Did Something Strange Happen Between Us?
“Yu… Yu Xi???” Yuan Yue blurted out.
Yuan Xi hadn’t expected such a big reaction from her. “Yes, that’s the name. It’s a woman. Isn’t she your neighbor? Her voice is quite pleasant.”
Yuan Yue was stunned, unable to figure out why it would be Yu Xi.
But on second thought, she seemed to understand. Yu Xi’s car was identical to Yuan Xi’s. Last night, in the hazy darkness, she had only seen the model of the car and hadn’t paid attention to the license plate. Plus, the door had opened so easily at the time, which made her certain it was Yuan Xi’s car. She never would have thought—while she could be absolutely sure she had gotten into a silver BMW, and she had assumed it was Yuan Xi’s car—now that she thought about it carefully, Yu Xi’s car was exactly the same as Yuan Xi’s. She had muddleheadedly gotten into Yu Xi’s car!
“I was just about to ask you, I was wondering. Didn’t Xiao Min and Xiao Mei help you into Xiao Yuan’s car last night? How did it end up being your neighbor? Where did this neighbor pop up from? I’ve never heard you mention her before,” Yuan Xi asked, voicing his confusion.
Yuan Yue was even more confused than he was. She rubbed her sore temples and said in a stuffy voice, “I don’t know what happened either.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I don’t know means I don’t know.”
Yuan Xi heard the impatience in her voice, and his own tone changed slightly. He quickly changed the subject, asking her, “Did you catch a cold?”
“Mhm,” Yuan Yue responded with a congested nasal sound.
“How did you suddenly catch a cold?”
Yuan Yue was getting annoyed with his questions. “How should I know? Maybe I caught a chill last night.”
Yuan Xi doted on his only younger sister and had always been completely indulgent with her. Hearing that Yuan Yue was sick, he said considerately, “If you have a cold, just rest well at home. Drink some hot water and take some medicine. I’ll come see you later after I’m done with work.”
Yuan Yue replied with a “Got it,” and ended the call, sliding out of bed.
When she stood naked before the full-length mirror, she was once again startled by the red marks on her body that looked like kiss marks. She wasn’t as worried or scared as she had been moments ago; it was more confusion and an ineffable sense of shame.
If everything Yuan Xi said was true, it meant she had indeed seen Yu Xi last night, which would explain that absurd spring dream1.
But if it really was just a spring dream, why were there so many suspicious marks on her body?
Could it be that she was so overcome with desire that she made them herself?
On her neck, her chest, her lower abdomen, and even the inside of her thighs?
How! Could! That! Be! Possible!
Her body carried the fresh scent of having been bathed. Who had helped her shower? And who had stripped all her clothes off?
Could it be…
Yu Xi did all of this???
The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, and the more ashamed she felt. Yuan Yue’s heart pounded wildly, and her entire body flushed red. She covered her eyes, not daring to look anymore, and hastily found a set of clothes to put on.
The pain of a hangover was indescribable. After getting dressed, Yuan Yue went to find some water to drink. When she got to the water dispenser and saw two items placed on top of it, she froze.
A thermometer and a box of fever medicine. She had been wanting to return them to Yu Xi but could never find the chance.
Taking the two items in her hands, Yuan Yue looked at them again and again, took a deep breath, and, forgetting about drinking water, headed for the front door with her head still throbbing.
She turned left out the door and raised her hand to ring the doorbell without the slightest hesitation.
In the interval while waiting for the door to open, Yuan Yue’s heart began to race again. It felt as though she could hear it beating like a drum inside her chest, making her feel flustered.
Forget it, this probably isn’t a good time to meet.
Her heart beat the retreat drum2. Yuan Yue lowered her head and turned to leave, but the door in front of her swung open. It was too late to run.
What was coming would have to be faced sooner or later.
Yuan Yue let out a heavy breath and, almost in slow motion, raised her head to meet Yu Xi’s eyes. “…”
Seeing the person standing outside, Yu Xi showed no surprise at all.
It seemed that every time they met, Yuan Yue’s impression on her wasn’t perfect. She was either dressed casually, disheveled, or in a wretched state like last night.
Her gaze swept over Yuan Yue’s pale face and messy hair. Yu Xi guessed she probably hadn’t washed up.
This woman really is careless, Yu Xi couldn’t help but laugh to herself.
Coming to find me so early in the morning, is it about last night?
How much does she remember?
When she noticed that Yuan Yue hadn’t even covered the red marks on her neck, the color of Yu Xi’s sea-blue eyes deepened. She raised an eyebrow and said in a cool, emotionless voice, “Morning.”
“Ah, morn-morning…” Yuan Yue even stammered through the simple greeting.
“Caught a cold?” The moment she spoke, Yu Xi heard that something was off.
“Yeah, a little cold,” Yuan Yue said sheepishly, her gaze flickering, not quite daring to look Yu Xi in the eye.
Yu Xi frowned.
After all the crying and fuss Yuan Yue had made last night, and with such a long bath, it would be a wonder if she didn’t catch a cold. But this was her own fault. She hadn’t chosen the right time or the right place. The two of them had fooled around in the bathtub until they were exhausted. When she carried her to bed, she hadn’t put any clothes on her so that she could sleep more comfortably.
She never thought she would do it with her until she made her sick…
Yu Xi was instantly filled with guilt. She took a step forward, studied her face carefully, and said in a voice so gentle she herself didn’t notice the change, “Need some cold medicine? I have some at home.”
How do you have every kind of medicine at your place… Yuan Yue slandered in her belly3, biting her lip and looking at her without a word.
Yu Xi turned to go back inside to get the cold medicine.
Yuan Yue quickly grabbed her arm. When Yu Xi looked over in confusion, she lowered her eyes, handed over the things in her hand, and said in a muffled voice, “I came to return your things. I’ve had them for a long time. I kept meaning to give them back, but you were never home.”
Yu Xi took the thermometer and fever medicine from her. Seeing her downcast eyes, she paused for a moment and explained, “I was out of town for a while.”
“Oh.” Yuan Yue nodded in understanding.
“But you should still take medicine if you have a cold. Wait for me a second.”
This time, Yuan Yue didn’t stop her. What was the point of being difficult when she was feeling unwell? She watched with longing eyes as Yu Xi went in and came back out, leaning weakly against the door.
When Yu Xi came out and saw her like this, she felt an inexplicable pang of pity and said apologetically, “My place has a strong smell from the renovations, that’s why I didn’t invite you in to sit.”
Yuan Yue hadn’t thought about that. She said in a plaintive tone, “I have a cold right now, so I can’t smell anything no matter how bad it is.”
Yu Xi paused, not knowing how to respond.
Yuan Yue had just said it casually and didn’t mean to blame her. Seeing the awkward look on Yu Xi’s face, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Um, I heard from my brother that you brought me home last night?”
Yu Xi’s eyelids twitched. She stuffed the medicine into Yuan Yue’s hand and let out a seemingly nonchalant “Mhm.”
Yuan Yue’s expression was not so relaxed. Her heart rate and breathing unconsciously quickened again. She secretly swallowed and cautiously got to the bottom of it. “Last night, I got into your car?”
Yu Xi raised her eyes to look at her, held her gaze for about five seconds, and then gave another faint “Mhm.”
Yuan Yue’s heart skipped a beat, and her palms began to sweat. Her voice was weak. “You brought me back, and after that?”
“After that?”
“I mean…”
“You can just say what you want to ask.” Yu Xi looked at her frankly, her deep-sea eyes holding a captivating charm.
Yuan Yue felt a bit overwhelmed and avoided her gaze, frequently licking her lips as she stammered, “I just wanted to ask you, last night… you and I… did something strange happen between us?”
Seeing how much effort it took for her to say it, Yu Xi didn’t rush her. She crossed her arms and, as if to deflect a thousand jin with four liang4, tossed the question back at her. “What strange thing did you hope would happen?”
A single sentence left Yuan Yue speechless. She couldn’t possibly say, I had a spring dream last night where you and I were hugging and kissing and even did that thing5, and when I woke up the next day, I found I wasn’t wearing anything and had all sorts of suspicious marks on my body…
The embarrassing question, “Did we do it last night,” was one Yuan Yue had been building up to for a long time. She gathered her courage and was just about to ask.
“Nothing happened,” Yu Xi said, cutting off her train of thought.
Yuan Yue was stunned, subconsciously repeating, “Nothing happened???”
“Mhm.”
“…”
Hearing this negative answer, Yuan Yue should have been happy, but she couldn’t bring herself to be. Was there even a tiny bit of regret?
How could nothing have happened? It was too strange.
Yu Xi had lied to her. Why lie? Because from Yuan Yue’s reaction, she had guessed that Yuan Yue had forgotten all the details of last night. Since she didn’t remember anything, why bring it up?
Yuan Yue was half-believing, half-doubting. She also felt her own question was a bit unreliable. After a moment of thought, Yu Xi decided to tell her something else. “It’s not that nothing happened. Last night, you kept telling me about your first love.”
“My first love???” Yu Xi’s casual sentence made Yuan Yue’s heart pound with anxiety again.
She had mentioned Sun Wenya6 last night? That couldn’t be. Six years had passed, she had let go a long time ago. In these six years, she had hardly even dreamed of Sun Wenya. How could she have remembered her just from drinking?
“What did I say about her?” Yuan Yue suspected she might have bad-mouthed Sun Wenya.
Yu Xi casually brushed back her long hair. Seeing her nervous look, she didn’t keep her in suspense and said slowly, “You said you were very grateful to her.”
“…Huh?”
Actually, the full story was this.
After they were finished, Yuan Yue was lying in bed. Yu Xi coaxed her to close her eyes, and just as she was about to leave, Yuan Yue’s phone, which had been left in the living room, rang.
The phone rang tirelessly for a long time. Yu Xi came out to see it was an unknown number and didn’t want to bother with it, but the person was persistent. Fearing it might be someone or something important, she answered it for Yuan Yue.
The person said her name was Sun Wenya and she was looking for Yuan Yue.
Yu Xi told the other party that Yuan Yue was drunk and already asleep, so it wasn’t convenient for her to take the call. Once Sun Wenya heard it wasn’t Yuan Yue herself, she didn’t want to say much more, and the call ended quickly.
Immediately after, Yuan Xi called, and Yu Xi handled that as well.
After the two calls, Yu Xi went back to the bedroom for one last look and was caught off guard to find Yuan Yue staring at her with wide eyes. She walked over slowly, stroked Yuan Yue’s head, and said, “Your brother just called you.”
Yuan Yue had no reaction.
“And someone named Sun Wenya.”
Hearing the name “Sun Wenya,” Yuan Yue’s eyes shifted, and she let out a noncommittal “Oh.”
Yu Xi thought she was sober now. “Sorry, I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I answered it for you.”
Yuan Yue ignored her words, her bright, dark eyes fixed on her as she suddenly blurted out, “She’s my ex-girlfriend.”
“Who?”
“Sun Wenya.”
“…”
After that, it was as if Yuan Yue’s floodgates had opened. She grabbed Yu Xi’s hand and, in a disjointed manner, told her the story of her and Sun Wenya—why they broke up, and how Sun Wenya had just gotten married and she had even gone to give a red envelope.
Yuan Yue’s thinking was a bit slow due to the alcohol, but her speech was clear, and Yu Xi managed to understand most of it.
“You still can’t forget her?” Yu Xi asked after hearing the story.
Yuan Yue shook her head without the slightest hesitation. “Forgot her long ago. I’ve almost forgotten what she looks like. Actually, I don’t hate her. I’m very grateful to her for being with me through four years of college.”
It was someone else’s story, so Yu Xi didn’t comment on it. She felt that Yuan Yue was tired from talking, so she removed her hand and said softly, “Sleep now. Good night.”
Yuan Yue obediently closed her eyes.
Yu Xi tucked her in again, closed the door, and left without a sound.
…
Actually, there was one more thing Yu Xi didn’t tell Yuan Yue.
Whether Yuan Yue had truly forgotten her past was something only Yuan Yue herself knew. But one thing was certain: Sun Wenya had not let go. Because before hanging up the phone, Sun Wenya had questioned her coldly, “Who are you, and what is your relationship with Yuan Yue? Why are you at her place in the middle of the night?”
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