RotA – Chapter 80

Thick layers of clouds were chased by the wind, rushing toward the distant mountains.

A sliver of morning sun peeked out from the tail end of the clouds, lazily passing through the window and spilling onto the tightly wrapped quilt.

The slightly dazzling light made Chu Ci blink her eyes open a crack.

She stared at this ray of morning light for a while, then grabbed the blanket, rolled over to avoid the light, and took a deep breath.

The bedroom door was ajar, and from outside came the aroma of tomato and egg soup.

No matter how much time passed, Chai Yuening still only knew how to make soup. Their meals would only ever improve when they went to Lao Xiang’s, Ren Dong’s, or You Lan’s place.

Fortunately, a black vine who had drunk nutrient fluid for who knows how many years never cared about such things.

What she did care about was last night, when Chai Yuening gave her an introductory lesson on a set of human bedtime exercises.

A few days ago, Chai Yuening had taken her to You Lan’s to trade some trinkets from the old world for a bit of money. You Lan had eagerly sidled up and whispered some strange things in her ear. When broken down, she could understand every sentence, but when put together, they left her feeling utterly confused. In the end, she only remembered one line: “Don’t tell me you two still haven’t done… bedtime exercises?”

Seeing the look on You Lan’s face, so shocked her jaw was about to drop, Chu Ci had reason to suspect that Chai Yuening was hiding some important knowledge from her.

Chu Ci: “No, we just wash up and go straight to sleep.”

You Lan: “Tsk… Chai Yuening’s really slacking. You two have been together for so long, how has she still not…”

You Lan’s words trailed off there. She waved her hand, not continuing, but simply took a long, deep breath and said, “You have to push her.”

Chu Ci saw a hint of undisguised disappointment and urgency in You Lan’s eyes.

Was this to say that Chai Yuening wasn’t being honest enough with her?

She had promised to teach her how to be a human, so how could she deliberately hide important knowledge and not tell her?

Chu Ci had always been a very patient vine, but when the matter involved the person she trusted concealing something from her, after stewing on it for a few days, she suddenly couldn’t bear it any longer.

Last night, she had finished a bowl of potato soup with some dissatisfaction, her gaze following Chai Yuening with a hint of grievance. She waited until Chai Yuening had finished cleaning the pot and bowls before asking faintly, “Chai Yuening, are you hiding something important from me?”

Chai Yuening froze on the spot for two seconds, a look of astonishment on her face. “Huh? No!”

Chu Ci: “Bedtime exercises.”

Chai Yuening: “Eh?!”

Chu Ci: “How do humans normally sleep?”

Chai Yuening: “Normally…”

Chu Ci: “I haven’t learned this, so don’t lie to me. You Lan said there are supposed to be bedtime exercises.”

As she spoke, she added with great seriousness, “Are you finding it too troublesome, so you’re not teaching me? I told you, I want to integrate into humanity. I’m not afraid of a little trouble.”

The next second, she saw Chai Yuening’s expression change again and again, finally flushing with a blush like the evening glow. She swallowed lightly, scratched the back of her neck, and finally managed to say, “That, uh… I’m not very good at it either.”

“You’re not good at it either?” Chu Ci tilted her head and blinked. “Then what should we do? Should we go find Boss You…”

“No, no, don’t! There’s no need!” Chai Yuening waved her hands repeatedly. “I should know a little. We can figure it out on our own.”

After that, she began to study earnestly.

It had to be said, humans were truly strange creatures to need exercise before sleeping.

For as long as Chu Ci could remember, she had never done such a strange exercise. She didn’t even know if Chai Yuening was teaching her correctly. All she knew was that she had an indescribable feeling, nervous and a little scared, to the point that she was tense from head to toe and didn’t dare say a word.

Chai Yuening seemed to have said something in her ear, but her mind was buzzing and she didn’t hear anything clearly.

In the end, after she didn’t know how long they’d been at it, she finally heard a sentence Chai Yuening whispered next to her ear.

“I’ve told you so many times… if it hurts, you can say so.”

That tone was also strange, just as strange as this exercise lesson.

Every time before, when Chai Yuening said this, her eyes and words were filled with heartache for her.

But this time, there was a trace of an odd emotion she couldn’t understand, as if she didn’t care at all whether it really hurt, and only wanted to hear her cry out in pain… In any case, she wasn’t as gentle as before.

Chu Ci: “Why should it hurt.”

Even with her disheveled long hair sticking to her cheeks and neck, and her voice lacking its usual confidence, she was still a stubborn black vine.

This did not seem to be a successful lesson. Chai Yuening was clearly a bit frustrated, a frustration born from a human’s inability to shake a plant that came from the ten-thousand-meter-deep abyss.

But if she gave up that easily, Chai Yuening wouldn’t be Chai Yuening.

She became determined to best this little black vine who had actively sought to learn, and only when her hands were too sore to continue did she say mournfully, “Let’s stop here for today.”

Chu Ci felt like her consciousness was about to fall apart. Her entire body was limp against Chai Yuening, unable to move, yet she still habitually asked in a small voice, “Don’t we need to wash up?”

Chai Yuening: “We’ll wash in the morning.”

They embraced and closed their eyes. Chu Ci was exceptionally tired, but she could faintly sense that Chai Yuening was unhappy, and she didn’t dare fall asleep.

In the small room, their slightly heavy breathing was clearly audible.

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Ci said in a small voice, “You hurt me…”

Two seconds later, Chai Yuening let out a sigh of relief and gently stroked her hair. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

As her words fell, she held her even tighter.

Waking up, the strange feeling from last night still lingered in her heart.

Chu Ci wrapped her body in the quilt, her silent eyes staring at the crack in the door, as quiet as if she were still the black vine from before who couldn’t speak.

Before long, the ajar bedroom door was pushed open, and Chai Yuening came to her with the tomato and egg soup.

Chai Yuening asked, “Feeling better?”

Chu Ci: “I don’t have much strength.”

Chai Yuening: “Then eat something first. I’ll go with you to wash up afterward.”

Chu Ci nodded. With Chai Yuening’s help, she slipped on a thin nightdress. After finishing breakfast, she rested for a while before walking into the bathroom, her waist aching and her legs feeling weak.

The bathtub had been a gift from You Lan. The two of them half-reclined in it together, the bubbles stirred up by the jet mode washing over their bodies, rinsing away the stickiness.

Chu Ci kept her head down the entire time, her small face flushed with a rare blush, not saying a word.

After an unknown period of silence, Chu Ci suddenly mumbled in a small voice, “Don’t pinch or bite me next time.”

Chai Yuening: “Hm?”

Chu Ci looked up and muttered quietly, “They leave marks, and they hurt.”

Her voice was just as it had always been, faint and soft, without much inflection, yet it couldn’t hide the grievance in her heart.

Hearing this, Chai Yuening couldn’t help but pull a half-smiling expression. “So you do know how to cry pain? I thought I’d met a real block of wood.”

Chu Ci frowned. “Is that why you were so fierce with me last night?”

Chai Yuening: “How was I fierce? I was clearly very concerned about you. I even asked if you were in pain.”

Chu Ci: “Was that you being concerned about me? You were completely unscrupulous, just to make me cry out in pain. What were you trying to prove…”

Chai Yuening: “What was I trying to prove?”

Chu Ci: “I don’t know, but you were definitely trying to prove something…”

Chai Yuening studied the Chu Ci before her with great interest.

Under such a gaze, Chu Ci bit her lower lip and turned her head away, making her own judgment about this strange behavior: “You’re not right.”

Chai Yuening considered this seriously for a moment, then nodded. “I’m not right. I was indeed trying to prove something.”

A flash of surprise crossed Chu Ci’s eyes.

The next second, Chai Yuening leaned toward Chu Ci.

She gazed at those long lashes, trembling slightly with droplets of water, as if gazing at the first pistil to bloom after winter had passed and spring had arrived, so lovely it seemed it never belonged to this rebuilt wasteland.

She leaned forward and silently, gently, kissed the corner of her eye, then touched her lips.

She said she did indeed want to prove something. She hadn’t succeeded last night, but now that she had her strength back, she was going to prove it again.

She lifted Chu Ci out of the bathtub. It was hard to say whether Chu Ci was too light, or if her own strength was just unreasonably great.

“W-wait… isn’t this a bedtime exercise?”

“It can be done anytime, anywhere.”

“It’s too hard, I don’t want to learn anymore…”

“Practice makes perfect. Once you’ve learned, it’ll be your turn.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Chu Ci felt like she had been bullied.

Chai Yuening was just bullying her for not knowing anything.

She thought, if You Lan were to ask next time, she wouldn’t say a thing.

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Author’s Notes:

Anyway, it was just this and that, and that and this. I’m sure you can all use your imagination, right?