Tan Xingwei was still not used to Su Xu’s direct teasing. It made her not know what to do with her hands and feet, and she felt very hot, not knowing what to say in response.
She pursed her lips, tidied her bangs, and finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. Pressing the back of her hand to her nose, she turned her head to the window and started to laugh.
If she wasn’t used to it, she would be after a bit more.
“What did Yinqing talk to you about?” Su Xu asked after a while.
Tan Xingwei thought for a moment. “Nothing much. She said she’s very relieved that I’m with you.”
“Oh?” Su Xu made a questioning sound. “Who’s together?”
Tan Xingwei slowly covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes darting to look at Su Xu.
Just then, the light turned red, and Su Xu also turned to look at Tan Xingwei.
“Hm?” Su Xu pressed.
Tan Xingwei, her mouth still covered, said in a muffled voice, “Us?”
Su Xu: “Us?”
Tan Xingwei’s eyes curved into crescents. “Us.”
Su Xu patted Tan Xingwei’s head. “Us.”
The light turned green. Su Xu’s hand returned to the steering wheel, and she lightly stepped on the gas. Tan Xingwei swayed slightly.
Su Xu continued driving, watching the road conditions. Tan Xingwei also continued watching the road conditions, but as she watched, she thought, what’s so interesting about the road conditions?
Her girlfriend was much better to look at than the road. So she started to sneak glances at Su Xu out of the corner of her eye. Soon, she wondered why she had to sneak a look. What was her status now?
She was now Su Xu’s girlfriend.
They were now “us”!
As her girlfriend, this big sister looked even more beautiful now. Such a beautiful Big Sister Ah Xu was now Tan Xingwei’s girlfriend. Tan Xingwei, you’re actually Su Xu’s girlfriend, hahahahahahaha.
“Haha.” She was laughing so hard internally that a little sound escaped from Tan Xingwei involuntarily.
The laugh was so abrupt, appearing suddenly and then stopping just as quickly. Su Xu turned to look at Tan Xingwei because of it.
Tan Xingwei covered her mouth again.
Su Xu didn’t ask why Tan Xingwei was laughing, because Su Xu herself was smiling too.
Admit it, you’re also very happy that Tan Xingwei is your girlfriend.
The traffic in Haicheng was good past eight o’clock. From the elevated highway, they could see a sea of city lights. The moon hung by the tips of the buildings. Even though it was neither full nor a crescent, looking like a rugby ball, Tan Xingwei still found it very beautiful.
They were approaching a fork in the road. Turning left led to Su Xu’s house, and going straight led to Tan Xingwei’s apartment. The tricky part about this road was that the left-turn lane and the straight lane were the same.
On the surface, Tan Xingwei appeared calm, casually scrolling through her phone, but in reality, her eyes were fixed on the countdown of the red light.
The moment the red light counted down to zero, the green light came on. Su Xu started the car and simultaneously turned on the left turn signal.
The corners of Tan Xingwei’s mouth curved into a smile.
“Coming to my place?” Su Xu asked after they had turned onto that road.
Tan Xingwei: “You’re asking now.”
Su Xu said, “Driving this way was my intention. Now I’m asking about your intention.” Su Xu paused for a moment. “I can’t just take you there if you don’t want to go, can I?”
The first half of Su Xu’s sentence was fine, but the second half had a hint of passive-aggressiveness and a touch of playful coyness.
Being treated like this, Tan Xingwei was instantly amused.
Tan Xingwei said, “I want to go.”
“If you wanted to go, you could have told me earlier.” Saying Su Xu was being coy wasn’t wronging her at all; she was even getting more outrageous. “Otherwise, what if Little Sister didn’t actually want to go but felt too embarrassed to say no because of me?”
Tan Xingwei burst out laughing.
“I want to, I want to.” To make her strong desire clear to Su Xu, she repeated it a few more times, “I want to, I want to, I want to.”
Su Xu wasn’t done yet and continued, “You weren’t like this before.”
Tan Xingwei asked, “How was I before?”
Just as Su Xu was about to speak, Tan Xingwei immediately interrupted, “Okay, okay, okay, I know.”
Wasn’t it just about that silly business of Tan Xingwei always finding excuses to stick to her in the past?
So, Tan Xingwei.
“Did you know I was making up excuses back then?” She hadn’t dared to ask last time, but she dared now.
After all, today, Tan Xingwei was Su Xu’s girlfriend.
Su Xu said, “Some of them were obvious.”
It was like a cheating student thinking they’d hidden it well, when everything was perfectly clear from the teacher’s podium. What could an eighteen-year-old Tan Xingwei understand? She just liked Su Xu, and life doesn’t always provide so many logical reasons.
“You don’t have to find excuses anymore,” Su Xu said again. “If you want to see me, just come find me directly, okay?”
She was coaxing out that little temper of hers.
Tan Xingwei: “Okay, okay.”
Tan Xingwei asked, “You like it?”
Su Xu continued to be direct, “I like it.”
Since that was the case, Tan Xingwei immediately said, “Big Sister Ah Xu, I want to go to your house. Take me to your house.”
Su Xu’s lips curled up too.
Tan Xingwei, who had only intended to say that one sentence, saw Su Xu’s reaction and got into it. “Big Sister Ah Xu, Big Sister Ah Xu will take me home, right?~”
Tan Xingwei continued, “You wouldn’t leave poor, adorable me behind, would you?~”
She kept saying, “Big Sister Ah Xu, Big Sister Ah Xu~”
“Okay,” Su Xu said. “Okay, okay, I’ll take you home, Little Sister Xingxing.”
And so, Little Sister Xingxing was brought all the way home by Ah Xu.
Wow, this sentence is perfect for Weibo. Little X was brought all the way home by Sister A.
And what was wonderful was that the timing was absolutely perfect. As Su Xu was opening the door with her fingerprint, the elevator at the end of the hallway made a sound. A young man in a local courier uniform handed a bouquet of flowers to Tan Xingwei, and Tan Xingwei gave them to Su Xu.
Everything happened so quickly and suddenly that by the time Su Xu reacted, she was already holding the flowers.
The courier left, leaving only Tan Xingwei and Su Xu in the hallway.
“Tan Xingxing.” Su Xu used her surname and nickname together.
Tan Xingwei: “Here.”
This was exactly the expression she wanted from Su Xu—helpless yet happy, surprised yet fond. Tan Xingwei was thrilled.
After entering the house and changing her shoes, Tan Xingwei’s hand was taken by Su Xu. Holding the flowers with one arm, Su Xu led Tan Xingwei by the hand to the dining room.
The main lights in the house weren’t on. There was only a floor lamp next to the TV in the living room, its warm yellow light stretching all the way from the living room to the dining room.
On the dining table sat a small, six-inch cake. A number was stuck in it: 1.
Looking closer, the decorations on the small white cake—Cool Water roses, phalaenopsis orchids, globe amaranths—were the same flowers from the bouquet Tan Xingwei had given Su Xu at the airport.
“Ah?” Tan Xingwei turned to look at Su Xu.
Even though it was Tan Xingwei who was confused, it was Su Xu who asked, “What does the 1 mean?”
“1 is,” Tan Xingwei held up a finger, “our first day together.”
Su Xu smiled and nodded, producing a lighter from somewhere and handing it to Tan Xingwei.
The two of them pulled out chairs and sat down. A small draft came from somewhere, and after striking the lighter, Tan Xingwei shielded the flame with her hand, carefully lighting the candle.
The surroundings were perfectly dim, the atmosphere perfectly quiet. The small draft made the candle flame dance, like a cute little animal swaying from side to side.
Turning her head, Tan Xingwei discovered Su Xu was filming her.
Tan Xingwei held a smile for the camera for a few seconds, but seeing that Su Xu hadn’t put her phone down, she guessed, “Are you recording a video?”
Su Xu: “Uh-huh.”
Tan Xingwei inexplicably became theatrical. She sat up straight, leaned sideways against the table, and propped her head on her hand, asking Su Xu, “What’s next? What’s the procedure?”
Su Xu was amused by Tan Xingwei’s act. She first repeated Tan Xingwei’s words, “What’s the procedure,” then quickly dabbed some cream and smeared it on the tip of Tan Xingwei’s nose.
“Ah!” Tan Xingwei cried out.
Well then, she wouldn’t be polite either. She picked a red bit of frosting and smeared it on the tip of Su Xu’s nose.
After smearing it, Tan Xingwei herself froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
Su Xu: “Clown.”
Tan Xingwei laughed even harder. “You’re the one who said it.”
Su Xu tilted her head at Tan Xingwei.
Clowns can be beautiful too, so let’s call ourselves Little Beauties.
Tan Xingwei took Su Xu’s phone, turned it around to aim at Su Xu, and said, “Look at the pretty Little Beauty.”
Just then, Su Xu also picked a red bit and smeared it on the tip of Tan Xingwei’s nose.
After smearing it, she took the phone back and aimed it at Tan Xingwei. “Look at the pretty Little Beauty Number Two.”
Tan Xingwei scrunched her nose at the camera. “There are three clowns in our family.”
Su Xu asked, “Who’s the other one?” Before Tan Xingwei could answer, she answered herself, “Yinqing?”
Tan Xingwei laughed. “You’re the one who said that.”
Su Xu: “Oh no, we can’t let her see this video.”
Tan Xingwei: “You can edit it out.”
“Good point,” Su Xu nodded, then asked, “We’ve eaten cake alone together once before, do you remember?”
Tan Xingwei nodded. “Of course I remember.”
What was that about? The timeline wasn’t fuzzy at all, it was very clear. It was on the tenth day after Tan Xingwei’s eighteenth birthday, which was also the tenth day she had known Su Xu.
It wasn’t for any particular reason, just that Tan Xingwei was craving cake. She happened to be at Su Xu’s house that day, so she bought a small six-inch cake, just like today’s.
At the time, the shopkeeper asked her what number candle she wanted. Tan Xingwei calculated the time and asked for a 10. After getting it, she designed a little scene for herself. She would light the candle and stand at the door just as Su Xu was about to get home, and when Su Xu opened the door, Tan Xingwei would.
“Surprise! Big Sister Ah Xu, we’ve known each other for ten days!”
“It was when we’d known each other for ten days,” Tan Xingwei added.
Su Xu looked into Tan Xingwei’s eyes and gave a faint smile.
Something felt a little off. Tan Xingwei asked, “What’s wrong? Did I remember it wrong?” She thought again. “No, that’s right. It was ten days.”
Su Xu’s smile deepened. She didn’t say Tan Xingwei remembered wrong, she only asked, “Why wasn’t there one on the twentieth day?”
Tan Xingwei was a bit choked up. There wasn’t one on the twentieth day, probably because.
She wasn’t craving cake on the twentieth day?
Tan Xingwei’s memory of their twentieth day of acquaintance was fuzzy. She could only say, “I don’t know.”
“Make a wish,” Su Xu said again.
Tan Xingwei was very obedient, but before complying, she asked, “Why aren’t you making one?”
Su Xu: “Your wish is my wish.”
Tan Xingwei immediately broke into a smile and cooperatively shimmied her shoulders twice. “Ah~ Okay~”
Tan Xingwei clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and after chattering away in her heart for a while, she opened her eyes and blew out the candle.
“What did you wish for?” Su Xu moved the phone closer and asked Tan Xingwei.
Tan Xingwei’s eyes were bright. “Am I allowed to say it?”
Su Xu: “It’s more likely to come true if you say it out loud.”
Even though she knew this was just something Su Xu said to coax the wish out of her, Tan Xingwei still told her, “I said, I hope we’ll get to eat many, many more cakes like this in the future.”
Su Xu let out a long “Ahhh.”
Tan Xingwei: “Not satisfied?”
Su Xu: “I thought you would wish to marry me.”
Tan Xingwei’s face flushed, and she immediately understood. “Why does Tan Yinqing tell you everything!”
Su Xu smiled. “What’s wrong, you don’t want to?”
Tan Xingwei’s face flushed again as she whispered, “I do, I do.” Then she took the number off the cake and asked Su Xu, “Can we eat it now?”
Su Xu shook her head. “Not yet.”
Tan Xingwei obediently placed her hands on the table. “What other procedures are there?”
Su Xu’s gaze moved from the phone screen to Tan Xingwei’s face, to her eyes.
“Tan Xingxing,” Su Xu met Tan Xingwei’s eyes. “Confess to me.”
Tan Xingwei froze for half a second, then covered her mouth as if startled. The cream on her nose immediately got on her hand. Tan Xingwei pulled her hand away again, exclaiming as she looked for a napkin.
In a flustered hurry, once Tan Xingwei had settled down again, she looked at the camera speechlessly. “Can this part be edited out?”
Su Xu shook her head with a smile. “Mmm~ It’s very cute.”
Tan Xingwei pouted.
Su Xu added, “I’ll watch it myself.”
That was acceptable. Tan Xingwei stopped pouting.
It suddenly fell quiet. Tan Xingwei looked at Su Xu, and Su Xu looked back at Tan Xingwei.
It was Tan Xingwei who couldn’t help but laugh first, a little embarrassed. “What?”
Su Xu enunciated clearly, “Confess.”
Tan Xingwei wanted to cover her mouth again, but she quickly remembered the cream on her nose and put her hand down again.
“This is so sudden,” Tan Xingwei said.
Su Xu: “It’s okay. We have a lot of time tonight, and my phone has plenty of battery.”
Tan Xingwei: “Ah…”
It seemed this confession was unavoidable.
Tan Xingwei thought for a moment. “You should know, right? I’ve liked you since four years ago.”
Su Xu hummed softly. She propped her head on her hand, which was resting on the table, and just held up the phone to record, not saying much, looking like a listener.
“I still do now,” Tan Xingwei thought for a moment. “Maybe I like you even more now than before.”
Su Xu asked, “Why is that?”
Tan Xingwei didn’t say why. What reason was there? If liking Su Xu was as simple as eating, then liking Su Xu even more was comparable to breathing.
Tan Xingwei was just born to like Su Xu.
“No reason, I just like you,” Tan Xingwei said in a low voice, starting to act cute. “Big Sister Ah Xu.”
After calling out, she grabbed Su Xu’s fingers. Not caring whether the phone was recording her, she just did her own thing, rubbing her cheek against the back of Su Xu’s hand. “I want to hear your confession too.”
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