Lend Me Your Shoulder - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Outside the venetian blinds, the sounds of people swelled. Pedestrians quickened their steps, and the bustling crowd, like countless tangled threads, flowed and converged in the city center.

The air inside the dessert shop seemed to solidify for a moment.

Xu Yeyu held the tissue, her fingers resting at the corner of his lips, lifted just a fraction of an inch. The soft tip of the tissue would occasionally brush his lip area when her chest vibrated with her breathing.

She maintained the wiping motion, leaning over, unable to move forward or backward. Her body was hunched, spanning more than half of the square table.

After too long without a reply, a subtle tremor of apprehension ran through her. She blinked, and her gaze, which had been nervously averted, finally dared to return, meeting Lu Yanbai’s for a brief moment.

The emotion in the man’s eyes was unusual: clear, but not distinct.

She saw her reflection in his pupils, a shadow surrounded by emotion, like a tangled ball of sunlight.

Xu Yeyu finally, slowly, inch by inch, withdrew her hand and sat back down.

“If you don’t want to, then forget it.”

Anyway, even if you don’t agree, I’m still not using honorifics starting tomorrow.

She thought to herself secretly, brazenly.

“It doesn’t matter, you can call me whatever you want,” he finally replied, his thumb resting on the clear white coaster. “I generally don’t set strict rules for how students address me.”

…So, can I call you husband?

The words almost slipped out. Xu Yeyu swallowed, then pretended to scoop a piece of matcha mille-crepe into her mouth.

“Then, then I won’t use ‘you’ (honorific) anymore.”

Initially, using honorifics with him was partly a habit developed over her long student life, and partly because, not being his direct student, she felt a little unsure when facing him.

Honorifics, being a sign of respect, served as a barrier and a shield, allowing her to conceal her “true nature” lest it be exposed.

But now it seemed that while respectful, it was too distant and polite.

Hearing her call him “you” (honorific) outside, it didn’t sound like there was “that kind of relationship” between them.

She still wanted to use the opportunity to move towards ambiguity.

Lu Yanbai watched her eating with her head bowed, resting his chin in his hand, and said faintly, “When you go back, get some good rest.”

This matter had taken up a lot of her energy and time. Now that it was resolved, she needed some relaxation and rest.

Xu Yeyu nodded: “Okay, I’ll definitely rest well, and then I’ll… serve you with my life.”

She exaggerated so much that Lu Yanbai’s lips twitched, and a chuckle escaped his nose.

As she ate her cake, she noticed his gaze, subtly grazing the tissue she had just used to wipe his mouth.

He was probably checking if she had lied to him.

But fortunately, foam was white, and the tissue was also white, so it was impossible to see if anything had stuck to it.

So even if she had indeed been bluffing, he probably couldn’t tell.

Xu Yeyu nodded silently to herself, thinking that if she kept this up for a while longer, she could write a book titled, “How I Skillfully Charmed My Professor Over the Years.”

After “playing dead” at home for a few days, fueled by desserts, drinks, a few episodes of Rapid Burn, and the occasional concern she extracted by bothering Professor Lu…

Xu Yeyu finally recovered the energy she had spent on the Bana incident, fully revitalized.

She lay on the sofa, holding her phone, and thanked Xiang Wei for her recommendation: [Rapid Burn is pretty good.]

Xiang Wei: [Did it heal your tired soul a little?]

Xu Yeyu: [Yes, following Nie Jianglan’s camera, there’s a sense of intellectual superiority that crushes everyone else.]

Xiang Wei: [So…]

Xiang Wei sent an emoji: [Today is also a f*cking energetic day.jpg]

“…”

Before Xu Yeyu could reply, Wanwan, as if on cue, sent a message urging her to submit her manuscript, just as she finally had some energy:

[Before I left home this morning, I habitually tore off a page of the calendar. Do you know what today’s situation indicates?]

As if afraid she wouldn’t answer, Wanwan muttered to herself: [Auspicious for urging manuscripts.]

Wanwan: [I think, perhaps this is a call from heaven, and you, as the chosen one, it’s time to fulfill your mission.]

Wanwan: [Waiting for your 365 days, waiting for your manuscript for 365 days.]

Xu Yeyu: [Don’t lie to me, where on a calendar does it say ‘auspicious for urging manuscripts’??]

Wanwan: [Ah Wan’s special custom-made manuscript urging almanac, continuous urging in turns, happy urging without borders.]

Xu Yeyu: ?

Is this reasonable??

Wanwan was extremely calm and heartless, like a scumbag after a one-night stand, saying the most annoying things in the blandest tone: [Still missing one column draft! Didn’t you promise me you’d submit it this issue? Because the magazine is going to print tomorrow, so I specifically left a few pages for you. If you don’t submit it, the entire magazine will have blank spaces, Boss Xu.]

Xu Yeyu was shocked by this anti-human operation.

[Li Wanwan, are you human??]

If she didn’t submit on time, the entire magazine’s progress would be greatly affected.

And Xu Yeyu would absolutely not let that happen.

Wanwan had known her personality for a long time, which is why she used such a strong tactic.

[It’s not as exaggerated as ‘a few pages’. Just write a short piece of two to three thousand words, and it’s OK. If not, this issue has a theme, you can write according to the theme too.]

Xu Yeyu smiled: [OK, you’re ruthless.]

Xu Yeyu: [I had a plot bunny I wrote a thousand words for last time. I can finish it and send it to you today.]

Fortunately, she had some reserves; otherwise, she would really have been knocked down by Wanwan’s sudden attack.

A small plot bunny wasn’t difficult for her. Besides, she hadn’t written for a while, and when she started writing again, she finished faster because she had more inspiration in her head.

At 9 PM, Xu Yeyu had just finished a short story of three to four thousand words and sent it over.

Wanwan was touched by her speed: [Wow, so fast!]

[If you could write long pieces at this speed, how could Wanwan ever starve on the streets?]

[Didn’t you say you had an idea for a long piece a week or two ago? I humbly ask, did that idea survive?]

A week or two ago, when writing the promotional article for Lu Yanbai, an idea flashed through her mind, and she had told Wanwan about a long-form direction.

Wanwan’s reply then was to wait until she could truly start writing and had thirty thousand words settled before talking about it.

In reality, even now, the desire to write hadn’t diminished.

Xu Yeyu thought for a moment and said: [Wait for me, I’ll send it to you when I finish writing.]

Wanwan saw that this was promising, and was still a bit incredulous: [Really? Will I really live to see you write a long piece before I die?!]

Xu Yeyu: [???]

Who are you looking down on?!

Closing the chat with Wanwan, Xu Yeyu sat there, thinking about the new long piece on her phone for a while.

As if sensing her thoughts, her phone suddenly lit up, displaying a four-character note — “Empress Mother.”

Xu Yeyu answered the phone: “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Chen Zhi first asked about her recent situation: “How have you been lately? Are you okay?”

“Very well,” Xu Yeyu said. “Aside from not having a boyfriend yet, everything’s perfect. I eat well, sleep well, and look good.”

Chen Zhi scoffed at her: “Always thinking about boyfriends, never serious.”

Xu Yeyu: “So you’d be satisfied if I didn’t think about you?”

“Seriously, if you like someone, Mom won’t object, but you need to be careful with your boundaries…”

“Eh, okay, okay,” Xu Yeyu saw that they were getting off-topic again. “Did you call me just to tell me these things that I’ve heard so many times my ears are calloused?”

Chen Zhi paused: “Not really.”

“A’Zou’s birthday is coming soon, and you haven’t been back in a long time, so Mom called to ask if you could spare some time to come back?”

Having not seen her for a long time, Chen Zhi missed her a little.

Xu Yeyu calculated the days: “Oh, right, Jiang Zou’s birthday is soon. Then I’ll go back.”

Chen Zhi teased her: “What, only A’Zou can persuade you?”

“It’s about time to go back anyway,” Xu Yeyu chuckled. “I’ll send you the train schedule later. Remember to clean my room too; I need to sleep when I get back.”

“Of course, Mom always cleans your room. I even bought you new sheets.”

“Alright, then I’ll wait to come back.”

After hanging up, Xu Yeyu stretched lazily out of her room and rummaged through the snack cabinet, finding it empty.

“Xiang Wei, where’s that big bag of snacks I bought a few days ago?”

Xiang Wei hugged a pillow and shook her head: “Weiwei doesn’t know, it’s not Weiwei’s business.”

Xu Yeyu stared at her bulging stomach, brewing a question: “Baby’s three months old now?”

Xiang Wei gritted her teeth and glared at her, enunciating each word: “Per-son-al at-tack, re-port-ed.”

“I haven’t even reported you for eating all my stuff, and you’re reporting me instead?” Xu Yeyu chuckled. “Do good-looking people always have to endure this?”

“Alright, if this is the price of being charming, I’ll bear it.”

Xiang Wei: ???

“Let’s go,” Xu Yeyu stood at the door. “Come with me to the supermarket. I’ll buy some food for the apartment and some to take back. While I’m away, let these snacks keep you company through the lonely nights.”

Xiang Wei: “Where are you going?”

Xu Yeyu: “I’m going back home for a visit, to see my cousin.”

Xiang Wei nodded: “Okay, when are you leaving?”

“Not sure yet, but I should be back in a few days.”

“Alright, then I’ll stay here. I still have to look after the company.”

After clarifying their plans, the two prepared to head to the supermarket.

Xiang Wei led Xu Yeyu onto a bus and went to a large supermarket three stops away.

Getting off the bus, Xu Yeyu exclaimed, looking at the long night ahead: “I didn’t even know there was a supermarket here.”

Xiang Wei rolled her eyes: “What do you know?”

“I really didn’t know. I used to think there was only one convenience store nearby. Once when I had no inspiration, I even went there to poke Yakult—that was the time I played Chopin.”

“So you’re a musician now?”

Xu Yeyu bowed: “My pleasure, my pleasure.”

Inside the supermarket, Xu Yeyu pushed a cart, with Xiang Wei walking behind her.

“Speaking of which, I want to drink Yakult today too,” Xu Yeyu looked up at the sign, heading towards the yogurt section. “Let’s go, buy a few packs and chug them down.”

As she entered the aisle, Xu Yeyu was about to reach for the Yakult when she suddenly remembered something and turned to Xiang Wei: “Remember the first time I drank Yakult? That was when I ate cheese tarts at night…”

As she spoke the first word, Xiang Wei saw a familiar figure approaching from the other side.

When that person also stood in front of the Yakult shelf, Xiang Wei nervously thought, How did Professor Lu also end up here?

Xu Yeyu suddenly gasped.

Xiang Wei thought she knew Lu Yanbai had arrived: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Yeyu frowned: “I actually ate something as high-calorie as a cheese tart late at night back then, was I crazy?”

Xiang Wei: …

So Xu Yeyu has the function of complaining about herself too?

Xu Yeyu clicked her tongue, expressing her feelings about her reckless behavior at the time, then turned around and reached for the item.

Another hand almost simultaneously landed on the Yakult with hers.

The fingers on the right were too beautiful and recognizable. Xu Yeyu looked up, slightly stunned: “…Professor Lu?”

Lu Yanbai nodded.

Actually, he had noticed Xiang Wei a moment ago and heard Xu Yeyu, who had her back to him, speaking.

He initially thought Xu Yeyu wouldn’t finish talking until he had taken his items, but who knew she would turn around the next second.

Xu Yeyu’s eyelashes trembled slightly, still somewhat disoriented: “You… no, you came here to buy Yakult too?”

She quickly changed the honorific.

Lu Yanbai nodded, loosening his fingers, motioning for her to take this row.

Xu Yeyu looked back; there was only one row left here.

She quickly let go, thought for a moment, then grabbed it again, pushing the Yakult towards Lu Yanbai.

“You drink it, you drink it. I’m not drinking it.”

Lu Yanbai: “No need, you drink it.”

“You drink it,” she said, reaching for a bottle of Uni-President C. “I’ll drink this; it’s the same.”

Lu Yanbai was about to say something, but Xu Yeyu interrupted: “If you decline again, you’re disrespecting me, Xu Yeyu.”

“…”

“Then drink this,” Lu Yanbai pushed over the blue-packaged Yakult. “This one is low-sugar.”

After a moment of silence, Xu Yeyu had tried to suppress that emotion, but unfortunately, she couldn’t.

She mumbled with a nasal voice: “So, are you saying I’m fat?”

“…”

“Didn’t you just say you shouldn’t eat high-calorie foods at night?” Lu Yanbai’s brow furrowed.

“Oh, you heard that too.”

He still took some of the things she said to heart… even if they were nonsense.

This realization made Xu Yeyu feel completely satisfied, even as if her feet were floating, a little giddy.

Afraid he would decline again, Xu Yeyu threw the Yakult into his cart, then glanced at the snacks inside his cart.

For some reason, she blurted out, without context: “You should eat more; you’re too thin.”

Lu Yanbai slanted a look at her.

He heard her softly say in a tender voice: “Being too thin isn’t good; it makes people worry.”

…

When she came back to her senses, Xu Yeyu’s cheeks seemed to flush with heat again. She pursed her lips: “Um… I-I’m a health blogger as a side job.”

She pushed the small cart back: “I’m leaving first, Professor, bye-bye, see you at the next tutoring session!”

After saying that, as if afraid of waiting for his reply, she scurried away.

It was truly without rhyme or reason, like a ragdoll cat suddenly wagging its tail, then hastily tucking it between its legs and running off, leaving behind only a trail of soft footprints.

Lu Yanbai withdrew his gaze, shook his head with an unreadable expression, and his lips curved almost imperceptibly.