Not Living Together

The underground parking garage was clean and neat, and the elevator lobby carried a faint, pleasant fragrance. Xu Zhitong stood by the entrance waiting for Lin Yang to park, glanced back toward the elevator, and couldn’t help feeling excited.

If they were dating, would she be living with Lin Yang?

Yesterday, while catching up on the livestream replay, she had only been able to see a corner of the apartment.

SleepyBlue’s usual stream backdrop was a floor-to-ceiling window, with the city nightscape beyond it glittering like stars and neon. Reclined in a chair, surrounded by a few mood lamps, slowly singing into the microphone, she looked incredibly stylish.

For the 500,000-follower benefit stream, the viewers had voted to watch her cook. So she took the camera into the open kitchen, and it was clear the kitchen was quite large and used often.

Of course, her mother had let her run wild since she was little, so Xu Zhitong’s cooking had been above average since middle school. She was very proud of it; on her seventeenth birthday, she had even dragged Lin Yang to her house and made her a whole table full of dishes.

Watching the livestream replay hadn’t felt especially real, but now that she thought of her relationship with Lin Yang, it was very possible they lived together like other adults, intimate and close.

Standing by the door, Xu Zhitong couldn’t help feeling especially thrilled.

The elevator used iris recognition and sent the two of them straight to the floor where they lived. Lin Yang stayed a step behind her the whole way, and Xu Zhitong herself used the recognition to open the door.

It was a large flat exactly in line with Xu Zhitong’s expectations.

Teak flooring, simple décor, clean lines; in the living room sat a big curved sofa, and the television screen was huge too.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were drawn with sheer curtains, blocking most of the afternoon sun and leaving only a faint glow on the spotless carpet.

By the window, on a fluffy rug, there was a giant beanbag chair, surrounded by shelves holding handmade toys and game cartridges.

Not to mention the blind-box figures scattered everywhere indoors.

Xu Zhitong didn’t even need to think about it; she knew this was her home.

Too beautiful.

It was a four-bedroom, one-living-room layout, spacious and bright. The floors were clean as if dust had never touched them. Xu Zhitong kicked off her shoes, passed the open kitchen, and headed straight for the bedroom.

Wow. The bedroom had a two-meter bed.

It was also the largest room in the apartment. Xu Zhitong blushed and didn’t dare look too long at the soft beige four-piece bedding set.

Another room was probably specially set up for livestreaming. The walls had been professionally soundproofed, and the equipment inside was elaborate.

Several guitars were displayed on the wall, an electronic keyboard stood against it, and in the corner there was a glass cabinet storing microphones, headphones, and all sorts of livestream gear.

Facing the floor-to-ceiling windows was a very large computer desk, with a few mood lamps beside it, the cables on the desk a little messy.

The third room was a study, with several bookshelves and shelves that were only half full, and a computer on the big wooden desk as well.

It looked more like a traditional office desk, with very little sign of use. Xu Zhitong guessed it was for Lin Yang.

The fourth room was the guest room. One glance was enough for Xu Zhitong to tell that this décor must have been carefully arranged for Lin Yang to live in.

Pretty light-green curtains, pretty lace-patterned bedsheets; compared with the more modern style in the other rooms, this room was obviously more woodland and vintage.

In Xu Zhitong’s youthful imagination, Lin Yang, this pretty little lamb, should live in a lovely green-toned room like this.

There was hardly any furniture in the room, and no signs of anyone living there. It seemed Lin Yang didn’t sleep here.

Then where did she sleep?

Xu Zhitong thought of the two-meter bed in the master bedroom, and her heart immediately began racing.

As she toured the rooms, Lin Yang, who was here for the first time, followed behind her and looked through them one by one as well, slowly taking in the life Xu Zhitong hadn’t shown on camera.

Only after she had looked through the last room, staring at the guest room that seemed to be waiting for someone who never came, did Lin Yang begin to think: Aunt Xu and the others also had a new house in Jiangshi; who was this room for…

Then she saw Xu Zhitong turn around. Her eyes were bright, with a hint of shyness from nowhere in particular, and she shot Lin Yang a quick glance.

Lin Yang: ?

Xu Zhitong didn’t know what she was thinking, but she was excited to the point of excess, and yet said nothing at all.

After sneaking several more glances at Lin Yang, acting as though she were doing it on the sly when in fact it was very obvious, she finally inhaled and said, “I’m going to take a shower.”

Lin Yang: “…Mm.”

Although she had been paying attention to Xu Zhitong the whole time, after seven years, Lin Yang had to admit that sometimes she still couldn’t understand what Xu Zhitong was thinking.

Xu Zhitong went into the bedroom. The whole apartment had excellent soundproofing, and after a while she still hadn’t come out to call for her, so she must have started bathing without issue.

After confirming there were no surveillance cameras in the apartment, Lin Yang quietly looked around.

She opened the TV cabinet one by one, the cupboards one by one, the refrigerator one by one.

She flipped through the game cartridges Xu Zhitong hadn’t put away, the unopened blind boxes, the snacks that were almost gone.

The television’s viewing history, the handheld console’s playtime, the tablet’s screen usage records.

Whether it was her phone or her tablet, Xu Zhitong had always kept the old passwords.

It wasn’t that she was nostalgic. Lin Yang knew Xu Zhitong wasn’t the nostalgic type; in fact, she was always the first to try new things.

Even if it was just a pen, if Lin Yang used a new model, Xu Zhitong would immediately go buy an identical one.

The reason she never changed passwords was simply habit and laziness.

And that gave Lin Yang an advantage now.

She was like a dry sponge, carefully absorbing Xu Zhitong’s current way of life, taking in the water she needed to survive.

Her heart couldn’t help aching a little.

After all, it was too immoral; her conscience was still intact.

A friend she hadn’t spoken to for years, impersonating the feelings they’d had in their youth and, while the other person was amnesiac, sneaking into her home to pry into her private life.

If her actions were ever discovered, she would definitely be despised and loathed.

But once she thought that far, Lin Yang unexpectedly developed a bit of a broken-pot-breaking-its-seal mentality.

At any rate, one more look was one less.

The doctor had said it would take at most a few months for Xu Zhitong to regain her memory; if they were lucky, maybe even a week.

Once Xu Zhitong’s memories returned, their lives would once again have nothing to do with each other.

Even stolen happiness was still happiness.

Lin Yang savored where she stood at the moment and laughed softly.

She remembered that after returning home yesterday, she had called a friend, intending to pour out this bizarre story of amnesia. But when the words reached her lips, she held them back, knowing she was in the wrong, and instead said Madam Lin had gone to look at the coffee shop.

With some self-mockery, she repeated Madam Lin’s final words: You really didn’t turn out like your mother.

Her friend said calmly, Is that called turning bad? Lin Yang, you’re just too hesitant. You’re always too hesitant, always standing at the center of the scales and not daring to lean toward either extreme.

Just like right now, regarding Xu Zhitong’s amnesia.

Stuck in this position, moving forward meant guilt; stepping back meant unwillingness. She didn’t even dare to be a villain all the way.

If she truly wanted to enjoy the present, then she should grit her teeth and keep lying to the end; deceive her for as many days as possible. Or, if she really had a conscience, she should stop now while she still could and retreat to where she ought to be, where she’d originally belonged.

Lin Yang stood in front of that guest room and suffered, torn over whether to push the door open and look inside.

Seventeen-year-old Xu Zhitong was still quite reckless. After looking through all the rooms, she hadn’t closed a single door, leaving them all half ajar.

Inviting Lin Yang to open them.

She was very curious. This was Xu Zhitong’s new home, one she had only moved into at the beginning of the year. She had earned quite a bit from livestreaming these years, bought not just one apartment for herself, and even bought one in the same neighborhood for Aunt Xu and the others.

Lin Yang had secretly bought one in this neighborhood too, but didn’t live there often.

Xu Zhitong had always been independent. She probably wouldn’t leave a room for Aunt Xu and the others, let alone set up a separate guest room in her own home for someone to stay in. Who was it for?

Lin Yang had always kept up with Xu Zhitong’s circle of friends over the years. Her university friends were all in Jiangshi, and they met often, but the closest ones were all locals there, each with their own place in Jiangshi. As for the others, their relationships weren’t close enough for them to stay over at her house.

She did have a few good friends from livestreaming. Xu Zhitong had a good personality, she scored well in PKs, and she didn’t put on airs. Even if she didn’t like going out to do linked PKs, there were always people who wanted to play with her.

Especially Yu Dudu.

Lin Yang had watched every one of Xu Zhitong’s livestreams, so she also knew all about Yu Dudu’s linked streams with her. During their chats, Yu Dudu had mentioned a few times that rent in Jiangshi was cheaper than in Hai City and that she wanted to move to Jiangshi to look for Xu Zhitong, and so on…

She didn’t know how close the two of them were privately.

Lin Yang thought this with a cold expression, her fingers trembling once before she clenched them shut herself.

At that moment, the master bedroom door suddenly opened.

Xu Zhitong, who had finished showering, poked her head out. Her hair ends were damp, a towel draped over her shoulder. When she tilted her head and saw Lin Yang standing in front of the guest room, her eyes blinked with curiosity.

“Are you sleepy? Want to go back to your room and catch some more sleep?”

Lin Yang turned around and smiled calmly. “What did you say?”

Xu Zhitong lifted the towel and wiped the ends of her hair. She was wearing a long-sleeved pajama top, and the collar was open a few buttons too carelessly, revealing sharp collarbones with a trace of moisture on them.

She came out barefoot and nodded toward the guest room. “Mm, your room… you probably weren’t sleeping with me.”

After saying that, Xu Zhitong’s gaze drifted away.

Just now, after coming out of the shower, she had not been able to resist sneaking a sniff at the pillow in the master bedroom.

Neither pillow had Lin Yang’s white-tea scent on it, and after searching hard, she still couldn’t find even a single strand of hair as long as Lin Yang’s.

Looks like they weren’t sleeping together… sigh, so they were a couple sleeping in separate beds!

Xu Zhitong had sighed regretfully quite a few times while drying her hair inside.

She came closer and muttered, “You came to the hospital to stay with me first thing in the morning, so you must be tired. You should sleep at noon, or you won’t have energy tonight.”

“I can just keep watching the livestream replay by myself. You sleep, and I’ll wake you up later?”

Lin Yang: “…I just got back from the hospital, and my clothes are dirty. I can sleep on the sofa.”

Xu Zhitong understood and said resentfully, “Oh.”

There was a blanket and a bolster pillow on the sofa. Ignoring Lin Yang’s objections, Xu Zhitong ran into the guest room, took out a clean thin blanket, spread it out for Lin Yang, and then ran to draw the floor-to-ceiling curtains shut.

The room darkened, the hands on the clock pointing to two in the afternoon.

Xu Zhitong bent down and carefully tucked in the curtain edges. When she turned back, she found Lin Yang had already covered herself with the thin blanket and was lying on her side on the sofa.

Her long hair spilled over the side of her face, her eyes were closed, her frame delicate and lonely; beautiful, yes, but all that came to mind was how thin she was.

Lin Yang was so thin now.

Xu Zhitong let out a soft sigh, lightened her footsteps, and quietly left the living room, returning to the master bedroom.

She casually tossed the towel into the laundry basket. Xu Zhitong froze, staring at that laundry basket that was at once convenient and unfamiliar. After looking at it for two seconds, she gave up thinking about it and sat down on her soft big bed, then turned on the bedroom television’s screen mirroring.

She continued watching her livestream replay.

With Lin Yang sleeping on the sofa, Xu Zhitong felt very safe even in such an unfamiliar environment.

Watching with half-fast-forward, half-skips for two hours, she finished an entire week’s worth of livestreams and had basically figured out how livestreaming worked.

Livestreaming was actually pretty easy. Whatever SleepyBlue talked about, the fans picked it up and kept chatting with her in the bullet comments; they were utterly indulgent and affirming toward her.

Even though it still didn’t feel all that real, Xu Zhitong sincerely believed that her future self must be very happy.

Dating Lin Yang, earning lots of money, living in a big house she liked, with all the things she liked inside it, singing beautiful songs every day, and having many fans who loved her.

Except that she had made Lin Yang so thin.

Could it be that her cooking had seriously deteriorated in the future?

That wouldn’t do. When she cooked for Lin Yang on her birthday, Lin Yang had eaten everything, including the very last longevity noodles!

Xu Zhitong opened her phone again and irritably swiped away the WeChat message window that kept popping up, then turned on Do Not Disturb.

She found the map, searched for a nearby market, and discovered a large supermarket just across from the neighborhood.

After memorizing the walking route, she got up and went to the closet to find a simple hoodie and shorts to put on.

After casually raking a hand through her hair in the mirror, Xu Zhitong tiptoed out of the bedroom.

As soon as she stepped out, she noticed that the shared space in the hallway leading to the living room had already been filled with the white-tea scent from Lin Yang’s body.

It smelled so good that Xu Zhitong sniffed lightly, trying her best not to get too obsessed with it—though of course she still sniffed a few more times.

Her walk-in closet probably had that same perfume too, right? She should try it tonight when she got back.

Rounding the corner, Lin Yang on the sofa was still asleep, now turned with her back facing the sofa armrest. From this angle, Xu Zhitong could only see her loose, silky long hair.

Lin Yang was still taking a nap on her sofa.

For some reason, Xu Zhitong’s mind flashed with the game she’d played, as if she had triggered a special CG animation and time had frozen for an instant; a dialogue box popped up in narration and said:

[Your wife is taking a nap.]

Ah…

Xu Zhitong’s heart fluttered wildly. She secretly spun in place twice, then simply gave in to her impulse, pulled out her phone, muted it, and took a photo.

After that, she naturally switched to video mode, zoomed in and out to take in the surroundings, then zoomed back out to show that this was sleeping in her own home.

Satisfied.

She also saved the photo to her starred album.

Putting her phone away, she turned to the kitchen, moving carefully, opened the fridge to check the stock, and mentally calculated that three dishes should be about right.

A fish dish or chicken dish, maybe a soup if there was time to simmer it, stir-fried meat would work too, and she still needed to buy some tofu and side dishes…

After making up her mind, Xu Zhitong crouched by the entrance to change her shoes. She looked back at Lin Yang sleeping on the sofa one more time, then placed her hand on the doorknob and pressed down gently—

A very soft sound as the door opened.

But the person inside seemed to wake immediately, the steady sound of breathing suddenly vanishing.

“Xu Zhitong?”

Lin Yang’s voice was low, almost a murmur in a dream, and it startled Xu Zhitong as well. She straightened up and turned back, only to find Lin Yang already sitting up.

The thin blanket had slipped halfway down to her arms. Lin Yang’s hand was braced on the sofa, her long hair tucked to one side of her neck; her eyes, black and white and perfectly clear, were fixed on Xu Zhitong with a faint crease between her brows.

Her gaze was deep, her expression unreadable.

The room fell quiet all at once.

Xu Zhitong rarely saw Lin Yang wear such a serious, almost somber expression, and she was a little frightened. Thinking Lin Yang was still half-asleep, she said softly, “Why are you calling me by my full name…”

“…Xiao Tong.”

Lin Yang closed her eyes briefly; her expression eased a little, as if she were calming herself down from a dream she hadn’t fully shaken off.

Xu Zhitong studied her face and asked, “Are you not fully awake yet? I’m going to the supermarket to buy groceries and make dinner. Do you want to sleep a little more?”

Lin Yang’s first reaction made Xu Zhitong think a little strangely. “You know where the supermarket is?”

Xu Zhitong pointed at the phone in her pocket. “I just looked it up on the map. It’s right next to the neighborhood’s north gate, 300 meters away. Really close; I can walk there in no time.”

Lin Yang paused, then said, “You can order delivery from a supermarket app. You just got out of the hospital…”

Seeing Xu Zhitong’s face fall, Lin Yang changed her mind. “Wait for me. I’ll go with you.”

She rubbed her temples and sat up.

Xu Zhitong immediately brightened. She kicked off her shoes, turned to the sideboard to pour a glass of warm water from the dispenser, and held it out to her eagerly. “Drink some water.”

Lin Yang took it, glanced at the utterly ordinary glass, then tipped her head back and drank. Her pinky lifted slightly.

Her posture was very beautiful, like a model in a magazine.

Xu Zhitong stared blankly, then reached out unsteadily and hooked one finger around Lin Yang’s pinky.

Lin Yang’s hand jerked, and the water almost spilled.

She set the glass on the coffee table and looked down at Xu Zhitong, who was crouching beside the sofa.

Xu Zhitong blinked, lifting her face with the especially innocent look of a well-behaved puppy, and said, “Your manicure looks so nice.”

Author’s Note:

Not a very obedient puppy