◎About Living Together◎
Daily Life Arc
001
-About Living Together · Part 1-
“I have to head out first.” Chen Yi glanced at her watch. It was already three in the afternoon.
Su Dai pulled off the black noise-canceling headphones from her ears, removed her protective goggles, set down the airsoft gun in her hands, and rubbed her sore shoulder where the stock had pressed into it. With a practiced sigh, she remarked, “Alright then. Heading back to stream?”
Chen Yi shook her head. “Not streaming today.”
She streamed five days a week now and took two off.
“If you’re not streaming, what’s the rush to get back home?” Su Dai didn’t get it. “Xu Yan’s not off work yet at this hour.”
Chen Yi gave a helpless shrug. “Xu Yixiao got out of school early today. I’m picking her up.”
Su Dai fell silent for a moment before letting out a savage roast: “You’re even more like Xu Yixiao’s little aunt than Xu Yan is—and the real kind, too.”
Su Dai wasn’t wrong.
Ever since Chen Yi and Xu Yan had started their semi-cohabitation plan, Xu Yixiao had become utterly glued to Chen Yi. Sometimes her clinginess was so intense that even Xu Yan got a little annoyed by it, to the point where she couldn’t stand it anymore.
In Xu Yixiao’s eyes, Chen Yi was perfect in every way.
She was great at games, had a chill personality, and was even more patient than Little Aunt when helping with homework.
“Vegetable Sister, I wish you were my real big sister,” Xu Yixiao would often say with a wistful sigh.
Xu Yan, hearing that, would always smirk mockingly from the sidelines without a word, her eyes fixed on Xu Yixiao.
Chen Yi would frantically wave her hands in response. “No, no way!”
She wasn’t having any of that!
The first time Xu Yixiao heard Chen Yi say it, she’d been a bit upset. Her young, still-developing heart had taken a serious hit from her idol, Chen Yi.
“Why not?” Xu Yixiao’s expression turned hurt. “Vegetable Sister, don’t you like having a little sister like me?”
She was awesome, after all!
Smart, sensible, and perceptive to boot.
Whenever Vegetable Sister and Little Aunt got all lovey-dovey in public spots like the living room, wasn’t she always playing dead in her room?
Little nieces as well-behaved as her were a rare breed these days!
She’d thought that after all this time hanging out, Chen Yi really liked her. After all, they’d added each other on WeChat and even had that revolutionary friendship of sneaking off to duo queue in games behind Little Aunt’s back.
So why wouldn’t Chen Yi want a sister like her?!
Chen Yi wilted under that pitiful, resentful gaze. Flustered and too embarrassed to voice her real thoughts, she turned to Xu Yan for help with pleading eyes.
Xu Yan propped her chin on her hand, smiling at Chen Yi. “What are you looking at me for? This is between you two sisters. Us adults can’t interfere.”
“Xu Yan!” Chen Yi called her name in exasperation.
Xu Yan blinked and beckoned Chen Yi over. Chen Yi obediently leaned in, and Xu Yan pulled her straight into her arms. The next second, without any hesitation and right in front of Xu Yixiao, she tilted up Chen Yi’s chin and leaned down to kiss her on the lips.
Xu Yixiao let out an ear-piercing shriek.
She slapped her hands over her eyes, nimbly leaving a tiny gap between her fingers.
Chen Yi hadn’t expected Xu Yan to pull something like that.
Her face flushed red, and she didn’t know where to put her hands. She pushed at Xu Yan, and the moment her lips were free, her first words were, “What was that for? Xu Yixiao’s still watching!”
Xu Yixiao’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly slammed her finger gap shut and blurted out, “I’m not looking!”
“I’m blind! I can’t see a thing!”
Xu Yan turned to the flustered—and now a bit angry—Chen Yi with an innocent look. “See? She says she’s not looking.”
Chen Yi could only massage her forehead in defeat.
Xu Yan grinned triumphantly and said to Xu Yixiao, “She’s my wife. If you make her your big sister, where does that leave me, your little aunt?”
“Xu Yixiao, don’t you think things at home would get way too messy?”
Xu Yixiao pouted.
Her little mouth could’ve hung an oil can from it.
She had no proof, but based on her understanding of her little aunt, she strongly suspected this was a show of dominance!
She even suspected her little aunt was jealous of a bright, cheerful, innocent girl like her!
“Wahhh.” Xu Yixiao started fake-crying. “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t stay in this house.”
She’d meant it as a joke.
But as the semester neared its end, she started seriously thinking about it.
Should she go abroad with her parents?
The last time Xu Qing had come back for Christmas break and taken her to visit Grandpa and Grandma, she’d brought it up.
Surprisingly, Xu Yixiao heard something from her mom she’d never heard before.
In the past, when Xu Qing talked about going abroad, it was always big lectures.
Stuff like how the learning environment in China was too cutthroat, the paths too narrow, and the college entrance exam track overcrowded—sticking to it wouldn’t be easy for Xu Yixiao.
Back then, Xu Yixiao had felt upset hearing that.
Young and sensitive as she was, she’d subconsciously taken it as her mom implying she was a bad student who couldn’t get into a good college.
The logic made sense, but Xu Yixiao didn’t want to agree to Xu Qing’s idea. Saying yes felt like surrendering to her mom.
But this time was different.
Xu Qing actually said, “Yixiao, Mom’s sorry. Because of our jobs, you’ve been switching schools since you were little, and now we might even send you abroad. I know you’re not keen on it right now, but Dad and I aren’t comfortable leaving you here alone in China.”
“We miss you so much, Yixiao.”
“Why don’t you give it a try? If you don’t like it there, we can always come back.”
Xu Yixiao had been stunned and hadn’t rejected it outright.
She’d actually heard her mom say she missed her.
Honestly, Xu Yixiao missed her parents sometimes too. But their relationship was complicated—miss them when apart, fight when together. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and she figured it applied to family too.
Before Xu Qing left, she told her to think it over carefully. They needed a decision by Chinese New Year at the latest, so she and her husband could make arrangements abroad.
Xu Yixiao had been keeping it to herself all these days, not telling a soul.
Today, school let them out early to prep for the civil service exam over the weekend.
Chen Yi came to pick her up.
The moment Xu Yixiao saw Chen Yi, she took her backpack and carried it for her.
Chen Yi had picked her up several times now, so her classmates recognized her and even greeted her with a cheerful “Hi, big sis!”
Instead of grabbing a cab right away, they stopped at a street food stall near school and ordered a plate of sweet-and-sour jagged potato strips, plus two skewers of grilled sausage.
“Wow—yes!” Xu Yixiao chomped into her sausage. “This is the stuff—total carb heaven!”
“Right? When they’re charred just right.” Chen Yi took a big bite and, seeing Xu Yixiao with sauce all over her mouth, handed her a napkin. Then she asked, “You’ve seemed preoccupied lately. What’s up?”
Xu Yixiao’s eyes went wide. “Vegetable Sister! Can you read minds?!”
“Nah.” Chen Yi smiled. “Your little aunt told me to ask.”
Xu Yixiao let out a little “Eh?” “If she noticed, why didn’t she come ask herself?”
Chen Yi chuckled. “You know how she is.”
Xu Yixiao went quiet for three seconds, then rubbed her elbows as imaginary goosebumps prickled her skin.
“I feel like I just got force-fed another serving of dog food.”
“Since you had your dog food, no potatoes for you.” Chen Yi reached to take away the jagged potatoes in front of Xu Yixiao.
Xu Yixiao hurriedly shielded them. “No way, no way!”
“No one’s stealing yours.” Chen Yi snapped open a pair of disposable chopsticks for her, even rubbing the wooden ones together to smooth any splinters.
“Here.” Chen Yi handed them over.
Xu Yixiao took them with a thank-you and dug in for a couple bites.
Just when Chen Yi thought she wouldn’t answer the earlier question, she spoke up softly.
“It’s nothing big.” Xu Yixiao said, “Just the thing about going abroad.”
Xu Yixiao poked at the potatoes with her chopsticks, splitting a perfect jagged piece in two. She fiddled with the cilantro and chopped green onions on top, hesitating before asking, “Vegetable Sister, were you scared when you went abroad before?”
“Scared of what?”
“Like, the unfamiliar place, the language… What if I can’t keep up or don’t understand what they’re saying? And what if I don’t make any friends over there?”
Chen Yi ruffled Xu Yixiao’s hair, leaving the soft strands a frizzy, staticky mess.
“Of course I was scared at first, but once I actually went for it, I never regretted it. Sometimes pushing past the fear is its own kind of fun. Like raiding a tough dungeon in a game—you worry you’ll wipe at first, right?”
“Environments go from strange to familiar if you bother to explore them. Language is something you can learn—if you go in unprepared, of course you won’t get it at first.”
“As for friends—”
Chen Yi teased, “Haven’t you already made one?”
Xu Yixiao exploded. “I—I’m all about studying right now!”
“Is that so?” Chen Yi took out a tissue and wiped away the oil stain Xu Yixiao had accidentally spilled on the table. “So, what score are you aiming for in the finals this time?”
Xu Yixiao fell instantly silent.
Back home, she truly hadn’t had many friends. With her parents frequently changing cities for work, she had transferred schools so often that the constant upheaval made it hard for her to form lasting friendships.
She didn’t want to admit how much she craved companionship. At school, she always pretended that being on her own was no big deal—that she was fiercely independent. But in games and online, shielded by the veil of anonymity, Xu Yixiao time and again revealed her deep longing for friends and warmth.
“Yixiao, you’re actually really cute,” Chen Yi said earnestly. “That’s why I believe that if you just open yourself up and let others in—like you do in games or online—you’ll make wonderful friends. It doesn’t matter if it’s here or after you go abroad.”
“Wanting warmth, wanting friends—it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Putting out friendly signals and reaching out to others is a good thing. But you have to set your own boundaries too. If someone’s not right for you as a friend, it’s perfectly fine to walk away without a second thought.”
“In any case, I know you’ll do great no matter where you are.”
When Chen Yi finished speaking, Xu Yixiao’s nose tingled. She ducked her head and mumbled that she understood.
“These potatoes are way too spicy,” Xu Yixiao complained in a small voice. She grabbed a tissue and quickly dabbed at the corner of her eye. “They made tears come out and everything.”
Chen Yi stifled a laugh.
What she had ordered was sweet-and-sour potatoes—where had the spice come from?
She didn’t call out the girl’s little fib. Instead, Chen Yi simply watched her quietly. All of a sudden, it struck her that genes really were something magical.
When it came to this prickly awkwardness, Xu Yixiao was her little aunt Xu Yan’s spitting image.
