Yu Lingshan’s car had long since disappeared to the ends of the universe, but Xu Shi still stood foolishly at the entrance to her complex, unmoving.
A sudden meow from the flowerbed finally brought Xu Shi back to her senses.
She looked in the direction of the sound, but it was empty. The cat had probably run off.
Even so, Xu Shi stared at the flowerbed for a good while before taking out her phone and sending Weiwei a message on WeChat.
Xu Shi: Help me
As she walked through the complex gates, Weiwei replied: ? What’s wrong?
Xu Shi: Free? Phone call
Weiwei: K
The next second, Xu Shi called her. Weiwei picked up quickly, but the drama queen’s first words were extremely cautious, spoken in a breathy whisper: “Wha~at’s~ wro~ong~?”
Xu Shi suddenly remembered that this person was no longer single. “Are you alone?”
Weiwei: “Yeah, I’m at home.”
Xu Shi said, “Oh,” then asked first, “How are things with you and your girlfriend?”
Weiwei laughed. “Just like that. What do you want to know? How far we’ve gone? We just did it yesterday.”
Xu Shi was speechless. “…That’s not what I was asking.”
Weiwei: “Hahahaha, so what’s up?”
“Huh?” Xu Shi was a bit slow on the uptake. “But haven’t you only been together for a short time? How could you already…”
Weiwei: “Can’t you do it if you’ve only been together a short time?”
“…No,” Xu Shi stammered. “Pretend I didn’t ask.”
Weiwei: “So? Why’d you call me? It can’t be to ask about my girlfriend and me, right?”
Xu Shi: “Of course not.”
Weiwei: “Then?”
Xu Shi: “Uh, it’s just…”
Weiwei cut her off. “It’s about Yu Lingshan, isn’t it?”
Xu Shi froze for a moment. “How did you know?”
Weiwei: “You only ever stammer like this because of Yu Lingshan. Spit it out. What happened between you two now?”
Xu Shi licked her lips and asked first, “Would you kiss your female friends?”
Weiwei was instantly excited. “Holy shit? She kissed you?!”
Xu Shi hadn’t expected Weiwei to guess it right away. “Uh… yeah.”
Weiwei: “Holy shit, holy shit holy shit, I knew there was something between you two! Holy shit, I didn’t expect this! Sister Yu is so bold! Oh my god, where did she kiss you? It wasn’t on the lips, was it?!”
“It was,” Xu Shi said. “…Don’t get so excited. Right now, I’m…” Xu Shi placed a hand on her forehead. “I’m freaking out, Weiwei. Stop laughing.”
Weiwei: “Hahahaha, I get it, I get it. Give me the details. How did she kiss you?”
Xu Shi: “Aren’t you going to comfort me first?”
Weiwei: “I need the details to prescribe the right medicine.” She urged, “Quick, quick.”
Weiwei’s antics made Xu Shi laugh. She thought for a moment and said, “The one this afternoon…”
Weiwei cut her off on the spot. “The one this afternoon? There was more than one?”
Xu Shi: “Let me finish.”
Weiwei laughed. “Okay, okay.”
Xu Shi: “The one this afternoon, she’d had a little to drink, maybe too much, and she kissed me. Then just now, after we finished our late-night snack and were parting ways, she kissed me again before getting in her car.”
She’d told her to stop laughing, but Weiwei was on the other end, laughing like an idiot, a constant stream of “hahahaha” and goose-like honks.
By now, she had reached the bottom of her apartment building. Thinking she’d have to get in the elevator soon, she decided not to go up just yet and squatted in a corner by the roadside.
She also told Weiwei, “Stop laughing.”
Weiwei finally caught her breath. “Oh my god, and you were telling me Yu Lingshan is straight?”
Xu Shi didn’t dare say anything.
Weiwei: “So, how did you feel when she kissed you?”
Xu Shi: “I was scared to death.”
Weiwei let out a long “hmmm.” “Don’t you dare tell me Yu Lingshan is straight now. Even my toes wouldn’t believe it.”
Xu Shi: “Oh.”
But then Xu Shi added, “But what if she just likes kissing girls?”
Weiwei: “Do you straight girls like kissing girls?”
Xu Shi offered a weak rebuttal, “S-some do.”
“Hahaha, if some do, don’t stutter,” Weiwei said. “I can understand straight girls kissing each other on the cheek, but she kissed you on the lips!”
Xu Shi: “…You don’t have to say it so loud.”
Weiwei: “Hahaha, sorry, I’m a little excited. Wow, two beautiful girls falling in love is just too good to ship.”
Xu Shi: “…We’re not in a relationship. Don’t mess with me.”
Weiwei: “Right now, it’s Yu Lingshan messing with you, not me.”
Xu Shi: “Chen Weiwei.”
Weiwei: “Hahaha, okay, okay. What were we talking about? Oh,” Weiwei said, “right, what did you want to talk to me about when you called?”
Xu Shi: “I don’t know either.”
Weiwei: “Are you starting to suspect she likes you too?”
Xu Shi asked weakly, “What do you think?”
Weiwei: “If you ask me, I’d definitely say yes. But would you believe me?”
Xu Shi rested her chin on her knees. “No.”
Weiwei: “What’s the point of disbelief? She kissed you.”
Xu Shi used a small twig she’d picked up at some point to draw in the dirt on the ground. “I don’t know. What’s there to like about me?”
Weiwei immediately knew what Xu Shi meant, and her tone cooled instantly. “If you talk like that, I’m going to scold you.”
Xu Shi gave a small laugh. “Heh.”
Weiwei: “Well, when she kissed you, did you feel any disgust?”
Xu Shi: “No.”
Weiwei clicked her tongue. “Oh no, Xiao Shi.”
Xu Shi: ”What’s wrong?”
Weiwei: “Are you turning gay?”
Xu Shi tensed up and shrank back. “N-no, I don’t think so.”
Weiwei: “Do you like her?”
Xu Shi: “I do like her, but… but not that kind of like.”
Weiwei went straight for the heart: “N-n-not that kind of like… h-how did you determine that?”
Xu Shi: “Chen Weiwei!”
Weiwei: “Hahahahahaha, just think about it yourself.”
Xu Shi took a light breath. “Give me two minutes.”
Then she muted her mic, buried her head in her arms, and stayed squatting for two minutes.
Then.
Xu Shi lifted her head and pointed out two diverging paths. “What if I do like her? And what if I don’t?”
Weiwei made a thoughtful sound. “Well, I don’t really know Yu Lingshan. I’ve only met her that one time, and I don’t know how you two interact. But if you do like her, doesn’t that make it a two-way street?”
Xu Shi didn’t answer the question. She said, “A lot of people like her. And…” Xu Shi started poking the dirt again. “I don’t know.”
She added, “Why would she like me?”
It seemed like Xu Shi was saying these words to Weiwei, but it also seemed like she was talking to herself.
As they talked more, Weiwei finally calmed down.
Perhaps Xu Shi’s feeling that someone like Yu Lingshan wouldn’t be short on love was too strong, and the way Yu Lingshan did everything so naturally also made Weiwei start to waver. In the end, she calmly told Xu Shi not to fall too deep.
After going back inside, Xu Shi had insomnia—a particularly severe case.
She was thinking about too many things. Her mind was filled with infinite possibilities, each with numerous branches, and she spent the whole night wandering through them, considering one scenario after another.
She could more or less make sense of the others.
The only thing she couldn’t figure out was: what if Yu Lingshan liked her?
Why?
If Yu Lingshan was really interested in her, then the flirting must have started from their very first meeting. But that afternoon in the coffee shop, Xu Shi hadn’t done anything special. In fact, she’d been quite aggressive. If Yu Lingshan liked her because of that, then Yu Lingshan must be sick in the head.
When Xu Shi thought of this, because she had just cursed Yu Lingshan in her head, she suddenly burst out laughing.
Ahem.
So, that hypothesis was completely invalid.
As for why Yu Lingshan kissed her…
Ah…
Why!
Xu Shi didn’t even know how she eventually fell asleep. She only knew that when her mom woke her up for breakfast the next day, her head was hurting badly.
During breakfast, as expected, her mom brought up Yu Lingshan again.
But perhaps they had already talked about everything there was to talk about. This time, she only asked how Xu Shi got home yesterday before changing the subject.
To a blind date…
“That auntie from downstairs, I ran into her again a few days ago. She said her nephew is coming back next month.” Her mom looked up at Xu Shi. “Remember? I mentioned him to you.”
Xu Shi: “…I remember.”
Mom: “They’re going to be making dumplings at their place. We should go eat with them.”
Xu Shi wasn’t keen on the idea. “We don’t even know them that well. Why would we go to their house for dumplings?”
Her mom nodded. “That’s true. Then let’s just get straight to the point. No need to ease into it. We’ll just have him come over to meet you.”
Xu Shi: “…What for?”
Her mom sighed. “He’s a good catch. It doesn’t matter if nothing comes of it, you can just make a friend.” Her mom put an egg in Xu Shi’s bowl. “Look at you, all your friends are girls. I’ve never heard you mention a single guy.”
Xu Shi: “The senior who helped me with the procedures for the competition is a guy.”
Her mom’s eyes widened instantly. “Really? Does he have a girlfriend?”
Xu Shi was exasperated. “How old am I? I’ve never seen you in such a hurry.”
Mom: “This is also the first time I’ve seen you so resistant. Didn’t you always go before? It’s not like you have to settle down just because you meet.”
Xu Shi couldn’t refute that. It was true; in the past, she would go whenever her mom suggested it.
She wasn’t fundamentally opposed to blind dates. She held expectations for love and would indeed get married if she found someone suitable. Back then, she felt that since she lacked the social skills, and her mom’s friends had the connections, why not?
But not anymore.
Yes, just suddenly… not anymore.
Her mom suddenly asked, “Or do you have someone now?”
Xu Shi: “No.”
Mom: “Or is someone pursuing you?”
Xu Shi: “No.”
Her mom raised an eyebrow. “Last time someone sent flowers, and there was that ice cream in the fridge. Who bought all that?”
Xu Shi could answer this one. “They were all from girls.”
Her mom bit her spoon. “The one you had a late-night snack with yesterday?”
Xu Shi tried to brush it off. “Yes.”
Her mom said no more.
Xu Shi had class today, and they were assigned homework, so she was at least a little busy.
And for the entire day, there was no news from Yu Lingshan.
So this woman had tormented Xu Shi’s mind half to death, only to disappear without a trace. This made Xu Shi even more certain that the idea of Yu Lingshan liking her was utterly ridiculous.
The next day, Xu Shi went to work.
In the afternoon, when Xu Shi woke up from her nap, she finally saw a message from Yu Lingshan.
Yu Lingshan: Heartless
Yu Lingshan: I was busy and didn’t contact you, so you don’t look for me either?
Xu Shi, slumped over her desk, immediately broke into a smile.
But she didn’t know what to reply, so she just sent Yu Lingshan a “hee hee” sticker.
Yu Lingshan: How many people are in your office in total?
Xu Shi: Six. Why?
Yu Lingshan: Bought five coffees, they’ll be there in twenty minutes
Xu Shi: What?
Xu Shi: You don’t have to
Yu Lingshan: There isn’t one for you. What don’t I have to do?
Xu Shi was speechless.
Twenty minutes later, a delivery person knocked on the door, asking for Xu Shi.
Xu Shi brought the coffees in and counted them. Exactly five cups.
Then, amidst everyone’s cheers, she handed one to each person.
“Who sent these, Xu Shi?” her colleague at the next desk asked.
Xu Shi: “A friend.”
The group chorused, “Ooh~ a friend.”
Xu Shi shook her head. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
The group still went, “Ooh~”
“We get it, we get it!”
Xu Shi: “It’s not.”
Xu Shi got nothing and still had to endure their teasing.
But unexpectedly, a minute later, another delivery arrived, also for Xu Shi.
He handed Xu Shi a fruit tea and a small potted plant.
The group of coffee-drinking colleagues in the office cooed, “Ooh~ special love.”
“And the boss was talking about setting Xu Shi up with someone. What’s the point? She already has someone.”
“Thank your special someone for us! Tell them the coffee is delicious.”
…
Xu Shi could only say, “You’re welcome.”
Xu Shi returned to her workstation and sent Yu Lingshan a message: I got it
Xu Shi: I got everything Xu Shi: Thank you
Yu Lingshan: That’s my favorite fruit tea
Yu Lingshan: I hope you’ll say you like it after you drink it
Yu Lingshan: Even if you don’t like it, you have to like it
Xu Shi looked at her phone screen and couldn’t help but smile.
It was as if two days of resolve had been shattered in an instant, and her mood seemed to brighten all at once.
Xu Shi: Drinking it now
Yu Lingshan: Take good care of this plant
Yu Lingshan: It will bloom with beautiful flowers
Xu Shi: Okay
Yu Lingshan: You will too
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
