Chapter 8: Serious Possession

Ji Wushan crouched half on the floor, leaning close to the phone, her gaze fixed through her lenses on the glare reflected on the screen.

A few seconds later, the screen went dark.

But those words still lingered in her mind.

Xue Erbai closed her eyes and felt the air around them freeze. Her face drained of panic and then flared red, the heat spreading all the way to her ears until even her breathing felt tight.

She had never imagined she would expose such a humiliating side of herself in front of Ji Wushan.

After Ji Wushan left, she first got some work done, then began to feel hollow.

The text in her phone memo had been sitting there for more than half a month. She had been busy with work, busy spending time with Ji Wushan, and for a very, very long time she hadn’t opened it at all.

She also hadn’t contacted the self-assured “unreasonable woman” she had kept in touch with for years.

She certainly hadn’t expected the mask she had worn for so many years to be ripped away.

She was used to performing; in front of Xue Yanhe, she played the obedient, sensible daughter, the girl who loved studying, the determined heir.

She could also act like a worldly, composed adult.

But the self inside her; the one she vented through the internet.

The girl who loved studying, in truth, was a little chuunibyou.

She had gotten online very early on, secretly registered a QQ account, and still used it to this day. Her Weibo main account and alt account were rarely ever switched by mistake.

Out of habit, Xue Erbai glanced through her QQ contacts, saw the greyed-out avatar, then opened Weibo and posted a little adoring confession in Ji Wushan’s supertopic.

Not long after, a message came in from her Weibo contacts.

From the “unreasonable woman.”

She had known this person since she was very, very young. Back then, the two of them had followed the same girl group; later, when she realized she liked Ji Wushan, Xue Erbai gradually disappeared. When she showed up again, it was on Weibo, under the name “Daydreaming in Broad Daylight,” pouring out her feelings; the unreasonable woman spotted her at a glance.

By then, the two of them had lost contact for a long time, and soon they became familiar again.

They only communicated online; they had never met in person.

That made it even easier to speak freely. Some of their deeper exchanges included the fact that Xue Erbai, who always wore the “Boss Xue” mask, absolutely loved writing fanfiction.

The kind serialized in the supertopic, too.

She kept it so well hidden that it was never easy for others to discover.

In her exchanges with the unreasonable woman, she was an idol fan, and also just a small-time fan who had gone crazy over host Ji Wushan in recent years.

As for the fact that the object of her secret crush and the object of her arranged marriage were both Ji Wushan, the unreasonable woman knew nothing about it.

She also didn’t know the two of them had already flash-married.

Since it involved Ji Wushan’s privacy, and she was also half a public figure, she had never said she would make it public. Xue Erbai was naturally extremely cautious, and only told the unreasonable woman the general situation.

Because Ji Wushan had been a little distant these past few days, she thought of a tearjerker, hurriedly learned how to write it, and shared it with the unreasonable woman.

Who knew!

Of all things, Ji Wushan had seen that!

In the end, she had still been the one to grab the phone first.

When she took it, she had even brushed against Ji Wushan’s cool fingertips and run into that gaze, utterly blank except for the faintest trace of confusion.

Xue Erbai felt so guilty!

The vest she had hidden for so many years seemed to have cracked.

Had her years of careful disguise… come to an end just like that?

“What do you want for lunch?”

“Huh?”

Xue Erbai had already prepared herself to explain everything, but Ji Wushan’s question left her dazed. She tilted her head, eyes half-closed, confusion written all over her face.

Ji Wushan, however, didn’t ask again; she didn’t even look at her.

She walked toward the kitchen with an easy, natural pace, completely unshaken by this little “accident,” and without looking at Xue Erbai, only asked casually, “Should we eat out?”

Xue Erbai followed behind her.

Expectation and disappointment were both in her heart.

Like a deflated balloon, she replied listlessly, “I’ve already prepared the ingredients. I’ll cook.”

“Then go rest for a bit, or...”

“Then I’m going to take a shower.”

Ji Wushan set down the apron she had only half tied, speaking in an even tone as she said it.

She cut off Xue Erbai’s words, and after turning around, her gaze didn’t linger any further.

Xue Erbai, on the other hand, watched Ji Wushan longingly as she went into the bedroom, then took clean clothes and headed to the bathroom.

The kitchen and bathroom were a little far apart; before long, Xue Erbai couldn’t hear anything clearly anymore.

Dragging her heavy feet, she made her way into the kitchen.

She tied on the apron and faced the cleaned fish and several greens.

Originally, she had planned to finish chatting with the unreasonable woman, then make braised fish and two stir-fried dishes.

She had even looked up the steps online and discussed cooking tips with the unreasonable woman before going all out.

Now, she was a little wilted.

She took out her phone and typed furiously.

[Little Pu, my goddess saw the little essay I wrote.]

[She also heard me talking to you on the phone.]

[And the result was that she only asked, What do you want for lunch!!!]

-

Xue Erbai’s cooking was, in the end, not very good. The braised fish burned.

Of the two stir-fries, one was undercooked and the other was far too salty.

Sitting across from her, Xue Erbai was so uncomfortable she could hardly sit still. Watching Ji Wushan expressionlessly bring the fish to her mouth, Xue Erbai still couldn’t help reaching out to grab her wrist. “D-don’t eat it!”

“I did follow all the steps, but there was just a tiny little accident.”

Xue Erbai held up two fingers as she spoke, looking a little mischievous.

The corners of Ji Wushan’s tightly pressed mouth lifted slightly. She set down her chopsticks, then raised her eyes and looked at Xue Erbai. “Want noodles?”

“Yes! You’ll make them for me?”

Uh.

*Smack.*

Xue Erbai stood up and smacked her own mouth once.

That joke was awful!

Even though she hadn’t meant it that way, for a wife and wife who had already been intimate, it sounded way too frivolous!!!

She had wanted to be pure romance!

“I misspoke.”

“The kind of thin round noodles we have at home; is that okay?”

“Okay.”

Ji Wushan didn’t take the bait, and even faced with Xue Erbai’s “extreme” self-punishment, she didn’t react much.

If, when she first woke up in the hospital and saw Xue Erbai, she hadn’t recognized her because seven years had been missing, and Xue Erbai had gone from a girl into a mature, reliable woman who even inspired her with a kind of indescribable admiration...

Then in daily life, Xue Erbai was still the same muddle-headed person she had always been.

She would even get scalded in the shower because she forgot which tap was hot and which was cold; if she acted on impulse, she’d be burned by hot water or jolted by cold water until she screamed.

These past few days, Ji Wushan had probably only not heard that kind of scream yesterday.

And cooking was even more outrageous.

Ji Wushan tied the apron on again and looked at the chaos in the kitchen, the corners of her mouth lifting with an absent smile.

It was much more obvious than the one she had just shown at the dinner table.

As she gradually found her footing in life again, she thought back to those first few days.

She had felt embarrassed, and even ashamed.

But in this enclosed little world, she was much more natural.

Before long, two bowls of noodles were done. Xue Erbai, very perceptive, waited at the door; as soon as Ji Wushan had served them up, Xue Erbai carried them out.

Ji Wushan stared blankly.

Sure enough, after setting the noodles down, Xue Erbai rubbed her ear.

She had been burned again.

This time, it happened behind her back, and Ji Wushan nearly laughed out loud.

That made Xue Erbai turn around warily. She blinked, her earlobe a little red.

It was impossible to tell whether it was from the burn or from embarrassment.

But very quickly, Xue Erbai gave her the answer, raising her voice slightly as she said, “Time to eat noodles!”

“The noodles made by Sister Shengsheng look delicious just by looking at them.”

“Then eat more.”

“Okay!”

Xue Erbai was still a little sheepish.

She sat quietly, ate quietly, and finished every last bite.

On the other hand, Ji Wushan only ate less than half a bowl.

Feeling guilty, Xue Erbai took the initiative to clean up the kitchen and then made a decision. “Should we eat out tonight?”

“No need.”

“I still want to look over the script tonight.”

“Filming for the variety show starts next week.”

*Clack.*

Xue Erbai, who had been about to look up restaurants, stopped; her phone hit the tabletop.

She was a little unable to react.

She knew Ji Wushan had been busy getting back to work these days, and that her whole state had been improving.

But this was exactly what she was afraid of.

She was afraid that once Ji Wushan recovered even a little independent awareness, she would step away from her side and return to how things had originally been.

Afraid that Ji Wushan would no longer need her as her “wife after memory loss.”

“Don’t go!”

“You’re not allowed to go!”

Xue Erbai’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried undeniable force.

After speaking, even she froze. Looking at Ji Wushan’s slightly widened eyes, her throat tightened; still, she steeled herself and met her gaze head-on.

She didn’t know what her own eyes were holding.

But Ji Wushan could see it clearly: nervousness, unease, and a trace of something she couldn’t quite understand.

A serious kind of possession.

Author’s Note:

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