The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 23.2
Chapter 23.2
The phone was still vibrating with a persistent attitude. Lu Yin silently watched the person on the bed for a while, wondering how likely it was to wake her up to answer the phone. Forget it. Lu Yin took a deep breath and answered.
“Xiali, when did you leave? Amy said you drank a lot and called for a designated driver. Did you get home? Are you okay? Why did it take you so long to answer the phone? You have a weak stomach, and you drank so much. Remember to drink some milk when you get home. Actually, never mind, wait for me. I’m coming over now.”
As soon as Lu Yin answered, the other person started rambling, asking one question after another. Lu Yin couldn’t even get a word in.
She was truly as concerned about Sheng Xiali as ever. No, she was even more concerned than before. Before, Song Xinlei at least hadn’t wanted to come over in the middle of the night to take care of Sheng Xiali.
“Xiali?”
Not getting a reply, Song Xinlei finally stopped, giving Lu Yin a chance to speak.
Since someone was coming to take care of Sheng Xiali, Lu Yin was happy to hand her over.
“It’s me. Sheng Xiali is with me. If you want—”
The words “If you want to come and get her, hurry up” were cut off by the other person.
“Lu Yin?! Xiali is with you?!”
Lu Yin frowned. Even through the phone, she could tell how offensive Song Xinlei’s tone was. It was as if she was some kind of perverted stalker who had picked up an innocent Sheng Xiali on the street and was about to do something to her…
“Yes, if you want—”
Lu Yin quickly tried to get her to come and take her away, but her words were still cut off.
“Lu Yin, what do you mean by this?! Are you trying to steal the person I like just to make me sad? Please, be realistic. Xiali would never like you! Before you pester her, take a look at yourself and ask yourself if you’re worthy!”
Lu Yin now knew that a person would laugh when they were at their wits’ end.
All the words she was about to say were swallowed back into her stomach. Lu Yin let out a cold laugh.
“Heh, steal? Why don’t you first ask yourself, is Sheng Xiali yours? Only if she’s yours can it be called stealing. And how big is your ego to think you can make me feel bad? Aren’t you embarrassed enough right now? If you cherish Sheng Xiali so much, you should have made a move first and claimed her for yourself. Then at least your actions would have a legitimate reason.”
“What do you know—” Song Xinlei yelled.
Lu Yin interrupted her: “Yes, I don’t know. I don’t know if you really like Sheng Xiali or if you just like the feeling of liking someone you can’t have. What, are you planning to write a memoir when you’re old called ‘The Years I Secretly Loved Sheng Xiali’?”
“You—”
Lu Yin interrupted again: “Don’t ‘you’ me. If you think you’re not worthy, that’s your business. If you think Sheng Xiali is out of your league, that’s also your business. But if you’re going to say I’m not worthy, then I have to laugh a little. Besides you, who else would treat Sheng Xiali like a treasure and not even dare to say they like her? To me, Sheng Xiali is just ordinary. She’s nothing special. Don’t always think she’s a diamond that everyone wants. Besides, a diamond is just a rock in the end!”
The other end of the phone suddenly went quiet. Lu Yin scoffed. She had been holding back for a long time. If it weren’t for Sheng Xiali’s sake, she would have started mocking her a long time ago.
Lu Yin glanced at Sheng Xiali on the bed. Now that she was with her, her consideration was no longer a factor.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. After a long time, Lu Yin finally heard a voice: “Where are you? Where did you take Xiali?!”
Lu Yin raised an eyebrow, smiled, and played her trump card.
“To bed, of course. It’s so late. Where else would I take her? If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. We’re going to sleep. Don’t be so tactless and disturb people’s rest.”
After she said that, Lu Yin turned off Sheng Xiali’s phone and threw it on the nightstand next to Sheng Xiali’s head with a smile.
“You’re sleeping soundly, but your good friend is going to have a sleepless night.”
Lu Yin pouted, picked up the clothes, and continued walking out. After a few steps, she turned back, picked out Sheng Xiali’s clothes, and threw them on the floor.
“Let the person who’s worthy of you wash them!”
Lu Yin walked out of the bedroom with the clothes. The sound of the door closing without a care showed her displeasure.
Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, Sheng Xiali sat up, clutching the blanket, and looked at the closed bedroom door with a serious expression.
Lu Yin stuffed the clothes into the washing machine. As the machine started its rumbling work, she sat in the hanging chair on the other side of the balcony, picked up the pack of cigarettes from the small side table, tore off the plastic, and lit one.
She let out a long puff of smoke. The frustration in her heart hadn’t subsided. She looked at the calm river outside the floor-to-ceiling window. It took a while for the turmoil in her heart to calm down a little.
But as soon as she thought about being under the same roof as Sheng Xiali, with her sleeping in her bed, Lu Yin’s heart found it hard to truly be at peace.
In her frustration, her phone on the side table lit up.
Because of the unpleasant phone call just now, Lu Yin was annoyed when she saw the phone. She leaned forward to look at it and saw that it was a call from Qi Qing. Lu Yin answered.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
Qi Qing heard the listless voice from the phone and put down the book in her hand: “Nothing, I just wanted to call a friend far away to say hi. How’s your mom doing?”
Lu Yin smiled: “Her condition is stable. Thank you for caring, friend.”
Qi Qing closed her book and replied with a smile: “Can you tell your friend from afar what you’re unhappy about?”
Lu Yin exhaled a smoke ring: “What’s there to be unhappy about? I’m very happy. Why do you always think I’m unhappy?”
Qi Qing chuckled: “You’re not even calling me ‘Dr. Qi’ anymore. If you’re not unhappy, then I’m going to be unhappy.”
Lu Yin laughed: “I called you doctor to motivate you. I can’t always call you that. If I take it seriously, I’ll slack off.”
Qi Qing: “That’s very logical. So why are you unhappy?”
Lu Yin’s smile faded. She put out the cigarette that was almost burned out and lit another one: “I’m very happy.”
What did she have to be unhappy about? All the sad days were over. Now she lacked nothing. She was free to do whatever she wanted. What could she possibly be unhappy about?
She was very happy.
The pen in Qi Qing’s hand stopped spinning and landed on the closed book: “Lu Yin, you know, the people who can be fooled by you are either completely stupid or they’re willing to be fooled by you.”
Lu Yin choked on a mouthful of smoke and started coughing hard. It took a while for her breathing to return to normal.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying I’m stupid or something?”
When she was a child, she lied to Lu Huiying that the parent-teacher meeting was canceled, and she lied to her teacher that both of her parents were in a car accident. She succeeded on both sides. She was impressed by her own acting skills.
Qi Qing looked at the sun outside the window and felt it was a little harsh. She pulled a sheer curtain over it. Since Lu Yin didn’t want to talk about it, she couldn’t force her.
“Smoke less, get some rest, and also, try to stay happy. Your immune system is weak when you’re unhappy, and you’re more likely to get sick.”
Lu Yin flicked the ash off her cigarette: “Don’t be a jinx. Focus more on your studies and graduate early. When you’re a real doctor, then you can worry about other people’s health.”
Qi Qing opened her book again: “Okay, I’ll study hard.”
Lu Yin smiled: “Keep up the good work. Hang up now.”
Young people were all working hard. Lu Yin thought to herself that she shouldn’t be wasting her time like this. She still had a bunch of videos to edit. She also had to work hard and try to get more followers.
She hoped she could get a sponsorship this month.
Lu Yin took a deep breath, cast aside her frustration, and went back to the bedroom with renewed energy. When she had organized her apartment before, Lu Yin had moved her computer and other things into the master bedroom. The empty study was used to store things.
She glanced at the person on the bed, who was sleeping soundly.
She hadn’t expected anyone to be in her bedroom. It would be a hassle to move her computer back to the study now.
Forget it. The person had drunk so much that she couldn’t be woken up. If she could be woken up by the noise, it would save her some effort.
Although she knew Sheng Xiali wouldn’t be woken up, Lu Yin still habitually put on her headphones.
Having an extra person in the bedroom was a little unusual at first, but once she started working, Lu Yin forgot all about it.
After three hours of focused video editing, Lu Yin started to feel a little off. Her head was feeling groggy, and the font became a little blurry when she was revising the script.
She took a sip of water, hoping to feel a little better. She had probably been staring at the computer for too long, and her eye pressure had increased. It could also be her neck pain acting up. Lu Yin pressed her neck and leaned back in her chair.
Leaning back made her feel a little sleepy…
Why was she feeling sleepy before dawn? Could she have been infected by Sheng Xiali’s sleepiness? It could also be that she was tired. Her physical activity tonight had been over the top.
Her consciousness gradually sank. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the music in her headphones suddenly stopped. She was momentarily lucid and wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt glued shut.
She was just so tired. Lu Yin didn’t want to struggle anymore. The music had stopped, so it had stopped. It was probably because the playlist had ended. Lu Yin shifted her body, found a comfortable position in the chair, and let herself fall asleep.
Just before she completely lost consciousness, she felt the chair rising. She felt like she was floating, but just a moment later, she landed on a soft cloud.
She wanted to pull a piece of the cloud to cover her stomach. The next moment, her hand was caught and raised high.
Lu Yin was annoyed. She wanted to pull her hand back, but she struggled twice and failed.
“Don’t move. Take off your jacket to sleep.”
In her grogginess, Lu Yin thought she heard Sheng Xiali’s voice. Was she back… working so late today…? She had already fallen asleep…
In her confusion, Lu Yin’s strength softened. She let Sheng Xiali help her take off her jacket.
Her arm felt a little cold. Lu Yin rolled over and burrowed into the warm clouds. Soon, a hot cloud pressed against her back.
It was soft and very comfortable. Lu Yin couldn’t help but rub her back against it, wanting to get closer.
The wind blowing by her ear was also warm, and a gentle tune played softly in the humming wind.
A singing cloud. This dream was very special.