PSMD – Chapter 72

Qiu Yang’s voice was hoarse, but her speaking speed was extremely fast. If Shen Ningruo hadn’t instantly sobered up the moment she saw the call was from Qiu Yang, she might not have been able to hear what Qiu Yang was saying.

Shen Ningruo’s concentration was high. She heard the crying in Qiu Yang’s voice, and then a sentence that made her momentarily stunned.

-Are you going to abandon me too?

Shen Ningruo repeated the sentence in her mind, and instantly felt as if her heart had been dug out. She immediately gave her answer: “I won’t.”

Every word in that sentence had immense destructive power.

“Really?” Qiu Yang asked lightly, then sniffled, as if realizing the atmosphere between her and Shen Ningruo wasn’t right. Without waiting for Shen Ningruo to reply, she said, “Sorry to bother you,” and hung up the phone.

Shen Ningruo didn’t care about anything else. All she wanted now was to be by Qiu Yang’s side. If only she had known Qiu Yang had such a bad cold, she would never have just sent a “Good night” at the door last night and left.

When she was sick, Qiu Yang was always by her side, but what idiotic thing was she doing now?

She had made grand declarations in front of Yao Yao, wanting to give Qiu Yang the world, but in the end, she was the one hurting Qiu Yang.

At five in the morning in Yuncheng, there weren’t many cars or people, but some breakfast shops were already open, appearing particularly bright on a dark street.

Shen Ningruo drove quickly towards Qiu Yang’s place. The car’s speed was a bit fast, and the airflow swept up the leaves on the ground, dragging them far away.

Her mind was a bit muddled the whole way, and she was constantly blaming herself and regretting.

Qiu Yang calling her in the early morning was likely because she had a nightmare. The dream content must have been about those childhood shadows, which was why she called to ask.

This wasn’t a very clear-headed state, but Qiu Yang thought of her first, and what about her? At this moment, even having had a good dream, Shen Ningruo felt she didn’t deserve it.

This time, she arrived at Qiu Yang’s residential area even faster than last night. Shen Ningruo had calmed down, but she was still suffering.

However, this bit of torment was nothing compared to what Qiu Yang was enduring.

The underground parking lot was dark and damp at the moment, so cold that she couldn’t help but shiver the moment she opened the car door.

Everything was quiet. Shen Ningruo had been here so many times that she was already familiar with the way.

In just a few minutes, she was standing at the door of Qiu Yang’s apartment.

The temperature in the corridor was extremely low, but Shen Ningruo didn’t have time to care. She raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.

Unsure if Qiu Yang could hear it, she picked up her phone and called Qiu Yang again.

Qiu Yang hung up.

She called again.

Qiu Yang hung up again.

Shen Ningruo dialed a third time. This time, Qiu Yang didn’t hang up; she answered, but didn’t say a word.

Shen Ningruo said anxiously, “I’m at your door.”

“Oh.” After hearing that, Qiu Yang hung up the phone again.

This call lasted only about three seconds.

Shen Ningruo was stunned for a moment, took a deep breath, and called Qiu Yang again.

Qiu Yang still chose to hang up this time, as if she had pulled herself out of a chaotic state and regained clarity.

Shen Ningruo realized this and knew that Qiu Yang was very angry this time, more than ever before.

Well, they had only known each other for just over a month, and everything had been smooth sailing. How much could they have experienced?

This was just the beginning.

Shen Ningruo didn’t want to give up. She was about to press the doorbell again, but just as she raised her hand, the door opened a crack.

The living room light wasn’t on. Qiu Yang walked over, relying on the light from her phone screen. As soon as the door lock opened, she turned around and walked forward without waiting for Shen Ningruo’s reaction.

Shen Ningruo pushed the door, widening the gap. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

In the dark space, she didn’t see Qiu Yang’s figure. She turned on her phone’s flashlight, not planning to turn on the lights.

She was afraid the light would make Qiu Yang uncomfortable.

Qiu Yang had always been soft-hearted. Shen Ningruo knew this, and her eyes felt a little warm.

She changed into slippers. As soon as she stood up, she saw a small figure appear in front of her. Pingzi had heard the movement and come to her.

As if confirming her identity, Pingzi stood up from a squatting position and rubbed against her calf with its head, meowing twice.

Shen Ningruo sniffled, then squatted down and stroked its head, saying softly, “I’m sorry, I made your mom sad.”

“I didn’t mean to, Pangpang.”

Pingzi didn’t want to argue with Shen Ningruo about being called “Pangpang” again right now. It swished its tail against Shen Ningruo’s palm, then wiggled its body and walked inside to eat cat food.

After this brief moment of relief, Shen Ningruo’s nervousness lessened a bit. She walked with the flashlight to the door of Qiu Yang’s bedroom, exhaled, and then dared to turn the doorknob.

The door opened; Qiu Yang hadn’t locked it.

Shen Ningruo covered the phone’s light with her fingers, leaving only a small gap to illuminate the way. She saw Qiu Yang wrapped in the quilt, with her back to her.

Shen Ningruo didn’t dare to speak now. She walked over quietly, turned off the phone’s light, placed it aside, lifted the quilt, and slipped into bed, holding Qiu Yang from behind.

Qiu Yang’s body stiffened for a moment. Shen Ningruo clearly felt it. She held Qiu Yang a little tighter, her lips touching the back of Qiu Yang’s neck, before saying softly, “I’m late.”

Qiu Yang didn’t reply, but her breathing was a bit unstable. Listening to her slightly breathless breathing, Shen Ningruo suspected she was holding Qiu Yang too tightly, so she loosened her arms slightly.

“Don’t let go.”

Now that they were closer, she could hear even more clearly that Qiu Yang’s voice lacked its usual softness, only hoarseness.

“Okay, I won’t let go.” Shen Ningruo indeed held her a little tighter. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Qiu Yang’s nose felt sour again, and her eyes were burning, but she didn’t want Shen Ningruo to know, so she endured it, listening to Shen Ningruo apologize by her ear. Her throat was extremely uncomfortable right now, and she didn’t know what to say. After Shen Ningruo said “I’m sorry” two more times, she finally spoke: “I don’t want to hear it right now.”

She didn’t say she forgave her, nor did she say anything else.

Shen Ningruo was stunned for a moment, but didn’t feel surprised, so she nodded: “Okay.”

The room had good orientation, with direct sunlight in the early morning. And it wasn’t early spring anymore, so the sun was a bit more diligent. Shen Ningruo couldn’t sleep. She felt that not much time had passed, but the sunlight had already crept into the bedroom little by little.

Qiu Yang had slept all day yesterday, so whether the curtains were drawn or not made little difference.

Afraid Qiu Yang would be woken up by the sun, Shen Ningruo slowly released her arms, preparing to get up and draw the curtains.

But Qiu Yang was startled awake immediately and grabbed her hand, her surprise evident.

Shen Ningruo pursed her lips: “Okay.”

Time moved on to seven o’clock, passed eight, and finally stopped at nine.

Shen Ningruo’s arm had been in that position and had been numb for a while, but it had returned to normal.

She still hadn’t slept. Many scenes of her time with Qiu Yang flashed through her mind. In the end, she just leaned closer and kissed Qiu Yang’s hair.

Qiu Yang had already let go of her hand, seeming to be asleep. Shen Ningruo frowned, then slowly withdrew her arm. This time, Qiu Yang didn’t stop her. She successfully got out of bed and tiptoed to the living room.

Pingzi was sunbathing on the hanging bed by the living room window. After hearing the sound of the bedroom door opening, it flipped over and looked upside down to see who came out, its eyes wide and round.

Shen Ningruo saw it as soon as she came out, walked over, squatted down, and rubbed its head. Pingzi narrowed its eyes comfortably, then heard the person in front of it say, “You should be able to give your mom more warmth than I can, right?”

Pingzi was a smart and cute cat, as if it could sense people’s emotions. It would stay by Qiu Yang’s side when she was unhappy. When Qiu Yang wasn’t home for work, it would also obediently eat, sleep, and wait for her to come back, without causing trouble at home.

Pingzi didn’t understand this time, but it felt it needed to meow, so it let out a “Meow.”

Shen Ningruo scratched its chin: “I’ll order some porridge for your mom.”

“Meow.”

People who are sick have many dietary restrictions. Shen Ningruo ordered plain porridge for Qiu Yang via delivery and also ordered a portion for herself. Then she got up to boil hot water.

Pingzi was already up and followed her everywhere. Wherever Shen Ningruo went, it followed, as if it found it fun, its tail swishing back and forth.

Qiu Yang came out of the room and saw Pingzi standing and pawing at Shen Ningruo’s calf. As soon as she appeared, both the person and the cat looked over.

It was actually quite harmonious.

Qiu Yang and Shen Ningruo’s eyes met, but she didn’t want to say anything right now. She silently shifted her gaze and went to the bathroom, supporting her tired body.

Shen Ningruo lowered her head and stared at Pingzi, eye to eye. She pursed her lips and started to feel nervous.

As soon as Qiu Yang came out, Shen Ningruo opened her mouth and said somewhat awkwardly, “I ordered plain porridge, it’ll be here soon.”

“Mm.” Qiu Yang didn’t look at her, emitting a single syllable through her nose, and went back into the bedroom.

Shen Ningruo looked at the closed door and lowered her eyelids.

She had never encountered a situation like this before.

When she was with that first boyfriend, it wasn’t without conflict, and there was one time when she had done something wrong, but she didn’t apologize; the other person always bowed their head first.

Shen Ningruo had always felt that in a relationship, she should have the upper hand. Even if she was in the wrong, she had to be the queen and hold her head high.

But this time, she realized she was terribly mistaken.

It turned out that the feeling of doing something wrong and not being forgiven was so uncomfortable. Shen Ningruo clutched the hem of her clothes, feeling a bit helpless.

She really didn’t have much experience apologizing, and the number of times she had coaxed someone was countable on one hand.

She sat down on the sofa, opened WeChat, and wanted to ask Yao Yao for advice, but remembering how even less capable Yao Yao was than her, she abandoned the idea.

The delivery arrived a few minutes later. Shen Ningruo opened it first to check the temperature.

It was very hot; it needed some time to cool down before Qiu Yang could eat it.

The sunlight grew stronger. Pingzi had returned to the hanging bed and lay down, exposing its belly to continue sunbathing.

But as soon as there were birds chirping outside the window, it would stand up alertly, staring at the flying birds, and if it got a bit excited, it would even chatter its jaw, making sounds like it wanted to fight.

Shen Ningruo hadn’t learned about cat habits and was seeing a cat do this for the first time. She thought something was wrong with Pingzi. She quickly went into the bedroom, walked up to Qiu Yang, and said with a worried expression, “Pangpang seems to be twitching.”

Qiu Yang opened her eyes: “Twitching?”

“Yes.”

“Its jaw is shaking wildly.”

“And making noises.”

Qiu Yang pulled the quilt up and covered her head.

Shen Ningruo was still nervous: “If its jaw shakes off in a bit…”

“Shen Ningruo.” Qiu Yang’s muffled voice came from under the quilt.

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

“Why aren’t you comforting me yet?”

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