Drunken Words

Her heart pounding, Wei Yin ran out onto the balcony and gulped in several breaths of fresh air.

She pressed a hand to her chest, then touched the heat still lingering on her cheek with the back of her hand, thinking something was wrong with her. Why was it that every time she saw Hua Yu, all the normal rhythms in her body went haywire?

Blood rushed to her face, and the heat refused to fade for a long time.

After standing in the cool breeze for more than ten minutes, Wei Yin went to pour herself a glass of water and set it on Hua Yu’s bedside table.

Hua Yu had changed position in her sleep; she was no longer lying flat but on her side, her brows faintly furrowed. One hand rested at her waist, her palm covering her stomach, as if she were very uncomfortable.

Wei Yin brought over several hot-water bags; she tucked one beside Hua Yu’s belly and another at her feet.

That should help a little.

Wei Yin checked on her a few more times, then turned to leave.

Suddenly, her wrist was caught.

“Where are you going?” Hua Yu’s voice sounded as though it had been soaked in alcohol; it was hoarse, and the end of the sentence dissolved into a breathy murmur, very pleasant to hear.

Wei Yin thought Hua Yu was awake and was just about to ask whether she still felt unwell when Hua Yu let go, shut her eyes with a frown, pulled the hot-water bag in her arms closer, and pressed her head deeper into the pillow. Her upward-curving lashes cast a dense shadow beneath her eyelids as she whispered, “Don’t go.”

“I’m not going,” Wei Yin thought Hua Yu looked like a child when she was drunk, and sat back down on the small stool. “I’m here.”

After a moment, Hua Yu slowly opened her eyes again and looked straight at Wei Yin.

Being watched by those beautiful eyes made Wei Yin’s heartbeat speed up again.

Even the air seemed to grow sticky.

Hua Yu frowned again, and an uncomfortable little sound escaped her throat.

Those deep cobalt eyes set in such a face were dazzlingly beautiful; only the dazed look in them added a bit of childishness to her otherwise cool expression.

Wei Yin couldn’t help laughing at her blank stare. She lifted a hand and waved it in front of her face. “Are you awake? What number is this?”

Hua Yu caught Wei Yin’s two raised fingers and kept staring at her. Her enunciation was very light, but stubbornly earnest as she said, “You’re fake.”

Wei Yin smiled. “I’m real.”

Hua Yu’s brows drew together tightly, and she said in a low rush, “Little liar.”

Wei Yin widened her eyes. “I don’t accept criticism without evidence.”

Hua Yu: “Hmph. There’s always one of you that’s fake; you’re trying to trick me...”

“Since you’re putting it that way,” Wei Yin didn’t bother arguing with a drunk person. “Fine, I was wrong. I won’t do it next time.”

Only then did Hua Yu seem satisfied. She let go of Wei Yin’s fingers, though her face still wore a troubled expression. “Don’t lie to me. I’ll take it seriously.”

Wei Yin lay across the side of the bed, listening to Hua Yu mutter with her ear tilted closer, and her heart melted into a puddle.

Was Hua Yu turning imagination into reality because she was drunk? She was actually afraid of being lied to, too.

At this moment, Hua Yu not only looked like a child, she also seemed wronged, muttering that she wanted this and that; in truth, she just had no sense of security.

How could anyone normally see this side of Hua Yu?

“I want hot water,” Hua Yu muttered.

Wei Yin immediately poured some for her and personally brought the cup to her lips.

“I can’t get up,” Hua Yu said, staring at the cup without moving.

Wei Yin rummaged around until she found a straw. “Use this.”

Hua Yu took one sip, and her whole face scrunched up. She turned her head away and glared at the wall, looking very displeased.

Wei Yin walked to the other side, crouched down, and tilted her head to look at her. “What is Dr. Hua thinking about, getting so mad?”

Hua Yu said, “The tea I usually drink is scalding hot. This has already cooled down to just warm, and the tea fragrance is all faint!”

Wei Yin: “Pfft.”

Wei Yin ignored her. She took out her phone, snapped a few candid photos, opened them to admire, then changed her angle and kept taking more. She found it fascinating.

“Can you turn off the shutter sound when you’re taking secret photos?” Hua Yu suddenly said.

Wei Yin withdrew her hand a little and laughed. “Oh, okay.”

Hua Yu rolled over to the other side and stopped paying attention to her.

Wei Yin stayed with her until Hua Yu fell asleep again, then got up.

She first went to the kitchen and turned the prepared ingredients into dinner, then cleaned the place up.

Two hours later, Hua Yu woke. She didn’t make a sound; she simply found her way to the kitchen on her own, plated the dishes, and carried them to the dining table.

By then, Hua Yu’s complexion had returned to normal, especially her eyes; there was no longer that foggy, fixed stare, and she had regained her usual calm composure.

She was walking steadily again, too.

Before Wei Yin could help, Hua Yu had already finished carrying everything out.

It was impossible to tell whether she was fully sober. Hua Yu picked up a chopstickful of rice and stuffed it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing up as she quickly finished half a plate of vegetables.

Noticing Wei Yin’s gaze, Hua Yu swallowed and explained, “The gathering at noon was awful.”

So that was it.

Wei Yin glanced at the fish-fragrant celtuce dish Hua Yu often came back to and decided that next time she’d make fish-fragrant eggplant instead, to see whether Hua Yu liked fish-fragrant flavor or just celtuce...

“Eat,” Hua Yu said in a low voice after taking a sip of rice porridge.

Wei Yin obediently looked away and quietly finished the meal.

Hua Yu went to wash the dishes; Wei Yin tried to stop her, but failed.

When Hua Yu was forceful, she was truly decisive; she didn’t give Wei Yin even the slightest chance to snatch the plates away.

Wei Yin leaned against the kitchen door. “...A maid who lets her employer wash the dishes would be judged lazy and useless.”

Hua Yu’s hands paused for a moment as she washed the dishes, then resumed as normal. Her voice was steady. “Coming home reeking of alcohol and causing unnecessary trouble for someone else, then washing my hands of things after dinner; I’d judge myself lazy and useless too.”

Oh? Her logic was perfectly clear.

Wei Yin walked in and stopped two steps away. “You’re awake.”

“Mm.” Hua Yu’s voice lowered. After a pause, she said, “Sorry. I won’t get drunk next time.”

Wei Yin scratched her head, momentarily not sure how to answer.

She really didn’t think Hua Yu had caused her any trouble. After all, Hua Yu had excellent drinking manners; she hadn’t thrown up, hadn’t made a scene, and had just quietly lain there sobering up, very well-behaved.

And if Wei Yin were being selfish, she actually quite liked taking care of Hua Yu.

It was like the dolls she played with as a child. Her mother would set the scene for her; for example, the doll had gotten a 59 on a test at school today and was very upset. Wei Yin would pick the doll up and comfort it, bring it lots of tasty snacks, touch its face and tell it not to cry, and even change it into a new pretty outfit... Mm, taking care of Hua Yu was like dressing up a beloved doll.

It had to be said that Wei Yin’s latent fondness for caring for people was also one of the reasons she had been able to work as a nanny for so many years.

Wei Yin shook her head and said sincerely, “It’s fine.”

Hua Yu said in a low voice, “In any case... it won’t happen again.”

Silently, Hua Yu finished washing the bowls and chopsticks, dried her hands, and paused when she passed Wei Yin.

“You need to eat more.”

Wei Yin had only had a bowl of porridge in the afternoon, and at night she’d eaten just half a bowl of rice.

Wei Yin nodded. “Okay. I’ll drink milk at night.”

Hua Yu didn’t say anything else, but a trace of conflict flashed across her face. She stammered, “When I came back this afternoon, after I got drunk, did I say anything?”

When she was drunk, her memory behaved like a parabolic wave. On the way back in the car, she had exposed her hidden identity to Xu Ya Qing; then, lying on the bed, she had told Wei Yin not to take candid shots of her. She remembered both of those things, and remembered them very clearly. But the interval between getting out of the car and the candid photos was a complete blank.

Wei Yin’s eyes curved into crescents. “Ah, you scolded me.”

Hua Yu’s brow furrowed little by little, her expression holding disbelief mixed with a trace of self-doubt. Her throat moved. “What did I scold you about?”

“You said I was a liar,” Wei Yin reported with obvious relish, unable to suppress a smile. “And you said I was fake.”

Hua Yu lowered her eyes. “Liar.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Yin said, getting excited. “Exactly that tone. I clearly didn’t do anything.”

So she hadn’t really said anything, and hadn’t cursed at anyone. Hua Yu gave a quiet “Mm.” “Understood.”

Wei Yin pouted. “What do you mean, understood? You were insulting me.”

“That doesn’t count as insulting,” Hua Yu felt she was simply stating a fact. But when she saw Wei Yin’s scrunched-up expression, she still said, “Still, I won’t do it next time. Sorry.”

Wei Yin magnanimously said it was fine too.

Then she asked, “Does Dr. Hua have any plans for tomorrow?”

Hua Yu said, “I’m working tomorrow. I don’t have any plans; just say it directly if there’s something.”

All right, then she’d say it directly.

Wei Yin thought it over and said, “I want to go out for a bit. I’ll leave in the morning and be back in the afternoon. I’ll make the food ahead of time.”

A few days before discharge, she had already wanted to go sweep her mother’s grave. Between her discharge and moving into Hua Yu’s place, a few days had been delayed; tomorrow happened to be an auspicious day on the lunar calendar for grave-sweeping.

But she had only been living here for less than two days, and already asking for time off felt somewhat inappropriate.

If this had been before, Wei Yin wouldn’t have even brought it up.

But for some reason, she had the feeling that Hua Yu wouldn’t mind.