A Faceful Of Lovey-Dovey PDA - Chapter 13

Su Qin’s eyes widened abruptly as she stared at the two of them in disbelief.

Sister Fang rolled over and sighed. “Ai, what should we do? I saw something I shouldn’t have seen. Tomorrow, I’m afraid I’m going to grow a stye.”

Lin Xueyin smacked her lips. “Aiyo, instant noodles taste awful. My mouth is getting greedy, and I can’t control it anymore. Tomorrow, I really want to go wild in the dining car. Um, Sister Fang, do you think braised pork can control your eyes?”

“Just barely.” Sister Fang crossed her legs. “Add a Four Joy meatball and it’ll be passable. Oh right, Classmate Lin, if your mouth got to eat sweet-and-sour pork ribs, do you think it could control itself?”

Lin Xueyin sighed. “The pieces of sweet-and-sour pork ribs are too small. I think we’d need to add some guobaorou too.”

Su Qin: “…”

Early the next morning, Chu Mei sat in the dining car for no apparent reason. Looking at the dishes covering the table in front of her, she secretly tugged at Su Qin. “Ah Qin, why did you order so many dishes? This must be so expensive.”

Su Qin forced a smile. “Heh. Sister Fang and Ah Yin don’t have it easy. Let them eat.” If she did not avenge this humiliation, she would no longer believe her surname was Su!

Sister Fang chewed on a Four Joy meatball and raised her cola toward Chu Mei. “Come, Chuchu. Sister toasts you. We’re blessed thanks to you.”

Lin Xueyin also raised her Sprite. “Exactly, exactly. We finally get to eat meat. If not for you, instant noodles would’ve kept torturing my stomach.”

Chu Mei was completely baffled by the two of them. “What are you talking about? Do either of you have any humanity? You’re eating Ah Qin’s food, but flattering me?”

“If not for—” Lin Xueyin got halfway through her sentence before Su Qin’s sharp gaze killed it back down. She smiled and shook her head.

After playing cards almost the whole way, the group finally arrived at their destination, Hailar. This was the summer retreat they had chosen. The moment they got off the train and felt the cool temperature, Lin Xueyin was delighted to death. She spread her arms. “Aiya, amazing.”

Just as the four friends were discussing how they should set themselves free and where they should set up camp, Su Qin’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and answered with a smile. “Mom, I was just about to call you. We’ve arrived.”

The other three continued chattering about where to go, but Su Qin’s expression changed. “What?!”

“How could you do that? Why did you look?!”

Su Qin’s voice rose, frightening all three of them into looking at her.

“I know. Wait for me at home.”

After hanging up, Su Qin’s face was pale. Chu Mei hurried over. “What’s wrong, Ah Qin?” She grabbed Su Qin’s hand and actually felt cold sweat on it.

Su Qin shook her head, looking weak. “I’m sorry. Something came up at home suddenly. I have to go back.”

“Ah? Damn, seriously?” Sister Fang was dumbfounded. “We spent two days getting here, and now you’re going back?”

Lin Xueyin looked at Su Qin. “Ah Qin, what happened?”

Su Qin shook her head. “It’s hard to explain.”

Chu Mei held onto her hand. “I’ll go back with you.”

Su Qin looked at her. “Chuchu, be good. You stay and have fun with Ah Yin and Sister Fang. Don’t waste this trip with me.”

Chu Mei was not buying that. She was a little anxious. “How could I? You think I can let you go home alone and still relax enough to have fun with them?”

In the end, they were deadlocked, and Chu Mei still boarded the train with Su Qin. On the train, Su Qin’s complexion remained terrible. Her lips were pressed tightly together. Chu Mei’s heart ached terribly watching her, but knowing Su Qin’s personality, she did not know how to comfort her. She could only silently keep her company.

After they got off the train, the moment their feet had barely steadied on the ground, their two mothers were already waiting at the station.

Chu Mei waved at them, while Su Qin’s expression was somewhat cold, her gaze chilly.

The two mothers did not look quite right either. Especially Mother Su. She seemed afraid to meet Su Qin’s eyes, but also somewhat angry. Mother Chu’s smile was forced too. “Chuchu, Ah Qin, you’re back. Come on, let’s go home first.”

All along the way, Chu Mei kept making signals at Mother Chu with her eyes, wanting to ask what exactly was going on. Mother Chu only shook her head at her. In the end, having no choice, she whispered, “This is your auntie’s family matter. You’re still a child. Don’t worry about it.”

“But Ah Qin…”

“Don’t worry. Mom will go over in a bit. Your auntie won’t do anything to her.”

What did it mean to be so concerned that one became confused? At this moment, Chu Mei had no spare mind to think about why her own mother would go over for someone else’s family matter. She could only nod hard. “It looks really serious. Mom, you have to protect Ah Qin for me.”

Mother Chu looked at her and smiled with difficulty. Looking at her daughter, whose entire heart was fixed only on Su Qin, her eyes filled with worry. Chu Mei held Su Qin’s hand tightly. For some reason, her eyelid had been twitching constantly today. Su Qin sensed her unease and patted her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Chu Mei looked at her pitifully. “Can I go to your house and stay with you tonight?” Her instinct told her that she could not leave Su Qin right now.

Su Qin wrapped an arm around Chu Mei’s shoulders. “Be good. Once I’ve resolved it, I’ll come find you. Go home, rest, and sleep for a while, okay?”

At this moment, Chu Mei did not dare say anything more. She hugged Su Qin tightly, burying her face in Su Qin’s neck and breathing in the fragrance there.

Through the rearview mirror, the two mothers looked at their daughters with worried faces. This was how Su Qin and Chu Mei usually behaved. In the past, they had instinctively felt that the two little girls were close in a way that made people envious and had not thought too much about it. But now, these intimate gestures looked so glaring.

After settling Chu Mei down, the two mothers and Su Qin officially faced one another.

Su Qin sat on the sofa, expressionless as she looked at Mother Su. “Mom, is doing this meaningful to you?”

Mother Su frowned, as if she were holding herself back. “Ah Qin, Mom admits that reading your diary was wrong. But you… how could you do something like this? Do you know how heartbroken your auntie and I are?”

Su Qin took a deep breath, and her eyes reddened at once. “All of this is one-sided on my part. It has nothing to do with Chuchu.”

“Enough.” Mother Chu shook her head. “Ah Qin, you don’t need to protect Chuchu. She’s my daughter. How could I not know what she’s thinking?”

Neither mother had ever imagined that the children they had watched grow up would eventually develop feelings like this. If one of them had been a boy and the other a girl, they would have said nothing. They might even have eagerly hoped the two children would develop feelings for each other. But they just had to both be girls. These two children had grown up right under their eyes. What kind of personalities they had, what kind of character they possessed—no one knew better than them.

“Can’t it change?” Mother Su looked at Su Qin seriously. Su Qin shook her head. “It can’t…” After a pause, she looked at Mother Su. “Mom, don’t force me.” After saying that, Su Qin’s tears fell with a swish. From childhood until now, aside from when her grandmother passed away, she had never cried like this in front of Mother Su. Fear of the unknown, pain and unease toward the two mothers’ attitudes—at this moment, she especially missed Chu Mei. She only wanted to hear Chu Mei sweetly call “Ah Qin,” wanted to smell the scent on her body, and poke her soft cheeks.

“You!” Mother Su stood up at once. Mother Chu pulled her back. After all, she studied medicine, so she had seen this kind of thing to some extent. She changed her approach. “Ah Qin, look, could it be that you and Chuchu have misunderstood your feelings? Auntie knows that when two girls are together every day, staying by each other’s side constantly, their feelings will definitely be especially good, and they won’t want anyone else to share that friendship. Your mom and I were like that when we were little too. But when you grow up and have boys you like, you’ll know how childish you were back then.”

Su Qin’s voice was a little choked. “Auntie, I clearly understand what I’m doing. Also, my feelings for Chuchu didn’t begin only a day or two ago.”

Mother Su grew somewhat anxious. “Ah Qin, do you insist on making Mom sad?”

Su Qin bit her lip and lowered her head, letting her tears silently fall. “What did I do wrong? Mom, I only like one person. I love one person. What did I do wrong? I don’t want it to be like this either. Because of Chuchu, I’ve wished so many times that I were a man. That way, I could openly hold her hand in front of all of you.”

Su Qin had always been a proud and confident child. This was the first time she had appeared before the two mothers in such a fragile state.

Mother Su said nothing and simply kept crying. Mother Chu patted her shoulder. “All right. You mother and daughter shouldn’t keep crying like this. How about this, Ah Qin? You two are still young. We won’t talk about these things for now.”

“Young?” When it came to her and Chu Mei, Su Qin would not tolerate the slightest impurity in her eyes. “Mom, Auntie, don’t use a delaying tactic to separate me and Chuchu. We can’t be without each other.”

“You’re still young. There are so many temptations in this world, and so many social customs and expectations. Right now, you don’t understand them at all.” Mother Su’s eyes shimmered with tears. “Mom doesn’t want you to be like this either. Do you know that when Mom saw your diary, aside from shock, my heart ached so much?”

The sighs written in that diary, the traces of tears, and page after page filled with Chu Mei’s name—heaven knew how painful Su Qin’s hesitation, struggle, and conflict had been inside all these years.

“I’m not afraid of society’s judgment. I believe in Chuchu, and I believe in myself. You always say we’re young, that our feelings are uncertain. Then, Mom, Auntie, let’s make a vow.” Su Qin wiped her tears clean and looked at the two mothers. At this moment, the resilience in her eyes made one’s heart ache.