In the car, the two rode in silence all the way. It wasn’t until they reached the entrance to the neighborhood that Yan Ningxi got out first.
Ming You didn’t get out. She leaned over and said to Yan Ningxi outside the car, “Sister Yan, go home and get some early rest. I’ll transfer the money for the phone compensation to you via WeChat. You have to accept it.”
The phone screen was badly cracked, but the apps inside still worked fine. Yan Ningxi had tested it in the car already.
Ming You was about to close the car door when Yan Ningxi reached out to hold it. “Get out.”
Back at the apartment, Yan Ningxi went inside, changed into cotton slippers, and took a pair of fluffy slippers from the shoe cabinet, placing them on the floor. “It’s getting cold. Wear these. I’ll go make something to eat. Make yourself at home.”
Ming You let out an “oh.”
Casual again.
Casual it was, then. After all, it wasn’t the first day she’d been casual here.
The green pineapple slippers looked brand new.
Ming You slipped on the new slippers. The soles were soft and warm. Delight welled up in her heart.
Yan Ningxi busied herself in the kitchen while Ming You leaned against the doorway, blinking. “Sister Yan, can I take off my makeup first, then wash up and change into pajamas?”
“Your set of pajamas is on the middle shelf to the right in the closet. You’ll see it as soon as you open it.” On the train, she’d worried that Ming You’s long bare legs might get cold, but Ming You had been asleep the whole time, and she didn’t have extra clothes to use as a blanket, so she’d held back from asking.
“Okay, I’ll go find them.”
“There’s a new white electric toothbrush in the bathroom. Use that.” Yan Ningxi wasn’t used to electric toothbrushes herself. When she’d bought it, He Huan had recommended it, saying electric ones ensured thorough brushing time.
No reply came, so Yan Ningxi turned back puzzled. The girl smiled at her. “Thanks, Sister Yan.”
Yan Ningxi quickly whipped up some fried rice, and Ming You quickly took a shower.
As they sat eating, Qi Xuexin called Yan Ningxi with a voice chat. Yan Ningxi hesitated a few seconds between accepting and declining, then accepted.
“Yan Huahua!” Qi Xuexin opened with a roar.
“Talk properly.”
“Aiya, I’m just excited for you! Your big baby leveled up again. Did she tell you?”
“Mm.” Qi Xuexin’s voice was loud, so Yan Ningxi fumbled for the volume button and turned it down several times.
“You woman with no sense of romance. You definitely didn’t watch the live stream. I watched it for you!” Last week, Qi Xuexin had spotted the live stream time and even set an alarm to watch it on time. Afraid Yan Ningxi might have plans in the afternoon, she’d held off until evening to “probe.”
“Were there lots of little beauties? See anyone you liked?”
“I… don’t mention it. There were little beauties, but none as pretty as your big baby. Seriously, Yan Huahua, you missed out big time not watching the stream. Do you know how captivating your Little Pomelo was on stage?”
“If you tell her personally how beautiful and captivating she was, won’t I know? I’m on speaker. You talk to her yourself.”
Yan Ningxi set the phone on the table and pressed the speaker button under the crack twice before succeeding.
Ming You: ???
Qi Xuexin: !!!
“What do you mean? Little… Little Pomelo is with you right now? Didn’t you say she wasn’t coming back? Yan Ningxi, you heartless woman! Now I see your true colors—prioritizing romance over friendship, thinking I’m in the way of your couple’s world, huh? Fine, I won’t bother you! Goodbye!”
Qi Xuexin unleashed a barrage of words at Yan Ningxi, then hung up.
Yan Ningxi: ???
Ming You: !!!
Ming You grabbed a napkin to cover her mouth and coughed, nearly spitting out her rice. It went down the wrong way, making her head throb. “Teacher Qi, what… what did you two say?”
“She lost a game of Five in a Row and owed you a meal. Every weekend, she asks if you’re coming back to settle the debt.”
The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart.
What Ming You heard wasn’t how Qi Xuexin wanted to handle it. What she heard in the subtext was that Yan Ningxi’s afternoon WeChat message asking “Are you coming back to Huai’an?” wasn’t her own question—it was just on Qi Xuexin’s behalf.
Hah, making a fool of herself again.
She was tired of overthinking. As she cleared the dishes, she got straight to the point. “I saw the message you unsent, so I came back. Ask Teacher Qi if she’s free tomorrow. Settle her debt once and for all, so she doesn’t bug you every week asking if I’m coming back. Save you the annoyance.”
Ming You took her dishes to the kitchen. She dumped the remaining third of her fried rice into the trash. She could have finished it.
No appetite to wash dishes, she washed her hands, brushed her teeth, then hugged her phone and sank into the sofa to play games.
Yan Ningxi thought for a bit before realizing what had upset Ming You. The fried rice portion wasn’t much; she finished hers, washed the dishes, then went to the bedroom to make the bed.
Ming You played until a low battery warning popped up. Only then did she notice it was nearly eleven. The apartment was silent everywhere.
A cool breeze blew in, making her shiver. She got up to close the floor-to-ceiling window, turned off the living room lights, and tiptoed into the bedroom. Yan Ningxi sat propped against the headboard, covered with the blanket, laptop on her lap.
“My phone’s dead.”
Yan Ningxi didn’t look up. “Spare charger is in the coffee table drawer.”
Spare?
They both had domestic phones. Weren’t the cables universal?
Ming You found a complete new set in the drawer: a charger head and cable perfectly matched to her phone, fast charge, full in an hour.
Everything Yan Ningxi had given her today was new.
Back in the bedroom, she lay down lightly on the bed, facing Yan Ningxi and staring straight at her.
Yan Ningxi felt her heart race under the someone’s intense gaze. She hastily finished her work, shut the laptop, and set it on the nightstand. The room was eerily quiet; she could hear Ming You’s breathing—and her own heartbeat.
“I’ll turn off the light.” The switch was on her side of the bed, easy to reach.
“Mm.”
Even lying down, Yan Ningxi could feel Ming You looking at her. “Teacher Qi’s usually free on weekends. Next time, we’ll set a time in advance and contact her.”
“Okay.” Ming You looked away and rolled onto her back. “Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to get the phone screen fixed, or get a new phone.”
“Screen fix is fine.”
“Mm, it’s your phone, you decide. Good night, Sister Yan.”
“Good night.”
She said that, but Yan Ningxi felt no sleepiness at all. After some inner struggle, she finally broached it awkwardly. “Asking if you were coming back wasn’t because of Qi Xuexin.”
…
Sunday, day off. Yan Ningxi’s alarm rang on time.
Ming You didn’t laze in bed. She got up at the same time as Yan Ningxi, said “Good morning, Sister Yan,” and headed to the bathroom even more briskly to change and wash up.
“Sister Yan, I’ll go downstairs and buy breakfast. Don’t go in the kitchen.”
She neatly folded both their blankets. Yan Ningxi tidied up methodically, even taking Ming You’s pajamas from the bathroom door and placing them on her side of the bed.
In half an hour, Ming You returned with two portions of millet pumpkin porridge, brown sugar steamed buns, soup dumplings, pan-fried dumplings, and a bunch of flowers.
Last night, after Yan Ningxi’s words following “good night,” she’d heard them but given no response.
Emotions and words were too surface-level. She wouldn’t be childish; she’d be mature, keep it deep inside. Yan Ningxi’s knack for reading people was no less than He Huan’s.
Her own level was still a bit green.
Some things, understanding them in her heart was enough.
After breakfast, Yan Ningxi took a stack of compositions to the dining table to grade. They barely talked, saying nothing about yesterday’s events.
With nothing to do, Ming You wiped down every reachable spot in the apartment, then mopped the floors with disinfectant.
Yan Ningxi had only graded a dozen sheets.
Her efficiency was much lower than usual.
Not Ming You’s fault.
Ming You’s cleaning noises weren’t even as loud as teachers chatting in the office. It was her own heart that couldn’t settle, her peripheral vision always following Ming You.
After bustling through the cleaning, Ming You stood panting in the living room center, scanning for any missed corners. The hair tie she used was still the one Yan Ningxi had given her last time.
Yan Ningxi set down her pen and beckoned. “Come here.”
Ming You looked puzzled but walked over anyway, smiling. “Seeing how obedient I am, are you going to praise me, Sister Yan?”
Yes, praise was due.
Yan Ningxi stood, wiped the fine sweat beads from Ming You’s forehead with a tissue, then lightly hugged her, resting her chin on the girl’s slim shoulder. She felt her body heat—and her heartbeat.
The girl in her arms had a pounding heart, just like she had on the train yesterday.
Slow-to-react Ming You hadn’t decided whether to hug back when Yan Ningxi decisively pulled away. “Alright, praise over.”
Yan Ningxi picked up her pen to sit back down, but Ming You hooked her waist, nuzzled her neck, voice all sticky. “Sister Yan, do the compositions have to be done today? Can’t you take a day off?”
She was just reminding Yan Ningxi it was time to go get the phone screen fixed, but after a moment’s thought, Yan Ningxi surprised her. “Let’s go see a movie. You buy the tickets.”
A girl raised in luxury had voluntarily done menial chores here multiple times—washing dishes, mopping, dirty work. How could Yan Ningxi remain unmoved?
Ming You’s eyes lit up clear and bright. “Fix the screen first, then the movie.”
The bird no longer hovered high above. It flew down from the wall, circling the lakeshore in pursuit of the fish’s shadow.
Seeing the bird glancing left and right with longing eyes, the fish’s sense of crisis dropped to an all-time low. It surfaced, rippling the water.
The shore bird exulted in joy.
…
Going downstairs, Ming You pressed the garage level: -1.
“This car is under my name. I rented a spot and told my family the situation. Leaving it parked long-term without driving isn’t good for maintenance, so I left it here.”
Yan Ningxi truly hadn’t expected Ming You to have parked the car in the neighborhood garage for a week.
Ming You opened the passenger door, leaned in to sniff—no odd smells—before inviting Yan Ningxi in.
“I’ve had my license for two years. Not a newbie. I’ve driven in the city, highways, mountain roads.”
No hanging decor in the car, just a bottle of sleek black solid car air freshener in the center console cupholder, with a faint woody scent.
Aside from the clothes she bought herself after turning adult, Ming You’s daily items including cosmetics were mostly bought by Ms. Yang, whose taste never missed.
Before leaving, Yan Ningxi, afraid she’d be cold, had dug out those jeans she’d worn before and made her change into them.
The short boots didn’t match this outfit at all. Ming You went to the trunk, opened it—sure enough, a shoebox with white dad sneakers.
Two paper bags from some trendy brand: one with two white tees, long-sleeve and short-sleeve. The other with an olive green casual set, all pre-washed.
After changing shoes, she snapped a photo and sent to Ms. Yang: 【Size just right, lightweight and comfy, thanks Mom.】
With the safety report sent, Ming You put the long pants and tees in one bag, grabbed the one with the round-neck hoodie, and opened the back door.
Yan Ningxi turned back.
Ming You: “I’ll change clothes.”
“…”
By the time Ming You finished changing and got to the driver’s seat, Yan Ningxi had buckled up. “License with you?”
“Got it.”
She pulled the license from her bag for Yan Ningxi to see. “I know the traffic rules by heart. Forgetting it and driving without one are different.”
Yan Ningxi flipped open the license. The girl’s photo had her in a ponytail, bare-faced, youthful and tender.
She looked less than ten seconds before handing it back. “Great license photo.”
Ming You: ???
Great where? Back then, her art exam classmates all spent two hundred on studio retouched ID photos. Hers cost a tenth, shot at a roadside print shop.
Only someone without appearance anxiety or vanity could have such a “realistic” photo on her ID, exam permit, diploma, driver’s license, passport—and end up in Yan Ningxi’s hands.
Yan Ningxi asked again, “Did you perm and dye your hair for the competition?”
She knew the answer to this one: “Sort of.”
While answering, Ming You put away her driver’s license, adjusted the seat, and fastened her seatbelt. “It doesn’t look good? Or it doesn’t fit the good student label?”
“It looks good. It fits too.” Yan Ningxi gave a fair answer.
“If Sister Yan says it looks good, then I won’t mess with it anymore.”
During high school, He Huan had instructed her not to follow the art exam circle’s trend and waste effort on makeup and hairstyling. She was first and foremost a high school student, and only secondarily an art student.
What a high school student should have most of all was vibrant youthful energy and an upward-striving spirit.
Even many years later, she made sure that every time she appeared before He Huan, she was the 360-degree flawless “good student” that He Huan hoped she would be. Starting today, she was going to change her image.
