The Cold Queen is My Exclusive Little Snack - Chapter 41

There’s no reasoning with a drunk person.

Lin Fei tried every argument she could think of to dissuade Yu Siya, but nothing could sway her stubborn determination.

Seeing that Yu Siya was truly going to climb the mountain alone, Lin Fei had no choice but to hastily grab her hiking backpack and two down jackets and follow after her.

The down jackets had remained unused since they were brought along, but tonight, by a twist of fate, they finally served their purpose.

Without needing further prompting from Lin Fei, Yu Siya instinctively put on the down jacket as the night wind chilled her, and began walking up the mountain. Lin Fei followed behind, shining a flashlight, their figures silhouetted against the darkness, one tall and one short.

Tang Xinran’s house was nestled at the foot of the mountain. Stepping out the front gate and turning around, they found themselves facing a low mountain, or rather, a hill.

The path upward wasn’t steep or narrow, and there were no wild animals to worry about. The two reached the summit without much effort.

“That was quick,” Yu Siya said, looking around skeptically. “Is this really the sunrise spot you found?”

“Of course,” Lin Fei replied.

Not really.

Yu Siya was drunk. There was no way Lin Fei would actually take her to climb a proper mountain.

This was at best the backyard of the village residents. On the way up, she had even spotted a duck wandering through the bushes, probably belonging to someone nearby.

“We’ve climbed the mountain, let’s rest for a bit and then head back,” Lin Fei said, setting down her backpack. “It’s still early. We’ll have to wait a while for the sunrise.”

Yu Siya neither agreed nor refused. She squatted down, staring at the hiking backpack, and asked, “Do you have a blanket?”

Lin Fei sighed, “Yes.”

She found a flat, dry spot and spread out a waterproof picnic blanket. Then she pulled out two fleece blankets—one originally intended for Zuo Xingning and the others.

After laying one blanket down and using the other as a cover, Yu Siya settled in without waiting for an invitation, using the backpack as a pillow and backrest.

The night was clear and still, a gentle breeze occasionally stirring the thin clouds overhead. Behind them, a crescent moon hung in the sky, surrounded by a tapestry of stars.

Yu Siya tilted her head back, unconsciously mesmerized by the sight.

Though she had been at Pingxia Mountain for several days, she had been too busy with work to truly appreciate the landscape.

“It’s hard to leave so suddenly…” Yu Siya murmured, resting her cheek in her hand. “It really is beautiful here. No wonder you always made time to come back for a few days each year, even when you were so busy studying abroad.”

Lin Fei’s lips twitched into a wry smile as she muttered, “If only someone hadn’t kept ditching me…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Lin Fei replied casually, lying down and resting her head on her wrist. “I just meant, if you knew how busy I was and how hard it was for me to come back, why couldn’t you ever make time to see me?”

“Didn’t I explain this already?” Yu Siya frowned. “Those were Shiyin’s peak years. I was so busy I barely had time to breathe…”

Lin Fei’s tone remained unchanged. “I understand. Work comes first, after all, especially when it’s more important than friends.”

“What are you getting at?” Yu Siya’s frown deepened as she abruptly turned her head to look at Lin Fei, a sharp pain shooting through her neck. She hissed in pain.

“Easy now,” Lin Fei said quickly, kneeling up beside her. Before Yu Siya could react, Lin Fei’s hand had already slipped under her collar. “Your neck has always been sensitive. Why are you moving so suddenly?”

“Does it hurt here?” Lin Fei asked, gently increasing the pressure as she massaged the tense muscles.

Yu Siya’s body was radiating heat. She had drunk warming mutton soup earlier and wine later, making her feel like a heated blanket-covered stove.

Lin Fei’s hand, exposed to the cool air, felt slightly cold against Yu Siya’s neck at first, but their temperatures soon adjusted.

“Feeling better?” Lin Fei asked.

Yu Siya didn’t answer, nor did she resist the massage. Her eyes, hidden behind her glasses, lowered, as if her emotions were concealed behind the lenses.

Assuming Yu Siya was still tipsy, Lin Fei used the dim light from the side flashlight to observe the subtle shifts in her brow—the tightening and relaxing—to gauge whether the massage was relieving the pain.

Lin Fei had specialized training in massage, so her technique was flawless. But Yu Siya seemed determined to resist, refusing to give any feedback. To observe her reactions, Lin Fei unconsciously leaned closer, closer still.

Only when Yu Siya’s warm breath brushed her face did Lin Fei jolt back to awareness. Her pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and her body instinctively recoiled.

The moment was fleeting, too brief for Yu Siya to see clearly. Yet she sensed it in the sudden stiffness of Lin Fei’s fingers.

Is she really that scared?

A self-deprecating smile tugged at Yu Siya’s lips, as if Lin Fei’s retreat had shattered some illusion.

With a gentle push, Yu Siya created distance between them.

Then, unexpectedly, disaster struck.

Whether due to a numb leg or a sudden cramp, Lin Fei’s body lurched backward, throwing her off balance. In a panic, Yu Siya grabbed Lin Fei’s flailing hand, trying to pull her upright.

She failed. Still drunk, her reflexes were too slow. She managed only to grasp Lin Fei’s fingertips, leaving her with no leverage. In fact, her desperate tug only dragged them both down together.

For a moment, the only sounds were the wind and the rustling of nocturnal insects hunting in the darkness.

Above them, an unknown leaf spiraled down from the branches, caught by the breeze.

Her thoughts drifting, Lin Fei suddenly recalled the first day at Pingxia Mountain, when she had deliberately teased Zuo Xingning and made those remarks to Tang Xinran.

Just because two people embrace and spin around together doesn’t necessarily mean they have to kiss.

The same principle applies when they accidentally fall on top of each other.

Lin Fei’s gaze drifted downward, scanning Yu Siya’s red lips, pressed tightly together in nervousness…

Or perhaps they weren’t red at all. The light was too dim; she couldn’t quite make out the color.

Lin Fei averted her eyes and reached out to pat Yu Siya’s head, trying to conceal her momentary distraction. “Does it hurt?”

Yu Siya’s glasses had slipped down to the bridge of her nose. She wriggled her nose, awkwardly adjusted them, and retorted, “Did you get a concussion? I’m the one who fell!”

“I’m fine.”

The grass on the ground wasn’t particularly thick, but thankfully they were bundled up in warm clothes, so the fall didn’t hurt much.

“What’s gotten into you today?” Lin Fei asked, puzzled. “Did you swallow a bullet? You’re being so prickly.”

Yu Siya fell silent. Just when Lin Fei thought she wouldn’t answer, she suddenly spoke up. “About the question earlier…”

Lin Fei didn’t immediately understand. “Huh?”

“I mean, the question I asked earlier,” Yu Siya repeated, lying on her stomach with her back to the sky, her eyes gleaming faintly in the dim night. “Aren’t you the same way? There are so many things more important to you than… your friends.”

“You mean…” Lin Fei paused, then said, “The fact that I didn’t consult you about studying abroad?”

“Exactly,” Yu Siya propped herself up, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Dr. Lin, with your doctorate in psychology, you’re truly perceptive. I bet you relish the feeling of seeing right through people from start to finish, don’t you?”

“…What are you talking about?”

The one person she had always wanted to understand, she had never truly seen through.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Lin Fei asked with a bitter smile. “Tell me that you actually cared about this.”

Yu Siya countered, “Was there any need?”

“Absolutely,” Lin Fei insisted. “You know I used to be… a very impulsive person.”

Lin Fei had applied to study abroad in a fit of anger after an argument with Yu Siya. She had almost forgotten about it when the acceptance letter arrived. Before she could even process it, her academic advisor and the university administration had learned the news and were pushing her to accept.

Looking back, Yu Siya had indeed had a major fight with her after the news of her studying abroad spread. But at the time, Lin Fei hadn’t understood the reason behind it. In a fit of anger, they had parted ways, separated by vast distances.

“So, why didn’t you tell me?” Lin Fei repeated.

“Because… there was no need.”

Yu Siya delivered the six words deliberately, each syllable distinct. She rose to her feet, but before her palm could lift more than an inch, Lin Fei pressed it back down.

“I hope it’s not too late for me to know now.”

Yu Siya ignored her words, her gaze fixed on Lin Fei’s hand gripping her wrist. “Let go.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, Lin Fei relented. “Alright, I’ll let go.”

“Siya.”

“You wanted to know why I didn’t tell you? I’ll give you the answer now.”

Yu Siya froze, her eyes dropping to meet Lin Fei’s smiling phoenix eyes.

“Because… I didn’t know how to tell you. What status, what right did I have?”

“Siya.”

Lin Fei called out again, her eyes narrowing innocently. In the next instant, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Yu Siya’s open collar.

Veins bulged on the back of Lin Fei’s hand as she yanked Yu Siya down with a thud, slamming her against her.

Their lips met, but this could hardly be called a kiss.

Lin Fei had simply crashed into her.

She tasted bl00d—her own.

“Do you want me to have this kind of right?” she murmured.

At 4:30 AM, Zuo Xingning squinted, her hair disheveled, as she headed to the bathroom to wash up.

The water, frozen overnight, was icy cold. The moment her fingertips touched it, she shivered. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a strange, dark shadow—wide at the top and narrow at the bottom—flitting past the door, sending another shiver down her spine.

Who could be returning at this hour? A burglar?

Her heart tightened. Zuo Xingning pulled up the hood of her robe, wrapping herself tightly. Grabbing the enamel washbasin, she held it up to her chest and abdomen, cautiously peeking out.

No burglar was in sight. Instead, she saw the light in Lin Fei’s room flicker on and off.

Unable to shake her unease, Zuo Xingning hurried over, just as Lin Fei emerged from her room.

“Xingning? Perfect timing! I was just about to look for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes,” Lin Fei replied, a lingering smile on her face. “I’m so sorry, but Siya and I won’t be able to join you for the sunrise.”

“Why—” Zuo Xingning paused, suddenly remembering something. “Was that you two returning just now?”

Lin Fei nodded, explaining, “Siya got drunk last night. We stayed on the mountain for a while, but she fell asleep, so I carried her down.”

Zuo Xingning stared silently. That doesn’t sound like just a little while.

Zuo Xingning didn’t press further. “I understand. You two get some rest. My sister and I will watch the sunrise just the same.”

“Alright. I didn’t have time to unpack my hiking backpack. If you need anything, just grab it. No need to put it away; I’ll retrieve it in the morning.”

“I’m going to bed now. Good night.”

“Good night…”

Zuo Xingning watched her retreating figure before tiptoeing back to her room.

“Jiejie,” she said, instinctively slipping her hand under the covers to nestle in Chu Shiyin’s palm for warmth. “It’ll just be the two of us watching the sunrise today.”

Exhausted from the previous night, Chu Shiyin kept her eyes closed, still trying to wake up. “What happened to Lin Fei?”

“Nothing much. They seemed to have spent the night on the mountain. They only just returned to their room five minutes ago.”

After a moment’s thought, Zuo Xingning leaned close to Chu Shiyin’s ear and whispered conspiratorially, “I think Dr. Lin was acting a bit strange today.”

“Her smile was wider than usual, lacking that standard, fake quality it used to have. And… her lips seemed swollen.”

“Swollen? Could it be a fever blister?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Zuo Xingning shook her head. “I didn’t see any blisters or anything. Just swollen. Her lower lip was nearly twice as thick as her upper lip, almost like she’d been injured…”

“Jiejie, do you think it’s possible that Sister Siya bit Dr. Lin’s lip?”

“???”

Chu Shiyin startled awake, her drowsiness vanishing instantly. “What nonsense are you spouting?!”

“I’m not talking nonsense,” Zuo Xingning insisted, feeling her theory was well-supported. “How else would such a sensitive area like the lip get injured like that? It couldn’t have been from a phone, right?”

Chu Shiyin was somewhat persuaded by her twisted logic.

She didn’t answer immediately but asked, “What about Siya? What state is she in?”

“I don’t know,” Zuo Xingning shook her head. “Sister Siya got drunk and fell asleep. Dr. Lin carried her back to her room directly. I didn’t see her.”

“Drunk…”

Chu Shiyin sat up, her fingers tapping unconsciously.

Yu Siya had excellent drinking habits; she never lost her composure when drunk. What could have happened between them last night…?

Well, it probably wasn’t anything bad.

As Chu Shiyin finished pondering, she turned to find Zuo Xingning staring at her expectantly. The younger woman immediately asked, “Are we still going to watch the sunrise?”

“Yes.”

Chu Shiyin swung her legs off the bed.

If Lin Fei and the others could resolve their “chronic ailments” with just a hike, she certainly wanted to meet this “miracle doctor” herself.