Kiss
Heart flattering
Jian Qing shook her head and said calmly, “We’ll listen to it when we get back.”
“Oh.” Lu Yinxi swallowed down all the words she wanted to say, restrained her smile, and gave a light hum, “By the time we get back, I might not want to say it anymore.”
The desire to confide has a time limit.
“Then say it when you feel like it in the future.”
They still had plenty of time.
When they reached the snack section, Jian Qing was picking and choosing from the shelf full of potato chips.
Lu Yinxi looked down at the shopping cart: cucumber flavor, tomato flavor, barbecue flavor… The cart was stuffed with over a dozen bags of chips.
When she lifted her head again, Lu Yinxi had regained her bright smile, her eyes curved into crescents: “Although you’ve ruined my diet and workout plan, this kind of behavior—” she pointed at the various chips, “is still very commendable.”
Jian Qing’s gaze lingered on Lu Yinxi’s face for three seconds, then she pulled the shopping cart over to the fruit section to pick out the oranges that Lu Yinxi liked.
Passing by the grains section again, Lu Yinxi tugged at Jian Qing’s sleeve to stop her.
Jian Qing looked at Lu Yinxi, then at the shelves filled with rice, mung beans, and red dates, and asked, “What do you want to buy?”
Lu Yinxi didn’t answer. She looked around and, seeing no supermarket staff nearby, grabbed Jian Qing’s left hand and pressed it into the pile of green mung beans, scooping and burying it.
“Doesn’t it feel nice? Cool and refreshing? Every time I go to the supermarket, I like to stick my hand in and feel it. It’s comforting and stress-relieving.”
Jian Qing pulled out her hand, buried it back again, repeated the action several times, then expressionlessly pulled her hand out and wiped the dust off on Lu Yinxi’s shoulder: “Childish, only kids like to play like this.”
But weren’t you enjoying it just now?
Lu Yinxi hummed softly in Jian Qing’s ear, kindly not exposing her, and then amused herself by feeling the beans a couple of times before pulling her hand out and continuing to follow behind her.
The shopping cart was already crammed full. Jian Qing asked, “Later, do you want to eat hot pot or barbecue?”
Lu Yinxi responded, puzzled, “Didn’t I say I’d make you a vegetable salad?”
Back at the barbecue restaurant, Jian Qing’s plate had been clean, with barely any food eaten.
She seemed unable to handle those spicy and stimulating foods, so Lu Yinxi wanted to make her something light.
“You make the salad, I’ll cook the hot pot or barbecue. It’s not a conflict.”
Someone loves those heavy flavors.
Lu Yinxi lightly responded with a hint of excitement in her voice, “Then let’s barbecue on the balcony.”
After leaving the checkout counter, each of them carried two large bags of groceries. Jian Qing walked to the service desk, filled out the phone number and address, and left the groceries there to be delivered to the apartment by a special service.
They had both been drinking, so they didn’t drive and instead walked back slowly on the street.
Today, Jian Qing was wearing a black coat with a pure black sweater underneath. Her all-black, sharp outfit made her skin appear extremely fair, like the pristine white snow on a branch, cold yet dazzling.
As the cold wind hit their faces, Lu Yinxi, who had just come out from the warm supermarket, felt a bit uncomfortable and rubbed her arms, “It’s so cold.”
Jian Qing nodded indifferently, “It is a bit cold.”
Lu Yinxi glanced at Jian Qing a few times.
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Jian Qing looked back, “Why do you keep looking at me instead of watching the road?”
Lu Yinxi shook her head slightly, half-smiling, half-sighing, “You must have never watched idol dramas. Usually, at this moment, one person takes off their clothes to cover the person who says they’re cold.”
Jian Qing tightened her collar expressionlessly, “If I give you my clothes, what will I do if I catch a cold?”
She couldn’t catch a cold, as she needed to interact with many lung cancer patients with weakened immune systems.
Lu Yinxi clicked her tongue.
She had seen all kinds of people indulging in the pleasures of fame and fortune, both men and women, who flirted and played along effortlessly. She had never seen someone so out of sync.
Unexpectedly, in the next second, Jian Qing pulled her into a beverage shop, ordered a cup of piping hot jujube milk tea, and handed it to her to warm her hands.
The scent of jujube and milk floated to her nose. Lu Yinxi held the milk tea, silent for a moment. One by one, she grabbed Jian Qing’s hands, placed them on the outside of the hot drink cup, and then covered them with her own hands, the warm palms pressed tightly against her cold hands.
The two of them held the same cup of milk tea to warm their hands.
Jian Qing’s thin lips moved, wanting to say “I’ll go buy another cup,” but the delicate fingers on the back of her hand suddenly began to gently caress, from the wrist joint, to the back of the hand, to the knuckles, and the fingertips, stroking back and forth.
Lu Yinxi felt the temperature of her palm rise rapidly and fixed her gaze on the cool face of the person in front of her.
Jian Qing and she exchanged a glance for a second, then quickly lowered her eyes and slightly shifted her gaze.
Her snow-white ears had somehow turned a shade of rouge, like red plum blossoms on a branch of thin snow, strikingly red.
Lu Yinxi’s gaze fell on Jian Qing’s earlobes.
She stared at the flushed earlobes for a few seconds and, inexplicably, her cheeks began to warm up, as if her entire being was bathed in warm water. Unconsciously, a strong sense of warmth and joy surged within her.
Wrapped in overwhelming joy, with people bustling around, Lu Yinxi looked at the person in front of her and felt a moment of daze, as if all she could hear was her own pounding heartbeat.
Only for a moment.
The next second, the noise and clamor returned to her ears. Lu Yinxi let go of her hands, patted her cheeks, and seemed to realize something, suddenly becoming a bit flustered.
“What’s wrong?” A warm hand covered the back of her head, gently rubbing it like petting a kitten.
Lu Yinxi lightly brushed away Jian Qing’s hand, quickly composed herself, turned her head, stared into her eyes, and smiled, “It’s nothing; it’s getting late. Let’s go home quickly.”
Jian Qing rarely cooked, but her kitchen was fully equipped with various appliances, from a microwave to an oven and even a barbecue grill.
Jian Qing was fiddling with the barbecue grill on the balcony, while Lu Yinxi turned on the TV to play some music and walked to the kitchen to make a simple vegetable salad.
After finishing, she grabbed a beer and sat down by the barbecue grill.
“There’s red wine in the wine cabinet.” Jian Qing would drink a bit of red wine before bed to help her sleep.
Lu Yinxi pulled open the beer can tab and placed it in front of Jian Qing: “You need beer with barbecue.”
Jian Qing lifted her drink, but Lu Yinxi stopped her and pushed the salad over: “Eat something first to buffer your stomach. Don’t drink on an empty stomach like today again.”
Jian Qing responded with an “Mm,” and lowered her head to eat the vegetables.
The meat on the barbecue grill sizzled, releasing a delicious aroma. Lu Yinxi put on transparent gloves, picked a few pieces of low-oil, low-salt grilled meat, wrapped them in lettuce leaves, and handed them to her.
Jian Qing accepted them.
Lu Yinxi propped her chin and watched her eat, experiencing the joy of feeding a small animal.
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“Why aren’t you eating?” Jian Qing finally noticed something was off.
After coming back from outside, Lu Yinxi would occasionally stare at her, her gaze unusually gentle.
“I just ate some food at the barbecue restaurant, so I’m not particularly hungry. You must be hungrier than me, so of course, I need to take care of you first.” Lu Yinxi averted her gaze, smiling as she opened a can of beer. “Are you sure you don’t have work tomorrow?”
“No,” Jian Qing clinked her glass with hers, “Let’s drink.”
After work, Jian Qing didn’t like to talk. In the beginning, when the two of them were together, silence was the norm. Now that they were more familiar with each other, most of the time it was Lu Yinxi talking, and Jian Qing quietly listening.
Tonight, Lu Yinxi shared interesting stories from the entertainment industry with her, talking about the custom of burning incense and praying to gods when starting a movie shoot, how newcomers would ask a feng shui master to calculate their birth elements and change their names, and how celebrities would chew more when eating to maintain a feeling of fullness.
(LP: “Calculate their birth elements and change their names”: Refers to the practice of using the Chinese Five Elements theory (Wu Xing) and Eight Characters (Ba Zi) to determine the most auspicious name for success and fortune.)
As she listened, Jian Qing started to feel tipsy. Her fair cheeks, rarely flushed, turned red, her ears filled with blood, completely reddened, and her deep, sharp gaze gradually lost focus.
Lu Yinxi put down her chopsticks: “You should go rest, I’ll clean up.”
“It’s almost 12 o’clock.” Jian Qing glanced at her phone, her eyes somewhat dazed, struggling to stay awake, “Leave it here, we’ll clean up tomorrow.”
Each of their bedrooms had a separate bathroom. Lu Yinxi quickly took a shower, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and walked to the living room, only to find that Jian Qing had already finished showering, her hair half-dried, and had fallen asleep on the sofa.
Her alcohol tolerance seemed quite low. When she stood up just now, her steps were still a bit unsteady, and the blush on her cheeks had not yet faded.
Lu Yinxi tiptoed to sit beside her and gently poked her cheek. “I can’t act out an idol drama scene; I can’t carry you…”
Not being able to princess-carry her to the bedroom, Lu Yinxi had no choice but to go to Jian Qing’s room and fetch a blanket and the starry sky lamp.
After covering her with the blanket, Lu Yinxi hesitated about whether to turn off the living room light and turn on the starry sky lamp for her.
She had given this lamp to her as a gift, but she didn’t know if Jian Qing was used to using it.
Maybe she should wait until she was sleeping more soundly before turning off the light.
Lu Yinxi placed the lamp beside her and sat next to her, quietly gazing at her face.
They say beauty lies in the bones, not the skin. Her bone structure was well-proportioned, and her skin was flawless: a full forehead, a straight nose bridge with a slightly upturned tip, a sharp jawline, complemented by cold fair skin, exuding an innate cool elegance. However, her eyes were too sharp, with long narrow slits and slightly upturned outer corners, giving off a hint of gloom when she was silent.
Cool and melancholic.
She looked unapproachable.
But in reality, she was quite easy to get along with.
Lu Yinxi extended her hand again, gently touching Jian Qing’s eyelashes.
When her eyes were closed, that hint of gloom would be hidden by her long lashes.
Lu Yinxi really liked her serene and gentle appearance when she was asleep, just like now. She could sit beside her quietly, counting her eyelashes, or, like a little animal, greedily sniffing the fresh fragrance of her body.
Smelling Jian Qing’s scent, she waited for a long time. After confirming that Jian Qing was deeply asleep, she turned on the starry sky lamp and turned off the incandescent light.
She was afraid that Jian Qing would suddenly wake up and not be used to the starlight, so she sat beside her, continuing to silently watch over her and look at her.
The living room was filled with bright starlight.
After a while, as if to confirm something, Lu Yinxi propped her left hand beside Jian Qing’s shoulder and slowly leaned down, getting closer bit by bit.
Closer, and closer.
She couldn’t get any closer, feeling the breath from her face brushing her cheek, as refreshing as thin snow.
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Her nose touched the warm and delicate skin of her cheek, and Lu Yinxi couldn’t help but close her eyes, letting her lips fall on the corner of her lips.
Soft, fragrant, intoxicating, heart-fluttering.
After a few seconds of contact, confirming the result, Lu Yinxi slowly propped herself up, feeling so sad she was about to cry.
Her heartbeat was still faster than usual, but her heart was filled with a mixture of emotions, a sense of suffocation and an overwhelming sadness.
She liked Jian Qing, from the first moment she saw her, she liked her so much that she didn’t dare to touch her.
She always thought that this liking was limited to admiration, just like appreciating a beautiful ink painting.
But now she realized that the heart-fluttering feeling when they were close was a different kind of emotion.
She had fallen for someone she shouldn’t have fallen for.
It felt as if her heart was torn in two, one half clearly telling her it was a losing gamble and not to step into it, while the other half disregarded all objections, watching herself sink deeper.
With extreme bitterness in her heart, Lu Yinxi wanted to pull away, but suddenly her waist tightened.
Jian Qing opened her eyes, her cold hand pressed against Lu Yinxi’s waist, their eyes meeting.
