After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Trip
◎ What a big bed! ◎
The two of them fooled around late into the night. Xie Zhirou had only managed to open a Word document and type a title for their planned itinerary, not a single word more.
The next morning, no one woke up early. It wasn’t until around 9 a.m. that a call from Tang Jingxue woke Xie Zhirou.
Groggily grabbing her phone, she carefully slipped out from under the sleeping girl in her arms and walked out of the room to answer it.
“Good morning, Mom.”
“Good morning, sweetheart. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Tang Jingxue’s voice came through a background of noisy traffic and the occasional car horn.
“No,” Xie Zhirou replied.
Tang Jingxue sounded relieved. “Your dad and I will be away on a business trip during the National Day holiday, so we can’t come back. I heard from Auntie Li that she’s gone to the capital, so only Mengyin is left at home. How about this: I’ll book train tickets and a hotel for you two, and you girls can go to the beach together. How does that sound?”
Xie Zhirou frowned. “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”
“Not at all!” her mother insisted. “It’s just two tickets and a hotel. Let me know when you’re free, and I’ll get everything booked.”
“I’ll ask Mengyin and let you know later, okay?”
“Of course! Just let me know once you’ve decided. I’ve got things to take care of, so I won’t keep you from your homework. Bye-bye, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Mom.”
When she hung up and turned around, she found Chen Mengyin leaning against the bedroom door, yawning. “Was that your mom?”
“Yeah. Did she wake you up?” Xie Zhirou asked, putting her phone away.
Chen Mengyin shook her head. “I woke up when I noticed you were gone.”
Xie Zhirou walked over and ruffled her hair. “My bad. Oh, my mom offered to send us on a beach trip. Want to go?”
The word beach instantly lit up Chen Mengyin’s eyes. “Yes, yes! When are we going?”
“If we finish our homework today, we can leave tomorrow,” Xie Zhirou said. “Let’s wash up and get breakfast, then get started.”
“Can we really finish it all in one day?” Chen Mengyin asked, suddenly deflated at the mention of homework.
“It’s better than doing homework at the beach,” Xie Zhirou replied, pushing her back into the room.
“Ugh, senior year…” Chen Mengyin groaned as she went to wash up. Since it was a holiday, she stayed in her pajamas and made a quick breakfast before plopping on the couch to reluctantly start her homework.
Xie Zhirou sat across from her, two stacks of test papers on the table. If they worked straight through at one test every 90 minutes, even skipping meals, they’d barely finish by 8 or 9 p.m.
“I’ll do Chinese and science. You take math and English,” Xie Zhirou suggested.
Chen Mengyin was good at science but struggled badly in math and English. Without Xie Zhirou tutoring her lately, she’d be in even worse shape.
“I hate math and English,” she grumbled—but still obediently pulled out the math test and started.
Xie Zhirou praised her and started working, too.
At first, Chen Mengyin was very focused, completing the first test neatly. But midway through the second, she began to get restless.
She’d stretch out her leg to poke Xie Zhirou, or get up for water and then just fidget and glance around mischievously.
Distracted, Xie Zhirou sighed and put down her pen. “Don’t want to go on the trip anymore?”
“I do! But doing test after test is so boring, and you’re not even talking to me.”
Then she leaned over and whispered, “How about this—kiss me once for every problem I solve. Good deal, right?”
Xie Zhirou understood right away and crooked her finger. The little puppy wagged her tail and gave her a peck before sitting back down to work.
“Do you think academic genius can be passed through saliva? If you kiss me more, maybe I’ll get smarter too,” Chen Mengyin said, swinging her legs happily.
Xie Zhirou didn’t call her out on the excuse, and simply continued writing her answers.
They spent the whole morning like that. Around lunchtime, they ordered takeout and then dove right back into the assignments—skipping even a nap so they could finish and go on their trip.
By the time they finished the last test, night had fallen. The streetlights cast a warm glow through the sheer curtains.
Chen Mengyin stretched and collapsed into her chair. “I don’t want to see another math or English problem for days.”
Xie Zhirou rubbed her sore wrist, agreeing for once.
“Did your mom say which beach we’re going to?” Chen Mengyin asked as she cleaned up. “And what time we’re leaving?”
“She said Laixiang. It’s a quick train ride. Someone’s picking us up at 8 a.m. tomorrow. We’ll pack tonight.”
Chen Mengyin’s eyes sparkled with the thought of the sea, sandy shores—and Xie Zhirou in a swimsuit, smiling sweetly at her.
“So nice… the beach,” she murmured dreamily.
“What are you thinking?” Xie Zhirou waved a hand in front of her.
“Nothing,” Chen Mengyin smiled. “Oh, we should bring sunscreen. Don’t want to get burned.”
“Yeah, let’s bring sun protection clothing too.” Xie Zhirou noticed she was hiding something but didn’t press. She’d find out eventually.
“I need to go home and get my clothes. You go pack upstairs first, I’ll be back soon,” she said.
Though they hadn’t spent a night apart since getting together, Xie Zhirou had to return home briefly. That made Chen Mengyin uneasy—she didn’t want to be apart, not even for a short while.
Thinking fast, she came up with a reason to tag along. “I’ll go with you! I can help pick out your stuff.”
Xie Zhirou actually didn’t want to be apart either, so she happily agreed.
Chen Mengyin gave herself a mental high-five and followed her home.
“We should bring dresses, right? I’ll bring my camera so I can take lots of photos,” she said as they opened the closet together.
“Yeah, dresses are nice,” Xie Zhirou said, laying two floral long dresses on the bed.
The blue-green prints looked like Monet’s garden—perfect for the summer seaside.
“These look great,” Chen Mengyin nodded.
Then Xie Zhirou pulled out another dress. “This one’s from my mom, but it doesn’t suit me. It’ll look great on you.”
Chen Mengyin stared at the short skirt in her hands and fell silent.
She hadn’t worn a skirt since she was 7 or 8, before she realized they made tree climbing harder. Since then, it had always been pants.
Xie Zhirou knew her reluctance, but she really wanted to see her in a dress again. She held her hand and pleaded, “Just once? I really want to see.”
Those big sparkling eyes full of hope…
Chen Mengyin resisted—one second, two seconds…
“Fine. Just this once!” she gave in almost instantly.
“If I look weird, you’re not allowed to laugh!”
“I won’t,” Xie Zhirou promised, folding the dresses with a satisfied smile.
“You better not…” Chen Mengyin muttered, still unsure. She’d gotten too used to the convenience of pants.
Once they finished packing, they returned to Chen Mengyin’s house and placed the luggage in the living room, ready for tomorrow.
“Let’s sleep—we’ve got an early morning.”
“Okay.”
After a full day of writing, they fell asleep quickly, not waking until the alarm the next morning.
They didn’t have time for breakfast. Chen Mengyin grabbed some bread for the car ride.
When they arrived at the train station, it was packed.
“There’s so many people,” she gasped once they found their seats. “If we weren’t tall, we’d have been squished!”
“Next time, let’s avoid holiday travel,” Xie Zhirou agreed.
They shared a look and nodded solemnly.
An hour and a half later, they arrived and found their driver waiting. “The hotel’s 40 minutes from here. You girls can nap, I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
“No problem.”
The driver was skilled, and the ride smooth. Soon, both girls were fast asleep.
They woke up at the hotel, which had a stunning ocean view from the window—arranged by Tang Jingxue through a business friend.
“Wow! This view is amazing!” Chen Mengyin cried as she ran barefoot to the window.
Xie Zhirou joined her, gazing out at the sunlit sea.
“Let’s put our things away and go get food,” she suggested.
“Okay,” Mengyin said, taking out a disposable bedsheet—only to realize:
It was one big bed.
That meant… tonight, at the seaside, in a hotel—
She’d be sleeping in the same bed with Xie Zhirou.
Suddenly, her heart was in chaos.