Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 102

Them (Part 3)

Yan Xi didn’t resist her movements; she even gently stroked Anzhi’s hair, coaxing her to sleep just like when she was little.

Anzhi thought she would be too nervous to sleep, but she wasn’t. In this quiet, warm intimacy, her eyelids drooped involuntarily. She felt Yan Xi’s movements also gradually slowing down, and she fell asleep too.

            

Even the heavens seemed willing to cooperate with them, dropping a muffled clap of thunder before a sparse, light rain began to fall.

When Anzhi woke up, Yan Xi was watching her. Anzhi’s mind wasn’t entirely clear yet. She let out a small yawn, then realized Yan Xi was poking her cheek. “Sleeping like a little pig!”

Anzhi mumbled, “…No, I wasn’t.”

            

“You were even snoring!”

Anzhi retorted in embarrassment, “I was not! I don’t snore!”

Yan Xi’s eyes curved into smiling crescents. “Alright, alright, you didn’t.” She pinched Anzhi’s cheek. “We’re heading over to your Second Aunt-in-law’s place for lunch.”

            

“Ah? What time is it?” Anzhi hurriedly sat up. “Are you hungry?” She checked her phone and saw it was already ten o’clock; the cafeteria wouldn’t be serving breakfast anymore. Anzhi said in frustration, “I originally wanted to go buy you breakfast.”

“No rush.” Yan Xi rested her chin on her hand in bed, watching her.

Anzhi was wearing a cotton nightgown with a somewhat wide collar. She grabbed a wool cardigan to drape over her shoulders, gathered her hair, and went to rummage through the storage box in her cabinet where she kept her snacks.

            

“I have egg yolk pastries¹, and Vitasoy². Let’s eat this.”

Yan Xi smiled. “Okay.”

“Hurry up and get out of bed,” Anzhi urged her.

            

Yan Xi threw off the covers. The T-shirt dress slid up, revealing her thighs, as snow-white as goose feathers.

Anzhi froze and turned her head away, her face burning red. The dress was still too short for Yan Xi; Anzhi had caught a glimpse of what lay between her legs. Yan Xi sat up and tossed her fluffy long hair, offering her a faint smile.

“Ah, hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face.”

            

Anzhi’s face flushed even redder. To cover it up, she deliberately put on a fierce tone. “Also, put your shoes on!”

“As you command!” Yan Xi laughed softly.

The two of them went to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces, then applied their lotion and day cream.

            

Anzhi first put the Vitasoy into the microwave to heat it up. This small microwave was bought secondhand, but it came in incredibly handy during the winter.

She handed the warm Vitasoy over to Yan Xi, then tore open the vacuum-sealed individual packaging of two egg yolk pastries and popped them into the microwave for ten seconds.

“Careful, it’s hot. The salted egg yolk inside will be a little melted.”

            

The outer crust was flaky and crisp, while the egg yolk was rich, fragrant, and slightly savory, paired with soft mochi that pulled into strings. One bite yielded a rich texture—soft, glutinous, crisp, and fragrant, sweet but not cloying.

“Mmm!” Yan Xi’s eyes narrowed slightly in satisfaction.

“Delicious, right?” Anzhi asked her with a smile.

            

“Mn, it’s delicious,” Yan Xi agreed. The two looked at each other and smiled.

“Are you not going to work today?” Anzhi asked after they finished eating.

“Mn, I’m not going.” Having finished eating, Yan Xi nestled back into her bed, leisurely scrolling through her phone.

            

Anzhi pursed her lips in a smile and sat back down at her desk to read her notes.

The two of them occupied themselves with their own tasks in silence for a while.

When noon arrived, they needed to head over to Liu Yiyi’s place.

            

Yan Xi put on Anzhi’s white T-shirt and jeans, along with a loose, navy-blue woolen uniform jacket that had a red trim along the collar.

In the years since she started working, Yan Xi rarely wore jeans. Especially in winter, she only wore long coats, blouses, skirts, or dress pants.

This outfit looked fantastic on her. It was exceptionally youthful, making it seem as if she were only a few years older than Anzhi, the age gap no longer appearing so vast.

            

Anzhi’s thoughts had already flown elsewhere.

“As for underwear…” Anzhi lowered her head in embarrassment.

Anzhi’s underwear was too small for Yan Xi.

            

“Mn, then I just won’t wear any.” Yan Xi tied up her hair and picked up the socks Anzhi had laid out on the bed.

“I’m wearing this pair of rabbit socks, alright?”

Anzhi’s jeans were a bit short on Yan Xi, but fortunately, she wore tall boots.

            

Once they finished getting ready, they headed out the door.

They walked through the university campus. It was an overcast day. Water droplets accumulated from last night dripped from the green leaves, and the air smelled heavily of moisture.

Anzhi was very happy, the dimples on her cheeks constantly deeply indented. She was also wearing an oversized sweater of a similar color, slim-fit jeans, and a pair of small white sneakers.

            

“I hope it’s not your Second Aunt-in-law cooking,” Yan Xi said worriedly.

“It won’t be. Second Aunt-in-law has never cooked,” Anzhi laughed, her peripheral vision stealing glances at Yan Xi’s hand hanging by her side.

“I suppose so.”

            

It was a fairly long walk to the Faculty Apartments. But walking beside the person she loved, Anzhi only wished the journey could be as long as possible.

Her fervent, maidenly heart desperately wanted to pour itself out, but she was afraid of burning the person she loved so deeply. She could only gaze at her.

She had originally wanted to suppress it, originally wanted to stay away. If she couldn’t see her, she wouldn’t want her. She had whole-heartedly believed those feelings had long since solidified deep within her heart, yet her eyes still betrayed her.

            

She was also self-aware; she could only take a glance, avert her eyes, and then steal another secret glance.

When they arrived, Liu Yiyi opened the door, glanced at them, and burst out laughing. “Wow, are these mother-daughter outfits, or couple’s outfits?”

Anzhi and Yan Xi’s faces simultaneously stiffened. Yan Xi shot her a glare, while Anzhi just laughed awkwardly.

            

Lunch was steak prepared by Yan Yixi, along with some french fries. He had also warmed up some fruit wine.

Anzhi was finally allowed to drink a small glass.

Throughout the meal, Liu Yiyi stared at them, an inscrutable smile on her lips.

            

Yan Xi found it baffling but couldn’t be bothered to pay her any mind. Only Anzhi felt too guilty to dare join the conversation.

After they finished eating, Yan Xi called for a car. Anzhi watched her get in and waved at her.

She hadn’t spent such a long stretch of time with Yan Xi in ages; she felt deeply reluctant to part.

            

“Head back,” Yan Xi waved at her as well.

Anzhi’s heart felt both sour and sweet. She couldn’t resist running over.

Seeing her approach, Yan Xi told the driver to hold on for a moment and looked at her questioningly.

            

“Auntie… will you text me after you get back?”

So that was it. She smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

Anzhi stood in place, watching the car drive away. The sweetness in her heart overpowered the sourness, bubbling up like honey.

            

She was so delighted she nearly hugged a tree by the campus road. For the entire afternoon, her dimples never faded.

She finally received her message.

During her second year of university, Anzhi and Yan Xi had once again resumed their old habit of needing to contact each other every day. It was just that they rarely called; mostly, they used WeChat.

            

Their days hadn’t undergone any major changes. Anzhi still attended classes, did experiments, listened to lectures, and occasionally went shopping with Yang Mengmeng or participated in student club activities.

Yan Xi went to work and occasionally attended social engagements. On weekends, she returned to the Yan Family Old Residence.

Once every couple of weeks or once a month, Anzhi would also return to the Yan Family Old Residence to keep Grandfather Yan and Grandmother Yan company.

            

On sunny days, Yan Xi would say that the sun was out today, but it was still very cold.

On rainy days, Anzhi would tell Auntie to be careful not to catch a cold.

On snowy days, Anzhi would say she wanted to go out and play in the snow, and that she’d had a snowball fight with her classmates. Yan Xi would ask her if she won.

            

In the mornings, Yan Xi would say she woke up late, skipped breakfast, and went to the station’s cafeteria to buy a tea egg. Anzhi would send her a picture of the egg yolk pastry she ate for breakfast. Yan Xi would sigh and say she missed the egg yolk pastries.

Anzhi said she’d buy some and mail them to the house.

Yan Xi told her not to mail them to the house, but to send them over to the TV station.

            

Anzhi curiously asked her how long it had been since she went home.

Yan Xi didn’t reply to that.

Biting on a tissue, Anzhi thought, Could it be that because I don’t go back, Yan Xi isn’t living at home either?

            

At noon, Anzhi would go to the cafeteria to eat, ordering stir-fried pork with celery and roasted chicken legs, snapping a photo to show her.

Yan Xi sent a photo of tomato and egg stir-fry, captioned: Salty.

Anzhi laughed, but replied on WeChat with a: “Hmph!”

            

In the evening, stuck in traffic, Yan Xi would send her a picture of the long line of cars backed up on the road.

Anzhi replied: “Still in the laboratory.” She attached a photo of herself wearing a white lab coat.

Yan Xi had already been stuck in traffic for over ten minutes and was bored out of her mind in the car. Music was playing, and she was absentmindedly humming along.

            

Her phone buzzed. She swiped it open. Anzhi had her hair up in a bun, wearing a white lab coat, her face beaming with a bright smile, her dimples sweet.

She couldn’t help but reveal a smile of her own.

At night, occasionally, they would watch a movie together like they used to.

            

“Even after watching it so many times, I still think 《The Shawshank Redemption》 is a great movie.”

“Auntie, can you try to imitate Morgan Freeman reading the lines…”

“…”

            

When it was time to sleep, they would exchange a “Goodnight.”

Goodnight, Yan Xiao Wu.

Goodnight, little rabbit.

            

Cradling her phone, Anzhi stared at the words “little rabbit” several times over. She loved every single nickname Yan Xi gave her.

She chewed over and savored each one many times, feeling sweet and secure. She didn’t dare ask for more; being able to interact like this already left her incredibly satisfied.

…

            

Anzhi thought about how, ever since she was very little, they had their own unique mode of interaction.

They clung to each other, loved being close to each other; they would also separate, and even engage in cold wars, but somewhere in the unseen depths, there was an indescribable bond that adjusted the way they interacted.

Perhaps, there would be a new way for them to interact in the future.

            

Just thinking about this possibility, she couldn’t help but be completely enthralled.

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The author has something to say:

I dreamed about an entire book of typos and jolted awake.

            

I feel so bitter.

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