WRR – Chapter 5

Xu Shi was startled awake. When she opened her eyes, it was pitch black, and there was something warm in her arms.

Xu Shi screamed on the spot, pushing it away and stumbling back several steps.

“What is that!” Xu Shi yelled.

Then she heard a very soft grunt. The person who had been in her arms was woken up by her shouting. In the dim light where she could barely make out a silhouette, the person slowly propped herself up and said in a hoarse voice, “What are you doing?”

Xu Shi paused, immediately realizing that the quilt she was clutching didn’t feel like the one at her home.

In that instant, everything flooded back into her mind.

She had been drinking.

She had blacked out.

“Yu-Yu Lingshan?” Xu Shi asked in a small voice.

Click.

Yu Lingshan turned on the light.

The beautiful woman, her hair slightly messy but not detracting from her looks in the slightest, looked at Xu Shi with half-closed eyes, her expression blank.

Yu Lingshan didn’t need to say a word; Xu Shi was naturally intimidated.

Xu Shi was completely sober now. “How did I end up at your place?”

After asking, she quickly added, “This is your place, right?”

Yu Lingshan was very sleepy. “Or a hotel?”

Xu Shi: “Uh, no.”

Yu Lingshan was wearing a slip top, or maybe a dress—she couldn’t be sure without lifting the covers, but that wasn’t important.

Actually, what she was wearing wasn’t important either. What was important was…

No, what?

Xu Shi swallowed. “How did I get here? Did I drink too much?”

Yu Lingshan was truly exhausted. She flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers up.

She said, “What do you think?”

Xu Shi swallowed again.

A hundred questions were swirling in her mind: Why didn’t you send me home? Did anyone call me? Did I say or do anything yesterday? How did we end up sleeping together?

Also, who changed her into these pajamas?

But given Yu Lingshan’s current state, Xu Shi couldn’t bring herself to ask a single thing. It felt as if the moment she opened her mouth, Yu Lingshan would grab a knife, hold it to her neck, and stare into her eyes, saying, “Either sleep, or die.”

However, Xu Shi didn’t lie back down. After all, the current situation was just too bizarre.

What on earth was going on?

She thought for a moment and decided to quietly lift the covers.

But she had only lifted them halfway when Yu Lingshan’s voice drifted over again.

“It’s three in the morning,” Yu Lingshan’s voice was muffled by the quilt. “Don’t even think about going home.”

Xu Shi: “How did you know I was going to go home?”

Yu Lingshan couldn’t be bothered to answer that question. She just said, “Your phone is on the nightstand.”

Xu Shi did indeed need her phone. She turned to look at the nightstand, picked up her charging phone, and immediately opened her mom’s WeChat.

It showed a message from her mom at eleven o’clock last night: If you’re not coming home to sleep, you should have said so earlier. I made you soup. Don’t stay out too late, and get to bed early.

“Lie down after you’re done reading,” an impatient voice floated over.

Xu Shi’s heart skipped a beat. She put her phone down and obediently lay back down.

Just as she pulled the covers up, Yu Lingshan spoke again.

“Turn off the light.”

Xu Shi: “Oh.”

Five seconds later.

Xu Shi: “Where’s the switch?”

Yu Lingshan: “On my side.”

Xu Shi: “…”

Of course, she knew there was a switch on Yu Lingshan’s side; she had just seen her turn on the light. She was just wondering if there was one on her side too.

Yu Lingshan seemed to have a serious case of morning grumpiness, the kind where she was too lazy to even utter a single word.

But on second thought, who wouldn’t be angry after being woken up by such a loud shout in the middle of the night? And this person was crashing at your place because she blacked out, and you probably had to take care of her all night.

Thinking this, Xu Shi became even more afraid to speak. She glanced up and saw that there was a switch on her side too, but she didn’t know which light it controlled.

Forget it. She’d better go press the one on Yu Lingshan’s side. If she accidentally turned on another light, Yu Lingshan might just pull out that knife.

Xu Shi let out a breath and propped herself up with her palms on the bed.

She first scooted a little closer to Yu Lingshan, testing the waters carefully.

Yu Lingshan didn’t wake up.

Xu Shi continued to move closer, placing one hand on the bed on her side of Yu Lingshan’s body, and reaching the other hand over, pressing down on the bed on the other side of Yu Lingshan.

Just then, Yu Lingshan moved.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Xu Shi’s gaze happened to fall at that exact moment, and their eyes met unexpectedly.

For just a second, Xu Shi immediately looked away and explained, “I’m turning off the light.”

Yu Lingshan didn’t say anything. Xu Shi quickly pressed the switch. With a click, she scrambled back to her side of the bed.

Only after she was back did Xu Shi feel how hard her heart was pounding. But since it had come to this, she might as well try to go back to sleep. Whatever it was, she would deal with it tomorrow…

“Ah!” Xu Shi suddenly cried out again.

“Now what?” Yu Lingshan asked in a low voice.

Xu Shi clutched the quilt. “Tonight, I…”

Xu Shi stopped herself, then lowered her voice. “It’s nothing, nothing. Let’s sleep. Sorry.”

Yu Lingshan let out a sound from her nose: “Mm.”

It wasn’t Xu Shi’s fault. When she had leaned over Yu Lingshan just now, a flash of an image had appeared in her mind—her, pinning Yu Lingshan against a door?

But Xu Shi wasn’t sure if this had actually happened or if it was just a dream she’d had.

---

Xu Shi didn’t quite know how she fell asleep after that. The next time she was conscious, she was woken up by her own alarm.

After turning it off, she realized this wasn’t her home. She shot up, saw that Yu Lingshan wasn’t beside her, and quickly got out of bed and left the room.

As she opened the door, the aroma of breakfast wafted over. Yu Lingshan was just coming out of the kitchen with a plate. She glanced at Xu Shi and said, “Put on your shoes.”

Xu Shi looked down at her feet, said “oh,” and went back into the bedroom to find her shoes.

When she came out again, Yu Lingshan was already sitting down and eating.

Perhaps sensing Xu Shi’s awkwardness, Yu Lingshan looked up at her. “Go wash up. Everything’s there.”

Xu Shi said “oh” and went back again.

In the bathroom, Xu Shi found that Yu Lingshan had not only prepared toiletries for her but also a set of clothes.

The clothes matched Xu Shi’s style perfectly. They didn’t look like they belonged to Yu Lingshan, but there were no tags.

Xu Shi didn’t overthink it, quickly changing and then hastily brushing her teeth and washing her face.

When she came out again, Yu Lingshan had nearly finished her small bowl of congee. The woman’s demeanor was as if she and Xu Shi had been living together for a long time. From the moment Xu Shi came out of the bedroom to when she pulled out a chair and sat down, Yu Lingshan kept her eyes on her phone, not even glancing at her.

Xu Shi could only swallow all the polite words she had prepared.

“I can stay for another ten minutes, I have a meeting soon,” Yu Lingshan said, taking a napkin and finally looking up at Xu Shi. “It’s a five-minute walk from here to your company, so you have time. Eat slowly.”

Xu Shi choked a little. “How do you know where my company is?”

Yu Lingshan: “A quick search.”

Xu Shi: “Oh.”

Yu Lingshan added, “The code for the front door is my birthday plus the number of strokes in my name.”

Xu Shi asked, “When is your birthday?”

Yu Lingshan tilted her head and suddenly smiled at Xu Shi. “Look it up yourself, okay?”

Xu Shi: “Oh, okay.”

It had to be said, a woman without morning grumpiness was much gentler. Yu Lingshan seemed to be in a much better mood now than last night.

“So, ten minutes…” Yu Lingshan said, tapping her fingers on the table and asking Xu Shi, “How much do you remember from yesterday?”

Xu Shi lowered her spoon a little. “I don’t really remember much from the bar.”

Yu Lingshan raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

But as if not wanting to give up, Yu Lingshan asked again, “What about what happened at my place? How much do you remember?”

Xu Shi answered honestly, “I only remember waking up at three in the morning.”

Yu Lingshan nodded. “Alright.”

Xu Shi sensed something was off and didn’t dare to eat her congee.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Shi asked.

Yu Lingshan: “Nothing.”

Xu Shi pursed her lips. “Did I do something?”

Yu Lingshan: “No.”

Right after saying that, she immediately asked, “Have you ever been in a relationship?”

Xu Shi shook her head. “No.”

Yu Lingshan seemed a bit surprised. “Never?”

“Never,” Xu Shi said. “Why?”

Yu Lingshan shook her head to indicate it was nothing, a look of amusement in her eyes and a smile playing on her lips. Her gaze dropped to Xu Shi’s lips for a moment before quickly looking away.

Yu Lingshan smiled. “Pretty impressive.”

Xu Shi: “What?”

Yu Lingshan rested her chin on her hand. “Guess what I’m complimenting you on?”

Xu Shi was baffled for a moment, then thought about it and guessed wildly, “That I’m this old and have never been in a relationship, that’s pretty impressive?”

Yu Lingshan suddenly burst out laughing, saying in a tone that clearly meant you’re completely wrong, “Right.”

Xu Shi was confused. “What else could it be?”

Yu Lingshan: “I said you’re right.”

Xu Shi: “Okay.”

Seeing that Yu Lingshan seemed to have no more questions, Xu Shi lowered her head and ate her congee.

“Have you thought about changing jobs?”

Xu Shi had only taken two bites when Yu Lingshan spoke again.

Xu Shi paused, not looking up. “No.”

Yu Lingshan: “You plan to do this job forever?”

Xu Shi’s eyes were downcast. “I don’t know.”

Yu Lingshan: “Why not do design?”

This time, Xu Shi finally looked up at Yu Lingshan. They looked at each other for a long time before Xu Shi asked, “What did I tell you yesterday?”

Yu Lingshan looked at Xu Shi. “What are you worried about? Afraid you told me too much?”

Xu Shi lowered her head. “No.”

Perhaps seeing that Xu Shi didn’t want to talk about it, Yu Lingshan leaned back. “You didn’t say much, just that your current job is very boring.”

“Oh,” Xu Shi nodded. “It is.”

Xu Shi continued to eat her congee, and Yu Lingshan continued to watch her eat, until the ten minutes Yu Lingshan had mentioned were up. Yu Lingshan stood up.

Xu Shi had been eating this bowl of congee for a long time. It wasn’t until she heard the sound of the front door closing that she slowly let out the breath she had been holding.

Yu Lingshan had a way of creating an atmosphere that made it feel like they had known each other for a long time, but Xu Shi just couldn’t do it.

It wasn’t that she as a person couldn’t, but that she couldn’t with Yu Lingshan.

It was strange, completely irrational. She was starting to believe she had a phobia of beautiful women.

After Yu Lingshan left, Xu Shi finished the congee in a few quick bites. Then she cleared the table, washed the dishes, and after she was done, she checked the map. It was indeed very close to her company.

There was one more thing.

What on earth did she do to Yu Lingshan yesterday?

And how was she “impressive”?