In the cramped space, the three of them fell silent, with only the navigation voice chiming in occasionally: “In 100 meters ahead, turn right at the traffic light. You are about to arrive at your destination.”
He Huan kept the navigation volume low, afraid of disturbing Ming You, who was resting with her eyes closed.
The car pulled into the garage and found a parking spot close to the building where Yan Ningxi lived before coming to a stop.
Yan Ningxi got out of the car and walked around to the other side just as the door opened from inside.
Ming You grasped Yan Ningxi’s outstretched hand and stepped down. She casually tossed the pillow into the back seat, but the U-neck pillow was still looped around her neck. Yan Ningxi undid it for her and bent down to put it back in place.
He Huan handed the car keys to Ming You but turned her head toward Yan Ningxi. “I won’t go upstairs.”
“Thanks for the trouble, Teacher He.” Regardless of the reason, having disturbed He Huan so late at night to act as their driver left Yan Ningxi feeling a bit guilty.
“Teacher He, it’s my fault for making you come all this way.”
Ming You rubbed the cool bamboo segment pendant with her thumb and took the blame upon herself. “I can’t think of any words or actions to express my gratitude right now. In the future, if there’s anywhere you need me, Teacher He, just say the word. Serving my teacher, I’ll do it wholeheartedly and without complaint.”
He Huan smiled. “Good. You said it yourself—don’t go back on your word.”
With that, she grabbed Ming You’s arm, her expression turning serious. “A little drink brings joy, but heavy drinking harms the body. No matter how much or how little you drink, if you’ve had any, never drive. Don’t take chances, and don’t joke with your life, got it?”
“I didn’t.”
Ming You retorted sullenly. All teachers were the same—one-track minds. Yan Ningxi, Qi Xuexin, He Huan—why did they all have to lecture her?
“Good if you didn’t. Ming You, I’m not educating you or blaming you. I’m just concerned about your health.” He Huan took two steps back and waved goodbye to the pair standing together. “Alright, you two head up. Don’t worry about me. I’ll take the other elevator—it’s closer to the gate.”
Yan Ningxi waved as well. “Contact me when you get home. Goodbye, Teacher He.”
A sharp pain twisted in Ming You’s lower abdomen.
Ming You didn’t say goodbye. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Yan Ningxi’s sleeve. “Sister Yan, let’s go upstairs. I… I don’t feel so good.”
…
Back at the apartment, Ming You headed straight to the bathroom the moment she stepped inside. Her period had indeed arrived.
Her cycle was never regular and usually ran two or three days late. This month, it wasn’t due until the day after tomorrow. But it had come right on time after all.
Fortunately, she’d used a panty liner as a precaution.
Her pants weren’t stained.
But after drinking so much chilled alcohol, her abdomen now ached unbearably.
Yan Ningxi knocked on the door. “Ming You?”
Ming You pressed hard on her abdomen. “Sister Yan, I need a sanitary napkin.”
“There’s some in the drawer.”
After lingering in the bathroom for five or six minutes, Ming You emerged pale-faced and returned to the living room. She hunched over as she sat down on the sofa.
Misfortune never came singly.
When things went south, even her period piled on.
Brown sugar ginger tea simmered in the kitchen. As Yan Ningxi passed through the living room, she glanced at Ming You but didn’t approach to ask if she was still in pain or feeling any better.
She went into the bedroom and fetched a new towel, new pajamas, and new underwear. She folded them neatly and placed them in the bathroom.
Then she headed to the kitchen, turned off the stove, and poured a cup of ginger tea to cool.
She returned to the bedroom, pulled over a stool, and retrieved a slightly thicker coral fleece blanket and a pillow from the top cabinet. She divided the 1.5-meter bed in half, with a quilt on each side.
Ming You’s discomfort and the discomfort of sleeping on the sofa were secondary concerns. What Yan Ningxi truly feared was that she might slip away quietly in the middle of the night.
Last time, she’d run off with a fever and taken a taxi. If she tried it again now, who knew—she might drunk-drive. Some risks needed to be nipped in the bud. The image of Ming You covered in blood was something she was too afraid to even think about anymore.
Once the bedtime preparations were complete, Yan Ningxi brought the ginger tea to Ming You.
“Drink it to warm your stomach. It hasn’t simmered long, so it might be a bit spicy.”
“Thanks.” Ming You had been sitting there in a daze, her mind blank and her body too weak to move.
Seeing her frozen in place with dull eyes and an exhausted expression, Yan Ningxi took her crossbody bag and set it aside. “Once you’re feeling better, go take a shower. The towel and clothes on the rack are all new. Sleep in the bedroom afterward.”
At the mention of the bedroom, Ming You reacted. Stars lit up in her eyes.
“I’ve made up the bed. You take the left side.”
The left side was by the bay window, the right by the door. The decision to let Ming You sleep in the bed had come to her while brewing the ginger tea. But the pajamas had been purchased days earlier.
Dark green—like the skirt Ming You had worn to Teacher He’s wedding.
She hadn’t gone shopping on purpose or bought them for anyone in particular. On her way home from the pedestrian street, she’d simply happened to spot them in the window of a specialty store. The color and size had fit perfectly—pure coincidence.
Ming You could wear them, and so could she.
Whether it was the effect of the brown sugar ginger tea or the pain finally going numb, Ming You perked up.
She downed the entire cup of warm tea without pause and smiled at Yan Ningxi. “Sister Yan, rest assured. I sleep very well—no snoring, no teeth-grinding, no sleepwalking, and I rarely toss and turn. No bad habits.”
Having cleared herself, Ming You got up and went to the entryway to change into the slippers Yan Ningxi had worn that rainy night last time. She looked back at her. “Then I’ll go wash up?”
Yan Ningxi nodded.
She inadvertently glanced at Ming You’s feet. She must have been obsessed—why else would she think about buying a new pair of furry slippers?
Perhaps worried that Yan Ningxi might change her mind, Ming You showered quickly and dried her hair quickly too. From entering the bathroom to lying down in the bedroom, the whole routine took less than twenty minutes.
Meanwhile, Yan Ningxi washed the ingredients for tomorrow morning’s porridge in the kitchen, put them in the pot, and set the timer—taking about twenty minutes as well.
“All done so quickly?” Surprised by Ming You’s speed, Yan Ningxi walked to the bedside and touched her hair. “It’s not fully dry yet. Don’t lie down—sit up and blow it a bit more.”
She fetched the hairdryer from the bathroom, and Ming You obediently sat up.
Yan Ningxi’s scent was already familiar to her. It didn’t feel strange or off-putting, and she didn’t care whether the pajamas or quilt were new.
To make it easier to blow-dry, Ming You turned to face the window. This was the second time Yan Ningxi had blow-dried her hair for her.
It was a feeling she’d never experienced, not even during the countless times she’d been alone with He Huan.
The gentle He Huan had always brought her a sense of peaceful stability, like quiet years passing. He Huan had cooked for her and blow-dried her hair too, but there had always been an invisible distance between them, leaving her heart with nowhere to settle.
Yan Ningxi, on the other hand—who seemed unapproachable—gave her not just that plain stability, but true peace of mind.
The hairdryer switched off. Fingers ruffled her hair. “Wait five more minutes before lying down.”
“Mm.” Ming You’s nose stung.
She kept her back to Yan Ningxi, reluctant to turn her head. Only after the footsteps receded did she tilt her head back and close her stinging eyes.
Three minutes. Five minutes. Ming You sat there cross-legged the whole time, the quilt covering only her legs.
Yan Ningxi came back in and tucked a warm, fluffy object into her arms. “A student gave me this last winter. It’s unused—hold it while you sleep.”
Ming You looked down. It was a pink hot water bottle labeled “For the Goddess.” The traditional kind filled with hot water.
She hugged it close enough to press against her abdomen, rolled onto her side, and burrowed into the quilt. It was very warm.
She wanted to say her usual “Thanks, Sister Yan,” but the words wouldn’t come. She’d said too many insincere thanks to Yan Ningxi already.
So many that even the real ones had turned fake.
…
By the time Yan Ningxi finished tidying up, half an hour had passed, and it was past midnight.
The windows were sealed tight. The building sat at the deepest part of the complex, and after dark, the noises were few and far between, muffled outside. The occasional car horn or quarrel from a discordant family cut through sharply.
After finishing her skincare routine and ensuring the curtains were drawn tight, Yan Ningxi turned off the small vanity lamp.
The room plunged into darkness, her vision blurring, but she could still make out the other person on her bed. Besides herself, Ming You was the second after Qi Xuexin to sleep there.
Qi Xuexin had bought the mattress.
An imported latex one.
Yet the buyer had only slept on it once, symbolically, after it arrived.
Nine years of friendship had been enough to wear away Yan Ningxi’s physical and mental restraint at sharing a bed with Qi Xuexin.
Qi Xuexin understood her.
Picky with her words, but always considerate in every way—never putting her in a difficult spot.
The girl’s breathing was very light. Since lying down facing the window with the hot water bottle in her arms, she hadn’t shifted position.
After checking that the girl’s quilt was tucked in properly, Yan Ningxi lay down flat as lightly as she could. The hand pulling up her own quilt was suddenly gripped by another warm hand.
Her heart skipped a beat. She was startled.
“Can’t sleep?”
The girl answered irrelevantly. “If you don’t like me like this, I won’t go to the bar anymore. From now on—for the next half year, I’ll try my best not to drink. Even if Teacher Qi pressures or tempts me into it, I’ll listen to you.”
Amusement colored Yan Ningxi’s voice. “So, Qi Xuexin was the one who invited you to the bar? And she egged you on to drink tonight?”
“I went to the bar myself, but she bought all the drinks.” The girl’s voice grew quieter. “I kept saying I was leaving, but she held me back and made me drink with her.”
“You ran into each other at the bar by chance. Quite fateful.”
“Hmph. Fate might have a first-come-first-served order, but if we’re talking fate, I’m more fated with you.”
But she hadn’t been the first one fated with Ming You.
Yan Ningxi tucked Ming You’s hand back into her own quilt and straightened the corner. “I put your clothes in the washing machine. With this weather, they might not dry by tomorrow.”
Ming You fell silent for a few seconds. “Sister Yan, could I leave the day after tomorrow instead? Monday morning, I only have third and fourth period. I can take the early bus back to school and make it in time. If you don’t believe me, I’ll find my class schedule tomorrow and send it to you.”
She’d lied to Yan Ningxi so many times that she had no confidence the woman would believe her anymore. But she wanted her to.
“I’ll go find it now.” As Ming You started to prop herself up, Yan Ningxi stopped her.
“Just sleep for now. We’ll see tomorrow.” Yan Ningxi neither agreed nor refused, neither affirmed belief nor doubt. She left room for both of them.
The disappointment of not being trusted welled up unbidden. Ming You fell silent and rolled over onto her side.
She hated her own “meekness,” hated her own “pleading,” and hated most of all that she’d grown “reluctant” to leave this place.
The play had only just begun.
Don’t get too immersed.
She clenched her teeth, dug her nails into her palm, and reminded herself over and over.
