Chapter 39
If Chen Nian hadn't called, Ji Fengxue might have stayed there with her until dawn. She slowly opened her eyes and instinctively hung up the call. It wasn't until the second ring that she reluctantly answered.
“Where are you?” Chen Nian asked on the phone.
“I don’t know, I’ll send you my location.”
Putting away her phone, she patted Xia Linxia. “Wake up, we need to go back.”
Xia Linxia groggily opened her eyes. After a moment, she became slightly more lucid. Hearing this, she nodded, “Okay, I’m so sleepy.”
“You can go home and sleep soon.” Ji Fengxue also felt a bit dizzy, but not to the point of losing her senses.
“Mmm…” Xia Linxia released her hand and took a few steps back, not realizing the ground was uneven flagstones. She stepped into a hole, and her high heel got stuck.
“What the heck!” She stomped her foot angrily and pulled hard, but the heel was crooked.
“Wuwuwuwu, my haute couture!” Xia Linxia cried with a mournful face, taking off her shoe and looking at it. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“…” Ji Fengxue helplessly put her hand to her forehead, realizing this girl was truly quite drunk.
She took off her own shoes and placed them in front of Xia Linxia, saying, “Wear mine first. We’re about the same height, so our feet should be about the same size.”
“What about you?” Xia Linxia blinked, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Ji Fengxue’s heart skipped a beat. She got up, wiped away her tears, and said with a chuckle, “I used to go barefoot a lot when I was filming, so I’m used to it.”
Xia Linxia looked down at her high heels, crying as she asked, “Are these haute couture?”
“Yes,” Ji Fengxue replied, quite speechless. “They’re limited edition, too.”
“Okay.” Xia Linxia wiped her tears. “I can’t cry, I’m the strongest woman.”
“Please speak standard Mandarin.”
“Okay.”
Xia Linxia tried to put her foot in, but it wouldn’t go in for a long time, making her so angry she wanted to stomp her foot again.
Ji Fengxue sighed, squatted down, took Xia Linxia’s foot, and carefully helped her put on the shoes.
“You’re so nice,” Xia Linxia said, deeply moved. “Beautiful lady, can I have your contact information?”
“…”
Ji Fengxue stood up, playfully ruffled her hair, and pulled her towards a place with light.
Xia Linxia had only taken a couple of steps when she immediately stopped and ran back to hug her discarded shoes, looking at Ji Fengxue with teary eyes. “My broken shoes, can they still sail on your old boat?”
Ji Fengxue: “………………”
In the end, Xia Linxia got into the car hugging her pair of haute couture broken shoes.
Chen Nian closed the car door and looked back at them in surprise. “What’s wrong with her? Did you bully her?”
Ji Fengxue found a pair of clean slippers from the spare bag of essentials and wiped her feet with a wet wipe, pushing her foot towards Chen Nian. “See who’s bullying whom.”
Chen Nian raised an eyebrow and turned back with a smile.
As soon as Xia Linxia got in the car, she leaned back against the seat and fell asleep again. Ji Fengxue took the broken shoes from her embrace, took out a thin blanket, and covered her.
The next moment, Xia Linxia’s head tilted onto Ji Fengxue’s shoulder. She comfortably adjusted her sleeping position, falling asleep while hugging her arm.
The blanket was precariously balanced after a series of movements. Ji Fengxue quickly reached out to hold it, and simply hugged Xia Linxia. She looked down at the person sleeping comfortably. The dim light in the car reflected on her face, stripping away her usual assertiveness. Her features became soft, even more delicate and dazzling.
Her eyelashes were long and curled, her nose was high, her lips were thin and moist, and even the small mole on her earlobe was clearly visible.
On impulse, she lowered her head, only a step away from those eyes.
“Cough.” Chen Nian coughed unexpectedly.
Ji Fengxue startled awake, raised her head, and evasively explained, “I just saw something on her face.”
“Something beautiful, perhaps?” Chen Nian said.
“Is it just ‘something’?” Ji Fengxue said, then fell silent for a few seconds, irritably propping her forehead, brushing her hair back, and glancing out at the fleeting city.
“You’re drunk now,” Chen Nian had to remind her. “I can understand that you’re a bit irrational right now. After all, she’s really beautiful, but how will you face her when you’re sober?”
“I’m not…” She wanted to say she wasn’t acting out of drunken impulse, but on second thought, she had indeed considered pretending nothing happened when she woke up.
It was indeed difficult to face the other person, and even more difficult to face herself.
How could she fall for a straight woman again?
Hadn’t she learned her lesson once?
No matter how hard she tried, it would be in vain.
The car stopped in Xia Linxia’s residential area. Ji Fengxue asked Chen Nian to help her get the person upstairs. But opening the door was a problem. She asked Xia Linxia, “Where are your keys?”
Xia Linxia leaned against her, humming and unable to give a clear answer.
Ji Fengxue looked at the password lock and remembered Xia Yangxuan’s surprised expression when she didn’t know the password. Was it something she was supposed to know?
She tried entering Xia Linxia’s birthday, thinking, Could it be this simple?
Click—
Well, it was that simple.
As Chen Nian helped her inside, she looked at Ji Fengxue with ill intent. “Not bad, you even got the password.”
Ji Fengxue couldn’t be bothered to explain. She laid Xia Linxia down in the bedroom and said to Chen Nian, “You can wait for me in the car first.”
As an agent, Chen Nian looked at her with concern. “Don’t do anything rash while you’re drunk. Dealing with this kind of thing is troublesome.”
“Alright, I know my limits.” She waved her hand, took out a bottle of hangover medicine from her bag, and gave it to Xia Linxia.
Chen Nian watched her busy herself and said before leaving, “Oh, right, don’t forget you’re scheduled to talk to Director Chen about the movie this Saturday. It’s rare for him to have a new script, so don’t miss the opportunity.”
“Yes, I know.” Ji Fengxue replied while taking off Xia Linxia’s shoes.
If it weren’t for such an important appointment, she would have directly accepted the film crew’s invitation at the bar earlier.
She walked to the bathroom, washed her hands, picked up a clean towel nearby, wet it with hot water, and went to wipe Xia Linxia’s face.
Xia Linxia immediately felt incredibly comfortable. She stretched on the bed, turned over, and continued to sleep.
Ji Fengxue picked up her wrist again to wipe her hands, when suddenly, another hand grabbed her arm.
Xia Linxia suddenly opened her eyes, looking at Ji Fengxue without blinking. A hint of indescribable panic flashed in her eyes. After a while, she let go and said casually, “It’s you.”
“Do you want some water?” Ji Fengxue asked.
“Yes, please.” Xia Linxia rubbed her face against the pillow before struggling to sit up and lean against the bed, taking the hot water Ji Fengxue handed her.
Her expression cleared slightly. Xia Linxia weakly handed back the cup and looked up at Ji Fengxue. “Thank you.”
“Did you have a nightmare just now?” Ji Fengxue asked.
“Mmm.” Xia Linxia lowered her head. “I dreamed about being kidnapped… I thought the kidnappers were going to grab me again.”
Ji Fengxue couldn’t help but pat her head. “That won’t happen again. You’re a big star, people see you everywhere. Kidnappers won’t have a chance.”
Xia Linxia nodded. “And I won’t be caught. I’m very capable now.”
“Yes, yes, who would dare mess with you now?” Ji Fengxue smiled. “The thermos has hot water. I’ll leave it by the bedside. Don’t drink too quickly when you do, be careful not to burn yourself. And the hangover medicine, I don’t know if you have any at home, so I left a bottle here. If you’re still dizzy tomorrow, take one. Get some good rest, I’m leaving now. Goodnight.”
Saying that, she turned to leave. As she opened the bedroom door, she suddenly heard Xia Linxia say, “Thank you, Little Snowflake.”
Ji Fengxue froze and turned back in surprise.
Xia Linxia smiled, a little slyly, and a little triumphantly.
“How did you know?” During school, classmates and teachers called her that. She immediately thought of Xing Baifeng. “Did you and Xing Baifeng whisper about…?”
Xia Linxia chuckled and patted the empty space next to her. “Little Snowflake, stay and sleep with me tonight.”
“…”
“I’m afraid I’ll dream about kidnappers again. Every time I dream about that incident, I have nightmares for several days in a row, like a TV series.” Xia Linxia still felt a bit scared. “We’ve slept together before, haven’t we? You can’t be that heartless. Just do a good deed, okay?”
Ji Fengxue didn’t say a word. She quickly lay down, adopting her usual “ready to be buried” sleeping posture, and said nothing more. “Sleep, I’m here.”
“Wow, Little Snowflake is so nice.” Xia Linxia immediately hugged her, resting her head on Ji Fengxue’s shoulder. Sensing her stiffen, she found it amusing. “Oh, it’s just calling you by your nickname. You already know I’m called Xiao Bao, so you can’t stop me from knowing you’re Little Snowflake, right?”
Ji Fengxue didn’t dare to breathe, holding her breath and silently reciting the Diamond Sutra.
Unexpectedly, Xia Linxia became even more brazen. She wrapped one arm around Ji Fengxue’s waist, tilted her head up to look at her, her eyes curving into a smile. “My friend said that when you were in school, there was another girl in your class named Feng Xue. To distinguish between you two, she was Big Feng Xue, and you were Little Snowflake.”
Ji Fengxue looked down into Xia Linxia’s eyes and murmured, “You were whispering about me to dig up my embarrassing past?”
“Yes!” Xia Linxia nodded emphatically. Her chin bumped against Ji Fengxue’s shoulder, so she pushed herself up, looking down at her. “I also know what you’re most afraid of! Hmph, if you dare tickle me again, I’ll show you horror movies!”
“…” Ji Fengxue moved the hair that had fallen onto her cheek away, slowly blinked, the corners of her eyes lifting. “What else did she say?”
Xia Linxia thought for a moment with her not-so-clear mind and said, “Besides being afraid of horror movies, you were also afraid of being punished by the teacher for not finishing your homework, so you dragged her to do your homework every day.”
“You don’t need to remember this.” Ji Fengxue cursed Xing Baifeng in her heart.
Xia Linxia flopped back onto the bed and said, “Ah, you were also afraid of not getting your favorite dishes in the cafeteria, so you secretly bribed the auntie serving food, but the auntie was fired the next day.”
“…”
Ji Fengxue turned over, looking at Xia Linxia’s expression, which shifted between a frown and liveliness, and couldn’t help but want to laugh. She neither interrupted nor corrected her, letting her bring up those long-faded memories. The memories began to become interesting.
Xia Linxia mumbled for a while and soon fell asleep.
Ji Fengxue, under the dim light of the desk lamp, quietly gazed at her. It wasn’t the first time they had shared a bed, but she had never looked at her so intently.
Her first impression of Xia Linxia came from an unpleasant meeting. She had also heard that Xia Linxia didn’t have a good relationship with Xiao Yuran. Although she didn’t dislike her, she couldn’t say she liked her much either. She was just an idol living in the eyes of her fans.
After gradually interacting with her, she discovered that beneath the girl’s assertive personality lay a sharp edge. Once glimpsed, it was impossible to stop.
But she had lived for thirty years and was no longer reckless and fearless. She had finally let go of her past difficulties. Now, she was like Xia Wudi, wanting only to shrink into a safe shell.
The next day, Xia Linxia slept until noon before waking up. She opened her eyes and stared at the face close to hers, stunned. She blinked, confirming she wasn’t hallucinating, and yelled, “Ji Fengxue! What are you doing here!”
Ji Fengxue’s eyes moved slightly. She slowly opened her eyes, looked at Xia Linxia for a few seconds, and said, “You asked me to sleep with you.”
“Impossible!” Xia Linxia snorted. “How could I ask you to stay? Do you tell bedtime stories or give massages? You just take advantage of me!”
“Heh.” Ji Fengxue said with a fake smile, “Look for yourself, who is taking advantage of whom now?”
Xia Linxia was stunned. Only then did she look down at their positions. Ji Fengxue was neatly dressed, lying on her side, while Xia Linxia was like an octopus, with her limbs all over Ji Fengxue.
She was startled and quickly let go, rolling to the other side, hugging the blanket to cover herself, and asked in horror, “I… I didn’t do anything to you, did I?”
Ji Fengxue said meaningfully, “If you did, would you admit it?”
Xia Linxia fell silent.
Ji Fengxue sat up and heard her seriously analyze, “You didn’t take off anything, so nothing definitely happened. We’ve slept together so many times before, and nothing happened. I trust you this time too.”
Ji Fengxue smiled faintly and said, perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, “Don’t trust me next time.”
Xia Linxia lay on the bed for a long time, staring at the ceiling, trying to recall how she had invited the wolf into her den last night. After a while, she slowly came to her senses, slapped the bed, and got up. “Damn, it was really me who invited you! Look at my shamelessness…”
“Yes, I’m glad you recognize that.” Ji Fengxue got out of bed and tidied her wrinkled clothes, wearing slippers to go to the bathroom.
Xia Linxia’s gaze fell on the slippers. She suddenly remembered walking barefoot on that road last night and felt a surge of emotion. She shouted into the bathroom, “Thank you! To show my gratitude, I’ll treat you to a bowl of Enema1 for breakfast!”
Ji Fengxue’s toes slipped. All her heartfelt affection had been poured into a silly joke.
1The original word here is Ēn Xī Mǎ (恩希玛), a staple food in Zambia and Malawi made from coarse cornmeal. I felt like the literal translation would break the joke, so I’ve localized it.
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