The Hand of Confession – Chapter 185

Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab

Give Me a Chance?

“Lou-jie, do you like me too?”

Shen Maomao: “…Oh, thanks so much.”¹

Lou Jingmo cleared her throat twice. “Ahem, let’s get back to the matter at hand.”

“Golden Retriever is so loaded, I’ll definitely keep power-leveling for him. It’s unrealistic to say you have zero feelings after spending so much time with him. Right now, your biggest headache is probably how to stay on good terms with him after rejecting him…” She transformed into a relationship guru and started brainwashing her… no, wait, started helping her sort out this tangled mess.

Shen Maomao nodded furiously. “Yes, yes, yes, exactly! Master Lou, what should I do next?”

Lou “Master” Jingmo: “What master? I haven’t really dated much either. Everything I’m telling you now is just based on years of experience writing novels. His liking you is just your guess; he hasn’t said it explicitly, so you can’t reject him outright. Therefore, the best solution right now is for you to find someone, pretend to be with them, make him give up hope, bury this secret crush deep down, and never mention it again.”

Shen Maomao practically wanted to applaud her. “Goddess, you’re amazing! Let me guess, there’s no one else around me right now… so the best person to pretend with is you, right?”

Lou Jingmo fell into an awkward silence, only speaking after a long pause. “That’s not what I meant. You can find one of your friends.”

“Lou-jie…” Shen Maomao said faintly, “You’re kind of talkative today…”

Lou Jingmo pressed her lips together.

Shen Maomao asked again, “Lou-jie, do you like me too?”

Lou Jingmo: “…”

Shen Maomao watched her quietly, not even blinking, desperate to read an answer on her face.

Unfortunately, Lou Jingmo remained expressionless and didn’t answer her question, merely saying, “I’ve just hit a bottleneck² writing romance scenes, and you happen to be a ready-made case study right here, so I came over to observe.”

Many images floated through Shen Maomao’s mind—Lou Jingmo holding her, stroking her head, shielding her from behind…

Her ears were filled with a deafening thump-thump sound. It took her a moment to realize the organ making the noise was her own heart.

At this moment, she felt a bit fortunate again—fortunate that only she could hear this sound right now, allowing her to keep a poker face, steady as an old dog³.

She thought Lou Jingmo liked her, but Lou Jingmo refused to admit it. So, what about her? Did she like Lou Jingmo? Was she gay? Straight-girl Shen Maomao began contemplating her own sexual orientation for the first time. She was probably straight; the fluttering heart she felt for her high school crush, that upperclassman, was definitely real. But now, her heart was pounding for Lou Jingmo, and that was real too.

Seeing her spaced out for so long, Lou Jingmo couldn’t help asking, “What are you thinking about? What do you plan to do about this situation?”

Lou Jingmo’s voice was like a sudden blow, jolting her to her senses⁴. As if having decided something, Shen Maomao felt a warmth spread in her chest and couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Um… Lou-jie? Give me a chance?”

Lou Jingmo looked at the sink, looked at the vegetables, looked at the pot—looked anywhere but at her—and said drily, “What chance?”

Shen Maomao stammered, “It’s… um… that… that we pretend to be a couple, to nip Golden Retriever’s feelings in the bud, you know? How about it?”

Lou Jingmo: “Aren’t you straight?”

Shen Maomao said shyly, “Maybe… maybe not that straight… Besides, whether I’m straight or gay is just up to me to say, isn’t it?”

The two looked at each other, neither speaking again. The atmosphere was a tiny bit strange, yet tinged with a certain ambiguity.

The sink filled with water, spilling splash, splash onto the floor. Both were startled awake, and Lou Jingmo quickly reached back and turned off the faucet.

Shen Maomao: “Um… wash the vegetables together?”

Lou Jingmo also relaxed a little. She curved her lips into a smile and picked up a bunch of glistening, green bok choy. “How do you want to do this? Or should I take over?”

Shen Maomao was a bit surprised. “You know how to cook?”

Lou Jingmo: “What’s so surprising about that?”

“I thought fairies⁵ like you lived on dew.” Shen Maomao’s rainbow farts⁶ flowed freely as she reached out to wash the vegetable leaves with her. Inevitably, their fingers bumped again, making both of them blush.

Lou Jingmo said, “Alright, let me do it. You can assist me from the side, save us from burning the pot.”

Shen Maomao: “…” If this doesn’t work out, we should just break up. Who did Lou Jingmo learn this from? Her skill at bringing up sore subjects was really something.

Still, since Lou Jingmo was willing to take the initiative to cook, she was happy to sit back and enjoy the results. So she moved away from the stove, helping by peeling a green onion or handing over seasonings.

Lou Jingmo put on an apron, placed the wok on the induction cooker, and started stir-frying.

With a Tsssss— sound, water met oil, sending up clouds of white steam that were immediately sucked away by the exhaust fan. The aroma of oil and vegetables mingled together, creating the most authentic scent of worldly life⁷.

Shen Maomao was almost lost in the rhythm of Lou Jingmo’s cooking. She watched her wield the spatula, toss the wok, watched the spatula dance in the pan, watched those fair hands and slender wrists…

Dish after dish, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, was placed on the counter. The rice cooker automatically switched off. A delicious dinner was made just like that.

Lou Jingmo put down the spatula and ordered Shen Maomao around, “Go, order some takeout.”

Shen Maomao: “? Why? Isn’t that totally unnecessary?”

“The food wasn’t made for him.” Lou Jingmo ran water to wash the wok, her gaze reluctant to leave it for even a second, as if there were still some peerless delicacy inside.

Shen Maomao felt a bit flustered and couldn’t help lowering her head to open a food delivery app. She found a nearby place and ordered a few dishes, then looked at Lou Jingmo in the kitchen, both at a loss.

The two leaned side-by-side against the edge of the counter. From here, they could see the night sky beyond the balcony, a few stars hanging high, twinkling playfully.

Her restless heart inexplicably calmed down again. She almost enjoyed this quiet moment alone together.

No monsters, no evil spirits, no scheming players—just two women smelling faintly of cooked vegetables, cautiously extending a feeler towards each other under the night sky, testing the other’s reaction.

Real-world life was just this ordinary, and also so satisfying.

Time flew by like this, and neither suggested leaving.

Shen Maomao rested her head on Lou Jingmo’s shoulder. Lou Jingmo’s body stiffened, but she didn’t push her away.

Her right hand was itching to move. It lifted bit by bit, hesitating again and again, constantly conflicted, before finally landing gently on Shen Maomao’s shoulder, as stealthily as a thief.

The next second, the sliding door was yanked open forcefully. Golden Retriever appeared at the doorway, holding a stack of takeout containers. “Who else ordered takeout… You guys…?”

The two sprang apart as if electrocuted. Shen Maomao’s cheeks flushed red as she stepped forward to take the takeout from his hands, explaining, “It was taking too long for just us to cook, so I ordered a little extra. We can make do.”

Golden Retriever pressed his lips together and asked tentatively, “You two just now…”

Shen Maomao felt like steam was coming off her face, completely forgetting the agreement they’d just made. “Nothing! Absolutely nothing! We just have socialist sisterly affection! Totally!”

Lou Jingmo: “…” Since when does ‘socialist sisterly affection’ make you blush like this when someone sees you leaning on each other?

Golden Retriever could also see her clumsy attempt to cover things up. The light in his eyes dimmed for an instant, then he burst out laughing. “Hahahaha, I get it! You’re good socialist sisters! It’s totally normal for sisters to put arms around each other’s shoulders. I wasn’t overthinking it, so you don’t need to either.”

Shen Maomao nearly exploded.

Golden Retriever smiled. “I’ll go out and keep Xixi company. Just shout if you need us to carry dishes.”

Lou Jingmo put her arm around Shen Maomao’s shoulder, subtly declaring sovereignty, and replied, “It’s fine, we don’t need you.”

Golden Retriever nodded and thoughtfully pulled the door closed for them.

Shen Maomao’s face was stiff from smiling. As soon as Golden Retriever left, her smile vanished instantly. She gave Lou Jingmo a sidelong, faint glance. “Okay, you can let go of my shoulder now.”

Lou Jingmo readily complied, proactively emptying the takeout containers onto plates, which made it look less shabby.

Meanwhile, Shen Maomao, blushing, went to scoop the rice. She filled four bowls in total, then slid open the door and carried three bowls towards the dining room.

Lou Jingmo followed close behind.

Xixi and Golden Retriever came over wanting to help, but Shen Maomao, afraid they would take the dishes Lou Jingmo had cooked for her… ahem… for her, and put them in front of themselves, shooed them away directly.

A pile of dishes was placed on the table. The four sat down and began to eat.

Shen Maomao focused intently on the few dishes Lou Jingmo had cooked. When Golden Retriever reached out with his chopsticks to take some, she shot him a glare, and he immediately retracted his hand.

Lou Jingmo picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks, meticulously removed the bones, and placed it in Shen Maomao’s bowl.

Shen Maomao was so embarrassed she almost buried her head in her bowl.

Xixi watched for a moment, then had a sudden realization. He climbed onto his stool and also picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks for Golden Retriever, but being clumsy, he dropped it onto Golden Retriever’s clothes.

“Xu—Jian—xi⁸!” Golden Retriever shot up, furious, raising his hand as if to hit him.

Shen Maomao quickly hugged Xixi, saying, “What are you doing? What are you doing? Are you someone who can’t afford one piece of clothing? Xixi was just trying to be nice and get food for you, why are you yelling at him?”

Xixi poked his head out from her embrace. “I didn’t do it on purpose! I just saw you looked pitiful all alone with no one getting food for you! Why are you being so stingy, Little Uncle!”

Golden Retriever’s eyes widened, furious enough to make his hair stand on end, but as he glared, his eyes reddened. He abruptly turned his head and left the dining room.

Xixi was stunned and quickly called out, “Little Uncle!”

Golden Retriever left through the door without looking back.

Xixi started crying loudly, struggling to chase after Golden Retriever. “Waaah QAQ! Little Uncle doesn’t want me anymore! I was wrong, wuwuwu, I’ll never do it again!! Little Uncle, come back!”

Shen Maomao’s heart ached. She hugged him, placed him on the sofa, and comforted him, “Little Uncle doesn’t not want you! Your Little Uncle was afraid he couldn’t stop himself from hitting you, so he went out to get some air.”

Tears still hung on Xixi’s eyelashes. Hearing this, he couldn’t help looking at her. “Really?”

Shen Maomao nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll go find your Little Uncle right now, I guarantee I’ll bring him back safe and sound!”

Just as Shen Maomao was about to get up, Lou Jingmo walked over and said, “You watch Xixi. I’ll go. It’s not appropriate for you to go.”

She froze, instinctively turning her head to look at Lou Jingmo.

However, Lou Jingmo was already heading towards the door, putting on her shoes, opening the door, and chasing after him.

---

---