After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Uninvited Guest

The blanket was placed on the straightened bed. Shen Ying carefully arranged the corners of the blanket, then lay down on the other side of Song Zhi, covering herself with another blanket.

Song Zhi’s quiet whimpering stopped the moment her back hit the bed. The sweat on her forehead gradually dried, and no more came out.

Shen Ying placed the back of her hand against Song Zhi’s hand and forehead.

They were both slowly warming up.

The rain outside was a soft murmur. She had thought she would have to get through another night awake with her eyes closed. But as she listened to Song Zhi’s light breathing beside her, her heart, which had been restless on rainy nights, slowly calmed down.

Then her vision slowly went dark.

What she didn’t know was that the moment she closed her eyes, Song Zhi, who was lying beside her, suddenly opened hers.

Those eyes that always curved into a smile looked blankly at the side of Shen Ying’s face. Her gaze traced Shen Ying’s features, and only after a long time did she close her eyes again.

Song Zhi wanted to go downstairs, but no matter how hard she tried, her feet wouldn’t lift. She took a step, and a woman holding an umbrella walked up the stairs.

She felt it was strange. Why was this woman holding an umbrella indoors?

The woman with the umbrella walked up to her. She looked up, confused.

Two trails of blood slowly flowed from the lower half of the woman’s face.

Then, her bloody, all-white eyes suddenly came right up to Song Zhi’s face.

Song Zhi tilted her head back, about to kick her away, when the woman said mournfully, “Why aren’t you dead yet?”

The stairs under her feet suddenly started to spin, turning into a cliff. The step she had just taken became a premonition of her death.

She stepped into an empty space and fell down the cliff.

Song Zhi: “!”

Song Zhi’s eyes snapped open. The bright white ceiling appeared in front of her.

She propped herself up and sat on the bed, panting heavily. Her pounding heart slowly calmed down, and the cold sweat on her forehead gradually dried.

The woman’s bloody face repeatedly appeared in her mind, finally overlapping with a face from her memory. It was also covered in blood, but the blood was mixed with shattered fragments.

Why am I dreaming of her again?

Song Zhi pressed on the bed, ready to get up.

The bed?!

Song Zhi suddenly realized.

How did I get into the bed?

Where is Shen Ying?

She threw off the blanket and got out of bed, running around the room for a while until she ran into Shen Ying, who had just returned, at the doorway.

Song Zhi’s eyes curved. “Shen Ying, how did I get in the bed?”

Shen Ying turned her head away, not looking at her bright smile. “You climbed in yourself in the middle of the night. I couldn’t very well kick you out.”

Song Zhi said, “Then how did I get the blanket too?”

Shen Ying didn’t answer, just said coldly, “Move.”

Shen Ying had thought about it yesterday. According to the current situation, she couldn’t just forcefully kick Song Zhi out. She was too soft-hearted.

So she would make Song Zhi leave on her own.

Song Zhi was like an easily bullied fool. Without a word, she softly moved aside, a silly smile still on her face.

This was exactly what Shen Ying had planned, but seeing her like this, she felt an inexplicable sense of impatience.

No! I can’t keep doing this.

Song Zhi naturally knew that Shen Ying had carried her to the bed. When she said that, she was just being insincere. She was too shy.

That’s okay. She wasn’t shy at all.

Shen Ying went into the kitchen to cook, and Song Zhi instinctively grabbed the vegetables to wash them.

Shen Ying told her to put them down, saying she was going to cook them with all that washing.

Song Zhi turned to wash the dishes.

Shen Ying told her to stop, saying she would poison them if she added any more dish soap.

Song Zhi, Song Zhi, Song Zhi finally just stood to the side, staring intently at Shen Ying.

Shen Ying told her to leave.

Song Zhi said she wouldn’t.

Shen Ying ignored her.

Song Zhi stood by and watched Shen Ying work, learning that vegetables didn’t need to be washed ten times, or soaked. Dishes only needed two squirts of dish soap, not the whole bottle.

Song Zhi promised with all seriousness, “I’ve learned now. I’ll help you.”

Shen Ying’s voice was flat. “It’s okay. You don’t need to help.”

Song Zhi pouted, her eyes welling up with tears.

Shen Ying: “…”

She turned her head away, not looking at her.

Song Zhi’s attack plan was ineffective. She sniffled and swallowed the tears that had already started to roll.

After that, wherever Shen Ying’s gaze went, Song Zhi’s face would pop up.

No matter where she was.

Shen Ying still didn’t speak, focusing on her cooking. As soon as the food was done, Song Zhi took the dishes to the table.

Then she waited eagerly by the stove.

Shen Ying said, “You’re not good at anything else, but you’re very proactive about eating.”

Song Zhi, seeing that she was willing to talk to her, happily agreed. “I think so too.”

She didn’t care what Shen Ying said. Everything Shen Ying said to her was just one phrase in her ears:

She’s willing to talk to me now.

If she had a tail, Shen Ying felt it would be wagging right now. This made Shen Ying want to tease her a little. “I think the food at the first restaurant on the west side tastes good. Have you ever eaten there? What do you think?”

Song Zhi nodded frantically. If she had a tail, it would be wagging now. “I think so too.”

Shen Ying chuckled and didn’t say anything else.

Song Zhi looked at her blankly. Under the warm light, the red mole on her eyelid was like a flame, scorching her heart.

Song Zhi subconsciously turned and walked out. “It’s a bit hot in here. I’ll wait outside.”

To make it more believable, she even fanned herself with her hand as she walked out.

Shen Ying said, “Wait.”

Song Zhi thought, If you tell me to stop, I stop, then I’ll lose face. So she kept walking forward with her head down.

“Thud!”

Song Zhi clutched her head and took a step back, dizzy, before she saw what had made the lump on her head.

Shen Ying said, “I told you to wait just now.”

Song Zhi looked at the wall with a mournful expression.

She had her head down and didn’t see the wall. Whose fault was it?

The wall’s fault.

Song Zhi clutched her head, her voice muffled. “How was I supposed to know?”

Shen Ying paused. “What’s wrong?”

Song Zhi’s tone was lifeless. “I’m disfigured.”

Shen Ying turned off the stove, pulled Song Zhi, who refused to take her hand off her head, and had her sit down in the living room. Then she went back to the room to get medicine.

She looked at Song Zhi, who was holding her forehead tightly. “Take your hand away.”

Song Zhi clutched her head stubbornly. “I don’t want to.”

Shen Ying softened her tone. “I’ll put some medicine on it for you.”

Song Zhi looked up and shook her head like a rattle. “I don’t want to.”

Shen Ying said, “Why?”

Song Zhi pouted. “Because I’m disfigured.”

Shen Ying sighed to herself. So this one was a bit of a vain person.

She tried to scare her. “You’re not disfigured now, you’re still beautiful. But if you don’t put medicine on it, I’m not so sure.”

Song Zhi hesitated, her eyes darting around the room. “Really? I need to look in a mirror.”

Shen Ying said, “There’s no mirror in the house.”

Song Zhi met her gaze. “There is one in your room. I even looked in it yesterday.”

As soon as she said it, Song Zhi shut up.

What kind of good person would get caught secretly looking in a mirror?

Shen Ying couldn’t help but find it funny, but her face remained cold. “I accidentally broke it today.”

Song Zhi looked up. “Really?”

Shen Ying nodded. “Really.”

Song Zhi said, “Then I’ll put it on myself.”

Shen Ying gave her the medicine and turned around under her hesitant gaze.

Song Zhi touched the lump on her head and let out a soft gasp. She looked at the red medicine and couldn’t bear to put it on her beautiful face.

But if she didn’t put on the medicine, she might really be disfigured.

She couldn’t let such a beautiful face be ruined.

She secretly put a few drops on her hand and was about to dab it on her head, like a martyr.

Shen Ying suddenly said, “I got you a mirror.”

Song Zhi’s hand trembled, and the red medicine instantly splattered on her forehead. She anxiously tried to wipe it off. “Don’t turn around!”

The mirror was handed to her, and she, with her hand covered in the red medicine, tried to cover her face.

Shen Ying lowered her long eyelashes. “I’m not looking.”

They were both silent for a moment. Shen Ying didn’t want the atmosphere to die like this. She liked the feeling of talking to Song Zhi. So she started a conversation. “The water meter has been having some problems these past two days. I’ve asked someone to come fix it. If I’m not here, remember to open the door for them.”

Song Zhi, carefully looking at her and secretly holding up the mirror, said, “Okay.”

Then she saw a bright red patch on her left cheek.

She was startled and quickly covered her face. “I’m going to go wash my face.”

At this moment, she hadn’t forgotten to take the mirror with her.

Song Zhi scrubbed her face hard, until it hurt. But the color on her face was completely unharmed, except for being even brighter.

Shen Ying saw her come back with her face covered and felt a bit amused, so her lips curled into a smile.

This smile was seen by the crestfallen Song Zhi, who had her face covered. She said in disbelief, “You’re laughing?”

Shen Ying quickly returned to her usual expression. “It seems like it won’t wash off.”

Song Zhi was discouraged. “It’s not ‘seems like.'”

Seeing that Shen Ying was about to laugh again, she glared at her angrily. Shen Ying composed herself.

Song Zhi stared at her for a while.

Shen Ying’s eyes, which seemed to hold affection, were also gently staring at her.

Song Zhi was stunned for a long time before she cleared her throat and said awkwardly, “If you want to laugh, just laugh.”

Shen Ying didn’t do as she wished. “Eat.”

Song Zhi was uncomfortable again. She covered her face, and her eyes, which weren’t covered, looked a little mournful.

Shen Ying pretended not to see. “You don’t want to eat? Then I’ll go.”

Song Zhi gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll eat.”

Shen Ying said, “How can you eat with one hand?”

Song Zhi said, “I can still eat with one hand.”

Shen Ying laughed again, and after she laughed, she realized she had just abandoned what she had said to herself before.

So she immediately stopped laughing and returned to silence and coldness.

This was demonstrated by: when Song Zhi acted silly with her face in her hands, Shen Ying’s gaze would flatly shift somewhere else.

When Song Zhi called out to her, she wouldn’t respond. She would just silently walk to Song Zhi’s side. If it wasn’t something serious, she would turn around and float back to where she came from, like a ghost, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.

This went on for three days. The two of them didn’t say a word. Song Zhi, perhaps because she was so rattled, wore a mask and occasionally looked in the mirror, and didn’t talk much either.

This made her feel a sense of relief.

Song Zhi knew that writing for a journal was a busy job, but she didn’t expect Shen Ying to be so busy that she didn’t have time to pay attention to her for a few days. Seeing how busy she was, she felt too embarrassed to bother Shen Ying constantly, so she was quiet for a few days.

That night, Song Zhi insisted on helping to wash the vegetables. Smelling the aroma from the pot, she felt a little greedy. “What are you stir-frying in there?”

Shen Ying said, “What did you wash?”

Song Zhi’s clear, black-and-white eyes were full of a sense of righteousness. “I forgot.”

Shen Ying didn’t say anything. She lifted the pot lid and used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of pork rib.

She held it up to Song Zhi’s mouth, gesturing for her to open up.

Song Zhi opened her mouth. “Ah.”

She didn’t know what had been put in the pork ribs, but there was no fishy smell, only a fragrant aroma that kept wafting into her nose. Just as Song Zhi was anticipating the bone rolling into her mouth, Shen Ying moved the food away. She looked at her with a flat expression. “Blow on it.”

Song Zhi quietly said, “Oh,” and blew on it. When she opened her mouth again, thinking she could finally eat it…

“Bang, bang, bang.”

Someone was pounding on the door.

Song Zhi said, “Are you having a friend over?”

Shen Ying said, “No.”

Song Zhi reluctantly went to open the door, telling Shen Ying not to forget about the pork ribs she was so longing for.

The banging on the door was still going on. In the old residential area with poor sound insulation, the sound of the neighbor’s door opening was particularly obvious.

The neighbor’s auntie from across the hall yelled, “What the hell! What are you banging for so late at night?”

A man’s voice, very close to the door, said, “F*ck you! You got a problem with that?”

Song Zhi inexplicably felt like the voice was familiar.

Support After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary