Whose Wives Don’t Sleep Together?

Lin Yang froze.

Although Xu Zhitong looked very sincere, her excuse was indeed clumsy.

Lin Yang immediately thought of what was making her uncomfortable and said quickly, “No.”

As soon as she said it, she wanted to close the door.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Xu Zhitong protested. “What are you doing!”

She stared in disbelief. Why was Lin Yang trying to shut her out?

Lin Yang hardened her heart and said, “Didn’t you say the sofa was wide and comfortable? Why can’t you sleep?”

“But without you here, and in a strange place, I just can’t sleep,” Xu Zhitong said pitifully. “It’s easy to go from frugal to luxurious, but hard to go from luxurious back to frugal! We slept together yesterday, and it was so comfortable, wasn’t it? I slept better than I have in ages, and you looked like you slept really soundly too.”

The whole speech came tumbling out as if she’d prepared it in advance.

Lin Yang did indeed usually have some degree of trouble falling asleep.

But after being worked to that state last night, if she still didn’t fall asleep right away, was she even human?

Besides, Lin Yang didn’t want to become too dependent on her.

As for Xu Zhitong saying she couldn’t sleep...

Lin Yang really didn’t believe it.

Leaving everything else aside, just a while ago when they were in Hai City, Xu Zhitong had slept perfectly well on her own in a two-bedroom suite.

Now she was putting on an act.

Lin Yang understood what Xu Zhitong was after. She knew Xu Zhitong simply thought they were a couple and wanted to share a pillow with her, be affectionate with her...

But after so many years without any release, she really couldn’t take it.

She could refuse Xu Zhitong here at the door; if she really let her in and they lay under the same blanket...

Lin Yang pressed her lips together.

In front of her, Xu Zhitong blinked at her, hugging the pillow tighter and looking unbearably pitiful.

She was wearing a lapel-collar set of loungewear, the neckline open wide. Her hair hung neatly behind her ears, her face was pale, and she carried a clean, refreshing scent like sea salt.

It was the sort of outfit that looked like she could slip into bed at any second and share a sweet dream with someone.

Very much the kind of person who was easy to sleep beside.

But Lin Yang kept one hand on the doorknob and didn’t even open the door all the way. The soreness was still there, reminding her that the Xu Zhitong standing before her, so obedient and pleasing on the surface, would be completely uncontrollable once the restraints came off...

In the dim light, Xu Zhitong looked at her and said softly, “Sister...”

She made a simple promise: “I’ll be good. I won’t do anything.”

Xu Zhitong’s way of calling her sister really was very nice. The sticky little word slipped out of her mouth, the tail of it drawn long, as if she wanted to swallow the whole thing.

Lin Yang’s heart softened, then hardened again. In the end, she held on and said, “How about a few days from now? Okay?”

Xu Zhitong pouted in disappointment.

She buried her chin in the pillow she was holding and looked up at Lin Yang, like a manga character with that upward glance.

Lin Yang nearly wavered under her gaze and said, “Was the sofa tidied up?”

Xu Zhitong nodded, then shook her head.

“Just a little bit.”

Just a little bit?

Lin Yang couldn’t say why, but she suddenly felt uneasy.

She lowered her eyes, gathered the hem of her nightdress a little, and still didn’t step past the doorway.

The nightdress was thin, made of silk that clung to her skin; there wasn’t even an underlayer, only lace barely covering what it could.

Not to mention she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

Lin Yang was a little embarrassed to go out like this. “Then wait for me a moment.”

She closed the door partway, put on her robe, tidied herself a little, and only then walked out.

The floor lamp in the living room was turned low. Xu Zhitong didn’t go over on her own; she was still standing by the door waiting for her.

Xu Zhitong had always been the type to see a performance through to the end. A thin blanket and her phone were laid on the sofa, and the pillow was in her arms.

She hesitantly put the pillow down and then cautiously sat on the sofa.

“...That’s it. I can’t sleep.”

Lin Yang looked over, formed a plan, then knelt on the sofa and pulled out the cushion tucked in the back, setting it aside.

She went back into the room, took out a soft blanket and a clean bedsheet, and carefully layered them across the sofa.

The way she worked looked like a... little wife.

Xu Zhitong’s eyes followed her the whole way. Though she wasn’t satisfied with having to sleep on the sofa, her gaze still lingered in a few places.

When Lin Yang half-knelt on the sofa to spread the sheet, her waist dipped slightly with the posture. The robe was thin, and even through the light fabric, her curves were graceful.

Why didn’t she seem to be wearing any inner layer?

Xu Zhitong couldn’t help staring a couple more times, then quickly blinked and pretended she hadn’t noticed a thing.

Lin Yang actually had this kind of preference?

Understood.

After ten minutes of work, Lin Yang had really arranged a comfortable little sofa bed for her.

Xu Zhitong opened and closed her mouth several times.

Now she had absolutely no reason to refuse.

Too bad.

Lin Yang had seen through her tricks and still made her sleep on the sofa.

Could it be that before her memory loss, she’d been driven out to sleep separately like this too?

Xu Zhitong sighed inwardly, but on the surface she obediently said, “Thanks...”

The unwillingness was practically overflowing.

Lin Yang arched a brow and glanced at her.

“I’m going to sleep then.”

Xu Zhitong gave a soft oh.

She sat on the sofa and watched as Lin Yang really turned to leave, then quickly called out again.

“Wife...”

Xu Zhitong threw caution to the wind and went straight in: “Other wives all sleep together. Only people who’ve done something wrong sleep on the sofa. I’ve been very good, haven’t I?”

Lin Yang couldn’t help laughing. “Why can’t you sleep in the bed? Don’t you know why yourself?”

Xu Zhitong muttered, “It’s all the water cup’s fault.”

Lin Yang said, “Mm, it’s all the water cup’s fault.”

Xu Zhitong said, “But my bed can’t be slept in anymore. There’s still another bed at home, isn’t there?”

Lin Yang said, “If I gave that one to you, where would I sleep?”

Wasn’t that an obvious question?

Xu Zhitong was annoyed. “Sleep with me!”

Lin Yang looked relaxed and asked deliberately, “Why should I sleep with you?”

“What?” Xu Zhitong raised her voice. “Whose wives don’t sleep together!”

Lin Yang said, “Plenty of them. Besides, we aren’t...”

She stopped.

Only then did she realize that, carried away by the exchange, she had nearly said too much, something half true and half false.

But Xu Zhitong had already understood what Lin Yang had been about to say. She froze for a moment, then quickly drooped her mouth.

“Lin Xiaoyang, you don’t love me anymore?”

She looked up at Lin Yang, and under the dim yellow light, the corners of her eyes somehow began to redden bit by bit.

She really couldn’t take even this tiny bit of grievance.

It looked like she was about to well up with tears.

Lin Yang panicked.

She said over and over, “No, dummy, I was teasing you...”

Stepping forward two paces, she cupped Xu Zhitong’s face and lowered her eyes to look carefully at the red-rimmed eyes that were both pitiful and lovely, utterly helpless. “Why are you really about to cry? I was just joking with you.”

Xu Zhitong’s lashes fluttered lightly, and under Lin Yang’s gaze, a tear really slid down.

Her face was already fair; in the dim light, the tear track made her look almost transparent.

Lin Yang’s heart ached so much she could only sigh. She wiped away the tear with her thumb and said, “Do you not understand a joke, little pig?”

Xu Zhitong deliberately sniffled. “I don’t like you saying things like that.”

Lin Yang coaxed her, “Mm. I won’t say it next time.”

Xu Zhitong pressed on, “Then do you love me?”

Lin Yang bit her lip and was silent for a moment.

Xu Zhitong immediately looked like she was going to cry again, trying to turn her head away and shake Lin Yang’s hand off her face.

“Don’t throw a tantrum,” Lin Yang said. She stroked Xu Zhitong’s face and guided it back to face her.

Her voice paused slightly as she said, “...I do.”

A certain indescribable bitterness rose in her chest.

Was this the right path, the right way to speak? Was love supposed to be said aloud like this, or pursued so plainly?

But looking into Xu Zhitong’s tearful eyes, she couldn’t help but say it.

Lin Yang lowered her head and kissed away her tears.

“How could I not like you? What are you thinking about all day?”

Her tone was gentle beyond words.

Xu Zhitong felt the feather-light touch on her face.

It was like a butterfly landing.

She blinked, then pouted.

Lin Yang saw it and smiled, then kissed her on the lips.

Xu Zhitong let out a soft huff.

Her expression was probably one of reluctant satisfaction.

She asked, “Do I still have to sleep here? This living room is so big and so dark. I’m scared.”

Lin Yang struggled one last time to refuse. “...But I already made up the bed. I spent ten minutes on it.”

“Oh...”

Xu Zhitong immediately thought of a solution: “Then I’ll sleep for ten minutes, and then go find you. Okay?”

Lin Yang: “...Okay.”

Lin Yang straightened up, only to be hugged around the waist by Xu Zhitong.

Tilting her head, Xu Zhitong rubbed against Lin Yang’s lower abdomen through the thin silk nightdress and said, “Yang Bao, you have to like me forever. You can only like me, got it?”

It was ticklish.

Lin Yang bit her lip, pushed Xu Zhitong’s head away, and kept her expression calm. “Got it. Fine, count the time yourself. I’m going inside to clear a bed for you.”

Xu Zhitong reluctantly let go of that warm, soft little belly.

She’d even secretly kissed it last time.

So soft.

With a slight bit of protrusion, like Aphrodite’s belly, the navel was very shallow; maybe that was also a sensitive spot. Whenever Lin Yang was kissed there or pressed lightly, her whole body would tremble.

Lin Yang didn’t notice any of those little thoughts of hers. Turning back into the room, she closed the door and Xu Zhitong didn’t know what she was doing inside.

So Xu Zhitong lay down in this little nest Lin Yang had built for her.

The familiar scent still surrounded her, and Lin Yang had even brought over the plush pillow from the head of her bed.

Lin Yang was very careful and serious, like a little mother, tidying up this temporary bed that both of them knew exactly where it had come from.

Her slender fingers smoothed over the bedsheet, pressing out every wrinkle in the corners with care; this temporary little nest seemed to pick up even more of Lin Yang’s scent because of it.

Xu Zhitong rolled over on the sofa and thought that this sofa should be preserved exactly as it was. She absolutely had to treasure Lin Yang’s hard work.

How should she preserve it? She might as well, someday, destroy the bed in the guest room, move this sofa into the guest room, and then buy a new sofa.

Now she felt that the sofa shouldn’t be too wide after all. This one was so broad it was practically a bed. If someday Lin Yang made her sleep on the sofa again, then sleeping on a narrower sofa might make Lin Yang soften even more.

Hugging the pillow and staring up at the ceiling, Xu Zhitong touched her face again.

Ah, she really had grown into a melancholy adult.

How could her emotions be so inexplicable, bursting into tears like that?

It made her seem so weak in front of Lin Yang.

Though fortunately, Lin Yang loved that weakness too.

Xu Zhitong counted the seconds, her mind full of all sorts of chaotic thoughts, and finally endured the full ten minutes.

She bounced up from the sofa, hugged her pillow with delight, and knocked on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

This time, having clearly received permission in advance, she pushed open the guest room door and walked into Lin Yang’s room.

The guest room had really been decorated with care: a forest-green color scheme, a wide vanity and bay window, grass-green curtains edged with lace, and a little sheep plush on the window seat. The whole palette was unified and dreamlike.

Now it was already filled with many of Lin Yang’s personal belongings, thick with the scent she always used, clearly announcing that this room had its own owner.

The bed in the center, slightly smaller than the one in the master bedroom and probably only 1.5 meters wide, already had half of it cleared out by Lin Yang.

Seeing her come in, Lin Yang, leaning against the headboard, paused and said, “Put your pillow here.”

Xu Zhitong happily set down her pillow.

“I’m up here now.”

Lin Yang said, “...Mm. Come sleep.”

Xu Zhitong climbed into bed very properly.

Now that she had finally regained the status of sharing a bed, Xu Zhitong told herself that she absolutely could not go back on her word.

She had promised Lin Yang not to touch or fuss over her, so she wouldn’t do anything untoward.

At least not today.

She had to be obedient and make sure they actually succeeded in sleeping together first; once you’ve boarded the ship, it’s not easy to get off.

Before her memory loss, she must have been too polite, or too eager to give Lin Yang an exclusive place, which was why she had decorated this guest room.

Honestly, she wasn’t even as clear-headed as her own self from before she was fifteen.

She left a guest room so that when her wife got angry, she could go sleep in the guest room, while leaving her to keep the empty bed alone.

But if they hadn’t kept a guest room, then when her wife got angry, couldn’t she just sleep under her wife’s bed? Then she could crawl back onto the ship in the middle of the night and coax her again, and her wife would be soothed.

Never mind; there was no reasoning with her pre-amnesia self.

Someone who could get herself into seven-year-itch trouble and split up to sleep separately had nothing to say for herself. The older she got, the more she regressed!

Xu Zhitong mentally dissed her pre-amnesia self for quite a while longer.

As for her, though...

Heh heh.

TL Note:

seven-year itch (七年之痒) = a saying for the rough patch many long-term couples hit around the seven-year mark.