Chapter 81

In the rearview mirror, the back seat was visible. Lin Baixin faced the dim yellow streetlights ahead and didn’t look back. She withdrew her gaze and looked into the mirror; because the lighting was so poor, the other person’s figure was blurred into the dark. A pale wash of light fell across her face, and from Lin Baixin’s angle, only her outline was faintly visible. She was so focused on her phone screen that her short hair fell along the curve of her beautiful cheek, partly covering her face.

“When did this start?” Lin Baixin kept dodging the question, and after a long hesitation, she asked again.

Clearly unwilling to answer, Yu Min tossed the question back. “Why are you asking? Why do you care so much?”

“I’m just asking.”

“Then I can choose not to answer.”

“Mm, yes... that’s fine too.” Lin Baixin kept one hand on the steering wheel, tightened her grip until her fingers hurt, then tactfully changed the subject. “Do you two live together?”

Yu Min did admit to that. Jiang Zhou had already spilled everything earlier, so there was no point circling around it.

“After you moved out of that little suite last time?”

“Which one?”

“The one near your school.”

“I’ve changed places more than once. I don’t know which one you mean; I can’t remember.”

Lin Baixin said, “The place you lived after moving out from me.”

Yu Min’s mind had already drifted back to the game. As if she only cared about Tetris, she said slowly, “Forgot.”

One of them was forcing the conversation; the other didn’t want to talk. They simply didn’t click, and before long the exchange stalled. There was no way to keep it going.

The atmosphere went ice-cold. Even the air seemed to solidify. The two of them were so thoroughly trapped in silence that no amount of stirring could break it apart.

Leaning back against the seat, Lin Baixin stared at the rearview mirror for a long time. Yet the person in back seemed not to feel her gaze at all, still deftly tapping at the screen; the game that had just hit a dead end was revived in two moves, leaving a huge empty gap.

Two or three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Yu Min was absurdly good at Tetris. Her fingers moved fast, her score climbed quickly, and she seemed to need no thought at all, placing the blocks however she liked and clearing the stacked pieces in just a few moves.

“Lin Qi came to see you.”

The traffic light in the distance changed twice before Lin Baixin finally found another topic and blurted out the sentence without any lead-in.

Yu Min didn’t look surprised. Her tone stayed flat.

“I know.”

“At the time... she was really worried about you. She came looking for you more than once.”

“Mm.”

Yu Min still didn’t react, even when it came to the past. Lin Qi was Lin Qi; whatever the other person had done, once it came out of Lin Baixin’s mouth, it was no longer the same thing. She wouldn’t be moved just because of that. One matter was one matter.

“After you came back, did you look for her?” Lin Baixin hesitated for a moment, then asked after thinking it over.

“No.” Yu Min answered at once.

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to trouble Sister Lin Qi.”

“She mentions you often.”

“Mm.”

After a few more words about Lin Qi, Yu Min’s attitude visibly softened. The change wasn’t obvious, but at least her tone wasn’t so sharp anymore, and her movements slowed a little. Half-lowering her eyes, Yu Min parted her lips and, at last, asked in a low voice about Lin Qi’s recent situation.

Lin Baixin followed the thread and kept talking. Mostly it was just her speaking while Yu Min hardly responded at all; whether she was listening or not, no one could tell. In any case, the game in her hands never stopped.

She talked about many things: Lin Qi managing the Jincheng branch, Luoshu going there too, and a few other trivial odds and ends. Lin Baixin wasn’t the talkative type, but at this moment she was a little too chatty. After a while, she realized she had gone too far. It was too deliberate.

Behavior isn’t always driven by reason; sometimes it swings too far in the opposite direction.

Sure enough, Yu Min soon lowered her head again and focused on the game. Her movements sped up; one glance made it obvious she wasn’t listening anymore. She did care about Lin Qi, yes, but that didn’t mean she was stupid. Lin Baixin’s thoughts were too obvious, completely transparent at a glance.

Yu Min had long since stopped falling for that trick; she was just too lazy to expose it.

Halfway through her sentence, Lin Baixin couldn’t go on. She turned slightly, but in the end she didn’t fully turn around; she only shifted a little, then stopped. Her gaze brushed over Yu Min’s face, withdrew, and glanced at the time.

Jiang Zhou had been gone for quite a while to get her things; fifteen minutes had passed, and she still hadn’t come back.

“How long are you going to stay this time?” After a moment, Lin Baixin still opened her lips again. Whether the other person answered or not, she asked, “Are you going back to Siping County for the holiday, or to Jincheng?”

Yu Min didn’t reply. She wouldn’t talk to her about that.

“They want to see you,” Lin Baixin said.

Still there was only silence. A car horn sounded on the street; the sharp noise slipped through the crack in the window and stabbed at their ears.

She couldn’t lose the game. Tetris was too simple; there was no challenge at all. Yu Min exited the game, then halfway through switched to a WeChat chat window and sent a message.

By chance, Lin Baixin caught a glimpse of her lock screen. It was a photo of a kitten.

She couldn’t tell whether it was Ludagun or Jiang Zhou’s cat. Lin Baixin didn’t get another chance to confirm it, because after that Yu Min set down her phone, leaned back against the seat to rest, and closed her eyes.

Rustle, rustle—dead silence. With no one speaking, the car was especially quiet; even the slightest movement could be heard in the friction of fabric.

Only then did Lin Baixin finally take both hands off the steering wheel. She waited a few more beats, but Jiang Zhou still hadn’t returned, so she pressed the power button. The engine fell silent too.

Across the street, the night scene was bustling and lively, with multicolored neon lights flashing nonstop. It was an old street with a long history; the cold wind swept up the withered leaves by the roadside, and from a distance it looked like a scene from one of those art films they’d watched.

Staring at the opposite side, Lin Baixin truly couldn’t think of anything else to say. Over the past two years, she had only gotten worse at this. She used to be fine; she could handle it even with others. But at this moment, the night wind seemed to carry away the words she had carefully worked out. She hadn’t prepared enough. She was far too lacking, and had no way to deal with this kind of situation.

Only silence had become the best way to get along. At the very least, without communication, there would be no more arguments.

At the alley entrance, after another two minutes, Jiang Zhou finally came back at an unhurried pace. Not only had she picked up her bag, she’d also bought three drinks on the way.

From a distance, she was already waving at them. Perhaps because she’d gotten something she liked, Jiang Zhou was delighted; the smile on her face was impossible to hide.

Lin Baixin started the car and unlocked the doors. She couldn’t help glancing at the rearview mirror again; Yu Min in the back seat had seen Jiang Zhou even earlier than she had, and her gaze had already turned toward the opposite side.

Gripping the steering wheel, Lin Baixin tightened her hold without realizing it. She looked away and didn’t look back again; she kept her eyes forward and did what she was supposed to do.

The conversation from earlier should have had an ending. Whatever still hadn’t been settled—perhaps because of some misunderstanding—Yu Min suddenly opened the car door while Jiang Zhou was on her way over, as if she meant to get out and help carry the things. Before getting out, she deliberately looked toward the front and said calmly, “When the holiday starts, I’ll go back to Jincheng... don’t worry, I won’t cling to you.”

Before Lin Baixin could respond, she was already out of the car. She walked a few steps to Jiang Zhou and took everything from her.

Lin Baixin froze. The blow left her with no room to react. It wasn’t until Jiang Zhou got into the car and called to her that she hurriedly gathered up those emotions, too exposed to hide, and drove on.

“Here. I just bought three cups of milk tea. That shop usually has a huge line, but tonight I got lucky; when I went over, there was actually no one there, so I hurried and bought three cups. They’re all staff recommendations, so I just split them up at random. Is there anything you two don’t drink?”

Jiang Zhou briskly set a cup of milk tea in front of them. Whether they liked it or not, everyone got a share; if they didn’t like it, they at least had to take a few sips. She had worked hard to buy them.

Yu Min was very cooperative. Since she had just eaten, she might as well have something sweet. Jiang Zhou showed her the new bag she had bought, slinging it over her arm, and asked with a half-spoiled, delighted grin, “Looks good, right?”

“It’s okay,” Yu Min agreed.

“No wonder it took so long to queue for this. Look at the workmanship—it’s exquisite, unreal.” Jiang Zhou held up the bag and turned it under the light to inspect it from left to right. She liked it so much it practically deserved to be enshrined. A little later, when they stopped at a red light, she showed it off to Lin Baixin too, afraid Lin Baixin might miss her treasure. “Boss Lin, you’re the expert. Take a look for me—what do you think, is it worth it?”

Lin Baixin glanced at it twice. “As long as you like it, it’s worth it.”

“That’s right, liking something makes it worth a thousand gold.” Jiang Zhou laughed. In no time at all, she steered the conversation toward Yu Min. “Boss Lin, you really get it. Ai, Minmin doesn’t get it. I can’t talk to her about this kind of thing; she doesn’t like these things, and there’s no way to talk to her about it.”

The navigation was turned on again, and they headed toward their destination.

With Jiang Zhou added in, the frozen atmosphere gradually thawed. She chattered nonstop. She really liked bags and had quite a collector’s habit. As she talked, Jiang Zhou suddenly said, “Boss Lin, do you have any new signature items over there? Can I go take a look in a couple of days?”

A customer was practically coming to her doorstep; how could there be any reason to refuse? Of course she could.

Jiang Zhou didn’t want to go alone. She didn’t like being a lone wolf; wherever she went, she wanted someone with her. Turning around, she tugged at Yu Min’s sleeve and asked her to come too.

“Won’t you be off duty by then? Come with me, okay?”

Yu Min didn’t want to go. She still had other things to do during her vacation and didn’t have time.

Jiang Zhou clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, rubbing her palms as she coaxed her. “Please, please say yes. If not, come with me anyway.”

In the end, she still wouldn’t agree. She didn’t spell out what she was going to do; there was no need to explain.

As for why Yu Min wouldn’t go, all three of them knew perfectly well. What else could it be for?

In the rearview mirror, the intimate scene between the two of them was painfully obvious. Lin Baixin couldn’t bear to look at it. After driving a little farther, she didn’t glance back even once. She pretended not to see and kept her eyes straight ahead.

She turned on the music. A gentle violin melody flowed slowly, neither too high nor too loud, but enough to cover most of the conversation in the back.

When they reached the residential complex at the address, the car couldn’t enter the underground parking lot; she could only drop them off at the gate.

Lin Baixin didn’t get out to see them off. Jiang Zhou dragged Yu Min down with her, and the things had always been in Yu Min’s hands. She didn’t let Jiang Zhou suffer even the slightest bit of trouble. Yu Min was thorough and considerate, attentive in every detail; in small matters, she was always perfect.

It was time to start the car and leave. Stopping here too long wasn’t allowed on this road, but the car had been parked for a long time and still hadn’t moved. Lin Baixin sat inside with the windows tightly shut. The two people who had gone off were probably no longer able to make out the interior, and they didn’t turn back even once; not once.

But Lin Baixin could see that side clearly, and she took in every bit of their interaction before they reached the corner—Jiang Zhou walked along while tilting her head to look at Yu Min, teasing and joking with her, then stopped. Caught off guard, she suddenly hugged her.

Yu Min stood still and let her hug her, indulging her. To cooperate, she even bent down slightly. From Lin Baixin’s angle, Yu Min even seemed to raise a hand and wrap it around Jiang Zhou’s waist in return; from afar, it looked exactly like that. Their posture was extremely intimate, more intimate than tonight, more intimate than the last time.