Chapter 19: Trust
The afternoon passed quickly.
In a blink of an eye, it was past five o’clock, and the tutoring session ended. The children who participated in the tutoring were more well-behaved and sensible than their peers, saying thank you to the teachers again and again, sincere and cute.
After the activity ended, everyone took the bus back to school as usual. Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu were lucky; after getting on the bus, they found two empty seats in the last row. Although the journey was long, at least they didn’t have to stand all the way back.
It was dusk, and the afterglow was gentle.
Wen Yu still sat by the window, and Ye Qizhen sat beside her. Whether it was the driver’s technique or because they were sitting in the last row, the bus bumped terribly.
Ye Qizhen spoke very little on the return trip, feeling a bit weary. The senior sister said today was a special situation and busier than usual; in the future, tutoring would only be for half a day. After two or three stops, her eyelids began to fight. The swaying of the bus, the chirping chatter in her ears, and the slanting sun shining through the window all made one drowsy.
Wen Yu turned her head inadvertently and saw Ye Qizhen listless, looking like she was dozing off. “Sleepy?”
Ye Qizhen shook her head, forcing herself to stay alert. “Not sleepy.”
The bus traveled at a constant speed. Wen Yu stared silently at the retreating scenery outside, endless, dull and boring; indeed quite hypnotic. Suddenly, her shoulder sank slightly. She turned her head slightly; it was Ye Qizhen’s head rubbing against her shoulder.
Wen Yu looked sideways at Ye Qizhen’s face…
Unbelievable.
She can fall asleep even like this?
Ye Qizhen was truly exhausted today. She just wanted to close her eyes for a moment, but once she did, she couldn’t resist the drowsiness at all. When her head crookedly touched Wen Yu’s shoulder, it was like dizzily finding a support. She simply rested half of her face comfortably on it and dozed off in this position.
Wen Yu didn’t move a muscle, letting Ye Qizhen lean on her shoulder. She lowered her head and gazed silently at Ye Qizhen’s profile for a long time. Seems she really fell asleep. Her eyes were closed soothingly, like a lazy cat.
Taking advantage of Ye Qizhen being asleep, Wen Yu stared straight at Ye Qizhen’s face. Her cheeks had a slight baby fat, and she looked even more serene asleep than awake, looking very easy to bully.
Staring and staring, Wen Yu smiled quietly. Just two minutes ago, someone was insisting she wasn’t sleepy.
The occasional bumps inside the bus failed to wake Ye Qizhen. She just squinted, rubbed her cheek against Wen Yu’s shoulder, and continued sleeping. Seeing Ye Qizhen like this, Wen Yu was genuinely envious. For someone who suffered from chronic insomnia, encountering someone who could sleep so soundly even while riding a bus was hard not to envy.
Five minutes passed, and Ye Qizhen was still sleeping, while Wen Yu spent most of the time glancing at Ye Qizhen’s sleeping face with great interest. Over time, she realized this problem herself… Am I watching too intently?
The bus turned a corner, and the setting sun slanted in, dazzling the eyes. Ye Qizhen subconsciously frowned, her long eyelashes trembling slightly under the golden sunlight. At this moment, Wen Yu turned her body slightly, just enough to block the piercing ray of light for Ye Qizhen. Her movement was very small.
Approaching the stop ahead, the driver slammed on the brakes. The passengers leaned forward collectively, accompanied by murmurs of complaint.
Wen Yu reacted extremely quickly, immediately supporting Ye Qizhen’s head and gently pressing it against her shoulder to steady her.
Ye Qizhen opened her eyes abruptly, her heart pounding. She was startled awake.
Wen Yu’s palm was still supporting Ye Qizhen’s cheek. She didn’t let go until Ye Qizhen looked up at her. The skin her palm touched was delicate and smooth, soft, making one want to pinch it.
After meeting Wen Yu’s gaze, Ye Qizhen realized belatedly that she had actually fallen asleep leaning on her. At this moment, Wen Yu’s palm was caressing her cheek, looking closely at her. The sudden intimacy bred that ambiguous feeling again.
But being this intimate with a boy would also feel ambiguous, right? Ye Qizhen thought.
This is obviously a distance issue.
“And you said you weren’t sleepy,” Wen Yu said in a low voice.
“Sorry.” Ye Qizhen laughed awkwardly and quickly straightened up, moving away from Wen Yu. Embarrassing; she didn’t know how long she had slept on Wen Yu.
“It’s okay,” Wen Yu said generously. “Shoulder lent to you.”
Even though Wen Yu said so, Ye Qizhen still felt embarrassed. She laughed and said, “I was startled awake.”
Ye Qizhen was indeed startled awake. The driver’s sudden brake just now banished all her sleepiness. If it weren’t for Wen Yu, she reckoned her forehead would have smashed into the plastic seat in front.
“Have we crossed the bridge?” Ye Qizhen poked her head out to look out the window and asked Wen Yu. Crossing the bridge meant they were almost at school.
“Not yet,” Wen Yu said.
The sun was setting in the west, and the clouds in the sky were colorful. Tomorrow would be another fine day.
“Today’s clouds are so beautiful.” While exclaiming, Ye Qizhen nudged Wen Yu’s arm, urging her to look out the window too.
“Mn.” Wen Yu followed the direction Ye Qizhen was looking. Clearly the same scenery, yet different people saw completely different things.
Ye Qizhen took out her phone to check the navigation and found the next stop was East Cross-River Bridge. On a whim, she said to Wen Yu, “Next stop is Cross-River Bridge. Shall we get off?”
Wen Yu was puzzled.
Ye Qizhen: “Watch the sunset, then take you to eat something delicious.”
Wen Yu liked hearing Ye Qizhen say she would take her to do something. Just like visiting the aquarium last time, she didn’t have to think about anything; just following Ye Qizhen made her feel comfortable and at ease.
While they were talking, they were about to arrive at the station. Without giving time for consideration—Ye Qizhen was afraid Wen Yu wouldn’t be interested and didn’t dare make a rash decision—unexpectedly, Wen Yu urged her instead, getting up: “Let’s go, get off.”
Ye Qizhen smiled without speaking, stood up quickly, and pulled Wen Yu up along the way, leading her to squeeze through the crowded and narrow aisle. It took some effort for the two to squeeze off the bus.
Although hasty, thinking from another angle, hasty decisions could also bring surprises.
The two stood side by side on the bridge, the breeze brushing their faces. Looking up, the sky was brilliant with sunset glow; looking down, the river surface shimmered with light. The water and sky reflected each other, picturesque and enchanting. The Cross-River Bridge was a good place to watch the sunset. The scenery as far as the eye could see was open and magnificent, far more shocking than watching from inside the bus.
Ye Qizhen gazed into the distance, watching earnestly.
Wen Yu was also entranced. Although she often sketched landscapes, her state of mind at this moment was completely different. Now it was pure appreciation and enjoyment, enjoying the occasional surprises life brought. Wen Yu turned to look at Ye Qizhen, thinking about something.
“Student Wen, what are you spacing out for?” Ye Qizhen turned around, leaned against the stone railing, and asked Wen Yu with a smile.
“Am I?” Wen Yu denied it.
“Yes, I saw it.” Ye Qizhen was confident.
Wen Yu was spacing out just now. She was thinking, Whoever manages to abduct Ye Qizhen home probably found a treasure.
Ye Qizhen’s suggestion to watch the sunset wasn’t entirely a whim. Having angered Wen Yu recently, she thought Wen Yu must be in a bad mood. When she felt low herself, she would walk around and look at things. She hoped this trick would work for Wen Yu too.
“Is it beautiful?” Ye Qizhen asked Wen Yu expectantly, hoping to see more smiles on Wen Yu’s face.
“Beautiful.” Wen Yu rarely smiled so softly.
Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu, thinking to herself, The person under the dusk light is more beautiful than the dusk.
The atmosphere at the moment was very suitable for chatting. The wind was comfortable, and the pace was slow. Ye Qizhen chatted idly: “Actually, the night of the club’s first meeting, I saw you. I thought I saw wrong.”
Wen Yu turned sideways, also leaning against the stone railing. She looked at Ye Qizhen for a few seconds before saying, “Thinking someone like me has compassion is weird?”
Smiling.
Like self-mockery.
Someone like me. Hearing Wen Yu say this for the second time, the smile on Ye Qizhen’s face dissipated. The words swirled in her throat a few times before she finally said them: “Don’t say that about yourself.”
Wen Yu was stunned for a moment. “You should have heard about my affairs before, right?”
Ye Qizhen didn’t deny it; she had indeed heard a lot of rumors about Wen Yu.
“Don’t you hate me?” Wen Yu asked Ye Qizhen the question she was most curious about. Anyone who had heard of her “glorious deeds,” she felt, wouldn’t like someone like her.
Ye Qizhen shook her head. She didn’t easily believe what she heard; she only believed what she experienced. “I’m in the Journalism Department after all. If I believe whatever others spread, how can I do journalism in the future?”
“Then if I tell you that actually I’ve never been in a relationship, never had a boyfriend, do you believe me?” Wen Yu turned her head and asked again. Consider it a disguised explanation. She didn’t care what others thought, but she didn’t want Ye Qizhen to be like the others, harboring misunderstandings and prejudices against her.
“I believe you.” Ye Qizhen’s eyes were firm, not surprised. She knew Wen Yu was misunderstood too deeply.
Wen Yu took a secret breath. Is this what it feels like to be trusted? She smiled at Ye Qizhen. “You trust people so easily, aren’t you afraid of being cheated?”
Ye Qizhen discovered that Wen Yu was also putting on a brave front. Clearly caring, yet pretending not to care. But she could understand Wen Yu’s bravado. Standing in Wen Yu’s position, facing overwhelming verbal violence, besides acting indifferent, was there any better way?
“Guess why I like to hide and cry?” Ye Qizhen asked Wen Yu in return.
“Because you’re stubborn about saving face,” Wen Yu said.
“Can’t you be a bit more tactful?” Ye Qizhen looked up and laughed. “I loved to cry when I was little. Whenever I cried, my mom would lecture me, saying I was useless. Later, I only dared to hide and cry. My mom always lectured me like that, so I thought she couldn’t cry. But once, I saw her crying very sadly in her room, crying even harder than me.”
“Why?” Wen Yu asked.
“She’s a surgeon. That surgery was high-risk, and the patient didn’t make it off the operating table. At the time, the patient’s family said my mom looked down on poor people and didn’t put her heart into the surgery because they didn’t give a red envelope. They made a scene at the hospital every day and even contacted the media for exposure. During that time, rumors flew everywhere, spoken as if they were true.” Although she was small at the time, Ye Qizhen recalled it vividly. “From then on, I knew that what you hear isn’t necessarily true. Words are fearful things; words spoken casually can sometimes hurt more than knives. You see, even someone as scary as my mom was driven to tears, right?”
Wen Yu was amused by Ye Qizhen’s humorous tone, and simultaneously moved. She could tell Ye Qizhen said these things to comfort her.
“I think what kind of person someone is depends on what they do themselves, not what others say.” After saying this, Ye Qizhen realized she was taking things too much for granted. She hadn’t experienced what Wen Yu had, so naturally, she could speak easily. Thinking about how uncomfortable she felt just being scolded by Guan Ming once, she couldn’t imagine how Wen Yu got through it.
She lowered her head, then looked at Wen Yu, simply saying very earnestly: “The Wen Yu I know is very good. No matter what others say, I know she is very good.”
Wen Yu listened quietly. She didn’t consider herself easily sentimental, but at this moment… “Ye Qizhen.”
“Mn?”
“I want to hug you.”
