Chapter 6

Lu Wuqi instinctively looked up. When she glanced straight ahead, Lan Xu, who was standing at the entrance of the milk tea shop across the street, met her eyes.

“Xuxu?” Lu Wuqi called out. Then she raised her hand and waved at her.

Lan Xu waved back at Lu Wuqi as well. At the same time, she pointed at the zebra crossing not far away, signaling that Lu Wuqi could come over from there.

Lu Wuqi made an OK sign with her hand. Ignoring how blazing hot the midday sun was, she jogged right over, crossing the pedestrian walkway that had just turned green, and arrived at Lan Xu’s side.

“Xuxu, were you waiting here specifically for me?” Lu Wuqi asked, slightly out of breath. She had just steadied herself when Lan Xu stuffed a cup of freshly squeezed juice, still chilled with ice cubes, into her hand.

“I wasn’t waiting for you specifically. I just came over for some milk tea,” Lan Xu said. She tugged at Lu Wuqi’s sleeve and led her into the milk tea shop, where they found a seat.

“I was just going to buy my milk tea and leave. I didn’t expect to spot a certain someone standing in the middle of the street spacing out. Running into you was pure coincidence.” Lan Xu emphasized again.

Lu Wuqi glanced at the freshly squeezed juice in her hand. If Lan Xu had come alone for milk tea, then why had she bought two cups?

“That’s quite the coincidence,” Lu Wuqi said. She might lack dating experience, but she wasn’t clueless about social cues. There was no way she was going to call out her girlfriend’s obvious excuse.

“Xuxu, you saw the message I sent, right? Come home with me for lunch?” Lu Wuqi said, playing along as if she totally bought it. She stuck the straw into her juice and took a slow sip.

Lan Xu hesitated a bit. She had only snuck out this time to check if Lu Wuqi was telling the truth or not. From what she could see so far, it seemed Lu Wuqi had been honest, so her goal was accomplished.

“Nah, I’ve already eaten. You should head home for lunch,” Lan Xu said politely, turning down the offer. She was an adult, after all—how could she show up empty-handed and mooch off a meal?

Lu Wuqi bit down on her straw, deciding to make up for her earlier morning blunder. “Xuxu, do you have any plans this afternoon?”

“No plans for now. Why do you ask?” Lan Xu looked at Lu Wuqi, catching a faint, pleasant fragrance wafting from her.

She wasn’t sure if it was from body wash or laundry detergent, but it smelled nice anyway.

“Since you don’t have any plans, why don’t you come home with me, Xuxu? You’ve already eaten, so you can wait while I have lunch, and then we can nap together.” Lu Wuqi extended a sincere invitation. “It’s way too hot out right now. I wasn’t planning to head to the internet cafe until after three anyway.”

Nap together? Lan Xu’s eyebrow arched slightly. It had been over a month since they’d napped together, and the thought made her heart stir a little.

“Nah, since I’ve already eaten, I probably shouldn’t go to your place.” Lan Xu demurely refused at first. “It’d be weird for me to just sit there watching you eat with your auntie and uncle.”

“Then just wait in my room first?” Lu Wuqi offered a thoughtful solution. “You can read the self-reflection essay I wrote while you’re at it. By the time you’re done, I should be finished eating.”

Lan Xu: …

What an idiot. Couldn’t she pick up on what she meant?

If watching them eat would be awkward, she should invite Lan Xu to have a little more, not send her off to starve in the bedroom!

“No need. You go ahead first. I’ll come find you after you’re done eating,” Lan Xu said woodenly.

Fine, it wasn’t the first time she’d realized Lu Wuqi was a dummy. She’d chosen her herself, so a little denseness was tolerable. She’d just endure it!

Worst case, she could grab a quick bite during this time to tide herself over, then head to Lu Wuqi’s place.

Lu Wuqi bit her straw again. Thinking about how Lan Xu sometimes phrased things indirectly in her tsundere way, enlightenment suddenly dawned on her.

“Xuxu, let’s head back together. My mom’s braised beef is seriously delicious. Even if you’ve eaten, you can definitely squeeze in a bit more.” Lu Wuqi chugged the rest of her juice in one big gulp, freeing up her hand to grab Lan Xu’s.

“Come on, let’s go home together.” Lu Wuqi stood up and gave a gentle tug on Lan Xu’s arm, pulling up the girl who looked hesitant on the surface.

“Fine, then. I’ll just have a tiny bit of auntie’s beef noodles to taste them.” Lan Xu acted like she was helpless against Lu Wuqi and quickly matched her pace.

Either way, she hadn’t eaten much, and with the weather so hot, her appetite was probably suppressed. A small half-bowl of noodles should fill her up just fine.

–

Eating only a small half-bowl? Yeah, that was absolutely impossible!

The moment Mother Lu saw Lan Xu arrive, her smile widened by eight degrees. When she noticed Lan Xu had brought a watermelon too, she enthusiastically ushered her to sit down, immediately cranking the home AC to twenty-four degrees.

Ignoring Lan Xu’s claim that she only needed a little bit of noodles, Mother Lu grabbed a large bowl.

She first scooped up a huge clump of noodles with chopsticks, then ladled in two heaping spoonfuls of beef. Finally, she poured on some beef bone broth and served Lan Xu a brimming, massive bowl.

“Auntie, th-this is way too much noodles. I don’t think I can finish it,” Lan Xu said, swallowing hard. She might not have had lunch, but she couldn’t possibly eat a bowl almost as big as her face!

“It’s fine. Whatever you can’t finish, just leave it. The important thing is to eat until you’re full,” Mother Lu said with a smile. She filled an equally massive bowl and handed it to Lu Wuqi.

Lu Wuqi took it. After comparing the portions in their bowls, she silently swallowed the words “If you can’t finish, I can help.”

No helping it—her mom seemed to dote on her too much. Finishing this huge bowl of beef noodles would push her right to her limit!

“Lu Wuqi?” Unable to resist Mother Lu’s warm hospitality, Lan Xu nudged Lu Wuqi’s knee under the table. “Can you handle it?”

In terms of build, Lu Wuqi was ten centimeters taller than Lan Xu. Though both looked somewhat slender, Lan Xu was genuinely skinny, while Lu Wuqi’s slimness came from lean muscle.

Weight-wise, Lu Wuqi was about twenty jin heavier, which meant her appetite was much bigger too—roughly one-and-a-half times Lan Xu’s.

Back at the school cafeteria, they’d shared food countless times, and eight out of ten times, it was Lan Xu sharing with Lu Wuqi.

So when Lan Xu asked if she could handle it, Lu Wuqi instantly got the hint.

Lu Wuqi patted her slightly deflated stomach, then grabbed a huge chopstickful of noodles. She blew on it to cool it down and shoveled in a massive bite.

“I can, but not much more,” Lu Wuqi said, cheeks puffed out. “Any more and I’m done.”

Lan Xu glanced sidelong at Mother Lu’s movements. Seeing her busy in the kitchen and not paying attention to the table, Lan Xu quickly scooped two big spoonfuls of beef into Lu Wuqi’s bowl, restoring her slightly reduced lunch to its original size.

“Still okay?” Lan Xu whispered.

“Nope.” Lu Wuqi swallowed the noodles in her mouth. Noodles and all that beef took up serious space—she really was at her limit.

“Alright, then eat slowly. Don’t finish faster than me.” Lan Xu instructed. She inhaled the aroma of the bone broth and beef, picked up her chopsticks, and dug in earnestly.

–

“So full… I think I need to walk it off first, or napping won’t feel good.” Lan Xu said, pacing back and forth around Lu Wuqi’s bed.

The beef noodles had been a lot, but they tasted amazing. Lan Xu slurped them all down and even drank half a bowl of soup.

Lu Wuqi sat in her chair and let out a soft breath. “Xuxu, if you couldn’t finish, you could’ve left it. No need to force it down—that’s not good for your stomach.”

“No way. If I didn’t finish, Auntie might think I didn’t like her noodles.” Lan Xu rubbed her slightly bulging tummy. “Lu Wuqi, do I have a little belly now that I’m stuffed?”

“Nope, your waist still looks super slim, same as always.” Lu Wuqi answered without a second thought.

“Really? Don’t lie to me.” Lan Xu muttered softly, grudgingly satisfied with the response.

Since both had overeaten, by the time they lay down on the bed for their nap, it was already one o’clock.

“You’re going to the internet cafe at three?” Lan Xu asked. She opened her phone alarm and started setting it. “Should I set one for 2:50 then?”

“No need for an alarm. Let’s just sleep until we wake up naturally.” As Lu Wuqi spoke, she adjusted her position. “Going a bit later is fine. There are tons of forum gigs I can pick up, and none have time limits.”

“Then forget it.” Lan Xu immediately deleted the alarm. After setting her phone aside, she couldn’t help but yawn.

“Eating your fill and then sleeping—it’s like some kind of animal behavior,” Lan Xu muttered. She rubbed the tears from the corners of her eyes and started feeling drowsy.

“Humans are animals too. Getting sleepy after eating and crashing out is totally normal.” Lu Wuqi murmured softly. She had already closed her eyes first.

Though Lu Wuqi had earned over six hundred yuan that morning, it had cost her a brain and hands with barely any breaks. Mental work tired you out just the same…

Once the person lying beside her went quiet, Lan Xu slowly turned onto her side. She waved a hand in front of Lu Wuqi’s face.

No reaction? Already asleep? It hadn’t even been three minutes since lying down, had it?

Lan Xu blinked hard a few times. When that didn’t chase away the sleepiness, she stopped overthinking. Instead, she mimicked Lu Wuqi, lying flat and closing her eyes, waiting for sleep to claim her.

Sleepy. Time to sleep. Whatever else could wait until after waking up.