Su Xu brought Tan Xingwei back to her home and bought her orange juice and egg tarts.
The air conditioner was blowing briskly, but Tan Xingwei’s cheeks were still flushed red from the high temperature. She held the orange juice, her knees together, occupying only half of the sofa.
No one spoke in the quiet living room. Tan Xingwei just lowered her eyes to look at her orange juice, her thoughts unreadable.
Su Xu sat on the single sofa to the side. Her phone buzzed with a new message from a colleague asking where she had gone.
Su Xu replied: “Something came up, so I went home for a bit. Please report me as out of the office. I’ll be back soon, thanks.”
Putting her phone away, she leaned back into the sofa.
She didn’t know what she was thinking either.
They had been sitting for a long time. The level of juice in the transparent cup in Tan Xingwei’s hand had only dropped a little. The egg tarts on the table were still warm, letting off an imperceptible steam.
“Was it Bibide Paradise?” Su Xu asked after a while.
Tan Xingwei took the straw out of her mouth for a moment, hummed in agreement, and then put it back.
“Want to watch TV?” Su Xu asked again.
This time, Tan Xingwei didn’t let go of the straw. She turned her head while pursing her lips and nodded at Su Xu. “Okay.”
Tan Xingwei said anything was fine, so Su Xu, based on Tan Yinqing’s preferences, turned on a variety show for Tan Xingwei whose guests were a recently popular boy band.
Ten minutes into the variety show, Tan Xingwei’s orange juice was half gone, and she started eating an egg tart.
Five minutes later, Tan Xingwei picked up the second one.
“Big Sister Ah Xu,” Tan Xingwei offered one toward Su Xu. “Do you want one?”
Su Xu shook her head. “You can have it.”
Su Xu had bought three, and Tan Xingwei finished them all within ten minutes. Perhaps she was thirsty, as she quickly finished the rest of the orange juice, unlike how she had started.
As the straw made a slurping sound, sucking in air, the program’s runtime showed 26 minutes. Tan Xingwei took a piece of tissue and pressed it to her lips.
She suddenly seemed very surprised. She let out an “ah.” “It’s Thursday,” she said, looking at Su Xu. “Don’t you have to work?”
Su Xu smiled to herself. “It’s fine, I’ll go in a bit.”
Tan Xingwei seemed to think for a moment. “Then I’ll get going,” she said, standing up. “Thanks for having me.”
Su Xu said, “Okay.”
Su Xu walked Tan Xingwei to the entrance of the residential complex, watching her get into a car before returning to the company.
It was some distance from her home to Tan Yinqing’s. Su Xu estimated the time and sent a message to Tan Yinqing, briefly explaining what had just happened, and then asked if Tan Xingwei had arrived home.
Tan Yinqing replied: “Why did she go to you after being stood up? Doesn’t she know you have to work?”
Su Xu: “I happened to be home for lunch.”
Su Xu: “It was no trouble. Don’t scold her.”
Tan Yinqing was also at work. She would have to ask Tan Xingwei, or her parents, to get an answer.
After waiting for a while, Su Xu didn’t hear back from Tan Yinqing, but from the person in question.
Tan Xingwei’s profile picture popped up from the bottom of the screen.
She said: “Big Sister Ah Xu, why don’t you ask me yourself?”
She said: “I’m home.”
She said: “Next time, ask me yourself, okay?”
Su Xu had always felt that intruding into someone else’s life without reason was a behavior that lacked a sense of boundaries. She lived her life maintaining this sense of boundaries, and because of it, she had avoided a lot of trouble.
But Tan Xingwei was clearly different. She allowed herself to spend meaningless time with Tan Xingwei, she let Tan Xingwei get close, and she seemed unable to tell Tan Xingwei it wasn’t convenient, even when it really wasn’t. All her reservations were cast aside, replaced by an unthinking “okay.”
That was why even Tan Yinqing was surprised that Tan Xingwei could stay at Su Xu’s place.
It was only because Su Xu had once again picked up a pitiful-looking Tan Xingwei.
This time, it was at her doorstep. The pitiful Xingxing said she was so tired from playing all day, hadn’t slept well the night before because she stayed up late, and had forgotten her house keys while no one was home.
“So sleepy, Big Sister Ah Xu.”
Suddenly appearing at someone else’s doorstep was really rude.
But what if it was just a wronged, pitiful little rabbit?
Su Xu got Tan Xingwei a pair of very cute slippers and said to her, “Come in, it’s hot outside.”
It was past four in the afternoon on a weekend. Su Xu was at home working on a spreadsheet; she was not supposed to be disturbed.
But she wasn’t disturbed either.
After Tan Xingwei came in, Su Xu went to the kitchen to cut a watermelon. By the time Su Xu came out, Tan Xingwei had already fallen asleep on the sofa.
She was leaning diagonally against the back of the sofa, one hand cushioning her cheek, the other loosely holding a square throw pillow.
Su Xu gently placed the watermelon on the table, went to the bedroom to get a blanket, and then walked back to Tan Xingwei.
“Xingxing,” Su Xu called her.
Tan Xingwei groggily opened her eyes.
Su Xu said, “Lie down and sleep, okay?”
Tan Xingwei hummed in agreement and fell onto the sofa’s pillow. Su Xu covered Tan Xingwei with the blanket, adjusted the direction of the air conditioner’s airflow, and sat in the spot next to Tan Xingwei’s head, continuing to work on her spreadsheet.
After writing for a while, Tan Xingwei moved.
Su Xu stopped her movements. The person beside her raised her hand under her cheek again, her head resting on it, her face squished out of shape.
By the time Su Xu realized what she was doing, her finger was already on Tan Xingwei’s face.
Since it was already like this, she might as well poke it.
But it seemed she couldn’t. Tan Xingwei moved again. Su Xu quickly retracted her hand and pretended to continue working, observing Tan Xingwei from the corner of her eye.
Tan Xingwei was asleep again.
That day, Su Xu made dinner on a whim. The dishes were very ordinary, yet Tan Xingwei ate as if she were having a gourmet feast. Even the green vegetables were praised to the high heavens in Tan Xingwei’s mouth.
After she was full, Tan Xingwei lowered her head to drink water, her eyes darting around.
Su Xu felt like she had seen this look before.
Sure enough, when she looked up, Tan Xingwei said, “A friend asked me to hang out in Bayi District again tomorrow.”
Su Xu asked, “What are you doing?”
Tan Xingwei: “Playing in the water, at some park. There’s a small stream.”
Su Xu nodded. “Wear sunscreen.”
Tan Xingwei briefly said, “Okay,” then immediately added, “I have to come over early in the morning.”
Su Xu looked into Tan Xingwei’s eyes. “Early in the morning, how early?”
Tan Xingwei: “We have to meet at eight.”
Su Xu nodded seriously. “That’s too early.”
Tan Xingwei took another sip of water.
The next time she looked up, she said, “Big Sister Ah Xu, can I stay at your place? Then I won’t have to get up so early tomorrow.”
That day began a new chapter of Tan Xingwei staying at Su Xu’s home. Tan Xingwei said she had plans to hang out here tomorrow, and the day after too. Tan Xingwei said she was on her period and wanted to rest. Tan Xingwei said Big Sister Ah Xu’s game console was so much fun…
Tan Xingwei would tidy up Su Xu’s occasionally messy home very well. Tan Xingwei would say many soothing things to a tired Su Xu after work. Tan Xingwei would specially learn some techniques to give Su Xu shoulder massages. Tan Xingwei would wake up with Su Xu every day, her hand under her chin, waiting for Su Xu to come out of the bathroom fully dressed.
Every day, Su Xu would be greeted by Tan Xingwei when she opened the door to her home. Every day, she would hear “Goodbye, Big Sister Ah Xu,” and “Welcome back, Big Sister Ah Xu.” Every day, she would receive messages from Tan Xingwei about the trivial little things at home. Tan Xingwei would welcome her after a tiring day of social interactions, buying a cake just because they had known each other for ten days.
They watched TV together, movies together, the news together, and plays together. Su Xu developed a habit of wearing new clothes every day, just for the morning compliment, and got used to asking Tan Xingwei at five in the afternoon what she wanted to eat so she could bring it back for her.
The allotted time always has an end. On the tenth night of Tan Xingwei’s stay, she suddenly said, “Big Sister Ah Xu, I have to go home tomorrow.”
Tan Xingwei said this while looking down and picking at her food. She held a shrimp with her chopsticks, seemingly unsure if she wanted to eat it or not. It was almost in her mouth before she placed it back on her bowl.
Su Xu thought of the new bag Tan Xingwei had recently bought. A keychain with two girls drawn on it hung from the bag, and not long after, Tan Xingwei had asked her if she had read a certain manga.
Su Xu had read it. Su Xu also recognized the keychain. But Su Xu had said no to both.
If Tan Xingwei hadn’t bought that bag, if she hadn’t asked about that manga, perhaps Su Xu would have asked her to stay.
So Su Xu didn’t ask why it was so sudden. She didn’t ask if her family had told her to go back. She made no attempt to make her stay, just like all the other times Tan Xingwei had said many things to her.
Su Xu said, “Okay.”
The next day, it was Su Xu who drove Tan Xingwei back, from Su Xu’s home to the underground parking lot of Tan Xingwei’s residential complex.
Before getting out of the car, Tan Xingwei said thank you to Big Sister Ah Xu for taking care of her for so many days. Tan Xingwei said she was very happy living with Big Sister Ah Xu. Tan Xingwei said goodbye to Big Sister Ah Xu.
She seemed very happy to have been able to spend so many days with Big Sister Ah Xu.
But Big Sister Ah Xu seemed different.
That day, Su Xu got off work at the usual time. She went home quietly, opened the door quietly, bought groceries but ordered takeout, and continued to watch her evening TV show.
It wasn’t until bedtime, when Su Xu entered the bedroom, that she discovered a small rabbit plushie on the spot where Tan Xingwei used to sleep.
A sticky note was attached to it, which read: “On the days without Xingxing, let Tutu sleep with Big Sister Ah Xu!”
Su Xu’s usual composure, at this moment, shattered.
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