Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 116
by Little PandaThe dining room at nine in the morning.
Those who had to work or had woken up early were eating breakfast. Yan Yixi was the first to finish and leave for work. Liu Yiyi yawned as she sipped her porridge, while Xiao Yutong ate sluggishly. “Oh, I’m getting old. I got up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep well afterward either. Now my back is sore and everything aches.”
Beside her, Yu Shengnan was brimming with energy instead, picking up a piece of pickled vegetables with her chopsticks. “Ah, Auntie Xin, these pickles are really crisp and refreshing.”
Auntie Xin placed a plate of green vegetables before her. “It’s good that you can eat, but you shouldn’t eat too much… It’s already a blessing that you can keep food down.”
She glanced at Liu Yiyi’s porridge, of which not even half a bowl had been eaten. “Eat a bit more. You have a whole day of work ahead.”
Then she looked at Xiao Yutong. “And you, you should eat more too.”
The women murmured their agreement.
The dining room featured a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out onto the lawn, where Anzhi and Junjun were playing badminton.
Golden-orange sunlight fell on the far end of the lawn as they laughed and played. Junjun was much shorter than Anzhi and stood no chance against her, but he had been close to her since he was small, so he happily trotted around, belly thrust out, to retrieve the shuttlecock.
Their vibrant, lively laughter caught the attention of the adults inside, who watched them for a long while. Most of their gazes lingered on Anzhi.
She wore a simple, fitted mustard-yellow camisole paired with denim shorts, her hair bound up in a bun hairstyle. With her slender waist, long legs, and the full, rounded curves of her chest, she seemed to bounce with every movement as she played.
She exuded an air of youthful greenness mingled with early maturity—like a bud on the verge of blooming, immensely captivating.
Xiao Yutong sighed with feeling. “Sigh, little Anzhi is truly getting prettier and prettier, and she’s so brilliant academically. If only those two sons of mine weren’t so useless…”
Liu Yiyi chuckled. “Eldest Sister-in-Law, you mustn’t even think like that.”
Xiao Yutong said, “I wonder what kind of person will eventually marry our Anzhi.”
“Exactly. Everyone in the family has to be satisfied!” Auntie Xin chimed in.
Behind them, someone cleared their throat softly. Yan Xi stood there holding a coffee cup, though none of them knew how long she had been watching.
Auntie Xin nagged her, “Are you drinking only coffee again?”
“I’ll have some porridge in a little while,” Yan Xi said mildly.
“Mm, that’s more like it. Those two little ones have only had milk. I’ll call them inside.” As Auntie Xin spoke, she waved to them through the window.
Junjun shook his head, gesturing that he wanted to play a little longer.
As soon as Anzhi turned her head, she realized everyone was staring intently at her. Her eyes widened slightly in a daze, and her small face gradually blushed a soft pink. The loose hairs at the back of her neck that had not been combed up hung down softly, looking fuzzy. In the morning light, she appeared ethereal and adorable.
Yu Shengnan smiled. “Ah, she really is adorable.”
Liu Yiyi winked at her. “Hehehe… I wonder who she’s blushing for.”
Yan Xi said nothing. She set down her coffee cup and simply said, “I’m heading to work.”
“Hey, didn’t you say you were going to eat breakfast?” Auntie Xin failed to stop her. “This child…”
Xiao Yutong asked, puzzled, “Why do I get the feeling that Xiao Wu looks a bit embarrassed?”
Liu Yiyi and Yu Shengnan exchanged a knowing smile.
“What are you two laughing at? Is there something I don’t know?”
Walking into the living room, Yan Xi happened to run into Yan Yinan, who had just returned from a hospital shift. “Xiao Wu, off to work? Where’s your sister-in-law?”
“In the dining room.”
Yan Yinan brushed past her. “Your makeup looks great today, absolutely gorgeous. Going on a date?”
Yan Xi’s body paused slightly. Without answering, she continued on her way.
Yan Yinan didn’t think much of it either. He entered the dining room and called out with a grin, “Wife! I’m back.”
Grinning widely, he stepped in front of her and said to her belly, “Son, Daddy’s home…”
He was about to reach out and pat her stomach, but Yu Shengnan blocked his hand with a flat palm, her eyes boring into him.
“W-what is it?” Yan Yinan felt a bit uneasy under her gaze. It wasn’t just Yu Shengnan; every woman in the dining room was glaring at him.
“Daughters,” Auntie Xin said with a dark expression.
“Ah, haha, aren’t sons and daughters the same?” Yan Yinan chuckled sheepishly. “Equality between men and women and all that…”
“It’s not the same!” Xiao Yutong said solemnly.
“No equality!” Liu Yiyi replied coldly.
Feeling the immense pressure, Yan Yinan swallowed hard and was forced to change his tune, repeating, “Haha, daughters! Daddy’s home!”
Yu Shengnan smiled. “Come on, feel them.” The other women also broke into satisfied smiles.
Yan Yinan thought helplessly: These women have gone completely mad wishing for girls. If they turn out to be boys after all, I’ll definitely get chewed out again. Why is my life so bitter…
Hearing the sound of a car starting up over there, Anzhi turned to look.
Yan Xi’s car swept past. Wearing sunglasses, she seemed to glance in her direction. Anzhi couldn’t help but blush, not daring to meet her eyes.
With this brief delay, the car drove out of sight. Anzhi turned and stood on her tiptoes to peer after it, only turning back once she was sure she could no longer see it. Caught off guard, she was struck right in the face by the badminton birdie Junjun had hit toward her.
“Ow…”
“Haha, Jiejie, gotcha!”
At the intersection, Yan Xi waited for the red light.
She hadn’t eaten candy in a long time, but for some reason today, she wanted to rummage around for a piece of candy to eat.
After Anzhi went to college, no one put candy in her car anymore. Slowly, she stopped eating it.
Suddenly, a candy jar appeared before her. It was tightly sealed.
Yan Xi opened it, picked one out, and popped it into her mouth. It tasted of peppermint and milk.
Her lips curved into a smile. When had she put this in?
Honey-like morning sunlight poured into the car. As Yan Xi set the candy jar back, the scenes from last night surfaced in her mind—
Anzhi had been startled by her own act of kissing. She took a step back, her face instantly flushing red.
Yan Xi had blinked, just about to say something.
But she was like a startled little rabbit, even her ears flushing red. Without a word, she turned and ran off, thump-thump-thump. If she had a tail, it probably would have been pointing straight up.
Yan Xi had stood there, half-surprised and half-shocked, also dazed. The finger Anzhi had kissed was burning like fire, and she had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep well.
Now, Yan Xi extended her finger. Her fingers were long and slender, her fair skin gleaming faintly in the sunlight. Touching it with her other hand, she felt nothing unusual. Yet, the moment Anzhi touched it, she felt a searing burn.
And there was a deeper shyness—between women, what did fingers signify…?
Yan Xi’s face suddenly burned, and she covered her face with her hands.
Anzhi was still young. She might have just been close to her out of instinct, expressing her affection, without any other intentions.
But then, why was she so shy…?
Yan Xi felt that her own thoughts were too sleazy, and she shook her head.
Anzhi was naturally easily embarrassed anyway.
The current relationship between them was incredibly ambiguous. Whether to take a step forward or backward, Yan Xi felt both fearful and expectant, longing yet hesitant.
The last time she had felt like this was back in university, but that was a long time ago. Back then she was still young, at the age when she most looked forward to romance, so it was understandable. But now, when she should be calmer and more mature, she was instead even more anxious and at a loss.
An uncontrollable heartbeat and throb.
A deafening blast of car horns erupted behind her, and a man shouted, “Hey, in front! Did you fall asleep or what? Don’t block the road!”
Yan Xi snapped out of her daze and hurriedly drove forward.
She patted her head in annoyance. Honestly…
After being busy at the station for a while, it was a rare afternoon when she had nothing to do, and she immediately drove back to the old residence.
By the time she arrived, it was nearly two in the afternoon, the usual time for a siesta.
The house was very quiet, the rooms cool and shaded. Auntie Xin was in the kitchen brewing some mung bean soup.
Yan Xi was thinking about Anzhi. The girl hadn’t slept last night, and according to Boston time, it should be night for her now.
Quietly, she made her way up to the third floor. The door to Anzhi’s room was open, but she wasn’t inside.
Yan Xi paused for a moment, then pushed open her own room. Anzhi wasn’t there either.
Feeling a slight warmth rise in her cheeks, she composed her emotions and thought for a moment before heading down to the second floor. She arrived outside Grandfather and Grandmother Yan’s room.
“Grandfather, Grandmother.”
Grandfather Yan answered from within, and Yan Xi pushed the door open.
Grandfather Yan sat on a single-seater sofa reading a book, while on the long sofa on the other side, Anzhi was asleep, resting her head on Grandmother Yan’s lap.
Yan Xi looked at her and walked over.
Grandfather Yan chuckled softly. “She was talking with your grandmother and showing her some photos, and fell asleep while they were chatting.”
Grandmother Yan gently stroked her hair. “Only our Anzhi has the patience to chat with me. Let her sleep here with me.”
Yan Xi’s heart softened with warmth as she looked at her sleeping face. “According to her body clock, it’s nighttime now, so she needs to sleep a bit longer.”
“I’ll carry her back to her room.”
Yan Xi leaned down and reached out to lift her. Anzhi’s hair was still slightly damp; she had probably bathed before coming over to talk to her grandparents.
The slightly cool strands of her hair brushed against Yan Xi’s arms. Yan Xi let her head rest against her shoulder, her gaze holding a tenderness she herself was unaware of, and her actions filled with a caution clear to any onlooker.
Holding her, she walked out just like that.
Grandfather Yan adjusted his reading glasses, hummed a thoughtful “Mn,” and exchanged a look with Grandmother Yan.
When she woke up, she didn’t know what time it was. Anzhi opened her eyes, then closed them to doze for a bit longer. She was no longer sleepy, but she kept her eyes shut.
The door was pushed open softly, then someone walked in, and the side of the bed sank slightly. Anzhi’s heart thumped. The stray hairs on her cheek were brushed aside, and Anzhi opened her eyes again, meeting Yan Xi’s gentle gaze.
“Time to get up and eat something.”
Yan Xi didn’t pull her hand away. She smiled. “Still don’t want to get up? It’s almost ten o’clock; even Junjun is asleep.”
Anzhi wrinkled her nose. “According to my time, it’s still morning.”
Having just woke up, her body relaxed and comfortable, her voice was soft, as if it were holding water.
Yan Xi’s gaze grew even gentler. “Get up quickly.”
Anzhi sensed the tenderness in her eyes. She blinked and stretched out her arms toward her.
Sure enough, Yan Xi leaned down and pulled her up in an embrace. Anzhi took the opportunity to lean in and rest her head on her shoulder, clutching the clothes on her back, closing her eyes to inhale her scent.
No lights had been turned on while Anzhi slept, but when Yan Xi entered just now, she had left the door ajar, allowing a sliver of light to filter in.
In a room illuminated like this, once romantic ambiguity took root, it fermented rapidly.
As Anzhi leaned against her, her heart beat rapidly—perhaps it was her own, or perhaps it was Yan Xi’s. She could feel the softness of her chest, warm and pulsing, like a little rabbit waiting to be petted.
Yan Xi’s gaze darkened. Her hair brushed against her, as if she would kiss her in the next second.
Yan Xi took a deep breath, patted Anzhi’s shoulder, and said, “Time to get up.” Then she let go of her.
Anzhi pouted and scooted toward the edge of the bed. Suddenly she asked in confusion, “Did I walk back here myself? I remember…”
“I carried you over,” Yan Xi said, looking back with a smile, before adding, “You’ve grown heavier.”
The smile that had just bloomed on Anzhi’s face instantly froze.
“…”
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