Chapter 10:

Or perhaps it could be said:

The taste of a first kiss was a little like snow. But most of all, it was like that unique sweet alcohol.

Just not as sharp. It was still, soft, and gentle.

【Time: Ordinary.】 It was the night of the graduation ceremony, a somewhat muggy summer night. The date was July 15, 2012.

【Location: Unusual.】 The evening stage, after the curtain had fallen.

【Characters: Unexpected.】 Ji Qingyou, Yu Qinjiu.

【Cause: Very “Yu Qinjiu.”】 Yu Qinjiu wanted a drink. After everyone else had left the school, she pleaded with Ji Qingyou to mix her a cup of sweet alcohol. It seemed to be a crucial, important moment in time. Ji Qingyou did not refuse Yu Qinjiu’s request.

【Process: Rather Baffling.】

When she was completely drunk, Yu Qinjiu usually had two habits.

Her first habit was to dance a particularly ugly rabbit dance to any song, regardless of its rhythm. Strangely, the steps she danced every time she got drunk were exactly the same as the rabbit dance she had learned in kindergarten.

That night, Yu Qinjiu had somehow found the speakers that had just been used for the evening’s program. She turned on the song that had concluded the graduation ceremony—”Moon River Waltz.” Its rhythm was slow and gentle.

But Yu Qinjiu’s rabbit dance didn’t seem to clash with “Moon River Waltz” at all.

Yu Qinjiu was always like this, like a gushing hot spring, never running dry, never compromising.

Even with a song originally meant for a slow waltz, she could cheerfully dance it as a rabbit dance, making the rhythm of the piece instantly feel light and brisk.

Her second habit was that she would inexplicably gain ten times her usual focus, and it would overflow. She would find the single thing or person she was most curious about in her field of vision, and then stare at that person or thing for one or two hours, asking dozens or even hundreds of questions, and begin answering them herself.

That night, the one Yu Qinjiu chose… was Ji Qingyou’s eyes.

So, after finishing the rabbit dance,

Yu Qinjiu found Ji Qingyou sitting on the edge of the stage. Carrying the crisp, refreshing scent of alcohol all over her, she squeezed in beside her, sitting very close.

The spotlight beams from the ceiling swayed and enveloped them both, illuminating Yu Qinjiu’s flushed cheeks from the tipsiness, her slightly curved but moist, hazy eyes, her blurred, slightly upturned lashes, and the small teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. It also felt damp.

“Moon River Waltz” hadn’t been turned off. It played on repeat, the rhythm at this moment slowed down a thousand times. Intertwined with the tangled, messy lights, it was a night that was both somewhat quiet and somewhat loud.

“Ji… Qingyou.”

After asking her hundreds upon thousands of questions, Yu Qinjiu seemed a little dizzy. She leaned on Ji Qingyou’s shoulder, her speech a little slurred, yet she still stared intently at her and asked,

“Do you… have you ever drunk alcohol mixed with green pomelo juice?”

A hot wind blew in, mixed with a bit of Yu Qinjiu’s fragrance. Ji Qingyou shook her head. “I don’t drink.”

“Oh—” Yu Qinjiu dragged out the sound, whether purposely or due to the drunkenness.

In any case, after “oh”-ing, she started staring seriously at Ji Qingyou’s eyes again and said,

“Ji Qingyou, did you know your eyes are very different?”

“Different how?” Ji Qingyou avoided Yu Qinjiu’s gaze, clutching her own clothes.

She really didn’t like her own eyes.

Because they didn’t look like Qin Bailan’s, nor Qin Shuangchi’s.

She hated this kind of difference. It made her too easy to see through, making her connection to this world easily severed.

“Really beautiful.”

After saying that, Yu Qinjiu tilted her head to look over, lifting her chin slightly. She stared intently for a moment, then her eyes curved slightly. The soft emotion in her light-colored pupils shimmered vividly. It was as if she was staring at her, yet as if she was lost in thought.

A few seconds passed. Yu Qinjiu reached out a finger and gently touched Ji Qingyou’s eyelashes.

Ji Qingyou felt a bit uncomfortable and slightly closed her eyes. She felt the slight coolness of Yu Qinjiu’s finger, and the smell of alcohol mixed in with Yu Qinjiu’s breath—a somewhat sweet alcohol smell.

Her vision blurred, darkened.

In that brief second.

A sweetish wind rushed in. Shoulders leaned closer together. Her lips received a touch that was very soft and very light, somewhat moist, mixed with the refreshing taste of green pomelo juice, yet also a bit astringent. Between breaths came the moist, astringent scent of alcohol.

The fingers propping her up on the edge of the stage stiffened. Her back went rigid as well.

An extremely brief kiss.

But in that one second, the wind became huge. It lifted the hair hanging down Ji Qingyou’s neck, letting Yu Qinjiu’s smooth, fine strands—along with her inexhaustible vitality—seep into Ji Qingyou’s body.

In that instant, Ji Qingyou felt as if she had truly become a robot. The gears in her head jammed, unable to continue turning.

Until the brief first kiss ended, she heard Yu Qinjiu’s soft, mumbling voice sound by her ear,

“Didn’t you know that when a girl closes her eyes and lifts her face…”

“It means she wants you to kiss her?”

【Result: Utterly Unbelievable】:

Yu Qinjiu collapsed onto Ji Qingyou’s shoulder, dead to the world.

But Ji Qingyou dazedly covered her own pounding heart, startled to realize she had encountered the most severe allergen of her life.

It triggered a series of severe physiological reactions, including a rapid heartbeat, a stiff body, shortness of breath, a rising body temperature…

At that time, she still couldn’t tell which was the most severe allergen in her life…

Was it the sweet alcohol, or Yu Qinjiu?