After Confessing To My Childhood Friend - Chapter 49
Chapter 49: The Butterfly on the Windowsill
◎Chen Mengyin brought spring to the window, and offered it to Xie Zhirou.◎
Chen Mengyin stayed at her grandma’s house until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. That afternoon, Chen Lin drove over from Yonghuai to pick her up. Before leaving, Grandma softly reminded her about the bracelet. Chen Mengyin listened patiently and solemnly agreed.
As soon as she got home, the first thing she did was carry the bracelet over to Xie Zhirou’s place. They hid in her room to whisper secrets.
“Here,” Chen Mengyin said, pulling out the box her grandma had given her.
Xie Zhirou took it and turned to ask, “What is it?”
Chen Mengyin smiled brightly. “Open it and you’ll see.”
“You’re being so mysterious,” Xie Zhirou said, then used her slender fingers to flick open the metal latch. Click—the box opened to reveal a clear, lustrous jade bracelet lying on red velvet.
“It’s beautiful! Where did you get this?” Xie Zhirou was stunned. The bracelet was obviously of high quality, glowing and translucent—it must’ve been expensive.
Chen Mengyin replied, “Wanna guess?”
Xie Zhirou closed the box. “I’m guessing it’s from your grandma.”
Chen Mengyin looked surprised. “How’d you guess that? So accurate!”
She hadn’t given a single clue—how did Xie Zhirou figure it out so easily? Was this the power of a top student?
“Maybe we have telepathy?” Xie Zhirou joked. “You thought about it so much I could hear you.”
Chen Mengyin realized she was teasing her. Over the past two days, Mengyin had been constantly messaging her—from what veggies Grandma picked to how Grandma’s dog stole the grandkid’s chicken leg, making the kid cry, and how Grandma pretended to scold the dog to make the kid laugh. Every little thing was shared on WeChat.
“You’re so mean! I was going crazy missing you and you’re teasing me.” Chen Mengyin lunged at her and started tickling her weak spots.
Xie Zhirou squirmed, trying to escape but failed. She ended up pinned on the bed, completely at the mercy of Chen Mengyin’s mischievous hands.
Gasping, she pleaded, “The—bracelet, careful, it might fall!”
She was holding it behind her protectively, but one wrong move and it could fall. That would be hard to explain.
Chen Mengyin straddled her waist, her eyes sparkling. Her cheeks were flushed from the tussle, bangs messily stuck to her forehead—a little silly, but very cute.
“Zhirou missed you too.” Xie Zhirou propped herself up with one hand, cupped Mengyin’s face with the other, and gave her a kiss.
“I won’t be fooled by your sweet words,” Mengyin said seriously, though her smiling lips betrayed her.
Xie Zhirou sighed. “Then what do I do? Maybe… you can return the kiss I just gave you?”
“That’s not—well, fine!” Chen Mengyin was about to say no, but her brain—which had once gotten her into the advanced class—worked quickly. Returning the kiss meant getting another one! She pecked Xie Zhirou on the lips. “Returned!”
Xie Zhirou was melting. She opened her arms and hugged Chen Mengyin, laughing into her shoulder.
Their posture shifted from Mengyin straddling her to sitting on her lap, long legs wrapped around Zhirou’s waist like a koala.
Mengyin didn’t get the joke, but she loved the hug and let Zhirou hold her quietly.
Once Xie Zhirou had absorbed enough “Mengyin energy,” she spoke, still hugging her neck: “Why did Grandma suddenly give me a bracelet?”
Chen Mengyin rested her chin on Zhirou’s head and chuckled. “Because she asked if I was in a relationship. Xie Zhirou, are you secretly dating someone?”
Zhirou raised her head and kissed Mengyin’s cheek. “Yes, I am—someone named Chen Mengyin.”
“I told Grandma the same thing,” Mengyin said. “I said I’m dating the prettiest and smartest girl in school. Grandma didn’t believe me, so I showed her our picture. Wanna guess what she said?”
Zhirou grinned. “What did she say? Tell me!”
“She kept praising you, said you were amazing and told me not to lead you astray. Said if I distracted you from your studies, she’d come to Yonghuai to beat me up. You’d think you were her real granddaughter.”
Zhirou kissed her again. “Our Mengyin is jealous?”
Mengyin shook her head. “Not at all! I’m thrilled. I even told Grandma that after the college entrance exams, I’ll confess to my dad about us. If he wants to hit me, she has to stop him. She agreed.”
“Why do you always think you’ll get hit?” Zhirou laughed. “Your dad never hit you, not even when you were a little troublemaker.”
Mengyin had been a wild child—climbing trees, sneaking into rivers, stealing eggs, and chasing butterflies.
Back then, while Zhirou was practicing piano indoors, outside the green-paned window was little Mengyin in shorts, running after butterflies.
The soft notes of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” stumbled through the practice room while the teacher guided her.
DoDo, SoSo, LaLa, So—
She had to play the tune many times just to barely get through it, her small fingers darting across the keys to catch every note.
The teacher told her to take a break. She rubbed her sore fingers and glanced out the window.
A glass jar had appeared on the windowsill—when had it gotten there? Inside was a butterfly. Next to it lay a sprig of early spring cherry blossom.
Chen Mengyin had delivered spring to her window, for her.
Zhirou remembered how she felt when she first received that gift—joy, a racing heart, and a hard-to-name, aching sense of longing.
She had wanted to run in the spring sunlight with Chen Mengyin too.
She rose on tiptoe, opened the window, and took hold of the spring in that jar.
Later, she preserved the butterfly into a specimen and hung it on her bedroom wall.
The delicate cherry blossom was pressed into a bookmark. Every time she opened a book, spring peeked out.
At that moment, Mengyin didn’t know Zhirou was lost in childhood memories. She said dramatically, “You don’t understand.”
Zhirou really didn’t.
“My dad will think I corrupted you and beat me in front of your parents to calm them down.” Mengyin sighed, announcing her tragic end.
“Don’t overthink. I’ll block your dad if he tries.” Zhirou giggled.
Mengyin rejected the idea. “No way. I’ve got thick skin—I can take a few hits. If he slaps me, I’ll say it’s too light!”
Zhirou patted her butt and said innocently, “Feels pretty soft to me. Nice texture.”
“Ahhh!” Mengyin’s face turned bright red. She covered it and went silent.
So evil! This girl!
Unlike the flustered Mengyin, Zhirou calmly said, “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat?”
Mengyin, still blushing and daydreaming about the earlier pat, immediately pounded her chest and said she’d handle dinner.
Zhirou looked at her fondly. “Okay, I’m counting on you.”
“You got it!” Mengyin led her out the door full of determination.
This time, Ye Siying’s food guide finally came in handy.
By now, most stores were open again. Mengyin took her to the restaurant they missed before New Year, ordered recommended dishes, and sat with her in the corner.
Credit where it’s due—anything listed in foodie Ye Siying’s guide was truly delicious.
After so many meals of leftovers, Mengyin nearly cried when she tasted something fresh, swearing never to eat leftovers again.
Zhirou, amused, picked out her favorite spicy bullfrog and put it in her bowl. “Then let’s eat out these few days.”
“That won’t work,” Mengyin’s tears vanished instantly. “If we don’t finish the leftovers now, Mom will just keep reheating them from the freezer. Might as well eat them while they’re still kinda fresh.”
Zhirou chuckled. “My parents are out of town, and the housekeeper won’t return for a few days. I don’t cook much—mind if I eat at your place?”
“Of course not!” Mengyin beamed. “I’d be thrilled! Mom will be too. She might even make extra dishes, so we won’t just have leftovers.”
“That’s great, though it’ll be more work for Auntie.”
“No way,” Mengyin waved it off. “If my dad’s not going to the office, there’s no way Mom’s doing the cooking.”
“After graduation, I want to learn to cook from my dad or mom,” Mengyin said suddenly.
“Why?” Zhirou asked.
Mengyin scooped up a perfectly stewed potato. “So I can cook for you when we live together. I’ve wanted to for a long time, but I’ve only made a few batches of wontons…”
Chen Lin had once told Mengyin that when Li Ran ate his cooking, her eyes would light up, full of joy.
He said seeing her happy made everything worthwhile.
That conversation planted a seed in little Mengyin’s heart—she wanted to cook for Xie Zhirou too.
She wanted to see her smile with dimples, say her food was delicious, and that she only wanted to eat her cooking.
Just the thought made Mengyin giggle, prompting Li Ran’s suspicious stare: “Why are you laughing? Eat properly!”
“I’ll cook whatever you want to eat,” Mengyin said.
Zhirou looked at her softly and whispered, “Okay.”