Chapter 69: New Year
When alone, Ye Qizhen liked to space out.
Snowflakes began to fall outside the window at some point. When she came back to her senses, a different scenery was before her eyes.
She picked up the camera on the desk, leaned by the window, and took pictures. In the lens, the neon-lit night scene spread endlessly, embellished with snowflakes, adding romance.
After taking a few shots, she flipped through the old photos saved in the camera, smiling involuntarily. There were photos of Wen Yu, of herself, and of them together. Last Christmas, Tang Tang took quite a few photos of them together.
She looked at them one by one with interest, killing boring time.
More than ten days, much longer than Ye Qizhen imagined.
The feeling was different from when they separated during the summer vacation last year. Last summer, they had just gotten together and simply wanted to be sticky with each other every moment; but now, it was more about being unaccustomed and missing, feeling empty.
Many people say couples living together get tired of each other easily, but once the other person is regarded as an indispensable part of oneself, how can one get tired? Separated for a slightly longer time, the heart can’t help but miss them.
Relatives and friends visited constantly during the Spring Festival; there was no peace.
Missing is missing, but Ye Qizhen didn’t pester Wen Yu to message and chat all day long, only occasionally sending two photos and chatting a few sentences. She wanted Wen Yu to have fun with peace of mind.
On the contrary, Wen Yu messaged her more frequently, liking to ask what she was doing, and sending photos of three meals a day to her, like reporting.
Every time she saw a message from Wen Yu, she would giggle foolishly for a while.
“Yo, chatting with a boyfriend?”
Ye Qizhen looked up; her eldest aunt was talking to her. Before she could explain anything, she saw Chen Yin coming over with fruit, saying, “Where’s the boyfriend? No boyfriend.”
“Kids these days, even if she has one, she won’t tell you.”
Chen Yin smiled it off, then glanced at Ye Qizhen, her voice not loud but serious, “Your eldest aunt is chatting with you, and you’re still playing on your phone.”
Ye Qizhen had to put down her phone and answer every question from the elders.
But it was always the same words, nothing more than telling her to study hard so she could be like her sister in the future. She had heard these words since she could remember and could recite them backward.
A bit annoying…
“Mom, I’m going out for a bit.”
“Why go out now? So many guests at home, how impolite.” Both daughters had been praised for being sensible and well-mannered since childhood, inseparable from Chen Yin’s education.
“Sweetie said she needs me for something.” Ye Qizhen brought out her savior. Anyway, Tang Tang used her like this quite often.
Chen Yin didn’t say anything more, tacitly agreeing.
The cold wind howled.
As soon as she went out, Ye Qizhen shivered from the cold. Cold was cold, but better than being bored and annoyed at home.
She didn’t know where to go either, just stepping on the soft snow, wandering aimlessly in the community. Several children were building snowmen and having a snowball fight in the open space, carefree and happy.
Ye Qizhen stood by and watched with a smile for a while. Inadvertently turning her head, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Her first reaction was that she mistook someone else.
Looked closer, it really was.
The long-haired woman smoking not far away was her sister.
Seeing Ye Qizhen purse her lips and skillfully exhale smoke, Ye Qizhen felt a sense of disbelief no matter what.
While Ye Qizhen hesitated whether to go over, Ye Qifan had already discovered her. She had to walk towards Ye Qifan, calling absent-mindedly, “Sister—”
Ye Qifan was unnatural too. Meeting Ye Qizhen’s gaze, the cigarette between her fingers seemed to burn her hand. She didn’t smoke anymore, just letting it burn slowly by itself, smoke curling up.
Looking at each other.
Should say something, right?
The two stood stiffly, both quite awkward.
Ye Qizhen still felt this wasn’t something her sister would do, but Ye Qifan’s natural smoking movements obviously showed it wasn’t her first time. Not that smoking was anything to make a fuss about, but it was strange happening to her sister. All along, her sister was an existence even more law-abiding than her.
Ye Qifan took a quiet breath, her voice very light: “Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”
“Mn.” Ye Qizhen agreed. If her mom knew, she couldn’t imagine Chen Yin’s reaction. On her eighteenth birthday, she just drank a little beer outside and was lectured by Chen Yin for many days.
Ye Qifan stubbed out the remaining half of the cigarette and threw it into the trash can. Once this thing was thrown away, she seemed to immediately return to the appearance she should have. Only in this way would she not disappoint the people around her.
“Argued with brother-in-law?” Ye Qizhen hesitated but still asked with concern. Ye Qifan came home alone today. She had heard some movements from Chen Yin more or less.
Ye Qifan smiled, speaking lightly, “I still have things to do. Tell Mom I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“Okay.”
Not answering her, obviously just didn’t want to say more. Ye Qizhen also felt her question was awkward. Although they were sisters, their relationship wasn’t close, and they never had heart-to-heart talks.
And she never expected Ye Qifan to have such a melancholy side. Her sister had always been envied by countless people, including her.
Ye Qifan turned and left.
Ye Qizhen stared at the retreating back. So everyone has their own troubles, right? Even someone like her sister. If a person gives the feeling of being happy forever, she probably is very tired.
A snowball hit her body.
Ye Qizhen’s thoughts were interrupted.
A little girl with big eyes hurriedly apologized to her: “Sister, sorry, we didn’t mean to.”
Ye Qizhen liked well-behaved and sensible children as soon as she saw them. She smiled and said, “It’s okay.”
Another bolder girl asked, “Sister, want to play together?”
Ye Qizhen became childish. “Okay, Sister will help you build a snowman.”
…
Ye Qifan looked back and saw Ye Qizhen playing with a group of children. There was a trace of a smile in her eyes, and a trace of envy.
***
Five days left.
Ye Qizhen counted the time in her heart.
Sitting at her desk organizing the photo album, she received a voice call from Wen Yu. Her eyes lit up instantly. “Student Wen, how come you have time to call me?”
“I was afraid someone was bored.”
“I’m not.” Ye Qizhen lay on the desk, smiling sweetly. “Had a snowball fight with the kids in our community all afternoon today.”
Wen Yu laughed. “How old were the kids?”
Ye Qizhen: “Seven or eight.”
Wen Yu whispered: “Childish ghost, what are you doing?”
Ye Qizhen looked at the photo album at hand and kept her in suspense. “Preparing a New Year gift for you.”
“What gift?” Wen Yu asked.
“You’ll know when you come back.” Ye Qizhen wanted to talk more. “What about you, what are you doing?”
“I’m at the seaside.”
Heard the howling sea breeze.
“Mn… can you turn on video so I can see?” Ye Qizhen asked coquettishly. Hearing the voice was more satisfying than typing, and seeing the person was naturally more satisfying than hearing the voice.
Wen Yu grasped the key point: “Want to see the sea or want to see me?”
Purpose exposed, Ye Qizhen wasn’t shy: “Both.”
Soon, Wen Yu switched to a video call.
Ye Qizhen answered immediately. A large expanse of beach came into view. “So beautiful.”
“We can come here together next holiday.”
“You said it, I remember.” Ye Qizhen heard from Wen Yu’s tone that she should be having fun. Hearing Wen Yu happy made her happy too. More importantly, the relationship between Wen Yu and Wen Qiuxian had improved.
After filming the scenery for Ye Qizhen once, Wen Yu switched the camera.
Compared to seeing the scenery, Ye Qizhen naturally wanted to see her girlfriend more. It was warm there; Wen Yu only wore a thin cardigan with a camisole inside. The setting sun reflected on her smiling face, sea breeze blowing her hair messy, exceptionally gentle and moving.
“You’re wearing the dress I bought.”
“Yeah.” The cardigan was loose and slipped down her shoulder. Wen Yu pulled it up casually, covering her fair shoulder.
Wearing a camisole is so alluring. Ye Qizhen stared, suddenly realizing that video calling was a wrong decision. Seeing but not touching tested patience even more. Unconsciously thought of other things…
She complained about herself again. What is going on in my brain all day? We’ve only been apart for less than ten days.
