Chapter 79: Entangled.
Chu Wantang lay on the bed in the guest room, smelling the pillow that had long since lost Huai Xing’s scent. Listening to Huai Xing’s gentle words in her ear, her heart felt a little sour.
In fact, she hadn’t drunk much and was very sober now, but she just missed Huai Xing very much.
There had been many such moments in the past five years, but the other end had always been unanswered. Just now, the call she had taken the initiative to make had been hung up by Huai Xing. Although it was not so surprising, her heart still couldn’t help but sink.
But she hadn’t expected Huai Xing to call back—
And at the moment when she missed Huai Xing the most, she had heard a “be good, don’t drink.”
How to describe the feeling at this moment?
The small night light next to her seemed to have become an accomplice of her longing. She looked at the warm light and shadow, and her mind would think of what Huai Xing looked like under this warm light.
Huai Xing’s eyelashes were thick and slender, and her pupils were a bright black. When she sat at the head of the bed and looked at her, her eyes would hide a lot of smiles. Sometimes, she couldn’t control herself and would bend down to kiss Huai Xing, but before her lips could touch, she would see that Huai Xing’s eyelashes had already closed and were trembling slightly. And her gaze would take this opportunity to fall on Huai Xing’s lips. The lip line was soft and agile, as if it had been outlined by the most delicate brushstrokes of the greatest painter in the world. The color was like a petal that had been moistened by the morning dew, making her want to taste it several times.
But, everything existed in her memory.
Now that she had finally had the chance to be friends with Huai Xing, she couldn’t even express her longing directly.
Otherwise, she would be crossing the line. She understood all of this, and she knew even more that Huai Xing had also experienced this feeling before.
When she liked her but couldn’t say it, when she liked her but had to brainwash herself that she was family, when she liked her but still agreed to be sisters in public and bed partners in private…
Family was their former boundary, and Huai Xing was afraid of losing her, so she did not cross it.
Friends were their current boundary, and she was afraid of losing Huai Xing, so she could not cross it either.
“Okay,” she could only say this word.
Perhaps it was the effect of the alcohol, but after she had replied, her eyes reddened a little, as if they had been dyed by the crushed sunset, and a hazy mist was in them.
The car window was not rolled down too much. Huai Xing felt the night wind blowing on her face. Hearing Chu Wantang’s simple word, her lips parted slightly. “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“No…” Chu Wantang closed her eyes, as if she could hear Huai Xing’s voice more clearly this way.
Huai Xing lowered her eyes and also said in a low voice, “Then I’m hanging up.”
Chu Wantang quickly spoke again. “Xingxing.”
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s the secret to sleeping with a jade comb? Can you teach me?”
“What?”
“I bought a jade comb,” Chu Wantang said, still not opening her eyes. Her right hand was holding the jade comb she had bought in Xuecheng that year, and she didn’t want to hang up on Huai Xing so quickly. “But I still find it hard to sleep well.”
“…It has nothing to do with the jade comb. Most ‘A-bei-bei’ are owned since childhood, so a dependence is formed,” Huai Xing explained patiently.
“Then are you still sleeping with it now?”
“Mm.”
“It was a gift from my mother to Auntie Huai.”
“I can guess.”
“I…” Chu Wantang’s fingertips caressed the jade comb, and her speaking speed slowed down, her voice also low. “I want to come to Haicheng tomorrow. Jingcheng doesn’t have a branch of that barbecue restaurant.”
After she said this, she did not immediately get a reply from Huai Xing, and her racing heartbeat trembled in her chest.
It was as if it had spread to every corner of the room, exceptionally clear.
At this moment, she heard Lu Zhenyue’s voice suddenly approaching. “Xiao Xing, can you give me some more tissues? I’m running out. Xianyue is really a crybaby.”
“Okay,” she heard Huai Xing’s voice, which was a little further away than just now, as if she had not put the phone to her ear.
A dozen or so seconds later, Chu Wantang finally heard Huai Xing’s soft voice.
“I don’t have time tomorrow.” It was a tactful refusal.
Chu Wantang turned on her side and curled up, her long lashes trembling, her chest heavy and suffocating.
The thought of seeing Huai Xing was all over her nerves, and her whole person was being torn apart.
“It’s okay. You’re busy,” Chu Wantang said, not having the extra strength to continue chatting with Huai Xing, her throat tight. “I’ll take a shower in an hour. You said that you shouldn’t take a shower immediately after drinking. I won’t take a risk on this matter.”
-“But it’s a bit dangerous to take a shower now… you have to wait a little longer.”
-“Can’t I, if you stand guard at the door?”
-“No, you’re my only family in this world. I don’t want to take risks on such things, can I?”
You see, I remember what you said.
Then do you remember?
She didn’t dare to ask, because they were no longer even family.
Huai Xing was silent again. Finally, she said, “Okay, good night. We’re almost home.”
“Good night.”
The call was cut off here. Chu Wantang stared at the jade comb in a daze. The phrase “we” and “home” now had nothing to do with her.
Huai Xing in the passenger seat was also a little dazed.
Wen Shiwei’s voice called her out of her daze. “Xingxing.”
“Hmm?” Huai Xing looked over. “Sister Shiwei.”
Wen Shiwei wanted to ask her if she had just been on the phone with Chu Wantang, because it seemed that only Chu Wantang had such a treatment.
But the words were on the tip of her tongue. Thinking that there was still the not-so-informed Lu Zhenyue at the side, she didn’t want to expose Huai Xing’s sexual orientation just like that, so she didn’t ask, but just smiled. “How much longer until we arrive?”
“Almost there.”
It was indeed almost there. In less than ten minutes, they returned to the apartment. Lu Xianyue was happy and wanted to drink again, but was stopped by Wen Shiwei.
Wen Shiwei held the person and coaxed, “You can’t drink anymore, Xiao Xian.”
Lu Zhenyue felt that this scene was unbearable to look at. She pressed her forehead and asked Huai Xing, “Xiao Xing, is it okay if I sleep in your guest room tonight?”
“No problem,” Huai Xing replied.
Hearing this, Lu Xianyue answered in a daze, “Sister! Sister, why aren’t you sleeping here with me!”
“I’m afraid I’ll be a third wheel and flash you guys.”
They chatted and laughed for a while. As the night grew deeper, Huai Xing and Lu Zhenyue finally left their place.
The door closed, and everything was cut off.
“Then I’ll go upstairs to take a shower and go to sleep, Sister Suisui,” she said. There was also a bathroom on the second floor.
Lu Zhenyue held her change of clothes and nodded. “Alright.”
She suddenly asked, “Xiao Xing, is something on your mind?”
“No.”
“You can tell me anything,” Lu Zhenyue said with a smile, walking closer to ruffle her head.
Huai Xing blinked and said with a smile, “Please rest assured, Sister Suisui. I don’t consider you an outsider.”
“That’s good.”
Huai Xing was also tired and had no strength. She said a little tiredly, “Good night.”
“Good night.”
She went up the stairs to the second floor and first entered the bedroom and sat down in a chair.
She tilted her head back, held up her phone, and opened her chat with Chu Wantang. She listened to the voice message Chu Wantang had sent again. The gentle female voice with a hint of alcohol had a very standard Mandarin, like a late-night emotional radio host.
Under the bright light, her expression looked calm.
She scrolled up and opened the two photos Chu Wantang had sent tonight, from Chu Wantang’s hair to her lips, from her earrings to her eyes.
In half a year, Chu Wantang would be thirty-three. Whether in photos or in real life, she didn’t look much different from five years ago. In fact, she was even more mature and dazzling.
The only difference was that Huai Xing would no longer be charmed by her.
But, a barbecue restaurant?
Huai Xing sat up straight and let out a deep breath.
After a long while, she took her nightgown and went into the master bedroom bathroom, trapping all her thoughts in the enclosed space.
The night outside was getting deeper. It was not raining in Haicheng at four in the morning, but there were no people or cars on the street, and it was quiet everywhere.
Wan Yi was wearing a U-shaped pillow and sitting in a ride-hailing car, turning her head to look at the woman who had invited her to Haicheng, and yawning. “It’s a good thing I have time to come to Haicheng with you now. And I’m used to taking red-eye flights. Otherwise, you can ask Chengcheng to try. Oh, she has Qiaoqiao now, so it’s not convenient for her to go out.”
“I’ll cover all the expenses,” Chu Wantang said, also very sleepy, and rubbed her brow. “Don’t worry about playing, okay? Just think of it as a way to relax.”
A week had passed, and Wan Yi’s “third party storm” had also been resolved.
After all, she was a well-known model in the industry and knew many people, and there were not a few excellent public relations among them. She quickly described the cause and effect clearly. Exaggeratedly, there were even some kind ex-girlfriends who came out to speak for her. So she just announced her sexual orientation openly. She just liked the same sex.
So she had recently gained a wave of fans, but being entangled in such a thing would also affect her mood a little. It was not bad to come to Haicheng to relax this time.
“Then what about you? Are you just going to leave me and go see Xingxing?”
Chu Wantang said in a low voice, “She won’t see me.”
Wan Yi: “…” She pondered for a few seconds. “Then your flight back to Jingcheng is at night. What’s the point of this trip to Haicheng? To breathe the same air as her in the same city? Then in our global village, isn’t the air we breathe all the same?”
“I’m a little regretful that I asked you to come with me.”
“I’ll see what you do later. You’re also reaping what you sow. Those who hurt the younger ones will pay the price for their actions! I will never hurt my little sisters!”
“It’s not a little regretful now. It’s very regretful.”
“Hehe, it’s too late! After you go back tomorrow night, I’ll still be here spending your money!”
Chu Wantang’s temples started to throb again, but she didn’t know if it was a psychological effect. Although she wouldn’t see Huai Xing on this trip, it also made her happy.
The breathing in different cities was different. The air in Haicheng was fresher and better for her, and the distance between her and Huai Xing had also changed from a distant thousand kilometers to a few dozen kilometers.
The next day, Huai Xing slept until eleven.
When she woke up, Lu Zhenyue had just gone to the theater to gather. The comforter in the guest room was neatly folded, and a sticky note was left on the coffee table, on which was written that lunch was ready in the refrigerator, and the fruits were also washed.
Huai Xing smiled, heated up her lunch, and sat down in the dining room.
Before she sent a message to Lu Zhenyue, she found at a glance that Chu Wantang had not sent her a water photo today. She pressed her lips together, did not open the chat box, and instead sent a photo of the food she had just taken to Lu Zhenyue: [If Sister Suisui were to be a food blogger, she would also be in the first tier.]
Lu Zhenyue was busy rehearsing and did not reply quickly.
Then what about Chu Wantang? Did she not drink water this morning?
After she finished eating, the chat box was still empty.
Huai Xing still did not open it and did not ask. She went back upstairs to get her violin and let herself get into the state to play.
She had no plans for today. She just didn’t want Chu Wantang to get her wish. Was it easy to come to Haicheng specially for “barbecue”? Was it worth it?
But she couldn’t calm down at all, and she would make several mistakes in the middle of a piece.
The rain was drizzling outside the floor-to-ceiling window, and the sky was gray. In the end, she gave up practicing the violin and went back upstairs to take a nap.
…
The rain had no effect on the business of this barbecue restaurant. Chu Wantang had taken a number online in advance.
She had at least used the excuse of barbecue. She would have to take a picture and send it to Huai Xing later, lest Huai Xing see through her… although they both knew very well whether she had come for the barbecue or not.
The street was bustling with people, all holding umbrellas, and one colorful little mushroom after another was colliding.
Wan Yi was wearing a mask and standing next to Chu Wantang. When their number was called, she put away her umbrella and walked in.
Wan Yi said, “It smells pretty good.”
She observed the decoration of the restaurant and said, “It’s a bit retro, very photogenic.”
Chu Wantang sat down in her seat and scanned the QR code to order.
She had been napping at the hotel all day. Now that she was awake and out for barbecue, she would have to fly back to Jingcheng after she finished eating. Her schedule was very tight.
After ordering, she picked up the water on the table and was about to take a selfie.
The camera’s perspective was a little higher, and the screen could accommodate a few diners in the glass railing on the second floor.
She looked at one of them who was staring at her camera, and her breathing lightened.
Their gazes seemed to meet through this phone camera, and they were entangled.
In this noisy environment, a peace that belonged only to them was separated.
