Chapter 47

When Yu Nianyi woke again, the sky outside the window was filled with fine, steady snow, and the street below was unusually noisy. Even with the window closed, the sound still seeped through the gaps.

She moved her stiff arm. Her head felt heavy and dull. Instinctively, she reached for her phone; it was 11:00 a.m.

Sleeping too long only left her foggy, and her body felt even weaker.

Yu Nianyi frowned and sat up, habitually looking for Xi Yu.

There was a little red dot on the screen; Xi Yu had asked whether she was awake.

Then came a rhythmic knock from the entryway—tap, tap, tap, three very light knocks, and then silence again.

Yu Nianyi lurched to her feet, hurriedly smoothed her hair, and ran over.

The moment she opened the door, she saw Xi Yu.

Xi Yu looked her over from head to toe, then asked, “Did you just wake up?”

The instant Yu Nianyi saw Xi Yu, she couldn’t hold back her smile. Her voice turned sweet and soft, though there was a faint rasp beneath it that made her tone sound a little off.

“Mm, good morning, Xi Yu-jie.” Yu Nianyi cleared her throat and added, “Seeing Xi Yu-jie the moment I wake up makes me so happy.”

Xi Yu stepped in sideways and set down the things in her hands. Only then did she glance around the room; her gaze finally settled on Yu Nianyi’s face.

Yu Nianyi pressed her lips together and smiled at Xi Yu. She seemed to notice that her voice had gone hoarse, and this time she stopped talking altogether, only looking at Xi Yu in question.

Xi Yu took a step forward and stood in front of her. She slipped one hand out of her pocket, brought her fingers together slightly, and gently pressed them against Yu Nianyi’s forehead.

The cool touch was comforting, seeping through her skin with a faint chill. Yu Nianyi stood still; she even tilted her head back and leaned in a little closer. Only then did she belatedly realize how hot her body felt.

“You have a fever,” Xi Yu said.

Yu Nianyi blinked and hummed, staring fixedly at Xi Yu’s face.

Xi Yu’s eyes were quiet; her lips were a bright, vivid red. Some of her thick black hair had fallen over her chest, some down her back. The loose strands made her look a little messier than usual, less neat than before.

“Really?” Yu Nianyi stared at Xi Yu’s mouth and at the tiny mole that drew the eye. The scene of their kiss yesterday surfaced in her mind again; the softness of Xi Yu’s lips was still fresh in her memory. She let out a breath. “No wonder I felt so weak when I got up—so tired, and my nose kept feeling uncomfortable, like I wanted to sneeze all the time.”

“It must be from sleeping with the window open a few days ago; I haven’t been sick in a long time.”

The hand resting on her forehead slowly moved down and touched Yu Nianyi’s flushed cheek. Xi Yu looked at her for a moment longer, then tucked Yu Nianyi’s hair behind her ear. “Do you have a thermometer at home?”

Yu Nianyi nodded and said it was in the drawer of the coffee table.

Xi Yu helped Yu Nianyi sit on the sofa, then took out the thermometer and checked her temperature; 38.5 degrees.

“Do you have fever medicine at home?” Xi Yu asked, looking down.

Yu Nianyi watched her expression, thought for a moment, then shook her head.

Xi Yu took off her coat and set it aside casually, then went into the kitchen, boiled some hot water, and brought it over to Yu Nianyi.

Watching how familiar Xi Yu looked doing all this, Yu Nianyi found it genuinely novel. Even though her body was heavy and she had very little strength, her attention was almost entirely drawn to Xi Yu; she watched her bustle about, soak a warm towel, and place it on her forehead.

Then Xi Yu brought over the food she had bought, took several familiar dishes out of the bag, and also a bowl of Four-Substances Soup.

“Eat first since you just woke up. I’ll go out and buy medicine,” Xi Yu said.

Yu Nianyi curled up on the sofa and watched Xi Yu go into the bedroom again, where she took out a blanket and draped it loosely over her.

“The house key?” Xi Yu asked, lowering her head.

By then Yu Nianyi had already been wrapped up like a rice dumpling by Xi Yu; aside from her upper body, nothing else could move.

The sofa at home was the kind that could be used both for lying down and leaning back, and Yu Nianyi had her back against it. She glanced at the steaming food on the coffee table, then looked at Xi Yu.

Xi Yu was dressed so sharply. Even though her hair was a little tousled, her features were still clean and elegant, very easy on the eyes.

Yu Nianyi tucked in her chin and buried her face in the blanket. Her voice came out muffled. “On the rack in the entryway.”

Xi Yu nodded and went out in three quick strides.

The door had only been closed for a second when Yu Nianyi sprang up. She hurried to the bathroom, where she immediately saw her own fever-flushed face in the mirror; apart from that, she looked completely drained.

Yu Nianyi clicked her tongue and quickly washed up, changed into a clean, neat set of pajamas, and tidied herself before hurrying back out.

After all that fuss, she had worked up a little sweat. She wiped her face with a towel just in time to hear the door opening in the entryway.

Yu Nianyi quickly stood up and asked, her face still red, “You’re back?”

Xi Yu gave a hum, looked at her, then strode over. “Why are you up? Sit down properly.”

Yu Nianyi nodded, vaguely feeling that Xi Yu now had a bit of Yu Lan’s shadow in her. Only Yu Lan, when she was sick, would grumble loudly and complain that Yu Nianyi never took care of herself, but she would still feed her medicine and look after her body. Compared with that, Xi Yu was simply very quiet.

Yu Nianyi smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s fine; I’ll be better after taking medicine. Back home, I once had a fever of thirty-nine degrees; I recovered after resting for a day.”

Her tone sounded rather smug.

Xi Yu looked at her rosy face and seemed to sigh very lightly. She raised a hand to touch the corner of Yu Nianyi’s eye, then hooked her finger around her ear and brushed all the hair at her cheek back behind it.

Yu Nianyi narrowed her eyes a little; the corner of her eye felt slightly itchy from Xi Yu’s touch. There was no chill from being outside either; instead, Xi Yu’s hand carried a comfortable warmth, mixed with the faint scent on her body, all of it settling over Yu Nianyi.

Yet Yu Nianyi only felt her face growing hotter. Her usual grinning expression had quieted somewhat; now she looked much more obedient.

“Back then, your mother was there. Now you’re studying away from home alone; it’s inconvenient when you’re sick, so someone really should be with you.” Xi Yu asked softly, “Do you need help tying your hair up?”

Yu Nianyi nodded and let Xi Yu do it, gathering all her long hair into a tie.

“Has Xi Yu-jie eaten yet?” Yu Nianyi asked, looking at the many dishes on the coffee table. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to finish them all.

Xi Yu nodded and only said, “You eat.”

“That’s so embarrassing,” Yu Nianyi said with a smile. “How can you let your girlfriend just stand there and watch you eat? It tastes better when we eat together.”

Xi Yu gave a hum and didn’t insist. She casually picked up a pair of chopsticks and took a bite.

Yu Nianyi was truly hungry. She had gone to bed early last night and woken up late today, so there was already nothing left in her stomach, and she ate very quickly. Halfway through, as if remembering something, she let out another sigh, looking rather regretful. “We’d just said we were going on a date last night, and now I’m sick today.”

Xi Yu casually tucked the thin blanket, loosened by Yu Nianyi’s eating, back around her. Her tone was not especially concerned. “You should be resting after taking medicine.”

Yu Nianyi frowned and shook her head hard. “No. If I fall asleep, Xi Yu-jie is going to leave again. This is our first day after getting together.”

Xi Yu lifted a brow, finding this way of speaking rather novel. After thinking for a moment, she said, “The movie you mentioned last time; do you want to watch it again?”

Yu Nianyi froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up at once. Looking at Xi Yu’s calm, focused face, she felt fondness swell in her heart. She nodded without hesitation.

After taking the medicine, Yu Nianyi finally felt the heaviness in her body ease a little. Xi Yu didn’t ask her to get off the sofa; she quickly cleared away the coffee table and sat down beside Yu Nianyi.

Yu Nianyi rarely watched a movie a second time. Even though people said that every rewatch brought a different understanding, she still found it hard to sit through something again.

The television was playing some rather familiar scenes, and buried memories rose once more in her mind.

What appeared on the screen made Yu Nianyi remember again the scenes in the classroom when she had been a life-drawing model, with the students creating and observing the model; heads lifting, lowering, and lifting again in repetition.

Yu Nianyi tilted her head and stared at the eyes of the different girls on the screen.

“If Xi Yu-jie painted, she’d probably have a lot of very good work too,” Yu Nianyi said suddenly.

Xi Yu’s gaze shifted away from the screen and settled quietly on the curve at the corner of Yu Nianyi’s eye. “Why do you say that?”

Yu Nianyi hummed and smiled, staring into Xi Yu’s eyes. “Because sometimes I can clearly feel that the way Xi Yu-jie looks at people is just like the way my classmates look while painting; it feels very familiar to me.”

“That kind of direct sharpness. It’s like the perspective of an observer, with no discomfort at being looked at at all.”

Yu Nianyi smiled smugly, looking at Xi Yu’s familiar brows and eyes.

Xi Yu gave a hum and lowered her gaze. She saw the side of the sofa, where Yu Nianyi’s ankle was exposed; the blanket had bunched up in soft, fluffy folds, making her skin look dazzlingly white.

She lifted a hand to adjust it and tucked the blanket back down over Yu Nianyi’s feet.

Yu Nianyi felt a little embarrassed and quickly tucked her feet into the blanket.

“I just think,” Xi Yu said, lifting her eyes again and looking straight into Yu Nianyi’s, “that watching you is very interesting.”

Yu Nianyi giggled, the corners of her lips curling up. “So that’s why Xi Yu-jie likes me?”

Xi Yu paused. “That’s only part of it.”

Yu Nianyi nodded, her attention drawn once again to the painting on the screen. She looked for a long time. Then the scene changed, to a silent, surging, clear-blue sea.

Xi Yu’s words stirred Yu Nianyi’s interest. She came back to herself and looked at the screen, but in her heart she was thinking about exactly when Xi Yu had fallen for her; the urge to ask rose to its peak in an instant.

The sound of the waves suddenly shattered the living room’s silence. Yu Nianyi was briefly dazed, adjusted her sitting position, and her leg immediately brushed against Xi Yu’s through the thin blanket. After that, she leaned back against the sofa and didn’t move again.

Xi Yu sat beside her, very close. Her hands were clasped together, and she stared straight at the screen.

Yu Nianyi took Xi Yu’s right hand and held it in both of hers, squeezing it lightly.

Xi Yu turned her eyes toward her, watching the playful little motion with a smile in her gaze.

Yu Nianyi smiled. “So when did you realize you liked me, jie?”

Xi Yu let Yu Nianyi hold and squeeze her hand, and did not answer right away.