Chapter 28

Chu Ruoyou’s mood last night had originally been bright and sunny, then it turned gloomy.

Yun Huizhi saw it very clearly.

Chu Ruoyou was usually unruffled by people and events. Her face rarely showed exaggerated expressions, unlike Yun Huizhi.

The difference between her happiness and unhappiness was more difficult to spot than those “spot the difference” picture games from childhood.

Yet, Yun Huizhi could see it easily, a point of pride for her.

Chu Ruoyou wasn’t paralyzed. No lake is ever without ripples. With careful observation, you could detect her emotional shifts.

For example, last night, after blowing her hair dry, she went to find Chu Ruoyou. The detail that let her discover Chu Ruoyou might not be very happy wasn’t just the furrowed brow.

In fact, sometimes when Chu Ruoyou was in a good mood, she also furrowed her brow to hold back a smile.

Last night, Chu Ruoyou had been slow to react. Yun Huizhi had already climbed onto the bed before she came back to her senses and then gave her a smile.

That smile was way too much of a cover-up.

When Chu Ruoyou was in a good mood, especially in bed, she wouldn’t deign to smile at a clinger like her.

Usually, when Yun Huizhi scooted closer to her side, she would just scrutinize her with a neutral expression. A slight lift of her brow was an subtle sign of consent.

But when her mood was bad, she wouldn’t throw random tantrums. If it was something unrelated to Yun Huizhi, she usually refused to talk about it.

She was even afraid of being asked and would pretend to be happy, placating others a bit.

So seeing her smile like that made Yun Huizhi’s heart ache. She wanted to help smooth away the crease in her brow.

She asked a question, but Chu Ruoyou indicated she didn’t want to talk about it.

Everyone has their secrets, big or small. Not everything is easier when shared. Some bitterness and worries that belong to oneself need the person to digest them quietly, alone.

Yun Huizhi completely understood.

Although she wanted to understand Chu Ruoyou better, wanted to help share her worries, she wasn’t willing to force it and press further.

So she took Chu Ruoyou to do other things. Even if it was wildly decadent, she wasn’t afraid. This was, after all, Chu Ruoyou’s purpose in coming here.

She gave it her all. Every part of her ached that night, but Chu Ruoyou’s immersed expression pleased her.

She felt like a superhero, briefly pulling her beloved out of the sea of bitterness.

But right after it ended, Chu Ruoyou opened her mouth and asked, was she a little bad?

Honestly? A little. Yun Huizhi often called her a bad woman in her heart and on her lips.

But calling her a bad woman was a form of coaxing. Adults always take detours to express affection.

Yun Huizhi had seen something online just the other day: young teenagers in early romances like to call each other “hubby,” “wifey,” “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “baby,” “sweetheart.”

Young adults use: “dog,” “piggy,” “viper,” “big dummy.”

So Chu Ruoyou’s bit of badness was negligible. It was so bad, it filled Yun Huizhi’s heart with honey. Yun Huizhi liked it, even.

Last night, Chu Ruoyou had been in an anxious state. Yun Huizhi guessed this “badness” she mentioned was something on a deeper level.

But it wouldn’t be anything truly wrong. It was mostly just Chu Ruoyou being too hard on herself.

She completely believed Chu Ruoyou was a good person.

Hence, she cracked jokes and played around, wanting to coax a smile out of Chu Ruoyou, to stop her from wrestling with herself.

It worked well. Later on, Chu Ruoyou was busy scolding her and had no time for melancholy.

That was better.

In the morning, when Yun Huizhi got up, Chu Ruoyou was still asleep. She slept naked. Her neck and shoulders were beautiful, like a work of art.

Yun Huizhi felt like taking a picture, but Chu Ruoyou had said no sneaky photos, and naturally, in bed was even more forbidden.

Yun Huizhi, just like the first morning they slept together, went out to buy breakfast, chatted with the shop owner, then packed a portion of rice noodles to go.

Leaving the breakfast shop, walking on the busy street, Yun Huizhi remembered the first time she did this takeout run. On the way, her mind had been full of unspeakable images.

It wasn’t entirely intentional; other things crossed her mind too. But her thoughts always strayed back to that every few moments. She’d been a bit embarrassed herself.

Appetite and sex—human nature.

This time, she didn’t have the same excitement as the first time. Physical satisfaction was the simplest, but humans needed fulfillment on a higher level.

What she was thinking was: how many days left?

And also: why couldn’t these days of relying on each other just continue forever?

She was willing to buy breakfast for the person she liked, for Chu Ruoyou, for a lifetime. Willing to cook for her every day. Willing to give for her, to shine for her.

When she was a child, her father’s philandering was exposed, leading to the breakup of her family. She hadn’t understood it.

From the day she recognized the word “feelings,” she knew deeply that faithfulness was a necessary quality. Only those who practiced it were worthy of discussing happiness.

She decided to do her absolute best to achieve it. She thought perhaps such a flawed character was hereditary. She had to fight with all her might against her own nature.

But when she learned to like someone, she discovered that being faithful wasn’t so difficult.

When she liked someone, she naturally stopped seeing others and had no energy left to scatter her affection.

When a specific person occupied her heart, she was like a puppet under their control, unable to gather more interest in anyone else.

Before, during secret crushes, pursuing someone she liked, even if it took two or three years without success, she never wavered during that time.

Those feelings, whether secret or open crushes, she approached them with seriousness and gave her all.

Even if they couldn’t be together for various reasons, she had a clear conscience.

This relationship with Chu Ruoyou was somewhat frivolous. It was a coincidence, fate arriving.

That was the nice way to put it.

The unpleasant way, which was also part of the truth: she had been single for too long, with no one to hold in her heart, both physically and mentally lonely, unable to find a place to settle herself.

So when a good opportunity presented itself, she couldn’t help but crave it, grab hold of it.

At the time, she thought, anything was fine, as long as she wasn’t alone anymore.

On the road, she mentally gave herself credit. She thought, she was a pretty decent romantic partner.

However, her summary of her own merits was only enough for her own narcissism.

Chu Ruoyou wouldn’t love her for these things.

Because people more perfect than her were many. Her good points weren’t unique or irreplaceable.

On the contrary, Chu Ruoyou happened to lack those specific qualities she liked. That was a hard limitation.

Still, having this memory was enough for her to slowly savor and chew on alone afterward. It was worth it.

Before entering the room, she rubbed away the sullenness on her face, put on a beaming smile, and pushed the door open.

Ready to give Chu Ruoyou a big smile and a hug, to tell her, today’s a great day.

She saw at a glance that Chu Ruoyou was already up. The curtains were open, the window open too, just no one in the room.

Not seeing her, Yun Huizhi still felt happy, imagining Chu Ruoyou’s activity trail after waking up.

She set down breakfast and went out to find her. Looked all around the third floor, not there.

Thought maybe she had gone out early in the morning. Normally, if she went out to play, she wouldn’t go without telling her.

Yun Huizhi called Little Zhang. Little Zhang said she was in the recreation room on the first floor.

When Yun Huizhi went in to look for her, Chu Ruoyou had just hung up the phone, still a bit dazed.

One look at her expression and Yun Huizhi guessed who it was. “Why did you come here to take the call?”

Chu Ruoyou said, “I was going out to find you. Just got to the door when a call came. I sat in here to take it. We talked for quite a while.”

Yun Huizhi smiled, “You didn’t even ask me, how did you know where I went?”

“Of course I know where you went. You always buy my breakfast from the same shop.”

“Because I’m very loyal. Are you tired of it?”

“Not tired. I like it very much.”

Yun Huizhi deliberately used double meanings, her thoughts all over her face. Chu Ruoyou played along, too.

It seemed like they were talking about breakfast, but not really. Yet neither pursued the conversation further.

Yun Huizhi led her back to the room. “Sister, let’s hug.”

Chu Ruoyou’s heart melted at the way she called her “Sister,” as if falling into a field of candy. She laughed at her, “This early in the morning, you’re already this clingy?”

“Just a hug, to start today’s good mood.”

Chu Ruoyou hugged her.

Smelling the familiar warm scent on her, she felt sunny again too.

Thank goodness for Huizhi.

—

Opening her eyes, no one by the bed, no sounds in the room. She knew the person had gone to get food.

Yun Huizhi never missed a single meal, three times a day.

She wanted to find Yun Huizhi. Just as she reached the ground floor, Ren Yuhan called.

Her Moments post from last night had been liked by Ren Yuhan. At the same time, Ren Yuhan deleted her own lovey-dovey post.

Chu Ruoyou thought, thankfully she hadn’t had time to delete her post last night because Yun Huizhi had dragged her into indulgence. Because deleting it would indeed have been very stupid.

She felt, for the first time, that Ren Yuhan was the stupid one.

Another layer of the filter shattered.

Ren Yuhan didn’t comment or message her. Chu Ruoyou was happy for the peace.

But when this call came, Chu Ruoyou had a premonition of what she would say. Instead, she wanted to hear if she was right.

The call connected. Ren Yuhan said she got into a car accident last night on the way home. The other driver was drunk. It gave them a real scare.

Chu Ruoyou immediately asked if she was hurt. She said she had some minor scratches but nothing serious, that it had been treated, but she really wanted to see her.

Ren Yuhan said, “At that moment, what I thought was actually, if something really happened to me, would it make you rush back and ruin your good mood.”

“You really are letting your imagination run wild.”

They chatted a bit more before she started getting to the part Chu Ruoyou was mentally prepared for. “That new friend of yours is really pretty. A bit younger than you, right?”

“Mm.”

Ren Yuhan laughed and said, “I’m even a little jealous. Before, I was your best friend. You told me quality over quantity in friendships, that you didn’t need more friends.”

“Didn’t need them before. Need them now.”

Chu Ruoyou was wearing a short skirt today. She could just imagine Yun Huizhi drooling. Hmph.

Zoning out, she replied to Ren Yuhan, “Just like you. Before, you felt establishing a family and career was a burden. But now you find it sweet.”

“Are you jealous of me too?”

Ren Yuhan said, “Not long after I posted, the accident happened. Seems like showing off love really does lead to a quick death.”

Chu Ruoyou laughed, “Don’t talk nonsense, jinx. I’m not jealous. What I meant is, we’re both changing.”

“True. But I’m still your best friend, right.”

Chu Ruoyou deflected, “You sound just like Huizhi. She’s so childish, loves saying naive things to make people happy.”

In the end, Chu Ruoyou promised Ren Yuhan she would go back to see her in a few days.

Hearing this, Ren Yuhan was lost, “Alright, enjoy yourself. Ruoyou, in the past, you would definitely have come to see me right away. Remember my first business trip after starting work? I got sick. You skipped class, bought a ticket to come take care of me, stayed with me a whole day before rushing back for class.”

Mm, in the past, hearing Ren Yuhan reminisce about their past, Chu Ruoyou would have felt it was all worth it. Ren Yuhan remembered.

But now, she was very clear-headed, very cool. “Before, I was worried you had no one to look after you. Now I’m at ease, with Brother-in-law there.”

She hung up the phone, thinking about many things.

Half her concern was for Ren Yuhan. It was a car accident, after all. Even though both were fine, thinking back on it was still frightening.

The other half was a defeated soldier’s attempt at rallying, mixed with a hint of inexplicable pleasure. And this pleasure made her dislike herself and dislike Ren Yuhan even more.

In the past, the one who couldn’t help but probe and pester was always her. Ren Yuhan was always the picture of openness and integrity, brightly and openly overturning her hidden feelings.

Now, Ren Yuhan would actually lower her head, saying such self-exposing things.

Why? Because of Yun Huizhi?

Eating the breakfast Yun Huizhi bought now, her mood lifted.

She was going to move forward. No matter if Ren Yuhan saw her as her best friend or the dumbest backup, she didn’t care anymore.

“Foodie sister, suddenly happy while eating. Is it good?” Yun Huizhi laughed at her.

“Good. Love it.”

“Should I buy it for you again tomorrow morning?” Yun Huizhi asked, hiding her anxiety.

She was afraid Chu Ruoyou would decide to leave after that call and suddenly say, “What about tomorrow?”

“No.”

Chu Ruoyou caught her slightly frozen expression and glared at her. “Don’t mess with me tonight. I’m getting up early tomorrow to go out and eat with you.”

A close call.

That phrase popped up. Yun Huizhi felt herself quite pitiful, constantly on tenterhooks.

So she just asked one more time. “Have you decided when you’re leaving?”

Even though she said she wouldn’t ask, she couldn’t help it.

“After this week is over. Just now, a friend called. She was in a car accident. I’m going back to see her.”

“Which friend? Is it serious?”

Chu Ruoyou said, “You don’t know her. Not serious, nothing major.”

“Oh. I thought it was your ex-husband.”

“Even if it were. If it were him, the best outcome would be dying on impact, right?”

Chu Ruoyou dropped a bombshell.

“Hey!”

Yun Huizhi was shocked, “I’m not that malicious! I’m a good person, I’m very kind.”

“Just teasing you. Why so tense?”

“I’m not tense. ‘Tense’ makes it sound like my secret thoughts were exposed. I’m just afraid. If I ever had thoughts like that, I’d be the first to be terrified of myself!”

She absolutely didn’t wish for the person Chu Ruoyou cared about to have an accident. After all, after leaving her, those people were still Chu Ruoyou’s world.

But Yun Huizhi secretly felt a little joy. She realized it seemed Chu Ruoyou didn’t like that person as much anymore.

Because when you truly like someone, you can’t bear to make hellish jokes about them. You can’t bear to wish even a single hair on their head any harm.

“Miss Bai Wei is truly a good person.”

Chu Ruoyou teased her sarcastically, rubbing her own sore waist.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I’m the biggest villain!

Yun Huizhi snickered to herself.