Watching a movie, having lunch together, visiting the Cute Pet Pavilion, drinking milk tea—weren’t those the classic “date” activities?
In Ming You’s dictionary, dates only involved couples, not friends.
How was she supposed to coax her?
Ming You stared at her phone in distress, just like Yan Ningxi.
With no ideas at first, she tapped into Qi Xuexin’s Moments to browse. The photos featured food and drinks, students and friends, plus a “ton” of selfies. Qi Xuexin posted every few days, making her Moments hundreds of times richer than Yan Ningxi’s rarely updated ones.
A spark of inspiration hit, and she saved one of the photos. She went back to her chat with Gu Xirui and sent over Qi Xuexin’s solo half-body shot along with her own photo with Yan Ningxi.
【Ming You: Miss Gu, emergency rescue! Help me photoshop this beauty into the middle of the group photo below.】
【Gu Xirui: The middle? You sure?】
【Ming You: Yeah, right in the center to block it completely. Make us three look a bit more natural and harmonious if possible. Need it ASAP!】
【Gu Xirui: Got it.】
Three minutes later, Gu Xirui sent back the finished product: 【Phone app editing can only do so much—three beauties in one frame, overwhelming any flaws. [sneaky grin] 】
【Gu Xirui: Cropped the original a bit for better harmony.】
【Ming You: Thanks.】
【Gu Xirui: No problem. But I’m kinda curious… Can I know who those two fairies next to you are? [playful] 】
The original was a 4:3 landscape high-res photo framing Ming You and Yan Ningxi full-body. Qi Xuexin’s photo was a mid-shot from the knees up. After cropping, it became a half-body close-up composition.
Without thinking twice, Ming You replied to Gu Xirui: 【My sister.】
She checked the original, long-pressed to forward the photo to Qi Xuexin: 【Sister Qi, we didn’t leave you out. See? Here’s proof of your place in our hearts.】
At the other end, Qi Xuexin saw the edited photo Ming You sent and didn’t know whether to laugh or get mad.
In the photo, the waistline behind the three looked like a wooden fence? Her “spot” was center stage, but the lighting on her was noticeably darker than on Ming You and Yan Ningxi at the sides—not the same color tone at all.
The photoshop job was way too obvious.
Wait, so what had been between those two originally?
Photoshopping was a skill Yan Ningxi definitely didn’t have, so it had to be Ming You. Ming You wasn’t some sweet little puppy at all—she was a little fox, full of cunning ideas.
So Qi Xuexin forwarded the edited photo to Yan Ningxi: 【Did you see this pic she edited?】
Yan Ningxi had assumed Ming You’s constant typing meant she was focused on “coaxing.” She hadn’t asked for progress updates. Now she received Qi Xuexin’s photo and laughed.
She and Ming You were in autumn outfits, while Qi Xuexin wore what looked like a sleeveless summer maxi dress. Her right hand rested on her left shoulder, showing only her profile. That primping pose stuck between them looked ridiculously contrived and funny.
【Yan Ningxi: Just saw it.】
【Qi Xuexin: Holy crap!】
【Qi Xuexin: I can tolerate the ugly edit, but don’t tell me you two stood so far apart on purpose, leaving the center spot empty just to photoshop me in?】
【Yan Ningxi: Not exactly.】
【Qi Xuexin: You two look pretty happy. The middle couldn’t have been purer than pure air, right?】
【Yan Ningxi: Original’s on her phone. I don’t have it either.】
After several minutes with no reply, Ming You sipped her milk tea while sneaking glances at Yan Ningxi. She noticed a faint lip mark on the straw of Yan Ningxi’s cup, then looked at her own—same thing.
She and Yan Ningxi wore the same shade of lip gloss. She hadn’t brought her bag when they got out of the car; after lunch, Yan Ningxi had lent her the gloss to touch up.
Rounded up, that meant she’d tasted Yan Ningxi’s flavor.
It was all the fault of those two brazen women at the train station.
So toxic!
They’d poisoned her these past couple days with nothing but wild thoughts—spring dreams, fantasies, all starring Yan Ningxi!
“Your way of coaxing is pretty unique.”
Ming You was lost in a daze when Yan Ningxi spoke to her. She didn’t catch it: “Huh? What?”
“The photo.”
Yan Ningxi and Ming You locked eyes, but Ming You flinched like she’d been shocked, unable to look another second. She dropped her gaze to the milk tea lid and mumbled unclearly: “I got a friend to edit it. Did Teacher Qi complain to you? She said we were dating behind her back…”
Her last few words came out as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.
Yan Ningxi’s lips curved in a smile: “She might complain, but she won’t get mad. She’s always been one to say one thing and mean another—it’s not changing anytime soon.”
Qi Xuexin stopped “bugging” them.
Maybe she was really thirsty, or maybe the milk tea truly conquered Ming You’s taste buds. The cup bottomed out—not just sweet in her mouth, but in her heart too.
Watching the time tick away, content after spending half the day “playing” with Yan Ningxi: “Sister Yan, let’s hit the supermarket downstairs. Buy more fruits, veggies, meat, stuff like that? I’ll carry it—we can stock up for a week.”
“Think about dinner first. I’ll cook. Remember to buy tickets and tell me the time.” She checked her phone screen. “It’s 4:20 now. Get something after 7.”
“Got it. I’ll buy them as soon as we get home.” The apartment wasn’t Yan Ningxi’s home, nor hers, but the word “home” slipped out, stirring waves in both their hearts.
…
The joy of grocery shopping surpassed even the movie or Cute Pet Pavilion.
But the day’s good mood ended in the mall garage.
“Keep the keys. Give me the bags—you need free hands to scan and pay for parking.” In the elevator, Yan Ningxi reached for the shopping bags Ming You carried.
At checkout, they could’ve used two medium bags, but Ming You insisted on one large one and hauled nearly five hundred yuan worth herself.
Not much quantity or variety, mostly produce, but five jin of beef and five jin of ribs each.
“Not heavy. One hand for the phone’s plenty.” Ming You’s right hand held the bag, left took Yan Ningxi’s offered keys hooked on her ring and pinky fingers, then fished her own phone from her pocket.
After changing in the car, the keys had gone into Yan Ningxi’s handbag.
They reached the parking level and heard fierce cursing and crying outside the elevator—total chaos. Neither was into “spectacles,” but this one blocked their path.
An ambulance sat in the middle of the main aisle. As they passed, they saw medics load the injured and speed off.
Once the ambulance left, the crowd dispersed, revealing a huge pool of blood on the ground that slammed into Ming You’s view.
A terrifying memory from years ago flooded back, fragments swarming. Her scalp tingled; she turned and buried her face in Yan Ningxi’s shoulder, her breathing turning rapid and erratic.
“Don’t look. Don’t listen. Don’t think.” Yan Ningxi stayed calm.
She patted Ming You’s back, smoothly took the bags, and led her away.
Life was fragile.
No one knew when disaster might strike, and that crimson pool of blood might be your last sight in this world.
At the car, Yan Ningxi opened the back door first: “Get in and take a breather.”
She loaded the trunk, then slid into the back seat, taking Ming You’s cold hand and rubbing it gently: “Remember that cat you mentioned?”
—It had its own fate.
Those were Ming You’s own words.
But her fear was never death itself. She understood Yan Ningxi’s intent but couldn’t stop her body’s trembling.
Turning the tables, she gripped Yan Ningxi’s hand, bent at the waist with her forehead against their clasped hands, and said shakily: “Sorry, Sister Yan. I can’t drive right now. Just… sit with me a bit. A little while’s fine.”
“You can sit as long as you want, but not like this hunched over my lap.” Yan Ningxi tried to prop her up with an arm. “Sit up. Lean on me.”
Ming You didn’t budge.
Unable to win, Yan Ningxi let her be.
Ming You’s “little while” stretched to nearly six. Yan Ningxi’s left hand stayed gripped on her knee; with her right, she called Qi Xuexin.
…
Qi Xuexin knew the malls like her backyard—finding the spot was easy.
“What happened? You two must’ve gotten way too steamy on this date to end up with a feverish patient.”
Yan Ningxi hadn’t detailed it on the phone, just told her to bring a thermometer and stressed three times to “bring your license and cab it over.”
“No patient. I just feel off. Better check my temperature, just in case.” The time Ming You had a fever at the hotel, she’d bought a thermometer—later unsure if Ming You tossed it or took it back to school.
There was an old mercury one at home, but no meds. Yan Ningxi couldn’t wait; she wanted to check Ming You’s condition first to decide hospital or pharmacy.
She’d noticed Ming You’s flush at the Cute Pet Pavilion—too red, not like exertion.
Now her hand against Ming You’s hot forehead recalled yesterday’s shorts all day, then pajamas in the living room till late, maybe the blanket hadn’t been warm enough at night…
Yan Ningxi had a dozen reasons lined up for Ming You’s “catching a chill.”
“How long’s she been like this?” Qi Xuexin pulled an electronic thermometer from her bag. “This one’s for forehead. Prop her up—I’ll measure.”
“Give me the thermometer. You prop her.”
Yan Ningxi sat on Ming You’s right, left hand pinned, right hand awkward alone.
“This kid!” Qi Xuexin opened the front door, tossed her bag on the passenger seat, grabbed Ming You’s shoulders with both hands, and propped her up. “Hurry it up.”
“36.8℃.”
“Normal range. She’s fine.” Qi Xuexin shoved her into Yan Ningxi’s arms, playfully tugging Ming You’s ear for “revenge.”
The ear-tuggee woke, back sore, legs numb, neck stiff, breathing stuffy, throat itchy.
“Cough cough.” She coughed twice, sniffed.
All clogged up.
“Hey!” Qi Xuexin waved a hand in front of Ming You’s face, annoyed. “See me and got nothing to say?”
Ming You steadied herself, her dazed eyes focusing. She looked at Qi Xuexin, then Yan Ningxi, smacked her head twice: “I think I caught a cold.”
Qi Xuexin: …
Yan Ningxi: …
“You two quit messing around. Let’s head back first.” With all three together, Yan Ningxi was the pillar, coaxing Qi Xuexin: “Tomato brisket and salt-baked ribs for dinner. I’ll drive, Teacher Qi.”
Those were the “big dishes” Ming You had racked her brain for on Baidu.
Yan Ningxi had learned tomato brisket from her mom and made it before, but not since moving in. She’d eaten salt-baked ribs at banquets but never cooked them at home.
Qi Xuexin’s eyes lit up; she folded for the food. She hadn’t tried Yan Ningxi’s home cooking of these yet.
“Hmph.” She clapped her hands, shut the passenger door, and headed to the driver’s seat: “Teacher Yan commands, how can I refuse? Fine, fine—soft on favors, short on mouth for food. I’ll drive. Whose car? Who pays if scratched?”
“Legit source, insured. My call—no paying from you.” Ming You scooted farther from Yan Ningxi, scared to spread the cold.
“Yours?” Qi Xuexin settled in, glanced back at Ming You. “Ugly truth upfront—my driving’s average.”
“Oh? Average driving—you say that to everyone?”
“I say it to…”
Qi Xuexin started to snap back, then sensed the implication, switched targets in frustration to Yan Ningxi: “Listen, listen—what kinda bold, wolfish words are these? The world’s going to hell, people have no morals! Teacher Yan, Teacher Yan—are you gonna rein her in or what?”
