Chapter 68: Daily Life 02

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Still Cohabiting

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Daily Life

002

-On Cohabitation · Part 2-

During a holiday break in the middle of winter vacation, Xu Yixiao finally made up her mind to go abroad with her parents the following year.

“I’ve thought it through,” Xu Yixiao said to Xu Yan and Chen Yi. “Instead of sticking around and torturing you two, I might as well go torture my mom and dad.”

Xu Yan, who usually loved teasing Xu Yixiao, grew serious at a time like this. “It’s fine,” she said earnestly. “You can stay and keep torturing us a bit longer if you want.”

“No way!” Xu Yixiao rejected the idea firmly. “I’m still growing, so I figure I can’t handle too much couple PDA right now. Plus—and this is the big one—I don’t think the college entrance exams are really my thing anyway.”

What Xu Yixiao didn’t mention was that she also wanted to live with her parents for a while.

She could already imagine how chaotic it would be, but she still wanted to give it a try.

“Fine,” Xu Yan said. She knew the girl in front of her had made up her mind and didn’t push further. “If anything comes up, just give me a call.”

“And me too,” Chen Yi added, walking over from behind with a freshly cut fruit platter in her hands. The platter held pear slices shaped like crescent moons, with three bright red strawberries nestled in the center. The green leaves at the bottoms of the strawberries had been washed spotless. She set the platter down and sat beside Xu Yan.

“You two should eat,” Chen Yi said.

Xu Yan glanced at the table and opened her mouth with an “ah.”

Chen Yi deftly picked up a wooden toothpick, speared a piece of pear, and held it up to Xu Yan’s lips.

Xu Yixiao: “…”

“I have to get out of here!” She shot to her feet. “I can’t take this kind of life anymore!”

She was a person! A living, breathing human being! Not just some little dog! Why did they always have to shove PDA in her face when she wasn’t looking?!

And besides—

Xu Yixiao felt like she needed to give her idol a little education before she left.

So, right before heading out, she dragged Chen Yi into her bedroom for a private word.

“Vegetable Sister, there’s something I absolutely have to tell you.”

“What?” Chen Yi asked. “Have you finally decided to hand over all those years of New Year’s money you’ve been saving?”

“Vegetable Sister! My little aunt is a bad influence on you!”

“Hahaha—!”

“Alright, alright, I’m done teasing.” Chen Yi pinched Xu Yixiao’s chubby little cheek. “So, what’s up?”

Xu Yixiao spoke in a tone full of grave concern. “Vegetable Sister, after observing things for so long, I think you need to stop acting like this.”

“You’re spoiling my little aunt way too much!” Xu Yixiao accused. “If you keep it up, she’ll… she’ll…”

Xu Yixiao racked her brain for a moment before coming up with the perfect phrase.

“She’ll get spoiled rotten and take advantage of it!”

Chen Yi never imagined that Xu Yixiao had pulled her aside for a secretive chat just to lecture her about this.

“What if you spoil her rotten? I’m really worried about you, Vegetable Sister!” Xu Yixiao fretted. “My little aunt is already a total demon lord as it is. With you like this, how can I not worry?!”

How could her idol have such a low standing in the family hierarchy?!

Xu Yixiao couldn’t accept it!

“Why are you worried about me?” Chen Yi laughed so hard she could barely close her mouth. “And you, little squirt—do you even know what ‘take advantage of favoritism’ means?”

If Chen Yi could spoil Xu Yan rotten, she figured it would mean she had real skill.

Sometimes, she even thought Xu Yan was too well-behaved.

She never voiced her jealousy, never threw tantrums, bottled up her unhappiness to deal with alone, and tried to shoulder every problem by herself. While dating Chen Yi had changed some of that over time, Chen Yi still felt it wasn’t enough.

“Okay, okay, don’t worry,” Chen Yi soothed Xu Yixiao. “I know what I’m doing.”

Xu Yixiao wasn’t convinced. “Really?”

Chen Yi: “Really.”

She quickly pulled out the gift she’d prepared for Xu Yixiao earlier: a custom-made gaming console complete with a set of game cartridges.

“Here you go,” Chen Yi said. “Whenever you want to play, just come find me.”

Xu Yixiao let out a piercing, siren-like squeal at the sight of the gift.

With that one scream, all her earlier worries flew out the window, replaced entirely by thoughts of the gaming console in front of her.

Xu Yan, seeing that the two of them hadn’t come out of the room, came over and knocked on the door.

Xu Yixiao flung the door open and dashed out, clutching the console like it had wings.

Xu Qing, who had come to pick her up, noticed and said to Chen Yi, “Little Chen, you didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Chen Yi replied hurriedly. “Just a little token of appreciation.”

Though Xu Qing was nominally Xu Yan’s older sister, Chen Yi couldn’t help but think of three particular words every time she saw her: future mother-in-law.

She and Xu Yan saw Xu Yixiao and the others off at the airport.

Before parting, the heartless little Xu Yixiao clung not to the little aunt who’d taken care of her for so long, but to her little aunt’s wife.

“Waaah, waaah, Chen Yi-jiejie, my Vegetable Sister, my one and only sis!” Xu Yixiao hugged Chen Yi’s waist and refused to let go, putting on a full-blown melodramatic soap opera scene right outside security. “Sis! Even if I go abroad, you can’t forget about me, okay?!”

Xu Qing hadn’t expected her daughter to be so clingy with Chen Yi, and her expression turned a bit helpless.

Xu Yan couldn’t stand it anymore. She grabbed Xu Yixiao by the collar and yanked her away. Once Chen Yi’s waist was free, Xu Yan swooped in, hooking her arm around it possessively. She didn’t say a word, but her eyes clearly spelled out two characters: Mine.

Xu Yixiao stuck her tongue out at her little aunt.

She was Chen Yi’s little sidekick now!

“What’s wrong with one more hug?” Xu Yixiao protested. “I’m leaving anyway!”

Xu Yan: “Nope.”

Xu Yan shoved her own older sister forward. “Go hug your mom.”

Xu Qing: “…”

“If I weren’t actually her mom, Xu Yan, I’d think you were cursing,” Xu Qing said.

“Alright, it’s getting late. We need to head in,” Xu Qing said, checking the time on the big screen. It was time for them to go through security.

“You two head back first,” Xu Qing told them.

Xu Yan said she understood, but she didn’t budge. She stood rooted in place, watching Xu Qing and Xu Yixiao’s retreating figures.

Even at the security entrance, Xu Yixiao kept turning back every few steps, repeating emphatically, “Chen Yi-jiejie, don’t forget!”

They’d promised that even abroad, Chen Yi would team up with her online! Duo queue with her! Carry her up the ranks!

She couldn’t just focus on romance now that Xu Yixiao was gone and forget all about it.

Chen Yi promised she wouldn’t, all the while gripping Xu Yan’s hand tightly.

Once Xu Qing and Xu Yixiao had completely vanished from sight, the two turned and headed to the underground parking garage.

Now that Chen Yi had her driver’s license, her favorite daily pastime was driving. Xu Yan sat beside her.

Before starting the engine, Chen Yi asked, “Feeling sad?”

Xu Yan shook her head.

“Then what’s with that look on your face?” Chen Yi reached up and flipped down the sun visor. The mirror on the inside fully reflected Xu Yan’s expression.

Xu Yan looked a little helpless. “Okay, fine, maybe a little.”

She admitted, “I’ve gotten used to having Xu Yixiao around.”

The thought of a future without the kid chattering nonstop nearby left Xu Yan feeling oddly empty.

“If you miss them, that’s okay,” Chen Yi said, squeezing her hand and rubbing her palm. “We can always fly over whenever you want.”

“Okay.” Xu Yan squeezed back. “By the way, what was Xu Yixiao whispering to you about back home?”

Chen Yi paused mid-motion as she started the car.

Xu Yan’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Something about me?”

Chen Yi nearly wanted to bow down to Xu Yan’s uncanny intuition.

“A little, yeah,” she admitted.

Xu Yan was curious. “What?”

Chen Yi had picked up some mischief of her own. She flashed Xu Yan a sweet smile and said, “That’s a secret between me and Xu Yixiao, sis. Can’t tell you.”

Xu Yan let it go after hearing that.

Chen Yi had half-expected her to whine right there until she spilled the beans.

The fact that Xu Yan didn’t push made her feel a tiny bit disappointed instead.

The car drove quietly onward. Halfway there, out of the corner of her eye, Chen Yi saw Xu Yan reach over and change the navigation destination.

They’d been headed home, but now it was set for IKEA.

Chen Yi was puzzled. “Do we need to buy something?”

“Yeah,” Xu Yan said.

“Now that Xu Yixiao’s gone, we can finally live together full-time, right? We’ve never really shopped there before, so let’s take a look. If we see anything we like, we can add it to the place.”

Chen Yi gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Xu Yan glanced at her. “Why so tense?”

Chen Yi: “We’re actually going to move in together!”

Xu Yan found the words amusing.

“Classmate Chen, haven’t we already been living together for a while?”

“That’s different!”

She felt like having Xu Yixiao around and not having her were two entirely different things.

Plus, before, she’d spent her days gaming at her own place and only slept over at Xu Yan’s at night.

Now, with Xu Yixiao gone and Xu Yan talking about living together all the time, didn’t that mean they’d be together from morning till night?

—Oh, wait.

She’d be at work gaming during the day, and Xu Yan would be at work too.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t really any different from before.

Chen Yi instantly calmed down.

So, she followed Xu Yan to IKEA as usual, picked out a few things, and drove home.

After some discussion, they decided Chen Yi would stay at Xu Yan’s house.

Chen Yi helped Xu Yan carry the haul from their shopping spree back home.

Once they finished, Chen Yi collapsed onto the sofa, sprawling out like a limp salted fish.

Xu Yan glanced at her and asked, “Want some water?”

“Mm!” Chen Yi replied.

Xu Yan brought over a glass of water. Chen Yi sat up and reached for it, but Xu Yan didn’t hand it over. Instead, she took a sip herself first, letting the warm water linger between her lips before passing it mouth-to-mouth to Chen Yi.

A trickle of water escaped down the corner of Chen Yi’s mouth.

Xu Yan leaned down without missing a beat and licked it away.

“Baby, are you tired?” she asked.

Chen Yi, thoroughly tamed, shook her head obediently.

She craved more kisses and leaned in eagerly, as if parched and desperate for another drink.

Xu Yan pressed a fingertip to her lips.

“Want it?”

Chen Yi nodded.

Xu Yan smiled. “Then tell me first about that secret of yours with Xu Yixiao.”

“What’s so secretive that I can’t hear?”

Chen Yi couldn’t hold out against Xu Yan like this for long.

Before she knew it, she had spilled everything. At the same time, she realized there really was a difference when Xu Yixiao was around versus when she wasn’t. With her there, they wouldn’t have dared to fool around in the living room like this.

A long while later, the sofa was a total wreck. That glass of water Xu Yan had fetched ended up mostly sliding down Chen Yi’s own throat by the end. She cried out that she was exhausted and parched.

She lay there on the sofa and glanced down at the marks on her wrist. Just moments ago, a leather belt had bound that stretch of pale skin, and even her eyes and mouth had been shrouded in darkness time and again.

Xu Yan couldn’t help thinking that what Xu Yixiao had said was way off base.

Who was the real one getting spoiled and acting out, anyway?

That pure-hearted little puppy from the old days had picked up every naughty trick in the book now.

Still, Xu Yan rather liked it.