After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Winter
◎Warming the Bed◎
Since the day of their Ferris wheel date, Chen Mengyin had completely changed her old habit of slacking off and acting spoiled when tired from studying. Every day, she studied harder and harder.
In her words: “Suffering now will save me a beating when I come clean to my parents in the future—think of it as accumulating karma for my future self.”
Days passed by in her diligent studying, and finally, after a long business trip, Chen Lin came home. But he only had time to change clothes and chat briefly with Li Ran before heading back to the bureau for work.
Chen Mengyin only found out her dad was home after returning from evening study, but he had already gone back to work.
“Seriously, after being away for so long, Comrade Chen Lin didn’t even think about checking in on his daughter? Mom, do you think Dad even remembers what his daughter looks like now?” Chen Mengyin, dressed in pajamas, grumbled to her mom from the sofa.
Li Ran gave her a teasing look. “Even if he forgot, that didn’t stop him from transferring money to you.”
Thinking about the long string of zeros her dad transferred on WeChat, Chen Mengyin sheepishly laughed. “Hahaha… true.”
Li Ran rolled her eyes and let it go. “Alright, stop playing dumb and go to bed.”
Chen Mengyin gave her a hug and a goodnight, then rushed off to her room and turned off the lights.
Phew! Almost lost that allowance!
And so, this matter passed with one pretending to be clueless and the other letting it slide.
In December, the temperature in Yonghuai City dropped sharply. People on the streets swapped summer clothes for thick coats, and students at Yonghuai No. 1 High wore their winter uniforms, waddling around the school like little penguins.
Chen Mengyin ran hot. While others layered sweaters under their uniforms, she wore only a thin hoodie underneath and couldn’t even be bothered to switch to winter uniform pants—wandering around in summer shorts.
Ye Siying warned her that she’d regret it when she got old and developed chronic knee pain.
But Chen Mengyin brushed it off as jealousy. She patted Ye Siying’s thick, penguin-like layers, then gleefully ran off to warm Xie Zhirou’s cold hands.
Winter was both Xie Zhirou’s most hated and most loved season.
She had poor circulation—her limbs were naturally cold. Even in the hottest days of summer, her skin stayed cool to the touch, making her a human ice pack. Chen Mengyin loved to stick close to her in summer, as if cuddling a mobile block of ice—pure bliss during sweltering days.
But winter was tough.
Her already cold limbs became like ice, fingers pale and tinged purple—almost ghostly.
Xie Zhirou hated the biting cold of winter. She had to wear way more layers than everyone else just to stay somewhat warm.
Yet at the same time, she loved it, because winter gave her the perfect excuse to hold Chen Mengyin’s warm hands and soak up the heat.
At night, she could even enjoy Chen Mengyin’s bed-warming service—cuddling her personal little heater to sleep.
Now that summer was long gone and the short autumn had faded with the end of its last heatwave, winter had taken over. Chen Mengyin, true to form, now offered her warmth freely—warming hands, warming beds, no reminders needed.
“Hey hey, the human warmer is on duty again?” Xue Tongyun joked as she passed by the experimental class, seeing Chen Mengyin grabbing both of Xie Zhirou’s hands and stuffing them into her uniform jacket. She leaned on the windowsill, grinning.
This month, Chen Mengyin and Xie Zhirou had been moved to the front row—their seats right by the window. When Chen Mengyin looked up and saw Xue Tongyun, she pouted and didn’t respond.
Xue Tongyun called out, “Oh, ignoring me now?”
Chen Mengyin coolly replied, “How could a warmer talk? You’re not allowed to turn into a spirit after 1949, remember?”
Xue Tongyun was speechless. They bantered a bit more before she wandered back to her classroom, satisfied.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhirou didn’t join in. She quietly hugged Chen Mengyin’s waist while her icy hands gradually warmed up in her girlfriend’s heat.
After Xue Tongyun left, Chen Mengyin unzipped her jacket to check Xie Zhirou’s hands—finally, they were no longer frozen stiff and were even a little toasty.
“That herbal medicine you took didn’t help at all. After college entrance exams, should we try another hospital for treatment?” Chen Mengyin rubbed her hands, clearly distressed, wishing she could take the cold for her.
Chen Mengyin’s palms were hot—just as Xue Tongyun joked, she really was a personal heater. Xie Zhirou smiled faintly, her dimples peeking out. “We’ll see. If nothing else, I’ve got you, right?”
Chen Mengyin knew that tone. “We’ll see” meant she didn’t want to go. With a sigh, she resigned herself to being her girlfriend’s personal hand warmer.
When class started, they were too busy taking notes to hold hands. But since they sat in the back row, Chen Mengyin boldly pulled Xie Zhirou’s hand under her jacket anyway.
Warming one hand was better than letting both freeze.
At night, the classroom grew even colder. Yonghuai City didn’t supply heating, and the temperature wasn’t low enough for the school to turn on air conditioning. So students often hunched over, shivering as they did homework.
Chen Mengyin brought a small blanket and fingerless gloves for Xie Zhirou. During night study, she covered Xie Zhirou’s legs with the blanket and tried putting gloves on her.
But Xie Zhirou accepted the blanket and rejected the gloves.
“If I wear gloves now, what’ll I do when it gets even colder? Wrap my hands like Doraemon?” she joked.
Imagining that, Chen Mengyin burst into laughter. “Round hands are cute!”
Xie Zhirou gave her a flat look.
Chen Mengyin quickly straightened up and started doing her homework.
“Hey, do you think when it gets colder in Jan or Feb, the school might end night study early?” After four hours of freezing in night classes, students would stomp their feet, grab their bags, and race to the gate or cafeteria for a hot snack.
Chen Mengyin was carrying a cup of oden with Xie Zhirou as they walked home. She blew on a piece of radish and bit into it—the sweet flavor exploded in her mouth. She squinted in bliss, feeling like the happiest person in the world.
“Probably,” Xie Zhirou said, also carrying a cup of steaming oden. Her freezing fingers clutched the warm paper cup—it almost tingled, but the warmth was addicting.
“If they don’t let us go early, people will definitely catch colds.” Chen Mengyin slurped her soup. “Running air conditioning in winter means someone’ll get a nosebleed in two days, and then the whole school will argue about whether to keep it on or not. Ending early would just be easier.”
Last year, she had a nosebleed in class from sitting too long in the cold, with bl00d running down her face in front of everyone. Her teacher rushed her to the office to clean up, her nostrils stuffed with tissues.
Xie Zhirou had brewed her herbal teas all winter to help her “cool the fire” as the saying went—so much that Chen Mengyin joked she felt like a grazing goat, about to start munching on landscaping.
Now, Xie Zhirou remembered that too. Smiling, she asked, “Want more tea this year? I’ll brew it for you.”
“No, no, please don’t,” Chen Mengyin quickly waved her hands. Even if her girlfriend made it, she didn’t want to drink it anymore!
“Hey, want to sleep over at my place this winter? You’ll just be freezing alone at home again. Might as well come to my place—I’ll warm the bed for you,” Chen Mengyin offered as they neared home. “My mom keeps nagging me to bring you over. She even made soup for us.”
“Well, Miss Xie, will you honor us with your presence?”
Xie Zhirou chuckled. “Where’d this old-timey wife come from?”
“From your house, of course! So? Yes or no?” Chen Mengyin said with a pout.
“Alright, alright. Whatever you say,” Xie Zhirou agreed, taking her hand.
“Yes!” Chen Mengyin gave her a quick kiss. “Need to grab anything from home?”
Xie Zhirou nodded. “Yeah, but I’ll go get it myself. You shower first, I’ll be back soon.”
This time, Chen Mengyin didn’t insist. She went home, drank the pork rib soup her mom made, then went upstairs to shower and wait.
“Auntie, sorry to bother you again,” Xie Zhirou smiled as she pulled her small suitcase into their entryway.
Li Ran was delighted to see her again—having Zhirou stay over was a joy. She welcomed her warmly and insisted she have a bowl of soup before going upstairs.
When Chen Mengyin came down after drying her hair, her girlfriend was quietly sipping soup at the dining table while her mom watched TV—such a cozy scene.
“Mom, go to bed early. Don’t stay up watching TV,” Chen Mengyin said, munching on an apple as she sat beside Xie Zhirou.
Li Ran distractedly replied, “Mmm,” eyes glued to the screen.
Hopeless. Chen Mengyin mouthed to Zhirou.
Xie Zhirou laughed and got up to clean the dishes.
“Mom, we’re heading to bed. You sleep early too. Goodnight,” said Chen Mengyin, grabbing the suitcase and heading upstairs.
“I’ll go warm the bed—you shower quickly, okay?” she said in a squeaky voice, winking.
Xie Zhirou raised a brow, took her pajamas, and went to shower.
When she came out, Chen Mengyin was dozing at the head of the bed, her fuzzy head bobbing slightly—adorable and a little pitiful.
Zhirou patted her face. “Sleep if you’re tired. I still need to dry my hair.”
Chen Mengyin rubbed her eyes, yawning. “No, I’ll wait for you.”
Unable to convince her otherwise, Xie Zhirou dried her hair in record time, turned off the light, and crawled into bed.
The sheets, pre-warmed by her human heater, were deliciously warm. As her cold body slid in, the enveloping warmth made her sigh in relief.
Chen Mengyin latched onto her like an octopus, sandwiching Zhirou’s icy feet between her own and sharing her heat.
“Goodnight,” she mumbled sleepily.
“Goodnight,” Zhirou whispered back, snuggling into her embrace.
My personal little heater.