Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 78
by Little PandaLP: This might also be another rough translation!
Want a Kiss
The moment the words left her lips, shame flooded Anzhi’s entire mind.
What did I just say? How could I have said something like that? What’s wrong with me?
Was that a subconscious attempt to test the waters?
Perhaps it was because she knew it was impossible between Yan Xi and that man, so a sliver of undeserved hope had taken root.
She felt abashed, expectant, and terrified all at once. She shot a quick glance at Yan Xi, not even daring to get a clear look at her expression.
Yan Xi said nothing. Her gaze fell on the girl’s fine, pale shoulders, where a few drops of water still lingered. Without thinking, her hand slid onto the girl’s shoulder, the droplets shattering against her fingertips.
Anzhi’s heart leaped into her throat at the touch. She felt like she should say something, but she didn’t know what. She wanted to study Yan Xi’s expression, but she didn’t have the courage. Why wasn’t Yan Xi speaking? How long had they been standing in the bathroom? Had it been a minute, or an hour?
Just as she was growing frantic with anxiety, Yan Xi spoke, her voice perfectly calm. “Mm, I should buy you some bras to wear. Go on out. I’ll clean up the bathroom.”
With that, Yan Xi turned away to clean the bathtub.
Anzhi stared at her for a moment, then walked back to her own room in a daze.
Wrapped in a bath towel, Anzhi sat blankly on her bed. Then she gave a self-deprecating laugh. She had been overthinking things. There hadn’t been any long, strange silence; it was all her own delusion.
Of course. Yan Xi didn’t like girls at all, so she wouldn’t react to a female body. Besides, Anzhi thought dejectedly, she probably still thinks of me as a five-year-old…
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry and get dressed.” Yan Xi came into the room. She had casually twisted her long, curly hair up, leaving it loose and slightly messy. It framed the beautiful contour of her profile, the tiny pearl on her earlobe shimmering softly in the light.
Yan Xi’s gentle, quiet elegance was a perfect match for her age. Even if she did like girls, she wouldn’t like someone like me…
Anzhi took a deep breath, pushing down the sour pang of hurt. She let the towel drop and picked up her nightgown, pulling it on over her head. It was a simple, short-sleeved dress of pure white washed cotton. She slid her left arm in. Her hair wasn’t completely dry, and her right hand was clumsy, so she was struggling to get it into the other sleeve. She fumbled with the garment, but the sight—the girl’s disheveled hair, her snow-white skin still dewy with moisture, the half-discarded bath towel in a shade of peach pink—her unripe peaches were timidly half-concealed.
Yan Xi’s gaze lingered a little too long. She loved photography but had never shot nudes. She found the scene incredibly picturesque.
True beauty is irrelevant to gender.
True love also transcends gender.
Her thoughts suddenly drifted—perhaps desire, too, doesn’t need to be constrained by gender…
Yan Xi snapped back to her senses and went over to help, carefully guiding Anzhi’s right arm into the sleeve. Once the nightgown was on, the towel slid to the floor. The dress was long, falling past Anzhi’s knees and revealing her two slender, fair calves.
Yan Xi took her hand, her brow furrowing. “Let’s take this gauze off. It got splashed just now.” The blistered skin on the back of Anzhi’s hand still hurt when she moved. Yan Xi sat down beside her, very close, and focused, very carefully peeling away the gauze strip by strip.
Anzhi stared, mesmerized by her concentrated expression.
She felt like she was being cherished in the palm of her hand.
It was so warm.
It was fine if she was still seen as a child.
She could be a little more greedy.
“There,” Yan Xi said, her brow still knitted in a way that, to Anzhi, looked like pure distress for her.
Anzhi pursed her lips into a smile and wiggled her still-damp feet. “My feet.”
She was wheedling, asking Yan Xi to dry them for her.
Yan Xi shot her a look. “You’re getting addicted to ordering me around!”
She gave Anzhi’s leg a light tap, then took the towel and began to dry her feet.
The girl’s feet were on the slender side, narrow and very white. They were a size smaller than Yan Xi’s. A size 351. Yan Xi remembered. She remembered the dates of Anzhi’s period, her clothing sizes, her shoe size.
Her thoughts paused. She would probably have to remember her bra size now, too, since she needed to buy some.
Anzhi laughed. “That tickles.” She curled her feet back, then took a pair of cotton panties and slipped her legs into them, pulling them up with her left hand. The hem of her nightgown rode up, exposing a small stretch of thigh that looked as if it had been soaked in milk.
Without a second thought, Yan Xi’s hand slid under the dress, following the line of her leg until she found the cotton fabric and pulled it up, her fingers brushing against skin as smooth and supple as pudding.
The curve of the girl’s bottom and her slender waist.
Anzhi’s reaction was a beat slow. With a startled “Ooh,” she flinched back, staring at Yan Xi with a blush staining both cheeks.
Only then did Yan Xi realize how inappropriate her action was. She looked down. Her hand was still inside the girl’s dress. A hot flush crept up her face, and she quickly pulled her hand back.
Thank god I’m not a man, or I’d be one of those sleazy old perverts who sticks his hand up a young girl’s skirt.
But in Anzhi’s eyes, would she see her as a sleazy old woman…?
No, no, that’s impossible. Anzhi must see me as an elder.
But Yan Xi didn’t like the term “elder.” It made her sound so old.
What was the right thing to say in this situation?
Yan Xi was vexed.
The girl pressed her knees together, her face bright red, and broke the silence. “Auntie, can you dry my hair…”
The sound of the hair dryer filled the room as Yan Xi dried her hair with slow, gentle movements.
Anzhi’s heart felt a little sour, a little sweet.
Yan Xi doted on her, pampering her like a little girl. But she probably felt that now that Anzhi was older, she had to be mindful of boundaries, especially since Anzhi had confessed to liking girls.
She was likely even more guarded now.
In that moment, Anzhi wished she could go back to her childhood, to a time when she knew nothing and could just grow up by Yan Xi’s side.
“Are you going to grow your hair out?” Yan Xi asked her.
Anzhi smiled. “Like yours?”
“Mm…” Yan Xi ruffled her hair. “If you grow it long, do you want to get it permed? Your hair is quite fine, so it’s hard to style, but… it would probably look very nice long.”
“I haven’t thought about it…” Anzhi didn’t get to finish her sentence before Yan Xi’s fingers once again grazed the base of her ear and the nape of her neck. Anzhi shrank back as if she’d been zapped by electricity, her ears instantly burning hot.
And it seemed Yan Xi knew it, because she immediately pulled her hand back.
A few seconds passed. “I’ll take the towel out,” Yan Xi said. She gathered it up and left.
Anzhi covered her face. Now Yan Xi definitely thinks it’s weird. She grabbed her ears. You two are so useless, turning red so easily!
She fell backward onto the bed, her face beet red. It would have been better if things were like when she was little, or even just a short while ago, when Yan Xi could still stroke her hair to soothe her to sleep.
Not anymore. It was too easy for her to give herself away. The discipline she’d built up over summer vacation—forcing herself not to see Yan Xi, not to call her—had instantly crumbled2.
She subconsciously poked at her fingers, accidentally prodding the back of her hand and letting out a soft “Oof.”
She lay on her back, staring into space for a long while.
Haunted by the thought, Am I really a sleazy old woman?, Yan Xi finished her shower and her basic skincare routine, feeling conflicted. After some thought, she walked to Anzhi’s room. “Are you going to sleep?”
“Not yet.” Anzhi sat up.
“How’s the review for the finals going?” Yan Xi’s long hair was all down, freshly washed, and a floral fragrance wafted over as she approached. She sat on the edge of the bed and ran a hand through it.
Anzhi had successfully passed the preliminary round a few days ago with a very good ranking. “It’s going okay.”
“I’ve requested a week’s leave for you. Why don’t you go back to school once you’re a bit better? Can you review from home?”
Anzhi blinked her long lashes. “No problem.” When it came to academics, her little face was full of confidence, making her eyes sparkle. It was incredibly cute. Yan Xi smiled and gave her cheek a light pinch. Anzhi’s dimples sank deep, and for a moment, Yan Xi had the sudden impulse to poke them.
Stop! Or you’ll really turn into a sleazy old woman!
“Then get some sleep.” Yan Xi smoothly retracted her fingers and was about to stand up.
Anzhi caught her sleeve. “Auntie, can you sleep with me tonight?”
“Are you afraid of the thunder?” Yan Xi asked with a smile. Outside, thunder rumbled faintly, and the rain was pouring down.
“Yeah.” Anzhi nodded with a hint of shyness. In truth, she wasn’t that scared. She just wanted to be coddled, like when she was little. Only by acting like a child would Yan Xi let her guard down.
“I can’t. I might press on your hand,” Yan Xi said, shaking her head. She smiled at her. “I can stay with you for a little while.”
“Okay,” Anzhi said with a pout.
“Settle in. I’ll put some more ointment on for you.”
Anzhi obediently snuggled under the covers, unable to stop smiling as she watched Yan Xi carefully apply the ointment with a cotton swab and then wipe away the excess at the edges with a tissue.
“Alright, any other orders?” Yan Xi finished up, washed her hands, and asked with a grin.
“Nope.” Anzhi lay there, smiling up at her. From this angle, Yan Xi’s face was smooth and radiant, her nose high and straight, her eyes full of mirth.
“Auntie, you’re so good to me.”
Someone as wonderful as Yan Xi will have other, better people, even without Liao Chengyu. In the end, she’ll never belong to me.
At least, for this one moment, she could still act spoiled with her.
Anzhi’s smile faded slightly, her eyes dimming.
“As long as you know it,” Yan Xi said, ruffling her hair. “If there’s nothing else, go to sleep.”
Anzhi quietly bit her lip and tugged on her sleeve again. “Auntie… I want a kiss.”
She had never made such a request before. Yan Xi was a bit stunned and didn’t react right away. “Huh? What…”
Anzhi blushed and quickly tried to cover her tracks. “You used to kiss me when I was little. A kiss like when I was little…”
Yan Xi searched her memory, confused. “Did I? Really?” She wasn’t someone who liked to kiss children. She had never kissed Da Pang or Xiao Pang, nor the toddler Junjun. Had she really kissed Anzhi?
No matter the form, Yan Xi took kissing very seriously. She wouldn’t easily initiate it. She could accept affection from others, but she just wasn’t used to being the one to start it.
“You did! You did!” Anzhi insisted hastily.
This was the time to act like an unreasonable, tantrum-throwing child. Maybe then Yan Xi would agree.
Yan Xi put a hand to her forehead. Anzhi was pouting, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears as she looked at her. “I can’t?”
“…Er.” Yan Xi didn’t know what to do, feeling terribly awkward.
“Then forget it.” Anzhi grabbed the quilt with her left hand and pulled it over herself. “Sob, sob, sob, my hand hurts so much. Boohoo, it’s going to leave a scar, sob, sob, sob…” She kept her eyes open. She had meant to fake-cry, but somehow, real tears welled up.
She sniffled, feeling like she was about to start crying for real.
Suddenly, the quilt was gently pulled away. Yan Xi’s face appeared in her line of sight, angled down and so beautiful it seemed to be bathed in a soft light. Her thick lashes trembled slightly as her gaze swept over Anzhi’s face, inch by inch.
She seemed to be considering where to kiss her.
Anzhi didn’t dare even blink her eyelashes. She seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
Her heart throbbed with a series of shuddering beats.
Those few seconds felt as long as a century, yet so short they might never have happened.
Yan Xi’s kiss landed gently on her forehead.
It was over in an instant. Anzhi’s left hand, which had reached out to grab her clothes, met only empty air.
And in that instant, she had subconsciously closed her eyes, so she couldn’t see Yan Xi’s expression.
When she opened them, Yan Xi had already straightened up, looking down at her with bright, gentle eyes.
“Can you sleep now?” Yan Xi poked her dimple.
Anzhi pursed her lips into a grin, staring at her without blinking, as if she wanted to say something.
A smile played on Yan Xi’s lips. She propped herself up with one hand, her long, curly hair tumbling down onto the quilt. A certain enchanting aura surrounded them.
Without thinking, she blurted out, “Hm? Or do you want a few more?”
The words hung in the air. Anzhi’s eyes went wide.
After two seconds, Yan Xi nonchalantly stood up. “Alright, get some sleep.” As if nothing had happened, she left a wall lamp on, didn’t look at the girl who was still in a state of shock, and softly closed the door behind her. She walked through the living room and back to her own room.
The door clicked shut. Yan Xi covered her eyes, murmuring in something close to a sigh, “Ah, sleazy. I’m so, so sleazy…”
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