Chapter 44

Tonight’s drama was *Young Justice Bao*, an old series from the millennium. Yu Min hadn’t even been born when the first season aired, but CCTV had rerun it often afterward, and she used to watch it all the time as a child. She’d forgotten most of it by now. A while ago, Zhao Shi Yu had recommended it in the group chat, and Yu Min had picked it up again for a rewatch.

Lin Baixin had seen it too. It was so long ago that she couldn’t remember the plot anymore, though she did recognize the actors in the drama; she could name most of them.

After a few episodes in a row, they’d been sitting on the carpet the whole time. Yu Min stretched her legs; when she straightened them, she accidentally brushed Lin Baixin, skimming past her ankle. After that, their legs stayed pressed together. Neither of them made a point of avoiding it or keeping their distance. They were too lazy to move and too focused on the show.

Lv Dagun was the first to fall asleep. Cats needed a lot of sleep; it could doze off anywhere, anytime. As long as it curled up somewhere, it would be asleep in no time. Sometimes, if it slept too deeply, it would even snore.

Yu Min kept one hand on the cat while staring at the screen, her eyes half-lowered as she glanced down at the floor.

Lin Baixin’s skin was very smooth, smoother than most people’s. She hadn’t even used any skincare today, but the difference was especially obvious whenever Yu Min brushed against her. She was also very fair. Yu Min’s mind, unprompted and out of place, drifted to the soft tofu they’d eaten yesterday. She’d really liked that. Then, after a moment, another thought surfaced: Lin Baixin looked almost as if she’d just come out of water, just like in her dream...

Out of the corner of her eye, Yu Min stole a look at her.

With the lights off, the television cast a dim gray glow over the room. In that light, Lin Baixin seemed wrapped in a faint blur of outline; her profile was soft, and so was everything about her. Yu Min stared until she got lost in it. Only when Lin Baixin shifted did Yu Min quickly look away and pretend she was still watching the TV, not looking at her at all.

When the final episode finished, Yu Min was reluctant to go back to the bedroom. She dawdled, taking ages to get up.

Lv Dagun woke up partway through and, unsteadily, followed Yu Min into the room. It jumped onto the bed and lay down beside the pillow, going back to sleep.

Lv Dagun didn’t like sleeping in its own bed. It refused to use a new one; it insisted on sleeping in people’s territory. It curled up into a ball and lay on Yu Min’s shoulder. Yu Min reached back to stroke it a couple of times. Hearing the bedroom door next door close, she finally turned off the light and let the whole room sink into darkness.

The next yoga session was on Saturday night. Lin Baixin and Yu Min had agreed on the time in advance, and Yu Min had no objections. She didn’t have class Saturday night, so she could get home earlier.

As for going to check out the newly opened rice noodle shop at X University another day, Lin Baixin never ended up going. First, she didn’t have the time and couldn’t spare the effort; second, it had only been a casual remark. Yu Min was a day student, and under normal circumstances Lin Baixin would just drive over, pick her up, and head home. She wouldn’t even go into the school gate, so where would there be a chance to specifically go eat in the cafeteria?

Lin Baixin didn’t go, but Yu Min actually felt relieved. She didn’t want Lin Baixin going into X University. Ideally, she would never go in at all and would just park outside on the roadside to pick Yu Min up as usual.

It wasn’t clear whether Lin Baixin knew about Song Chu joining X University. Lin Baixin didn’t care about these things, nor would she take the initiative to find out. But after all, it was the same social circle, and Yu Min wasn’t sure. A couple of days later, she deliberately brought it up in front of Lin Baixin first, testing her reaction.

Lin Baixin didn’t react much. She was pretty indifferent; in fact, she even thought it was fine that Song Chu had gotten into X University. Having Professor Shi keep an eye on her at school was better than letting Song Chu run wild.

“A few days ago I ran into her. She asked about you,” Yu Min told her everything. “She also knows we live together.”

“Don’t mind her. Ignore her,” Lin Baixin said.

“She’s your friend,” Yu Min said.

Lin Baixin’s lips parted, but the words stopped there. She and Song Chu really had been friends, but that was all in the past. Their friendship had ended the moment Song Chu did those things. Still, they had once been close, and Lin Baixin wasn’t the type to speak ill of people. Even though Song Chu was no good, in front of a third person Lin Baixin still maintained some decency between them. Her mouth opened and closed; after half a second of hesitation, she finally said, “Just don’t pay attention to her. Otherwise she’ll only get more annoying.”

Lin Baixin hadn’t meant to say much, but to Yu Min, that wasn’t how it sounded. Song Chu would get more annoying; then what? Just let her do as she pleased?

Yu Min picked up Lv Dagun and lowered her head to tease the cat. After a while, she turned and stood by the window. Lv Dagun liked to cling to the glass and look outside, so she kept it company. Then she suddenly fell silent and sensibly stopped probing any further.

The school wasn’t exactly small, but it wasn’t huge either. Unlike outside, where running into someone in the same neighborhood was unlikely, the places people regularly went on campus were limited: the library, classrooms, the cafeteria... Within one week, Yu Min ran into Song Chu three times just in the cafeteria alone. Fate really was strange like that; no matter which cafeteria she changed to, she somehow still ran into Song Chu.

Each time, Song Chu was the one to greet her first. It was hard for Yu Min to pretend not to see her. Once, Song Chu even paid for her meal directly, along with the class monitor’s and the others’. Song Chu treated everyone to food, and the others helped her save seats. The group sat across two tables.

After meeting her a few more times, it wouldn’t really make sense for Yu Min to keep saying she wasn’t close to Song Chu. It wouldn’t hold water. No matter how unfamiliar they’d been before, they’d seen each other so many times lately that even if they hadn’t known each other well at first, they should be familiar by now.

The class monitor quite liked Song Chu. It wasn’t only because she’d been bought off by a meal; the bigger reason was that Song Chu was easygoing and pleasant to deal with. She didn’t look down on people with her nose in the air. Compared with certain employees who had terrible attitudes, she was practically an angel; there were hardly a few people in the whole school more easy to talk to than her.

Yu Min wasn’t good at socializing. She was already exhausted from dealing with all this, and Song Chu’s overly familiar way of getting close to people made it even harder for her to accept. Even putting on a front was a struggle.

The turning point came on Friday afternoon. Yu Min’s class only had one class that afternoon, and once it was over, they could leave. Yu Min went back to the dorm to help the class monitor move some things, only for her luck to be rotten enough that as soon as she entered the dorm building, she ran into Song Chu.

She didn’t want to tangle with her any further, but Song Chu stopped her this time and said she had something she wanted to talk about alone.

The class monitor tactfully didn’t interfere and said softly to Yu Min, “Then I’ll go upstairs and wait for you.”

Yu Min didn’t want to talk to Song Chu. There was nothing to talk about. But Song Chu blocked her and wouldn’t let her leave. With the lobby still occupied by the dorm auntie and other students, Yu Min could only go to a less crowded spot on the second-floor balcony and ask stiffly what Song Chu wanted.

Song Chu got straight to the point without beating around the bush. “I want to find Lin Baixin. Can you help me pass along a message?”

Yu Min refused without even thinking, saying flatly, “No. Find her yourself. Don’t come to me.”

“If I could find her, I wouldn’t have come to you,” Song Chu said plainly. “Only you can help me. Just this once, okay?”

Yu Min was firm. “No. That’s your problem; it has nothing to do with me.”

Song Chu clearly wasn’t willing to give up. After being rejected again and again, she was a little irritated instead. Yu Min’s attitude was uncomfortable; it was too cold.

Yu Min’s mood had already been mediocre, and lately nothing had gone right. Song Chu had picked the wrong person to cling to. Yu Min wasn’t Lin Qi. She had had no dealings with Song Chu in the past, wouldn’t have any in the future, and didn’t want any either. She wouldn’t give Song Chu face the way Lin Qi would. So she said directly, “I don’t want to help you. And don’t think that if you try to get close to me, anything will happen. Whatever’s going on between you and Sister Baixin is your business. I don’t want to get involved. Don’t use me as a gun.”

Song Chu had been about to say something nice, but this line suddenly choked her. She probably hadn’t expected Yu Min to be this unsparing. Song Chu froze for a moment, then a trace of embarrassment flashed across her face and her expression turned unpleasant.

“You’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean that,” Song Chu said quickly, recovering just as fast. They were still outside after all, and she was pretty broad-minded about it, looking as though she wouldn’t hold it against Yu Min. “If you don’t want to, then forget it. I was just asking. I’m not using you as a gun or demanding you do anything. You’re not obligated to do that either.”

Yu Min said decisively, “Whatever the reason, don’t come to me again in the future. I have my own things to do; I can’t help you.”

Song Chu smiled and stopped pressing the issue any further. After thinking for a moment, she readily agreed. “Fine. Sorry.”

Yu Min didn’t fall for the other woman’s soft approach. She was more steadfast than Lin Qi by far. Since things had been said this far, there was nothing more to argue. The class monitor was still waiting upstairs, so Yu Min turned and went back up.

It was only when Yu Min walked into the stairwell and her figure disappeared around the corner that the smile on Song Chu’s face gradually faded. It slowly slipped into a blank expression, and a cool look rose in her eyes.

“What did Song Chu want with you?” the class monitor asked in confusion. “What was it about?”

“Nothing. Just chatting,” Yu Min said.

Then she remembered that Lin Baixin was coming to school to pick her up that afternoon. After hesitating for a long while, she once again told Lin Baixin not to come.

Lin Baixin didn’t come to school to pick up Yu Min. Lin Qi did. There was a temporary customer in the shop who specifically wanted Lin Baixin to handle the reception, and Lin Qi was free with nothing to do, so she came instead.

It was just that Lin Qi was a few minutes late getting to X University, and since she hadn’t contacted Yu Min ahead of time, she only called once she arrived. By then, Yu Min had already taken a taxi halfway there.

The two sides returned to the shop at different times. Yu Min came back alone, while Lin Qi didn’t; she brought someone else back with her.

Song Chu had come too, using the excuse that she was there to buy a bag and look around their shop.

Lin Qi was the type who always tried to smooth things over. Since Song Chu wanted to come, she didn’t know how to stop her. Besides, when it came to doing business, harmony brought in wealth. Since the other party said she was coming to look at bags, and business was being delivered to their door, how could they refuse?

More than that, Song Chu already knew the address of the new shop. Even if Lin Qi politely turned her down, Song Chu could find her way over on her own. Better to bring her along and at least keep an eye on her; otherwise, if Song Chu suddenly showed up at some random time, the lack of preparation here would be even more frightening.

Since Song Chu had come to the shop, they still had to receive her properly. Lin Baixin was still accompanying the previous customer. When she caught sight of Song Chu’s appearance, she froze on the spot; but facing the customer, she still suppressed every feeling and pretended nothing was wrong.

Yu Min had just stepped into Lin Baixin’s office to put down her schoolbag. When she came back out, she saw the two of them. Song Chu didn’t call her this time. Her gaze passed over Yu Min without lingering at all, as if Yu Min were air.

The store manager, Gu Yue, had been assigned to receive Song Chu. Song Chu remained as generous as always. Since she was there, she supported the shop’s business and bought anything she liked the look of, very straightforwardly.

During a break after shopping until she was tired, Song Chu wandered around. Yu Min was reading in Lin Baixin’s office when Song Chu wandered over and sat down across from her, acting as though she were no customer at all.

Meeting Song Chu’s gaze, Yu Min gathered up her books and planned to change seats, not wanting to start a conflict inside the shop.

Song Chu was neither slow nor hurried. Once Yu Min had mostly packed up, she suddenly asked with certainty:

“Hey, do you like Lin Baixin?”