Whose Wife Are You?

To make it look as though she were being proper, Xu Zhitong got up first, sat down beside her, and helped Lin Yang pull her top back on.

She looked perfectly composed, though in truth her eyes were still sneaking glances.

The heat on Lin Yang’s face still hadn’t faded.

Her lips were bitten red and full, her eyes shining with a thin sheen of spring-wet light; her cheeks were flushed pink, like a ripe, tempting peach.

That tempting Lin Yang brushed Xu Zhitong’s hand away and, with her legs still a little weak, slowly stood to straighten her clothes.

The room was very quiet; all they could hear were birdsong and the cries of insects drifting from far away.

Aside from that, there was only the sound of Lin Yang adjusting her clothes and the slow return of her breathing.

Just sharing a room with her made even those sounds feel enough to set the heart racing.

Xu Zhitong looked up at her for a while, then stood as well. Her own face was hot, but even more than that, she felt satisfied.

She liked Lin Yang so much.

Watching the top of Lin Yang’s head as she bent over, even the little round crown swirl in her hair looked adorable.

Her hair had been slightly mussed when she was pressed to the floor, so Xu Zhitong reached out to smooth it. Her fingers slipped through the silky strands; unable to help herself, she lowered her head and gently kissed the top of Lin Yang’s head.

Maybe she stayed there a little too long, or maybe Lin Yang took it as some other kind of teasing.

Lin Yang bumped her lightly with her head.

The force was so gentle it was hard to tell whether it was reproach or affection.

But Xu Zhitong still acted as if she’d staggered and said, “That hurts.”

The very hard-hearted Lin Yang ignored her.

Xu Zhitong: “Waaah TT”

The cry sounded far too fake. After Lin Yang finished straightening her top, she lifted those bright black-and-white eyes and glared at her.

Her gaze was soft and shimmering with moisture; more than anger, it looked like a pout.

My wife is so pretty.

Xu Zhitong only felt as though she might have a shameless fangirl streak; she swallowed once, then forcibly suppressed the urge to lean in and kiss her wife’s eyelashes.

She asked, “Then should we change clothes later and go soak in the hot spring?”

Lin Yang hesitated.

Xu Zhitong immediately reached out to take her hand and used the same old trick. “Please, please.”

Lin Yang really didn’t know what to say.

They’d just done that, and now they were going to soak in the hot spring?

Wouldn’t that mean they’d end up doing it again…?

She looked up at Xu Zhitong, a little dazed.

Had Xu Zhitong somehow developed some kind of skin hunger over the last few years?

Even now, while she was begging her, her hand still wasn’t being very honest; it kept rubbing her wrist bone.

The pressure of her fingertips was neither heavy nor light. The touch itself was dry, but it made Lin Yang think of the wet sensation from just now.

Her heart gave a nervous little flutter too.

Lin Yang said a little flusteredly, “How about tomorrow…?”

Xu Zhitong immediately looked very disappointed. She let out an “ah” and said, “But you promised me…”

She leaned closer to Lin Yang, her brows knitting in displeasure and her mouth pushing out in grievance.

“You don’t want to soak in the hot spring with me?”

Lin Yang was left speechless by the way she stared at her. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just afraid you…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish.

Lin Yang bit her lower lip. It wasn’t as if Xu Zhitong had done anything wrong; from her point of view, this was normal behavior, something every couple would do.

But.

Lin Yang said with difficulty, “I think it’s a little too fast.”

Xu Zhitong immediately raised a hand and swore. “We’ll just soak in the hot spring. I won’t eat nai.”?

Was she hearing things?

Lin Yang’s eyes widened. The heat in her face wouldn’t go away as she stared blankly at Xu Zhitong. “What did you say?”

Xu Zhitong blinked, looking like a very innocent girl.

She said, all aggrieved, “Hm? Who said anything? I’m a baby; eating nai is only natural.”

Lin Yang was both embarrassed and annoyed. She took a step back and said in exasperation, “You’re outrageous.”

Xu Zhitong shot back, “Why are you swearing!”

Both sides had their reasons.

Lin Yang was speechless. She lowered her head and tried to shake Xu Zhitong’s hand off.

She’d only managed to get it free for less than two seconds before Xu Zhitong grabbed it again, even tighter this time, their fingers locking together as they swayed stickily back and forth.

Xu Zhitong muttered, “Don’t be shy.”

“…” Lin Yang was genuinely embarrassed. “Then don’t talk like that.”

Xu Zhitong said righteously, “We’re old married wives. This is all perfectly normal wife-wife life. Or do you want me to live like a widow? Let me make this clear in advance: I’m not sexually cold, okay?”

…

If everyone in the world were sexually cold, Xu Zhitong definitely wouldn’t be.

Lin Yang had nowhere to go with that and said, “Speak properly.”

Xu Zhitong was still buzzing with excitement. She huffed, “I’m very honest about my desires. It’s you who isn’t allowed to avoid the topic.”

Lin Yang even played with toys herself; how could she not have that kind of need?

It was probably just that they hadn’t done this for too long.

So she was embarrassed.

Xu Zhitong considered her feelings and asked tactfully, “Were you comfortable just now?”

Lin Yang stiffened slightly and turned her head, showing only the reddened curve of her ear as she refused to answer.

So Xu Zhitong leaned in and gave that cute earlobe a naughty little nip.

Right by her ear, as if sharing a secret, she asked, “Why won’t you answer? Was it really not good? I think I made you feel very good.”

…

What exactly was Xu Zhitong saying?

Lin Yang’s face was about to burn scarlet.

Shouldn’t this be something implicit and private? Why was she putting it so openly and shamelessly?

Lin Yang’s heart was practically leaping out of her chest. She dodged a little and said, “Stop talking.”

Xu Zhitong was relentless. “Then was it comfortable or not?”

Her eyes were full of thirsty curiosity, as if she were asking Lin Yang a question about a wrong answer on an exam paper after monthly tests.

Or as if, if Lin Yang said anything felt bad, she’d immediately go sign up for classes and improve.

Lin Yang was hounded for a long time before finally giving a helpless nod and whispering, “Comfortable…”

It was comfortable.

Enough that it forced her to recall the sensation, making her step back and clamp her legs together against the lingering dampness.

After saying it, she retreated another step and said with feigned sternness, “Don’t ask again.”

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Xu Zhitong smiled. “Okay.”

She pointed to the side; at some unknown point after they’d come back to the room, she had taken out Lin Yang’s swimsuit.

“Do you want to wash up and change into your swimsuit inside? I absolutely won’t do it there again.”

Lin Yang paused. “Then you promised. You can’t do that again…”

The rest of the sentence still wouldn’t come out.

Her words trailed off, and she saw Xu Zhitong lick her wet red tongue across her lower lip in response to her pause.

When her gaze met hers, she even smiled.

A little sultry…

Lin Yang froze.

Suddenly flustered, she turned, grabbed the swimsuit and bathrobe, and went into the bathroom.

Usually, when she was alone, things were actually very normal; she wouldn’t have any extra thoughts.

But this time, standing under the showerhead with water running over her, her mind kept circling back to the look of Xu Zhitong smiling and licking her lips just before she turned away, and her stirred-up feelings were especially obvious.

She endured it for a while, trying hard to empty her mind and think of nothing, to just shower normally.

Lin Yang didn’t often think about things in the bath. She kept her eyes lowered, leaning against the wall, looking a little awkward.

She also turned the cold water up a bit more, but the usual temperature seemed to have lost its use; it didn’t bring back the familiar feeling or reaction from before.

They were only staying here for two days, so Lin Yang hadn’t brought her usual shower supplies. On top of that, her freshly done manicure was a little long, making everything feel uncomfortable no matter what she did. Lin Yang bit her lip and could only think back; after quite a while, she finally let out an awkward breath and let it all wash away with the continuous stream of water.

Standing back under the showerhead and opening her right palm, letting the water run between her fingers, Lin Yang clicked her tongue softly.

She turned around, squeezed out some body wash, and washed herself quietly.

After she finished, dried off, and stood in front of the large mirror to look herself over, scanning up and down, she finally turned and changed into the swimsuit.

It was a gray-green one-piece swimsuit. One shoulder strap crossed below the collarbone, leaving a beautiful cutout. There was no skirt lining below it, so the slight curve of her lower abdomen was especially noticeable.

After a little hesitation, Lin Yang still didn’t ask Xu Zhitong to bring in something else. She put on the hot-spring robe and walked out of the bathroom.

Inside the room, Xu Zhitong had also changed into her black swimsuit with all the ties.

The few thin straps on her back still hadn’t been fastened. She didn’t seem to mind; she was lying on the bed, reading a novel on her phone.

Her waist was slouched, shoulders arched, and the line of her back was very beautiful.

Hearing the bathroom door, Xu Zhitong turned back quickly. When she saw Lin Yang clearly, a little disappointment flashed across her face.

Why was she still wearing the robe?

But she’d be able to see soon enough.

Xu Zhitong flipped over and sat up, bracing herself on the edge of the bed. “Help me tie it.”

“Mm.”

Lin Yang walked over and stood in front of Xu Zhitong, bending down to fasten the ties on the side.

Because of the posture, the front of the robe inevitably opened a little.

Xu Zhitong swore her eyes had only glanced there by accident.

After all, she wasn’t some lecherous creep.

But the angle was too convenient, so Xu Zhitong took a few extra looks anyway.

The swimsuit had a very low neckline, practically covering nothing; from above, it was even more obvious, a stretch of pale, luminous white.

Xu Zhitong couldn’t help imagining that if they were soaking in the hot spring, maybe… all steamy and soft…

But she had already promised Lin Yang that she wouldn’t during the hot spring…

Xu Zhitong started struggling with herself in advance.

Her rational side was saying she needed to preserve her credibility with Lin Yang, or it would be very troublesome if she wanted to do anything else in the future.

Sigh. Why had Lin Yang’s bar for this aspect become so high now?

It was all her fault before she lost her memory, for going so long without being intimate with Lin Yang.

If she’d lost her memory right when they were at their most passionately in love, maybe she could have acted cute and spoiled her way through things in the hospital and gotten Lin Yang to give her…

But then Xu Zhitong thought, anyway, her technique was very good now and she made Lin Yang feel really good.

Better than the version of herself before she lost her memory.

Someone as smart as Lin Yang would definitely be willing to do it more often with her once she felt good.

Xu Zhitong compared herself favorably against her former self and felt quite pleased.

After Lin Yang finished tying it, Xu Zhitong tilted her head and leaned in to kiss the pale side of her neck.

Lin Yang trembled.

She looked at Xu Zhitong, but Xu Zhitong still had a face full of innocent sincerity. “What?”

Lin Yang really had no way to deal with her. Frowning, she pinched Xu Zhitong’s arm and said, “Let’s go.”

The hot-spring pool in the courtyard was open-air. The night temperature was rather low, and thin ribbons of white mist could be seen rising from the water. A large cherry blossom tree stood beside the pool; the petals inside had been cleaned away, and there were stone lanterns lit nearby, along with petals, bath salts, and other things prepared in advance.

Xu Zhitong brought out the unfinished wine glasses and some fruit and snacks from the room.

Lin Yang had already soaked into the water.

Steam rose thickly. Lin Yang had clipped her long hair up with a shark clip and was curled up in the hot spring, showing only her slender neck and head.

Xu Zhitong, like some capable little helper, set each item down one by one on the tall side table by the pool before striding to the edge on her long legs.

She took out her phone, connected it to the multimedia device by the pool, and played an English playlist.

Soft, suggestive music filled the hot spring. Lin Yang seemed to have spaced out and was startled, turning her head to glance at Xu Zhitong. “Why did you suddenly start playing music?”

This had been part of Xu Zhitong’s earlier research.

Xu Zhitong was in a great mood. She crouched by the pool and stirred the water a little.

Very comfortable.

She said, “What’s wrong with putting on a song?”

Lin Yang glanced at the screen nearby, where something like a “Cooking Songs Playlist” was written in large, blatant letters, as if laying bare Xu Zhitong’s thoughts.

She said, “Remember what you promised.”

Xu Zhitong obediently went, “Oh,” then turned it around on her. “Yangbao, you’re being so fierce to me.”

Every time she said that, it meant she wanted to get something out of her.

Lin Yang ignored her.

But this time Xu Zhitong really didn’t mean that. She was in a good mood and said again, “But you’re only fierce to me and not to anyone else. Tell the truth; do you like me?”

That was even more of an obvious question.

Lin Yang had always been cool and distant toward other people; how could she possibly show those kinds of emotions?

Lin Yang said flatly, “Don’t you like it?”

It wasn’t clear whether she was asking whether Xu Zhitong didn’t like her being fierce, or whether she didn’t like her at all.

Xu Zhitong said sweetly, “I like it all.”

Having gotten the answer she wanted, she climbed into the water too.

The two of them sat side by side in the pool. The hot spring water covered their shoulders, steaming warmly. That sort of warmth probably made everyone soft and damp.

They listened to the music and soaked for a while.

Xu Zhitong said, “We’re like two mushrooms growing in this hot spring pool.”

Lin Yang found it a little funny.

With such suggestive music playing, she’d thought Xu Zhitong was about to do something, but instead Xu Zhitong said they were mushrooms.

Lin Yang said with a faint smile, “Then what’s your mushroom name?”

Xu Zhitong said, “I’m Mushroom Little Tong.”

Lin Yang said, “Then I’m Mushroom Little Yang?”

Xu Zhitong shook her head. “You’re Mushroom Little Tong’s wife.”

Lin Yang turned and pinched Xu Zhitong’s arm underwater.

Ripples spread in circles, and the sound of the water was especially clear in the quiet night.

Xu Zhitong yelped, “Hey, hey, getting angry out of embarrassment? Domestic violence.”

After Lin Yang pinched her ticklish spots twice, Xu Zhitong finally changed her wording and said, “Fine, Mushroom Little Yang; but you also have another title, which is Mushroom Little Tong’s wife.”

Lin Yang huffed, but didn’t argue anymore.

Xu Zhitong asked again, with deliberate suspense, “Do you know why you’re Mushroom Little Tong’s wife?”

She didn’t wait for Lin Yang to ask—of course, Lin Yang had no intention of asking.

Xu Zhitong quickly gave the answer: “Because from the moment you were born, you were meant to be my wife. We were born together and grew up together; that’s called a child bride. Get it?”

Lin Yang rolled her eyes at her. “Dream on.”

Xu Zhitong sank a little lower into the water. The warm current wrapped around her, soaking up to her neck like a very gentle hug.

She said softly, “It really is like that, Little Yang. In the whole world, only the two of us are exactly the same. We’re the last two little mushrooms.”

Outside the private open-air pool were endless distant mountains, the night deep and heavy, like some lurking behemoth from a textbook that could swallow people whole.

It had been seven or eight years; the era and the world had both become unfamiliar.

But with Lin Yang by her side, everything was different.

Xu Zhitong couldn’t really explain why she felt that way. Perhaps when people are young, they say too many things they wouldn’t say as adults; so the friends they make during that period become excessively close and know each other too well.

That kind of bond, even compared with family ties like a mother’s, even compared with any future lovers they might or might not have, even if they might separate later and no longer stay close.

It would still remain forever like a friend who knew them inside and out, a companion always on the same side.

The funny thing was that she and Lin Yang were also so alike, both distant from family, which was why they had been able to click instantly, pour everything out to each other, and cherish one another.

But those feelings were too hard to put into words. It felt as if she were forcibly binding them together, and besides, mixed in with it was something that had already gone beyond friendship.

She and Lin Yang, in another world, were probably really just those two little mushrooms growing in a pool tucked away in the remote mountains.

It was fate that they were meant to be together.

Xu Zhitong sank half her face into the water and blew a few bubbles up to the surface.

After losing her memory, she rarely became this quiet, and she looked a little melancholy.

Lin Yang turned her head to watch her. Over the past month, black roots had already started to grow out at the top of Xu Zhitong’s head, so her hair had a slight blue ombré to it; she really did look like some kind of beautiful, poisonous mushroom.

The wet ends sank into the water, and her eyelashes were black and thick, casting a shadow beneath her eyes.

She almost seemed to merge with the adult version of herself.

But after being quiet for half a minute, Xu Zhitong sat up, turned around, and looked at Lin Yang with a smile.

“Alright, now I’m going to test you. Whose wife are you?”