Xu Shi hadn’t expected Yu Lingshan to take such a long shower.
She had been standing by the bed, but after a few minutes, her legs grew tired, so she sat down on the sofa. The bathroom wasn’t completely soundproof; the faint, rustling sound of the shower spray leaked out. Xu Shi’s eyes immediately closed.
Perhaps because Yu Lingshan wasn’t beside her, Xu Shi fell asleep quickly. But perhaps because she was also thinking that Yu Lingshan would be out soon, her sleep was very light and restless.
Then, she suddenly jolted and woke up.
When she opened her eyes, a jacket was draped over her. The person who had put it there was leaning casually against the TV console, a cup in her hand.
As her sense of smell returned, the air filled with the aroma of coffee.
The TV console was directly opposite the sofa, and Yu Lingshan was looking at Xu Shi.
Her hair was dry, she had changed her clothes, and her makeup was done.
Xu Shi sat up straight, fumbled for her phone, and glanced at it. It was already 11 AM.
The coffee must have just been brewed. As Yu Lingshan took another sip, she blew on it gently.
Then she said, “You bought a ticket for this afternoon, right?”
Xu Shi was now wide awake. She hesitated for a few seconds before replying, “Yes.”
Yu Lingshan took a slow sip. “Your flight is at five. I’m a little earlier than you, at three.”
Xu Shi asked, “Where are you going?”
Yu Lingshan replied, “Not back to A-City, anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Want some coffee?” Yu Lingshan asked again.
Just as Xu Shi was hesitating, Yu Lingshan added, “This is the last of it. If you want some, you’ll have to drink from my cup.”
Xu Shi paused. “Then I won’t have any.”
Yu Lingshan smiled, walked over, and placed the coffee on the table beside her. “I’ve only had two sips. You don’t mind, do you?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “I don’t mind.” Then she added, “Let me take your temperature.”
“No need. I’m fine now.”
After giving Xu Shi the coffee, Yu Lingshan went about her own business. She did indeed look much better than she had that morning, much more refreshed.
She also didn’t seem to have any particular reaction to Xu Shi buying a ticket for that afternoon.
Xu Shi felt she might have been overthinking things. She had been too tired that morning, her mind wasn’t clear, and she had somehow gotten the mistaken impression that she was very important to Yu Lingshan.
Indeed, it wasn’t Yu Lingshan who had asked her to come back. Yu Lingshan hadn’t even known about it when she arrived. Yu Lingshan’s sudden clinginess was just a result of being sick and weak, needing someone’s company. That was all.
Xu Shi let out a soft sigh of relief, but along with the relief, there was a pang of sadness in her heart. She didn’t know what she was sad about.
Yu Lingshan had already dragged her two suitcases to a more open area. Xu Shi watched her from the sofa and picked up the coffee beside her.
It was a beautiful cup, deep in color, and probably didn’t belong to the hotel. After spending the last few days together, Xu Shi guessed it was something Yu Lingshan would bring with her.
There was a faint lipstick mark on the cup that you wouldn’t notice without looking closely. When Xu Shi drank, she almost pressed her lips to the same spot.
Over there, Yu Lingshan seemed unsure where to start packing. She stared at the wardrobe for several seconds, then suddenly grabbed all the clothes inside in one big armful and tossed them into the suitcase.
Xu Shi nearly spat out her coffee with a snort.
“Is that how you pack?” Xu Shi couldn’t help but ask.
“Is there a problem?”
“Don’t you need to organize it?”
“I have two suitcases.”
“…”
They were indeed two very large suitcases, the kind you could just toss everything into in wadded-up balls.
But Xu Shi couldn’t bear to watch. She shook her head and put down her coffee. “Want me to help you?”
Yu Lingshan immediately took a step back, making room for Xu Shi. “Be my guest.”
Xu Shi walked over, took all the clothes out of the suitcase, placed them on the bed, and began folding them one by one. She asked Yu Lingshan, who was once again leaning against the TV console, “Is this always how you pack your own luggage?”
Yu Lingshan stood by with her arms crossed, looking like a bystander. “No.”
Xu Shi was puzzled. “Then how do you usually pack?”
“Tingting prepared all the clothes for this event. I just packed my daily necessities.”
Xu Shi said, “Oh.”
A moment later, Xu Shi found it strange. It seemed Yu Lingshan hadn’t actually answered her question.
The event was the event, but what about normally? Tingting was just her assistant; surely she traveled on her own sometimes.
But she didn’t ask. The topic had passed, and bringing it up again would make it seem like she was desperate to know.
A phrase suddenly popped into Xu Shi’s mind: some people appear glamorous and brilliant on the surface, but behind the scenes, they don’t even know how to pack their own clothes.
The thought made Xu Shi let out a small laugh.
“Laughing at me?” Yu Lingshan suddenly asked.
Xu Shi immediately stopped laughing. “No.”
Xu Shi had learned her clothes-folding technique from a junior in university, who had supposedly competed in folding competitions. The clothes she folded were indeed exceptionally neat and beautiful. She first organized all the clothes from Yu Lingshan’s wardrobe, then gathered the small items from the bedside table into small bags, and then put those small bags into a larger one.
Seeing that Yu Lingshan had no intention of moving, Xu Shi went ahead and packed her cosmetics as well.
And the electronics she had brought.
She washed the coffee cup and packed it.
She packed everything. She packed it all for the queen.
Finally, she zipped up the suitcase and stood it upright. “Done.”
She looked at Yu Lingshan, only to see her looking back with a very strange expression, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
Xu Shi paused. “What is it?”
Yu Lingshan crossed her arms and asked, “Have you ever packed for anyone else before?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “No.”
Yu Lingshan smiled. “Has anyone ever told you that you have the face of a first love?”
Xu Shi made a small sound, unsure what the two questions had to do with each other.
“Weiwei has,” Xu Shi said.
“Well, you can add me to the list now.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Yu Lingshan asked again, “You’ve been pursued by guys, right?”
Xu Shi paused for a moment. “Yes.”
Yu Lingshan raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t like any of them?”
“No.”
“Have you ever considered that you might actually like girls?”
Startled, Xu Shi immediately shook her head. “Impossible.”
Yu Lingshan laughed. “Why so nervous? We’re just chatting.”
Xu Shi swallowed. “I’m not nervous.”
Yu Lingshan continued, “Have you ever been pursued by a girl?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “No.”
“Ah~” Yu Lingshan looked down at her suitcase, seeming a little pleased. “Bring it over here for me.”
Xu Shi quickly pulled it over to her.
Yu Lingshan’s eyes curved into a smile. “Thank you.” She added, “Xiao Zhi is amazing. You packed so well.”
Xu Shi suddenly felt a great sense of accomplishment and smiled back at Yu Lingshan. “You’re welcome.”
Yu Lingshan crooked a finger. “Come here.”
Xu Shi obediently took a step closer as Yu Lingshan said, “I’ll reward you with a kiss.”
Xu Shi froze for a second, then instantly recoiled.
Yu Lingshan immediately looked aggrieved. “What, you’ve kissed me, so I can’t kiss you?”
“I didn’t kiss you,” Xu Shi said, then added after a thought, “Last time, I didn’t. It didn’t happen.”
Right.
Yu Lingshan looked at Xu Shi with an expression she couldn’t decipher at all, letting out a soft, slow “Ah~.”
“Regret it?” Yu Lingshan asked.
Xu Shi shook her head. “No, no.”
Yu Lingshan’s tone was slightly disappointed. “Oh, so you don’t regret it.”
Xu Shi was at a loss for words.
She had a feeling that no matter what she said, it would be the wrong answer.
Yu Lingshan said, “Then may I ask, Miss Xu, if I can kiss you?”
Xu Shi obediently nodded her head. “You can.”
After saying that, Xu Shi offered her cheek.
But Yu Lingshan said, “Who said I was going to kiss your cheek?”
She suddenly pinched Xu Shi’s chin, turning her face toward her.
In an instant, their breaths mingled. Xu Shi’s face flushed red as she caught Yu Lingshan’s unique scent, and her mind went completely blank.
Yu Lingshan asked her, “Do you still have your first kiss?”
Xu Shi’s hands were gripping her pants tightly. “Yes.”
Yu Lingshan raised an eyebrow. “Then what would happen if I kissed you?”
Xu Shi’s heart was pounding. “Please don’t.”
“‘Please don’t’?” Yu Lingshan repeated. “So that’s a maybe?”
As she spoke, she leaned forward. Xu Shi snapped back to her senses and quickly pulled back. “No, you can’t.”
As Xu Shi moved, Yu Lingshan’s fingers slipped from her chin. She drew her index finger back, rubbing it gently against the pad of her thumb, and smiled. “Just kidding.”
Half a second later, she added, “So cute.”
There was nothing left to do in the room. Tingting and a hotel bellboy were already at the door. Yu Lingshan, with one hand in her pocket and carrying nothing, walked out, looking impossibly cool.
The three of them had lunch together. During the meal, Xu Shi overheard some of Yu Lingshan’s work arrangements and realized that her original plan had always been to leave B-City that afternoon; there was never any question of staying until the next morning.
Xu Shi was very confused, but she didn’t ask. Her mind was currently filled with the thought: Whatever Yu Lingshan does is right. How dare you have any questions?
Unexpectedly, after finishing her discussion with Tingting, Yu Lingshan brought the matter up herself.
She asked Xu Shi, “Do you think I’m strange?”
“Huh?”
“I already had my plans set, but I still let you choose a flight.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah, that’s just how I am.”
Yu Lingshan’s tone was one of, What are you going to do about it?
“…”
Alright then.
Yu Lingshan added, “Of course, I knew you would definitely choose to leave this afternoon.”
Xu Shi couldn’t help but ask, “What if I had chosen tomorrow morning?”
Yu Lingshan tilted her head. “Then I would have stayed.”
Xu Shi was speechless again. It seemed Yu Lingshan had an answer for everything, leaving her with no room to respond.
Fine.
“We’re leaving after lunch. What about you?” Yu Lingshan asked.
“I’ll go look around, buy something for my mom.”
“I’ll have Xiao Sun go with you.”
Xu Shi waved her hands. “No, no, I’ll be fine on my own.”
Yu Lingshan nodded. “Okay.”
Sure enough, Yu Lingshan left right after the meal. Xu Shi stood downstairs from the restaurant and watched her and Tingting leave. As the car drove further and further away, Xu Shi slowly let out a breath.
The gifts for her mother were just a few local specialties, which she found at a nearby shopping mall. For the rest of the time, Xu Shi found a coffee shop and sat down with nothing to do.
Xiao Yu had already arrived back in A-City and was now excitedly talking about all the fun things from the event in the company group chat. She also mentioned Yu Lingshan, posting some photos of her and tagging Xu Shi to let everyone know that Xu Shi had been in charge of her.
Xu Shi hadn’t realized before just how famous Yu Lingshan was. With Xiao Yu’s post, it seemed like everyone in the group chat knew who she was.
Since Xiao Yu had tagged her, Xu Shi replied with a few words. Seeing that she was online, a few people asked her a question or two. After Xu Shi answered them all, the group moved on to other topics.
Almost everyone in her department knew that Xu Shi wasn’t much of a talker, so they rarely made things difficult for her. Xu Shi’s quiet, non-competitive nature of just getting her work done had actually won her favor with many people, and she even received care and concern from her colleagues from time to time.
There was nothing important left in the group chat. Xu Shi read a few more messages, then closed WeChat and opened Ding Dong Dong.
Over the past few days, she had cleared all her other messages, leaving only “Heard.” Now, in her chat list, only Heard’s name remained.
Their last message was from yesterday, a long-winded one from Yan Wuwu.
Xu Shi didn’t plan on chatting with Heard right now. It felt like she had run out of things to say. She was just opening the app to take a look.
But unexpectedly, just as she was about to exit, a “1” appeared on Heard’s profile picture.
Xu Shi immediately sat up straight.
She quickly tapped open the message.
Heard: Good afternoon, little one.
Xu Shi smiled and typed quickly: Good afternoon, long time no see!
Heard: Long time no see?
Xu Shi knew Heard was referring to the fact that they had just chatted yesterday, but Xu Shi didn’t care.
Yan Wuwu: It just feels like a long time.
Yan Wuwu: You’re so busy.
Heard: Yes, very busy.
Yan Wuwu: Hehe.
Heard: What are you laughing at?
Yan Wuwu: I thought you didn’t want to talk to me anymore.
Heard: Little one.
Heard: Are you like this when you chat with other people? Or are you only this clingy with me?
Yan Wuwu immediately exited the chat, took a screenshot of her chat list showing only Heard, and sent it to her: Only you.
Heard: Is that so?
Heard: Why is that? We’ve only known each other for a short time, haven’t we?
Xu Shi was suddenly stumped.
If Heard had asked this a few days ago, Xu Shi would have definitely answered that it was because she had very few friends she could chat with.
But after the past few days, Xu Shi felt that was no longer a valid reason. She seemed to have discovered that she was becoming a little too fond of Heard.
And just then, a figure flashed through her mind.
In that instant, a severe case of goosebumps broke out all over her skin.
Only then did she realize that she had always been processing Heard’s text messages in Yu Lingshan’s voice. Subconsciously, she had been treating Heard as Yu Lingshan.
A Yu Lingshan who wasn’t Yu Lingshan.
A Yu Lingshan of her own fantasy.
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