Chapter 109
Zhuang Chi was quite idle during the holidays.
University students don't have homework during winter break, and her family didn't have many relatives to visit for the New Year—probably because the Notebook didn't have the spare energy to create complex family ties for her when it shoved her into this world. A few days ago, Zhuang Chi had some activities like meeting up with high school classmates, but now that the New Year had passed and it was the first few days of the lunar calendar, everyone else was busy with New Year visits, leaving her with nothing to do.
Gu Ximian, on the other hand, was different; she was the busiest during the New Year period. Zhuang Chi felt that Gu Ximian's side was a constant rotation of various dinner parties and banquets, with not a single day free. Thinking that being a child from a wealthy family wasn't easy, she worried Gu Ximian was too tired and consciously avoided bothering her. But after a few days, it was Gu Ximian who became unhappy first. When she video-called, her eyes were slightly narrowed: “What are you doing?”
A sudden video call came without warning at ten o'clock at night, and the first thing she asked was that question. Zhuang Chi was initially a little startled by the person's attire in the video. She was actually wearing a formal gown, with a full set of exquisite makeup and accessories. For a moment, it gave her the illusion that Gu Ximian was calling her from the banquet itself. Only after composing herself did she realize the background was still Gu Ximian's familiar bedroom, and she became a bit bewildered again: “...Are you about to go out now?”
“No. I just got back.” Gu Ximian shook her head in denial, and the single diamond earring on her left ear swayed slightly with the movement, its brilliant light twinkling faintly. It made her look cool and pure, creating more of a sense of distance than her usual makeup-free appearance, which made Zhuang Chi inexplicably afraid to look too closely, her breathing slowing. But her overly beautiful female lead was completely unaware of this, frowning with some dissatisfaction, “You still haven't answered me. What are you doing?”
Zhuang Chi finally came back to her senses, but her attitude when replying was still a bit more reserved than usual: “Nothing much, just reading a book...”
Her answer clearly didn't satisfy Gu Ximian. Gu Ximian pressed her lips together slightly and said in a low voice, “If you didn't have anything important to do, then why didn't you contact me at all today?”
Sensing that she was a little unhappy, Zhuang Chi unconsciously sat up straight and confessed everything as if admitting her mistake: “Because you said yesterday that you were going to a big banquet today, so I thought... it would be better not to disturb you.”
What the heck. Gu Ximian quickly figured out Zhuang Chi's train of thought. It seemed the reason she hadn't contacted her much in the past two days was undoubtedly this as well. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Out of Zhuang Chi's sight, she resentfully poked the screen twice as if in a fit of pique, and said in a low voice, “If you keep this up, I won't tell you about these things anymore.”
Even a fool could see what Gu Ximian was unhappy about. Zhuang Chi realized it and felt apologetic, her attitude of admitting her mistake very sincere: “...I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I'll talk to you more often from now on, okay?”
She thought for a moment and added, “When you feel like I'm talking too much and bothering you, just tell me, and I'll change again.”
Actually, she didn't think the latter situation would ever happen, but Gu Ximian felt it would be too embarrassing to say so directly. So she just gave a faint “mm,” as if she wasn't the one who had been restless for the past few days because Zhuang Chi had been talking to her less.
...And she couldn't help but video call right after getting home from the banquet, without even having time to change her clothes. Looking back now, Gu Ximian felt she had been a bit pathetic earlier. Fortunately, Zhuang Chi was very slow in this regard and hadn't noticed anything amiss. The evening gown looked beautiful, but it wasn't comfortable to wear. Gu Ximian thought for a moment and said to Zhuang Chi, “I'm going to change my clothes.”
Her original intention was to say she'd hang up first and call back once she was done. Who knew that after hearing this, Zhuang Chi's eyes would suddenly widen. Gu Ximian watched as a faint pink blush spread from Zhuang Chi's neck to her ears within seconds, and the voice from the phone became stuttered and clumsy due to nervousness: “Just... change like this?”
Gu Ximian was taken aback, and then her face suddenly grew hot as well. She opened her mouth to explain, flustered and annoyed, but the words that came out were subtly different from her original plan: “...Of course not! I'll go change over to the side!”
Then she actually stood up just like that. The phone on the desk remained in video call mode. Gu Ximian walked to the side of her bed, which she remembered was out of the phone camera's view. But when her hand reached for the zipper, she still felt uneasy, her heart beating fast. She gave an unnatural light cough and raised her voice slightly, “You... you can't see me from over there right now, can you?”
Zhuang Chi's panicked response came immediately from the other side of the phone: “I can't see, I can't see! I've closed my eyes, it's okay!”
She was very self-aware, but it turned out that closing her eyes was not a good idea, as it seemed to make her sense of hearing more acute. Zhuang Chi kept her eyes shut tight, but she couldn't block out the faint rustling of clothes coming from her earphones. She didn't know why Gu Ximian's phone had such good sound pickup; the sound of the zipper opening and the friction of fabric was as if it were right next to her ear, incredibly clear. It was so clear that even her own racing heartbeat couldn't drown it out, causing her to unconsciously hold her breath and tense her entire body.
...Maybe I should just take off the earphones... But then, I wouldn't hear it if Gu Ximian called for me. Zhuang Chi's mind was easily thrown into chaos. She clearly hadn't done anything, yet she felt like she was doing something terrible. She could only desperately control her thoughts, trying not to let the sound of someone changing clothes lead to inappropriate images, and her face became incredibly hot.
Is... isn't she done yet? Although Zhuang Chi didn't dare to listen too closely, she dared even less to open her eyes, afraid she might see something and offend Gu Ximian. She squeezed her eyes shut so tightly that they started to feel tired—hey, come to think of it, why didn't she just turn the phone face down? Then she wouldn't have to close her eyes, right?
Her nearly-crashed brain only thought of this now. The whole time, Zhuang Chi had been holding her phone with trepidation, as if it were a bomb about to explode. Now, as if waking from a dream, she was about to turn the phone over when she heard Gu Ximian's voice from the earphones: “...Alright, you can open your eyes.”
Her hand froze mid-action. She carefully opened her eyes to look at the screen and saw that Gu Ximian had already changed into her loungewear. Her makeup and everything else were untouched; it seemed she had only changed out of the gown. But for some reason, there was now a cup of coffee in her hand. Zhuang Chi looked on in confusion. Gu Ximian took a small sip and said quietly, “...A family member made some and brought me a cup.”
“Oh...” Zhuang Chi didn't suspect anything, but she was a little worried. “Your family drinks coffee at this hour? Won't you have trouble sleeping?”
Gu Ximian paused, subtly averting her gaze, and replied, “It's fine. My parents... um, are usually very busy with work. They drink a lot of coffee.”
—They were very busy, but they didn't have the habit of drinking coffee at ten at night. Gu Ximian silently apologized to her parents in her heart for using their name to tell a lie. But no matter what, telling Zhuang Chi that her family made coffee because she wanted some... although Zhuang Chi probably wouldn't think anything of it, Gu Ximian herself certainly knew the reason she wanted coffee, so she really couldn't bring herself to say it.
However, Zhuang Chi didn't look very calm right now either. Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi's exceptionally obvious blush, deliberately trying not to think about how she had been just as shy when changing clothes earlier. She forced herself to find some psychological comfort: Not bad, I've evened the score.
Gu Ximian lowered her head and took another sip of coffee. The coffee was fragrant and rich, a flavor she often drank, but there was a subtle sense of disappointment in her heart, as if an empty space still hadn't been filled. Gu Ximian knew the reason why. Her slender fingers tightened slightly on the white porcelain cup, and she sighed silently.
...Of course, there are many kinds of coffee scents, and besides, Zhuang Chi's pheromones only smelled similar to coffee, Gu Ximian thought. This wasn't really helping; it would only make her miss Zhuang Chi more.
She had been missing her a lot. Ever since the day Zhuang Chi agreed to live with her, this longing had grown to an uncontrollable extent. It wasn't just the scent, but also the warmth, the touch—all the things that couldn't be realized through a screen gradually occupied Gu Ximian's thoughts. When she thought about it, the gland under her inhibitor collar would grow slightly hot, and she didn't know if it was because her susceptible period was approaching, or because the flames of her love were burning too brightly.
Thinking she should probably get an inhibitor shot later, Gu Ximian composed herself and looked up at Zhuang Chi. Her lover had gradually calmed down from her earlier shyness and now had the composure to look at her carefully, blurting out a compliment: “You look so beautiful today, Gu Ximian.”
She had heard similar words from countless people at the banquet, but a hundred of those compliments combined couldn't make Gu Ximian as happy as this single one from Zhuang Chi. She curled her lips into a faint smile and, with a mischievous glint in her eye, deliberately made things difficult for Zhuang Chi: “Am I not beautiful usually?”
Zhuang Chi hurriedly shook her head, saying that's not what she meant, and then very seriously praised Gu Ximian's entire look for the day from head to toe, finally landing on: “—The lipstick shade is also very beautiful, it suits you very well.”
She probably had no strange intentions when she said it, but while the speaker was casual, the listener took it to heart. Gu Ximian's breath hitched. She realized Zhuang Chi's gaze must be on her lips, so she pressed them together lightly, feeling herself grow hot again.
...This shade would probably suit Zhuang Chi too, Gu Ximian thought.
The scene that popped into her mind was too improper. Gu Ximian closed her eyes in annoyance, intending to change the subject. But when she looked at Zhuang Chi, what came out as if by a slip of the tongue was: “...After the new semester starts, you'll be moving into my place, right?”
It had absolutely nothing to do with the previous topic. Zhuang Chi was taken aback for a moment, then thought about it and replied, “...Yeah, but I still need to pack up my things in the dorm. It'll probably take a day or two...”
“It's fine if you don't finish packing.” She heard Gu Ximian say, her speech a little fast at first, before she seemed to catch herself and slowed down for the second half, her voice soft, “...Anyway, my place... has everything.”
“...”
It sounded like she wanted her to move in as soon as possible.
The meaning behind her words was quite obvious, but Gu Ximian's face didn't show it; her expression was very calm, as if she didn't mean that at all. Zhuang Chi thought that if she didn't know Gu Ximian well enough, she might have actually been fooled. In the end, mindful that Gu Ximian was thin-skinned, she didn't point it out directly and just nodded, “Okay, then I'll tell Lu Man later... ah, and I should also tell my mom and the others first—”
And right on cue, just as she said this, there was a knock on her room door. Zhuang Chi pulled off one earphone and saw her mother carefully push the door open a crack: “I cut up some fruit—oh my, are you on a video call?”
Zhuang Chi nodded. She had video-called Gu Ximian quite often since coming home, so her parents had naturally noticed. Her mother tiptoed over, placed the fruit on her desk, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, “...Is it a friend?”
...It felt like she had already sensed something. Zhuang Chi subconsciously glanced at the phone screen and saw Gu Ximian sitting up ramrod straight, clearly more nervous than before. Zhuang Chi knew Gu Ximian had heard her mom's question and thought to herself, so Gu Ximian gets nervous at times like this too. Zhuang Chi's eyes curved into a smile, and she replied seriously, “She's my girlfriend.”
On the other end of the screen, Gu Ximian was startled by this very natural answer. She couldn't help but wonder why Zhuang Chi wasn't the least bit nervous. After speaking, Zhuang Chi even looked at her without saying anything, but her eyes clearly wrote the words “Is it okay to say that?” Her gaze was gentle and bright, which gradually calmed down the somewhat flustered Gu Ximian, who had been caught off guard by the sudden encounter with Zhuang Chi's parent. She gave a slightly shy, soft “mm.”
Having received permission, Zhuang Chi smiled silently. She turned to her mother, who was still processing the shocking fact that her daughter had a girlfriend and hadn't reacted yet, and added, “It's Gu Ximian. You've met her before.”
“Also, I...” As she explained this part, she finally felt a little awkward. Zhuang Chi looked at her Beta mother, who was still digesting all this information, and struck while the iron was hot, laying everything out, “...I want to move out of the dorm and live with her next semester. I'm just letting you know in advance.”
After seeing her mom off—she still looked dazed when she left, but at least she had dazedly nodded her head before leaving, indicating that she could move if she wanted to—Zhuang Chi looked back at the phone screen and said to Gu Ximian, whose expression was still a bit unnatural, “Okay. She's gone.”
“...”
Only then did Gu Ximian realize she had been holding her breath without knowing it. Even though she rationally knew there was no reason their relationship wouldn't be accepted, she couldn't help but feel anxious about the possibility of hearing disapproval from her lover's family. It was only now that she belatedly realized this was how their relationship was being announced to Zhuang Chi's parents. The whole process had unfolded so naturally that it was over before she could even react. Now, she could only slowly say, “...Should I have greeted Auntie just now?”
“It's okay.” It was rare to see Gu Ximian so flustered. Zhuang Chi laughed and said calmly, “There will be more opportunities in the future.”
She said it with such certainty, Gu Ximian thought. This person... sometimes she's really...
Her heartbeat slowly quickened, the sound becoming clearer and clearer. Gu Ximian once again felt a warmth spread through her with her accelerating heart. She took a deep breath, and the scent of coffee—which she knew was neither a temporary fix nor a permanent cure—inexplicably drew out a small sense of grievance. She asked in a low voice, “...The holiday... how much longer is it?”
Another abrupt topic change. Zhuang Chi was caught off guard by the sudden question and didn't have an exact number in her head: “About ten days or so...”
Ten days or so. Gu Ximian repeated it silently in her mind and unconsciously murmured, “...That's so long.”
Zhuang Chi's heart skipped a beat. From the look on Gu Ximian's face, she probably hadn't even noticed she'd said it out loud. But Zhuang Chi had heard it very clearly and remembered the words even after the video call ended—a self-mutter that sounded like a sigh.
What student would complain about a holiday being too long? Zhuang Chi thought. And she wasn't foolish enough to think Gu Ximian said that because she genuinely didn't want a break.
The night outside the window was dark and heavy. Zhuang Chi gazed out for a long while, then slowly exhaled and stood up.
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