Jiejie.
If only I were the original owner.
——Actually, Qi Song had secretly thought this in her heart more than once.
The more she got along with Yu Luo, the more she could feel the deep affection between Yu Luo and the original owner.
Her previous decision regarding “digging at the foot of a wall”1 was perhaps, in reality, just a kind of forced optimism when she had no way out. After all, this was the only feasible recourse for her as a book transmigrator.
However, no one knew the ending better than she did. If Yu Luo could so easily shift her affections and love another, then she wouldn’t be Yu Luo.
In her natural pessimism about this matter, Qi Song suppressed all her unease and disappointment to the very bottom, covering the surface with every moment of heart-fluttering and joy she felt when seeing Yu Luo, so as to create a false appearance of optimism, full of hope.
But at this very moment, when that question that had been vaguely brewing in her heart for a long time was completely raised, it was like a spark climbing onto a dry weed.
Devouring, spreading, in an instant starting a prairie fire.
All her emotions were burned until they crackled, bursting forth with a monstrous heat that rushed towards her, making it impossible for Qi Song to breathe.
She was about to be unable to bear this feeling. She couldn’t help but pinch the osmanthus cake between her fingertips tighter, and tighter. The pastry between her two fingers was pressed firm, while the fluffy parts around it broke off and fell.
With a thud.
On the cage that had long imprisoned the fierce beast named “self” in the bottom of her heart, a crack suddenly appeared on the great lock.
And this crack gave the beast back all its desire to break free. The weariness of long residing in the cage dissipated, and its worn-down will was rekindled.
“Qi Song?”
A woman’s clear and cool voice sounded by her ear, “What’s wrong with you?”
Seeing Qi Song staring blankly for a long time while pinching the osmanthus cake, Yu Luo leaned over to look and found that the corners of the young woman’s eyes were red, as if she were deeply sunk in a surging tide of emotions.
Qi Song gradually came back to her senses.
The moment she met Yu Luo’s gaze, she almost fell back into her previous state of mind.
“……I’m fine.” Qi Song’s voice was slightly hoarse when she spoke.
She tried hard to steady her mind, taking a silent, deep breath.
It was probably because she desired it too much.
Once that possibility was clearly seen, she couldn’t wait to accept it with her whole body and soul, even though it hadn’t even been verified yet.
After all, it was a completeness that was once as distant as the horizon, yet now seemed to be within easy reach.
Yu Luo stared at her silently for a moment, then sighed softly and raised a hand to rub the top of her head soothingly.
She said gently, “If it’s not convenient for you to tell me…… no matter what, don’t be anxious, relax. Things will always get better.”
In the familiar motion, the tip of Qi Song’s nose grew sour.
She would listen to whatever Yu Luo said, so if Yu Luo said things would get better, she believed it.
“I’ll listen to you.”
She nodded and repeated softly, “I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Yu Luo lowered her head and kissed her on the cheek. Qi Song felt the emotional creases in her heart were thus easily smoothed out, although perhaps only temporarily.
The osmanthus cake that had fallen on the floor was picked up by Taotao with a tissue and thrown into the nearby trash can.
“So good.”
Seeing Taotao’s big eyes staring at her without blinking, that sparkling gaze clearly asking for praise, Yu Luo couldn’t help but laugh, raising her hands to sit her on her lap.
Then, her whole person lazily nestled into Qi Song’s embrace.
On the huge white screen in front, the first episode of “Happy Moments” was already being projected.
The video began with a highlight reel of the episode, cutting together the most conflict-filled or interesting scenes.
Yu Luo watched for a while, and the relaxed smile on her lips gradually disappeared.
Qi Song heard the woman leaning against the crook of her neck mutter in a small voice: “What’s with this editing, they won’t let go of me being afraid of bugs.”
Amidst a sea of real-time bullet comments praising her beauty and the cub’s cuteness, there were many laughing voices:
【I came here excitedly to observe how the high-peak flower2 of the domestic entertainment industry manages her wife and cub. But, may I ask, who is this beautiful, love-struck person who is both afraid of bugs and clingy?】
【Teacher Yu lying in the mosquito net saying she’s “going to stay here until the end of time” is so funny hahaha, the bugs just want to get close to the great beauty】
【Teacher Qi, don’t be too doting, running to so many houses just to borrow a mosquito net for your wife, I’m in tears】
Yu Luo fell into deep thought.
They had been apart for too long. On the show, she had been so focused on probing and teasing Qi Song that she hadn’t bothered to maintain her usual image.
Although she didn’t really care much about it to begin with, the screen full of teasing still made her face flush a little.
Reaching out for a hand or a hug at every turn, pretending her foot injury was so severe she couldn’t walk, clinging to the other person…… With the help of the editing techniques, her image gradually ran in the opposite direction of her past labels like “cool and aloof white moonlight”3 and “high-peak flower.”
The roots of Yu Luo’s ears grew hot. She raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, finding it a bit hard to watch.
Could she still make a living in the film industry in the future?
“Qi Song, why don’t we turn off the bullet comments……”
Yu Luo decided to use the move of covering one’s ears while stealing a bell4 to deal with all changes. However, after she spoke, Qi Song didn’t respond.
She belatedly realized that the heart of the person holding her was beating particularly fast.
Yu Luo blinked lightly, her gaze gradually deepening. Her lips parted and closed, but in the end, she took back the words she was about to say.
Qi Song was watching the video with the same level of concentration as when she would look for performance flaws in a playback after filming a scene.
This was the first episode of the variety show. During the recording, she and Yu Luo had only spent a short two days together. Those misunderstandings, suspicions, and defenses were all wrapped around her—
At least, that was what she had thought of herself at the time.
However, the emotions she herself had not been aware of were now clear and unmistakable in the high-definition camera, on the huge screen at this moment:
Every moment she couldn’t help but look at the other person, every willing compromise.
As a person in the play, she knew all too well what was acting and what was not. And at this moment, as an outsider watching the film, that instinctive heart-fluttering, that deep admiration, that tacit understanding as if they had been in love for many years could no longer be hidden away by her.
Watching scene after scene, all the gazes and details seemed to intertwine, becoming corroborating evidence that she was the original owner.
What was once hazy and obscure, now, spurred by a certain thought, had the clouds parted to see the sun5. Even the sense of destiny suddenly had a place to belong.
By the time Qi Song came back to her senses, this episode had long finished broadcasting. The white screen displayed the prompt “Video playback has ended.”
The big one and the little one in her arms had fallen asleep at some unknown time, their breathing even.
The entire media room was quiet, leaving only her and her feelings.
Qi Song gazed at Yu Luo’s sleeping face for a long time, then slowly lowered her head, her lips carefully brushing against her cheek.
It was already mid-autumn6, and the wind in the middle of the night was a bit cold.
On the master bedroom’s open-air balcony, Qi Song leaned against the railing, looking at the deep night view of the villa area.
She vaguely remembered that she once had such a restless, yet elated, sleepless night, but if she focused her mind to recall, she couldn’t find any trace of it.
Qi Song thought that tonight, she might only be able to wait like this until dawn.
Although all signs pointed to her being the original owner, this method of proof was actually very cruel.
It was like proof by contradiction7—even if there are thousands upon thousands of examples that fit the proposition. However, one only needs to present one special case that can negate the proposition to be sufficient to prove the proposition false.
Once there is one point that doesn’t fit, then all the previous ones will be overturned.
Qi Song was worried that the osmanthus cake would be that one example. This was her first attempt at verification.
She didn’t know how she should conduct herself if she had already fallen into the ecstasy of “I might be the original owner,” if she was just a little bit away from getting the most perfect answer, only to be met with a painful blow.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” The balcony’s glass door was gently pushed open, and Yu Luo’s voice sounded.
Qi Song’s heart skipped a beat.
She was silent for a few seconds, then slowly turned around.
The woman’s face, under the faint moonlight, was so otherworldly8 as to be somewhat elusive, which in turn made the sense of instability in Qi Song’s heart brew even more intensely.
“Are you afraid of something?” Yu Luo gazed at her face, taking her hand that was slightly cool in the night wind, sharing her own temperature.
In the woman’s water-like gaze, Qi Song couldn’t control herself and was honest.
She nodded and murmured in a low voice, “……Very afraid.”
Yu Luo looked at her without speaking.
As if she knew that the fear was unspeakable, she didn’t ask.
“……There was a similar night like this before.”
Yu Luo smiled lightly, “You were very afraid because of something, and I said I would comfort you. As it turned out, while comforting you……”
She paused, then continued softly:
“We had our first kiss.”
Qi Song met her gaze, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
In the gentle breeze, the leaves of the surrounding trees rustled. That fine, fragmented sound seemed to brush against Qi Song’s heart, exceptionally itchy.
She saw Yu Luo gazing at herself, her eyes as if filled with fallen stars, and asked gently:
“Qi Song, do you want to replicate the feeling of that day?”
The woman’s clear and cool final syllable melted into the night, gently stirring those obscure, sun-deprived undercurrents.
Qi Song’s chest heaved heavily.
A mist gradually rose in her eyes, and her throat tightened. When the first clear tear fell, she breathed tremblingly and slowly lowered her head.
Yu Luo slowly closed her eyes, tilting her head up to receive her kiss.
At first, their lips only touched lightly a few times with restraint.
However, even such a soft and gentle contact could ignite a blazing fire in her heart. Qi Song closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around Yu Luo’s waist, and walked forward while kissing. Under her movement, Yu Luo couldn’t help but stumble backwards.
In the end, she was pressed against the glass door of the balcony.
The palm of Qi Song’s hand was cushioned behind her head. Through the layer of mist in her eyes, she gazed intently at the woman for a few seconds, then caressed her cheek and kissed her again.
This time, the kiss was both deep and heavy.
Both of them had a certain emotion suppressed in their hearts, and this kind of damp, passionate, reckless entanglement was the only outlet at this moment.
“Mmm……” A sound escaped Yu Luo’s lips between her rapid pants, and was immediately swallowed by Qi Song’s more lingering possession.
Tears flowed uninterruptedly from the corners of her eyes, wetting their pressed-together lips.
“Jiejie……”
In a gap between their lips, Qi Song uttered those two words. In the low night, it was like the whimper of a crestfallen little beast.
I hope so much that I am yours.
Willing to pray piously, willing to use everything as the price.
Please, let me be the original owner.
Following Yu Luo’s instructions, when Auntie Zhang went to buy groceries in the early morning, she also bought a handful of fragrant, fresh osmanthus petals.
After returning home, she saw that the light in the kitchen was on.
“Miss Qi?” Auntie Zhang said in surprise, “You’re up so early today.”
The family of three usually got up at seven-thirty, yet it was now just past six.
“Mm.”
Qi Song nodded and said softly, “I’m going to make osmanthus cake now.”
She had stayed up all night and could no longer wait.
“Do you need my help?” Auntie Zhang said, “I’m pretty good at making it.”
Qi Song smiled at her, “Thank you, I can do it myself.”
Having made osmanthus cake too many times before transmigrating, Qi Song proceeded through the steps with great proficiency.
As she added the various ingredients in proportion, bit by bit, Qi Song could recall the process of her repeatedly adjusting the ratios and adding or subtracting different ingredients in one dissatisfaction after another.
Will it really be the same as the original owner’s? After so long, will Yu Luo have already forgotten the details of the past taste and be unable to distinguish the difference?
Even more, she might, in order not to hurt my feelings, considerately tell a white lie.
Thinking of this, Qi Song’s chest tightened. Certain ingredients she was about to add were set aside, not added in.
As she did this, her hands were even trembling slightly.
But she didn’t want a vague answer.
When the osmanthus cake came out of the steamer, the entire kitchen and dining room were filled with a clear, sweet fragrance.
Yu Luo was still comfortably lost in her dreams. When she was gently called awake, her whole person was still a bit dazed.
She slowly blinked her eyes and saw Qi Song beside her, staring at her eagerly, “My osmanthus cake is ready.”
That tone clearly wanted her to taste it immediately.
Torn between the heavy pull of sleepiness and the young woman’s impatient gaze, Yu Luo struggled slightly, but still slowly sat up.
Her five senses gradually returned, and she smelled the fragrance of osmanthus.
Turning her head to look, on the bedside table, two steaming hot osmanthus cakes lay on a small plate.
Yu Luo’s lips parted and closed, her voice still holding a sleepy drowsiness when she spoke: “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”
“I’ll carry you.”
Qi Song was clearly a bit anxious. Before Yu Luo could react, she had already been lifted horizontally into her arms and carried to the bathroom.
On the sink were a toothbrush with toothpaste already squeezed on it and a cup filled with water. Everything was prepared in advance.
Yu Luo blinked, looking at Qi Song.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have disturbed your sleep.”
Qi Song looked back at her innocently, her tone a bit pitiful, “……But I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“It’s okay.” Yu Luo was more or less awake now. She patted her head and cooperatively washed up quickly.
The moment she was done, an osmanthus cake was already presented to her lips.
Yu Luo obligingly opened her lips, took a bite, and chewed slowly.
For this one moment, Qi Song had waited an entire night. Yet that entire night seemed less long than this one moment.
Amidst her violent heartbeat, Qi Song felt a pain in her chest.
She stared at Yu Luo without blinking, trying her best to keep her voice steady, and asked cautiously, “How is it?”
Yu Luo savored the taste carefully and nodded seriously: “Still as delicious as ever.”
She gave this evaluation, and then seemed to have nothing else to say—as if she felt this osmanthus cake tasted exactly the same as before, with no differences worth discussing.
The bathroom fell into a brief silence.
Qi Song’s expression froze, bit by bit.
All the elation, anticipation, and irrepressible fantasies were like trees that had lost their water and nutrients, unavoidably withering in an instant; the surging tide that had lasted all night quietly receded, leaving behind a field of dry, deathly still cracks.
“——But.” Yu Luo continued with some hesitation, “Are we out of chestnuts and coconut milk at home? Didn’t you say those were the most important?”
Qi Song’s heart skipped a beat.
The teetering pain in her chest seemed to be crushed bit by bit, turning into smoke and dissipating.
Tender green shoots suddenly sprouted from the vast withering. In the stagnant silence, spring water was born. The tide surged once more, and when it crashed over, it made a crisp sound full of life.
Hot tears gurgled and slid down from the corners of her eyes.
Qi Song gently hooked the corners of her lips, and so the corners of her lips were soon wetted by tears.
From the lowest valley to the highest peak in an instant, the huge fluctuation caused a strong sense of dizziness.
In an unbearable tremor, she reached out and hugged Yu Luo tightly.
Closing her eyes, with a pious and cherished heart, she choked out a murmur:
“Jiejie.”
The author has something to say:
In the last book, the emotional warming went from jiejie to wife. In this book, it’s from wife to jiejie hhhh
Little Theater:
Qi Song picks up something valuable on the road and returns it.
Passerby: Thank you, thank you!
Qi Song: Huh, how did you know I’m Yu Luo’s little puppy?
Qi Song is walking on the street and meets someone walking a dog.
Dog: Woof!
Qi Song: Eh, how did you know I also have an owner?
(Recognizing herself is not enough) (Must show off to the whole world)
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