Regarding the phrase “That’s good,” Tan Xingwei was incredibly calm. She stared blankly at the screen, a slow smile forming on her lips.
“What’s wrong?” Her colleague from the next desk leaned over. “What did Manager Lin say?”
Tan Xingwei pressed her lips together, minimized the chat window, and said with an “oh,” “She said it can’t be done.”
Her colleague asked in confusion, “It can’t be done, and you’re this happy?”
Tan Xingwei said, “If it can’t be done, that means we don’t have to do it.”
Her colleague gave Tan Xingwei a surprised thumbs-up. “Such a unique perspective. You truly are a recent graduate.”
The colleague returned to her own workstation.
Of course, “can’t be done” didn’t mean they didn’t have to do it; it meant it had to be redone. But in a way, it also meant they didn’t have to do it, at least not until a new plan was decided upon.
After confirming that her colleague wasn’t looking over anymore and that her own expression wouldn’t betray her, Tan Xingwei opened Su Xu’s chat window again.
It was a little difficult. Seeing the words “That’s good,” Tan Xingwei smiled again.
But this time, she had improved; she covered her mouth.
There was a lot of information in Su Xu’s few sentences. She quoted Su Xu’s line, “Actually, it was a bit obvious.”
—Tan Xingwei: 【Where was it obvious?】
Tan Xingwei: 【Was it because I watched “Meteor”?】
Su Xu: 【Not entirely.】
Su Xu: 【You’ve tested me before, remember?】
Tan Xingwei slowly frowned. 【Huh?】
It seemed to be a voice-to-text message. Su Xu’s next message was a long one, complete with commas and periods: 【At first, you just asked if I usually read novels. Later, you directly asked if I had heard of a certain yuri novel. After that, you blatantly listened to yuri audio dramas in front of me, read yuri manga, and hung their keychains on your bag.】
Tan Xingwei: “…”
Tan Xingwei: “???”
Tan Xingwei minimized Su Xu’s chat window again. If her colleague were to look over now, they would surely think Tan Xingwei was deeply worried about the new proposal.
The things Su Xu mentioned had never been brought up in Little X’s stories, but since Su Xu had said them, Tan Xingwei gave it some serious thought.
It seemed, perhaps, that those things had indeed happened.
But the reason she could forget these memories was precisely because Su Xu had shown no reaction to any of it.
However, it was also in line with Tan Xingwei’s personality—once she was certain Su Xu was straight, she had confidently assumed Su Xu wouldn’t understand any of it and acted brazenly.
But now, armed with the new information that Su Xu was gay, looking back on everything from before…
Tan Xingwei was speechless. She was at a loss for words with herself, so she replied: 【Why didn’t you send me a voice message?】
Tan Xingwei: 【I want to hear it.】
Speak of the devil. Su Xu’s next message was a voice note: “I’m busy right now.”
Her voice was low, tinged with a hint of a smile. She was clearly speaking into the microphone. Her words carried a sense of helplessness at Tan Xingwei’s unreasonable demand, but also the doting affection of someone who would reply to her Xingxing’s message no matter how busy she was.
Tan Xingwei covered her mouth again.
But that didn’t stop her from continuing her attack: 【Then why didn’t you expose me before?】
Su Xu sent a voice message: “You were still young.”
Tan Xingwei bared her teeth. 【Not satisfied. Answer again.】
Su Xu’s new voice message was again laced with a smile. “Wait for me a bit, I’m a little busy.”
Tan Xingwei: 【Not waiting.】
Su Xu: “Be good.”
Tan Xingwei’s mouth was covered, but what about her eyes?
Tan Xingwei: 【Okay~】
In that moment, Tan Xingwei felt like she had returned to the past. No wonder Tan Yinqing always said that no one but Su Xu would spoil her.
Closing the chat with Su Xu, Tan Xingwei had a bit of free time, so she took her paid slacking over to Weibo.
Yes, she had remembered her dear readers and felt she should give them an update.
But time waits for no one, and a meeting was about to start. Tan Xingwei thought for a few seconds and hastily wrote two lines: “Update on two things. One, Sister A is gay. Two, I kissed her yesterday.”
Monday mornings were always filled with a lot of busywork for who-knows-what. There were many meetings to attend, many notes to take, many things to submit, and many times to check her email.
Time flew by, and soon it was noon. After lunch, everyone returned to the office to rest. Lying on her small cot, Tan Xingwei finally had time to open Weibo.
She had anticipated a huge response, but she hadn’t expected it to be this huge—even more people than when Sister A returned to the country.
The comment section was also spectacular.
It started with:
“I knew it, I knew it! Sister A is gay too!”
“Little X, is this how you update now? Dropping such a huge bomb every time.”
“Holy crap, holy crap, what did I just see? You kissed her?? Give us the details! Don’t be so perfunctory!”
“?? Wait, what did I miss? How did the progress bar jump this far?”
“No… no way? No? Sister A is gay? And you kissed her?”
“And then? And then? You kissed her last night, what about now?”
“Little X, come out! Ahhh, you’re killing us with suspense.”
…
Then, in the end, as if they had all agreed on it, everyone was saying, “It’s only human.”
This “it’s only human” was brilliant. It instantly dispelled Tan Xingwei’s feeling that kissing her had been a bizarre and inexplicable act. She even started to think that when you’re facing the person you like, and she’s that close, looking at you like that—wasn’t she just seducing you?
So what if she stole a kiss? It’s only human!
Haha…
Little X also felt that her Weibo post was a bit hasty, but it wasn’t a good time to write a long essay. So she posted another one: “At work right now. I’ll come back and tell you all what happened these past few days when I have time 【hugging heart】.”
They were all good friends. Everyone obediently replied below with “Okay~,” “Alright,” “Yay yay yay,” “Come back when you’re not busy,” and “Waiting for you.”
She couldn’t write a long post, but she could do something else.
Little X clicked into her chat with Little Scissor.
She had been about to log off for her lunch break, but Little Scissor asked her: 【What was Sister A’s reaction after you kissed her?】
Tan Xingwei felt she could chat about this for a bit.
Little X: 【I ran away after kissing her. I was a bit flustered.】
Little X: 【But after I took a shower, she acted as if nothing had happened.】
Little X: 【Is that right?】
Little Scissor replied quickly: 【That seems about right.】
Little Scissor: 【If something happens suddenly, people will usually act like nothing happened.】
This “people” sounded very authoritative, and Tan Xingwei felt more at ease.
Little Scissor added: 【Besides, she’s Sister A. From what I’ve read about Sister A in your writing, she would prioritize your feelings. Since you ran away, she would definitely pretend it never happened to avoid making you feel awkward.】
Little Scissor: 【Sister A is so gentle with you, of course she would protect your emotions first.】
Little X: 【You’re so good with words.】
Little X: 【Why do I love chatting with you so much?】
Little Scissor: 【Hahahahaha, if you love chatting, let’s chat more. Give me some spoilers, what happened next?】
Little X: 【Actually, there’s not much of a ‘next.’ I slept at her place yesterday, and when I woke up, she drove me to work.】
Little Scissor: 【Then】
Little Scissor: 【What about Sister A’s mood?】
A very good question.
Tan Xingwei really was a selfish brat who only cared about herself.
She pressed her phone to her chest and carefully thought back.
Last night, she had been too preoccupied with being nervous. Lying in bed in the dark, their interaction had been calm, and she couldn’t seem to discern Su Xu’s mood.
Then this morning, although Tan Xingwei was a bit groggy and was led through the whole process by Su Xu, but…
Little X: 【She seemed to be in a pretty good mood today?】
Recalling the time at home and when they left this morning, Su Xu had been quite cheerful, showing no signs of being down or uncomfortable.
Little Scissor: 【She was very happy to be kissed by you.】
Tan Xingwei almost shouted “Wow” out loud.
From this day on, Little Scissor was Little X’s half-sister from another mother!
Little X: 【Keep talking.】
Little Scissor: 【First of all, today is Monday. I don’t think I need to explain the significance of a Monday.】
Little Scissor: 【To still be in a good mood on a Monday, I don’t need to say what that signifies.】
Little X: 【But is it possible she’s just like this on Mondays?】
Little Scissor: 【Impossible.】
Tan Xingwei almost laughed out loud.
Little X: 【Okay.】
Little X: 【I’ll listen to you.】
Little Scissor: 【Just my humble opinion.】
Little Scissor: 【Look! ing! For! ward! To! The! Follow-up!】
Little X: 【Okay!】
After chatting as Little X, Tan Xingwei, still wanting more, went back to savor everyone’s interesting comments. Her lunch break was thus quietly wasted.
What finally pulled her out was a private message from her boss. Only then did she realize she had become a bit too engrossed in the internet, which wasn’t good.
Her boss asked her to run an errand if she was free, but she turned off her phone, pretended to be unavailable, and went straight to sleep.
Monday afternoon also passed in a flurry of activity. There were quite a few small tasks piled up from last week, so she worked an hour of overtime. Even so, after getting off work, she still felt the evening was long, and it seemed like someone had been missing for a long time.
So she opened Su Xu’s WeChat and first typed, “Haven’t heard from Big Sister all afternoon. I need to hear her voice to happily clock out~”
She deleted it as soon as she finished writing.
Then she tried, “I’ve been waiting for you for so long, Big Sister, why haven’t you come to find me yet,” but deleted that too.
And then, “Alright, it’s okay, Big Sister, you don’t have to think of me,” which she also deleted.
In the end, she just sent a cute crying emoji sticker.
By the time she got downstairs, Su Xu finally replied: 【What’s wrong?】
Tan Xingwei asked: 【What are you doing?】
Su Xu sent a photo of a computer, indicating she was still at work.
Tan Xingwei’s mood went from cloudy to sunny. So Su Xu was still busy.
Tan Xingwei: 【You’re not off work yet?】
Su Xu: 【Still need a little while.】
Su Xu: 【There’s a lot to do today.】
Tan Xingwei: 【What a coincidence, I had a lot to do today too.】
Tan Xingwei: 【But I’m already off work.】
Su Xu: 【You get to be happy first.】
Tan Xingwei smiled. 【Are you hungry? It’s past seven.】
Su Xu: 【I’m okay. Have you eaten?】
Su Xu had hit the nail on the head. Tan Xingwei immediately replied: 【Nope.】
Tan Xingwei: 【Hungry.】
Tan Xingwei was waiting for her ride while also waiting for a message. After she sent that, her phone suddenly rang.
It was a call from Su Xu. Tan Xingwei quickly answered it.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” Su Xu asked from the other end.
Tan Xingwei couldn’t be flirty anymore; her tone was very serious. “Nope.”
Probably hearing the noise in Tan Xingwei’s background, Su Xu asked, “Did you just get off work?”
Tan Xingwei: “Yeah.”
Su Xu: “You only think of me after you get off work.”
Tan Xingwei’s eyes widened. She hadn’t sent the deleted messages, but Ah Xu, you said it?
Tan Xingwei: “You…” She was speechless for a long moment, but could only manage, “You’re saying things like that.”
Su Xu laughed on the other end. “I won’t be done that quickly. Why don’t you eat dinner first, okay?” she said slowly. “I have a friend visiting Haicheng today, and I plan to have a late-night snack with her. What would you like to eat?”
Tan Xingwei thought for a moment. “I want to eat barbecue.”
Su Xu: “Okay. Around ten, I’ll come to your apartment to pick you up, alright?”
Tan Xingwei: “Okay!”
Su Xu: “Good. Then go have dinner first.”
Little Scissor was so right. Su Xu was just very gentle, so very gentle with her.
This feeling of not having to be coy, of being directly scheduled into Su Xu’s life, was just perfect.
And so, Tan Xingwei had a simple meal and returned to her apartment. She dawdled and killed time until 9:47, when Su Xu called and told her to come downstairs.
The friend in question had already been picked up and was in Su Xu’s car. Before getting in, Tan Xingwei glanced inside and saw that the front passenger seat was empty.
She opened the car door and got in. Just as she settled in, the friend poked her head out from the back seat. “Hello! Wow, a beauty. I love hanging out with beautiful women the most.”
Tan Xingwei smiled. “Hello.”
Su Xu made the introductions. “This is my schoolmate, Nan Shan.” She also said to Nan Shan, “This is my friend, Xingxing.”
“Hello, Xingxing,” Nan Shan said enthusiastically. “I was so excited when Su just told me there would be another girl. This is great, I have another friend in China now.”
It seemed she wasn’t a local. Tan Xingwei, feeling a bit of social anxiety, said, “Haha.”
Nan Shan remained enthusiastic. “You look so familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”
Tan Xingwei wasn’t sure if this was a typical pleasantry from where she was from. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “I don’t think so.”
Nan Shan then asked Su Xu, “Have I met the beautiful Xingxing before?”
Su Xu: “No.”
Nan Shan: “Oh, okay then.”
With Nan Shan there, the car was much livelier. Su Xu didn’t even turn on the music, listening the whole way as Nan Shan talked about where she went, what she did, what was fun, what was delicious, what she would do again next time, and what they absolutely had to try.
The barbecue place was nearby. When they arrived, Nan Shan was still on the topic of bungee jumping. As she was describing the part about jumping down, she suddenly stopped and looked up at Tan Xingwei.
“Oh! I remember where I’ve seen you!” Nan Shan suddenly exclaimed. “You’re a female celebrity!”
Tan Xingwei hadn’t yet emerged from the bungee jumping story. Hearing this, she wore a confused expression. “A female celebrity?”
Nan Shan was very excited, nodding her head vigorously. “Yes, it’s you, it’s you, the female celebrity!” She almost stood up. “You’re Su’s phone wall… Mmph.”
Su Xu pulled out a napkin and stuffed it in her friend’s mouth.
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