Chapter 26: 26. Her Nanwu Sweetheart Part 1

“Okay.” Yu Qinjiu began with her habitual phrase. She didn’t seem surprised by the names Ji Qingyou had chosen. After a brief pause, she smiled. “Doesn’t sound bad.”

“But why?” she still asked.

Ji Qingyou paused for a moment, recalling the thought that had crossed her mind just before she blurted it out:

The company that makes Alps lollipops established its domestic branch in China in 1994. Until 2023, Alps lollipops still exist.

They had become one of the longest-lasting candies.

But as soon as she escaped that moment, she realized the logical connection between the two wasn’t as tight as she thought.

She thought of Alps lollipops simply because of Yu Qinjiu.

So she didn’t say that. “It just came to me.”

“Okay. I thought it was because…” Yu Qinjiu muttered softly, the last few words too quiet and indistinct to make out.

Ji Qingyou didn’t hear her clearly, so she asked again. “What?”

“Nothing.” Yu Qinjiu said softly, slowly shifting her gaze back to the fish tank. The two goldfish inside were swimming happily. The water refracted the indoor light into shimmering white beams.

She stared intently at the beautiful, clean fish tank.

Her expression was soft. The light in her eyes seemed to flow with the clear water.

Ji Qingyou watched her in silence. Then she heard her ask, “So which one is Alps, and which one is Lollipop?”

Ji Qingyou’s gaze followed her words to the two goldfish in the tank. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask for Yu Qinjiu’s opinion. “What do you think?”

Yu Qinjiu thought for a moment, pointing to the goldfish with more red on its back. “This one is Alps?”

“Sounds good to me.” Ji Qingyou didn’t object, her gaze moving to the other goldfish, which had more white on its back. “Lollipop seems a bit smaller.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Yu Qinjiu was very frank. “The seller didn’t say.”

“Then how did you choose them?” Ji Qingyou asked.

Yu Qinjiu tilted her head, looking at her, and said matter-of-factly, “They were the two prettiest goldfish in the whole market.”

That was a very Yu Qinjiu way of thinking.

Ji Qingyou nodded. “That makes sense.”

Yu Qinjiu looked sideways at her. “I think you smiled again.”

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips. “Is that such a rare thing?”

“Hmm?” Yu Qinjiu was stumped. She thought for a few seconds. “I guess not…”

As she spoke, she looked back at the goldfish swimming in the water and lifted the corners of her mouth slightly.

“Not to me, at least.”

Ji Qingyou didn’t deny it.

What was rarer than this, however, was that at twenty-nine, Ji Qingyou now owned two little goldfish named Alps and Lollipop, thanks to Yu Qinjiu.

After Yu Qinjiu left, Ji Qingyou still couldn’t shake the strangeness of it.

Like a child receiving a beloved gift, she pulled up a wooden chair, set up her computer, and began organizing her research paper. Occasionally, she would look up at Alps and Lollipop swimming in the large fish tank. It gave her a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

The white structure in the tank was entirely handmade by Yu Qinjiu.

The structure was spacious yet had a certain visual illusion. When viewed from a slight angle, the shadows of the two goldfish were cast onto the four sides of the glass tank. It looked like a school of goldfish swarming and swimming together.

It was a very clever design.

It gave the two goldfish living in the white castle a kind of indestructible vitality within the bizarre, dreamlike currents of water.

A tangible, unkillable vitality.

~ ~ ~

A few days after the surgery, Li Nanli’s condition had improved significantly. She could already get out of bed, but her diet still needed to be controlled.

When Ji Qingyou went to see her after finishing her work at noon, she saw Yu Qinjiu in the ward again, watching a movie with Li Nanli.

The two of them sat side-by-side on the bench by the ward’s window. The warm winter sunlight streamed through the glass, falling on their shoulders like a slow-moving, sheer veil.

They looked like two rabbits sitting in a row.

One was wearing a hospital gown, her brow furrowed.

The other was wearing a misty blue coat and a dark green plaid scarf. Half her face was buried in the scarf, and the exposed half had red-rimmed eyes.

Ji Qingyou walked over. She saw the movie playing on the phone screen Yu Qinjiu was holding. Subtitles scrolled by at the bottom.

/Whether you regret it or not, you only have one life.

To meet someone you deeply love

is a miracle./

They seemed completely unaware of Ji Qingyou’s arrival, absorbed in the plot. They even started discussing what they would do if they only had ten years left to live.

Li Nanli thought of her unreliable ex-husband. “Hey, I totally get the heroine and hero. But that kind of thing only happens in movies. Real life isn’t full of pure love like that.”

“But if I really only had ten years to live…” she said, leaning back. “I’d still fall in love. How many people in real life have a relationship that lasts ten years? I’d rather date one person a year…”

Tears were still clinging to Yu Qinjiu’s lashes. “You’d be busy.”

Li Nanli grinned. “Busy is good. If I’m busy, I won’t think about how I’m going to die s—”

“Spit, spit, spit!” Yu Qinjiu cut her off. “Don’t say the word die.”

“Fine, fine.” Li Nanli indulged Yu Qinjiu. “What about you? What would you do? Want to do the same as me, date one person a year?”

As she spoke, she casually draped her arm over Yu Qinjiu’s shoulder. The next second, she unexpectedly met Ji Qingyou’s calm gaze.

She froze. She didn’t know when Ji Qingyou had arrived. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed Ji Qingyou’s eyes were fixed on her hand. Suddenly, the sunlight streaming in through the window seemed to turn into dense soda bubbles, crackling and popping.

Li Nanli suddenly felt a bit guilty and pulled her hand back.

Ji Qingyou also looked away. She paused for a moment in the air, then quietly looked at Yu Qinjiu’s profile, half-illuminated by the sun.

Yu Qinjiu hadn’t noticed the interaction between her and Ji Qingyou. She was still thinking about the question Li Nanli had just asked. She hesitated.

“I wouldn’t go that far. I’d be too busy.”

As she finished speaking, she felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up and saw Ji Qingyou standing there silently. She looked startled, the light in her eyes jumping slightly.

“When did you get here?”

Ji Qingyou leaned against the window, basking in the sun. She squinted slightly. “Just now. Right when Li Nanli said ‘date one person a year.'”

Yu Qinjiu let out a “pfft” of laughter. “So you heard that. I didn’t say that.”

“Give me a break.” Li Nanli, unconvinced, glanced at Ji Qingyou, then snorted, turning to Yu Qinjiu. “You’ve been in London for so many years. Didn’t you find some handsome, charming London sweetheart for yourself?”

Ji Qingyou looked sideways at her, silently keeping her hands in her pockets.

“Me?” Yu Qinjiu was a bit surprised. Just as she was about to say something, her phone in her pocket vibrated. She took it out. When her eyes landed on the caller ID, a smile appeared on her face.

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips. She was sharp enough to catch the “heart” emoji next to the name.

As if to confirm her guess, Yu Qinjiu held up her phone, her eyes curving into a beautiful crescent. “What a coincidence. My beautiful, adorable London sweetheart is video calling me.”

Li Nanli’s eyes widened. She looked at Ji Qingyou, not knowing what to do.

“Wow, so there really is one.”

The moment she finished speaking.

Yu Qinjiu answered the call. On the video was a girl with black hair and black eyes. She had delicate, small features. She looked a bit over ten, clearly Chinese, but her Chinese was a bit awkward. She called Yu Qinjiu “cousin.”

Yu Qinjiu smiled. “Brittany, are you visiting my mom again?”

“Yeah. Auntie wanted to go shopping, and the weather was nice, so I came to keep her company.” The girl on the phone said. Then she asked, “Where are you?”

“At the hospital.” Yu Qinjiu explained, then pointed to Li Nanli. “This is my high school classmate, Li Nanli…”

When she introduced Ji Qingyou, she paused for a second, giving only her name. “This is Ji Qingyou.”

“Ji Qingyou?” The girl on the phone frowned. She studied Ji Qingyou through the video for a moment, about to say something, when Yu Qinjiu turned the camera back to herself. “Alright, I’ll call you back later. It’s not convenient right now.”

“Alright.” The person on the other end responded reluctantly.

The call ended. Yu Qinjiu looked at Li Nanli, whose face still held a trace of shock. She laughed. “That’s my little cousin.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Li Nanli breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced to the left and saw that Ji Qingyou had taken her hand out of her pocket again. It was like some kind of signal.

She felt like she had caught something, but it was still a bit fuzzy.

It was like the year Yu Qinjiu went abroad.

When she went to see Ji Qingyou, she couldn’t understand her reaction. When her best friend was about to leave the country, instead of sadness or reluctance, Ji Qingyou just silently stared at the drizzly rain outside the window. She focused intently on assembling some parts on her desk. What she showed back then was a calm acceptance, like still water.

Li Nanli thought Ji Qingyou hadn’t felt any negativity about it. But that day, Ji Qingyou was silent. She built and tore down the model over and over, until all the models in the house were disassembled, scattered into tiny pieces.

Back then, Ji Qingyou had a similar kind of contradiction.

This made Li Nanli think that Ji Qingyou and Yu Qinjiu had fallen out. So she never dared to mention it again. Now, seeing Yu Qinjiu and Ji Qingyou interacting as intimately as before, she felt a sense of relief.

“So you don’t have a London Sweetheart?” Li Nanli asked casually.

“I do. My little cousin is my London sweetheart.” Yu Qinjiu gave a definitive answer.

Ji Qingyou squinted again. In conversations involving more than two people, she rarely participated, preferring to just listen. Unless the topic turned to her.

“What about a Birmingham Sweetheart? An Edinburgh Sweetheart? A Manchester Sweetheart?” Li Nanli’s chatter didn’t stop. “What other cities are there in England?”

“No. Even if you name every city in England, I don’t have one.” Yu Qinjiu felt her questions were ridiculous. She wasn’t annoyed by the teasing. She just paused for a second, her gaze falling on Ji Qingyou. She let a sentence drift out slowly.

“Ah, there’s still one you missed. Nanwu Sweetheart.”

When she said “Nanwu Sweetheart,” her pronunciation softened, her tone becoming gentle and delicate. It carried a hint of childlike warmth.

The air was still for a moment.

Ji Qingyou, standing by the window, heard it loud and clear. Her finger trembled uncontrollably.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Yu Qinjiu, with her back to her, was gently smoothing her fluffy curls. Her expression was hidden, but Ji Qingyou guessed she was smiling.

Li Nanli was staring at her with great interest, as if she wanted to bore a hole through her.

Ji Qingyou felt a little uncomfortable. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m not staring at you, am I?” Li Nanli played innocent, but her tone was light and drawn-out. “I’m clearly looking at Yu Qinjiu’s Nanwu Sweetheart!”

Ji Qingyou pursed her lips and didn’t respond.

Yu Qinjiu smiled to help her out, but didn’t deny what Li Nanli said. “Alright. You should get back to bed. It’s not good to bask in the sun for too long.”

“Okay.” Li Nanli dropped her playful thoughts. Supported by Ji Qingyou and Yu Qinjiu, she went back to bed. She hadn’t been lying down long before her curiosity got the better of her again. Her eyes darted between Ji Qingyou and Yu Qinjiu for several seconds. Finally, she couldn’t help but ask,

“So, have you and your Nanwu Sweetheart completely made up?”

Ji Qingyou released Li Nanli. As she withdrew her hands, she lowered her eyes, as if the question had nothing to do with her.

But the thought in her mind began to expand infinitely the moment the term “Nanwu Sweetheart” appeared, and she couldn’t suppress it.

Made up?

If what happened back then counted as a falling out, then now should count as making up, right. Compared to the complete severance of their youth, making up as adults often happens in a moment of mutual understanding.

When she heard the news that Yu Qinjiu was coming back, she thought it was only for two months.

In her mind, she had always believed she could maintain a friendship of looking at each other from afar until Yu Qinjiu left again for that country that could give her more freedom.

But now, it hasn’t even been a month.

And she was already having unreasonable expectations. For example, hoping to see Yu Qinjiu every day, hoping for a closer bond with her. And developing inappropriate possessiveness. For example, when Li Nanli put her hand on Yu Qinjiu’s shoulder, her gaze would uncontrollably linger.

She shouldn’t be like this. Maybe she should keep her distance from Yu Qinjiu.

But precisely at this moment.

Yu Qinjiu answered Li Nanli’s question in her ear, softly.

“We made up a long time ago.”