After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: But Song Yuli Loves Lychees The Most.

This was the third time Zhou Nianzhi had turned on the light.

She had already finished showering and drying her hair and was lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Her mind was filled with hot memories that made her sleepiness vanish and her consciousness grow even clearer.

After failing to fall asleep again, Zhou Nianzhi turned on the light and checked her phone.

Hey, it was almost 5 a.m.

Might as well just stay up.

It was almost dawn.

Zhou Nianzhi got out of bed, put aside the sad words she had written yesterday, and went back to learning how to edit, trying out more complex video editing techniques.

She had been at it for only three minutes.

Zhou Nianzhi yawned, feeling sleepy again.

She slapped her own face, telling herself not to fall asleep.

Ten minutes later.

Zhou Nianzhi fell asleep at her desk.

Sleeping at a desk wasn’t comfortable; her feet went numb, and her legs ached. But despite this, she was still fast asleep, even having a disjointed dream. The whole dream was like a malfunctioning video game, constantly jumping between different times and places.

Until that sound—

“Zhizhi, a little softer…”

When she heard those words, Zhou Nianzhi instantly woke up, almost jumping up from her desk.

She was in a daze for a long time after waking up. She shook her arms and rubbed her numb legs.

The sun was already hanging in the sky, and the sunlight streaming in through the window was dazzling.

She stood up and drew the curtains.

Swoosh—

Just as she was about to turn and sit back down, she looked at the darkened room. Her steps paused, and her mind filled with a jumble of memories.

She walked back to the window, thinking: I should open them again, lest people think she was doing something sweaty in the heat again.

So, for no reason at all, she let the sunlight back in.

To avoid the glare, Zhou Nianzhi moved to a different spot. As soon as she sat down, a message popped up on her phone.

It was from Sister Liu.

Zhou Nianzhi clicked on the chat with Sister Liu, whose profile picture was a big red flower with the words “Blooming prosperity,” and opened a long voice message.

It started with—

“Nianzhi, I wanted to tell you… hey, hey, go easy on that…”

Zhou Nianzhi immediately tapped the voice message, pausing it. She then nervously looked around, and after confirming no one was there, she lowered the volume on her phone. She didn’t know why she was acting like a thief in her own home, but her ears, which were slowly turning red and hot, told her why.

She knew Sister Liu’s words were hollow and sounded like she was far from her phone, likely speaking to the movers.

But she couldn’t control her mind from wandering. She had to drink some cold water, constantly forcing herself not to recall those memories, mostly because it wasn’t good for the undergarments she was wearing.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. After calming down, she continued to listen to the voice message.

“Go easy on that! What if it falls and breaks… Oh, I almost forgot. Nianzhi, my old friend has a new shop and needs someone to hand out flyers. I heard you’re looking for a part-time job. Does that work for you? Do you want to go?”

Zhou Nianzhi’s thoughts slowly pulled away from her memories, and she focused all her attention on the voice message. After asking about the time and place, she immediately accepted. She desperately needed to be busier to forget the things that shouldn’t be in her mind.

She glanced at the time. Walking there would be just right. So, she changed her clothes, rushed downstairs, and didn’t forget to buy two small steamed buns to fill her stomach.

She spent a few hours standing under the hot midday sun. Just before getting heatstroke, she finally got paid.

Holding the money, Zhou Nianzhi bought some vegetables, planning to go home and make some soup for Sheng Ning. As she passed a fruit stand, her eyes were drawn to the lychees at the entrance, and she involuntarily stopped.

“Girl, do you like these lychees?” The enthusiastic owner saw her and immediately came over. “The lychees we have recently are so delicious and sweet! If they’re not sweet, come back and find me!”

And they’ll suddenly become sweet just because I came back to find you?

Zhou Nianzhi couldn’t help but complain in her mind, but her gaze was still fixed on the lychees of varying sizes.

Her mind hadn’t even processed it, but her hand had already reached out.

She grabbed one. Mhm, it was quite fresh, but the skin was a bit thick. She didn’t know how big the pit inside was or if the fruit was truly sweet.

Even as her mind was thinking, her hand didn’t stop.

She didn’t actually like lychees that much; they were easy to get “heat” from.

But Song Yuli loved lychees the most.

How did I end up grabbing so many…?

Zhou Nianzhi lowered her head, looking at the money she had earned from toiling under the scorching sun until her skin was peeling. She gritted her teeth and bought a whole pound of lychees.

Paying for it ached her heart, but as she carried two or three dozen plump lychees home, Zhou Nianzhi felt a little happy.

She didn’t know why she had bought so many or who she would give them to. Her mom didn’t have a good appetite and couldn’t eat many lychees, and lychees didn’t last long. How was she supposed to eat them all by herself?

I couldn’t have bought them for Song Yuli, could I?

Zhou Nianzhi was muttering to herself when she turned a corner and ran into a familiar figure.

Why is Song Yuli here again!

When the streetlight was out and she was scared on her way home late at night, she ran into her.

Song Yuli worked overtime; understandable.

She met her at the elevator door on her way home early in the morning.

Song Yuli lived next door; understandable.

She saw her on her first day of setting up her stall when business was quiet.

Song Yuli had to go shopping; understandable.

But why were they running into each other at the vegetable market today?!

Suddenly, she remembered it was the weekend. It was entirely possible for Song Yuli to be everywhere.

A strange sound went off in Zhou Nianzhi’s head—

Warning! Song Yuli ahead!

So what if I run into Song Yuli? What’s so strange about that? Besides, she lives next door. It’s just a meeting.

Be confident, just walk past her boldly.

Zhou Nianzhi took a step forward.

Wait! Why is there another woman with Song Yuli! And it’s not Meng Jiayin from last time! Could it be…?

After getting a clear look, Zhou Nianzhi took a hundred steps back.

She almost ran.

She frantically moved through the crowd at the market. Although there weren’t many people buying groceries at this time, there were many vendors packing up and going home. Her small body was jostled by the hurried people, preventing her from running fast.

Coincidentally, someone in front of her was packing up their stall, carrying large bags of vegetables. Zhou Nianzhi tried to let them pass, staying in a corner, waiting for the vendor to finish packing up.

After confirming that the crowd had thinned out a bit, Zhou Nianzhi grabbed her vegetables and lychees, and prepared to leave.

Someone gently patted her on the shoulder from behind.

She thought it was a passerby who had accidentally bumped into her and paid it no mind, continuing to walk with her head down.

Until someone called out her name—

“Zhou Nianzhi.”

“Who is it—” Zhou Nianzhi’s mind wasn’t focused on the person behind her. She just wanted to leave the market as soon as possible to avoid running into the person she didn’t want to see.

The person spoke again: “Zhou Nianzhi.”

“You—” Zhou Nianzhi finally stopped, turning around as she spoke. She saw the familiar face appear so suddenly, and so close to her. She blinked and blurted out, “It’s you.”

What she had really wanted to say was, Song Yuli, why is it you again?

Song Yuli nodded.

Silence fell between them again.

Now that the person was right in front of her, it would be rude for Zhou Nianzhi to turn and run. The silence was terrifying, and she could feel Song Yuli’s gaze on the top of her head.

I should have washed my hair before leaving.

Could Song Yuli be concerned about her sparse hair?

I should have worn a hat.

After a moment of internal debate, Zhou Nianzhi was about to speak when someone next to her bumped into her. She lost her balance, wobbling, unable to find her footing.

Oh no, I’m going to fall!

In her panic, Zhou Nianzhi looked up. Why was she falling in this direction, and right into Song Yuli?

What kind of TV drama plot is this?!

Suddenly, while she was suspended in the air, Zhou Nianzhi’s mind flashed back to the image of Song Yuli and the other woman standing together. Before she completely fell, she abruptly turned her body, falling to the other side.

In a daze before hitting the ground, Zhou Nianzhi thought she saw Song Yuli reach out her hand, probably to catch her. But after she fell and looked up again, she saw that Song Yuli hadn’t reached out at all. Her hands were casually resting at her sides, and her expression was indifferent.

It was just a hallucination.

That’s good.

You absolutely, absolutely must not catch her.

Zhou Nianzhi pushed herself up with her hands on the floor, slowly getting up, and wiping the dust off her pants.

She only heard Song Yuli say softly, “They’re broken.”

Zhou Nianzhi waved her hand. Although it hurt so much that tears welled up in her eyes, she pretended to be fine, and in a show of strength to prevent Song Yuli from feeling sorry for her, she said, “I’m okay, nothing is broken.”

Song Yuli said, “I meant the lychees.”

Zhou Nianzhi pursed her lips and awkwardly lowered her head to look at the lychees. When she fell, she had accidentally crushed them. Most of them were squashed, and some had their skins broken, their juice squeezed out.

My lychees, noooooo—

Zhou Nianzhi cried out in her heart, but on the outside, she had to maintain a nonchalant expression. She let out a couple of fake laughs and said, “I’ll go home and see which ones are still edible. I’ll just throw away the rest that are broken.”

The subtext was clear: a broken relationship shouldn’t be lingered on.

Song Yuli was smart enough to understand that, wasn’t she?

“I have things to do, so I’ll be heading back now,” Zhou Nianzhi said, holding up the bag of vegetables and waving goodbye to Song Yuli.

She left with a cool and collected back.

In reality, every step she took was as painful as a needle prick. The reason her steps were so quick was that she wanted to get home and lie down as soon as possible.

This hurts so much!

After walking a long distance, Zhou Nianzhi slowed down and rubbed her arm. It was summer, and her clothes were thin, so any little bump or scrape would break the skin.

Zhou Nianzhi looked at her bruised and purple arm. She could already guess what her leg looked like. She was just glad she wasn’t bleeding. It would be bad if she had scared Song Yuli.

Then, she reconsidered. Wait, what am I thinking? Why am I still caring about Song Yuli? She’s probably already found someone else to love.

Maybe even more than one person.

Although she didn’t think Song Yuli was that kind of person, who knew how much someone could change after being apart for so long?

After all, even she had changed.

Zhou Nianzhi slowly made her way home. She first rubbed her legs and arms. When she felt a little better, she started cooking, stir-frying vegetables, and making soup.

While waiting for the soup to cook, her eyes fell on the bag of ruined lychees.

My lychees! How could they get ruined? Zhou Nianzhi pouted sadly, walked to the table, peeled one, and put it in her mouth.

The moment it touched her tongue, her mind conjured the image of Song Yuli sitting next to her, meticulously peeling a lychee and personally putting it in her mouth while she watched a TV show.

Why were the lychees so sweet back then?

These aren’t sweet at all!

Zhou Nianzhi peeled another one.

Sadness, anger, and frustration—all kinds of emotions welled up inside her.

Was she really going to go back to the fruit stand owner?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and the more she wanted to eat.

So she just stuffed them into her mouth.

Even the soup wasn’t done yet.

She finished all the edible lychees in the bag.

They’re not sweet. They don’t taste good. Only Song Yuli likes them.

As Zhou Nianzhi carried the food box on her way to the hospital, she threw away all the lychee peels and pits.

So decisive, so cool.

But why did she get a sore throat the next day?

I knew it. I should have eaten more…