had shared the bed, most of the time Xie An slept in the bed.
While she crashed on the sofa. Sometimes it was hard to tell who the real owner of the place was.
Ex-girlfriends needed to keep their distance, after all.
She was about to head back to her room when she suddenly remembered what Xie An had said before.
Women should unhook their bras before sleeping.
It reduced the risk of illness.
She didn’t know if it was true or not.
Xie An had unhooked hers for her once before, so should she return the favor?
Might as well be thorough.
She walked over without waking Xie An.
Instead, she circled behind her.
She slipped her hands under the hem of Xie An’s clothes and unhooked the clasp.
She had no idea what kind of mood Xie An had been in when she did the same for her.
Anyway, she felt strangely nervous, like a thief.
It was awkward, and her face felt hot.
Especially since her hands were trembling like she had Parkinson’s.
She had never waited on her own parents like this, yet here she was doing it for her ex-girlfriend first?
Pretty unbelievable.
She finished with the top—what about the bottom?
Xie An wore blue pencil pants. Xu Qingzhou wondered if she should unbutton them to make her more comfortable.
But would that be hard to explain tomorrow?
She really hadn’t done anything.
She walked the straight and narrow… no, sat upright and proper.
Unbutton first. But as her hands reached for the button on the jeans—
Xie An woke in a daze and grabbed the hands that were up to no good.
“You… what are you doing?”
“Helping you get more comfortable…”
Facing Xie An’s eyes full of confusion, Xu Qingzhou realized what nonsense she had just spouted.
She spat a few times in embarrassment.
“Didn’t you say before that women should unhook before sleeping?”
Xu Qingzhou had overthought it.
She didn’t need to worry about explaining tomorrow—it was already unexplainable now.
“Then why are you unhooking my pants?”
“I saw your button was too tight, so I wanted to loosen it for you. Really, no other meaning…”
“I don’t believe you. You probably want to… do me, right?”
Every word out of Xie An’s mouth was so unexpected.
Xu Qingzhou hadn’t even considered that angle.
She was speechless and quickly flipped her hand over for Xie An to see.
“Look for yourself—I just got these long gel extensions done, cost me several hundred. Even if I wanted to jump you, I couldn’t, right? Can’t you have some evidence before you accuse someone? Besides, have you ever seen anyone so reluctant to let go of their ex-girlfriend? Exploring body parts after breaking up?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Me… I don’t want to be your ex-girlfriend.”
Xie An looked at her earnestly, as if laying her most sincere heart bare for the other to see.
Xu Qingzhou pulled her hand free.
How was this drunkard gripping so tight?
Afraid she’d run away.
She sat up straight and fell silent for a long while.
Xie An grew a bit uneasy and sat up on the sofa too.
Her head felt dizzy.
But she could still hold it together.
“Can’t we just be friends? Isn’t that good enough?”
Xu Qingzhou thought being ordinary friends with Xie An was pretty nice.
Why did they have to be girlfriends?
Just normal friends—she’d even gain a dentist buddy.
Wasn’t that great?
“No, because I want you. I want to tease you, I like you. I don’t think I can be ordinary friends with you. No ordinary friends are like this.”
Xie An stared at her lips.
She didn’t know what came over her—maybe impulse.
Or maybe something she’d thought about for a long time.
She leaned in and kissed her.
A faint alcoholic scent burst in her mouth as Xu Qingzhou’s lips met hers.
She could even hear the occasional careful smacking sounds as Xie An savored it.
Though it was a bit untimely, what flashed through her mind was:
She knew mixing cefaclor with alcohol could kill you.
So, was kissing someone who’d been drinking also a bad idea?
She probably wouldn’t drop dead tomorrow, right?
