Chapter 27

Look at the moon.

Always looking at the moon. She’d accompanied her to watch so many bright moonlights, yet she still hadn’t managed to keep even a single strand of its glow.

No matter how much she looked, it was useless. Near dawn, the moon would exit the stage.

Even if a faint shadow remained in the sky, the moonlight was gone.

If she wanted to hold onto it a little longer, she could only rely on a lens.

Yun Huizhi looked up and took a picture. Above the treetops, a half-moon hung, cold, clear, and noble.

After taking it, she suddenly turned her head and said, “Let’s take a few selfies.”

“Here?” Chu Ruoyou disapproved. “The background is cluttered, the lighting is dim. Will the pictures even look good?”

Yun Huizhi said righteously, “Some photos aren’t taken to look good. We can use them to reminisce. Some year, some month, passing by some place, looking at the moon with someone, a commemorative photo taken on a whim.”

Chu Ruoyou poured cold water on it. “I think it’s more for the sake of not reminiscing.”

Yun Huizhi pouted, accepting her words, and burst out laughing, holding her stomach.

“Makes sense. Take more ugly pictures. When reminiscing in the future, take them out: ‘Oh god, how did she look like this? What was my taste back then?’ That way, I’ll get over it quickly. Hahaha—”

Her laughter was infectious. She laughed too exaggeratedly. Chu Ruoyou laughed along, completely exasperated by her sense of humor.

Laughing, laughing… somehow, her eyes stung. Chu Ruoyou turned slightly to the side, using the motion of dusting off her pant leg to suppress the excess emotion.

She saw the mud Yun Huizhi had splattered on her pant leg. It was way more than she’d thought. Her eyes instantly stopped stinging. She kind of regretted not hitting her earlier.

In the end, the two of them still took a set of photos together at the street corner.

The background was messy, the light dim. But it didn’t affect how radiant the two of them were—Yun Huizhi’s words.

Yun Huizhi even gave her directions, “Chu Ruoyou, smile.”

“I am smiling. Can’t you see?”

“Your smile is always at this arc. It’s meaningless. Smile deeper. A big laugh. Squint your eyes, bare your teeth. Be a bit sunny.”

Chu Ruoyou was just about to scold her when she saw Yun Huizhi demonstrating on the phone screen.

Her mouth was practically stretched to her ears. Hilarious and ridiculous.

She couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” of laughter.

Right at that moment, Yun Huizhi pressed the shutter.

—

In the photo, Yun Huizhi was leaning slightly towards her side.

Head tilted, eyes curved, laughing with an incredibly exaggerated mouth shape.

And she was laughing equally without restraint, just about to turn her head to see Yun Huizhi’s ugly expression. Thus, what the lens captured of her was slightly blurred.

But precisely because of this, it had the atmosphere of a movie, full of story.

Chu Ruoyou hadn’t been able to snatch the phone and delete it at the time. Afterwards, even her request to see it was denied.

She saw it again on Yun Huizhi’s Moments and immediately saved it to her own photo album.

Yun Huizhi had edited the photos taken tonight and posted them online. On Moments, extra compared to other platforms, were a few of their photos together.

Chu Ruoyou immediately went to settle the score, pinning her in the chair. “You posted ugly pictures of me, huh.”

“What ugly pictures! In my eyes, sister is always beautiful, cute, a goddess descended from the moon.”

Yun Huizhi ran her mouth.

Pinned down, bitten on her earlobe, it was itchy and painful, so uncomfortable her toes curled up.

So barbaric. Nothing to discuss with such a brute. Always bullying people.

Yun Huizhi could only hold a grudge. When it was her turn to run wild, she’d pay it back with double interest.

Just wait. There will be times you cry.

Chu Ruoyou’s payment transfer came through. Yun Huizhi paused for a moment, then accepted the sum.

She would leave this money untouched. When Chu Ruoyou got on the bus to leave Jianjia Town, she would refund it.

Explain clearly that her original purpose hadn’t been to make money.

Chu Ruoyou still hadn’t decided on her departure time. Yun Huizhi didn’t ask her anymore and decided not to ask proactively again.

Her feelings had already been expressed. If Chu Ruoyou had absolutely no interest in her, she would surely be eager to avoid her and would’ve bought a standing ticket to leave overnight.

But now, Chu Ruoyou neither responded to her feelings nor seemed in a hurry to leave.

Clearly, at the very least, she didn’t dislike her.

Her own devoted affection, whether seen as a joke or containing a trace of real feeling in Chu Ruoyou’s eyes, at least didn’t make her uncomfortable. For now, she was willing to accept it.

That being the case, Yun Huizhi hoped Chu Ruoyou, with such a generous heart, would stay a while longer. Play until she was tired of it, then leave.

Even if she was just being played.

These past few days, they just didn’t mention leaving. They pretended no one would ever leave.

Being together in this ambiguous state was, in fact, a mutual, consensual romance.

Yun Huizhi was very good at comforting herself.

Chu Ruoyou really liked Yun Huizhi’s Moments, so she clicked in to look at it again and again.

Nine pictures. Colors full and bright. The style was still unmistakably Yun Huizhi’s.

Seeing her photos, you wanted to know her. You could feel this photographer was someone worth knowing.

From the long corridor, ancient walls, bright lamps, clear moon, to the street corner bustle, the delicacies on the plate.

The middle row was their three photos together.

P4: her, expressionless. Yun Huizhi leaning on her shoulder, holding back a smile.

P5: her, wearing a faint smile. Yun Huizhi, all smiles.

P6: her, laughing heartily. Yun Huizhi, grinning from ear to ear.

Yun Huizhi looked good in every single one. The well-behaved her, the lively her, the goofy her.

Chu Ruoyou couldn’t help but wonder: among the people Yun Huizhi liked in the past, was there someone who treated her especially well? The way she provided emotional value, those people must have loved her deeply.

And she also wondered: what were the reasons they parted?

She clicked into Moments yet again, for the umpteenth time. It was strange; clearly, those photos had been saved to her album, yet she insisted on viewing them through the original channel.

But this time, the first post she clicked into was Ren Yuhan’s Moments.

A few sparse words, with a picture.

[Overtime, with someone to pick me up and a midnight snack.]

The picture was a selfie from the passenger seat. Two-thirds of it was Ren Yuhan. Even after overtime, she was full of energy, makeup still proper.

One-third was the man driving.

Chu Ruoyou felt dazed for a moment, her gaze lingering on it.

Ren Yuhan and her husband met through a family-arranged blind date. Well-matched families, compatible interests.

For a period before the blind date, Ren Yuhan had still been making excuses, trying every way to avoid it.

She told Chu Ruoyou she only wanted to focus on her career these few years, that men were the most unreliable, and she demanded the same from Chu Ruoyou.

Later, she said, she had to go; her family was very unhappy.

She was still quite downcast at the time, telling Chu Ruoyou to cherish these few years: [When you reach my age, your family will definitely push you too.]

After the blind date, Chu Ruoyou couldn’t help but ask her: what was it like? What was the guy like?

Ren Yuhan said no feelings, the guy was just an average man.

Couldn’t say she liked him. Fortunately, she didn’t dislike him, and they could chat.

After that, Ren Yuhan rarely mentioned this blind date guy again. Chu Ruoyou sometimes asked before she would say a little.

Meaning: they were still in touch, but only to shut their families up, just for temporary peace. Otherwise, if they found a replacement, it might not even be this good.

Later on, Chu Ruoyou mostly stopped asking because she found it dispiriting and feared Ren Yuhan wouldn’t be happy either.

She heard it from her own mom: Ren Yuhan’s mom said her daughter was dating someone.

Chu Ruoyou initially didn’t take it seriously, assuming it was Ren Yuhan’s tactic to placate her family. But she kept it in mind.

Some time later, she decided to ask Ren Yuhan.

Ren Yuhan directly admitted she was in a relationship.

She said, “Only recently made it official. I was just about to tell you these past couple of days, still hadn’t figured out how to say it.”

How could it have only recently been made official? In truth, they probably hit it off right after that blind date.

Chu Ruoyou wasn’t stupid. A little analysis told her Ren Yuhan had been dating him for half a year already and just didn’t want to tell her.

She didn’t ask why she hadn’t told her immediately, why she didn’t know how to bring it up.

Such words were too childish.

And Ren Yuhan always had a reason to fob her off anyway.

She could never win an argument.

Right up until her wedding, Ren Yuhan hardly ever showed off her boyfriend.

Chu Ruoyou only remembered her posting on Moments two or three times, plus one time with the e-invitation.

She didn’t know if Ren Yuhan had ever blocked her from seeing posts.

After the wedding, this was the first time she’d posted.

Facing Ren Yuhan’s public display of affection, Chu Ruoyou admitted it was very uncomfortable, very displeasing, and it had even affected her good mood tonight.

But it wasn’t sadness. She just didn’t like it.

She couldn’t calmly “like” it.

These past two days, Ren Yuhan had been persistently messaging her, saying it felt like ages since they’d seen each other, inviting Chu Ruoyou to come to her place for a meal first thing when she got back.

This evening, she asked Chu Ruoyou what she was doing. Chu Ruoyou said she was getting ready to go out for barbecue with a friend.

Ren Yuhan asked: [How come you’re staying with a newly made friend? I remember you dislike sharing a bed with others the most.]

Chu Ruoyou said: [Staying together is safer. We can look out for each other.]

Ren Yuhan asked her about her friend’s personality.

Chu Ruoyou said: [Very good. We hit it off right away. She’s also very familiar with the area.]

Ren Yuhan said: [Hope you have fun.]

A few hours after this conversation ended, Ren Yuhan posted this on Moments.

Chu Ruoyou didn’t want to subscribe to conspiracy theories. She refused to think of Ren Yuhan as that scheming.

Ren Yuhan was already living happily. There was no need for her to make others uncomfortable.

It was Chu Ruoyou who was overly sensitive, who thought too much.

But these kinds of “coincidences” weren’t the first time. Was she being narrow-minded every single time?

She copied Yun Huizhi’s Moments exactly onto her own Moments page, including those three selfies.

The caption was just one word: “Sun.”

Then, she “liked” Ren Yuhan’s post.

Finally, she turned off her phone.

Yun Huizhi came over to her bed just then, looked at her, reached out, and stroked her brow, saying softly, “You’re frowning.”

Chu Ruoyou tried to relax.

Yun Huizhi smiled, her eyes curved. “Is something making you tense?”

Chu Ruoyou saw the mischievousness in her smile and teased her deliberately, “I’m not telling you.”

“If it has nothing to do with me, then I don’t want to hear it either. But I can help you shift your focus.”

Yun Huizhi kissed the space between her brows, where the crease had already smoothed.

Afterwards, Chu Ruoyou was tired but relaxed, having released a great deal.

She very much wanted to delete that Moments post.

She realized she was too petty. What was she doing, dragging things through the mud like this?

Ren Yuhan probably wouldn’t even pay much attention to it.

Still, since others didn’t pay attention, there was no need to delete it; doing so would just be even weirder.

She said to Yun Huizhi, “Sometimes I can be a bit bad, right?”

Yun Huizhi thought for a moment, then said with mock seriousness, “You mean for ruining my bedsheets?”

Chu Ruoyou kicked her away with one foot and turned over to sleep.

Yun Huizhi, utterly shameless, clung to her from behind. “I don’t think you’re bad. I like you a little bad.”

“Liking badness? Are you stupid?”

“Not at all.”

Yun Huizhi said, “Who isn’t bad? Just a difference between more bad and less bad. As long as it’s not a major sin, don’t be so hard on yourself. Why are you trembling? Uncomfortable somewhere?”

She was asking a question she already knew the answer to.

Chu Ruoyou gritted her teeth, “Take your hand away.”

“I’m being a little bad right now. I’m totally unsatisfied, greedy, obnoxious. I’m not satisfied yet, so I’m going to force you to do it with me a while longer.”

Chu Ruoyou thought to herself, even someone as shameless as Yun Huizhi lived a pretty colorful life, and was even quite likable.

She had just posted on Moments out of spite. She really didn’t need to be so hard on herself.