Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 55
by Little PandaStill Want to Kiss Me?
The two of them stared straight at each other for several long seconds.
Anzhi pulled back the hands she had wrapped around Yan Xi’s neck. Her fair, bun-like cheeks instantly flushed pink. Her little mouth opened and closed, wanting to say something but unable to form the words.
Yan Xi, who had been surprised and confused, couldn’t help but smile as she watched the girl’s face grow redder and redder. She poked Anzhi’s dimple. “What’s all this? Feeling shy after kissing someone?”
“I, I…” A wave of nervousness, embarrassment, panic, and shyness swept over her all at once. Anzhi didn’t even dare to lift her eyes.
Is this child getting thinner-skinned? Yan Xi wondered.
She patted Anzhi’s head and was about to speak when Anzhi looked up at her, her pure eyes gazing into Yan Xi’s. “I don’t want you to be unhappy…”
Yan Xi’s hand was still resting on her head. Her eyelashes trembled, and for a moment, she was at a loss. She wasn’t unhappy. It was just… how could she describe it? Even she didn’t know what this feeling was…
Empty, and adrift.
Suddenly, the weight in her arms grew heavier. Anzhi pressed forward again, burying her face in Yan Xi’s shoulder, her slender, girlish arms hugging her tightly.
Yan Xi’s hand slid down through her silky hair. The embrace was incredibly warm. She closed her eyes. When Anzhi was little, she had been a tiny bundle in her arms, like a doll that was only warm to the touch. Yan Xi still thought of her as that little child, but now she had grown up. Her body was soft and fragrant, her scent as sweet as honey. Yan Xi’s palm rested on her back, stroking it gently, the motion full of tenderness.
It gave Yan Xi a sense of unreality.
Anzhi nuzzled her shoulder, then let her pinkish-white face slide down to rest against Yan Xi’s arm, her watery eyes watching her quietly. Yan Xi’s long lashes lowered, and she met her gaze naturally.
Neither of them spoke.
It seemed as though words were not needed.
Yan Xi’s fingertips combed through Anzhi’s hair, stroking it slowly. When Anzhi was little and had nightmares, she needed her head stroked to fall asleep. As a result, this head-patting motion had become a habit for them both, something that could exist almost independent of any thought.
It was, without a doubt, a comforting gesture. Anzhi’s eyelids drooped.
From her higher vantage point, Yan Xi saw every little change in Anzhi’s expression. It was still the same. When she was little, this one gesture was enough to quickly make her drowsy, her eyelids fighting to stay open, just like a newborn kitten.
Yan Xi brushed her hair aside, revealing her snow-white, swan-like neck and her small ears. A faint light gathered in the eyes beneath Yan Xi’s thick, dark lashes.
In all the years Anzhi had been by her side, time had passed in a quiet stream, both slow and fast. In the blink of an eye, Anzhi had grown into such a beautiful young woman.
Yan Xi’s fingertips touched her neck. It was a delicate stretch of skin, almost translucent, and warm. Beneath it was her pulse, her steady heartbeat.
A sense of calm inexplicably settled over Yan Xi.
Her house was quite large. It had been carefully chosen and decorated by her parents, with four full floors and a rooftop terrace. Her parents had prepared it for the whole family. Now, only she and Anzhi lived here, and their daily activities were mostly confined to the first and second floors, which were filled with traces of their lives.
Yan Xi couldn’t dare to imagine it. This was her house, but if Anzhi weren’t in it, if she were all alone… what a terrifying thought that was. Perhaps, if Anzhi hadn’t been here, someone else might have entered her life over the years. But that was a hypothetical. The girl in her arms right now was real.
Why should she doubt herself? Why should she feel lost? Maybe in the future, she would love someone. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she would continue on, alone like this. But she couldn’t convince herself to accept something forced. At the very least, at this moment, she wasn’t alone. Anzhi was here. The girl in her arms was here.
At that moment, no one spoke. The night was deep and still, and a faint fragrance drifted in the air. Anzhi stirred, rubbing her eyes. She looked up and met Yan Xi’s gaze.
“Go on to bed. You’re sleepy.”
Yan Xi pushed her into a sitting position. Anzhi stood up, slightly dazed, her mind a tangled knot. Seeing her adorably befuddled expression, Yan Xi chuckled and pinched her cheek.
Anzhi blinked. Only then did it feel like the old Yan Xi was back, a gentle smile on her lips, looking at her with an almost doting gaze.
Doting…
The word flashed through Anzhi’s mind, making her blush.
Seeing her stand there for a long moment without moving, her face inexplicably turning red, Yan Xi blurted out a joke. “Why aren’t you going to bed? Still want to kiss me?”
Anzhi’s face instantly caught fire. She hadn’t expected Yan Xi to say something like that at all; she was practically dumbstruck. Something surged through her blood; something was breaking through the soil, growing strong and vigorous. The young Anzhi had no idea how to handle it. She just stood there, stunned, her face burning, but her eyes were sparkling, filled with a nascent flame as she stared straight at Yan Xi.
That kind of gaze…
Yan Xi froze, a beat too late. She vaguely felt that something was off about what she’d just said, but it was a fuzzy feeling. Before she could pinpoint what was wrong, Anzhi had already turned and run back to her room with a thump-thump-thump, slamming the door shut with a snap.
Yan Xi was completely bewildered.
She stood there for a few seconds, her mind blank. She gathered the empty pull-tab can she’d finished, confirming that she hadn’t had too much to drink. Maybe the joke she’d just made was in poor taste?
Kiss me again?
Yan Xi suddenly reached up and touched her own cheek.
The moment Anzhi shut the door, she threw herself onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, wanting to scream. The voice in her head grew stronger, and the sound of her heartbeat grew louder. It was the first time she had ever felt this way, an overwhelming, all-consuming craving.
That night, Anzhi lay awake for a long time, her soul trembling with the realization of what was in her heart. Helpless, she hugged the plush doll in her arms and gently gave it a kiss.
As a result, she barely slept all night and went to class the next day with dark circles under her eyes. She spent the entire morning in a daze, oblivious to her surroundings.
Someone poked her in the back. Anzhi yelped in surprise and turned around. A head of black hair came into view.
Huh?
Why would Xu Jia’er bear to dye her hair back?
An arrogant smile played on the other girl’s lips. “How’s it look?”
How does what look?
“Cool, right?”
Anzhi pursed her lips. With a face that attractive, any hair color would look good. Black, however, gave her a more restrained, scholarly elegance. But Anzhi wasn’t about to tell her that.
“Little Class Monitor, we have a deal. We’ll settle things on the monthly exam.”
Anzhi said, confused, “But you already dyed your hair back.”
Xu Jia’er touched her own hair. “…Oh, right.”
Anzhi couldn’t help but smile. The girl was actually a bit of a dork.
“In that case, if you lose, you have to agree to one condition of mine.”
“…Why should I?”
“Little Class Monitor, I dyed it back for your sake. It was a lot of trouble, I had to get it bleached and dyed again. My scalp still hurts.” Xu Jia’er watched her, an unreadable smile on her face. “You’re not that heartless, are you?”
“…” Anzhi stared at her.
“Though I have a very good chance of winning…”
“Fine, it’s a bet,” Anzhi said, puffing out her cheeks.
They hadn’t been speaking quietly, and the surrounding students heard everything. They cast curious glances their way, then began to secretly guess who to root for.
On the day the monthly exam results were released, many students in the Experimental Class listened intently as the teachers read out the scores, noting down the results for each subject. Only, they weren’t recording their own scores, but those of their two class monitors.
Language Arts. The Little Class Monitor won by two points. Round one to her.
English. The Vice Monitor won by three points. A temporary draw.
Math. Both got full marks. A tie.
Chemistry. The Little Class Monitor won by one point. Another round to her.
Physics. The Vice Monitor won by one point. Another tie.
…Wait, were they calculating the total score or by individual subject? Was it a single-round victory or best two out of three?
Thus, the battle for rankings between the Class Monitor and Vice Monitor officially began. The students of the Experimental Class thought it would just be for this one monthly exam, but they had no idea it would continue for every single test, big or small, during the first semester of their first year. Eventually, even the subject teachers knew about it, and after every exam, they would even joke, “So, which class monitor won this time?”
On a Friday afternoon after the monthly exam, the homeroom teacher held a parent-teacher conference.
In the autumn dusk, on the basketball court between the classroom building and the school gate, Xu Jia’er was playing basketball. The boys in the Experimental Class were too bookish, so after school, she would join the school team to play with them. She caught a pass from a teammate, raised the ball over her head, and surveyed the court. Making a split-second decision, she dribbled with agile footwork, broke through the defense, and leaped nimbly into the air. With a powerful throw of her arm, she slammed the ball in, and it swished perfectly through the net.
Her figure was slender and straight, her hair flying, her androgynous good looks on full display. After making the shot, she stuck out her tongue, looking both playful and cute.
A crowd of girls on the sidelines shrieked.
At the Affiliated High School of the University of Science and Technology, Xu Jia’er was a girl more popular with other girls than any boy.
Her eyes caught sight of Anzhi standing in a nearby corridor. She brushed off a few girls who had come up to talk to her.
She walked over. “Little Class Monitor.”
Anzhi looked at her helplessly. “Go on, say it. What do you want me to do?”
Xu Jia’er gave a half-smile. “Not convinced you lost?”
Anzhi bit her lip, her back ramrod straight.
“Give me your WeChat, Little Class Monitor.”
Anzhi glanced at her but said nothing.
“You seem particularly resistant to me, Little Class Monitor…” Xu Jia’er stared at her. “Why? I think we’re the same kind of person.”
“What do you mean, ‘same kind of person’?”
The smile never left Xu Jia’er’s face, but her tone slowly drew out. “You like girls too, don’t you, Little Class Monitor?”
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