Chapter 111
Fang Bai read quickly, but every piece of content replayed in her mind in slow motion.
She watched frame by frame.
The emotions expressed in the little kid’s words were vastly different from her cool exterior. Beneath the aloofness was a lingering tenderness.
Like a hot spring hidden in a cold mountain.
Fang Bai noticed that some of the messages were sent almost in the dead of night.
Under the dim light and solitary shadow, Fang Bai didn’t dare to imagine what Ji Yuning looked like typing and deleting those words. Did she still maintain that detached and indifferent expression? Or… would she cry?
If she hadn’t seen Ji Yuning cry, Fang Bai wouldn’t have even considered it. How could someone cry because they missed her?
But she had seen Ji Yuning’s red eyes, and they had turned red because of her.
“…”
Fang Bai calmly put the phone back, turning her head to the other side. The car window was half-open, and as Fang Bai leaned closer, the wind scattered and messed up her hair.
The person who was already lost in thought didn’t care at all. She let the wind blow against her face. The fleeting scenery outside the window was an uncapturable passage of time, just like she couldn’t know what Ji Yuning’s mood was when she sent those messages.
Fang Bai might have been able to avoid thinking about Ji Yuning’s feelings, but her thoughts were completely out of her control.
If it were someone else, Fang Bai might have been touched for a moment, and then that would be it. But Ji Yuning was different, she—
Why was Ji Yuning different?
Fang Bai was stunned.
Was it just because she was the female lead? Or was it because she had genuinely raised her with real feelings? Or was it because when facing someone slightly closer, her rationality turned into sensibility, and she would involuntarily think about the other person’s feelings when they did these things? Thus achieving self-moved?
That wasn’t right either. The emotion Ji Yuning brought wasn’t purely derived from imagination; it was real.
So why was it?
The wind continued to blow, and Fang Bai’s mind was in a mess. She couldn’t figure it out.
Something was stuck in her chest, neither up nor down, the emotions inside and outside her heart not communicating with each other.
The two of them ate a simple meal outside. After returning home, Fang Bai went straight to her room.
Although Fang Bai’s demeanor seemed normal, Ji Yuning still noticed her strangeness.
Putting aside other small details, just the fact that after entering the house, Fang Bai had directly bypassed Beibei, who was squatting on the shoe cabinet waiting for her to pet or hug her.
This had never happened before.
After Fang Bai walked past the shoe cabinet, Beibei took the initiative to jump to the ground and follow behind Fang Bai, meowing twice in a spoiled manner to remind Fang Bai that she hadn’t hugged her yet.
As a result, Fang Bai, upon entering the bedroom, closed the door on Beibei following behind her the very next second.
“Meow?”
After calling out in confusion, Beibei’s pink paws scratched at the door, trying to push it open, but after two soft squeaks, the door remained tightly closed.
The snow-white head turned to Ji Yuning, watery big eyes staring. “Meow, meow.”
Each meow was more resentful than the last, as if complaining to Ji Yuning about Fang Bai’s behavior.
Ji Yuning lowered her gaze from Fang Bai’s bedroom door. She looked at Beibei, walked over, and picked it up in her arms.
“Auntie is thinking about something, she didn’t ignore you on purpose.” Ji Yuning carried Beibei to the snack storage area and took out a cat treat to feed it.
After feeding Beibei the treat, Ji Yuning put it on the ground, stroked its ears, and said, “Play by yourself for a while, don’t scratch the door and disturb Auntie.”
Beibei meowed and turned to walk to its cat tree.
As Ji Yuning stood up, she looked at Fang Bai’s bedroom, glanced at the door, then went to the side, opened the refrigerator, looked inside, and then left with the keys.
After returning to her bedroom, Fang Bai changed out of her work clothes into a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, casual and comfortable.
However, her thoughts were still in a mess. Lying in bed, she stared at the ceiling for an unknown amount of time.
So long that Fang Bai, who had been tired all day, felt her eyelids gradually growing heavy. Just as drowsiness was washing over her, Fang Bai propped herself up in bed and slowly walked to the dressing table, starting to remove her makeup.
And the things she had been pondering earlier floated back into her mind. Fang Bai restrained herself from thinking about them, focusing her attention on the mirror.
Fang Bai’s movements were slow and meticulous. Even though it was light makeup, it still took some time.
After removing her makeup, Fang Bai went to the bathroom to wash her face.
Just as she came out of the bathroom, preparing to return to her room, she heard a few faint sounds coming from the kitchen.
Fang Bai walked over and met Ji Yuning, who was coming out of the kitchen.
Ji Yuning had also changed out of her suit into casual clothes similar to Fang Bai’s.
Her long hair was casually twisted and tied behind her head, losing some of its usual distant feel.
Seeing Fang Bai, Ji Yuning said, “I was just about to call Auntie.”
“Hungry?” This was Fang Bai’s first reaction. Her gaze went to the kitchen. “What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”
“No.” Ji Yuning said, “I bought some fruit. I wanted to ask Auntie if you’d like a fruit platter or a fruit salad?”
“…Fruit salad, I guess.” Fang Bai hesitated for a moment, but she wasn’t thinking about what to eat. Even her answer followed the “nearest principle.” She was just curious why Ji Yuning was suddenly doing these things.
It was rare for Ji Yuning to eat before bed.
Ji Yuning nodded. “Okay, then Auntie can wait for me on the sofa.”
Fang Bai obediently sat on the sofa.
Beibei squatted in the corner, its eyes open and watching her, motionless, completely lacking its usual initiative to approach.
Not knowing what had happened, Fang Bai opened her arms and called softly, “Beibei~ come here~”
The self-restraint of the furry ball from the previous second disappeared. It immediately got up, walked to Fang Bai, and allowed Fang Bai to pet it.
Seeing this from the kitchen, Ji Yuning slightly raised an eyebrow. Beibei held grudges. She had thought it would ignore Fang Bai for several days…
A single cat treat could coax it. Then the other one should be easy to coax too, right?
Ji Yuning made the fruit salad in a clear, deep bowl, and it looked very appetizing.
Fang Bai was still teasing the cat. Ji Yuning walked over to Fang Bai and sat down, picked up a piece of fruit with a fork, and naturally fed it to Fang Bai’s mouth.
Fang Bai subconsciously went to eat it, but the moment her lips touched the fruit, she raised her hand to take the fork, saying softly, “Auntie can do it herself.”
Ji Yuning didn’t refuse. “Okay.”
Beibei jumped out of Fang Bai’s arms.
Ji Yuning moved the bowl in front of Fang Bai. After watching Fang Bai eat the fruit, she said, “Auntie, feed me a bite.”
Fang Bai’s eyelashes trembled slightly. “You… I’ll go get you one.”
“Does Auntie dislike me?” Ji Yuning’s words followed closely after Fang Bai’s, as if anticipating Fang Bai’s response.
Fang Bai’s movement of getting up paused.
She looked at Ji Yuning. The little kid’s brow was slightly furrowed, and her lips were pursed, looking aggrieved.
Fang Bai’s heart tightened. The hand holding the fork involuntarily landed in the bowl. “What do you want to eat?”
Ji Yuning’s expression instantly softened. She didn’t even look at the bowl, staring at Fang Bai’s profile as she said, “Auntie, feed me whichever fruit you think you resemble.”
Fang Bai paused for a moment, pretending not to understand the meaning of Ji Yuning’s words, and asked with a soft laugh, “Can’t I just be a person?”
“Yes,” Ji Yuning said directly, “but I can’t eat people.”
“…”
Ji Yuning said in a hoarse voice, “So I can only eat fruit.”
Fang Bai stuck the fork into the bowl, randomly picked a piece of fruit, and fed it to Ji Yuning’s mouth.
As if Ji Yuning hadn’t seen how casual Fang Bai’s action of forking the fruit was, she stared at the strawberry in front of her and asked, “Does Auntie think she resembles a strawberry?”
Only then did Fang Bai see that under the thick yogurt, the fruit on the fork was a pink strawberry.
“I…”
Fang Bai only uttered one syllable before Ji Yuning continued her sentence, “I think so too.”
Ji Yuning’s thin lips parted slightly, gently biting the tip of the strawberry without touching the fork.
After drawing the strawberry into her mouth, Ji Yuning extended her tongue and licked the yogurt from her lips. During this process, her eyes remained on Fang Bai, meeting her gaze.
Fang Bai, however, looked away when Ji Yuning extended her tongue to lick her lips.
For someone with a seemingly abstinent demeanor to make such a gesture, even unintentionally, was no less alluring than those charming vixens. Not to mention Ji Yuning’s seemingly unintentional yet deliberate actions, every glance was captivating, exuding her own unique charm.
Fang Bai’s mouth felt dry, and without hesitation, she forked a piece of fruit and put it in her mouth.
Her teeth bit down, and the fruit burst in her mouth. Coincidentally, Fang Bai had also eaten a strawberry.
As Fang Bai savored the sweetness of the strawberry, Ji Yuning’s voice sounded, “But this strawberry doesn’t quite resemble Auntie. It has a bit of sourness, while Auntie…”
Fang Bai’s gaze swept towards Ji Yuning.
Ji Yuning smiled. “I tasted Auntie last time, she was sweet, very sweet.”
“Cough cough.”
Fang Bai accidentally choked.
Without turning her head, Ji Yuning placed the bowl on the coffee table, leaned towards Fang Bai, and gently patted her back to soothe her.
Fang Bai hadn’t choked on the food, but on Ji Yuning’s words.
The ‘tasted’ Ji Yuning mentioned referred to… the last time she kissed her? That day, she hadn’t worn anything on her lips. Where was the sweetness coming from?
The coughing stopped. Just as Fang Bai was about to tell Ji Yuning that she didn’t need to pat her anymore, Ji Yuning’s hand moved away from Fang Bai’s back.
However, it casually moved to Fang Bai’s face, her fingers stroking the corner of Fang Bai’s lips. Ji Yuning asked in a low voice, “Did you see the chat history?”
When she went out to buy fruit, after Ji Yuning paid with WeChat, her eyes unintentionally caught her pinned chat.
With just one glance, she realized that Fang Bai had probably seen it, and Fang Bai’s strangeness had also started from that moment.
Fang Bai was stunned, a hint of unnaturalness flashing across her eyes.
Ji Yuning saw Fang Bai’s reaction and said in a relaxed tone, “Auntie, don’t mind those. That was just me talking to myself, a place to vent the things I’ve kept bottled up for too long.”
Ji Yuning added, “I deleted the records on your side because I didn’t want you to see them.”
Fang Bai’s eyelids drooped slightly, but she still saw them. In fact, she had the same thought as Ji Yuning, not wanting Ji Yuning to know she had seen them.
She couldn’t explain why, but her intuition told her that once the thing blocking her chest disappeared, perhaps she would know.
Ji Yuning brushed the stray hair by Fang Bai’s ear behind her ear and said softly, “Don’t feel burdened, okay?”
Burdened.
Ji Yuning attributed the three years of unspoken feelings that Fang Bai had accidentally discovered to putting pressure on Fang Bai.
She understood Fang Bai. The other woman would inevitably overthink these things, and after thinking, Fang Bai herself would be the one feeling uncomfortable.
Ji Yuning also didn’t want these things to change Fang Bai’s perception of her.
Because the her of tomorrow would love Fang Bai even more than the her of today and the her of the past.
Temporarily suppressing the mess in her mind, Fang Bai smiled at Ji Yuning. “I didn’t think anything of it. I’ll forget it after a night’s sleep.”
Ji Yuning smiled faintly. “That’s good.”
Then Ji Yuning withdrew her hand and picked up the fruit salad again. “Still want some?”
Fang Bai put the fork in the bowl. “I can’t eat anymore.”
Her dinner hadn’t even digested yet.
“Then just one more bite,” Ji Yuning said. “Auntie chose the fruit that resembled herself, but hasn’t chosen mine yet.”
Fang Bai looked down at the bowl, carefully identifying the fruits inside. Then she said, “You’re not here.”
Ji Yuning hadn’t intended to place herself on a fruit. She said, “Just pick one.”
After hesitating, Fang Bai forked a piece of watermelon and put it in her mouth.
A fiery red, and very sweet.
Ji Yuning cupped Fang Bai’s face with one hand and placed a kiss on Fang Bai’s slightly bulging cheek. “Good Auntie.”
She just wanted to kiss her while Fang Bai was speechless.
Author’s Note:
Xiao Ji’s Diary:
Actually, Auntie is more like a watermelon, so sweet and juicy~
Question: What fruit is Xiao Ji like?
T/N: Peach~
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!