Actually.
Tan Xingwei had the same feeling, she was just too embarrassed to say it herself.
A feeling was just a feeling. As thrilling as Su Xu’s somewhat flirtatious words were, there was a problem rooted deep in her heart: her system had a default program called, 【Su Xu won’t do anything to you.】
So Tan Xingwei never dared to overthink it, and was afraid to do so. She preferred to think nothing of it from the start, rather than thinking too much only to find out it was all for naught.
The latter was simply too tormenting, and Tan Xingwei was unwilling to experience it.
But it was different when other people thought about it. She was just watching, not doing anything herself, right?
By now, it wasn’t just the one commenter; almost all the readers who had finished the chapter were clamoring below, saying that Sister A was definitely not straight.
Their ranks grew larger and larger. If Tan Xingwei hadn’t just reread it, she would have suspected she had written something more, something that hinted at things without her knowledge.
But there was really nothing there; she had just written about how they got along that evening.
Everyone was also saying that Sister A had changed, that Sister A was very different this time back, very assertive.
Compared to before.
Despite how much Tan Xingwei went on about how she liked Su Xu and missed Su Xu, when it came to the actual past, many of her memories were fuzzy.
And this was where the benefit of her Weibo account came in.
The way Tan Xingwei understood herself was that one of her original reasons for starting this Weibo account was precisely to prevent herself from forgetting in the future.
With Saturday tomorrow as the perfect excuse, and thinking that since she was already up late, a little longer wouldn’t hurt, Tan Xingwei scrolled to the very bottom of her Weibo feed and started from the first post.
The immature writing style was the sharpest slicer of time. Post by post, page by page, Tan Xingwei felt as if she were listening to the Tan Xingwei of four years ago speak.
Following Little X’s pen, Tan Xingwei relived her thirty days with Ah Xu all over again.
Seeing the final four words, “To be continued,” Tan Xingwei locked her phone, pressed it to her chest, and let out a long sigh.
No wonder everyone was so excited when she came back online. Such genuine feelings, such a sincere Little X.
She really shouldn’t have been so in love with Sister A.
Of course, she also admired the Tan Xingwei of the past. At least now, she couldn’t bring herself to say such cringe-worthy things to Su Xu like, “Ouch, my hand hurts, it won’t get better until Sister blows on it.”
And her impression of her past self being annoying wasn’t wrong at all. During those thirty days, Tan Xingwei’s fussiness went beyond just not wanting bottled orange juice. She insisted, “Milk must be warm, cold doesn’t taste good,” she needed “bunny-patterned band-aids with a sky-blue background,” she “wanted her own separate pair of slippers,” she “ate watermelon but hated artificial watermelon flavor”…
Su Xu really should have killed her.
As for everyone saying Sister A wasn’t like this before.
Perhaps that was true. The Tan Xingwei of the past had been far too proactive; almost every one of their meetings was the result of Tan Xingwei racking her brains behind the scenes.
Now they were adults who had entered society. Tan Xingwei was no longer that soon-to-be university student on summer break with nothing to do but think of ways to stick to Su Xu. She had a sense of social propriety, so of course Su Xu would treat her differently.
Mm, yes, that’s right, that’s how it is. Don’t overthink it.
Tan Xingwei read these posts in great detail, so much so that her phone now showed it was already 4:30 in the morning.
She was still wide awake. Summer was approaching; soon the sky would whiten, and the sun would rise.
Ai… memories really make one sigh.
At this hour, the comments were gradually tapering off. Not long after, Tan Xingwei finally grew tired and fell asleep. The last comment she read before sleeping was, “Little X, be confident! Maybe Sister A likes you.”
The next day, Tan Xingwei was woken up by Tan Yinqing. This person knocked politely twice, and after hearing no response from Tan Xingwei, opened the door.
“Hello.” Tan Yinqing poked her head in.
Tan Xingwei groggily opened her eyes and burrowed deeper into her blankets. “What?”
Tan Yinqing said, “Ah Xu is here.”
Tan Xingwei was instantly awake.
Tan Yinqing added, “Just kidding. Time to eat.”
Tan Xingwei: “…Are you crazy!”
Tan Yinqing laughed and closed the door.
Although Tan Xingwei went back to sleep, she didn’t dare to sleep for too long. Any longer and the one calling her wouldn’t be Tan Yinqing, but her dear mother.
Her mother would come in, pull open her curtains, and question if she had been on her phone until midnight again, asking if she even wanted her eyes anymore, how she was like this every weekend, and why wasn’t she up for breakfast, soon the food would be cold and then she’d complain it didn’t taste good, blah blah blah.
Five minutes later, a sleepy Tan Xingwei was brushing her teeth.
Ten minutes later, Tan Xingwei was at the dining table.
Her father was in the kitchen stir-frying, her mother was scooping rice, and Tan Yinqing handed the chopsticks to Tan Xingwei. “You set these out, I’m going to get the cake.”
Tan Xingwei’s head was still foggy. She asked, “What cake? Whose birthday is it?”
Tan Yinqing said, “Mine.”
Tan Xingwei actually paused to recall. “…”
Tan Yinqing took two small cakes out of the refrigerator, placing one for each of them on the table. “Mom bought them this morning. A new store opened, 30% off.”
Her parents couldn’t eat things that were too sweet nowadays, so cake was naturally out of the question for them. Tan Xingwei opened her portion and scooped up a large bite with her fork.
Tan Yinqing’s piece was identical to hers. It wasn’t just this cake; from a certain day onwards, whenever their parents brought something home for their two daughters, they would always buy two identical items. If they couldn’t, they would rather not buy anything at all.
Just as Tan Xingwei got goosebumps and felt awkward hearing things like “Tan Yinqing loves you very much,” Tan Yinqing would also feel awkward hearing “Mom and Dad love you very much too.”
But Tan Xingwei felt that, just as she understood, Tan Yinqing would surely understand as well.
So be it.
Once all the dishes were on the table, everyone sat down, and the show began.
They had just started eating when their father said, “Yesterday while playing chess downstairs, I heard Uncle Chen mention his nephew.”
Tan Xingwei, who had been sleepy, was suddenly wide awake. She looked at Tan Yinqing with the expression of someone watching a play unfold.
Sure enough, her father’s next sentence was: “28 years old, works at a bank, not bad looking…”
Before her father could finish, Tan Yinqing cut in, “Respectfully decline.”
Her father stopped his next words.
Her mother added, “Just get to know him. We’re not asking you to do anything.”
Tan Xingwei sat up straight. “Are there pictures, Dad? Let me see.”
Tan Yinqing gritted her teeth at Tan Xingwei, who pretended not to notice and leaned over to watch as her father opened the photo.
Then, Tan Xingwei let out an extremely loud sound of disgust. “Whoa, he’s so ugly. Dad, are you serious?”
Tan Yinqing’s attitude did a complete 360-degree turn. Beaming, she made a heart gesture at Tan Xingwei’s cheek.
Her father took the phone back. “Is he that ugly? I don’t think so.”
Tan Xingwei shook her head with a mature air. “If Tan Yinqing goes on a blind date with this guy, I’ll laugh at her for the rest of my life.”
Tan Yinqing gave Tan Xingwei a thumbs-up, then said sarcastically, “Fine then. So this is what I deserve in your eyes.”
Her mother laughed. “No,” she pressed her husband’s phone down. “Forget it, forget it.”
So her father put the phone away and didn’t mention the matter again. The meal passed peacefully.
After dinner, when Tan Xingwei came out of the washroom, she saw Tan Yinqing on the sofa, grinning strangely at her.
Tan Xingwei felt a chill run down her spine. “What do you want?”
Tan Yinqing was all smiles. “What do you want to eat tonight? You decide.”
Tan Xingwei asked, “You guys haven’t decided yet?”
Tan Yinqing: “Nope. They also said to let you decide.”
Tan Xingwei: “Who are ‘they’?”
Tan Yinqing: “Your Big Sister Ah Xu, happy now?”
Tan Xingwei laughed at Tan Yinqing’s teasing. She suddenly thought of something, and without even going back to her room, she plopped down next to Tan Yinqing.
Now it was Tan Yinqing’s turn to feel creeped out. “What do you want?”
Tan Xingwei: “Sis.”
Tan Yinqing: “…What is it?”
“Let me ask you a question,” Tan Xingwei had been curious since yesterday. “These past few years, has Big Sister Ah Xu been asking about my situation in the group chat?”
Tan Yinqing understood her intention and said deliberately, “Ah, I’m suddenly a little thirsty.”
Tan Xingwei immediately handed her the water from the coffee table.
Tan Yinqing took the water, giving her a look that said, I give up on you. “I don’t remember.”
Tan Xingwei: “…”
Tan Yinqing started to laugh. “I really don’t remember, who remembers that kind of thing? But we definitely would have talked about you in the group,” she said, then “oh,” “I mentioned it in the group when you came back to Haicheng for work,” she continued, “We’d all chat about it, I don’t remember who started it,” and then added, “but Ah Xu definitely asked about you on her own initiative too.”
Tan Xingwei said, “Ah, okay.”
Tan Yinqing: “What’s wrong? Why ask this all of a sudden?”
Tan Xingwei: “No reason.”
Tan Yinqing: “You two made up, right?”
Tan Xingwei was stunned. “Huh? What?”
Tan Yinqing said, “After she went abroad, didn’t you two have a falling out?”
Tan Xingwei looked at Tan Yinqing in surprise.
Tan Yinqing could of course read her expression. “I’m not an idiot.”
Tan Xingwei decided to stop pretending. “You… how could you tell?”
“Does one even need to tell?” Tan Yinqing said, thinking for only a few seconds before continuing, “After Ah Xu went abroad, weren’t you moping in your room every day, refusing to come out?”
Tan Xingwei was about to retort but was cut off by Tan Yinqing, “Let me finish first.”
Tan Xingwei closed her mouth.
Tan Yinqing: “So I went to find Ah Xu, hoping she would talk to you.”
Tan Xingwei asked, “And then?”
“Let me think,” Tan Yinqing fell into thought again, this time for a while longer before saying, “Anyway, I just realized you two weren’t in contact much. No interaction on your Moments. When I mentioned you in the group, she seemed distant, and you rarely mentioned her in front of me.” She threw up her hands. “What else could it be but a falling out?”
Tan Xingwei pursed her lips and asked tentatively, “Don’t you want to know why?”
Tan Yinqing gave her a look that said isn’t it obvious. “She couldn’t stand you anymore, of course. Who would want to keep spoiling you?”
Having just revisited how annoying the past Tan Xingwei was, the current Tan Xingwei found it hard to argue. She only said weakly, “She couldn’t stand me, but I could still be clingy with her.”
Tan Yinqing: “She went abroad, how could you be clingy? She was pretty busy after going abroad. After she ignored you three or four times, with your temper, would you still have talked to her?”
Tan Xingwei nodded.
Tan Yinqing: “Am I wrong?”
Tan Xingwei pouted, with an expression that said okay, you got me. “Yeah, what else? I was busy with university too, you know.”
Tan Yinqing: “Right, you were both busy, so you just drifted apart.”
Leave it to a straight girl.
It was a good thing she was straight; her reasoning was actually quite sound.
It was true, after all. Friends come together for many reasons and also drift apart for many reasons. As a fan-girl, Tan Yinqing probably understood this on a deeper level; she had far too many friends who were just for a certain phase.
Tan Xingwei still hadn’t had enough sleep, so after watching TV with Tan Yinqing for a while, she went back to her room to nap.
She woke up naturally at four, put on some light makeup, and changed into a little dress she had bought a few days ago.
When she went down to the living room, Tan Yinqing saw her and asked curiously, “Do you have other plans after dinner?”
Tan Xingwei: “Nope.”
Tan Yinqing: “Then why are you dressed so nicely?”
Tan Xingwei: “None of your business.”
Tan Yinqing: “Don’t forget who’s treating you to dinner tonight.”
Tan Xingwei instantly broke into a smile and said sweetly, “I just wanted to look pretty on the weekend, is that not allowed?”
Tan Yinqing: “Fine, fine.”
Tan Xingwei wasn’t the only one who wanted to look pretty on the weekend. At the restaurant, next to Su Xu’s three friends, were two younger sisters with exquisite makeup, pouty lips, and every strand of hair perfectly in place.
Su Xu was also wearing a dress today, a matching top and skirt set. It was a comfortable outfit in white with dark grey accents, and a pretty bow pinned to her shoulder.
A bow. Tan Xingwei had one too, on the back of her dress’s waist.
“Do you have other plans after dinner?” After they were seated, Tan Yinqing asked Su Xu the same question.
Su Xu said, “No.”
Tan Yinqing thought for a moment and asked again, “Where did you come from?”
Su Xu said, “Home.”
Tan Yinqing looked at Tan Xingwei, then at Su Xu. “Why are you wearing makeup?”
Su Xu said, “To look nice.”
Yaoyao also spoke up: “Did you plan this?”
Su Xu and Tan Xingwei said in unison: “No.”
Chen Jing followed up: “Next time you wear makeup to go out, let us know.”
The two of them, like children who had been caught misbehaving by their parents, nodded at the same time and said in unison, “Okay.”
