Chapter 51

There were quite a few people coming and going. Beyond the crowd of shoppers, children kept brushing past them. Full of energy, they pushed carts piled high with colorful snacks.

Yu Nianyi glanced around and then instinctively looked back. Sure enough, Xi Yu was still three meters behind her, her cart stalled by the crowd as children competed to squeeze past.

Yu Nianyi waited half a minute before pushing her own cart over.

Now there were a few brightly colored bottles and jars in Xi Yu’s cart. Yu Nianyi hadn’t put those there.

Her eyes lit up as she asked with a smile, “So Sister Xi Yu likes to drink these things too?”

Xi Yu hummed softly and walked beside her. “I drink them occasionally.”

“I knew you liked them too.”

Yu Nianyi smiled, her eyes bright. She still got a little flustered when Xi Yu indulged her like this.

She had never told Xi Yu that she liked sweet little drinks, yet Xi Yu had noticed anyway. Resting a hand on the cart handle, she let her body brush against Xi Yu’s without thinking. “Sister Xi Yu is so nice. You’re really observant.”

Maybe because she had just noticed the things in those children’s carts, Xi Yu paused and asked again, “What else do you like?”

Yu Nianyi gave a small mm and muttered, “I just like eating and drinking things that are a little sweet.”

Xi Yu nodded, her gaze sweeping the surroundings before landing again and again on the pastry section not far away.

Yu Nianyi’s eyes rolled as another mischievous thought struck her. She edged closer to Xi Yu, pressing her arm tightly against hers, which made Xi Yu look away and instinctively reach out to steady her, thinking she was about to fall.

Yu Nianyi tilted her head, smiling so hard that her eyes narrowed. “The one who knows best what I like should be Sister Xi Yu, right?”

Xi Yu’s hand rested lightly on Yu Nianyi’s back as she looked at her for a moment. The smile in Yu Nianyi’s eyes was infectious, and it made Xi Yu happy too. Joy rose from somewhere deep inside her and spread through every inch of her skin. It felt as if, if she simply asked what Yu Nianyi meant by that, the other girl would immediately say her name without hesitation.

Yu Nianyi had always been a thousand times more direct than she was when it came to showing affection. Xi Yu lowered her eyes, the smile already gone from them, and even her usually steady body gradually tightened with anticipation.

Yu Nianyi always said Xi Yu was like an endless deep sea, but Xi Yu felt that Yu Nianyi was an unavoidable wave; living in that deep sea and stirring it into constant unrest.

Xi Yu walked toward the pastry section not far away. Yu Nianyi followed, her gaze landing on the desserts. “I didn’t expect the sweets in a supermarket to be made so delicately. They look so appetizing.”

“Buy some and try them,” Xi Yu said as she picked up different kinds and put them into the cart.

Yu Nianyi followed suit and added a few as well, all the while saying she liked yogurt-and-fruit fillings, while the flossy meat flavor wasn’t something she was used to.

They wandered around for quite a while before they had almost finished buying everything. Before long, they were back home.

Xi Yu hung her coat on the rack by the door. The two of them split up the work and put the vegetables and meat into the fridge.

Yu Nianyi skillfully took an apron from the cabinet drawer, slipped it over her head, then pulled the ties behind her waist and knotted them.

Xi Yu came over and asked, “Do you want me to help you tie up your hair?”

Yu Nianyi nodded and smiled. “Okay.”

Xi Yu’s hand brushed the back of Yu Nianyi’s neck. First her fingers smoothed through her blond hair, then she gathered it in her hand.

Yu Nianyi shrank her neck back and blurted, “That’s so itchy; it feels like all my goosebumps are coming up.”

Xi Yu lowered her eyes to look at her profile. “Is my hand too cold?”

Yu Nianyi tilted her chin slightly, her eyes fixed on Xi Yu’s face right in front of her. She shook her head, smiling coyly. “No. It’s just that because it’s Sister Xi Yu tying my hair, I’m paying too much attention to it, so I’m extra sensitive.”

Xi Yu looked at the pale, slender curve of Yu Nianyi’s neck. A few short golden strands couldn’t be smoothed down and were fanning out wildly in the air, fluffy and adorable, as if they had built up static.

Xi Yu stared for a while, her gaze lingering on Yu Nianyi’s somewhat pitiful-looking nape, before Yu Nianyi dragged her attention back.

“Sister Xi Yu, can you wash these vegetables for me?” Yu Nianyi asked.

Xi Yu withdrew her gaze and pressed her lips together. “Okay.”

The kitchen was not large; it was only a narrow galley. On the left side against the wall were the sink and cooking area, while utensils and tableware hung on the right wall.

With the two of them standing there, the space felt especially cramped. Xi Yu stood at the sink, quietly washing the vegetables, while Yu Nianyi worked at a very small cutting board, slicing meat.

Water splashed noisily from the tap into the basin until it nearly overflowed; then Xi Yu turned it off and rubbed the vegetables thoroughly until they were clean.

The kitchen was very quiet, broken only by the sound of water and the occasional clack of knife against cutting board.

“Did your aunt teach you how to cook too?” Xi Yu watched Yu Nianyi’s movements as she cut the meat and asked softly.

Yu Nianyi paused, then answered honestly, “No. Actually, I rarely cooked at home. It’s just that my mom’s cooking is so good she spoiled my palate, so I subconsciously feel like anything I make myself definitely won’t taste as good as hers.”

Xi Yu nodded. “Your movements are very practiced.”

As soon as she heard the praise, Yu Nianyi lifted her chin again. “Really? I’ve been cooking for myself lately, and suddenly it doesn’t seem that hard.”

“Later, Sister Xi Yu can taste it and see if it suits your appetite.”

“Okay.” Xi Yu put the washed vegetables onto a plate.

She watched as Yu Nianyi sliced the meat into pieces, one after another, so focused and serious.

Xi Yu leaned slightly closer to Yu Nianyi and waited until she had finished cutting before asking, “Is there an extra cutting board? I can cut vegetables.”

Yu Nianyi made a surprised sound and looked at Xi Yu with a smile. “I thought Sister Xi Yu didn’t cook. So you just don’t stir-fry?”

Xi Yu froze for a moment. Looking at the hint of secret amusement on Yu Nianyi’s face, she seemed to think of something and slowly said, “Did Xi Yao say that?”

Yu Nianyi didn’t hide it. She said she had asked.

Xi Yu rested a hand on the counter, noticing the smile at the corner of Yu Nianyi’s mouth. She stood there quietly for a while before saying, “Xi Yao hasn’t been to my place for a long time; she doesn’t know. It’s not that I can’t cook.”

Yu Nianyi gave an oh, put the sliced meat onto a plate, then leaned closer and smiled at Xi Yu. “Then can I look forward to Sister Xi Yu’s cooking too? It must be delicious!”

Xi Yu hummed and took the spare cutting board to start cutting vegetables with her head lowered.

Yu Nianyi did have some talent for cooking, or rather, she had picked it up from years of watching Yu Lan cook. After watching for more than ten years, she naturally knew most of it by now.

Before long, all the stir-fried dishes were on the table, and Yu Nianyi had even boiled extra porridge while she was at it.

After everything was finally done, Yu Nianyi sat down beside Xi Yu happily and gestured for Xi Yu to taste it first.

Xi Yu picked up her chopsticks and, under Yu Nianyi’s expectant gaze, took a bite of the greens and put it into her mouth, chewing lightly with her lips pressed together.

Yu Nianyi asked anxiously, “How is it? How is it? Is it good?”

Xi Yu nodded. “Mm.”

“It’s good.”

Yu Nianyi looked smug, saying it was all thanks to her exceptional talent as she put some food into her own mouth. She chewed and swallowed with a smile, but the aftertaste still made her frown.

“It’s still a little salty. Sister Xi Yu probably isn’t used to it, right?”

Xi Yu shook her head. “No. It’s very good.”

Yu Nianyi answered with a knowing sound; she already understood Xi Yu was comforting her. “Fine, then this time I slipped up. Next time I’ll make it a little lighter.”

Yu Nianyi was just like that; her emotions were always written plainly on her face. When she felt wronged or unhappy, and even when she tried to hide it from others, her feelings still slipped out through her brows and the corners of her mouth.

In the end, Xi Yu still laughed. She tilted her head slightly and answered patiently, “This is a very standard taste; it’s just that my own palate leans lighter. But that doesn’t change the fact that you made it very well. You’re amazing.”

Yu Nianyi seemed to be cheered up by the coaxing, and she raised her brows at Xi Yu again.

Xi Yu was so different from how she had seemed the first time they met. At their first meeting, Yu Nianyi had thought she was a cold, rigid, and boring person. But now she felt: how could there be someone so patient, so meticulous, who was beautiful even when she didn’t smile; and even prettier when she did?

Xi Yu’s smiles were never obvious. They were just a faint, inadvertent curve; what always made people’s hearts stir was the smile that colored those calm, unruffled eyes.

Yu Nianyi looked for a long time, and the thought came to her only for a split second. She had never been one to care much about the setting.

The next second, she had already braced a hand on the dining table and leaned over to kiss Xi Yu on the mouth.

Fortunately, the food in her mouth had already been swallowed; fortunately, she hadn’t used any scallions, ginger, or garlic to season the dishes today; and fortunately, this angle was still rather romantic.

Xi Yu’s lips were soft, and a little warm. The breath between them had a numbing effect, spilling fully between their lips.

Xi Yu’s taste was simply too nice; clean and light, as if one breeze would scatter it, yet somehow able to melt into the lips and teeth, carrying an addictive, impossible-to-resist flavor.

Yu Nianyi kissed her several times. Their foreheads hovered close without quite touching as she frowned and said, “These glasses are so annoying.”

Xi Yu’s lips had been kissed red, and Yu Nianyi’s lipstick had transferred onto them. She exhaled softly, her expression still calm and faint. It was as if nothing Yu Nianyi did would surprise her.

Xi Yu lifted a hand and took off her glasses, setting them casually on the table. Yu Nianyi followed the movement with her eyes, and the next second she felt the chair beneath her being pulled inward, dragging her whole body as though she had fallen into Xi Yu’s arms.

“Now it’s fine,” Xi Yu said.

Yu Nianyi froze for a few seconds. She rested her hand on Xi Yu’s leg and leaned in to kiss her again. Her eyes were tightly closed, as if she had made up her mind about something; carefully, tentatively, she slipped her tongue into that warmth.

Yu Nianyi felt she had waited long enough. The mole that had caught her eye on their second meeting, the woman in her dreams whose soft gasps were impossible to suppress; all of it left her heart restless.

Yu Nianyi never denied her desire. On the contrary, she was one of the most sensual people.

The entry was smooth. The warmth and dampness of the mouth almost melted Yu Nianyi; then she was wrapped tightly by another unfamiliar warmth, which took from her with force.

It was completely unexpected, so dominant, carrying a weight that was hard to bear.

Xi Yu leaned forward slightly, her left hand braced on the chair while her right hand settled firmly at Yu Nianyi’s waist.

Yu Nianyi’s heart skipped a beat, and all at once she felt hot all over, as if she were about to burn up.

The entanglement of lips and teeth was direct and unabashed; Yu Nianyi was held in place so tightly that she couldn’t escape at all.

The hand at her waist also seemed to be making its presence known, drifting about in an apparently casual, gentle way.

Yu Nianyi’s hand on Xi Yu’s leg finally lost support and fell to Xi Yu’s chest, pushing lightly against her.

Xi Yu seemed to smile, and very considerately let Yu Nianyi pull away. The corners of her lips curved with a trace of amusement.

Yu Nianyi’s lips were numb, and even her tongue had gone slack. She stared at Xi Yu’s calm face and clearly caught the unrestrained smile in her eyes.