The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 30.2
Chapter 30.2
“No!” Lu Yin shot back without thinking.
“Alright, then rice it is.”
With that, she picked up the pills that had fallen to the floor earlier and left the room, leaving Lu Yin staring blankly at the handful of medicine in her palm.
She really must be sick… maybe even hallucinating—why did she feel like Sheng Xiali had been in a good mood? Had she… even smiled just now?
After leaving, Sheng Xiali rubbed her slightly warm earlobe, the corners of her mouth tugging upward.
Passing through the living room, she shut her laptop and headed to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she couldn’t help but think back to the night she and Lu Yin had run into each other again.
That night, after Lu Yin had “warmed her up,” she’d come down with a fever.
She was sick for a whole week—that was why she hadn’t gone looking for Lu Yin.
She’d never planned to make Lu Yin take care of her. Though she’d imagined that if she showed up saying she was sick and needed help, would Lu Yin help her?
Back then, she hadn’t been sure. But now she had her answer.
Her gaze softened, almost tender, as she thought about what had happened since—and her lips curved in a faint smile.
It had been a surprise to her that Lu Yin could even find her at Yuejian.
When she’d seen her in the office, she’d honestly suspected she was seeing things—a lingering hallucination from that fever.
That reminded her of the personal info Lu Yin had filled out back then.
Number of occupants: One.
Still smiling, Sheng Xiali took all the ingredients from the fridge and laid them out on the counter.
What should they have for dinner? Something with meat—it was time to replenish some energy.After Sheng Xiali left, Lu Yin gulped down all the medicine in one go, nearly choking herself.
Finally, when she had swallowed it all and caught her breath, her mind couldn’t help but drift back to what had just happened.
She really couldn’t accept it—how did things end up like this? How could she have kissed Sheng Xiali?
They had already broken up. Who does that after breaking up?
But it wasn’t on purpose… so what did Sheng Xiali mean by it? Why did she kiss her?
What “we’re even”? That was ridiculous—since when could something like this be considered “even”?
If some random person on the street suddenly ran up and kissed her, was she supposed to just kiss them back?
That would be insane.
So actually… did Sheng Xiali want to kiss her?
Why? Did she still have feelings for her? No way. They’d barely had any feelings to begin with, and after all this time, how much could really be left?
No—wait! Didn’t she already have someone she liked?
Lu Yin shot upright on the bed. Right! She had someone she liked!!!
And yet she kissed her???
What was she thinking?
Could it be that because Lu Yin kissed her first, it triggered some sort of bodily memory, and she just wanted to relive it? Had she somehow mastered the art of separating feelings from physical desire?
Seriously?
Had Sheng Xiali really become that kind of person?
Lu Yin knew plenty of people could separate emotions from the physical—if everyone insisted on combining the two, there wouldn’t be so many affairs and cheating scandals.
But for Sheng Xiali to be like that… how infuriating!
Lu Yin felt insulted—in her mind, her spirit, and her body—insulted in every possible way.
By dinnertime, looking at the full table of dishes, she still couldn’t muster a pleasant expression.
She had to make it clear to Sheng Xiali—if you have someone you like, you need to maintain boundaries with others.
“You already have someone you like, so you shouldn’t be here.”
Sheng Xiali, ladling soup, glanced at her: “If I didn’t, then it’d be fine?”
Lu Yin shook her head. “Of course not. It wouldn’t be fine even if you didn’t.”
“Oh.”
Sheng Xiali responded, placing the bowl of soup in front of Lu Yin, before ladling herself another.
No—not “oh”!
Lu Yin looked at the soup in front of her. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Taking care of someone to this extent? This was way too boundary-less!
Sheng Xiali sipped her soup. “Hm?”
Lu Yin sat up straight. “Barging into someone’s home, saying you want to take care of them, and then… then suddenly kissing them—it’s very easy to give people the wrong idea!”
Sheng Xiali set down her spoon. “What wrong idea?”
Lu Yin blurted out, “That you have feelings for them!”
Sheng Xiali raised an eyebrow. “And did you get the wrong idea?”
Lu Yin leaned back. “Why would I?”
“Oh.” Sheng Xiali went back to drinking her soup.
Another “oh”! She could just about hit her!
Feeling like communication was impossible, Lu Yin gave up. “Forget it. Eat your food and then leave!”
As if she hadn’t heard, Sheng Xiali continued on her own track: “What do you want to eat tomorrow?”
Lu Yin finally realized Sheng Xiali was just being obstinate. “I can cook for myself. I’m already better!”
The moment the words left her mouth, warmth touched her forehead.
Sheng Xiali leaned over the table, pressing her hand to Lu Yin’s head.
“Your temperature’s down. You’re almost better.”
Lu Yin turned her head away, dodging her touch.
She didn’t want to beat around the bush anymore—this was way too suspicious.
“Why did you kiss me?”
Sheng Xiali withdrew her hand. “And what about you?”
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered away. “I already told you—I mistook you for someone else.”
…Which she actually had…
Sheng Xiali picked up her chopsticks again. “Oh.”
Lu Yin slapped the table. “What is wrong with you? Can you say anything besides ‘oh, oh, oh’?”
Sheng Xiali dropped a piece of vegetable into her plate. “Eat some greens.”
Lu Yin huffed and shoved the greens back into Sheng Xiali’s bowl.
“I have hands. I’m almost fully recovered. You can go now—I really don’t need looking after.”
Sheng Xiali took a bite of the greens. “When you’re completely recovered, I’ll leave.”
“You mean it?”
“Mm.”
Lu Yin buried herself in eating. Fine—she just had to recover quickly. Eat more, regain her strength, fight off the virus.
But that night, she thought of something—this promise felt like a carrot dangling in front of a wild horse. Was she just stalling?
Fortunately, Sheng Xiali seemed to have some integrity.
Three days later, when Lu Yin felt perfectly fine, Sheng Xiali was finally going to leave!
“I have a client who wants to finalize something today. I need to head into the office.”
Lu Yin could barely contain the joy bubbling inside her—she almost wanted to set off fireworks.
Sheng Xiali asked, “This happy?”
Lu Yin shook her head, keeping a straight face. “No, no. Work’s important. I’m just worried you might lose the deal—it’s not easy making money.”
Sheng Xiali smiled. “Mm, true. I still need more of it.”
Lu Yin curled her lip—money-minded much? She used to worry about Sheng Xiali not having enough, but now she felt she valued it too much. These past few nights, whenever Lu Yin woke up for water, the living room light had still been on—Sheng Xiali hadn’t gone a single night without working late.
And in the mornings, she was already on the phone discussing work—definitely a workaholic.
After saying that, Sheng Xiali went into the guest bathroom. Ten minutes later, she came out.
“I’m heading out.”
Lu Yin looked at her—she had light makeup on now, had changed out of loungewear into a light suit, transforming back into the image of a workplace elite.
For a moment, Lu Yin dazedly stared, only snapping back when she saw her approaching—and quickly took a step back.
“Uh, be careful on the road.”
Lu Yin watched her leave, saw her enter the elevator, and suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu—like she was sending her off to work back in the day. Weird. And… had she changed clothes here?
She ran to the guest bathroom—sure enough, Sheng Xiali’s dirty clothes were there, along with the cup and toothbrush she’d been using the past few days.
What was this supposed to mean—leave but come back? Not even take her stuff?
Lu Yin quickly grabbed a bag and searched the whole apartment, gathering everything Sheng Xiali had left behind.
Including the two placemats on the dining table.
Once packed, it was quite a lot—there was even a laptop.
But wait—didn’t Sheng Xiali just take a laptop with her? She had two?
Looking at the computer, Lu Yin hesitated—but then thought, she probably had surveillance anyway, so what was there to be afraid of? She shoved it all into a box and set it at the door of 902.
Staring at the closed door, she thought about her own fridge, her cigarettes, and all her things locked inside—and felt her heart ache.
Looking at the keypad lock, she tapped her forehead—if only she could have a sudden flash of inspiration for the right code.
Then she remembered a dream she’d had recently—could the code be the day they got together?
No way…
“Incorrect password. Please try again later.”
The sudden electronic voice made her flush with embarrassment. See? Impossible. Ha… ha ha.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try. She quickly entered another set of numbers.
“Incorrect password. Please try again later.”
Okay, so not their breakup date either.
One last try—her fingers flying over the keypad.
“Incorrect password. Please try again later.”
Ha… ha ha. See? No way it could be the day they moved in together.
Clearly, Sheng Xiali’s password had nothing to do with her. Lu Yin covered her burning face, ducked back into 901, shut the door, and fled this embarrassing “self-delusional” scene.
Half a glass of water later, she finally felt the shame subsiding.
These few days with Sheng Xiali really had fried her brain.
She went to the bedroom, grabbed her phone, unlocked it, and messaged Yang Beibei, asking if she was free for afternoon tea.
She had so much to say—she really couldn’t figure out what was going on. What exactly was Sheng Xiali’s deal?
Was she being self-delusional, or did Sheng Xiali just have no sense of boundaries?
She needed someone to validate her thoughts.
Beibei was perfect—she didn’t know Sheng Xiali, and if she hid a few details, she wouldn’t know who it was.
Beibei quickly replied that she was free.
The café they chose was close to both of them, and Lu Yin arrived on time.
Opening the door, she spotted Beibei—unexpectedly, she wasn’t alone. Amy was there too.
Amy had just left a client’s place and didn’t feel like heading back to the office right away, so she’d found somewhere to slack off—and ran into Beibei.
Just after she sat down, Lu Yin arrived.
Perfect—she just happened to have gossip she wanted to share, and these two were the best audience.
They both knew who Sheng Xiali was, but they weren’t colleagues, so it was the perfect setup for talking about this.
The moment Lu Yin sat down, she overheard something shocking.
“Sheng Xiali is living with someone?”
Lu Yin could hardly believe her ears—she knew she had someone she liked, but she hadn’t expected them to already be living together. Wasn’t she still chasing them?
Beibei was even more shocked—she’d been in touch with Yang Sanhao recently and knew Sheng Xiali was pursuing Lu Yin, even taking care of her these past few days, so she’d made a point not to disturb her.
“Living with who?” Beibei asked.
Amy sighed. “Don’t know yet.”
Lu Yin: “Then how do you know she’s living with someone?”
At that, Amy’s excitement rose. “On Monday, during a morning video meeting, we all heard the boss speaking to someone—very gently, asking if they were awake. Then later, she was making breakfast for them while still in the video call!”
“Monday?” Beibei looked at Lu Yin in confusion. “Yinyin, wasn’t Sheng Xiali still at your place on Monday?”
At that, Amy’s eyes widened, and she gasped, looking at Lu Yin in shock.
“You’re the boss’s live-in girlfriend?”
Lu Yin was just as stunned. “Me?”
The world had gone mad—completely unrecognizable. She first turned to Beibei. “How do you know Sheng Xiali was at my place?”
Beibei didn’t hide it. “She added me on WeChat and told me herself—that she was taking care of you. That’s why I didn’t disturb you.”
Amy cut in. “So the boss is living with you?”
Lu Yin shook her head hard. “No—misunderstanding, total misunderstanding! I was sick these past few days, and your boss just looked after me for a bit.”
How had it turned into such a huge misunderstanding? She had to clear this up fast.
“Sheng Xiali already has someone she likes and is pursuing them, so please don’t cause her trouble.”
Beibei looked surprised. “Someone she likes? I thought she liked you?”
Lu Yin was firm. “Impossible!”
Ten minutes later, Lu Yin slapped herself in the face—metaphorically…