After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 42
Chapter 42: Winter Break
◎ A Delicious Hongmen Banquet ◎
During the entire New Year’s holiday, Xie Zhirou stayed home with Tang Jingxue. Occasionally, she’d drop by to check on Chen Mengyin and supervise her homework, but would soon head back home.
Under Xie Zhirou’s watchful eye, Chen Mengyin painfully but happily finished all her homework.
As for Zhaocai and Jinbao, the two little furballs quickly adapted and, in less than half a day, had successfully won over every member of the Chen family.
The two cats went wild in the living room during the day to burn off energy, and at night, Li Ran would carry them back to her room to sleep. The next morning, she’d release them again to wreak havoc—just like toddlers in daycare.
Chen Mengyin was deeply jealous of how carefree the cats were. After finishing her homework, she grabbed the two fluffballs and kissed them all over. Their yowls of protest drew Li Ran, who slapped Chen Mengyin on the head and scolded her for bullying the “kids.”
Chen Mengyin pouted, claiming that Li Ran had cast her aside in favor of the newcomers. Zhaocai and Jinbao had only been around for a day and had already stolen her place as Li Ran’s beloved babies. So sad.
Li Ran picked up the cats and whispered to them, “Don’t mind your sister. She’s a little silly. Let’s keep our distance from her, just in case her silliness rubs off.”
Though they didn’t understand her, Zhaocai and Jinbao respectfully meowed twice in response.
Pretending to be angry, Chen Mengyin declared she was running away from home and stormed off next door to Xie Zhirou’s house to sob dramatically.
The holiday flew by. Once it ended, Li Ran and Chen Lin returned to work and couldn’t take care of the cats during the day. Chen Mengyin only came home at noon, so Zhaocai and Jinbao moved into a two-story pet villa on the first floor, monitored by a security camera.
After returning to school post-holiday, the dreaded fourth period evening class was canceled, and joy filled the campus. Even morning exercises were performed with unusual precision.
Chen Mengyin blended into the crowd, mechanically moving her arms and legs to the rhythm of the broadcast music.
It was another day packed with classes. The monotonous routine was stifling, but thankfully, she had Xie Zhirou by her side. Whenever she got tired of studying, she’d ask Xie Zhirou for a kiss to recharge and keep going.
Winter meant short days and long nights. Time slipped by fast, and before she knew it, winter break had arrived.
On the last day of class, Ye Siying had written a dense list titled “Winter Break Must-Eat Foods”—a scathing protest against their school cafeteria.
Chen Mengyin saw the list and shamelessly asked for a copy. Ye Siying, grateful for the meals Chen Mengyin often brought her, hand-copied one for her.
“Here. Take care of my stomach next semester,” Ye Siying solemnly entrusted her.
With a serious expression, Chen Mengyin accepted the note and promised, “Mission will be completed.”
Jiang Yingxia stood between them, speechless at their dramatic, cringey display.
The next day, on the first day of break, Chen Mengyin lay in bed hugging her blanket, refusing to get up. Xie Zhirou hadn’t stayed the night but had promised to come over to do homework together.
Homework. Again. Why hasn’t anyone invented a button that wipes all homework from the world—at the cost of never getting any more again?
After sighing for several minutes, Chen Mengyin finally dragged herself out of bed, changed into loungewear, and went downstairs yawning.
The first-floor living room had become the domain of Zhaocai and Jinbao. A tall cat tower stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, and the short-legged kittens had to cling to it like tiny jumping spiders to climb up.
Once, Li Ran heard Chen Mengyin call them that and smacked her for “corrupting the children.”
Fuming, Chen Mengyin scooped the cats up and aggressively snuggled them, getting a few fluffy paw punches in the face—pure bliss.
Several snowfalls had graced Yonghuai lately, but today was sunny. Zhaocai and Jinbao lay basking in the sunlight, fast asleep on the rug.
Chen Mengyin squatted down and rubbed Zhaocai’s soft belly. The kitten, thoroughly enjoying the attention, rolled over and slept with its belly up.
“Little jumping spider, is this how you won my mom’s heart?” she murmured, already defeated by the cuteness.
Zhaocai didn’t understand a word but continued to show its belly and lift its chin for more rubs.
After some indulgent cuddling, Chen Mengyin made herself a bowl of wontons with chili oil and devoured them with satisfaction.
When Xie Zhirou arrived, homework in hand, Chen Mengyin was sitting on the rug playing with the cats.
“Why are you on the floor?” Xie Zhirou asked, taking off her coat and sitting down beside her.
“They’re too small, I have to sit to play with them. Standing and bending over all the time is tiring,” she replied, reluctantly putting the toy away and feeding the cats some freeze-dried treats.
The kittens, already tired, were lulled into sleep again, curled up together like a yin-yang symbol.
Chen Mengyin snapped a photo and shared it in the family group chat. Surprisingly, Li Ran (who should’ve been working) instantly replied with a drooling heart emoji, and the police officer Chen Lin sent a thumbs-up while clearly slacking off at work too.
Chen Mengyin sneered. “So they’ve both been won over by the cats.”
She turned and threw herself into Xie Zhirou’s arms for comfort.
Xie Zhirou gently stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “Don’t cry. Zhirou loves you.”
That made Chen Mengyin laugh out loud. The sleeping cats twitched their ears at the noise, thinking the house might be haunted.
“You’re too cute,” she said, wiping away her fake tears, then kissed the corner of Xie Zhirou’s mouth. “Mengyin loves you too.”
Xie Zhirou looked at her, amused. “Let’s do some homework. Didn’t you say you wanted to go out and have fun during break? Better finish early so you can enjoy it.”
Groaning, Chen Mengyin went upstairs to grab her homework and sat opposite Xie Zhirou—pretending to study.
She barely answered a few questions before her foot started inching over to rub against Xie Zhirou’s leg. Whenever Xie Zhirou looked up, Chen Mengyin would act innocent and pretend to be focused.
After a few times, Xie Zhirou calmly trapped her mischievous foot between her legs and continued writing.
Chen Mengyin: “…” Oops, overdid it.
They finished one worksheet like that. Chen Mengyin’s leg was pinned, but not her mouth. She whined and pouted, begging for a kiss in exchange for more work.
Raising an eyebrow, Xie Zhirou slid her long leg teasingly along Chen Mengyin’s inner thigh—a subtle revenge.
“Be good. Do your homework,” she said.
Trembling, blushing, and thoroughly flustered, Chen Mengyin obediently picked up another worksheet.
For lunch, they ordered delivery. Both were tired of the usual food from Linjiang Road and neither could really cook. To avoid burning down the kitchen, they reluctantly ate the tasteless meal and swore to cook something else for dinner.
After feeding herself, Chen Mengyin fed the cats, who lounged on the rug with full bellies.
She tapped their noses, then poured fresh kibble into the bowls and went upstairs with Xie Zhirou for a nap.
“You haven’t kissed me today,” she said in bed, tugging on Xie Zhirou’s sleeve. “I need a recharge or I’ll have no energy this afternoon.”
Xie Zhirou gently kissed her, sometimes softly pecking, sometimes sucking her plump lips. Chen Mengyin’s breathing grew heavy, and her hands clutched at Xie Zhirou’s clothes, basking in the closeness.
Recharged and satisfied, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
That afternoon, Chen Mengyin actually focused on her homework. When the cats came over to meow for attention, she coldly tossed them two catnip-infused fish toys and sent them off to play alone.
“What should we eat for dinner?” she asked, stretching after finishing the last math worksheet.
“What do you want?” asked Xie Zhirou.
“I want—” Before she could finish, her phone lit up. It was a message from Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing: ddddd calling Mengyin, calling Mengyin!
Chen Mengyin: ?
Xu Qingqing: Whoa, summon successful!
Chen Mengyin: What do you want? I’m deciding dinner plans with Zhirou right now.
Xu Qingqing: [cool emoji] You should thank me. I’m here to invite you out to dinner.
Chen Mengyin: O great Xu Lord, I thank you. Who else is invited?
Xu Qingqing: Chaoshan beef hot pot! Just you, Zhirou, and Xueling. You in?
Chen Mengyin: I’ll ask Zhirou.
“We’ve been invited to Chaoshan beef hot pot by Qingqing. Want to go?” she asked.
Xie Zhirou hadn’t had that in a while, so she nodded. “Sure.”
“Cool, I’ll tell her.” Chen Mengyin typed a reply and asked for the location. Xu Qingqing sent the pin and said she and Wang Xueling were already on the way.
“She didn’t even wait for us to agree. What if we said no?” Chen Mengyin muttered as she texted back.
Xu Qingqing responded with a smiling face and a knife emoji. “If you refuse, Xueling will be at your doorstep in a second to drag you there.”
“Zhirou,” Chen Mengyin said while grinning, “tonight’s dinner might just be a Hongmen banquet.”
Xie Zhirou chuckled. “At least it’s a delicious Hongmen banquet.”
Chen Mengyin laughed. “Exactly. A delicious Hongmen banquet.”
Knowing their friends were already on the way, Chen Mengyin went upstairs to change. Meanwhile, Xie Zhirou stayed behind to feed the two “energy-draining beasts” one last can of cat food.