Chapter 78

After that, Xi Yao and Luo Yiran stayed one more day before heading straight back to Jiayang.

Yu Nianyi couldn’t keep them any longer. Maybe because she had stayed at Luo Yiran’s place long enough, Xi Yao had become oddly insistent about introducing Luo Yiran to her family; she brought it up at least three times a day.

Yu Nianyi told Xi Yu all about it, and Xi Yu only said that her parents were out of town these few days, meeting up with university friends.

After that, Yu Nianyi finally got a real taste of long-distance romance. It was truly awful. The person she thought about day and night, the one she wanted to cling to every day, was right in front of her; yet she couldn’t kiss her, couldn’t hug her. And with Xi Yao constantly showing off that she had a wife at every possible moment, Yu Nianyi was practically dying of jealousy.

At last, on the seventh day of the lunar new year, after Yu Lan’s nonstop chatter, Yu Nianyi hurriedly bought a high-speed rail ticket and went over. Those few days happened to be when everyone was returning to work, so the station was packed with people coming and going, lively and bustling.

When she finally came out, she saw Xi Yu waiting by the ticket checkpoint from far away.

Yu Nianyi’s eyes lit up instantly. She subconsciously pushed through the crowd and ran straight toward Xi Yu.

Xi Yu was dressed unusually today, so beautiful it was almost unfair. She wore a navy cashmere coat, left open to reveal a light blue knit cardigan underneath; a familiar yellow scarf was draped loosely around her neck, drawing the eye immediately.

At first glance, she stood out at once from the drab crowd; what a gorgeous older sister!

Yu Nianyi took a big step in front of Xi Yu, and Xi Yu naturally reached out a hand. Before she could react, Yu Nianyi had already thrown herself into her arms. Xi Yu stiffened slightly, then placed a hand on Yu Nianyi’s back, tidying her hair where it had been messed up from running over.

Passersby glanced at them and then looked away again.

Yu Nianyi grinned, resting her head on Xi Yu’s shoulder and staring unblinkingly at her beautiful profile as she lowered her voice. “Why is our wife so pretty? You’re seriously gorgeous enough to kill people.”

Xi Yu lowered her eyes to look at her, saying nothing. It seemed she had long since become immune to Yu Nianyi’s rainbow-flavored praise, though the corners of her lips, which had just been relaxed, still faintly curled upward.

Xi Yu lifted her hand from Yu Nianyi’s arm and helped her stand straight.

“Next time, there’s no need to run so fast. I’ll stand closer from now on.”

Yu Nianyi tilted her head, looking like she was thinking it over. “Okay. But Xi Yu-jie, remember this: next time, you have to stand even closer to the exit. I definitely won’t run; the moment I come out, I’ll leap straight into Xi Yu-jie’s arms.”

Xi Yu smiled and took the suitcase from Yu Nianyi’s hand. Yu Nianyi followed her gaze over, then suddenly said, “This suitcase is so heavy this time. My mom packed so many Lincheng specialties for Xi Yu-jie and stuffed all of them in here. It’s super heavy!”

Xi Yu turned to look at Yu Nianyi’s nonstop chatter and nodded. “Help me thank Aunt Yu.”

Yu Nianyi pouted and huffed. “What about me?”

Xi Yu let out a soft laugh, her eyes curving with it. Yu Nianyi laughed along too, then remembered she couldn’t lose her composure and huffed again.

“Mm,” Xi Yu said softly, “and thank you too, Nian Nian. You worked hard.”

Yu Nianyi naturally took Xi Yu’s hand and stuffed it into her pocket; the two of them walked together toward the outdoor exit.

“Are you hungry?” Xi Yu asked.

Yu Nianyi nodded hard. “I was in such a rush when I left that I didn’t even eat much.”

She thought about it and said, “I want the spareribs Xi Yu-jie makes.”

Xi Yu said okay.

Just before they reached the door, a thin chill seeped in from outside. Yu Nianyi looked at the overcast sky and subconsciously shrank her neck.

As she was about to step out, Xi Yu tugged her back and, in the same motion, wrapped the yellow scarf around Yu Nianyi’s neck.

Yu Nianyi made a soft sound of surprise, then smiled. “Isn’t this the scarf I gave Xi Yu-jie before?”

Xi Yu hummed in acknowledgment, lowering her head to carefully adjust the scarf around Yu Nianyi’s neck; she smoothed it little by little until not a trace of skin was left exposed, and only then did she stop.

Yu Nianyi launched into praise mode again. “Why is our wife so attentive? Hehe, I love it so much..."

The two young women who had just passed by them suddenly stopped in their tracks and, in perfect sync, looked over at Yu Nianyi and Xi Yu.

Yu Nianyi was all smiles, completely immersed in Xi Yu’s world-class beauty.

Xi Yu noticed their gazes at once and glanced sideways. Her eyes happened to meet theirs.

The two girls coughed awkwardly and slowly looked away.

Xi Yu showed no expression and calmly withdrew her gaze, taking Yu Nianyi out the door first.

Behind them, the two girls could only scream silently where they stood.

Xi Yu drove straight back home. After the two of them put their things away and changed clothes, Yu Nianyi obediently sat at the bar counter and waited.

She had originally wanted to help, but Xi Yu said she was resting today; the meat had already been blanched, and only a few simple steps were left, so there was no need for her to do anything else.

Watching Xi Yu move like an experienced cook, Yu Nianyi leisurely took a sip of orange juice and sighed. “What Xi Yao said was obviously wrong. She used to say Xi Yu-jie’s cooking was no good and that you only ordered takeout. Now you’re this good.”

Xi Yu lifted her eyes to look at her and didn’t object. “I really couldn’t cook well when I was studying abroad.”

Yu Nianyi let out a puzzled oh and sprawled on the table like a boneless pile of fluff, tilting her head to watch Xi Yu.

“There were a lot of restrictions back then, and the food outside was hard to swallow too, so I tried learning to make it myself.”

“So it was something you practiced into?” Yu Nianyi asked with a smile.

Xi Yu nodded. “Barely edible.”

Yu Nianyi immediately burst out laughing, shoulders shaking. After laughing for a while, she squinted at Xi Yu. “Then our Xi Yu-jie is amazing. Now you can make food this well; as expected, anything Xi Yu-jie does turns out very, very well.”

Xi Yu’s motion while stirring paused. She pressed her lips together slightly and lifted her eyes to meet Yu Nianyi’s bright gaze.

Yu Nianyi bit back the smile tugging at her lips and gave Xi Yu a teasing little eyebrow raise, as if to say, So? Did I get you?

She looked so smug it was almost ridiculous.

Xi Yu finally let out a soft laugh. “The food will be ready soon.”

The aroma of the cooking kept drifting over. Yu Nianyi sighed; sure enough, her stomach answered with a growl. She swung her legs and gulped down another mouthful of orange juice.

Xi Yu glanced at her, then lowered her head again and focused on cooking; there was a burst of crackling from the pan.

The meal was indeed finished very quickly. Yu Nianyi and Xi Yu carried the dishes to the table together; knowing Yu Nianyi loved spareribs, Xi Yu had made quite a lot.

Yu Nianyi let out a wow. When Xi Yu came over, she immediately leaned in and tilted her chin up to kiss Xi Yu’s profile.

Xi Yu’s head tilted a little from the kiss, and she looked down at her again.

Yu Nianyi grinned. “You worked hard, Xi Yu-jie.”

Xi Yu curved her lips and lowered her head to pull Yu Nianyi’s chair closer; the two chairs ended up very near each other.

There was simply too much of Xi Yu’s spareribs. Yu Nianyi ate in a hurry, one piece after another, and by the time she realized it, she had started hiccupping nonstop.

Every time she hiccupped, her shoulders and stomach jolted with it. Yu Nianyi frowned in annoyance and let out a long sigh.

Xi Yu put the bowls into the dishwasher, quickly cleared the table, and came over to Yu Nianyi’s side to rub her back.

“Take a deep breath, hold it and bear with it for a bit, then breathe out,” Xi Yu said, continuing to stroke Yu Nianyi’s back as she spoke.

Yu Nianyi did as she was told, taking an exaggerated deep breath as if on purpose; even her cheeks puffed up. She held it until her face turned slightly red. Only when Xi Yu said she could stop did she finally relax completely.

After repeating this several times, Yu Nianyi was amazed to find she really wasn’t hiccupping anymore.

She immediately went into praise mode again, showering her wife with compliments about how incredible she was and how much she loved her.

Xi Yu could still hold herself together at first, but after a few rounds, a clear smile finally appeared on her face. She knew Yu Nianyi was doing it on purpose, but she didn’t know what to say, so she could only pretend to be calm and change the TV channel.

The more Yu Nianyi praised her, the more addicted she got to it; she especially loved seeing Xi Yu enjoy it while pretending not to care. Every time this happened, she felt a full sense of accomplishment, and everything else seemed uninteresting by comparison.

Yu Nianyi watched TV while comfortably rubbing Xi Yu’s fingers, then lowered her head to look at their hands overlapping and clasped together. Her gaze slowly moved upward to their hair, black and gold tangled together.

When it all fell into place, their hair seemed to be about the same length; Yu Nianyi’s had grown longer too than it had been before.

As if remembering something, Yu Nianyi let go of Xi Yu’s hand and picked up her phone to check the top of her head. Xi Yu looked over instinctively.

The new hair growth was obvious; black was black, yellow was yellow, and the contrast looked terribly mismatched.

Yu Nianyi frowned. “I got so busy over the New Year that I forgot I needed to dye my hair again.”

Xi Yu hummed. “I can help you dye it.”

Yu Nianyi smiled. “Xi Yu-jie can even do that?”

Xi Yu got up and walked toward the storage room. “It’s not hard.”

Yu Nianyi watched her go in, then come back out pushing a small three-tier cart. Inside were... many different colors of hair dye, all neatly packaged, as if she had brought an entire hair salon with her.

Yu Nianyi was stunned for quite a while before sitting up straight. “Why are there so many?”

She looked at Xi Yu’s dark hair again and asked, half in disbelief, “Are these all prepared for me...”

Xi Yu pushed the cart over to her and hummed. “I thought you might need them sometimes, so I stocked up in advance.” As she spoke, she casually put on a gray coat that looked like workwear and pulled on gloves.

Yu Nianyi let out a wow and looked at the rainbow of dyes.

“The ingredients are all pretty decent; they won’t visibly damage the scalp,” Xi Yu said as she tied back her hair and asked Yu Nianyi which color she wanted.

Yu Nianyi looked left and right; in the end, her eyes settled on the champagne gold she had used before. “This one.”

Xi Yu nodded and signaled for Yu Nianyi to lie down. Then she stood in front of her and gently arranged Yu Nianyi’s hair.

“Wouldn’t this be inconvenient for Xi Yu-jie?” Yu Nianyi looked around. “Why don’t I sit up instead?”

Xi Yu said, “No need. It’ll take too long; just lie down.”

Yu Nianyi said okay and lay down with a smile. She looked up at Xi Yu’s beautiful chin and giggled again.

“Xi Yu-jie, do you know why I wanted to dye my hair yellow?” Yu Nianyi asked Xi Yu.