The Little Bookworm Marked Her Ex-aunt - Chapter 34: Shu Yue, Did You Have a Good Day Today?

Chapter 34: Shu Yue, Did You Have a Good Day Today?

Shu Yue asked, “Classmate Meng, is something up?”

Meng Zhiyu’s eyes flickered with complexity for a moment, but the smile on her face remained unchanged. Just as she was about to speak, Lin Chu spoke for her, “Little Yue, it’s like this. Your friend is filming a variety show at Qingqi Source, right? They need a guide, and she’s probably here to ask if you want to go.”

Shu Yue said without hesitation, “I don’t want to.”

Meng Zhiyu looked at her, “Shu Yue, you can think it over again. It pays by the hour, two hundred per hour.”

Lin Chu, upon hearing this, exclaimed immediately, “Wow, that much? Well, if Little Yue doesn’t go, I can go. I’m familiar with Qingqi Source too, and I know the villagers well. If there’s anything, just come to me, no problem.”

“…”

Meng Zhiyu’s smile froze.

“Senior Lin Chu, is it okay if I talk to Shu Yue privately?” She paused, emphasizing, “Privately.”

Shu Yue said immediately, “No need. Whatever it is, just say it here.”

Meng Zhiyu’s expression flared with anger. She turned to Shu Yue and said, “What do you mean?”

Seeing the situation, Lin Chu understood everything.

She glanced at Meng Zhiyu, then at Shu Yue.

“Well, the director’s looking for me,” Lin Chu said. “You guys talk first.”

“Senior—” Shu Yue called out.

Lin Chu winked at her and quickly ran off.

For Lin Chu’s behavior of abandoning her junior sister without helping, Shu Yue was speechless.

Meng Zhiyu, however, seemed quite satisfied. She raised her delicately drawn eyebrow and looked at Shu Yue, “Not letting me come in and sit?”

Shu Yue didn’t want to move.

“What exactly do you want?” she asked.

Meng Zhiyu said, “Are you sure you want to talk standing here? If someone takes a picture—”

Shu Yue frowned, stepped back, and made space for Meng Zhiyu.

After entering, Meng Zhiyu took off her cap and removed her mask.

She ran her hand through her slightly flattened hair, and without waiting for Shu Yue to stop her, she walked straight to the full-length mirror in the room and fixed her hair again.

“You live alone?” Meng Zhiyu surveyed the room.

Shu Yue didn’t want to answer.

“Why did you come to me? What’s the matter?” She used her last bit of patience to ask Meng Zhiyu.

Meng Zhiyu shrugged, “Can’t I just come to see you?”

After saying this, she noticed a handmade hammock hanging by the room’s window. Meng Zhiyu recognized it as Shu Yue’s work at a glance.

Shu Yue’s craftsmanship was skillful, and Meng Zhiyu knew this. She also recognized the knot Shu Yue always used to finish her work, different from the ones others used—she liked the sturdiest double-loop knot.

“You got a cat?” Meng Zhiyu said in disbelief, “Didn’t you hate cats the most?”

Seeing Meng Zhiyu reach out to touch Shiyi’s hammock, Shu Yue stepped forward and blocked her movement.

“It’s none of your business,” she said.

“If you have nothing to say, you can leave.”

Shu Yue didn’t know where she got the courage to say this to Meng Zhiyu, but when the words left her mouth, she realized that many things weren’t as hard as she thought.

Like refusing Meng Zhiyu’s request, or asking her to leave.

Meng Zhiyu’s face instantly turned ugly.

“Shu Yue, do you have to be like this?” she questioned.

Shu Yue was utterly confused.

“What did I do?” she asked, not understanding.

Meng Zhiyu said unhappily, “Can’t you just talk to me nicely?”

Shu Yue paused, looked into Meng Zhiyu’s eyes, and said, “I’m already talking to you nicely.”

Meng Zhiyu’s lips curled into a mocking sneer, “Fine, Shu Yue, you win. This is your attitude, huh?”

A wave of confusion swelled inside Shu Yue.

She couldn’t understand.

“Meng Zhiyu, are you forgetting something?” she reminded, “We’ve already broken up.”

Shu Yue’s thoughts were clearer than ever.

“You were the one who ended it. You rejected all my friend requests. You were the one who told me, when I put aside all my pride to find you, that we were over.”

She pressed her dry lips together, her voice hoarse and strained.

“Meng Zhiyu, how do you expect me to talk to you nicely? Am I not talking nicely enough now?”

The pain, vulnerability, and the faint restraint Shu Yue showed as she tried to stay calm struck Meng Zhiyu like a blow. She stood frozen, the usually eloquent person at a loss for words.

She opened her mouth to say something, but what came out was a complaint.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get a mirror so you can see yourself? You look like you’re going to eat me! Shu Yue, you’re so fierce!”

Meng Zhiyu’s voice carried a hint of whining. She was skilled at this, always charming when she wanted to coax someone, her beautiful face showing a petulant expression.

In the past, Shu Yue would always soften at this side of Meng Zhiyu.

Whenever Meng Zhiyu said something harsh and Shu Yue sulked, if Meng Zhiyu was in a good mood, she would talk to her like this.

Once she did, Shu Yue could hardly stay angry at her.

But today, as Shu Yue looked at Meng Zhiyu showing this expression again, for the first time, she stood back like an observer, calmly viewing her from a third-party perspective.

Had Meng Zhiyu always been like this?

Ignoring what was said to her, deaf to Shu Yue’s words, only wanting things to go the way she desired.

“Meng Zhiyu,” Shu Yue suddenly wanted to understand, “why did you come to see me today?”

Meng Zhiyu said, “Can’t I just come to catch up with you?”

“I don’t think our relationship requires catching up,” Shu Yue replied.

Meng Zhiyu gritted her teeth, “It’s just a breakup, Shu Yue. Can’t we even be friends?”

Shu Yue caught the key point, “So, you came to me because you want to be friends?”

Meng Zhiyu looked at Shu Yue, unable to hold back any longer, and sneered, “Am I crazy? Be friends with you? I still want to live a few more years!”

As if that wasn’t enough to vent her anger, Meng Zhiyu threw the cap in her hand at Shu Yue’s face.

The brim with its silver ring grazed Shu Yue’s cheek, the sharp metal cutting a red gash on her right cheek, bl00d seeping out instantly.

“Clack!”

Shu Yue’s glasses were also knocked to the ground, the black frame making a crisp sound.

Meng Zhiyu pursed her lips, “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you dodge?”

She hesitated, stepped forward, and bent down to pick up the glasses for Shu Yue.

Shu Yue, squinting, picked up the frame first, wiped the dust off the lenses with the edge of her short sleeve, stepped back to keep her distance from Meng Zhiyu, and put the glasses on.

The left temple was broken, and the frame sat crookedly on her nose.

She pushed it up, but it slid back down.

She gave up and stopped trying.

“Miss Meng,” Shu Yue looked at Meng Zhiyu through the lenses, “you’ve said what you wanted, and you’ve vented your anger. Can you leave now?”

Meng Zhiyu bit her lip, her chest tight with frustration.

“Shu Yue,” she forced herself to say coldly, “you’re really annoying.”

“Bang—”

Meng Zhiyu slammed the wooden door of the small house so hard it shook.

Shu Yue stood in the room, feeling as if the whole building was trembling, like an earthquake.

Only when Meng Zhiyu’s pheromone scent completely faded from the space did Shu Yue lose her strength and sit on a simple wooden chair.

She took off her glasses and looked closely, noticing a faint crack in the lens.

After a long time, Shu Yue felt the air return to her body. She realized she truly couldn’t talk to Meng Zhiyu anymore. The moment she faced her, she instinctively went on guard, every nerve in her body tensing.

So tiring.

Shu Yue let out a long sigh, got up, found the first-aid kit, and treated the wound on her right cheek, casually putting on a bandage before her gaze fell on the cap Meng Zhiyu forgot in the room.

She thought about throwing it away—Meng Zhiyu wouldn’t miss one cap.

The moment the thought arose, Shu Yue felt it was too malicious.

In her whole life, she had never deliberately thrown away someone’s things, except for the miscellaneous items Meng Zhiyu left at her place before. Shu Yue had messaged her to ask if she wanted them, and when Meng Zhiyu didn’t reply, Shu Yue assumed she didn’t.

She picked up the cap and opened the door.

Lin Chu’s face appeared instantly.

Shu Yue, “…”

Lin Chu, “Finished talking?”

Shu Yue hummed in response.

Lin Chu wanted to gossip a bit more, but after seeing the wound on Shu Yue’s face and her broken glasses, she shut her mouth.

“Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me with something?” Shu Yue said.

Lin Chu, “Sure, what is it?”

Shu Yue held up the cap a bit higher.

“This belongs to Miss Meng from earlier. Can you return it to her?”

Lin Chu took it, “Sure.”

In her heart, she regretted not stopping that Meng-whatever from staying with Shu Yue.

After hesitating, Lin Chu asked with concern, “Little Yue, are you okay?”

Shu Yue shook her head, “I’m fine.”

Looking at her, Lin Chu thought, this doesn’t look fine at all.

Lin Chu glanced at the time and said, “It’s a bit late today. Should I take it to her tomorrow?”

“Either way,” Shu Yue said. “Senior, thank you.”

“Hey, no need for that,” Lin Chu said. “What about your glasses? How about I take a day off tomorrow and go to the county with you to get new ones?”

Shu Yue shook her head, “No need. I’ll try to fix them later and see if I can still wear them.”

A trip to the county was too much trouble, and Shu Yue didn’t want others to waste time because of her.

“Senior, I’ll go take care of it,” Shu Yue said to Lin Chu.

Lin Chu nodded, “Go ahead, go ahead.”

After Shu Yue closed the door, Lin Chu pinched her brow with a headache.

Fu Xitang happened to return at that moment and saw Lin Chu’s constipated expression. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Chu grabbed her and started complaining, “Ugh, don’t even ask. What a mess.”

She rambled on to Fu Xitang.

Fu Xitang understood.

“Shu Yue’s ex-girlfriend came to see her?” she summarized.

Lin Chu quickly pulled her aside and whispered, “I didn’t say ex-girlfriend, just an omega, pretty good-looking. They seemed off, like there’s something between them. That omega, I remember now, her name’s Meng Zhiyu! She’s super famous at our school. But I never heard Shu Yue was connected to her. If they really dated, I’d have known, right?”

Fu Xitang looked thoughtful.

That evening at dinner, Shu Yue showed up with her glasses wrapped in tape.

Zhou Miao asked, “Little Yue, what happened?”

Shu Yue said, “I accidentally dropped them.”

Lin Chu buried her head in her noodles, not daring to say a word.

Fu Xitang looked at her and understood everything.

While Shu Yue wasn’t looking, she snapped a photo.

[Picture]

Ji Shiyi saw the message at eleven o’clock.

She had just finished work, closed her laptop, rubbed her neck, and stretched before checking her phone for messages.

Seeing Fu Xitang’s profile picture, Ji Shiyi was surprised.

They rarely chatted.

Did something happen at Qingqi Source?

Ji Shiyi clicked to see.

The girl’s photo hit her eyes immediately.

A bandage on her cheek, crooked glasses.

Ji Shiyi frowned and dialed a call.

“What’s going on?” Ji Shiyi asked. “Did something happen?”

Fu Xitang stood on the second-floor balcony, looking at Shu Yue’s small building. The doors and windows were shut, faint light seeping through the curtains.

She opened a can of cola, answering Ji Shiyi’s question amid the fizzing bubbles, “Sort of.”

Hearing her tone, Ji Shiyi tapped her finger on the desk, “Is there a trap waiting for me?”

Fu Xitang took a sip of cola, looking up at the moon.

“That depends on how you define a trap,” she said flatly. “Today, this girl, who has nothing to do with you, was visited by her ex-girlfriend. They talked behind closed doors, and after the ex left, she ended up like this.”

“No,” Fu Xitang paused, correcting herself carefully, “according to Lin Chu, the ex-girlfriend status is uncertain, but you must be familiar with her name.”

“Meng Zhiyu,” Fu Xitang shook her cola can. “Ji Shiyi, sound familiar?”

Ji Shiyi’s voice went quiet for a moment.

“She’s filming a variety show?”

Fu Xitang said, “Not bad, little aunt. You’re well-informed about your niece’s schedule.”

She pointed out sharply, “You’re not surprised? You knew about her and Shu Yue already.”

Ji Shiyi chuckled, not answering directly, and said, “Since when did you get so gossipy?”

Fu Xitang closed her eyes, feeling the mountain breeze at night, and said, “Ji Shiyi, I met her.”

Ji Shiyi’s hand, spinning a pen, paused.

“So?” she said slowly. “What’s that got to do with my question?”

Fu Xitang said, “Cherish the one in front of you. Don’t follow in my footsteps.”

Ji Shiyi tapped her pen with her index finger, “Captain Fu, if by ‘footsteps’ you mean falling in love while undercover on an island and then disappearing when the mission’s over, don’t worry. I won’t follow those footsteps.”

Fu Xitang downed her cola, letting the bubbles fizz inside her.

She scoffed.

“Fine, that’s for the best.”

She crushed the cola can easily and tossed it into the trash.

“Ji Shiyi, I’ve said all I need to,” Fu Xitang said. “Whether it’s a trap, you decide.”

“Hanging up.”

Without waiting for Ji Shiyi’s reply, Fu Xitang slid the red button on the screen.

She really hated talking to feline types.

So elusive, impossible to catch even a hint of their tails.

After Fu Xitang hung up, Ji Shiyi set her phone down.

The pen still dangled between her fingers, swaying idly.

She unlocked the phone, opened WeChat, went to Fu Xitang’s chat, and clicked on the photo she sent.

After staring for a while, Ji Shiyi stood up.

She packed her things, turned off the office lights, and took the private elevator to the parking garage. Sitting in the driver’s seat, she placed her bag beside her. She lowered and raised the handbrake, then, after a moment, took her phone from the bag.

“You finally let me out?”

A fluffy cat appeared in the passenger seat.

Shiyi, unhappy, scratched the leather seat to vent.

“Why do you have to take me away? I want to go back! I want to go back!”

Ji Shiyi flicked its forehead.

The kitten’s eyes widened, and it covered its head with a paw.

“Okay,” Ji Shiyi held up her phone. “Hold that pose, don’t move.”

“???”

Three giant question marks popped up above Shiyi’s head.

“Click—”

The camera froze the moment.

Ji Shiyi looked at the photo, not quite satisfied, and said to Shiyi, “Change poses.”

Shiyi turned its face away, ignoring her.

“I’m sending it to her,” Ji Shiyi said.

Shiyi reacted, immediately rolled over, showed its belly, leaned against Ji Shiyi’s bag, and stretched out a paw toward the camera, fully displaying its pink paw pads.

Utterly manipulative. Ji Shiyi could hardly look.

She took a photo, but Shiyi wasn’t satisfied and grabbed the phone with its paws, demanding Ji Shiyi take a few more.

After the fuss, Ji Shiyi looked at the several rows of new photos in her album and fell silent.

Shiyi’s cat head leaned over.

“Send them all! Send them all to her!”

Ji Shiyi dodged Shiyi’s paws, thought for a moment, and chose one to send.

Shu Yue saw the message just after coming out of the bathroom.

She stared at the phone, took a moment to process, then grabbed her broken glasses, put them on, and leaned close to the screen to confirm again.

Huh.

It really was a message from Ji Shiyi.

Such a cute Shiyi.

Shu Yue’s heavy mood was instantly healed by the kitten’s photo.

Sy: What’s wrong with it?

Shu Yue couldn’t figure out why Ji Shiyi would suddenly send her a photo of Shiyi. After thinking it over, the only explanation was one reason.

Sy: Miss Ji, is it feeling unwell?

Ji Shiyi saw the message and turned to ask Shiyi.

“Are you unwell?”

Shiyi was nestled on a soft beanbag at home, chewing a teething toy, playing happily with all four paws wrapped around it. Hearing the question, it looked up in confusion.

“Hmm, you’re unwell.”

Shiyi tilted its head.

Huh?

It felt perfectly fine!

Ji Shiyi didn’t care what it thought.

He: It’s okay, just a bit off.

Sy: What happened?

He: I’m not sure. I’ll take it to Yu Qianyue tomorrow to check. No need to worry too much.

Sy: Okay!

Sy: I hope the kitten’s fine.

Staring at the message, Ji Shiyi’s fingers paused.

After some thought, she asked the question she wanted to.

He: Thanks for the well-wishes.

He: How about you?

He: Did you have a good day today?

The towel in Shu Yue’s hand slipped as she dried her hair.

She froze.

It was a simple question, yet Shu Yue didn’t know why, but seeing those black, square characters in the white speech bubble, her heart felt pricked by a needle, and all the pent-up emotions of the day spilled out.

It was as if…

That day at her place, when she crouched down crying, and Shiyi’s tail brushed her calf.

The only difference was that she could wail in front of Shiyi, hugging the kitten, letting all her emotions pour out.

But she couldn’t do that with Ji Shiyi.

Shu Yue raised her hand, wiped the uncontrollable moisture from her eyes with the back of her hand.

As she typed a reply, carefully choosing her words, a voice call popped up.

Shu Yue jumped, immediately tossing the phone aside.

She leaned closer, checked again—it was a call invitation from Ji Shiyi.

She hesitated, bit her nail, and tapped to accept.

“Beep—”

After the sound indicating the call connected, all she heard was silence, with faint static and another person’s breathing.

“Miss Ji, Miss Ji,” Shu Yue spoke first.

Ji Shiyi sat on a recliner on the balcony, the bustling night view of Ning City outside. The city was built along a river, like a jade belt winding through the districts, stretching toward the distance. She looked toward Lu County.

She stroked Shiyi’s soft fur and asked softly, “Did I scare you by calling suddenly?”

Shu Yue thought she was a little scared but felt embarrassed to admit it to Ji Shiyi.

After all, a phone call wasn’t something worth being scared of.

Saying it would be a bit humiliating.

“Not really,” Shu Yue said. “I just didn’t expect it.”

Ji Shiyi smiled, “So you were scared.”

“You didn’t reply, so I got a bit worried and wanted to hear your voice.”

“If you’re not used to this way of talking, I can hang up, and we can keep texting?”

Shu Yue shifted her hips, sat on the bed, leaned against the soft pillow at the headboard, and pulled her wet hair up to rest on top of the pillow so it wouldn’t dampen her pajamas.

“I’m not unused to it,” Shu Yue said, her fingers tightening around the phone as she spoke cautiously. “This, this is pretty good too.”

Ji Shiyi said, “So we’ll talk on the phone?”

Shu Yue hummed in agreement.

Ji Shiyi said, “So, Shu Yue, did you have a good day today?”

Shu Yue wanted to dodge the question. Instinctively, she didn’t want to lie to Ji Shiyi, but she also didn’t want her to know about today’s mess. She reached for the fan remote by the bed and turned it on.

In the whirring sound of the fan, Shu Yue pulled the thin blanket by her feet and asked tentatively, “Miss Ji, what about you? Did you have a good day today?”

“Busy all day, not bad, but not great either,” Ji Shiyi paused and said, “The takeout I ordered today was awful. The steak was terrible.”

Hearing her small complaint, for some reason, Shu Yue’s lips curved up.

“Food after work is important. If it’s bad, that’s really awful,” Shu Yue said. “Miss Ji, you suffered.”

Ji Shiyi laughed, “A little.”

“But thinking I’ll have chances to eat other good food later, one bad takeout isn’t a big deal.”

Shu Yue nodded in agreement, “That’s true, Miss Ji. There are still many delicious steaks out there waiting for you to try.”

“Here’s hoping,” Ji Shiyi said. “What about you? What did you have for dinner?”

Shu Yue opened her mouth to answer but her mind was blank. At dinner, her mouth moved, her stomach digested, but she hadn’t paid attention.

“Beef noodles?” she recalled. “Or maybe pork rib noodles.”

“There was definitely a fried egg!” Shu Yue was certain of this. “It tasted pretty good.”

Ji Shiyi raised an eyebrow, “Better than the eggs you fry?”

Shu Yue said, “Yes. If you come back sometime, Miss Ji, I’ll ask Second Brother to fry you an egg too. He probably used lard today, so it’s a bit more fragrant.”

“Okay,” Shu Yue heard Ji Shiyi say, “if there’s a chance.”

“It’s getting late. Time to rest? I remember you get up at five every day,” Ji Shiyi said.

Shu Yue checked the time. It was indeed late, not far from midnight.

“Okay, Miss Ji, goodbye.”

Ji Shiyi’s voice came through like it was filtered through gauze.

“Hmm, Shu Yue, good night.”

After hanging up, Shu Yue stared at the phone screen, hesitated, and quoted the last question from the chat.

“Did you have a good day today?”

“Not great, but not bad either.”

“Miss Ji, good night.”