Chapter 31: Missing You

Pushed step by step by a little girl who was still wet behind the ears, the man held back his anger. But since he was clearly in the wrong, he couldn’t lash out in public for fear of being branded a bully who picked on women and children, turning himself into the target of everyone’s ire.

He bossily said to the child’s mother, “You’re always just scrolling videos and watching livestreams, can’t even control your own kid. Why don’t you go apologize to her? Should I do it?”

That one sentence laid bare his macho attitude and hands-off parenting style.

With no other choice, the boy’s mother pulled him over to apologize to Yan Ningxi. “Auntie, I’m sorry. Waaah, I didn’t mean to.”

Yan Ningxi hadn’t fully recovered yet and reflexively replied, “It’s fine.”

The boy’s mother said, “How much money? We’ll compensate you.”

Her hand held by Ming You, Yan Ningxi’s “no” stuck in her throat.

“It’s fine as long as you admit fault. Seven hundred it is. That amount is fair and square, so everyone feels balanced.” Screen prices varied by phone model, and Ming You didn’t know the market or have experience replacing one. She was just estimating based on the reference price the store clerk had given last time when introducing screen insurance.

Besides, the exact amount of compensation was minor. Helping Yan Ningxi vent her anger was the top priority.

Those two little boys had run over to Yan Ningxi right under her nose, so she’d seen the whole thing. Before she could even be surprised, the moment she realized Yan Ningxi was crying, her heart stabbed like it had been pricked by a needle.

She’d wanted to charge over and beat the crap out of whoever made her cry.

But they were just kids. She couldn’t hit them.

“Fine, seven hundred it is. I’ll transfer it to you.” The boy’s mother was in a rush to catch her schedule and didn’t haggle.

“Okay.”

After the transfer, the woman dragged the child away in quick steps.

…

With the phone-smashing incident resolved, the heroic vigilante woman began packing up her backpack.

“Your sister must be in a bad mood, right? The adult world is like that—often, it’s some tiny, insignificant trifle that breaks us.”

“Yeah, her work hasn’t been going smoothly lately.” Ming You hadn’t let go of Yan Ningxi’s hand. “Are you headed to Huai’an too?”

The woman packed her things, turned sideways to Ming You, took off her black cap to fix her hair, then put it back on. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of their clasped hands and instantly understood their “sisterly” bond. “Yeah. An overworked wage slave on annual leave, traveling solo to unwind and see some new scenery.”

“You’re so carefree.” Ming You noticed the water bottle in the side pocket of the woman’s backpack was almost empty. “I’ll go buy some water. What do you drink?”

Carefree my ass!

She called it a vacation, but she was actually carrying extra work for a site inspection.

“Me? A bottle of soda water, please. Thanks.” The woman smiled and didn’t refuse. She totally got why the girl offered to buy her water.

Yan Ningxi kept her head down the whole time, lost in thought.

Ming You shook their joined hands and softly said, “Sister Yan, I’m going to the convenience store for a few bottles of water. Wait for me two minutes.”

The warmth left her hand, and Yan Ningxi stared at it in a daze. She clenched her fingers into a fist, trapping Ming You’s body heat so it wouldn’t dissipate so quickly.

It had been so long since her emotions had fluctuated this intensely. The last time she’d cried her heart out was in her mother’s hospital room.

After learning the truth about her background, she’d also shed a silent tear in some forgotten corner. It was the terror of drowning, the despair of powerless cries for help, and not wanting to be saved at all—so that didn’t count as “crying.”

But today, she let herself cry.

In such a public place under everyone’s gaze, she was once again battered by the waves, sinking and floating. This time, someone pulled her up, and she wanted to lean on that person to reach shore.

Seeing Ming You head to the convenience store, the woman with her backpack on sat back down.

She tugged at her cap brim and sighed into the air. “You sisters have such a great bond. Your little sister is gorgeous—her looks don’t lose to those filter-dependent internet celebs, and her outfit has real style and presence.” She turned to Yan Ningxi. “Mind if I ask what she does for work?”

Black tea-colored long curls draped over her shoulders, a beige suit jacket over a white chiffon blouse with a black bow tie, a vintage brown mini envelope bag from some brand slung over one shoulder, black high-waisted A-line suit shorts below revealing two straight, flawless, lean long legs, finished with black Chelsea boots—an effortlessly chic, mature look for someone fresh into the workforce.

Yan Ningxi felt ashamed; she hadn’t even properly looked at Ming You yet. After steadying her emotions, she said, “She’s still in school.”

“Oh? A post-00s kid, huh? Impressive.”

…

Ming You bought three bottles of soda water, all in one plastic bag. She handed one to the woman whose face she couldn’t quite make out. “Good Samaritan, thanks for your help.”

“No problem. Thanks for the water too.” The woman took it and stowed it in another side pocket of her backpack. She grabbed her ticket and stood. “We should head to the ticket check too. I’m in car three. You two?”

Ming You didn’t answer right away. She pulled out a wet wipe from her bag and sat next to Yan Ningxi. “Don’t move yet. Wipe your eye corner first.”

How to describe her feelings right now?

Yan Ningxi’s face burned.

Last week, Ming You had held her while she cried, and she’d wiped Ming You’s face.

Ming You moved quickly, wrapping the used wipe and tossing it in the plastic bag. She pulled Yan Ningxi to her feet. “Sister Yan, which car are we in?”

“Car five.”

Car three, five, six—they were in three different cars.

Usually, cars 1-3 and 4-6 went in opposite directions, one left, one right. Once inside, it was time to say goodbye and part ways.

The main group had already entered the station, and the three of them lined up at the same ticket gate. Ming You stood arm-in-arm with Yan Ningxi side by side, while the woman with her bulging backpack queued behind them.

Ming You and Yan Ningxi scanned their tickets and entered one after another. When it was the woman’s turn, someone yanked her backpack from behind. “Su Yi, come back with me.”

Through the gate, Yan Ningxi and Ming You turned back to see a long-haired woman in a white trench coat gripping “Su Yi,” her attitude firm, expression stern, cheeks flushed from rushing over.

“Didn’t you say we should both cool off?”

“I said cool off, not run far away.”

“If I’m not far away, how can I cool off? Jin Yuan, you think in your presence, I could…” Su Yi’s unfinished words were blocked by Jin Yuan’s lips on her throat.

Ming You and Yan Ningxi watched, dumbstruck. This was way too bold in public.

A brief kiss, with lips bitten, left Su Yi completely immobilized as Jin Yuan dragged her away from the gate.

After several steps, she turned back, waved goodbye to Ming You and Yan Ningxi, and shouted, “See you!”

It was a minor interlude, but it hit hard.

Those two didn’t look like girls in their teens or twenties, yet they acted so boldly regardless of onlookers—their relationship foundation must run deep.

On the escalator down to the platform, Yan Ningxi said to Ming You, “Thanks for the phone thing.”

After entering the station, Ming You stopped clinging to Yan Ningxi—no hand-holding, no arm-linking. Even though there was hardly anyone around them now.

“Sister Yan, fate is such an incredible, wondrous thing.”

“Which car are you in?”

“Wherever Sister Yan is, that’s where I am.”

Ming You was a liar.

And not even a good one.

But this liar had shown up right on time and helped her out.

Yan Ningxi’s seat was F by the window. The seat light above showed F occupied but D empty. From Hengyuan to Huai’an, there was one intermediate stop. D being empty now didn’t mean it would stay that way.

Sitting in D, Ming You put her bag on the small forward tray table. She unscrewed the cap on one soda water bottle and placed it on the windowsill to Yan Ningxi’s right. “Don’t forget to drink water.”

She twisted open another and took a sip, then rotated her sore neck and opened her phone to check trending searches.

For her major courses, they had to follow current events daily.

Yan Ningxi said, “Send me your seat number.”

Ming You didn’t even glance at the person beside her, just said “oh” and obediently switched screens to screenshot and send it.

The train slowly started moving, the sound muffled. Ming You propped her head up but soon grew drowsy. Anything that flew in the sky, ran on the ground, swam in water—every mode of transport, sea, land, or air, was a sleep aid for her since childhood.

Driving herself was the exception, of course.

She put her phone away and finally turned her head, eyes bleary. “Sister Yan, can I borrow your shoulder to lean on?”

“Mm.”

With permission, she squinted, leaned toward Yan Ningxi, adjusted forward for comfort, then finally hooked her arm around Yan Ningxi’s.

She’d leaned, she’d hooked—Yan Ningxi thought the girl would settle into sleep now. But the girl’s right hand slid down the hooked arm to clasp her left hand.

Amid the accelerating, irregular heartbeat in her chest, she heard the girl say evenly, “Sister Yan, our fate is real. But this time, it wasn’t arranged by heaven. It’s because… I missed you.”

The girl’s breath faintly brushed her neck, tingling, numbing, itchy—not just on the skin, but deep in her heart.

Missed?

Had her own “Heading back to Huai’an?” been a “miss” too?

…

Ming You had a dream. In it, she won the Host Competition championship, trophy in hand, and went back to the apartment. The door opened to the smell of food teasing her stomach, a beauty teasing her heart.

The “beauty” in an apron turned—it was Yan Ningxi, smiling radiantly as she walked over, hugged her waist, tilted up for a kiss, and murmured, “Welcome home, my Little Champion.”

She kissed back.

With Yan Ningxi.

But why was Yan Ningxi the one taking the initiative?

“Dear passengers, attention please. The next stop is the final destination of this train—Huai’an Station. Passengers disembarking at Huai’an, please prepare in advance…”

“Ming You, wake up. We’re here.”

Almost at Huai’an Station, Ming You was roused by Yan Ningxi. She groggily opened her eyes, then suddenly shot upright, touching her mouth with the back of her hand.

Good, drooling was just in the dream.

She glanced up at the seat light—D now showed occupied. The whole trip was an hour and twelve minutes; she’d slept at least forty or fifty.

So the mid-journey passenger had been swapped out by Yan Ningxi using her seat number?

After getting off, they flowed out with the crowd. Yan Ningxi had both hands in her pockets, while Ming You—thanks to that rather steamy dream—felt itchy and restless inside since waking. Catching sight of Yan Ningxi’s lips made her think impure thoughts.

She guiltily trailed half a step behind Yan Ningxi.

Queuing for a cab, they waited over ten minutes. Once in the taxi, Ming You gave the address of Yan Ningxi’s neighborhood. “To Xue Lin Ya Yuan.”