Chapter 67

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t jealous.

If this had been the Yu Nianyi of the past, she would never have let her girlfriend have dinner alone with someone who clearly liked her, much less tolerate any ambiguous gestures or gifts.

But now that the person on the other side was Xi Yu, everything was different.

“Didn’t I say Xi Yu didn’t need to come pick me up?” Yu Nianyi walked up to Xi Yu. She kept exactly the right distance, and when she noticed Jiang Chen behind her, she instinctively nodded in greeting.

Jiang Chen gave her a very faint smile and nodded back.

“I picked out some decent pastries and specialties from Jiayang, along with the desserts Lin Yan sent over.” Xi Yu lowered her eyes slightly, her black-and-white pupils resting on Yu Nianyi’s face. “For the ride home, so you can rest a little.”

Yu Nianyi stubbornly stayed where she was and looked down at the few exquisitely wrapped desserts held out in midair. She tucked her hands into her pockets. “The flight isn’t that long. I’ll sleep, and before I know it, I’ll be home.”

Xi Yu lowered her head and glanced at what she was holding, but didn’t take her hand back. “There’s also something in there for Aunt Yu.”

Yu Nianyi froze. She looked up at Xi Yu and, by coincidence, met her gaze.

Xi Yu was wearing glasses, her expression mild and calm.

Yu Nianyi looked away and reached out to take them.

Xi Yu’s eyes flickered. Her hand remained out for a moment longer, and her gaze fell on Yu Nianyi’s other hand, which had gone back into her pocket.

Yu Nianyi turned to the side and took a long step to the car door. She looked at the front passenger seat, then at the back seat. After hesitating for a moment, she still got into the back.

Soon after, Xi Yu got in behind her.

The car was very quiet. At this hour, traffic was heavy, and there were more and more pedestrians on the road.

Yu Nianyi rested her head on one hand and looked out the window, idly watching the people on the street, the trees by the roadside, the road signs on the walls.

Today, Xi Yu still smelled like jasmine, that same familiar scent from yesterday, soft and lingering.

Yu Nianyi pressed her lips together and looked away, staring blankly at the car window.

“Message me when you get home,” Xi Yu said suddenly from the side.

Yu Nianyi withdrew her hand and let it rest loosely on her leg. She looked down at it again.

“Mm.”

Suddenly, a sharp ringtone sounded in the car. After only a few seconds, Xi Yu hung up directly.

Yu Nianyi didn’t look over. Jiang Chen kept driving in silence in the driver’s seat.

“As for Xi Yao, you two should keep in touch more often,” Xi Yu said after a pause. “It’s been this long; you should answer your parents’ calls.”

Yu Nianyi straightened a little, only then realizing belatedly that Xi Yao’s relationship with her parents was actually this tense. She instinctively nodded and said okay.

After that, Xi Yu said nothing else.

The car soon reached the airport. Yu Nianyi got out and looked straight at Xi Yu. “Xi Yu-jie doesn’t need to see me off any farther. I know the way.”

“You probably have things to do too.”

Jiang Chen instinctively glanced at Xi Yu, but said nothing.

Xi Yu’s hand resting on the car door didn’t move. She quietly looked at Yu Nianyi.

Yu Nianyi looked away and turned to leave.

“Nian Nian.”

Yu Nianyi stopped in her tracks.

She heard Xi Yu say, “Message me when you get home.”

“Got it.”

The trip didn’t take long. The moment Yu Nianyi stepped out of the airport, she spotted Yu Lan waiting at the entrance.

Yu Lan was wearing a light pink down jacket and beige casual pants. The second she saw Yu Nianyi, she raised a hand to wave while walking briskly over. Beside her was a slightly taller woman with long, wavy hair.

The instant Yu Nianyi saw Yu Lan, she couldn’t help smiling. She practically ran the rest of the way and dashed over to her.

Yu Lan patted her hand and took the things Yu Nianyi was carrying, pretending to complain. “Why are you running? There are people coming and going right at the entrance; it’s dangerous!”

Yu Nianyi laughed sheepishly and hugged Yu Lan, rubbing her face against hers. “Why did you come pick me up yourself?”

Yu Lan held her in return and gently stroked her back. “Because I missed you. We haven’t seen each other for months, and I happened to be free this afternoon, so I came with Su Yue.”

The curly-haired woman beside them winked at Yu Nianyi and smiled too.

Yu Nianyi let go of Yu Lan and joked with Su Yue, “What a surprise. I didn’t think Boss Su would have time to come pick me up.”

Su Yue gave her a mock glare, then smiled as well. “You were secretly thrilled, weren’t you?”

Yu Lan let out an “eh” and looked down at the things Yu Nianyi had brought back. “Didn’t I say you didn’t need to buy anything? And you still bought more. It’s all your favorite food; do you not want your teeth anymore...?”

Yu Nianyi quickly glanced over and snatched the things back into her arms at once. “Hey, I didn’t buy these.”

Yu Lan pressed, “Then who bought them?”

Yu Nianyi answered a different question entirely. “There are pastries for you in here too; some Jiayang specialties. See if you like them...”

Yu Lan’s eyes lit up. “Was it your new friend who gave them to you... the one, the one called Xi Yu...?”

Yu Nianyi’s ears pricked up, and she immediately grabbed Su Yue’s arm and sprinted toward the car.

...

The airport was far from the residential complex. On the drive home, Yu Lan was the one driving, and she never once stopped talking.

Once she vaguely understood that Xi Yu had bought them, she started muttering to herself nonstop; every so often, she would glance at Yu Nianyi’s face in the rearview mirror before looking away again.

At this point, Yu Nianyi clearly did not want to talk about Xi Yu too much. She only gave perfunctory replies and quickly steered the conversation over to Su Yue.

By the time they got home, Yu Nianyi casually dropped her things on the floor, then flopped onto the sofa with her arms and legs carelessly draped over it.

Yu Lan said she would go wash some fruit first and told Su Yue and Yu Nianyi to chat.

“Did you break up again?” Su Yue asked after looking at Yu Nianyi for a while.

Yu Nianyi lazily opened her eyes and clicked her tongue. “What do you mean, ‘again’? We’ve been broken up for a long time.”

Su Yue was used to this and leaned back on the sofa too. “Honestly, that Yang Shuyu was really nice, but I always felt like the two of you weren’t right for each other. And sure enough, you broke up.”

Yu Nianyi snorted in agreement. “So you knew all along.”

Su Yue nodded, then suddenly put on a delighted gossiping expression. “What about this time? Who is Xi Yu? I’ve never heard you mention her.”

Yu Nianyi let out a long breath and, under Su Yue’s expectant gaze, slowly said, “Xi Yao’s older sister.”

“Xi Yao, I know. Xi Yao’s older sister?? How much older?”

“Twenty-nine.”

Su Yue nodded, then abruptly sat up straighter the next second. She stared at Yu Nianyi and asked again, “Twenty-nine?”

Yu Nianyi nodded.

Su Yue sank back down. “An older-sister type, huh.”

Yu Nianyi pulled a cushion over at random and hugged it against her stomach, kneading it absentmindedly.

“Older is good. They know how to take care of people.” Su Yue nodded and launched into another stream of chatter. “An older sister is mature and charming, and she’s emotionally stable too. That gives such a strong sense of security.”

Yu Nianyi sighed and, after glancing at Yu Lan in the kitchen, said, “Not good.”

Su Yue froze. “What’s not good?”

Yu Nianyi frowned. “If she knows how to take care of people, doesn’t that make me seem really childish? Like I need taking care of? And if she’s mature, then I just look small and immature...”

She paused, then added, “I also don’t like that she’s emotionally stable. Too stable.”

Su Yue couldn’t help laughing. “Don’t be smug when you’re the one getting the better end of it.”

Yu Nianyi sighed again. “I’m serious.”

Su Yue’s smile faded. She looked at Yu Nianyi for a while, then looked away.

“People are like that. No one is perfect. You were drawn to her in the first place because she was calm, steady, and knew how to take care of people; then you have to accept the other flaws that come with that.”

Yu Nianyi glanced at her phone and suddenly remembered Xi Yu’s instructions before she left. She got up, unlocked her phone, and sent Xi Yu a message saying she was already home.

Su Yue asked, “Who are you texting?”

“Xi Yu.”

Su Yue nodded and gave Yu Nianyi a meaningful look, but didn’t ask anything else.

The moment the message went through, Xi Yu replied.

[Xi Yu: Okay. Are you staying in Lincheng for the New Year?]

Yu Nianyi leaned back against the sofa, her eyes fixed on the phone screen.

[Yu Nianyi: Yeah, all my relatives are here.]

[Xi Yu: When are you coming back?]

Yu Nianyi tightened her grip on the phone slightly. Xi Yu sitting in the car and seeing her off surfaced in her mind.

She tapped out a reply.

[Yu Nianyi: Probably the tenth.]

Delete—delete.

[Yu Nianyi: Maybe the seventh.]

Buzz.

[Xi Yu: Okay.]

[Xi Yu: I’m going to New Zealand with my parents this year; I’ll be back before then.]

Yu Nianyi blinked and subconsciously let out a sigh, staring at Xi Yu’s profile picture while poking it.

I patted Nian Nian, kissed her again and again, and still wanted another kiss.

Then she poked her own profile picture.

I patted Xi Yu, kissed her again and again and again, and still wanted to take a bite.

Xi Yu patted Nian Nian, kissed her again and again and again, and still wanted to take a bite.

How had she started doing that too?

Yu Nianyi pressed her lips together, then immediately laughed.

“My God,” Su Yue suddenly exclaimed from beside her. Leaning back on the sofa herself, she stared at Yu Nianyi in shock. “From the way you were talking just now, I thought you two were in a cold war. Now look at you, grinning like an idiot; you obviously like her like crazy, and you’re still messaging each other. Why were you just complaining about this and that a minute ago...?”

Yu Nianyi waved her left hand at Su Yue and said bluntly, “Go on, get out of here.”

Yu Lan came out of the kitchen, her loud voice instantly filling the room. “What complaining about this and that? Nian Nian, what happened just now...?”

Yu Nianyi looked at her phone again. Seeing that there were no new messages, she finally set it down for good. She grabbed a piece of fruit with one hand and shoved it into her mouth.

Yu Lan shook her head. “You child, at least let Su Yue have some first...”

Su Yue smiled and took some fruit too. “It’s fine, Auntie. I’m like this at home too; we’re super close.”

Yu Lan smiled, sat down on the small sofa beside them, and switched on the TV. The modern romance drama playing happened to be the same one Yu Nianyi had watched at Xi Yu’s place before.

Yu Lan set down the remote, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, and started cracking them while she watched.

“Auntie watches this too? It’s been pretty popular lately; a lot of my friends are watching it,” Su Yue said.

Yu Lan agreed, “Yeah, it’s actually pretty interesting. Let’s watch for a bit; we can get ready to cook later.”

Yu Nianyi stared at the screen, hugging the plush toy in her arms tightly, and suddenly said, “Hey, I kind of miss being in Jiayang.”

Yu Lan’s eyes widened. She plopped down right in front of Yu Nianyi. “You’ve only been back for a little while and you already want to go back. I knew there was something going on with you. Is it that Xi Yu you met last time...? She looks like such an honest, proper kid...”

Yu Nianyi went, “Ah,” and hurriedly hid behind Su Yue. Su Yue also jolted in surprise.

“I don’t,” Yu Nianyi muttered.

Yu Lan chased after her. “You don’t... you definitely do.”