The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 24.1
Chapter 24.1: The Photo
Lu Yin was woken up by the heat.
When she woke up, she realized something was wrong. Something was wrapped around her waist.
In her daze, she reached out to push it away, but her hand was caught. Her fingers were spread open, and something interlaced with them.
Lu Yin opened her eyes. The feeling was… a hand. There was a hand on her waist?
Not just on her waist, Lu Yin looked at the hand next to her face, which was stretched out from under her neck. It was well-toned, with long fingers. Her sleepy eyes widened.
Whose hand was she using as a pillow?
Lu Yin couldn’t help but move back a little, but this only brought her closer to the heat source that had woken her up.
It was a soft touch. The parts of their bodies that were touching could clearly feel the unique smoothness of skin. Lu Yin pulled her interlaced fingers away and turned around in a daze. She was caught off guard when she came face to face with Sheng Xiali’s stunning face.
Sheng Xiali’s eyes were closed. It seemed she had been disturbed from her sleep by the movement next to her. She also seemed unhappy that her palm was now empty. Her free hand pressed against Lu Yin’s back, which was exposed from her pajamas, and she used a little force to pull Lu Yin closer into her arms.
Lu Yin’s already hot body felt like it was on fire at this moment. She panicked and tried to push Sheng Xiali away.
Her hand had just touched Sheng Xiali’s body under the blanket when it completely froze…
The soft feeling, the protruding shape, and the two uneven bumps in the center of her palm.
Oh my god, all of Lu Yin’s sleepiness was gone. Her brain cells, which were usually irritable from waking up, didn’t have time to act up. They quickly started working, helping Lu Yin recall everything from last night.
Just as Lu Yin realized what she had touched, she was about to pull her hand away and pretend nothing had happened when she met a pair of narrow, slender eyes. The light in them looked like ripples and whirlpools.
Lu Yin quickly retracted her hand and hid it behind her back. As she moved, the blanket puffed up.
In her panic, her gaze uncontrollably glanced down, and she had a full view of the scene under the blanket.
It could have been a guess before, but now that she could see it clearly, Lu Yin felt like her palms were on fire, and every inch of her skin was burning.
Lu Yin quickly reached out and pressed the blanket down, filling the gap between them. She took a deep breath. Her brain cells, which were running rampant, helped her piece together a sentence to ease the awkwardness.
“Why are you here?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu Yin realized something was wrong. Why was her voice so hoarse? It sounded so guilty. And her throat hurt after only two syllables.
Ignoring all that, Lu Yin realized her previous words lacked authority. She tried to compose herself and, before Sheng Xiali could speak, commanded with a sense of panic: “Get off!”
Sheng Xiali had been silently watching Lu Yin since she opened her eyes. She remained the same after hearing that, but when Lu Yin’s gaze started to dart around, she finally made a move.
Lu Yin saw her prop up one hand, shaking the blanket a little, and looking like she was about to sit up. Thinking of her current situation, Lu Yin quickly turned her back: “You, you put on your clothes first, put on your clothes!”
Finally, she heard Sheng Xiali respond.
Her voice was as strained and hoarse as Lu Yin’s, like she had a ball of cotton in her throat.
“Where are my clothes?”
Lu Yin didn’t turn her head. She pointed to Sheng Xiali’s side with her back turned: “Under the bed on your side.”
A second or two later, Lu Yin heard a soft laugh.
“You took them off?”
Lu Yin immediately shook her head and then heard Sheng Xiali’s voice, which was much better, as if she had spit out the cotton, but it was still a little raspy.
“What, you have the guts to take them off but not to look?”
Lu Yin felt Sheng Xiali leave the bed and immediately sat up with her back to her. Hearing that, she punched the soft mattress: “What are you talking about? You took them off yourself in a drunken frenzy!”
As if to prove the truth of her words, she started adding details.
“Your drinking is really bad. You were so drunk last night that you went to the wrong door. I was kind enough to give you a warning, but you just barged in, took off your clothes as soon as you came in, and I couldn’t stop you! You were crazy!”
Sheng Xiali smiled silently at Lu Yin’s back, picked up the clothes from the floor, put on her shirt, and slowly buttoned it: “Oh, so you’re saying you watched me take them off?”
“I didn’t watch!” Lu Yin shouted without thinking, her voice a mix of urgency and panic, confessing without being asked. She regretted it as soon as she said it.
The brain cells that woke up early still had a temper. Not a single one of them was helping…
Sure enough, Lu Yin heard a little laugh from Sheng Xiali, the kind of quiet, quick breath that came from her nose when she was trying to hold back a laugh.
Surprisingly, Sheng Xiali didn’t talk about that anymore and asked another question: “How did I end up in your bed?”
Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief: “It’s not because I felt sorry for you? You were so drunk, so I kindly shared half the bed with you. If you want to repay me, just give me back my fridge.”
“Didn’t I already repay you?”
“What?” Lu Yin almost couldn’t help but turn her head. What had Sheng Xiali repaid her with? She had just woken up.
Speaking of which, what time was it? Why was Sheng Xiali still asleep?
Looking at the amount of light coming through the curtains, it couldn’t be six o’clock, right? This person used to get up at six. Had she lost that habit now?
While she was surprised, she heard something even more surprising.
“You seemed to enjoy touching me, doesn’t that count as a repayment?”
Lu Yin’s slow-witted brain took a moment to realize what she was talking about. She was awake at that time?!
She knew that she had touched her… chest?!
Lu Yin’s face turned a deep shade of crimson, like an uncooked pig’s liver. She was furious and embarrassed: “You, you need to listen to what you’re saying!”
She was innocent. She didn’t do it on purpose. She wasn’t that kind of person. Sheng Xiali saying that was trying to ruin her reputation. And how could she say it so flippantly? Lu Yin turned around in a panic.
“I didn’t—”
The word “touch” was a little hard to say, especially after seeing Sheng Xiali’s current state.
The shirt that had been so stylish yesterday was now loose on her. Only two buttons were fastened, as if to cut off the flow of her curves, but this only drew more attention to the smooth, tempting lines and the slightly bulging fabric, which clearly indicated she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Lu Yin’s heart was beating wildly, and she averted her gaze, which then fell on the fair thighs peeking out from under the shirt’s hem…
She must have been exercising. The inward curve of her thighs was as sexy as a sharp blade, perfectly piercing Lu Yin’s heart.
Lu Yin covered her nose. When she didn’t feel any wetness, she finally calmed down a little. But the next moment, the soft mattress sank. Sheng Xiali bent one leg and propped herself up on the bed. The lines of her tensed leg were as alluring as a spider’s web, trapping Lu Yin’s gaze.
“Didn’t what? Didn’t touch? Or didn’t enjoy touching?”
That raspy voice was also like a spider spirit spitting silk. Lu Yin felt she was doomed. At this rate, her bed was going to become a spider’s cave, and she had to escape.
“Put on your clothes!”
She said this while trying to sit up and get off the bed, but just as her upper body straightened, she felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up and met another pair of eyes. The light in those eyes was stickier than spider silk. Lu Yin’s breath hitched, and she fell back.
“You, what are you doing…”
The words that came out were unusually hoarse. They didn’t even sound like her own voice. Her breath hit Sheng Xiali’s face and came back to her, and it was so hot.
Before she could wonder why her breath was so hot, a new sensation appeared on her forehead, a unique feeling of skin-to-skin contact.
Her breathing and Sheng Xiali’s breathing became a chaotic mess in the small space between them. Her trembling gaze could only fall, taking in the full view inside Sheng Xiali’s shirt.
She really wasn’t wearing a bra…
“You have a fever.”
After the touch on her forehead disappeared, Lu Yin heard this sentence coming from above her head.
Almost without thinking, Lu Yin replied in a mix of embarrassment and anger: “You’re the one who’s horny.”
Sheng Xiali sighed, reached out, and put her hand on Lu Yin’s forehead: “Your body temperature is too high. Where’s the thermometer?”
She had just checked with her forehead, and it was very hot. Now, her hand felt the heat as well.
Lu Yin moved her hand away. Of course, she knew her body temperature was high right now. It was all Sheng Xiali’s fault. Guessing that she was intentionally teasing her, Lu Yin’s face turned serious.
“Get out as soon as you’re awake, or I’m calling the police and reporting you for trespassing.”
Sheng Xiali looked at the person who still hadn’t figured out the situation and pursed her lips: “Hmm? And then what? You’ll tell them I broke into your house and you stripped me naked?”
Lu Yin was fuming: “You took them off yourself.”
Sheng Xiali looked down at the person whose face was unusually flushed: “Then you can tell the police that. I broke into your house, took off my own clothes, got into your bed by myself, and let you touch me.”
Lu Yin’s eyes widened, looking at the person in front of her who felt very unfamiliar.
Why had Sheng Xiali become like this? She had no shame at all. Not only was she dressed like this in broad daylight, but she was also saying such inappropriate things so brazenly…
She got it! Lu Yin looked at the redness on Sheng Xiali’s neck and understood. It was the power of alcohol!
This person probably wasn’t completely sober yet. It was truly terrifying to still be drunk at this point.
“The door is right there. Go, and don’t come back.”
Lu Yin pointed to the bedroom door. She swore she would never open the door for a drunk person again. It was truly terrifying.
“Do you have a thermometer at home?”
“Yes.” Lu Yin’s mouth was faster than her brain.
“Where is it?”
Lu Yin fell silent this time. Maybe it was because she was angry, but her throat felt even more sore, and it was a little hard to breathe.
Her head also felt groggy, and her whole body was a little sore.
What was going on? What did she do last night?
No way…
What could Sheng Xiali have done in that drunken state? Lu Yin didn’t have a habit of sleepwalking, and even if she did, it wouldn’t be to do those things, right…
Sheng Xiali looked at the zoned-out Lu Yin and sighed. The habit of zoning out was one thing about her that hadn’t changed.
“Is there a thermometer in the bedroom?”
Lu Yin pointed to the cabinet next to Sheng Xiali without thinking: “In the drawer.”
Sheng Xiali opened the drawer and found the thermometer under a pile of random things. It was a wonder that Lu Yin could know where things were in such a messy drawer.
She took the thermometer and took Lu Yin’s temperature.
“38.9°C. You have a fever.”
Lu Yin looked at the reading on the thermometer and was very surprised. She really did have a fever, and it wasn’t because of Sheng Xiali…
Damn it, a fever? Could she have caught something? Although the virus wasn’t as bad now, it was still a pain to deal with!
As she thought this, her body started to feel even more uncomfortable. It felt like every part of her was starting to feel bad.
Covering her hot head, Lu Yin felt like crying. Suddenly, a hand appeared on her waist.
Sheng Xiali had moved to her side at some point.
Before Lu Yin could react, Sheng Xiali half-lifted her, moved her further into the bed, adjusted her position, laid her back down, pulled the blanket over her, and tucked in the corners. It was all done in one smooth motion.
Lu Yin didn’t have any time to react…
“Where’s the medicine?”
Sheng Xiali believed this person must have a stash of medicine.
Lu Yin looked at Sheng Xiali by the bed and came back to her senses. She covered her mouth and nose, and her voice was muffled: “I have a fever.”
Sheng Xiali raised an eyebrow. Why was she so slow to react: “Yes. Where’s the medicine?”
Lu Yin’s gaze fell on the blanket. She didn’t look at Sheng Xiali and reminded her: “Aren’t you leaving? Are you waiting to get infected?”
Sheng Xiali’s breathing paused. So she wasn’t slow to react…
“Where’s the medicine?”
Lu Yin didn’t want to talk anymore. She didn’t want Sheng Xiali to be here. When a person was sick, some vulnerable emotions would always appear uncontrollably and at the wrong time. She didn’t want to see Sheng Xiali at a time like this.
She turned her back, pulled the blanket up, and covered her entire head, even holding her breath under the blanket.
Sheng Xiali looked at the puffed-up blanket, her gaze somber. She stood by the bed for a while, feeling that if she didn’t leave soon, the person under the blanket would suffocate. She turned and left.
Lu Yin heard the sound of the door opening and closing and finally poked her head out from under the blanket, taking a deep breath. But as soon as she took a breath, she felt an unbearable tickle in her lungs. She covered her mouth and tried to cough as quietly as possible.
The coughing made her head feel even dizzier. She couldn’t take it anymore. Lu Yin fell back. She felt so uncomfortable.
Sheng Xiali walked out of the room and stopped, her eyes darkening at the scene in front of her. Although she had mentally prepared herself, the mess in front of her was still beyond her expectations.
She had caught a glimpse of the “tip of the iceberg” when she fell in the entryway last night. Afterward, she had felt with her eyes closed that Lu Yin had kicked some things as she walked, but she hadn’t expected it to be like this.
Lu Yin’s apartment had the same layout and size as hers. It was a divided living space with a long hallway, but the apartment was designed to be spacious, and the hallway was wide. However, now, both sides of the hallway were piled with things, leaving only a narrow “path” for a person to walk through.
Sheng Xiali walked slowly along this path, checking what kind of things were piled up as she went.
There was everything…
It wasn’t until she reached the living room and saw everything that Sheng Xiali’s brows finally furrowed. The situation was much worse than she had imagined.
Sheng Xiali turned and left, going back to 902.
In her daze, Lu Yin thought she heard the front door open and close. The person had left… In her grogginess, Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief and fell back asleep.
A minute later, Sheng Xiali changed her clothes, fed Kuaikuai, and returned to 901 with her toothbrush, toothpaste, and facial cleanser in her tooth cup, and a laptop in her other hand. She moved the box blocking the door in the entryway and closed the front door.
Sheng Xiali first cleared a space on the dining table, put her laptop there, then went to the guest bathroom to wash up. While brushing her teeth, she also went to the kitchen to boil some water and turned on her phone.
Seeing the missed call notifications on her phone, Sheng Xiali called back.
Song Xinlei hadn’t slept all night, calling every once in a while, but Sheng Xiali’s phone was always off. When her phone rang, she immediately became alert.
Seeing that it was Sheng Xiali, she was so excited that she couldn’t answer the call successfully for a moment. It was in that instant that she remembered Sheng Xiali’s phone was in Lu Yin’s hands.
She didn’t know if the person on the other end of the phone was Lu Yin or Sheng Xiali. The first thing she did after answering was to hold her breath and not make a sound.
“Hello, Xinlei.”
Hearing Sheng Xiali’s voice, Song Xinlei almost burst into tears of joy: “Xiali, you finally turned on your phone. Do you know your phone ended up with Lu Yin yesterday? Were you drunk? What happened last night? Were you with Lu Yin?”
Last night, when she heard Lu Yin say Xiali was in her bed, Song Xinlei had wanted to call the police, but then she thought it was impossible. Lu Yin must have been trying to upset her.
Xiali had a high alcohol tolerance. And after she had fainted at home from a stomach hemorrhage from drinking too much that year, she had never drunk to the point of losing control again.
Maybe Lu Yin had just run into Xiali by chance yesterday, or maybe she had just found Xiali’s phone.
“Yes, I was at Lu Yin’s last night.”
Sheng Xiali’s words caught Song Xinlei off guard: “Wh-why? Why were you there?”
Sheng Xiali was rinsing the foam off her toothbrush. Hearing the question, she turned off the water, stopped everything she was doing, and spoke clearly and earnestly.
“I’m pursuing her.”
Clang. Song Xinlei lost her grip on the phone, and it fell to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up and heard Sheng Xiali’s voice continue.
“Xinlei, we’re friends—”
After only hearing the beginning, Song Xinlei panicked and hung up.
She must not have slept last night and was hallucinating. How was that possible? How could Sheng Xiali actively pursue someone, and how could she pursue Lu Yin…?