Chapter 78 - 66: Not Disturbing You Is My Tenderness
The early morning sun pierced through the smog, shining into the small courtyard.
Outside the window, sparrows chirped nonstop.
Everyone in the courtyard was still asleep.
Hungover, Xiao Wanqing woke up and stretched. Suddenly, a hand draped over her, making her scream in fright. She whipped her head around and saw it was Liu Jinyu.
"What are you doing in my bed?"
"Don’t talk. Let me sleep a little longer... Hiss~"
It hurt a little when Liu Jinyu tried to roll over.
’A day’s plan is made in the morning.’
’Can’t a girl even get a peaceful morning’s sleep?’
So she had fled to Xiao Wanqing’s room for some sound sleep.
’I’ve had enough. Enough.’
’Boohoo... That damn Ranran is so intense.’
’Hmm, I need to find a chance to teach that damn Ranran to be more gentle with me.’
"Good morning, Su Ran."
"Morning."
Xiao Wanqing sat up and saw Su Ran through the window, working out on the fitness equipment in the courtyard.
"Holy crap..."
Liu Jinyu clicked her tongue, thoroughly impressed.
’Is he some kind of super-soldier?’
’How can his stamina be so good?’
"What’s that smell?" Xiao Wanqing leaned in and sniffed. "It smells so good... Jinyu, what perfume are you wearing? Why does it smell so nice?"
Liu Jinyu said drowsily, "Who wears perfume to bed? You’re probably smelling the air freshener."
"No, it’s a fragrance coming from you."
"Oh." Liu Jinyu was too tired to dwell on it. "Don’t bother me. I’m going back to sleep."
"What’s with that pout? You know what they say: ’Confession brings leniency, resistance brings severity.’ So spill it. How was it?"
’What the hell.’
Liu Jinyu really had to hand it to her best friend. ’How can she ask something like that?’
"Uhh... Actually... it was... pretty... amazing."
She let out a mortified ’pfft’ of a laugh, her face beet-red as she burrowed back under the covers.
Xiao Wanqing was speechless.
’It wasn’t exactly envy, more like she just didn’t get it, since she’d never experienced it herself.’
’Still, she thought it was only natural that Jinyu and Su Ran had reached this stage.’
Without another word, she got out of bed and went to exercise.
...
At breakfast, the birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant.
The four girls sat around the table in the courtyard, eating. Su Ran had already eaten when he brought breakfast back. He was now online, booking plane tickets.
Liu Jinyu asked, "Su Ran, are there any tickets available for today?"
Su Ran replied, "There are plenty of seats in first class."
Liu Jinyu was speechless.
’I shouldn’t have asked. I was just asking for it.’
BEEP BEEP BEEP...
Su Ran received a text message. He glanced over at Xie Yiren, who was frantically signaling with her eyes for him to read it.
Xie Yiren: [Su Ran, delete my pictures! Now!]
’Heh.’
Su Ran chuckled and shook his head. ’A classic case of doing whatever you want when you’re drunk, then regretting it all once you sober up.’
Su Ran: [Don’t worry, I’ve saved them properly. It’s art.]
Xie Yiren: [Art my ass! Delete them! You have to! What am I supposed to do if Jinyu sees them?]
Su Ran: [Alright, alright, I’ll delete them! I really have to hand it to you. Last night, you insisted on me taking them, and when I refused you threatened to set your Gu Insects on me. Now you’re begging me to delete them. Are you messing with me or what?]
Xie Yiren shamelessly feigned ignorance: [You’re lying! Would I be that shameless, begging you to take pictures of me? I remember you tricking me into it! Stop trying to weasel your way out of this!]
Su Ran: [...So heartless? So shameless?]
Xie Yiren: [Delete them! I’m checking later!]
Su Ran: [Fine, fine, I’m deleting them (laughing while covering face)]
’Actually,’ Su Ran thought, ’a girl like this is pretty interesting.’
Su Ran: [I’ve deleted them.]
Xie Yiren: [Let me ask you, last night, did you and Jinyu... ]
Su Ran: [How did you know?]
Xie Yiren: [The wooden walls aren’t soundproof.]
Su Ran: [Pfft~ Yeah.]
Xie Yiren didn’t reply. She looked over at Liu Jinyu, who was glowing with happiness as she slurped down her congee. Xie Yiren passed her own tea egg to her. "Here, Jinyu. Eat up. You need to replenish your strength."
Pfft~
HAHAHA~
Xiao Wanqing did a spit-take.
"You guys go ahead and eat. I don’t have much of an appetite. I’m going back to my room to sleep for a bit."
After speaking, Aina put down her spoon, got up, and returned to her room.
The other three girls didn’t think much of it. After all, Aina had drunk so much that it was normal for her to have no appetite in the morning.
Only Su Ran knew the real reason why.
’To be honest, Su Ran was happy that a girl liked him. It meant she had good taste.’
’It’s just that falling for someone should be a happy experience, and he didn’t want it to be the cause of her pain.’
’Sigh...’
’Look at her. Aina used to be such a lively, talkative girl. But the moment she developed feelings and fell in love with her best friend’s boyfriend, it was like she became a different person.’
Su Ran’s heart was filled with a mix of complicated emotions.
Aina went back to her room, lay down, put on her headphones, and played a song on loop—Mayday’s "Tenderness."
There was a line in the lyrics that she really liked.
[Not bothering you is my own kind of tenderness.]
...
After the meal.
Xiao Wanqing and the others packed their luggage. Liu Jinyu wanted to go home to pick up some local specialties, so she asked Xie Yiren and Xiao Wanqing to go with her. She didn’t ask Su Ran, because if he showed up at her family’s home, the meaning would change completely. Besides, if Su Ran went, he would definitely buy a bunch of gifts again, which would be a hassle.
And so, the three girls left.
Only two people remained in Hua Banli.
One was Aina in the bedroom, leaning against the bed with her headphones on.
The other was Su Ran in the courtyard, leisurely feeding the goldfish.
Aina just stayed like that, leaning against the bed, staring at Su Ran in the courtyard.
’If I don’t say anything, then we won’t talk. I just won’t be the one to start it.’
Su Ran took a deep breath, tossed a handful of fish food into the pond, then turned and looked through the window at Aina inside the house.
She turned her head to watch two sparrows outside the other window, but in her peripheral vision, she saw his figure approaching the bedroom, step by step. She couldn’t help but grip her phone tighter.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...
"The door’s unlocked," Aina said.
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