After Becoming a Spare Tire, I Got Together with My White Moonlight - Chapter 14

When Yan Guiqiu returned, she vaguely sensed something was off in the atmosphere.

“What’s going on with you two?” She hesitated for a moment at the doorway.

The two people who had been caught in an odd silence simultaneously turned their heads, glanced at her, and shook their heads in unison: “Nothing.”

Yan Guiqiu: “…”

There was definitely something.

But Jiang Xuehe’s expression didn’t seem troubled, and A-Luan was still grinning cheerfully, so she didn’t press further.

“The watermelon you wanted, this was the only size I could find.” Yan Guiqiu set down the watermelon, which was large enough to fill her arms, on the floor. Then she placed a few oranges on the front desk table, followed by a bouquet of bird-of-paradise flowers she had been carrying.

The pink lilies on the cabinet were already starting to wilt, making it the perfect time to replace them with fresh ones.

“How did you know I wanted oranges?” Jiang Xuehe asked.

“I heard you mention it yesterday, and I happened to see them at the fruit store just now,” Yan Guiqiu replied. “Since I was passing by, I brought some back so you wouldn’t have to make another trip.”

Truth be told, Jiang Xuehe had only mentioned it casually and hadn’t actually been craving them that much.

She didn’t voice this thought, simply smiled and took two oranges to wash and slice.

Seizing the opportunity, Yan Guiqiu sidled up to A-Luan and asked quietly, “You didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”

A-Luan, who was rummaging through the bag of oranges, responded with a complaint, “Of course not! I’m always well-behaved, of course I put in a good word for you. Why didn’t you pick up a couple of apples while you were at it?”

Yan Guiqiu retorted, “Didn’t you say you wanted to eat watermelon?”

A-Luan puffed out her cheeks like a balloon. “That was a tactical excuse, don’t you get it? Do I look like the kind of person who makes unreasonable demands?”

Without hesitation, Yan Guiqiu nodded. “Yes.”

If anyone could be described as willful, Miss Luan definitely belonged in that category.

Though her temper was generally good, when she got stubborn, she could be quite a handful.

Having acted as a “mother” to Miss Luan for so many years, Yan Guiqiu knew this all too well.

Just as Jiang Xuehe came out with a plate of sliced oranges, she heard A-Luan let out a “hmph!” before the girl unabashedly came over to help herself to the fruit.

“Compared to me, A-Qiu definitely likes you more,” A-Luan mumbled between bites of orange.

“Why do you say that?” Jiang Xuehe played along.

“Because you seem more reasonable,” A-Luan replied, picking up another slice of orange. After a moment’s thought, she added, “But if you were unreasonable with her, she might actually be happy about it.”

“Really?” Jiang Xuehe turned to Yan Guiqiu with a puzzled expression.

“What does reason have to do with being in love?” Yan Guiqiu declared with unshakable confidence.

“I think you’re being pretty unreasonable right now,” A-Luan remarked.

“How have I been unreasonable to you?” Yan Guiqiu challenged.

“I worked so hard to sing your praises, and yet you couldn’t even spare an apple for me,” A-Luan complained, turning to Jiang Xuehe. “Don’t you think she’s being unreasonable?”

Jiang Xuehe smiled and said, “Next time, I’ll buy some for you.”

Satisfied, A-Luan turned back to Yan Guiqiu. “As the saying goes, ‘One takes on the color of one’s company.’ From now on, you should learn from Xuehe how to be ‘gentle.'”

Yan Guiqiu pushed the plate of oranges toward the two of them. “Just eat your oranges.”

Jiang Xuehe casually moved the registration book on the table aside to avoid any juice splashes. Out of the corner of her eye, Yan Guiqiu caught sight of it, paused for a moment, then turned her gaze back and stared intently at the address written in the last entry.

“Did you buy a painting?” Yan Guiqiu asked A-Luan.

“Of course,” A-Luan said with conviction. “It’s my first time visiting Xuehe’s gallery wouldn’t it be rude not to show some support?”

But the address written down clearly wasn’t A-Luan’s.

The phone number, however, was correct.

Yan Guiqiu glanced at the address again, lost in thought for a moment, but ultimately said nothing and averted her gaze.

Jiang Xuehe noticed her glance and double-checked the address, suddenly understanding a little.

That address was in the neighboring city.

The Luan family lived far from here, so it was hard to say whether Miss Luan had bought a place nearby.

But judging by Yan Guiqiu’s reaction, the address likely belonged to someone else.

The closest possibility was Song Anchen from the neighboring city.

It wasn’t unusual for friends to meet up.

Jiang Xuehe didn’t dwell on it and also looked away.

A-Luan was a lively person, easygoing in conversation, making it hard for the atmosphere to turn cold.

The three chatted for a while, then went out for dinner together. By the time they finished, it was already dark outside.

A-Luan had driven herself over, and it wasn’t convenient to drive back so late, so naturally, she stayed over at Yan Guiqiu’s place for the night. She even enthusiastically invited Jiang Xuehe to join them at Yan Guiqiu’s home, but of course, the invitation was politely declined.

“I have an early start tomorrow morning, so I won’t disturb you both,” Jiang Xuehe said apologetically, then turned to A-Luan. “Feel free to visit again when you have time.”

A-Luan nodded and dashed upstairs, leaving Yan Guiqiu downstairs to talk with Jiang Xuehe.

Both understood that A-Luan had thoughtfully left them some space, but Yan Guiqiu couldn’t help showing a hint of weariness, smiling wryly as she said, “She’s just too energetic.”

“It’s nice to have some liveliness,” Jiang Xuehe replied, glancing up at the tall building behind Yan Guiqiu. “It keeps the loneliness at bay.”

The streetlights had already turned on, but only a few lights were lit in the residential building.

It was unclear whether no one had moved in yet or if everyone was still at work.

The paths ahead and behind were empty, with only the solitary streetlights standing guard.

The sparse dots of stars and lights indeed evoked a sense of distant, vast loneliness.

Both fell silent at the same time.

Yan Guiqiu stared blankly at Jiang Xuehe’s profile, feeling an inexplicable ache in her heart.

It wasn’t that Jiang Xuehe had no friends, but she wasn’t particularly close to many. Unlike Yan Guiqiu, who had friends visiting every few days, Jiang Xuehe almost never did.

There was no hidden reason or anything unlikable about her, it was just that Jiang Xuehe had a naturally reserved temperament and preferred not to get too close to others.

In the story’s plot, she was even colder, almost to the point of seeming unfeeling.

But she hadn’t rejected Yan Guiqiu’s approach, and her smiles seemed genuine. Standing alone in the distance, she resembled a solitary flower, detached from the world.

No one is truly unafraid of loneliness, right?

Yan Guiqiu didn’t know what to say. “I’ll keep you company from now on” felt too shallow, yet she truly felt that when Jiang Xuehe stood there alone, someone should be by her side.

Jiang Xuehe turned to look at her and, seeing her troubled expression, chuckled and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Yan Guiqiu shook her head and said, “I was just thinking how regrettable it is that I couldn’t invite you to my home.”

Jiang Xuehe was taken aback for a moment before replying, “There will be chances in the future.”

Yan Guiqiu saw her off to her car and watched until she drove out of the side gate before turning to go back upstairs.

A-Luan didn’t have a key and was sitting on the steps outside the door, head bowed as she tapped away at her phone screen. The faint white glow cast a pale light on her face, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a horror film.

Hearing movement, she deliberately lifted her head in slow motion, the light shining upward from her chin.

Yan Guiqiu knocked on the door panel, and the motion-sensor light above the hallway flickered on.

A-Luan pouted with a hint of boredom. “You know, being this dull is a surefire way to get dumped.”

Yan Guiqiu replied, “Better than being so childish you get looked down on.”

A-Luan: “…”

A-Luan: “That’s a personal attack.”

“Yes, it is,” Yan Guiqiu said as she opened the door, feeling along the wall to switch on the light. “Why did you send the painting to An Chen?”

“You saw that?” A-Luan answered. “If I said I hadn’t seen her in a while and just dropped by to visit, would you believe me?”

“What do you think?” Yan Guiqiu clearly wasn’t convinced.

Although both were Yan Guiqiu’s friends, Song Anchen and A-Luan didn’t really get along.

One took every word seriously, treating even casual remarks from friends as major life events, while A-Luan was much more relaxed with her friends standing them up or running off mid-plans were regular occurrences, often accompanied by childish antics.

As a result, one thought the other was too careless and indifferent, while the other found the former too rigid and nitpicky.

Their relationship wasn’t exactly bad, they could still chat amicably when they met but under normal circumstances, neither would seek the other out for no reason.

Besides, Song Anchen knew nothing about art. Claiming to visit her for painting appreciation was nothing short of a fantasy.

“Alright, fine,” A-Luan confessed. “A couple of days ago, she called me about you and Jiang Xuehe. She kept feeling something was off about Jiang Xuehe and asked me to come check it out.”

Song Anchen felt far removed from the scheming world of wealthy families. She couldn’t quite put her finger on shrewd people, but A-Luan, having grown up surrounded by intrigue as if it were child’s play, had a much sharper eye. So, she turned to her.

“But she was just worried and told me not to give Jiang Xuehe a hard time in person,” A-Luan added.

That, at least, was clearly unnecessary not only had she not caused any trouble, she’d practically helped usher her right through the door.

There was no way she could tell Anchen about today’s events.

Yan Guiqiu made a mental note.

“I’ll talk to her later,” Yan Guiqiu said after a moment’s thought. “So, what did you think after seeing her today?”

A-Luan asked, “Do you really want to hear my opinion?”

Yan Guiqiu replied, “Since you’re already here, might as well not let the trip go to waste.”

A-Luan grabbed a cushion from the sofa, tilting her head as she pondered. Then she said, “I don’t know what exactly you like about her, but I can understand why you do.”

“As for what kind of person she is, I can only say I don’t dislike her. If we got to know each other, we’d probably get along fine she seems genuinely reasonable. Definitely easier to deal with than Song Anchen, at least.”

Yan Guiqiu gave a wry smile.

A-Luan propped her chin on her hand, studying Yan Guiqiu’s expression for a long moment before adding, “You really want her.”

Yan Guiqiu froze for a second.

“Ah Luan seemed to casually toss out this remark, her fingers still tapping randomly on the edge of the coffee table, but her words were sincere and carried a hint of surprise: ‘This is the first time I’ve seen you ‘want’ something.'”

This was something Song Anchen couldn’t comprehend, yet A-Luan could grasp it.

People like them either came from excellent family backgrounds, possessed remarkable abilities, or had very few desires. Satisfying their wants was easy once a thought emerged, the outcome was within reach. That intense feeling of anticipation would gradually wear away day by day.

When A-Luan graduated from high school, her father forced her to become engaged to the son of a family friend. It was the first time she had so fiercely resisted her father’s authority, even threatening to take her own life.

Looking back on it later, that young man wasn’t a bad person. Her father had deliberately screened him for her, his character and appearance were both outstanding. A-Luan wasn’t opposed to relationships or even marriage. If she had been introduced to him under different circumstances, she might have gladly accepted.

But at that very moment, her longing for “freedom” surpassed everything, including her life.

If she couldn’t have the right to freely choose “yes” or “no,” death would have been a relief.

Such intense emotions had appeared only a handful of times in her life so far. Looking back now, those actions seemed ridiculously extreme, but she had never regretted them. Deep down, she knew that if given another chance, she would make the same choices.

It wasn’t just for the sake of “freedom” itself, but for the rare and powerful emotion of “wanting” itself.

Yan Guiqiu was far more sensible than her and much less extreme.

But her desires were even fainter than A-Luan’s.

It seemed as if there was nothing in the world she couldn’t let go of, nor anything she wanted so much that she would naturally show favoritism.

“Jiang Xuehe” and “liking” were the first.

When something so rare appeared before her, not reaching out to grasp it would surely lead to a lifetime of regret.

So A-Luan didn’t hesitate to support Yan Guiqiu.

Song Anchen’s concerns weren’t unfounded, but that was a matter on another level something no one else could interfere with except the two of them.

“If you don’t want to hurt each other, then learn how to truly like someone,” A-Luan said, wagging her index finger with a tone of earnest advice. “The subject of love is full of profound knowledge.”

An experienced person.

Yan Guiqiu suddenly realized that the person in front of her was a genuine love expert.

Noticing Yan Guiqiu’s wavering expression, A-Luan leaned in mysteriously: “I just found a complete guide to love secrets. Want it?”

Yan Guiqiu: “…”

It sounded utterly unreliable.

Looking up at A-Luan’s excited, glowing expression made it seem even more untrustworthy.

Love makes people’s IQ drop to negative.

That saying might not be entirely accurate, it should be revised to “even when you know it’s unreliable, you still willingly jump into the pit.”

But,

For Jiang Xuehe.

Yan Guiqiu finally nodded with difficulty: “I want it.”

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