After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Blending into the Night.
Song Yuli seemed not to have noticed Zhou Nianzhi’s shyness and just replied calmly, “You’ll sleep in my room.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Nianzhi was stunned for a long time. Her eyes widened, and remembering the nights from before, she waved her hands incoherently and said, “This, this, this… Isn’t it a bit inappropriate?”
“What are you thinking?” Song Yuli raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “I’ll sleep on the sofa, and you’ll sleep on the bed.”
Zhou Nianzhi’s face turned red, and she said in a muffled voice, “Oh, like that. I thought…”
“Thought what?” Song Yuli walked closer, her eyebrows slightly raised. “Tell me.”
“Oh, goodness.” Zhou Nianzhi’s ears involuntarily felt hot. To avoid being seen, she quickly went around Song Yuli and walked straight into the room. “I’m a little tired, so I’m just going to go to sleep.”
Song Yuli’s voice was filled with laughter as she asked, “You’re just going to accept that?”
“Mhm.” Zhou Nianzhi’s voice was airy, sounding more like a hum. After thinking for a moment, she continued, “Just pretend I’m staying at a hotel for a day. I’ll transfer the money to you later.”
Then she walked into the room.
And quickly closed the door.
After hearing the door close tightly, Zhou Nianzhi finally let out a sigh of relief. The calm facade she had been putting on collapsed at that moment.
How could she be so at ease?
She also felt that she was being too cold toward Song Yuli, who was helping her.
But she really didn’t know how to face Song Yuli.
She wished that Song Yuli would hate her to her core and never see her again.
That would be better than seeing the look of hurt and pain on Song Yuli’s face with her own eyes.
To Zhou Nianzhi, the latter was a form of torture.
If she had to describe her feelings at that moment, it would be like standing on the edge of a cliff, caught by a branch, unable to fall down or climb up.
Rather than letting the unwanted emotions and thoughts linger in her mind, she decided to stick to this one guess—
Everything Song Yuli was doing now was a form of revenge.
Yes, it was revenge.
Song Yuli must hate her to the core.
Because only by thinking this way could she feel a little better.
Zhou Nianzhi didn’t lie down on the bed right away. Instead, she stood at the doorway of the bedroom, her gaze sweeping around the room.
She had thought that she had long forgotten everything about this place.
But every single thing in here was a memory of the two of them.
Not to mention completely forgetting, Zhou Nianzhi even remembered what was in the corners.
That small wooden wardrobe was a testament to their love.
Because they would accidentally wear each other’s clothes.
After wearing the wrong clothes for the umpteenth time after they got together, Zhou Nianzhi only noticed after she had left the room. She was too lazy to go back and change, so she just wore them to buy some things. When she came back, she said to Song Yuli, “I was in a hurry this morning and grabbed this one from the closet, mistaking it for mine.”
Song Yuli, who had just woken up, rubbed her eyes and let out a groggy “mhm.” Her pajamas were loose on her, and even her voice was muffled. “Mine are yours. Just wear them.”
“So, according to that logic…” Zhou Nianzhi paused, crossed her arms, and leaned against the wardrobe, still smiling. “…you’re mine, too?”
Maybe she wasn’t fully awake yet, but Song Yuli blinked her sleepy eyes, casting an innocent, clear gaze at Zhou Nianzhi.
Zhou Nianzhi let out an “oh, my.” Just one look at Song Yuli was enough to melt her heart. She leaned over, straightened the pajamas that had slipped off Song Yuli’s shoulder, and said softly, “Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore. If you’re sleepy, go back to sleep. I bought some things for you and put them on the table. I’m going home now.”
With that, Zhou Nianzhi turned to leave.
“Yes.”
A single word came from Song Yuli behind her. Zhou Nianzhi, who was at the door, didn’t react at first. She turned her head and asked, “What?”
Song Yuli hadn’t even fully opened her eyes, but she still said, one word at a time, “I’m yours.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Nianzhi let go of the doorknob. She turned back and slowly moved closer to Song Yuli, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.
In front of Song Yuli, she used her eyes to outline her lover’s shape and said dotingly, “I know.”
“You…” Song Yuli was instantly wide awake. She deliberately avoided Zhou Nianzhi’s gaze, her eyes darting away. She mumbled, “Grandma is still outside.”
“It’s okay,” Zhou Nianzhi said with a smile. “I’ll be coming often from now on.”
And then she didn’t come for several years.
The present Zhou Nianzhi was fidgeting, her eyes darting around as she looked at all the furnishings in the room.
Zhou Nianzhi noticed that Song Yuli hadn’t changed the specific location of a single thing. Even a single pen refill that she had given her, Song Yuli had kept and placed on the desk, preserving it carefully.
Zhou Nianzhi looked closely and saw a crumpled piece of paper on the desk.
It was just lying there, very conspicuous.
Zhou Nianzhi pinched herself with her fingernails, restraining her curiosity. She turned her head and looked away.
I might as well just turn off the light and go to sleep.
I’ll leave after I wake up.
Three seconds after closing her eyes.
It’s hot.
It’s too hot.
Summer nights always made people feel anxious and restless.
Zhou Nianzhi lay on the bed, fanning her face with her hand, trying to get some cool air. The fan was right in front of her, but Zhou Nianzhi didn’t plan on turning it on. She wanted to save some electricity.
Zhou Nianzhi pricked up her ears, deliberately listening for the sounds from outside the room.
It sounded like she wasn’t the only one suffering from the heat.
“Knock, knock—”
The knocking sound came again.
Zhou Nianzhi turned on the light and asked from inside the room, “Song Yuli, is that you?”
Song Yuli’s voice came through. “It’s me.”
Zhou Nianzhi jumped off the bed, opened the door, and saw Song Yuli standing in front of her. Her gaze brushed past her and looked at the space behind her.
She was a little confused and wondered, what is she looking at?
“There’s no air conditioning. Is it hot for you to sleep?” Song Yuli finally asked after a while.
“It’s not hot at all,” Zhou Nianzhi said, shaking her head with an effortless expression. She was already an expert at these kinds of lies. “I was just about to fall asleep.”
Song Yuli was silent for a few seconds, staring intently at Zhou Nianzhi.
Zhou Nianzhi was starting to feel guilty under her gaze.
“You haven’t wiped the sweat from your forehead yet,” Song Yuli said slowly, pointing to Zhou Nianzhi’s forehead.
Now it was Zhou Nianzhi’s turn to be silent.
In the moment she raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, Song Yuli had already walked into the room.
Suddenly, Song Yuli let out an “oh,” and asked Zhou Nianzhi, who was still standing at the door, “Can I come in?”
Zhou Nianzhi looked at the owner of the room, who had already walked to the side of the bed, and felt a little speechless at her question.
But out of politeness, and because it was Song Yuli’s house, Zhou Nianzhi patiently smiled and said, “Yes, you can.”
“Okay,” Song Yuli said as if there was nothing wrong and continued to walk inside.
Zhou Nianzhi followed her, a little curious.
Song Yuli glanced at the desk in front of her, then moved away from it and walked over to the fan.
“This fan seems to be a little broken,” Song Yuli said, rolling up her sleeves as she twisted and patted the back of the fan. Then she plugged it in, turned to Zhou Nianzhi, and said, “It’s working now. You can try it.”
Zhou Nianzhi was almost evaporating from the heat. The moment she heard the sound of the fan, she immediately moved closer to feel the cool breeze.
Zhou Nianzhi’s face was almost touching the fan. She suddenly felt that the swinging blades were working so hard, trying their best to blow away all the heat around her. She blurted out, “This is so comfortable.”
Song Yuli stood next to Zhou Nianzhi, not in the fan’s path, and quietly looked at the person who was smiling as she enjoyed the breeze.
“This fan hasn’t been used in a long time. You can leave it on for a while to see if it’s still working,” Song Yuli said. “You can also leave it on while you sleep. It’ll just turn off by itself if it breaks.”
Zhou Nianzhi nodded and replied, “Okay.”
Song Yuli started to walk out. “You go back to sleep. I’m going out now.”
Zhou Nianzhi continued to nod. “Mhm.”
Then, Zhou Nianzhi lowered her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and almost gave up on saying what she wanted to say next.
But in her eyes, all she could see were the shaking fan blades, as if they were telling her—
Don’t give up.
Zhou Nianzhi sighed and finally called out to Song Yuli.
“What’s wrong?” Song Yuli stopped in her tracks.
“You came in just to turn on the fan for me, didn’t you?” Zhou Nianzhi didn’t turn around. She stared intently at the fan blades. “I can tell. The fan wasn’t broken.”
Song Yuli chuckled. “It seems you’re quite smart.”
“Don’t laugh,” Zhou Nianzhi said, her tone serious. “I’m asking you a very serious question.”
Song Yuli had no choice but to stop smiling and become a little more serious. “Yes.”
“I remember the fan in the living room was too big and loud, and you’re a light sleeper, so you always had trouble sleeping because of the noise,” Zhou Nianzhi really wanted to sway with the fan blades so she wouldn’t say anything more. But her mouth always wanted to follow her heart, and she couldn’t control herself. “Do you want to sleep in here?”
The sound of the fan mixed with the sound of their heartbeats.
Blending into the night.
Zhou Nianzhi’s breathing was rapid. She would rather stare at the fan until she saw flowers than turn around and look at Song Yuli.
She heard a rustling of footsteps.
They weren’t walking toward her.
They were getting farther away.
Zhou Nianzhi turned around, and sure enough, there was no one behind her.
She felt down and let out a light sigh, then continued to look at the small fan in front of her.
Little fan, little fan.
Tell me, was your owner scared, so she ran away?
Or did your owner dislike me… no, us, so she left?
The more Zhou Nianzhi thought about it, the more she regretted it.
She patted her forehead. She really didn’t know what she was thinking. Why didn’t she think things through before saying them?
Now look what happened.
Song Yuli must think she’s crazy.
One moment she says they should keep their distance, and the next she keeps provoking her.
Zhou Nianzhi was so annoyed that she was thirsty.
The sweat was flowing, and her mouth was dry.
She really wanted to drink some water.
The sound of water reached her ears. Zhou Nianzhi closed her eyes and thought that she was so annoyed that she was hearing things.
“Zhou Nianzhi.”
See? She’s even hallucinating that Song Yuli came back.
Wait a minute.
Suddenly, Zhou Nianzhi opened her eyes and looked toward the source of the sound.
Song Yuli had really come back.
And she brought two cups of water.
“You were just…” Zhou Nianzhi asked, her hand slightly pointing at the two cups of water.
Song Yuli nodded slightly, placed one cup of water next to the fan, and held the other one herself.
“Is this for me?” Zhou Nianzhi asked, a little incredulous, picking up the cup of water in front of her. “How did you know I was thirsty?”
Song Yuli looked up, took a sip of water, and replied, “I guessed.”
Zhou Nianzhi was so thirsty that she took a big gulp, then held the cup and looked down at the swaying water, muttering, “I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“I just went to get two cups of water,” Song Yuli said.
Zhou Nianzhi let out an “oh,” then felt a little wronged and lowered her head. “You didn’t even say anything to me.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the person beside her walked away again.