A L*st at First Sight (Lily Futa) - Chapter 7

DD asked politely, “Is my car ready to drive?”

Xiao C looked at the sports car in front of him with its beautiful curves and even more beautiful model, and replied in a small voice, “Wait a moment, I’ll go ask.”

Before long, he ran back alone. “It’s fine now.”

DD happily got into the car to prepare. Liu Yuelan looked around but didn’t see Yu Qianlin. “Where’s your Master?”

“She’s busy inside.”

Liu Yuelan looked a little disappointed. Little A leaned over and asked, “Are you very familiar with them?”

“Mm, why?”

Little A looked elsewhere and coughed. “Nothing. We had a little unpleasantness earlier.”

Liu Yuelan looked back and forth between the two of them and asked uneasily, “What happened?”

Xiao C embarrassedly recounted what had happened earlier, then said it was all a misunderstanding. Liu Yuelan listened with furrowed brows. Little A noticed her expression was off and interrupted Xiao C, “It’s already resolved. We’ve cleared things up. Since you’re Ah Lan’s good friend, you’re my good friend too. We’ll definitely visit your shop more often in the future!”

Xiao C muttered awkwardly, “You’d better not come too often. Master said if you come, we have to give you a discount. The more you come, the more we lose.”

“Hey, you’re pretty good at calculating.”

Liu Yuelan interrupted their bickering, “How much longer until your Master finishes? Never mind, I’ll go—”

Before she could finish, DD rolled down the car window and poked his head out. “Ah Lan, Little A, I’m heading to the starting line. You guys watch the race. You have to watch me win!”

Little A grinned. “Then you have to actually win for us to see it!”

Liu Yuelan’s expression softened a little. “Pay attention to safety. The ranking isn’t important.”

“It is important. The trophy looks really nice. I want to give it to you.”

Liu Yuelan walked over and patted his head, reminding him once again to be careful. She watched him drive away. Little A also pulled her to the stands to grab good front-row seats, leaving Xiao C, who had watched the whole thing, standing there feeling extremely sour.

Once they were seated in the stands, Liu Yuelan suddenly remembered she had forgotten something. She checked the time and hesitated whether to go down. Little A excitedly pointed out DD’s car to her. She quickly looked over. DD was in the first group. Several cars at the starting line were already ready, and the race was about to begin. The rule was to complete 3 laps and see which car had the shortest time.

The parking area had temporarily quieted down. Yu Qianlin sat on a low stool. She had been so busy earlier that she couldn’t even catch her breath. Now she could finally rest for a while. She placed the iced water bottle against her forehead to cool down.

Xiao C had also rested for a bit at first, but then, not afraid of the heat, he went to the safety netting to watch the race.

One group after another finished racing. Yu Qianlin stood up and stretched her body, roughly tidied the tools, and prepared to leave once the event ended. Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. She didn’t pay much attention. A few minutes later, Xiao C came running over in a panic. “Master! Master! Something happened! Two cars crashed into each other outside!”

Right after that came the urgent sound of an ambulance siren. The racetrack had medical facilities prepared in advance. Yu Qianlin glanced outside. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. I just heard a loud bang, and then people started running toward the stands!”

Someone who had just come back from the accident scene said with lingering fear, “It was really scary. Two cars rear-ended each other. The bumpers flew off, and pieces of the body flew into the stands, hitting several people. There was a very beautiful woman who was bleeding. I don’t know if it hit her face.”

After hearing this, Yu Qianlin quickly took a few steps outside. Xiao C followed and ran out, then suddenly crashed into Yu Qianlin’s back.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

Yu Qianlin clenched her fists and said with her head lowered, “We can’t leave this place unmanned. You go see what happened.” Then she looked at him worriedly. “See who got hurt and come back immediately, understand?”

“Okay!”

Yu Qianlin watched Xiao C’s back as he left. She retreated and leaned against the nearby table, gripping her pants tightly with both hands, staring nervously at the entrance.

Before long, Xiao C came back. She stopped what she was doing and pulled him into a corner. “How was it?”

“Master, Sister Liu got hurt.”

Yu Qianlin gripped his shoulders tightly. “What happened? Is it serious? Where is she injured?”

Xiao C spoke quickly, “Her arm was hurt. But by the time I got there, the doctor was already bandaging it. There was a huge pool of blood on the ground. Then the boy who was with her came over, and they left.”

“You didn’t ask about her condition?”

“Ah,” Xiao C scratched his head. “You told me to come back quickly, so I didn’t have time to talk to her.”

Yu Qianlin let go of his arm and asked worriedly, “How did she look?”

“Her face was a bit pale. She looked okay, but she must have been scared. After all, it was a sudden disaster.”

Yu Qianlin looked in the direction of the stands, imagining what Liu Yuelan might have gone through. Her face looked terrible.

On the way back, Yu Qianlin kept turning her phone in her hand. Several times she wanted to open it and ask about Liu Yuelan’s condition, but she backed out every time.

After returning to the shop, she felt a little dizzy. She asked Xiao Li for two bottles of Huoxiang Zhengqi water and drank them. Xiao Li advised her to go home and rest, but she waved her hand. “I’ll be in the office. Call me if anything comes up.”

“Okay.”

She turned on the air conditioner in the room, lay down on the sofa, pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, and fell into a hazy sleep.

She woke up because she was cold. She sniffed, turned off the air conditioner, and checked the time — it was time to get off work. She had no energy to cook, so on the way home she casually bought some bread to eat as dinner.

After dinner and a shower, she felt a bit more energetic. While drying her hair, she came out and saw the silk scarf beside her pillow. She stopped in her tracks, draped the towel around her neck, and looked at it for a while. She slowly walked over, picked it up, and lowered her head in deep thought.

If before she had only been attracted to her figure, appearance, and temperament, and couldn’t help getting aroused or enduring the blatant teasing, she could still explain it as pure lust acting up.

But the disappointment when she didn’t contact her, the irritation when she saw her being intimate with others, and the worry after hearing she was injured — all of it showed that she had already started to like her.

She didn’t know how much she liked her, but even just the beginning was dangerous enough.

Yu Qianlin stroked the smooth silk scarf with her thumb, stood up, opened the wardrobe door, pulled out the bottom drawer, and stuffed the scarf deep inside.

After closing the door, she let out a breath of relief.

Life went on as usual for a while. Yu Qianlin returned to her previous work and daily routine. Everything seemed unchanged, and Liu Yuelan didn’t contact her. She felt this was for the best.

One day, she was busy under a car using a repair creeper board. She needed a special wrench for the last screw. She reached out to feel around on the prepared tools beside her but didn’t find it. When she turned her head, she realized she hadn’t brought it over. One of her hands was occupied and she couldn’t free herself, so she took the walkie-talkie clipped to her shirt pocket and asked Xiao Li to have someone bring it to her.

After they replied, she took the chance to observe the fault, thinking about what might happen once she opened the cover later. Footsteps ran toward her. Soon a shadow fell beside her. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone squat down. She reached out and grabbed — only to hold a soft hand.

She turned her head and saw a pair of red high heels. She quickly let go. A familiar smiling face leaned down to look at her. “Ah Yu, long time no see!”

Her heart rose along with the other woman’s long hair as it fell. Only after seeing that the hair tips were still some distance from the ground did her heartbeat return to normal.

Seeing the other woman able to squat so low even in high heels, she secretly admired her for a moment and wondered if she would get tired. Then she immediately felt she shouldn’t keep staring and turned her head back to look at the undercarriage.

On the other side, Xiao C panted as he handed over the wrench. “Master, here.”

She took the tool and started working. “Wait here. I’ll need help later.”

“Got it!”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Liu Yuelan suddenly stand up. Her hand movements paused for a second. Only after seeing her stand steadily did she feel at ease and continue working.

Liu Yuelan watched her work under the car for half an hour, then run to the car and fiddle with instruments together with Xiao C for a long time. Finally, she got out and started packing up.

She walked over and asked, “Are you done?”

Yu Qianlin just lowered her head and continued packing without speaking. Xiao C nodded. “Yeah, but we need to replace a part. We have to contact the car owner. Once the part arrives, we can swap it in.”

Yu Qianlin took off her gloves and placed them on the toolbox, then turned and walked out. Liu Yuelan felt she was acting a bit strange and called out to her from behind, but Yu Qianlin acted as if she hadn’t heard.

She quickened her steps, stepped in front of her, and stretched out her hand. “Ah Yu, you got my hand dirty.”

Yu Qianlin looked at the obvious smear of oil on her fair hand. Her eyes flickered. She turned back to Xiao C and said, “Take her to wash her hands.” Then she walked around Liu Yuelan and left.

Xiao C walked over and said, “Sister Liu, let’s go. I’ll take you.”

Liu Yuelan looked at Yu Qianlin’s retreating back, her eyes dimming. She gave a soft “Mm” and followed him to the sink.

When Yu Qianlin reached the lobby, she saw several people gathered together talking about something. The floor was also a mess. She walked closer and saw a massage chair.

“Who bought this?”

Xiao Li smiled and walked over. “Sister Lin, Miss Liu sent it over. She said to put it in the rest area. If anyone has to wait too long, they can lie on it and massage to pass the time. We can also use it to rest when we’re tired.”

Yu Qianlin stopped looking in that direction and said lightly, “Have her take it away.”

Before she finished speaking, Liu Yuelan’s voice came from behind, “This was given to me by someone else. I already have one at home and nowhere to put it, so I’m giving it to you.”

“No need. We can buy our own. Xiao Li, pack it up.”

After saying that, she went straight to the office, leaving a room full of people looking at each other in confusion. Liu Yuelan gripped her bag strap tightly. Xiao Li didn’t know what to do either. Her gaze darted back and forth between Liu Yuelan and the massage chair.

“Miss Liu, how about we help you carry it back to your car?”

Liu Yuelan tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “Wait a moment.” Then she strode toward the office.

Xiao Li’s heartbeat quickened at the sound of the high heels. She sensed something big was about to happen. Everyone craned their necks to watch the office like it was a show. Xiao Li shooed them away and told them to get back to work, then moved the packaging to a corner and returned to the front desk, keeping an eye on the office the whole time.

Liu Yuelan knocked on the door, then pushed it open without waiting for permission and closed it behind her.

Yu Qianlin didn’t even raise her head. She was recording something in the work log. Liu Yuelan sat down across from her and stayed silent for a moment before saying, “Did I do something wrong?”

Yu Qianlin’s hand paused. She blinked and said in a low voice, “No.”

“Then why are you suddenly treating me like this? I thought we were at least friends by now.”

“The thing is too expensive. We can’t accept it.”

Liu Yuelan sighed. “Ah Yu, I really didn’t know where else to put it, so I brought it over. Can you just keep it for me temporarily?”

“Then it can go in the storage room.”

Liu Yuelan saw how stubborn she was and pressed her hand to her forehead to calm herself down.

Yu Qianlin secretly glanced upward at her and noticed a thin scar on her fair arm. Although it had already faded a lot, because the rest of her skin was so white, it was still noticeable at a glance.

Her lips moved. She wanted to say something but held back.

Liu Yuelan calmed down for a while and wanted to continue persuading this stubborn rock. When she looked up, she found Yu Qianlin staring at her arm. Following her gaze, she understood what she was looking at and lowered her arm so the loose sleeve fell down and covered her wrist.

“Ah Yu, I—”

“Put it wherever you want,” Yu Qianlin said while doodling on the paper in a muffled voice. “But if someone breaks it, I won’t compensate.”

Liu Yuelan didn’t know why she suddenly changed her mind, but she was overjoyed. “Okay, I won’t make you compensate. Thank you, Ah Yu.”

Yu Qianlin nodded, closed the notebook, and started looking at the computer.

“Then I’ll leave you to your work. I’m heading out.”

She had only taken a few steps when Yu Qianlin, still looking at the computer, called out to her, “Wait.”

Liu Yuelan turned back in surprise and heard her ask awkwardly, “That… does the wound still hurt?”

Liu Yuelan’s lips curved up. She walked back slowly with her hands behind her back and leaned against the desk beside her. “If I’m not mistaken, are you concerned about me?”

“It’s just a polite question. You don’t have to answer.”

Liu Yuelan saw that she was still being stubborn and placed her hand on her shoulder. “It hurt a lot at first, but now that you’re concerned about me, it doesn’t hurt anymore. If you comfort me a few more times, it’ll heal even faster.”

Yu Qianlin shrugged her shoulder to shake off her hand. “If it hurts, apply medicine.”

Liu Yuelan chuckled softly. “Perfect, I brought medicine. Can you help me apply it?”

“No.”

Liu Yuelan tapped her head lightly. “I knew it.”

Yu Qianlin raised her hand to touch the spot that had been tapped. Although it was just a light tap, her heart ached from the impact.

“Alright, it was just a small cut. It healed the same day. I’m just applying scar removal cream now.”

“Mm.”

“Is it still very obvious? Does it look bad?” Liu Yuelan asked worriedly as she raised her arm and touched it.

“No, it’s very small. You can barely notice it.”

Liu Yuelan smiled slyly and leaned down close to her. “Then how did you still see it? How long did you stare at me, hm? Ah Yu.”

Yu Qianlin pushed with her feet, making the chair slide sideways to put distance between them.

Liu Yuelan was in a very good mood and wasn’t annoyed by her avoidance. With a bright smile, she reached out and ruffled her hair. “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Go back to work. Let’s have lunch together at noon.”

By the time Yu Qianlin came back to her senses and wanted to refuse, the person had already left. She reached up and touched the spot on her head that had just been touched, scratched her hair, then covered her face with both hands and cursed herself over and over in her heart for being so useless.

At that moment, her nose twitched as she caught the familiar scent again. Her thoughts slowly drifted to unspeakable places. A few minutes later she suddenly snapped back, grabbed a magazine, opened it, and fanned herself vigorously.

♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀♀

Love is a hand that wants to touch but pulls back.

Yu Qianlin: It’s all because my heart is too soft, too soft.