It Wasn’t a Beauty Device

If they had started dating back in middle school...

Their grades were both excellent, and they had always been close enough to sneak around behind the teachers’ backs and date in secret.

Truthfully, what they would do would probably not be all that different from what they already did as best friends, but they could hold hands with interlaced fingers in places where no one could see and steal kisses in secret.

The corridor around the back corner of the science building would be perfect. The rest area leading from the gymnasium to the locker rooms would also do nicely.

She could also, under proper justification, drag Lin Yang to her place after school; they could study and do homework together, and she would make dinner for Lin Yang. After they finished eating, they could sit on the sofa and talk about the future, talk about their ideals...

Just as her thoughts wandered wildly, the beautiful side profile she had been staring at turned around.

Lin Yang frowned and lightly tapped the back of her hand.

“Xu Zhitong.”

“Hm?”

Lin Yang asked, “Did you understand?”

Xu Zhitong nodded. “I did.”

Maybe it was muscle memory, or maybe the half-working, half-broken instincts in her subconscious were still there; after Lin Yang gave her a simple explanation, Xu Zhitong vaguely knew what all these different programs and devices were, and how to use them.

Lin Yang could tell she was drifting. “Then try singing one.”

“Okay.”

Xu Zhitong was also a little eager when facing this professional setup.

Before she lost her memory, the most advanced singing equipment she had ever used was the microphone in the school auditorium; now, she had a whole room full of singing gear of all different kinds and models.

After thinking it over for a while, Xu Zhitong chose a Cantonese song on the accompaniment software.

Lin Yang sat beside her and watched the accompaniment loading. “A Cantonese song?”

Xu Zhitong said, “Mm. Don’t you remember? You taught me for an entire summer vacation.”

Lin Yang’s mother was from Gangcheng, and Lin Yang could speak the Cantonese of Gangcheng as well.

As for why Xu Zhitong had started learning Cantonese from her in the first place, she was no longer very sure.

Maybe it was because she thought the way Lin Yang spoke Cantonese sounded beautiful, carrying the charming elegance of a foreign, distant unfamiliarity; maybe she was simply a Lin Yang imitator.

Maybe it was because she wanted to learn Cantonese songs. Cantonese songs always sounded so good, singing all kinds of emotions.

Or maybe there was something else. Lin Yang did not sing much, and hearing her open her mouth was rare. Xu Zhitong had begged her for a long time to teach her Cantonese. Using learning songs as an excuse, the two of them each wore one side of a wired earphone, shoulders touching. Xu Zhitong would lie on the desk, listen to a line, then turn around and insist Lin Yang teach her to sing that line too.

In the air-conditioned room that summer, Xu Zhitong had carried feelings she did not yet understand. She even had to move in very close and say she wanted to see Lin Yang’s mouth shape and tongue position, insisting that it must be a problem with pronunciation habits if she still couldn’t get it right.

The song she loaded was a sweet little tune that subtly expressed affection; its style was bright and sugary.

While the accompaniment was loading, Xu Zhitong glanced through the lyrics. She had loved listening to music since she was young. Her two mothers were both busy with work, and she was often alone at home, reading and doing homework, so she got used to listening to music with earphones on.

Back when there was not much in the way of entertainment, if she came across lyrics she liked, she would copy them into a notebook.

Xu Zhitong was singing with the idea of using the song to convey her feelings. When she reached the lines with hidden meaning, she could not help sneaking a nervous look at Lin Yang.

But Lin Yang did not show any expression.

She sat beside her, calm and detached, with no real reaction, as if she were simply listening quietly to the song.

After Xu Zhitong finished the chorus and still saw no response from Lin Yang, she began to panic a little.

Was she still angry?

What exactly had Lin Yang been fighting with her about before she lost her memory?

She could not ask outright; if she did, Lin Yang would definitely say she was not angry.

Just like how Lin Yang still had not explicitly or implicitly said that they were already in a relationship.

...Could she be planning to dump her while she had amnesia?

At that thought, Xu Zhitong’s heart seemed to skip a beat all at once, going hollow for a moment.

So she missed the beat in the chorus.

Xu Zhitong hurriedly finished that short section in one breath, paused the accompaniment, and explained, “I got distracted.”

Lin Yang looked at the accompaniment software on the desk; the lyrics had just happened to pause on a line expressing love.

She thought perhaps Xu Zhitong’s subconscious had remembered someone else. In any case, it could not have been her, after seven years without seeing each other. But that was not something she could say out loud, so Lin Yang fell silent for a moment.

“It’s fine; it sounds good. Actually, missing a beat once in a while makes it seem cute,” Lin Yang said. “They won’t be able to tell the difference.”

When Xu Zhitong heard her say cute, the unease in her heart finally settled a little.

They tried a few more songs, then started a test stream, confirming that the network, software, and equipment were all working properly.

After a busy morning, Lin Yang ordered delivery from a restaurant. It was probably close by, because it arrived not long after. The restaurant even included a bottle of wine.

Xu Zhitong held the bottle and read the label aloud. “...Sparkling wine? Is it kind of like soda water?”

Lin Yang had not expected the restaurant to send an extra bottle. This was one of her favorite restaurants in Jiangshi; whenever she did not want to cook and did not know what to eat, she would go there for a simple meal.

Their paired wine was quite good, with a low alcohol content, and Lin Yang ordered it every time. Over time, the restaurant may have even added a note to her membership.

Lin Yang took the wine away and said coldly, “You’re not drinking this.”

“Why?” Xu Zhitong had a lot of questions. “Do you like this flavor? Is it sweet? Is it good? Let me try it.”

Lin Yang put the bottle aside and took two bottles of coconut water from the fridge. “Drink this.”

“Fine,” Xu Zhitong said a little dejectedly. “I just have amnesia, not a body swap with a minor.”

She was curious about everything Lin Yang liked nowadays.

She also had a stomach full of other questions.

About how they had gotten together, how Lin Yang had spent her university years, what new friends Lin Yang had made, how Lin Yang got along with her after returning to the country, what they usually did at home, what plans they had for the future...

There was so much she wanted to understand, but sometimes when she saw Lin Yang beside her, all those questions would sink back down again, and she would feel that being happy in the present was already enough; asking next time would be fine too.

After lunch, Xu Zhitong acted first on the thing she most wanted to know.

She cleared away the dishes and chopsticks, feeling she had already made up for the “mistake” of being too intimate that morning, and asked, “Can I go see your place?”

Lin Yang froze. “My place?”

Xu Zhitong said, “Mm, your place. The doctor said I should reduce outdoor activity, but going to the same residential complex should be okay, right?”

“...” Lin Yang looked down at her phone and thought, Thank goodness I contacted the property manager last night and had them send over a cleaning service.

On her phone, the property manager had already sent pictures. The place was cleaned very neatly, and everything that should not be there, everything that might expose something, had all been put into the utility room.

This property was not somewhere she lived often. The new units in the complex had long since sold out, and after she returned to the country she had bought a secondhand fully renovated apartment that had never been occupied. She only came here occasionally when she missed it very much and wanted to rest.

There were not many traces of living here, but Xu Zhitong might not notice.

Xu Zhitong clung to her. “I won’t mess up your place. I just want to see where you’ve been living during this time; maybe whether it’s nicer than my room.”

What was there to compare? Lin Yang did not understand, but she could not refuse Xu Zhitong, so she agreed.

Xu Zhitong’s eyes lit up. She immediately went back to the room to change clothes.

She changed into a hoodie. Her hair seemed to have grown longer too, gathered inside the hoodie collar, making the back of her neck a little itchy.

Lin Yang saw Xu Zhitong twisting her neck as she changed shoes, looking very childishly fussy, and her heart softened. She took out a small elastic band for her. “Tie it up.”

But Xu Zhitong was not very good at tying her hair. It was neither long nor short, just long enough to have some thinning layers that would slip out from a tiny ponytail.

She fiddled with it for a long time in front of the hallway mirror. In the end, Lin Yang came over and tied her hair for her.

Before Lin Yang even had time to pull her hand back, Xu Zhitong bent down on her own and rubbed her head against Lin Yang’s palm.

The soft strands tickled Lin Yang’s hand, and even her whole arm went a little numb. She pulled away. “What are you doing?”

Xu Zhitong only smiled, her eyes crinkling. “I like this.”

She did not say what exactly she liked about it.

-

Lin Yang’s apartment was two buildings away. After they entered the lobby, though, they saw an unexpected person in the public area.

It was early autumn weather, and the girl was wearing a skin-baring bodycon mini dress and brown knee-high boots. She was sitting on the guest sofa in the public lounge with one leg crossed over the other, the toe of her shoe tapping lightly as if she were impatient.

High ponytail, no makeup, looking no older than seventeen or eighteen. Her eyes were very pretty, like a cunning fox’s.

The moment she saw Lin Yang come in, she sprang to her feet and waved with a bright smile. “Sis!”

She picked up the leather tote she had tossed aside and walked over. Then she glanced at Xu Zhitong beside her, her gaze sweeping up and down rather rudely.

“And this is?”

Xu Zhitong could clearly feel Lin Yang tense for a moment.

Even her back straightened a little.

Lin Yang said flatly, “A friend.”

“Oh...” The girl drew the word out and looked at Xu Zhitong a couple more times, then gave a smile that was not exactly friendly and was even slightly contemptuous. “I know you.”

Xu Zhitong was stunned by that smile.

Very quickly, she realized from it that Lin Yang’s younger sister seemed to have some opinion of her.

Back in middle school, Xu Zhitong had seen Lin Yang’s younger sister a few times from a distance. She only knew that she was about seven years younger than Lin Yang, and at the time she was still a grade school student studying at an international school with a heavy workload.

Her name was Lin Zhao.

Those few times they met, Lin Zhao always seemed to be in a car, urging Lin Yang to get in quickly because her next class was about to be late.

She had also become somewhat accomplished; once, when Xu Zhitong asked Lin Yang what she was doing, Lin Yang sent her a video of Lin Zhao performing and said they were at the city concert hall, watching her younger sister’s piano competition performance.

She had not expected Lin Zhao to be this grown up now. But thinking about it, seven years had passed, so Lin Zhao really was an adult already.

It was just that she did not know where this unknown hostility toward her was coming from.

Could it be that Lin Zhao did not approve of their relationship?

Xu Zhitong could not figure it out. Before she had even thought of how to react, Lin Zhao had already shifted her attention away and looked at Lin Yang.

Lin Zhao’s tone was dissatisfied, carrying the spoiled willfulness of someone indulged since childhood. “Where did you go? I’ve been waiting here forever. You didn’t answer your phone either, and I only brought my passport, so the front desk wouldn’t let me upstairs.”

“...Why did you come back to the country? Didn’t school just start?”

Lin Yang’s tone was a little stiff, as if she wanted to say something and held it back.

Lin Zhao did not care. “I only have a few classes a week, and it was too boring, so I flew back to have some fun. I’m not going home to stay, so don’t tell Mom. If she knows, she’ll nag me again.”

She looked around with a bit of interest. “I was in a taxi and passed by, then remembered you have an apartment on this side, so I came over to see whether you were here. Not bad, this complex.”

Lin Yang paused slightly. “I don’t have a guest room here, so it’s not suitable for staying over. I’ll book you a hotel-style apartment downtown, okay?”

Lin Zhao narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Sure. But aren’t you going to invite me upstairs and sit for a while? I flew back after more than ten hours; I’m exhausted.”

As she said that, she glanced at Xu Zhitong again.

Her smile deepened, and she said meaningfully, “Is it inconvenient, sis?”

Lin Yang said calmly, “It’s fine. My friend and I happen to be going up to get something. I’ll take you over in a bit.”

Xu Zhitong had no idea what was going on and followed the two of them into the elevator, standing farther back.

She felt that the Lin Zhao who had always worn a serious face as a child had grown up into someone rather unlovable.

That feeling continued until they entered Lin Yang’s apartment.

The layout of this apartment was almost identical to Xu Zhitong’s, only the decor was simpler, and it had been cleaned especially well, with hardly any signs of life.

As expected, Lin Yang moving out in the middle of a cold war was only temporary.

Xu Zhitong let out half a breath of relief.

Lin Zhao had already acted as if it were her own home, sitting on the sofa and looking at them with keen interest.

Lin Yang did not let Xu Zhitong come over. In a low voice, she said, “Xiaotong, go sit inside for a bit. I’ll try to get her to leave. Her personality’s not very easy to deal with now that she’s grown up; she might make things difficult for you.”

Xu Zhitong knew nothing about Lin Zhao now, or about Lin Yang’s family, so after hesitating for a moment, she agreed.

As she passed through the living room, she turned her head and glanced over. Lin Zhao was looking at her too, smiling brightly as she waved.

So strange.

Xu Zhitong went into the master bedroom and closed the door; immediately, she could no longer hear a thing from outside.

She looked around the room.

It was very tidy, as though it had just been cleaned not long ago. Even the bedding was folded flat and neatly tucked, just like a hotel room.

Xu Zhitong sat for a while at Lin Yang’s vanity, admiring the hair Lin Yang had tied for her, then looked into the mirror in contemplation.

She considered herself to have a pretty good personality, and her looks had been praised since she was young. She got along with everyone. So why had she failed to make an impression on Lin Zhao?

Was it because of the blue-dyed hair? Or because of her background?

Families like theirs probably cared a lot about matching social status. If she were going to marry Lin Yang in the future, she would be completely reaching upward.

But her feelings for Lin Yang had nothing to do with money or background at all.

Would a line like that really be enough to move Lin Yang’s mother? She might get thrown out instead.

Her bank account balance, in front of the Lin family, would not even be worth mentioning.

Xu Zhitong sighed quietly, then turned to study the various cosmetics on the table.

There were not many things on the table; perhaps most of them had been taken back to their home by Lin Yang.

Xu Zhitong examined the labels one by one and discovered that some things that looked almost identical were actually used for completely different purposes.

As she flipped through them, she opened a drawer and found some unfamiliar items.

Beauty devices?

Curious, Xu Zhitong picked up the few very small objects. She found that they had no labels either. The material was soft, and when she opened the cap, the head inside was concave; she had no idea what they were used for.

For reducing swelling?

Her mother also had beauty devices at home, but they seemed larger than these and could even shine with red light.

Xu Zhitong studied them for a while without coming to any conclusion, so she put them back.

Before she could continue looking in the next drawer, the bedroom door was suddenly opened.

It was Lin Yang walking in.

“Xiaotong, I’m taking Lin Zhao to...”

She only got halfway through her sentence before freezing hard.

Her eyes widened uncontrollably, her lashes fluttering rapidly as she looked at the half-open drawer; then her gaze quickly fell on Xu Zhitong.

Xu Zhitong blinked and picked up the sentence naturally. “Taking her to the hotel?”

“...Yes.” Lin Yang closed the door and walked closer to take a look at the drawer, biting her lip. “You were looking at...”

“Hm? Looking at your cosmetics. I didn’t mess with anything,” Xu Zhitong said obediently as she closed the drawer and stood up. “Then I’ll go home and wait for you?”

“...” Lin Yang looked at Xu Zhitong’s expression and seemed to struggle before finally saying, “Mm. I should be back in about half an hour.”

Xu Zhitong was reluctant to part and leaned in to touch Lin Yang’s hand.

She took all of Lin Yang’s fingers into her own and gently shook them, affectionate and clingy. “Then come back early. I’ll wait for you at home.”