Chapter 79
Xi Yu lowered her head and quietly mixed the colors. She glanced at Yu Nianyi. “Why?”
Yu Nianyi curved her lips, mischief glinting in her eyes. “Because I want Xi Yu-jie to see me first thing.”
Xi Yu raised a brow and looked at her again.
Yu Nianyi laughed softly. “That’s just what I’m thinking right now.”
“Before, it was because high school was too exhausting. Like other graduates, I wanted to dye my hair after graduation, go traveling, sleep for three straight days and nights, and paint all over the world.”
“Luckily, I’ve done all of that.” Yu Nianyi thought for a moment. “Maybe the last one still isn’t completely done.”
Xi Yu set the prepared dye onto the cart, then lifted Yu Nianyi’s hair together, leaving only one strand out. She picked up the tool and gently applied the dye to Yu Nianyi’s roots.
“It smells so good,” Yu Nianyi said.
“It’ll be done soon.” Xi Yu said.
Yu Nianyi immediately laughed. “Yeah. If Xi Yu-jie is with me, I think the park we went to last time was really nice. There were mountains inside too, and little paths; it was beautiful.”
Xi Yu nodded. “We’ll go again next time.”
Yu Nianyi watched as Xi Yu quietly and carefully set the dyed hair aside, then took up a fresh section. Her gaze dropped to the loose strands hanging by Xi Yu’s forehead, and she asked on impulse, “Next time, should we not dye it? Maybe leave it black?”
“I think black looks very nice too.” Yu Nianyi’s eyes fell on Xi Yu’s black hair, casually tied back, with a few strands left out, half-hiding her brows and eyes. Xi Yu’s lashes were slightly lowered; her lips looked soft and glossy.
Xi Yu met Yu Nianyi’s gaze and considered it before saying, “We can try it.”
Dyeing hair really took time. It took a full two hours before most of it was finally coated.
Yu Nianyi’s back was sore from lying there. She sat up and quickly pulled Xi Yu down to rest, but Xi Yu didn’t seem tired at all. Seeing how worn out Yu Nianyi was, she kneaded her waist again, just like before.
Yu Nianyi’s face went red too; her heart softened completely. She held Xi Yu’s face in both hands and leaned in herself, pressing a real kiss to her lips.
Xi Yu froze for a second. Her hand instinctively drew back from Yu Nianyi a little as she looked at her reddened lips. “Be careful. I’m not clean.”
Yu Nianyi looked smugly at the lips she’d dyed red and smiled. “Thank you, Teacher Xi. You did an amazing job.”
Xi Yu pressed her lips together and met Yu Nianyi’s eyes. She took off her gloves and brushed away the stray strands that had slipped out from under the cap, then kissed her again.
A brief kiss; they parted, then kissed again.
Yu Nianyi let out a few uneven breaths; vaguely, she felt her head growing heavy.
Xi Yu kissed her once more, then looked at her deeply before pulling back. She instinctively supported Yu Nianyi’s head, then tucked every loose strand back into the cap.
After waiting a bit longer, they began washing it out. Xi Yu washed her hair too, and it felt so comfortable that Yu Nianyi nearly fell asleep under her hands.
When they were done, Xi Yu helped blow-dry her hair completely. After everything was finally finished, the two of them lay back on the sofa again. The movie kept playing; Yu Nianyi stayed close to Xi Yu, and they occasionally discussed the plot. Xi Yu cut up some fruit and, very naturally, fed it to Yu Nianyi.
It all looked as though they’d been together for many years; peaceful, steady, and happy. Yu Nianyi could even imagine them many years later, both of them old and gray... no, wait; maybe Xi Yu would still have black hair, while hers might already be snow-white, after all she’d dyed it so many times.
If that were the case, when they were old she’d probably still dye it some other color too; black, yellow, pink, red, purple...
She’d be a cool old woman. Maybe Xi Yu-jie would still be that rigid, serious old woman... hahaha.
-
“What are you up to today?” Xi Huanian sat in a chair, looking coldly at Xi Yao standing before her.
The room was especially quiet. In the somewhat spacious lounge, there were only the two of them. Xi Yao’s expression was unusually serious. When Xi Huanian asked her that, she repeated, “I said, I brought my girlfriend back today for you to meet.”
“She’s called Luo Yiran; she’s someone I love very much.”
Xi Huanian’s face stiffened; the more she heard Xi Yao speak, the deeper her brows furrowed, looking extremely displeased.
“I can tolerate you fooling around, but that doesn’t mean I can let you go this far.”
“I didn’t.” Xi Yao’s voice turned icy. Her usual carefree attitude at home vanished in an instant; she slammed a hand onto the table. “I’m seriously introducing you to the person I love.”
Xi Huanian leaned back in her chair and examined Xi Yao’s current expression. “You ran away from home for so many days, and the first thing you do when you come back is announce this to me? We’ve all been worried about you, and you don’t care at all?”
“And then what? After I care, what happens?” Xi Yao laughed once. “You’ll tell me to stop playing around, settle down and focus on my career, settle down and shoulder the family’s burdens, settle down and become the person you all want me to be?”
Xi Huanian said nothing.
Xi Yao straightened up. She looked away, her voice exceptionally clear. “I’m already twenty-one. I know exactly what I like and what I don’t. I’m not giving up on liking Luo Yiran.”
Xi Huanian looked at Xi Yao quietly for a while; her expression didn’t change much. She glanced at the tightly shut door. Zhao Xiaolan was chatting with Luo Yiran outside.
“You’re only twenty-one,” Xi Huanian said. “You’re still a student; it’s too impulsive to talk about these things so early. The two of you sisters are the same; you have too little experience with relationships. Don’t make decisions this soon.”
“You should be like your sister; listen to us, meet some outstanding men. They’ll be a help to your career and your future development, and to our entire family.”
“Look at your sister now; she’s already able to stand on her own and is doing very well at Xiaolan Technology. If this continues, in a few more years she’ll be the top leader of Xiaohua Group. Isn’t that a good life?”
“What you used to say doesn’t work on me anymore.” Xi Yao said.
Xi Huanian’s face darkened all at once, but she still didn’t speak.
The two of them fell completely silent. Xi Yao no longer looked at Xi Huanian, and Xi Huanian kept her face tight, saying nothing. Each of them stayed in place in silence for a long time.
“What you’re saying doesn’t work on me either.” After a while, Xi Huanian said.
Xi Yao suddenly looked at Xi Huanian. Xi Huanian’s expression was calm; her brows were still furrowed, but she refused to back down.
After staring for a moment, Xi Yao suddenly said, “You’re all too arrogant.”
Xi Huanian froze for an instant. By the time she came to herself again, Xi Yao had already turned and headed for the door.
“A few days ago, we had a class reunion. The sons of those friends of ours are all doing pretty well now, especially Chaoyang Technology and Fanhua; they’re both gaining momentum very fast.”
“I’ll arrange for you to meet them.”
Bang—
Xi Yao stood at the doorway and, almost unconsciously, took out her phone to look at her own face. She adjusted her hair, then stepped down the stairs. Faint laughter drifted up from the living room.
Luo Yiran and Zhao Xiaolan were still chatting. When they heard footsteps, they both looked over in unspoken agreement.
Zhao Xiaolan deliberately frowned a little. “Your dad really is something, keeping you in there talking for so long.”
Xi Yao walked up to them and pulled Luo Yiran to her feet.
Zhao Xiaolan glanced at their clasped hands without a trace, then asked, “What’s wrong? Are you leaving? I just had the kitchen make a lot of good dishes; stay and eat with Yiran.”
“No need,” Xi Yao said coldly. “I only brought Luo Luo back today so you could meet her.”
Zhao Xiaolan sighed. “There’s no need to rush like this. Even if you don’t want to eat, at least let Yiran have something first...”
“Mom,” Xi Yao interrupted her, “you understand what I mean.”
Zhao Xiaolan stiffened. The smile on her face faded a little, and she looked at Xi Yao quietly.
Xi Yao said she was leaving, then walked off with Luo Yiran without looking back.
Luo Yiran gave Zhao Xiaolan a slight nod. “Sorry, Auntie. I’m leaving now. Thank you.”
-
Yu Nianyi received Xi Yao’s call on the afternoon of the tenth day of the lunar new year. At that time, she had just gone to Xu Ruoyan’s shop to pick up the tea set she’d made herself. Xu Ruoyan had had it wrapped very carefully; each piece was set neatly into its groove, packed away with great care.
As soon as she got it, Yu Nianyi sent Xi Yu a video and 360-degree photos. Not long after, Xi Yu messaged back, saying it was even more beautiful than when she’d seen it before the New Year and praising Yu Nianyi for being amazing.
Yu Nianyi was naturally delighted beyond words. She’d originally planned to fly straight home, but Xi Yu didn’t seem to have gotten off work yet at this hour, and Xi Yao’s side sounded off, so she had no choice but to take a taxi straight to Sister Wang’s restaurant.
The moment she walked in, Sister Wang immediately greeted her and led her into the private room.
There were only two people in the room: Xi Yao and Luo Yiran, sitting together.
A few days ago they had still looked pretty happy; for some reason, the atmosphere now felt very heavy.
Yu Nianyi carefully set the tea set on the table beside her, then sat down across from the two of them. “What’s wrong?”
Xi Yao clicked her tongue. “My parents are way too stubborn. On the surface they seem very warm toward Luo Luo, but in reality they completely refuse to acknowledge my relationship with Luo Luo.”
“You brought Luo Yiran home?” Yu Nianyi was a little surprised.
Xi Yao nodded.
“Actually, Auntie is pretty nice. While you were talking upstairs, she took good care of me,” Luo Yiran said.
Xi Yao sighed. “That’s just how our family is. They appreciate capable people with strong personalities, but when it comes to the Xi family and us sisters, they insist we follow the path they’ve already decided on.”
Yu Nianyi didn’t speak. Suddenly, she thought of Xi Yu, who had always been working ever since she met her.
Although she had vaguely sensed that Xi Yu’s family didn’t approve, Xi Yu had never said anything to her about it.
“The most infuriating thing is, they even want to arrange meetings between me and those old classmates’ sons,” Xi Yao said coldly.
Luo Yiran said nothing; she just instinctively took Xi Yao’s hand. Xi Yao met her eyes and smiled. “It’s fine. I won’t go.”
“Then what about you...” Yu Nianyi asked without thinking.
Xi Yao snorted. “They have their ways; I have mine too. From now on, whenever I have time I’ll go home and brainwash them. Luo Luo can go too; they care a lot about face, so they’ll definitely keep up appearances on the surface.”
As if remembering something, Xi Yao suddenly looked at Yu Nianyi. “Right, my dad and mom seem to know nothing at all about you two either. They were saying my sister is very obedient and super impressive now and all that.”
Yu Nianyi nodded and looked down at the table full of dishes. “I know.”
“Xi Yu-jie really is amazing.”
Xi Yao looked at Yu Nianyi for a while, then didn’t say anything else.
The three of them didn’t seem to have much appetite this time. It took four whole hours to finish the meal before they finally left. Xi Yu called during that time, and just as the three of them came out, they happened to see Xi Yu walking in.