Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 107
by Little PandaLong Night
The morning alarm went off. Anzhi struggled out of bed, yawned, and with half-closed eyes, went to pat Yang Mengmeng’s blanket before heading to the bathroom to wash her face.
Only after a long while did Yang Mengmeng poke her head out from under the covers with a groan.
After freshening up, the two of them rubbed their sleep-heavy eyes and went to the cafeteria to buy breakfast.
A cafeteria at seven thirty on a Saturday morning shouldn’t have been this lively, but with final exams approaching, test-takers from every school had entered their prep phase, waking up early to claim seats in the library and academic buildings.
Behind the glass counters, an array of steamed buns, deep-fried dough sticks, egg pancakes, and various morning pastries were lined up neatly, waiting to be handed to the students.
The noodle stalls, the rice noodle roll stalls, the porridge stalls—all were packed with people. The cafeteria was filled with the stuffy, warm aroma of food and the sound of voices.
Yang Mengmeng let out a yawn as she carried their breakfast. “Time goes by so fast. We’ve already become third-year old oil sticks1.”
“It’ll be senior year soon,” Anzhi said.
“Yeah, way too fast. Are you staying on campus for the summer?”
“Mn.” Anzhi lowered her eyes.
Yang Mengmeng shot her a look and sighed inwardly. Anzhi had been incredibly busy lately. She hadn’t passed her first TOEFL exam, so right now she had to juggle prepping for the TOEFL and her final exams. She woke up early and stayed up late every day, becoming so busy that she grew increasingly silent, her face growing sharper and thinner.
Yang Mengmeng didn’t even dare advise her to rest, afraid that the moment she did, Anzhi would collapse. “Then I’ll just go home for a few days and come back. I have to study for the Postgraduate Entrance Exam anyway, so I’ll come back and keep you company.”
Anzhi offered her a smile. “Thank you.”
Yang Mengmeng laughed. “I just want you to keep me on track. Otherwise, I won’t be able to stick with it.”
“What about Chen Wei?”
“Mn, he’s taking the Postgraduate Entrance Exam too, so we’ll just study together.” Yang Mengmeng was practically radiating the kind of happiness that only came from being in a stable, loving relationship.
“That’s wonderful…” Anzhi envied them. They had enjoyed smooth sailing right from the start, moving forward together without any obstacles.
Anzhi tilted her head up to look at the sky. Tree branches filtered the sunlight. A gentle breeze brushed against her cheeks and hair, just like that person’s caress from the past.
She missed her so much.
Throughout the scorching summer vacation, the cicadas’ shrill cries pierced the ears. Waves of heat rolled off the campus pathways. Occasional drops of rain would be evaporated by the heat before they could even dampen the ground.
When Anzhi took the TOEFL for the second time, she scored high. Then, she began preparing for the GRE. She hadn’t actually decided yet whether she was going abroad; she simply needed these exams to fill her time.
Anzhi was, without a doubt, someone who excelled at exams. She was good at making plans and summarizing material. After listening to a few online lectures, she began her preparations in earnest.
Over the summer, Yang Mengmeng and Chen Wei would study with her. Whenever they got tired of studying, they would occasionally go out for a bike ride, play some ball, or get a good meal.
This summer passed quickly. By the time Anzhi passed the GRE, September had arrived. A sudden downpour just after noon washed away much of the dry heat of the Autumn tiger2. The campus flowers and trees looked as though they had been saved. After the rain, dew clung to the fragrant blossoms; as she walked by, the clear, sweet scent permeated her lungs.
Yan Xi’s birthday arrived.
Anzhi had originally set her eyes on a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace, but unfortunately, she really couldn’t afford it, so she had to drop the idea.
She ordered a bottle from Maison Martin Margiela’s Replica perfume line. She chose the Flower Market scent—jasmine, tuberose, and freesia. It had a very calming, elegant fragrance. Her intuition told her it was the exact kind Yan Xi would like.
Taking advantage of the time Yan Xi was at work, she went back home to set things up. She bought a bouquet of white roses wrapped in kraft paper. Then, she set to work making a highly difficult cake from scratch. A chocolate chiffon cake with a chestnut and milk chocolate crisp base. The most challenging part was using chocolate buttercream to pipe the shape of a rose on top of the cake, then using red cocoa butter spray to color it.
The final product was a crimson, exquisitely luscious rose cake.
Anzhi spent a long time on it before finally succeeding, not even having the time to eat lunch. Only after she placed it in the refrigerator did she let out a long breath. The back of her neck was numb, and her bangs were soaked with sweat.
Then she pulled out her phone. She hesitated for a long time between calling and texting, before finally opting to send a text: “Auntie, I’m coming home tonight. I have something to tell you.”
Just as she was about to hit send, she paused again.
She had a feeling that if Yan Xi received this text, she might reply saying she had to work overtime or would be back late today.
Anzhi sat with her eyes lowered for a while, wiping at her eyes. She sighed and looked down at herself. She was all grimy from bustling about. She went upstairs, took a shower, and changed into a dark navy blue tank top. The shoulder straps were tied into loose butterfly bows at her back, and cutouts at the waist revealed her perfectly slender waistline. For her lower half, she wore a light blue denim skirt. She also blow-dried and combed her hair.
She only drank a few sips of water, not feeling the slightest bit hungry.
Night fell. The city lights illuminated alongside the stars in the sky. Anzhi waited silently at home. She turned on the house lights.
After thinking about it, she tied on an apron and went to the kitchen. An hour later, the rice was cooked. She made sweet and sour fish, braised chicken with potatoes, and garlic choy sum.
Anzhi still didn’t rest.
The large dining table was set with the meal she cooked, and she brought out the cake as well. She placed the bouquet of white roses in a wide-mouthed vase, accented with statice and baby’s breath. Then she set down the pink gift box containing the perfume.
Anzhi had never prepared to confess her feelings to anyone before, whereas Yan Xi had been on the receiving end of countless confessions. No one had been able to move her, and it seemed no gift was ever truly worthy of her.
Anzhi’s heart was restless, practically burning with anxiety. She worried that her preparations were too shabby, that her affection was too immature. She worried that her heart would find no place to belong.
Yet she also looked forward to it. She waited for the sound of Yan Xi’s car, waited for her to walk through the door, eagerly anticipating her confession.
Yan Xi didn’t even remember that today was her birthday. After parking the car and walking up to the door, she saw the lights on inside the house.
For a moment, her heart gave a sudden thud, and then thudded a few more times.
She stood frozen at the door. In that instant, her mind went completely blank. There was only the faint whisper of the night breeze in her ears.
Then she pulled out her phone. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she swiped to that name and pressed the green button.
It only rang twice before the call connected, and that familiar, soft voice came through: “Auntie?”
Yan Xi pursed her lips, forcing the corners of her mouth into a smile. “Taotao, do you need to study tonight?”
“No, I’m… I already passed the GRE. I can’t take the GRE Sub until November.”
Yan Xi stared fixedly at the door. “Mn, that’s wonderful. Is Mengmeng around?”
“Mengmeng?”
“Mn.” Yan Xi found an excuse. “Yes, she asked about something last time. Let me speak to her for a moment.”
The voice on the other end went quiet. “I’m not at school… I’m at home. Auntie, when are you coming back?”
Yan Xi gripped her phone tightly. The smile on her lips felt slightly painful. “I…”
“Auntie!” Anzhi’s voice carried a note of urgency, but more than that, it was a careful, tentative plea. “Can you come back early today? It’s your birthday today. I… I have something to tell you.”
Yan Xi’s shoulders curled inward. Her eyes stung uncontrollably. She closed her eyes and bit down hard on her lower lip. “I have to work overtime today…”
Anzhi’s voice cut off abruptly.
The phone fell silent.
A sudden ache gripped Yan Xi’s heart. She blinked away the moisture in her eyes. “Besides, hasn’t Auntie stopped celebrating her birthday for a long time now…”
After a long pause, a tiny sound drifted through the receiver: “Mn.”
Yan Xi covered the phone’s mouthpiece with her slender palm and took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing, “Alright, go to bed early. If it gets too late tonight, I’ll just rest over here at the TV station. I won’t…”
A very faint sob suddenly came from the other end of the line.
Yan Xi’s heart trembled. Subconsciously, the words spilled out. “I won’t… be coming back.”
She exhaled slowly, painfully. Ending the call, she turned and walked away. Once she turned around, she moved quickly. Her long legs carried her without pause to her car. She opened the door, slid in, and started the engine. Giving herself no chance to hesitate, her slender foot pressed the accelerator. The headlights blazed, and she drove away.
Inside the house, Anzhi froze, unable to make a sound for a long time. As if sensing something, she looked out toward the door.
Slowly, she lowered her head.
After a long while, the lights in the house went out one by one, leaving only a small wall sconce.
Neon lights flickered. Outside the bus window, towering high-rises made of steel and concrete flashed by. Anzhi leaned her head against the glass. Her clear eyes reflected the light refracting from outside, her small face washed in a soft, fragile vulnerability.
Traces of undried tears lingered beneath her eyes, while fresh teardrops continued to roll down one after another.
The moonlight was clear, bright, and pure white, but there were no stars to be seen.
Yan Xi, wearing a bathrobe, stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows in her hotel room, staring out for who knew how long. She swallowed a painkiller before forcing herself to get into bed and sleep.
After tossing and turning, she managed to sleep for barely a few hours before she jolted awake. Throwing off the covers, she sat up, pushed her long hair back, and checked the time.
A quarter past six.
She lay back down and closed her eyes until seven.
Then she got up, freshened up, and checked out.
She drove extremely fast all the way back home.
She slowly pushed the door open and turned off the wall sconce.
A room full of silence. The thin morning sunlight slipped inside alongside her footsteps, quiet and still.
In the entryway, Anzhi’s slippers sat quietly where she had left them.
Yan Xi stood frozen in place. Only after a long moment did she move her feet.
Completely at a loss, she looked around the area before walking into the kitchen.
The white roses had bloomed in solitude all night. With no one to appreciate their beauty, a few petals had already fallen. The covered dishes had gone cold, and the bright red rose cake had lost its moisture, just like a young girl’s heart that had been neglected and left in the cold.
Yan Xi’s pale fingertips trembled as she reached out to touch it. A single, crystal-clear teardrop fell from her stinging eyes, sliding down her cheek to seep into the dried-out red rose petals.
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