Chu Ruoyou’s directness was disconcerting. Yun Huizhi could tell from the smile on her face that she wasn’t trying to make things difficult.
She said it purely for amusement, knowing it was completely impossible.
So Yun Huizhi also relaxed and muttered, “I wouldn’t go looking for trouble for myself.”
Chu Ruoyou looked nonchalant, patting the top of Yun Huizhi’s head gently. “You’re a smart kid.”
This posture made Yun Huizhi briefly imagine she was sleeping in her arms, being coaxed by her.
Who’s she calling a kid? She’s only a few years older. Too used to being a teacher, she wants to coax everyone she sees.
Grumbling aside, Yun Huizhi of course knew she was a smart person, and Chu Ruoyou was also a smart person.
If, in this ambiguous relationship, after only knowing each other for three days, she attached any significant value to this time together, it would be a very foolish and mood-killing act.
So she absolutely didn’t want to like Chu Ruoyou. Couldn’t admit even half a word.
She was just curious. Curious if Chu Ruoyou would ever like women. Curious what these straight women who got involved with other women were thinking.
If she hadn’t liked women before, and wouldn’t afterward, then what was the point this time? Why not just find a young, handsome guy?
Maybe men were more dangerous? And since she still had feelings for her ex-husband, she didn’t want to find a man, so she just played around with a girl?
Yun Huizhi seemed to have heard a saying: many straight men and women don’t even consider sex between women as making love.
Overthinking is useless.
Excessive curiosity only invited unnecessary worry. Yun Huizhi quickly came to her senses. What did it matter to her?
Whether Chu Ruoyou was straight or gay, good or bad—what was the meaning in figuring her out?
Nothing. As long as they had fun together, that was fine.
No need to think about getting close to a stranger.
Chu Ruoyou’s work wasn’t finished. She went out again to take a phone call, probably afraid Yun Huizhi would overhear too much personal information.
After finishing the call, she came back into the room. On a whim, she said the moonlight was beautiful tonight, and she wanted to go see the moon.
“I’ll go with you.”
Yun Huizhi sprayed mosquito repellent on them both, put on a light jacket, and accompanied Chu Ruoyou to the terrace.
In the corridor lined with plants, flowers, and bookshelves, they walked one after the other. Yun Huizhi looked at her back.
Chu Ruoyou wore a light, flowing long dress. Her walking posture was like the female lead in an MV, making one think of songs, love, romance, beauty.
The moonlight draped her like a thin veil, making her appear gentle and quiet as water, like a gift of the summer night.
Stars were scattered over the heads of the great mountains, fragmented and dense, their light mostly obscured by the moon’s brilliance.
Yun Huizhi said she often dreamed of celestial bodies.
Sometimes she was stargazing in the wilderness, colorful stars being enormous spheres crowded in the firmament.
Sometimes she walked on deserted streets, and in a blank night sky at a corner without buildings, five full moons expanded there, emitting a cold light.
Sometimes she dreamed she held a telescope, and looking into it, a strange galaxy billions of light-years away suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Other times, she saw a giant setting sun about to fall. She held a camera, and the moment she pressed the shutter, she woke up, losing a beautiful photograph.
While waving a fan, Yun Huizhi swatted at the mosquitoes around her legs.
At the same time, she told Chu Ruoyou about these dreams.
Simply looking at the moon was a very dull thing. The moon had been looked at for thousands of years, countless works created for it, yet it remained unmoved.
So people went almost insane, sparing no cost to tear apart that beauty, rushing to its world, stepping on its body.
The moon still remained indifferent.
But in a remote small town, amidst towering mountains and ridges, accompanied by waterfalls, streams, and a storytelling girl, this moon gained weight, and the moonlight gained texture.
The bright moonlight fell, striking Chu Ruoyou’s heart. It didn’t hurt, just tingled numbly, like a freshly finished poem, touchingly beautiful yet unfamiliar.
She said, “You are very lonely.”
Yun Huizhi was still immersed in the dreams of the past and hadn’t heard clearly. “What?”
Sitting in front of the railing, the moonlight, already cut by the wooden bars, further cut apart their shadows.
Chu Ruoyou said it again, “You are very lonely.”
“No, I’m not.”
Yun Huizhi flatly denied it. “My family all loves me very much, and I have many friends.”
“Does that have any necessary connection to loneliness?”
After retorting, Chu Ruoyou softened. “But if you say you’re not lonely, I believe you.”
“Why do you believe me?”
Chu Ruoyou’s tone was very light. “Because there’s no reason not to. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Because Yun Huizhi is a dispensable person to you. So whatever she says isn’t important. Believing or not believing, either is fine, right?”
Yun Huizhi pointed out with a smile.
“Isn’t that what you think?”
“Of course I think that. Otherwise, how could I articulate your thoughts so thoroughly?”
Yun Huizhi concluded, “Our way of getting along is great. Just be happy, no one’s being a hypocrite. Much better than fake relationships.”
This conversation ended with Chu Ruoyou feeling pain and slapping a mosquito dead on her arm.
They returned to the room, turned on the light. The first order of business was kissing.
During the moon-viewing and chatting, their gazes met several times. Each time, they saw the desire in the other’s eyes.
It was a natural attachment. People feel small and lonely under nature’s grand vistas, thus craving the presence of a kindred spirit.
The scent of another person could help digest tonight’s moonlight better.
Their kiss started hastily, as if they’d be rolling into bed the next second.
But once the initial craving in their hearts was satisfied, they felt pleasure. They patiently soothed each other and themselves, kissing with great emotional finesse.
From the doorway to the sofa, to the long table, to the window side.
Kissing and embracing healed the people who had so bitterly loved the moon yet were never requited.
–
It was a blessing Yun Huizhi had experience in massaging Chu Ruoyou’s legs. Going out for breakfast in the morning, her legs were only slightly sore, not very painful yet.
But it was also Yun Huizhi’s fault that her waist and back were aching, and her whole body was fatigued.
They ate breakfast at the coffee house. Yun Huizhi drank her coffee very genteelly, reminding Chu Ruoyou of something.
Glancing at the clock in the shop, she said, “That milk tea shop is open. I’ll buy you a cup.”
Yun Huizhi looked delighted, making cute expressions of gratitude.
A cute temperament was inherent, unrelated to whether one was young or not.
Chu Ruoyou thought, Among the teenagers in her class, very few were cute or could act cute well.
Walking hand in hand back to the inn, they happened to run into the young lesbian couple heading out.
Seeing the intimate behavior between Yun Huizhi and Chu Ruoyou, they cast knowing glances.
Explaining would be boring. It was only a few days of interaction anyway. Yun Huizhi just smiled back at them.
“What do you want for lunch?”
Chu Ruoyou still had no appetite. “You sound like you can cook everything.”
“You can specify the ingredients, but I can’t guarantee I know all the ways to prepare them.”
Chu Ruoyou wanted two simple home-style dishes: lettuce and spare rib soup.
Yun Huizhi thought it was too simple and added a Kung Pao chicken.
After a nap, Yun Huizhi went downstairs to prepare the ingredients.
She recalled that when getting out of bed, Chu Ruoyou had grabbed her wrist without even opening her eyes.
She’d said, “I’ll call you when the food’s ready.”
She was acting the part of a temporary girlfriend very diligently.
Yun Huizhi wasn’t a fast cook. Before she could notify her, Chu Ruoyou came downstairs to find her.
At lunch in the public dining room, Chu Ruoyou generously praised her cooking skills.
“If you like it, I can cook for you anytime you ask from now on.” Yun Huizhi smiled.
“But cooking is quite troublesome, isn’t it?”
Yun Huizhi didn’t think so. “I’m very willing to cook for you.”
Chu Ruoyou nodded with satisfaction, yet said, “It won’t be for many meals, anyway.”
This sentence was like a spell, instantly weakening Yun Huizhi’s appetite, making her throat feel a burning sensation.
“Have you decided which day you’re leaving?”
She clearly heard the voice in her heart shouting loudly, Don’t.
And she also heard Chu Ruoyou’s cold assessment, drifting from last night’s moonlight.
“You are very lonely.”
