Xu Shi was a nervous wreck on her end of the line, but her mother on the other end simply said, “Alright, I’m exhausted,” and hung up.
Xu Shi held her phone, staring at the photo of herself and Yu Lingshan that had automatically appeared on the screen, and it took her a long time to process what had just happened.
Finally, Yu Lingshan asked, “Who was that?” bringing her back to her senses.
“My mom,” Xu Shi said.
Yu Lingshan’s head had been buried in her pillow, but upon hearing Xu Shi’s words, it shot up.
She was wide awake now.
“Your mom?” Yu Lingshan’s voice grew clearer. “She’s awake?”
“She probably woke up, realized I wasn’t home, and called me,” Xu Shi said, tilting her head. “I think I forgot to close my bedroom door.”
Yu Lingshan asked, “Does she know you’re here with me?”
“She does,” Xu Shi said. “And after she found out, she hung up, saying she was sleepy.”
Yu Lingshan lay back down, resting her head on her arm, and suddenly started to laugh.
Xu Shi asked, “What are you laughing at?”
Yu Lingshan raised an eyebrow at her. “Does this mean I’ve got one foot in your family’s door?”
Xu Shi thought about it and laughed as well. “I guess so?”
Yu Lingshan laughed again, hooking a leg around Xu Shi and pulling her under the covers.
“Let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay.”
Even so, Xu Shi had a restless night. She even dreamed of her mother, who was crying her eyes out in the dream, asking Xu Shi how she could possibly like girls.
The next day, Xu Shi woke up a little after six. With her mother on her mind, she kept opening and closing her eyes, unable to fall back asleep, until her own alarm finally went off.
She turned off the alarm and saw the person in her arms slowly open her eyes.
The next second, the still-drowsy woman asked her, “Going home or to the office?”
Xu Shi thought for a moment. “I should go home first.”
Yu Lingshan said listlessly, “I’ll drive you.”
Xu Shi chuckled and patted Yu Lingshan’s head. “No need, I can go by myself. You go back to sleep.”
“No.”
When she said no, she meant it. Her usual procrastination vanished. With her eyes still closed, she quickly threw off the covers and rolled out of bed before Xu Shi could even grab her.
“Yu Lingshan, really, you don’t have to,” Xu Shi called after her.
Yu Lingshan dragged herself to the bathroom to wash up, calling back to Xu Shi, “Hurry up.”
Yesterday’s phone call had clearly had a huge impact. While Xu Shi was washing up, Yu Lingshan had already put on some makeup and changed into a fresh, clean outfit.
So when Xu Shi came out, she was startled by the sight.
Was this the same Yu Lingshan who would procrastinate for as long as possible when she was at home?
Thinking that Yu Lingshan didn’t seem to have anything scheduled for the morning, Xu Shi asked, “Are you planning to come to my place?”
Yu Lingshan shook her head. “Not planning on it.”
Xu Shi raised an eyebrow. “Then… you have something else to do?”
“Nope.”
Xu Shi looked utterly confused.
Yu Lingshan laughed at herself. “What? Can’t I be prepared? What if your mom suddenly wants to see me, right?”
“Ha, ha?”
Yu Lingshan lifted her chin proudly. “Are you coming or not?”
Xu Shi immediately placed a hand on her stomach. “Coming.”
Xu Shi’s mother was truly formidable. Yu Lingshan didn’t even cling to Xu Shi for breakfast together, dropping her off downstairs at her apartment building in no time at all.
“So, are you going to wait downstairs?” Xu Shi asked her.
Yu Lingshan smiled. “Of course not. I’m going home.”
Xu Shi was once again filled with confusion. That same inexplicable feeling Yu Lingshan had given her in the past came rushing back.
Xu Shi vaguely gestured at Yu Lingshan’s outfit. “Then what’s this for?”
“I told you, just in case.”
“This ‘just in case’ scenario,” Xu Shi raised an eyebrow, “you don’t think my mom is going to call on our way over and ask you to come up, do you?”
“Are you getting out of the car or not?”
Xu Shi laughed. “Hahaha, I caught you being nervous.”
Yu Lingshan suddenly reached over and unbuckled Xu Shi’s seatbelt. “I’m going back to catch up on sleep. Don’t bother me unless it’s important.”
Xu Shi couldn’t stop laughing. “Alrighty then.”
After getting out, Xu Shi watched Yu Lingshan’s car drive away.
She didn’t know what had come over her, but for some reason, despite it being just a car, she could somehow see Yu Lingshan’s temper in its speed.
Hahaha, how could Yu Lingshan be so adorable?
Only when Yu Lingshan’s car had completely disappeared from sight did Xu Shi turn and enter the residential complex.
When she reached her front door, she took a long, deep breath before opening it.
Good, her mom was still asleep.
She went to the kitchen.
Right, after all the crying yesterday, they had both forgotten to make the congee.
Xu Shi checked the time and figured she might as well buy breakfast near the office.
So, with the extra time she now had, she sat aimlessly on the living room sofa, thinking that if her mom woke up and came out, they could at least see each other.
It would also show that she wasn’t always at Yu Lingshan’s place; she had rushed back in the morning.
Boredom always made time crawl. Xu Shi fiddled with this and drank some water, but the second hand on the clock only ticked once per second.
Finally, with ten minutes left before she had to leave, her mother’s bedroom door opened.
Her mom walked out, eyes still heavy with sleep. The moment she saw Xu Shi, her face was filled with unconcealed surprise and confusion.
Her first sentence was: “Why are you back?”
Her second sentence was: “What did you come back for?”
Xu Shi was speechless.
Xu Shi also wanted to know what she had come back for. It probably would have been more logical to have breakfast at Yu Lingshan’s and go straight to the office.
Fortunately, her mother’s third sentence was: “I thought you’d abandoned this home.”
At that, Xu Shi shot up from her seat and scurried over to her mother’s side. “Of course not, of course not. I came back a long time ago. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up.”
Her mother scoffed. “Hmph.”
“I didn’t think you were coming back, so I didn’t cook,” her mom said. “Have you had breakfast?”
“No.”
Her mom turned to look at her, her expression neutral. “What time is it?”
“It’s fine, I’ll just grab a bun downstairs from the office.”
Her mom said, “Oh.” Then, “Did she drive you back?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s too much trouble, having to sneak over at night and then be driven back so early in the morning,” her mom said, opening the fridge to get some eggs. “You might as well just move in with her.”
Xu Shi smiled to herself and decided to go along with it. “Really? Then I’ll move in.”
Her mom shot her another sideways glance.
Her mom then took out some noodles. “Want me to cook you a bowl?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “There’s no time.”
Her mom didn’t insist. She took out a single portion, closed the fridge door, and went into the kitchen.
Xu Shi followed her in.
Given her mother’s attitude, Xu Shi felt there was some truth to Yu Lingshan’s comment about having one foot in the door.
The kitchen quickly came to life. Xu Shi watched as her mom cracked an egg, and she watched as her mom cooked the noodles.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before her mother couldn’t hold it in any longer and spoke first. “Does Yu Lingshan’s family know about you two?”
Xu Shi let out a silent breath and said, “No.”
She then took the opportunity to briefly and concisely tell her mother about Yu Lingshan’s family situation.
Throughout the entire process, her mother’s chopsticks were just stirring uselessly in the pot. After Xu Shi finished, she secretly glanced at her mother’s expression and heard her let out a soft sigh.
“Telling me all this first thing in the morning,” her mom said, putting the lid on the pot. “It’s ridiculous. To think there are still elders like that these days.”
Xu Shi chimed in, “I know, right?”
It seemed her mother wanted to say more, but time wouldn’t allow it.
“I should get going now,” Xu Shi said.
Her mother swallowed whatever she was about to say. “Go on.”
When she got to the office, Xu Shi had barely warmed her seat before she received a message from her mother.
Mom: Do you have a picture of Yu Lingshan? Let me see.
Mom: It was too dark that night, I couldn’t see her clearly.
Xu Shi immediately opened her photo album, but the pictures of Yu Lingshan were either alluring in one way or seductive in another. It took her a long time to find a proper one where her face was clearly visible, which she then sent to her mom.
Sending one photo wasn’t enough. She threw in a bonus and sent one of Yu Lingshan’s ID photos as well.
Mom: Mm, she’s a very pretty girl.
Xu Shi: Hehe.
Xu Shi: Super pretty.
After sending those two messages, Xu Shi went to the morning meeting. When the meeting was over, her mom still hadn’t replied.
But that was fine. As Xu Shi opened her work for the day, she also opened her WeChat conversation with Yu Lingshan.
Xu Shi: Wifey, wifey.
Xu Shi: Are you sleeping?
Yu Lingshan replied quickly: I am sleeping.
Xu Shi burst out laughing, then forwarded her recent chat history with her mother to Yu Lingshan.
After reading it, Yu Lingshan said: Understood.
Yu Lingshan: Next time I go to your house, I’ll just call her Mom right away.
Xu Shi couldn’t hold it in and laughed out loud in the office.
Xu Shi: Okay, you’re a puppy if you don’t.
Yu Lingshan instantly retracted the previous message.
Xu Shi laughed out loud again.
About a minute later, a window popped up in the bottom right corner of Xu Shi’s computer screen. It was an ad for a movie premiere.
Xu Shi: Wifey, wifey.
Yu Lingshan: Speak.
Xu Shi sent a screenshot of the ad: Inviting you to a movie tonight.
Yu Lingshan: K.
Half a minute later.
Xu Shi: Wifey, wifey.
Yu Lingshan: …
Yu Lingshan: You’re giving me a nervous breakdown, sis.
Only then did Xu Shi remember that Yu Lingshan was supposed to be catching up on sleep.
Xu Shi: I bought the tickets. 8 p.m., right after dinner.
Yu Lingshan: K.
Xu Shi couldn’t resist teasing her: Wifey, wifey.
Yu Lingshan: ?
Xu Shi: Hahahaha, I won’t bother you anymore. Go to sleep.
Xu Shi: Text me when you wake up, okay?
Yu Lingshan: You are dismissed.
Xu Shi: Alrighty then!
Yu Lingshan slept until two in the afternoon. From her sporadic updates, Xu Shi learned that she had ordered some random food after waking up, dragged herself to the office at four, slacked off for a bit, and then called it a day.
The two met directly at the mall. After dinner, they still had plenty of time, so they went to the arcade to play some games before heading to the movie theater.
Because it was a new movie with popular actors, there were many more people than usual. The line to pick up tickets was long, and the line at the snack counter was also long.
So they divided the labor: Xu Shi would get the tickets, and Yu Lingshan would buy the food.
“Anything you want to eat?” Yu Lingshan asked before she left.
Xu Shi shook her head. “Nope, just get what you like.”
“I’ll just grab whatever, then.”
“Okay,” Xu Shi nodded.
Xu Shi’s gaze followed Yu Lingshan as she weaved through the crowd and stood at the back of a line. Then, she covered her mouth and yawned.
Xu Shi smiled.
Was she really that tired?
“Miss.”
A voice suddenly interrupted Xu Shi’s thoughts. She came back to her senses and saw a young woman holding a flyer and smiling at her.
“Excuse me, miss. We have a promotion going on, you can take a look.”
Xu Shi looked down and took the flyer from the young woman. Then, both of them just stood there without speaking. The young woman didn’t leave.
Xu Shi smiled and asked, “Is there something I need to do?”
The young woman’s eyes instantly lit up. “Ah, here, it’s, um,” she took a small step toward Xu Shi. “If it’s convenient, you can just scan this QR code and follow our official account.”
Xu Shi immediately took out her phone and scanned it.
With a beep, before Xu Shi had even followed the account, she received the young woman’s thanks. “Thank you, thank you! Sorry to bother you.”
But after saying that, she didn’t leave right away. She hesitated, as if struggling with something.
The feeling was very familiar. It reminded Xu Shi of when she had first started her job at the company; she had been just like this back then.
“Is there anything else?” Xu Shi asked first.
The young woman nodded quickly. “If you don’t mind, could I add you on WeChat?”
Xu Shi directly opened her own WeChat QR code.
The young woman probably hadn’t expected it to be so easy. Her courage instantly grew, and as she added the contact, she showered Xu Shi with compliments. “Miss, you’re so nice, and you’re so pretty,” and so on.
Xu Shi was a little embarrassed by the praise and complimented her back. “You’re very pretty too. Your eyes are especially beautiful.”
The young woman was delighted. “Really?”
Xu Shi was about to say more, but her Yu Lingshan suddenly appeared.
She didn’t know when she had returned, but she was standing right beside Xu Shi. She glanced at Xu Shi’s phone, then at the young woman’s phone, and finally, at the young woman’s eyes.
The young woman smiled at Yu Lingshan as well, but quickly averted her gaze and said to Xu Shi, “Miss, I’ll get going now. I’ll contact you later.”
“Okay.”
After the young woman left, Xu Shi looked down at Yu Lingshan’s bag. “What did you buy?”
Yu Lingshan didn’t speak, simply tossing the bag to her.
Xu Shi caught it and looked at the contents. “So you like to eat this stuff.”
Yu Lingshan still didn’t say anything, but Xu Shi didn’t think much of it. It was her turn next, so she turned to go pick up the tickets.
The time they had spent outside was just right. After getting the tickets, they could go in for their movie.
The two followed the crowd inside. Once they were in, Xu Shi held Yu Lingshan’s hand and looked at the posters on the wall, talking to her about which movie to see next time.
Oh, not talking. It was Xu Shi talking by herself.
After walking a few steps down the corridor, Xu Shi gradually noticed something was off.
The person beside her was becoming harder and harder to hold hands with, and eventually, it felt like she was being pulled along.
Xu Shi turned her head in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Yu Lingshan looked at Xu Shi, her expression unreadable. “What is she going to contact you for later?”
“Huh? Who?”
