My Sister Likes My Sister - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Please Cooperate a Little

A steady, cold rain beat against the car window. The rideshare didn’t have the AC on, and the constant stopping and starting of the electric vehicle made Yu Siyuan feel a bit dizzy.

Looking out the blurred window, she saw traffic jammed in every direction. The nearest traffic light was a distant outline, its red glow mixing with the red lanterns hanging from the street trees. It was impossible to tell what was happening.

The driver had his navigation open. Yu Siyuan glanced at it, her excellent eyesight making out a long stretch of bright red. The remaining kilometer was going to take a full half hour.

The driver seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. The moment she pursed her red lips and showed a hint of impatience, he sighed deeply. “It’s almost New Year’s. Everyone’s rushing home.”

This year, the Lunar New Year’s Eve was late, so people got their time off late. It was also a cold winter, so with several waves of people heading home at once, a traffic jam was inevitable.

With that, Yu Siyuan felt too embarrassed to complain. Her phone was vibrating with a constant stream of WeChat messages. She didn’t even have to look to know they were from Guan Xianglin.

She silenced her phone and checked the delicate wristwatch on her hand. They were due to meet in ten minutes.

Even though she was just going to the bar to get drunk, and was just a tool for her friend to vent about her breakup, her habit of meeting deadlines made her frown at the thought of being a minute late.

The next second, she decisively spoke in a lazy voice, “Driver, I’ll get out here. I can walk the rest of the way.”

With that, her fair, slender fingers firmly pushed the car door open. A simple umbrella opened over her head. She closed the door with a light thud and stood on the side of the road. Her aura naturally set her apart from the world around her.

The weather forecast had said light rain, but it was a downpour. As she walked straight along the sidewalk lined with trees, rain hammered down on her umbrella, dripping from the leaves. After walking a little less than a kilometer, the bottom half of her coat was soaked.

Finally, she closed her umbrella at the entrance of the bar and let out a sigh of relief. She checked the time—three minutes to spare. She sent Guan Xianglin a quick message and headed straight for the restroom to tidy herself up.

The lighting in the restroom was dim and ambiguous. Muffled, even more ambiguous, sounds of kissing came from a stall. Yu Siyuan couldn’t even be bothered to raise an eyebrow. This was a common sight in a lesbian bar, and although she had never personally participated, she had seen it often enough with the women who hinted at her.

By the time Guan Xianglin finally arrived, Yu Siyuan had already chosen a secluded booth where she could observe the whole bar. Her slightly damp black hair was scattered over her shoulders, with a wisp covering her left eye. She propped her right hand on her cheek, curved her red lips into a slight smile, and pushed a freshly made drink, “Sunset Mountain,” toward Guan Xianglin.

Guan Xianglin gave a wry smile, braced herself, and chugged the ice-cold drink. The burning sensation in her throat eased the pain in her heart.

“Is it good?” Yu Siyuan stared at her clean nails and chuckled softly.

“What do you think?” Guan Xianglin said with a bitter face as she sat down. “You know I’m bad at drinking but love to party.”

The rule was an old one: those who were late had to drink three cups of wine as a penalty. Guan Xianglin had originally come up with the rule herself, but it had backfired. She knew Yu Siyuan was a stickler for time management, but she hadn’t expected her to be so precise.

In the blink of an eye, the other two drinks arrived. Both were stunningly colorful, the bar’s signature, expensive and beautiful, but with a high alcohol content.

Guan Xianglin no longer had the mood to complain about her breakup. She exclaimed in surprise, “Seriously, you went all out, didn’t you? Your shirt is soaked.”

Yu Siyuan hummed in response, staring at Guan Xianglin and licking her lips. “Don’t change the subject.”

Guan Xianglin sheepishly picked up the goblet and took a small sip, shaking her head and sighing, “Don’t you know you’re going to charm people to death like that?”

Yu Siyuan gave a graceful smile. “I do.”

In a good mood, she drank the last cup for Guan Xianglin as a reward for the rare compliment.

To the rhythm of the music and the flickering, dim lights, Yu Siyuan’s shirt was buttoned tightly at the top two buttons, but her sleeves were rolled up to her arms. Her shoulders were soaked, revealing a hint of their rounded lines. Her face was delicate, no longer holding a girl’s youth, but also showing no trace of age. She simply held her wine glass, her foxy eyes lowered, making others long for a glance from her.

In the time it took to drink one glass, many people had already found reasons to walk past their booth. The once-unremarkable booth had suddenly become a hotspot, and even those who didn’t know what was going on couldn’t help but peek over.

Yu Siyuan keenly felt that someone was taking a picture of her, but she only chuckled in her throat. She swept her slightly damp long hair with her slender hand in a clean, sharp movement. The elegant curve of her chin was well-defined, and any screenshot would make for a popular photo online.

It would automatically be tagged with popular hashtags like #le#, #sister#, #blackhairlongandstraight#, and #queenofthelesbianscene#.

“Okay, okay, stop radiating charm. You promised to listen to my breakup story,” Guan Xianglin complained, finishing her last sip and reminding her friend, afraid that another group of women would come and bother them.

“I didn’t,” Yu Siyuan said, blinking innocently. “Go on.”

Guan Xianglin was speechless.

Her friend was great in every way except for this one. Every time she wanted to vent about her breakup, she would see her friend’s face, which was so excessively irresistible to women, that she would lose the desire to say a single word.

Guan Xianglin gave up. “I’m not saying anything. There’s no point. Some people have never even dated before. I’m afraid I’ll hurt your feelings.”

“No way, really?” Yu Siyuan feigned surprise, covering her red lips with her hand. “Although you break up three times a month on average, I can get dozens of WeChat IDs on a single outing.”

Guan Xianglin was speechless.

This was exactly why she liked to hang out with Yu Siyuan. She was so annoyed that she completely forgot about her ex.

“Fine, you’re so good. But you’re still alone during the New Year…” Before she could finish, Guan Xianglin realized her mistake and quickly coughed strategically. “Ahem, I’m going to the restroom.”

With that, she stood up and ran to the restroom without looking back, not daring to see if Yu Siyuan’s expression had changed.

Yu Siyuan’s expression didn’t change. She just watched her friend’s figure quickly disappear into the crowd. Suddenly, all this excitement felt a little boring.

It was common for Guan Xianglin to speak without thinking. But she loved and hated with all her heart. Although she broke up three times a month, she gave her all every time, and after a breakup, she would just have a drink and cry a little.

The next time she met a girl she liked, she would go for it again.

But what about her? Forget dating, she didn’t even have a flirtatious interest. Her WeChat contact list was terrifyingly long. If she wanted to, she could hang out with someone at any time, but she was too lazy to even have a few extra conversations.

On New Year’s, what kind of normal person would come to a bar to pass the time? Although there were many people in the bar, most of them were just having fun. Once the party ended, they would go their separate ways.

As for her… she was the kind of person Guan Xianglin was sure would be available on call during the New Year. She was naturally lonely. At the age of 30, she had long since gotten used to it, but when she saw the red lanterns outside the window, she couldn’t help but feel the alcohol’s belated sting on her tongue.

The streets were full of red lanterns. They looked so beautiful when they lit up. The streets were full of cars that didn’t mind the cold or the traffic, all because they had a final destination.

Suddenly, someone gasped. Yu Siyuan heard it. She stared at the window for a long time and finally, at the flicker of her eyelashes, caught the solidified shape.

It was snowing, a heavy, swirling snow.

This was a rare and happy occasion in Lincheng. Yu Siyuan had just looked away when a young girl appeared silently beside her table, sweetly offering her a drink. “Sister, it’s snowing.”

“Yeah,” Yu Siyuan said with her usual grace. She took the drink and returned a perfect smile. “Happy first snow.”

It was a smooth move. The girl’s eyes fell on her fair, slender fingers holding the wine glass. Even though she was prepared, she couldn’t help but blush. “Sister, can I have your contact info?”

Yu Siyuan gave her WeChat ID readily and chatted with her for a few moments. The girl’s heart fluttered, and she happily left. Guan Xianglin still hadn’t returned.

A drink someone else paid for was a drink to be had. Yu Siyuan sipped it slowly, lured by the sweetness of the top notes. It wasn’t until she was halfway through the glass that she realized the base liquor was a little too strong, but it was too late to react.

When she looked up again, her eyes were a little unfocused, just like the swirling cotton-like snowflakes outside. Her phone vibrated. It was Guan Xianglin, claiming she had found a crush and might be coming back late. She told Yu Siyuan to help herself.

Getting stood up was a common occurrence. Finding a partner was more important. Yu Siyuan closed her eyes in understanding. She only felt that tonight’s alcohol was especially potent. She had only had a few drinks, yet her heart was already racing.

When she opened her eyes again, she felt a cold sensation on her arm, followed by the soft touch of a handkerchief wiping it back and forth. It was a ticklish sensation.

Yu Siyuan was a few beats slow to react. She turned her head and saw a woman’s blurry silhouette to her side. She was so close that Yu Siyuan could smell her faint scent.

Even in a bar filled with a mixture of perfumes, she miraculously maintained a light herbal scent, which sobered Yu Siyuan up for a moment. She first looked up at the woman’s face and then at her own arm, which had been splashed with a drink.

Her shirt was stained, but the culprit just stood there, her expression unclear. Her voice was cool and light. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I’ll pay for the cleaning.”

Yu Siyuan curved her lips. She had been through the routine of splashing or being splashed with a drink many times over the years. The next line was usually an ask for a phone number.

She would always open her QR code without hesitation and happily accept the red packet the other person sent. But this time… maybe it was the alcohol, but the woman standing there, although not overly thin, seemed to exude a sense of distant emptiness that Yu Siyuan couldn’t explain.

And both her voice and her face made her feel comfortable. It wasn’t just a lack of dislike; it was a comfortable feeling that made her inexplicably want to get closer.

It’s the New Year, and she’s already here… Several thoughts flashed through Yu Siyuan’s mind, and she easily convinced herself.

She was thirty years old. Giving herself a New Year’s gift wasn’t too much, was it?

So, while Shen Jianlan was still waiting for her reply, she suddenly saw the woman leaning on the edge of the table raise her head, stare at her, and smile. Every word was drawn out like silk. “What if I said my shirt is very expensive and you can’t afford to pay for it?”