Chapter 34

The washing machine was in the shared bathroom, and Yu Min had gone out to do laundry. Last night’s clothes, and even the pajamas she’d worn that morning, still carried the smell of alcohol. She had washed her hair too. After rubbing it mostly dry, she came out without even putting on her slippers, bare-footed and not the least bit concerned about it.

The housekeeper usually arrived at ten-thirty, and Yu Min had meant to avoid her. So, while she was still alone and the other woman hadn’t arrived yet, she hurriedly got everything tidied up.

Clutching the laundry basket, she crossed the living room and took a few quick steps to the shared bathroom, so focused on getting the clothes washed that she completely failed to notice there was still someone else in the house.

Coincidentally, Lin Baixin was in the kitchen at that moment, and they just missed each other. Today there were enough people at the shop; after everyone had gathered and stayed up so late the night before, Lin Baixin only went in during the afternoon and rested at home in the morning.

She had gotten up at eight. Since Yu Min had drunk the night before, she hadn’t woken her. After getting up, she’d been moving as quietly as possible, trying not to disturb her.

She heard movement outside and knew through the wall that Yu Min had gotten up, but couldn’t see what was happening on the other side. When she turned to go out, she ran straight into Yu Min the next second, just as Yu Min stepped out and was about to turn back into her room.

Neither of them had expected this.

The instant their eyes met, Yu Min seemed to hear a crisp little snap in her head, as if something had broken; then an invisible match struck from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, and in an instant she was burning red all over.

Thud.

The laundry basket in her hands hit the floor, rolling twice before bumping into a chair not far away.

Lin Baixin froze too; the surprise had come too suddenly, leaving her no time to prepare.

For a moment, the world seemed to hit pause. Everything around them stopped, even their breathing. The house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the silence was terrifying.

“You...” Yu Min stood there rigid as a stone. Her pupils tightened; stiff and dry, she opened her mouth, but she was so stunned she couldn’t think, so panicked she seemed to have lost her soul, as if only an empty shell was left to face this. It wasn’t until the laundry basket rolled back toward her feet that she finally came to with a jolt and mechanically forced herself back onto the right track.

She stiffly lifted her hands and feet and walked back into her room, went inside, stood behind the wall, and immediately shut the door.

She hadn’t controlled her strength when closing it; the sudden bang was deafening. After that... until a third person came in, the door never opened again.

Lin Baixin stood where she was, too late to explain or say anything. Even her usual composure had shattered into pieces, and for a moment she couldn’t react to what she should do.

That heavy thud pulled her mind back. Looking at the closed door, her lips pressed down slightly. The scene from just now was too eye-catching; there was no way to pretend nothing had happened. Her fingers twitched twice as well, and her mind was blank, unable to catch up with such an abrupt change.

...

The housekeeper arrived right on time at ten-thirty. By then Lin Baixin was still there and hadn’t left.

Originally, Lin Baixin had planned to eat lunch at home, but now that clearly wasn’t possible. With her there, the guest room door probably wouldn’t open even if it stayed shut until the end of time.

The housekeeper didn’t know anything. She greeted her as usual, called out “Boss Lin,” and asked whether it was okay to make three dishes and a soup for lunch. Seeing that she still hadn’t left, she naturally assumed Lin Baixin was going to eat at home.

“No need. I’ll be heading out later; I’m not eating at home,” Lin Baixin said. “You two eat; don’t worry about me. Just make enough for two.”

The housekeeper was confused. It was already late enough for brunch, and if she still wasn’t leaving now, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t spare an hour. After all, heading to the shop at noon would just mean idling around with nothing to do. But she didn’t ask further. She figured Lin Baixin must have something else to handle, and besides, that had nothing to do with her. It wasn’t her place to manage. The housekeeper agreed and focused on her own work.

Inside the room.

Yu Min lay straight down on the bed, stiff as a dead fish left out for three days, her body so rigid it couldn’t have been any stiffer. She had already locked herself into a perfectly straight human plank.

The housekeeper’s voice outside was a little loud. When she heard her say something about whether to bring food to eat on the way, Yu Min knew Lin Baixin was going out, and only then did she lift her head and move her upper body.

Then there was no more sound. It was probably Lin Baixin replying to the housekeeper. The house was well insulated, so Yu Min couldn’t hear anything inside the room; she could only catch the faint rustle of blankets when someone turned over.

Before Lin Baixin left, she came over and knocked on the door once, standing outside to specifically tell her, “There’s something at the shop; I’m going over first. I’m leaving.”

Yu Min didn’t dare answer. She was more timid than a quail. Just hearing the other woman’s approaching footsteps made her heart pound wildly; she was dazed, and only when she confirmed that Lin Baixin had really left and heard the door close again did she suddenly sit up, run to the door, crack it open a little, and peek out.

Only the housekeeper was still in the living room. She hadn’t lied to her; Lin Baixin had gone straight to the shop.

She hadn’t said when she’d be back or what she was going to do. Before, Lin Baixin would always tell her. This time she hadn’t.

She was fully dressed already, and this time she’d worn things especially modestly, covered from neck to feet with not a single bit of skin showing. Even her socks were thick, long ones; she looked wrapped up from head to toe.

Yu Min stuck out half her head. After a while, she slowly closed the door again.

She knew Lin Baixin had given her the space on purpose, but instead of feeling relieved, she found a strange, indescribable feeling rising in her chest.

It wasn’t quite disappointment, just a little uneasy, with a touch of fear.

The feeling was strange. She didn’t know what she was afraid of. Probably because she usually paid attention to these things; nothing like this had ever happened before. Now that it had suddenly come to this, she was worried Lin Baixin might feel disgusted, might mind it... They were both women, so in theory that shouldn’t be a problem, but this wasn’t the same as an ordinary situation.

Yu Min couldn’t help biting her lower lip. She sighed, and her mood shifted so quickly it almost made her feel worse for no reason.

I’m doomed.

With nobody to confide in, Yu Min stayed tucked under the covers in the afternoon, so stifled she could hardly breathe. In the end, she had no choice but to interrupt the flood of messages in the little group chat and send that one line out of nowhere.

Zhao Shiyu: -?

Zhao Shiyu: -What happened, did you fail an exam?

Li Xueting appeared as soon as she caught the scent of drama and immediately followed up: -@Zhao Shiyu How could that be? Even if you failed, she wouldn’t fail. Absolutely impossible.

Zhao Shiyu: -!!! I passed, okay? Passed with a high score, high score!

Zhao Shiyu: -@Yu Min What’s doomed? I’m all ears.

Li Xueting: -@Yu Min If you can’t say it in the group, you can also DM me. If something comes up, I’ll help you handle it. I’m absolutely reliable.

Zhao Shiyu: -??? What kind of thing can’t we hear?

Li Xueting: -Plenty.

Yu Min couldn’t bring herself to say it, and she couldn’t send it either. There was no way a third person could know about this. She didn’t explain anything, just went quiet after sending the message, watching Zhao Shiyu and Li Xueting banter back and forth in the chat.

She was waiting for Lin Baixin to come home, but she still hadn’t figured out a suitable excuse; when Lin Baixin returned, how was she supposed to face her, or rather, how was she supposed to smooth this over?

It was killing her. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got, and she still couldn’t come up with a solution.

She really hadn’t known Lin Baixin was home; otherwise, even with a hundred times the courage, she wouldn’t have dared do that.

She scratched at her hair twice, sighed, scratched again, sighed again; her hair was getting close to turning into a bird’s nest.

She opened her chat with Lin Baixin and almost sent an explanation. Yu Min typed and deleted repeatedly, wracking her brains to organize her words. Once she finally finished typing, she always stopped herself at the last second, deleted it, and started over.

She worried herself all afternoon and still didn’t send anything. At 5:30, Lin Qi came looking for her and asked over WeChat: -What flavor of milk tea do you want?

Yu Min was in no mood for milk tea. She was irritable and was about to refuse without even thinking, but before she could reply, Lin Qi sent another message: -Your sister told me to ask you.

Yu Min stopped herself from hitting send and immediately changed her reply to: -Pudding milk tea, with boba.

Lin Qi was old-fashioned and didn’t know what boba was.

-What’s that?

Yu Min: -A topping.

Lin Qi: -Alright, I’ll tell her.

Then, not forgetting to complain: -Your sister too; she can’t even ask you herself. It’s just a matter of moving her hand. She had to make me ask you. I don’t even know if she’s gone weird or what. Not normal.

Yu Min thought about it for a long while, but in the end she didn’t reply. Now there was a messenger in the middle, but she still couldn’t think of what to say. Holding her phone, she did nothing at all, and spent the rest of the time poking at the screen.

Lin Baixin got off work at six and was home before seven. On the way back, she detoured to buy a cup of pudding milk tea and set it on the table when she got home.

By then the housekeeper had come again to make dinner. When she entered, Yu Min was sitting on the sofa. The moment she heard the door open, she sprang up, both hands pressed to the seams of her pants, standing there awkwardly.

Lin Baixin walked over and set the milk tea on the coffee table first.

Only then did she put down her bag, unfasten her scarf, and glance at Yu Min. “Your milk tea. I put it here.”

The milk tea was still warm, half sugar, exactly how Yu Min usually ordered it, with boba added; she’d bought it exactly as Yu Min had asked.

Lin Baixin came back just in time to catch the last dish being set on the table.

The housekeeper wasn’t eating with them today. She had something to deal with at home and needed to rush back now that it was so late, so she had to leave after finishing the meal. After letting them know, the housekeeper didn’t notice anything unusual in the house, grabbed her things, and headed out. Before leaving, she thoughtfully said, “Take your time eating. See you tomorrow.”

What followed was unbearably long. Neither of them said a word. Yu Min silently picked up her bowl, served herself some soup, and pulled out a chair to sit down.

The two of them faced each other across the table. Chopsticks tapped against bowls once, then twice. Yu Min kept her eyes lowered, her gaze fixed on the table; she absolutely didn’t dare look up and glance around.

As they were about to get up from the table, Lin Baixin finally broke the silence and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

Yu Min lifted her eyes and met hers.

“This morning was my fault, so that’s why it happened.” Lin Baixin said that she hadn’t reminded her in time; if she wasn’t going to work, she should have told Yu Min earlier, and then it wouldn’t have been so awkward.

All the excuses Yu Min had been thinking up suddenly got stuck. Lin Baixin had spoken first, and just now Yu Min had actually been trying to figure out how to open the conversation. Instead, she was blocked even more tightly and couldn’t force the words out. She stared blankly at Lin Baixin for a long while before finally curling her fingers in and stammering, “N-no... it’s not... I... you don’t need to... it’s not your problem.”

Lin Baixin cut her off cleanly and didn’t dwell on it. It wasn’t really a topic they could keep unpacking anyway. Lin Baixin said, “I’ll be more careful next time.”

Yu Min was thrown off completely and could only mumble back after a while, “Me too...”

“Don’t take it to heart,” Lin Baixin added.

Yu Min shook her head quickly. “I won’t.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Mm.”

“Forgive me.”

Talking so seriously face-to-face about this was bizarre enough; it was even stranger than this morning. Once it was spelled out, it felt even more wrong.

Yu Min hesitated, wanting to say something like Lin Baixin had, that she should at least say a few words too; she ought to salvage her image somehow. But the instant she met Lin Baixin’s eyes, she froze up again.

The next second, she turned her face away once more, too scared to face Lin Baixin. She was useless; she didn’t manage to say a single word, but the tips of her ears were already slowly turning red under Lin Baixin’s gaze.

“Mm, mm...”

TL Note:

caught the scent of drama (闻着味出现) = showed up as soon as there was gossip or trouble.