Chapter 27

The next day was sunny, hot, and brutally dry.

The northern heat was dry and scorching; just a little over thirty degrees here felt far more oppressive than thirty-seven or thirty-eight degrees in southern Siping. The moment you stepped outside, it felt like the sun was burning straight through your skin. It was Yu Min’s first time coming to Kyoto in the peak of summer, and she still hadn’t quite adjusted to the climate. It was a complete case of acclimatization failure.

Her luggage arrived by courier the next day. Shunfeng delivered it straight to the door as a large parcel shipment. Yu Min had mailed a lot of things this time; every one of her belongings, big and small, had been sent over here, leaving nothing behind with Yu Shengyu in Siping.

Sorting everything out took almost the entire day. There were six large boxes. Yu Min was sentimental, and she couldn’t bear to throw away a lot of things, especially the things other people had given her: the gifts from Li Xue Ting and Zhao Shi Yu, the things other classmates had given her, and Lin Bai Xin’s... If ordinary courier size limits hadn’t made it impossible, she would even have wanted to bring the huge Bugs Bunny from Lin Bai Xin’s villa over here. But something that big simply couldn’t be shipped like that; it would need special freight, which was too much of a hassle. In the end, she had no choice but to give up.

“If you like it, buy another one,” Lin Bai Xin said. “But a custom order takes time. It has to be placed in advance; it won’t arrive for another two months.”

“Don’t buy it. Forget it. It’s too big, and there’s nowhere to put it here,” Yu Min said. “A smaller one is fine. It can go on the bed, and I can hug it to sleep at night.”

Lin Bai Xin indulged her and said she didn’t have to order one as big as the original; a smaller one would work too. Yu Min refused again and again before the matter was finally dropped.

Only after everything was packed away did Yu Min let the Siping side know. She didn’t call Yu Shengyu; a single message on WeChat was enough. After that, she also showed up in the group chat. Of the four of them, aside from Li Xue Ting, the other three had all been admitted to universities in Kyoto. Wen Yun had applied to the same school as Yu Min, and even the same major; both of them were in X University’s eight-year clinical medicine program. Zhao Shi Yu had gotten into a university of Chinese medicine. Her family ran a traditional Chinese medicine clinic, and it was quite well known; Zhao Shi Yu would probably go back and inherit the family business in the future.

Yu Min had arrived in Kyoto first; Zhao Shi Yu and Wen Yun hadn’t left yet. Those two were dragging their feet because they couldn’t bear to leave home, and they had only just managed to grab tickets. They were planning to come at the very last minute.

Li Xue Ting was astonished: - Minmin, you’re already in Kyoto? So fast!

Li Xue Ting: - I was going to treat everyone to a farewell meal. What are we supposed to do now? You’re already gone, so that’s that. We can’t get everyone together anymore; we’re one person short. Weren’t you guys only starting military training in a few days? Why did you go to Kyoto so early? Does your school even let you in yet?

Moving into Lin Bai Xin’s place was a secret. Yu Min didn’t tell anyone; she didn’t want other people to know for the time being. Even her closest friends were kept in the dark.

Yu Min was already very good at lying without blinking. Without a second’s hesitation, she replied: - I’m staying at a hotel. I came here to look around and see a big city.

Li Xue Ting: - What’s there to see? Didn’t we go on the winter camp trip in middle school? We already saw it.

Yu Min: - Last time I came was in winter. Now it’s summer; I wanted to see what Kyoto looks like in this season.

Zhao Shi Yu cut in: - Is it fun?

Zhao Shi Yu: - It seems like there are especially many tourists climbing the Great Wall in summer. It’s peak season. Minmin, are you going to climb it? If you do, take photos for us. We never made it up during middle school; what a pity.

Yu Min was full of nonsense: - Maybe. I haven’t decided on my schedule yet. If I have time, I definitely will. I’ll take pictures for you then.

While they were chatting in the group, Lin Bai Xin was beside her. They were both in the house. Yu Min was barefoot on the sofa because she was afraid of the sun and didn’t dare go out. She was wearing gray shorts and an off-shoulder top. It was a very ordinary outfit, but she had long arms and legs, a slim figure, and pale skin; with her thick, slightly wavy hair falling loose, the soft curves of a young woman were already beginning to show. Just looking at her was enough to draw attention.

Unfortunately, Yu Min herself didn’t realize it. Having spent a long time with Lin Bai Xin, the awkwardness from the previous day had gradually faded. She was completely at ease, sitting all wrong and all crooked on the sofa. When she got tired of sitting, she grabbed a throw pillow to prop up her legs, crossed her straight, pale legs, and rested her elbows on the pillow. All the while, she was typing away and laughing, chatting happily with her friends.

Not knowing what she was laughing at, Lin Bai Xin glanced over. At that moment, Yu Min’s off-shoulder top slipped to one side, turning into a half-off-shoulder. Yu Min didn’t notice at all. Lin Bai Xin’s gaze passed over her face, and her peripheral vision brushed the exposed line of collarbone... Then she looked away again. She had originally wanted to ask something, but she didn’t. Turning around, she opened the fridge and took out some ice to put into a cup.

After the chat ended, Yu Min put down her phone and turned her head. “Is climbing the Great Wall fun?”

Lin Bai Xin took a sip of coffee and answered, “It’s okay. You want to go?”

“Not these next couple of days. I’ll go when it’s not so hot,” Yu Min said. “When did you go?”

Lin Bai Xin was blunt. “I’ve never been.”

“Huh...”

“Lin Qi and the others formed a group and went. I didn’t.”

Lin Bai Xin had lived in Kyoto for so many years and had never gone to climb the Great Wall. That was surprising. Yu Min had thought she had been before and wanted to ask her for tips.

“You can ask Lin Qi. She knows more about that sort of thing,” Lin Bai Xin said. “If you’re going, try to go with other people. It’s better if someone goes with you.”

Yu Min agreed. She definitely wasn’t going by herself, but she couldn’t find anyone to go with, and there was no need to tell Lin Bai Xin that.

Only halfway through the conversation did she tug at her clothes. Yu Min wasn’t used to wearing off-shoulder tops. She had bought this one while shopping with Li Xue Ting before; Li Xue Ting had picked the style for her and said it was trendy now and suited Yu Min.

In the afternoon, she went with Lin Bai Xin all the way to the shop to learn the route. Yu Min was new here, and Lin Bai Xin was trying to take her along wherever she went whenever possible. Mostly, it was because Yu Min wasn’t familiar with the area, and Lin Bai Xin wanted to take the chance to show her around. Staying cooped up at home all day would be stifling.

There was also the matter of bringing Yu Min out to be seen and familiarizing her with the people around her; for example, the employees at the shop, and the friends and classmates Lin Bai Xin was now frequently in touch with, along with other old acquaintances.

Yu Min would definitely be coming to the shop often in the future, so it wasn’t possible not to bring her over. There were more than a dozen employees there as well, all pretty older women.

The shop Lin Bai Xin and Lin Qi ran was quite large: over a thousand square meters, two floors, in a prime location on the commercial street. The moment Lin Bai Xin stepped in, every employee who saw them greeted them. Yu Min was very popular with the older sisters. When Lin Bai Xin left halfway through to deal with something else and left her at the front desk, the women in the shop crowded around her at once, looking her over as if she were some rare curiosity.

“Our boss actually has a younger sister too. Wow, this is the first time we’ve seen her,” said a round-faced woman with her hair in a bun, smiling. “How old is the little boss? Don’t be shy, we’re all very easy to get along with. My name is Gu Yue, I’m the store manager. If anything comes up after this, you can come find me anytime.”

Being called “little boss” felt awkward no matter how you heard it, practically giving her goosebumps. Yu Min stiffly told them not to call her that and to just use her name.

Using her name sounded too distant, so the older women switched to calling her “Minmin”; a couple of them followed the hierarchy and called her “little sister.”

It was rare for the shop to have such a young girl come by, not even nineteen yet. To this group of adults, most of whom were in their twenties and nearly thirty, Yu Min was adorable just standing there. Once they found out she was also an X University student, and even a recent high school graduate who had just finished her exams, everyone became even more exaggerated, as if they wanted to treat her like half a daughter.

Yu Min couldn’t handle that kind of enthusiasm at all; she had no idea how to deal with it. Only when Lin Qi came down shortly after did she arrive just in time to rescue her and chase those people away.

“Alright, enough of you. Look what you’ve done to the girl; can’t you tell she’s embarrassed? Go on, hurry back to your stations, or be careful the boss catches you and docks your pay,” Lin Qi said, not exactly a saint herself. Then she turned and winked at Yu Min, rubbing the top of her head. “Look how scared our little sister is; she doesn’t even dare move. Come on, let your Seventh Sister pat you. Be good—one little pet won’t scare you.”

Lin Qi was obviously teasing her on purpose and was no better than the others. Yu Min stood frozen in place, her face going bright red.

“Don’t mind her; she’s not normal.” Lin Bai Xin came back after finishing her business, pulled Yu Min behind her, and swatted away Lin Qi’s dog-like hand before saying to Yu Min, “Go to my office. Stay away from them.”

Lin Qi said, “Look at you. Was that really necessary? We didn’t even do anything.”

For the first time here, Yu Min generously treated everyone to drinks, but Lin Bai Xin paid for them. Lin Bai Xin wouldn’t let her settle the bill and said, “It’s fine. You can buy next time.”

In less than half a day, Yu Min had completely gotten to know the employees at the shop. The older women were all very good to her, each one warmer than the last. In return, everyone bought her snacks and gave her little gifts.

She had gone there empty-handed and came back carrying a whole pile of things; the gifts stacked up to nearly Yu Min’s height.

Yu Min felt overwhelmed. One drink couldn’t possibly have earned her this much. Lin Bai Xin comforted her: “Keep them without worrying about it. In a couple of days, it’ll be time to hand out bonuses to them anyway; I’ll make up the difference then.”

It took her most of the afternoon just to unwrap the gifts. This kind of treatment was a first for her, and it took Yu Min a long while to recover from it.

There were two cloudy days before military training, and it wasn’t very hot, but Yu Min still didn’t go climb the Great Wall. Lin Bai Xin was here, and every day she stayed by Lin Bai Xin’s side; sometimes she even helped Lin Bai Xin drive and acted as the other woman’s chauffeur.

When the day came to report to school, Lin Bai Xin drove her there instead and stayed with her the whole way, handling registration, picking up books, and collecting the military training uniforms. After all, at university, the students who didn’t live on campus were the minority. Getting an exception to skip the dorm right after freshman orientation was rather difficult; the counselor would definitely have to contact the student’s parents, ask for their opinion, and get a written consent form.

Yu Min didn’t know there was such a procedure. When the counselor told her to call her parent and put the phone on speaker, she froze, unable to press the call button for a long time.

It was Lin Bai Xin who made the call. Yu Min didn’t know how this person got Yu Shengyu’s number or how she spoke to him; by the time the phone was handed to the counselor, Yu Shengyu on the other end had actually agreed, and he didn’t even ask Yu Min why she wasn’t living in the dormitory. He seemed perfectly at ease.

After leaving the counselor’s office, Yu Min’s palms were covered in a thin layer of sweat. Once they got in the car, Lin Bai Xin leaned over to fasten her seatbelt for her and reminded her, “Stop spacing out. Let’s go home.”

Yu Min lifted her eyes and looked at her.

Lin Bai Xin still wore the same perfume as before. Now that they were close, the scent brushed faintly past the tip of her nose, like something tangible sweeping across her face; it left her tingling and numb.

Yu Min had only said she wasn’t living in the dorms; she hadn’t said she was keeping it from her family. She had planned to bring it up later, but now it was basically as if she’d been caught. Facing Lin Bai Xin, she suddenly didn’t know how to explain it, or whether she should explain it at all.

Logically, she should have discussed it with her family first. Handling it so secretly made it seem as if she had some ulterior motive.

—In fact, she really did have a tiny bit of ulterior motive, but she couldn’t say that.

“I forgot to tell my dad,” she said, her lie clumsy; the car had already gone quite far before she finally spoke.

Lin Bai Xin said, “It’s fine. Not a big deal.”

It was impossible to tell whether she truly didn’t care or simply didn’t want to dig deeper.

Too afraid to meet Lin Bai Xin’s eyes directly, Yu Min couldn’t hide anything in front of her. She turned her head away and looked out the window the whole way, her knuckles unconsciously rubbing lightly against the seat cushion.