Chapter 58: Reconciliation
Wen Yu rested her head on Ye Qizhen’s shoulder, feeling exhausted and just wanting to hug her and sleep properly. Drowsiness came faster than expected; not long after closing her eyes, her consciousness became hazy.
But this sleep wasn’t peaceful.
She had a dream.
After an unknown amount of time, Wen Yu woke up from the illusion with her brow furrowed tightly. Discovering she was still hugging Ye Qizhen, she realized it was just a dream.
Ye Qizhen wasn’t asleep yet and whispered, “Had a nightmare?”
Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen, her heart still pounding.
Worse than a nightmare. She dreamed that Ye Qizhen was kissing someone else as passionately as she kissed her, hugging someone else and smiling coquettishly. She dreamed that after Ye Qizhen was no longer by her side, her life returned to the way it was before—numb and terrible.
“I’m here.” Ye Qizhen coaxed softly. Not sleeping peacefully, was it because her nerves were too tense today? Clearly under a lot of pressure, yet holding it in alone, pretending nothing was wrong. Many times, she felt Wen Yu was even better at pretending than her.
Wen Yu took a light breath, as if to make up for the discomfort in the dream. She pressed her face against Ye Qizhen’s neck, rubbed stickily, and then hugged the other person tighter in a more intimate posture, full of dependence and attachment.
The more considerate Ye Qizhen was to her now, the stronger her feeling of gain and loss seemed to be. She didn’t consider the future, but she couldn’t help thinking a lot about Ye Qizhen.
Couldn’t be free and easy, couldn’t achieve “no expectation, no disappointment.”
Although it was very late, Ye Qizhen still wasn’t sleepy. Seeing Wen Yu in this state was heartbreaking. Inexplicably, she thought again about how sad Wen Yu must have been alone when she wasn’t by her side before.
Wen Yu looked tougher than anyone, but actually needed more gentleness and patience. She rubbed Wen Yu’s head lightly, just as Wen Yu usually comforted her. “I’ll hold you, you sleep.”
“Mn.” Wen Yu responded in a small voice. Falling asleep shallowly several times and waking up midway, she found Ye Qizhen hadn’t slept yet, just accompanying her foolishly, not finding it annoying or tiring.
It was only this night that Ye Qizhen realized Wen Yu’s sleep quality was so poor.
Because they fell asleep too late and were exhausted these past few days, by nine o’clock the next day, the two were still hugging and sleeping soundly, showing no signs of waking up.
A few knocks sounded on the door.
Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu on the bed still didn’t react.
Knocked twice more.
Then the door was pushed open—
Opening her eyes and seeing Wen Qiuxian made Ye Qizhen instantly awake and a bit panicked, because at this very moment, she was hugging Wen Yu in an… overly intimate sleeping posture.
The lock on this room had been broken for a while, so Wen Qiuxian walked straight in. When she saw the scene of Wen Yu hugging Ye Qizhen sleeping soundly, she was indeed a bit dumbfounded and froze for several seconds.
“Aun… tie.” Ye Qizhen greeted Wen Qiuxian, stuttering, awkwardness mixed with guilt. Wen Yu not only didn’t wake up at this time, but her leg was rubbing against Ye Qizhen’s leg under the covers, bare skin entangled.
Wen Qiuxian didn’t notice anything wrong, just surprised. She thought with her daughter’s foul temper, she was destined to be alone and couldn’t have any close friends.
“Get up if you want breakfast.” Wen Qiuxian’s voice wasn’t loud or quiet, a tone of “eat if you want, whatever.”
“Mn…” Before Ye Qizhen could say anything else, Wen Qiuxian had turned and left the room.
Only then did Wen Yu open her eyes lazily.
Ye Qizhen noticed. “Awake?”
Wen Yu hummed nasally: “Mn.”
Looking at Wen Yu who just woke up in her arms, Ye Qizhen snickered. Perhaps just waking up was the most relaxed time; her whole being was lazy, sticky, and a bit soft. So likeable. She stared at Wen Yu’s face intently. How can she be so good-looking? She really felt like a fool in front of Wen Yu. “Hungry? Auntie told us to get up for breakfast.”
Hearing Ye Qizhen say this, Wen Yu was stunned.
After changing clothes and washing up, Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu ran into Wen Qiuxian coming out of the kitchen. Wen Qiuxian was holding a breakfast of reheated fried egg toast.
“Good morning, Auntie.” Ye Qizhen greeted with a beaming smile.
“Oh.” Encountering such an obedient girl, Wen Qiuxian was a bit unaccustomed. “Eat breakfast.”
Ye Qizhen pulled out a chair and sat down with Wen Yu. She secretly observed Wen Yu’s reaction. After communicating last night, she shouldn’t be angry with her mom anymore, right?
Wen Qiuxian picked up the toast and started eating first.
Wen Yu also quietly chewed the toast. Incredible to say, she hadn’t really eaten breakfast with Wen Qiuxian much. Before, most of the time Wen Qiuxian left breakfast on the table for her alone, or simply threw money on the table for her to eat out.
The current situation was very unfamiliar to her.
There were only slight chewing sounds at the table; no one spoke. Quite stifling.
After eating a few bites, Ye Qizhen broke the silence first. “Auntie, the breakfast you made is delicious.”
Wen Yu and Wen Qiuxian looked up at Ye Qizhen simultaneously. Then the silent Wen Yu spoke up, dropping a sentence: “She didn’t make it, the takeout box in the kitchen hasn’t been thrown away yet.” She knew better than anyone that Wen Qiuxian couldn’t cook.
Now.
Wen Qiuxian: “…”
Ye Qizhen: “…”
“So what? I went downstairs specifically to buy it.” Wen Qiuxian shouted impatiently at Wen Yu, “Eat it if you want, I can’t be bothered to serve you.”
“Running around when you’re unwell,” Wen Yu muttered.
“I’m happy to,” Wen Qiuxian said.
After a moment, Wen Yu lowered her head and asked casually, “Better today?”
Wen Qiuxian also paused. “Won’t die.”
One sentence back and forth, sounding like they were about to argue, but Ye Qizhen could hear these two cared about each other. She drank a mouthful of milk, pursing her lips and smiling silently on the side.
Actually, Wen Yu’s temper was quite like her mother’s. In some aspects, they were exactly the same—cold on the outside, warm on the inside.
Continued eating for a while.
Wen Qiuxian pondered, then said, “In the future, I won’t call mahjong partners to the house. You can live at home if you want, or live in the old house if you want. Anyway, I had someone clean up that side too. It’s livable.”
Wen Yu pursed her lips. “Mn, got it.”
Wen Qiuxian stopped talking.
Ye Qizhen turned to look at Wen Yu, eyes curved into crescents with a smile. She was happy from the bottom of her heart. Resolving the grudge between mother and daughter, Wen Yu would put down a big burden in her heart, right? It had always been a worry.
Wen Yu suddenly burst out laughing. Seeing a small ring of milk stain on the corner of Ye Qizhen’s lip, she pulled a tissue and handed it to Ye Qizhen.
Ye Qizhen reacted dazedly.
Rarely eating breakfast and chatting so peacefully together. Seeing Ye Qizhen eating with relish, seemingly not enough, Wen Qiuxian couldn’t help asking Ye Qizhen, “Girl, are you full?”
“Ah,” Ye Qizhen answered obediently, “I’m full.”
“Really full?” Wen Yu took over the conversation instead. “You usually eat so much. If you’re not full, I’ll go buy more.”
Ye Qizhen was thin-skinned and winked at Wen Yu, thinking Can you give me some face? Wen Yu understood and was amused by Ye Qizhen again.
Wen Qiuxian looked up, taking it all in. Looking at the two girls’ slightly childish expressions, she also smiled faintly in a trance. Perhaps she was too incompetent as a mother; she had never seen her daughter smile like this in front of her.
Just after finishing breakfast here, Ye Qizhen received a call from Chen Yin urging her to go home.
Wen Yu didn’t want to make things difficult for her, so she actively said, “You go back.”
Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu eagerly, a bit aggrieved. They hadn’t seen each other for more than a month during summer vacation. Just met yesterday and encountered so many things, now separating again.
Wen Yu thought Ye Qizhen was worried about her. “It’s okay, you don’t have to accompany me all the time.”
But I want to stay with my girlfriend longer. Ye Qizhen had difficulty speaking out, after all, Wen Qiuxian was still sitting beside them.
In the end, Ye Qizhen went home first.
Wen Yu called a ride-hailing car in advance to send her to the community gate.
The car hadn’t arrived yet. It was already very hot; standing under the camphor tree was slightly cooler.
Although in the same city and not far apart, thinking of separating was still reluctant. The two hugged under the shade of the tree for a long time. Ye Qizhen hugged Wen Yu’s waist tightly, not wanting to let go.
“What’s wrong?” Wen Yu asked knowingly.
Ye Qizhen looked up slightly at Wen Yu. “Get along well with Auntie, don’t argue.”
“Remembered.”
The warm breath sweeping over when Wen Yu spoke softly made Ye Qizhen’s heart itch, and Wen Yu naturally felt the same. If they weren’t outside, the two would definitely not be able to resist kissing, but now they could only endure.
…
Returning home that night, Ye Qizhen tossed and turned in bed.
Clearly slept alone for so long, now she surprisingly felt unaccustomed to it. Couldn’t fall asleep for a long time; probably because being with Wen Yu these two nights gave her a taste of sweetness.
So should I tell Wen Yu to live together next semester?
Is it too fast to talk about cohabitation just after getting together?
And does living together mean—
Suddenly thinking a lot, Ye Qizhen pulled the quilt over her head. Her face was a bit hot, breathing unknowingly quickened, mind full of Wen Yu, feeling she couldn’t sleep the more she thought…
