Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 125
by Little PandaI Love You, I Like You (Part Two)
The next morning, Anzhi woke up feeling cozy and soft. Lazily opening her eyes, she found one of her arms draped over Yan Xi’s pillow, her head hogging a corner of it as well.
The blankets were filled with a pleasant, fragrant scent.
Anzhi wrinkled her nose slightly, inhaling the scent, and looked around the room for Yan Xi.
Yan Xi was currently changing.
She had already slipped into a form-fitting pencil skirt. Her fair upper body was exposed to the air, her waist incredibly slender, while the black straps of her bra framed her elegant, sensual shoulder blades.
Then, she pulled on a white sweater, and the beautiful sight vanished in an instant.
She reached back, lifting her long hair out of the collar.
Anzhi watched her, utterly entranced.
Yan Xi’s movements were exceptionally light and graceful. As she turned around, she caught Anzhi’s eyes and paused, slightly startled.
“Awake?” she asked, her gaze sweeping over briefly, short and to the point.
“Mn!” Anzhi nodded with a bright smile. She was just about to say something when Yan Xi averted her gaze.
Anzhi tilted her head, slightly puzzled.
“Aren’t you going to sleep a bit longer?” Yan Xi smoothed her hair, still refusing to look at her.
Anzhi noticed the slight flush on Yan Xi’s ear beneath her swept-back hair. She blinked, realizing that Yan Xi might still be feeling shy.
Anzhi smiled, her lips curving. “No more sleep. Are you heading to work? I’ll make breakfast for you.” She kicked back the duvet, exposing her feet—a pair of delicate, slender feet as white as cream.
Yan Xi’s gaze lingered on them for a second or two before she said softly, “No need. I’ll go make some noodles. Just come downstairs to eat in a bit.”
She turned and walked out. Anzhi stared at her retreating back, her lips curving upward as she took in every bit of Yan Xi’s awkwardness. Once Yan Xi stepped out the door, Anzhi giggled and collapsed back onto the bed, grabbing Yan Xi’s pillow and playfully scratching at it.
Breakfast was yangchun noodles1 cooked by Yan Xi, with mushrooms, shrimp, and a sprinkle of chopped scallions. There were also the tea eggs Anzhi had made the day before and stored in the fridge; Yan Xi had reheated them and scooped two into a bowl.
The two of them sat opposite each other at the dining table. Anzhi watched Yan Xi as she slurped her noodles, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
Yan Xi ate in silence, quietly enduring her steady gaze the entire time.
Anzhi’s dimples2 deepened as she picked up an egg and began to peel it. Once only a tiny bit of shell remained at the tip, she handed it to Yan Xi.
Yan Xi had wanted to tell her to eat it herself, but Anzhi puffed out her cheeks and kept her hand extended, leaving Yan Xi with no choice but to take it.
Anzhi’s smile never faded. She began peeling the second egg and took a bite.
Yan Xi bit into her tea egg. The tea flavor was rich, savory, and delicious. She complimented, “It’s delicious.”
Anzhi’s smile made her feel that breakfast on a workday was no longer dull.
“I probably won’t be back for lunch,” Yan Xi said, having finally recovered from her embarrassment of the night before.
“Mn. I promised Mengmeng I’d meet her at school today, so I’ll be eating out,” Anzhi said.
Yan Xi smiled slightly. “Alright.”
After finishing breakfast, Yan Xi went upstairs to apply her makeup, slung her bag over her shoulder, and prepared to leave. Anzhi finished washing the dishes and came out to see her off.
“Are you coming home for dinner?”
Yan Xi thought about it. “Let’s eat out. I’ll call you before I leave work.”
“Okay,” Anzhi nodded.
Yan Xi remembered something and added, “Do you have enough money on you? You can go shopping and buy some things.”
Anzhi smiled, pursing her lips. “I’m earning a salary now. You’re still treating me like a child.”
Yan Xi smiled too. “Force of habit.”
In the morning light, her gentle smile was exceptionally tender and affectionate. Instinctively, Anzhi stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her.
Yan Xi was slightly startled, but her eyes filled with warmth as she hugged her back. Anzhi hooked her arms around Yan Xi’s neck, nuzzling against her just as she used to.
Nestling her face against the top of Anzhi’s head, Yan Xi stroked her hair, suddenly noticing something. “Have you grown a bit taller again?”
“…Only by two centimeters,” Anzhi said. Even so, standing before Yan Xi, who was wearing high heels, she was still half a head shorter.
Yan Xi let out a soft laugh. For a brief moment, she remembered when Anzhi was very small. Back then, she used to cry out of worry about her height; she had been such a crybaby. But whenever Yan Xi comforted her, she would become incredibly sweet—the kind of sweet that made Yan Xi want to hold her tight in her arms.
In the blink of an eye, she had grown into a graceful young woman.
Yan Xi’s gaze drifted to the height markings on the wall in the entryway. Her eyes traced the short, closely spaced markings from when Anzhi was small, all the way up to the highest line, right beside Yan Xi’s own markings for comparison.
Time always slipped away so easily, but fortunately, it left behind years of affection and memories, shining like gold.
Yan Xi said softly, “Come here. Let me measure you again.”
Anzhi stepped over and stood flat against the wall. She felt a brief wave of nostalgia, as if she had been transported back to all the times they had measured her height in the past.
Her line of sight had gone from only reaching Yan Xi’s thighs, then her waist, then her shoulders, and now, her chin.
Anzhi’s heart felt incredibly soft and warm.
“You really have grown a little taller,” Yan Xi murmured, tilting her head down to look at her, her eyes filled with tender, lingering affection.
Anzhi looked up, tilting her face. Hooking her arms around Yan Xi’s neck, she rose slightly on her tiptoes and kissed her.
Warmth flooded Yan Xi’s eyes. Wrapping her arms around Anzhi’s shoulders, she pulled her closer into her embrace and returned the kiss.
It was a gentle kiss, light as a soft breeze and spring drizzle.
Nestled in her embrace, Anzhi’s body trembled slightly with emotion. She lowered her heels, leaning back against the wall behind her. But unwilling to let go of the kiss, she clutched at Yan Xi’s clothes. Yan Xi was drawn forward a few steps by her, pressing tight against her body as her lips pressed down.
The two of them kissed, pressed flat against the wall, their bodies fitting together perfectly. Right behind them were their height markings.
Their soft, shallow breaths filled the room, drifting through the thin winter morning sunlight.
Last night’s snow slowly melted under the morning sun. By afternoon, the temperature rose slightly. The sunlight thickened like maltose3, sweet and warm.
Yan Xi sat in her chair, letting the makeup artist style her hair. She had changed into a peach-pink suit with a white silk shirt underneath, a silk scarf tied neatly at her collar. This color was notoriously difficult to pull off; it would look too garish on someone too young, yet carried the risk of looking like an older woman trying too hard to look young.
However, her skin was as fair as snow, and she took such good care of herself that she still looked like she was in her twenties. Combined with her gentle, elegant, and refined temperament, she completely captured the designer’s intent, carrying the outfit with an effortless air of luxury.
Leaning back in her chair, she kept her eyes lowered as she browsed the script, her long legs crossed. She looked both tender and brimming with yujie4 energy.
The production assistant standing nearby could barely tear her eyes away, desperately wanting to strike up a conversation. Having basked in the sun during lunch, the assistant had taken a beautiful selfie and happily handed her phone over to show Yan Xi.
Yan Xi politely complimented her. “It looks really nice.”
The assistant was thrilled. She asked if Yan Xi wanted some water, and before Yan Xi could even answer, she happily bounced off to fill her cup. Returning as if seeking praise, she said, “It’s not too hot. I also have some pangdahai lozenges5. Would you like one, Yan-jiejie?”
She had a round, likeable face and was very young—a trainee who had just joined the station, barely two years older than Anzhi.
Yan Xi smiled, her lips curving. Looking up at her, she said softly, “No, thank you. You have them.”
It was fine when she didn’t smile, but once she did, the little assistant froze in place. By the time Yan Xi went back to looking at her script, the little assistant’s face had flushed completely red.
During a break in the recording, Yan Xi went into the restroom. She heard someone on the phone in the next stall. It was clearly the little assistant, and she wasn’t keeping her voice down at all. “Yeah, I saw her! Right, her skin in real life is incredibly good and pale. You can’t even tell she’s almost forty.”
Yan Xi: “…” This was a bit awkward.
“I think she looks twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most. But that’s not the point. She looks so beautiful when she smiles! Yeah, I already went on Weibo to hype her up again.”
“Ah, I want to marry her so bad, ahhh!”
The little assistant giggled, continuing to gossip over the phone. “Even if I can’t marry her, I just want to say: ‘Jiejie, please ravish me!’ Oh, how embarrassing! Giggle, giggle…”
Yan Xi: “…”
The situation was far too awkward. She had to wait until the little assistant left before stepping out. Rubbing her temples, she murmured, “What on earth are young people thinking these days…”
As she washed her hands, she leaned closer to the mirror to look. There were still tiny, fine lines at the corners of her eyes. No matter how well she took care of herself, her age was still there. How could she possibly be as young as twenty-seven or twenty-eight?
She smiled, taking out her phone. She hadn’t had a chance to check her WeChat since noon.
Anzhi had sent her several messages at different times, starting from the morning.
Saying she had arrived at school.
That she was out shopping with Yang Mengmeng.
That they had gone to a hotpot restaurant, and Chen Wei had joined them.
That Yang Mengmeng and Chen Wei seemed to be having an argument.
She was sitting there feeling so awkward, not knowing whether she should try to mediate or not.
Yan Xi’s lips curved into a smile. Just a few short messages detailed everything she was doing over there, making it feel as if they were right next to each other.
She replied: “No need to mediate. They’ll make up.”
Her fingertips paused, then she typed: “Did you wear a warm coat when you went out?”
“Tell me what you want to eat tonight.”
“My recording break is over. I’m heading back in now.”
By the time she finished recording and came out, night had already fallen. Winter in Beicheng was a sea of lights, accompanied by a biting chill.
Yan Xi drove to the shopping mall. Anzhi was standing in front of a giant, eye-catching cosmetics billboard.
As expected, she hadn’t worn a heavy coat, opting instead for a thick chunky-knit sweater. Her face was flushed red from the cold.
Yan Xi pulled over to the curb and honked her horn once. Spotting her, Anzhi jogged over with a beaming smile and hopped into the car.
The moment she got in, she threw herself into Yan Xi’s arms. “It’s so cold!”
Frowning, Yan Xi held her tight. She turned up the car heater, her hand cupping Anzhi’s face as she murmured, “You should have worn another layer.”
Anzhi nuzzled against her, giggling.
Since she couldn’t park by the curb for long, Yan Xi gently nudged her upright, started the car, and reminded her to buckle her seatbelt.
Anzhi obediently did as she was told and sat properly, but she didn’t forget to lean in, pucker her lips, and plant an affectionate kiss on Yan Xi’s cheek.
Footnotes
- Yangchun noodles (yángchūn miàn) are a traditional, simple Chinese noodle soup, often seasoned with soy sauce, lard, and scallions.
- Dimples (jiǔwō), literally 'wine pits' in Chinese, are often associated with sweetness, charm, and a pleasant, gentle disposition.
- Maltose (màiyátáng), or malt sugar, is a traditional Chinese sweetener with a deep golden hue, thick consistency, and warm, gentle sweetness.
- Yùjiě, an internet slang term borrowed from the Japanese 'onee-san' (older sister), refers to a mature, confident, and sophisticated woman with a commanding aura.
- Pangdahai (scaphium affine) is a traditional Chinese herbal remedy commonly used in lozenges or teas to soothe the throat and vocal cords, popular among public speakers and singers.
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