Girlfriend

Xu Zhitong waited expectantly for Lin Yang’s answer.

In fact, since losing her memory, she’d had all kinds of lovely fantasies about a confession.

Would Lin Yang be surprised?

If it were her own personality, she might have spent an entire night drafting the confession.

Then she’d go buy flowers.

She didn’t know how old she had been when she confessed; at that age, with her financial situation, what kind of restaurant would she have chosen?

How had she and Lin Yang gone from friends turning sour to becoming a happy couple?

The more Xu Zhitong thought about it, the more excited she became, staring at Lin Yang with blazing eyes.

The intensity of that gaze made Lin Yang’s hand tremble slightly around her coffee cup.

She blinked lazily.

Lowering her head and letting her gaze fall on the ripples in the liquid inside the cup, she felt as if her heart were sinking.

Maybe the surname An really was her natural enemy.

Lin Yang thought this to herself with some evasiveness.

After Miss An had sent her flowers for the first time, her mother had suddenly wanted to come see her coffee shop.

Then there had been that misunderstanding at the mall, and Xu Zhitong’s mood had soured a little too.

And now, for no apparent reason, she was even making her say these things…

Lin Yang fell silent for a while.

To Xu Zhitong, it seemed like she must be seriously trying to recall the two of them’s past.

After a long while, Lin Yang finally said lightly, “In third year of high school.”

Xu Zhitong: “Oh!”

That was soon.

Only about a year from the last point in her memory?

Some of the more mature confession scenes in her head were wiped away.

What place at Jiangshi No. 1 High School would have been suitable for a confession?

The pavilion by the pond in front of the science building?

The grove of flowering trees by the art building?

Or maybe just in the corridor outside the classroom?

Before, when she had walked around campus, she hadn’t felt much. But now that she was away from school and thinking back, it seemed like anywhere could have been romantic.

Xu Zhitong was full of anticipation. “Online or in person? Did I bring flowers to school to confess to you? Where was it? There seem to be a lot of places at our school that would be suitable for a confession.”

Thinking of that, she suddenly felt a little guilty and quickly tried to patch things up. “My taste in high school should have been pretty tacky, right? Did I bring you red roses and baby’s breath or something…”

Lin Yang answered the first question first. “In the classroom after school.”

Xu Zhitong nodded. “Mm, mm.”

That sounded okay; not as romantic, but very youthful.

Lin Yang paused slightly. “…There weren’t any flowers either.”

She turned her head to look at Xu Zhitong and said flatly, “I was talking to you, and you just kissed me. After that kiss, you said you liked me.”

Xu Zhitong: “Huh??”

What?

Back then, had she really been that reckless and unreliable?

Xu Zhitong was inevitably shocked.

But thinking about it, it also seemed perfectly reasonable.

So she had wanted to kiss her best friend’s lips that early on.

No wonder, after waking up with amnesia and seeing Lin Yang, her first instinct had also been to covet her lips.

But still.

That was way too wild; it wasn’t a good beginning at all.

Xu Zhitong hesitated, then asked uncertainly, “What was your reaction then?”

Lin Yang said, “I called you a crazy woman.”

It was easy to imagine Lin Yang’s tone, so Xu Zhitong snorted, shifted in her seat, and leaned against her shoulder.

At least that development was still decent.

Xu Zhitong asked, “Then after you called me that, did you agree?”

…

She hadn’t agreed.

Their lips had been pressed together, sharing breath. She had actually already felt the stirrings of liking her, but Lin Yang’s heart had been pounding wildly—thud, thud, thud—beating too fast in her chest and roaring in her mind, almost making her hallucinate again. Just a few days earlier, in Gangcheng, several thousand kilometers away, she had seemed to be by her mother’s deathbed. Her heartbeat had surged to a frequency so fast it was almost painful.

Suppressing the strange sensation, she thought of the admonishing words Madam Lin had said outside the ward. Her face was pale, and she couldn’t control herself as she spoke many harsh, stubborn refusals that went against her true feelings.

The timing had been all wrong; besides, they were both too young, too proud, and far too stubborn.

In the end, they hadn’t even remained friends. Xu Zhitong, her eyes red, had said, “How can you talk to me like that too? You were even harsher to me than to anyone else. I’ll hate you.” Only then had she slowly fallen silent, while swallowing back many tears.

…

Lin Yang was quiet for a while.

She said, “Mm, I agreed.”

Xu Zhitong gave a tiny “waah.”

For such a shabby confession, Lin Yang had still been willing to be with her.

Too devoted.

She held up her hand in front of Lin Yang, opening and closing it.

Pop a little firework.

Xu Zhitong was delighted, and she put on an air of deep wisdom as she said, “Looks like you liked me first. You must’ve been really happy when I confessed, right?”

Lin Yang turned her head away, her gaze fixed outside the glass window. “Yes.”

Heh.

Xu Zhitong was smug, and asked like she had a tail wagging behind her, “Xiao Yang, be honest. When did you start liking me?”

“…"

Lin Yang looked out the window and ignored her.

Her wife was shy.

Xu Zhitong giggled. Leaning against Lin Yang’s shoulder, she took Lin Yang’s fingers and played with them for a while.

Then she felt that the first confession had been far too improper, and asked, “After that, did I formally confess to you again?”

Lin Yang said nothing.

Xu Zhitong thought about it and figured that probably meant no.

She remembered what An Zishan had said earlier; after sending so many roses to the coffee shop, she couldn’t help asking, “What about flowers? Did I give you flowers?”

Lin Yang still said nothing.

The sky was falling. How could she not even give flowers?

Angrily, Xu Zhitong opened her phone and began tapping away.

Lin Yang found it hard to focus. She stared blankly at the bright blue sky outside the window for a while.

After a bit, the weight on her shoulder suddenly lightened.

When Lin Yang turned her head, she saw Xu Zhitong holding up her phone screen and offering it to her. “How about this? The shop owner said this is the most suitable bouquet for a confession.”

It was a huge bouquet of pink-and-white roses, tied with satin ribbons and a bow, dreamy and adorable.

Though it was a very common bouquet style.

Even so, it eased Lin Yang’s subtle mood a little.

She asked, “You’re giving it to me?”

Xu Zhitong hummed. “Mm-hm. What’s the name of the restaurant for tonight’s dinner? I’ll give the florist the address; they said they can rush it right away.”

Lin Yang raised an eyebrow. “Being this nice to me?”

Xu Zhitong tensed.

Was giving her a bouquet considered being nice?

She knew it; her pre-amnesia self had been bad to Lin Yang.

As they say, one must begin and end well. A confession that started with an abrupt kiss would indeed only end in the seven-year itch.

But the amnesiac her was a brand-new, good girl.

She was going to live happily with Lin Yang for the rest of her life.

Xu Zhitong nodded solemnly. “Of course. You’re my wife, after all.”

Lin Yang: “So slick.”

Xu Zhitong: “What’s slick about that? That’s clearly how I really feel.”

Lin Yang: “Who’s your wife?”

Xu Zhitong looked left and right, up and down. “I don’t know. Is there anyone else here?”

Playing dumb.

After they came into the lounge, Xu Zhitong had taken off her cap. Her hair bounced with her movements.

Very cute.

Lin Yang looked at her for a long while, then smiled. “Fine.”

The afternoon sun fell on her profile, making even the dark tea-colored strands of her hair glow faintly gold. Near the window, you could even see a little of the soft down on her face, making her look very gentle.

Xu Zhitong immediately leaned in, wanting to kiss her, but was dodged. She had no choice but to settle for second best, taking Lin Yang’s fingers and lightly scraping them with her canine tooth.

Lin Yang pulled her hand back and, pretending to dislike it, wiped it on Xu Zhitong’s clothes. “Are you a dog, Xu Zhitong?”

Xu Zhitong shook her head. “Nope.”

After thinking about it, she said, “I saw online that this is called the oral stage.”

Lin Yang looked as if she found her annoying. “How old are you?”

Xu Zhitong snorted twice, rested her chin on Lin Yang’s shoulder, and smiled with her eyes curved. In a sweet, coaxing voice she said, “Do you dislike how young I am? Sister~”

The way she called her sister was especially natural and sweet.

She was three months younger than Lin Yang, but she had never called her that before.

Today alone, she’d done it twice.

That soft, coaxing breath drifted toward Lin Yang’s ear.

It made Lin Yang’s ears heat up a little.

After leaning on her for a while, Xu Zhitong suddenly remembered what had been interrupted earlier by An Zishan and lifted her head to ask, “Does your collarbone really hurt?”

Lin Yang froze.

Before she could stop her, Xu Zhitong moved very quickly, slipped aside the collar of her clothes, and took a look.

On the center of her delicate, pale collarbone, the bite mark was ringed in red and pink.

It was even redder than Xu Zhitong had expected.

Xu Zhitong stared for a while before coughing lightly. “You bruise really easily.”

So lewd.

Her gaze couldn’t help drifting to Lin Yang’s neck, worrying about the future.

“It’s fine. I’ll be more careful about leaving marks in the future.”

Xu Zhitong promised.

Lin Yang: “…”

Flustered and annoyed, she pushed Xu Zhitong’s face away and sat down on the sofa across from her.

-

The bouquet Xu Zhitong had ordered was much bigger than Lin Yang had expected.

It was almost as large as a table for two.

Fortunately, the two of them were dining in a private room, and the bouquet had been brought in ahead of time, avoiding unwanted attention from others.

It took up more than half the room.

Even the waiters kept their distance when serving the dishes.

The restaurant had also thoughtfully decorated the room with some balloons and floral arrangements.

The scene was dreamy, like a dream.

After the waiters finished serving the food,

Xu Zhitong peeked at Lin Yang a couple of times and suddenly hesitated.

She looked very regretfully at that enormous bouquet.

When she ordered it, all she’d thought was that she wanted to give Lin Yang the best.

She hadn’t realized it would be this big.

She should have bought one a little smaller, one that she could hand to Lin Yang herself, and then have Lin Yang hold the bouquet while listening to her make a proper confession.

What a dummy.

Xu Zhitong stood in place, her nervousness obvious.

Lin Yang looked at her, then at the flowers.

“Take a photo for me?”

Xu Zhitong: “Mm!”

She picked up her phone and watched as Lin Yang gathered up her skirt, crouched beside the bouquet, and turned her head slightly to take a picture with it.

She looked even better than the flowers.

Lin Yang was very good at posing for photos. She plucked out a pink-and-white rose, held it against her lips, and asked Xu Zhitong to bring the camera closer.

But Xu Zhitong didn’t bring it closer.

Lin Yang: “What are you doing, Photographer Xu?”

Xu Zhitong coughed.

She used the camera to hide her face a little, then let her flushed cheeks show, her eyes looking as if they were wet as she stared at Lin Yang.

In a low voice, she said, “When am I going to confess?”

How had she hidden behind the camera and gotten so nervous?

Lin Yang found it funny and deliberately said, “Mm… next month?”

Xu Zhitong stammered, “Huh? Why so late.”

Lin Yang pinched the flower stem and slowly turned it in her hand.

She looked at Xu Zhitong in front of her, holding a phone, eyes damp, cheeks red, lashes fluttering.

Lin Yang smiled, then leaned forward a little and held the rose out in front of Xu Zhitong.

“Then I’ll do it, okay, Xiao Tong?”

Lin Yang’s voice was gentle as she spoke slowly, looking into Xu Zhitong’s eyes.

“Mm… Xu Zhitong classmate, would you be willing to be my girlfriend?”

Xu Zhitong held her breath, her eyes widening a little as her lashes fluttered quickly.

She looked as though she was about to agree at once.

But then she shamelessly asked for a benefit first. “You still haven’t said how long you’ve liked me.”

Lin Yang gave a faint smile.

Her heartbeat was getting faster and faster.

But her pace was very slow, and very serious.

“From the very first time I saw you, I liked you,”

She brought the flower stem to Xu Zhitong’s lips, and with a teasing touch, let the petals brush against the corner of Xu Zhitong’s mouth.

With a smile in her voice, she repeated again.

“Would you be willing to be my girlfriend?”