Although They're Mentally ill, They're Extremely Easy to Comfort - Chapter 32

This apartment offers a spectacular view of the entire Central Park. We can sip hot coffee while gazing at the greenery, watching the sunrise and sunset, as time flows through our fingertips. This place will be filled with all the little moments we share together.”

“Everything about this place is great, except the price is too high!”

“Your presence inside is priceless to me. Our home cannot be measured with money. As long as you love it, it belongs to you.”

“Is filling the walk-in closet with luxury goods your move to woo a girl? Do you really think money falls from the sky? Take them back, I don’t need these.”

“It’s Christmas Day. I’ve never seen a child return a gift to Santa Claus. Are you that concerned about my money?”

“You’re busy with work during the day, dealing with all sorts of social obligations at night, flying around the world every other minute. Where is the easily earned money? You’re just not mindful of your own efforts, but I am mindful of yours!”

“I don’t care. You must accept this heart of mine that wants to give you all the best things.”

“Ling Xi… can we not break up?”

“How much force must our love have to shatter that diamond ring on your finger? It’s because I love you too much that I became greedy for more, and that’s the one thing you could never give me from the start.”

In the fragmented photo frame, they were wearing thin spaghetti-strap tank tops, having a wild pillow fight on the pristine, soft bed. Amidst the scattered goose down, their kiss was frozen in that instant, envying the whole world.

Everything then became shattered and fragmented in the midst of hysterics.

— Nightmare Divider —

Ling Xi groaned in her sleep, holding her head and tossing painfully on the bed. The splitting headache, however, couldn’t pull her away from the constantly flashing fragments of memory.

“Please… let me go… let me go…”

Finally, with a heart-wrenching wail, she opened her eyes. Ling Xi sat up, breathing heavily.

Everything in the dream was beautiful. The woman whose face she couldn’t see was so gentle it seemed like a fabricated illusion, and every word she spoke to Ling Xi contained endless spoiling.

But why, why could a dream without sharp-toothed demons still become a nightmare?

Cold sweat continuously broke out, soaking her pajamas. Ling Xi’s thin, frail back was pressed firmly against the headboard. The lack of security and fear made her curl into a ball in the darkness.

Ling Xi stared wide-eyed at the endless darkness. What she was afraid of, she couldn’t even discern herself.

Who the person in the dream was, Ling Xi had never dwelled on, because the endless fatigue after each waking moment only left her with a nervous breakdown and a blank mind.

Tonight was destined to be another night of agonizing sleeplessness.

“Ding-dong—”

The doorbell ringing at midnight was unsettling, but Ling Xi was listless, like a zombie.

The doorbell rang again and again, as if the person outside wouldn’t give up unless she opened the door.

Ling Xi sighed wearily and dragged her steps to the living room to open the door.

Qiao Bo’er stood at the doorway, completely bare-faced and silent. Her already unreasonably pale complexion looked sickly due to her ailment.

She was wearing a glossy satin nightgown with a bohemian-style linen cape draped over her shoulders, hugging a large bag full of ice cream cones.

Qiao Bo’er grinned, revealing a rare kind of silliness. This smile was completely contrary to her appearance and temperament. But this smile seemed practiced for a long time, only meant to be shown to Ling Xi.

Ling Xi hadn’t recovered from the nightmare. She had no more energy or strength to play mind games with Qiao Bo’er. She merely stepped aside in silence, letting her in, signifying her compliance.

Qiao Bo’er followed behind Ling Xi, then suddenly grabbed her arm, her tone an uncharacteristic plea: “Will you have ice cream with me?”

Ling Xi couldn’t fathom what possessed this crazy woman to show up at her house at three in the morning just to ask her to eat ice cream. It was a willful, infuriating act.

But Ling Xi didn’t mind. The night invaded by nightmares left her feeling immensely helpless, and Qiao Bo’er’s presence actually brought a huge sense of security.

Ling Xi walked straight to the sofa and took the heavy bag of ice cream cones. She skillfully unwrapped one and handed it to Qiao Bo’er, then unwrapped one for herself.

Qiao Bo’er showed no intention of sitting down. Instead, she stubbornly pulled Ling Xi’s hand and invited: “Let’s go to the balcony, we can watch the moonlight together.”

“Okay.”

Ling Xi’s low spirits were gradually magnified in Qiao Bo’er’s world. She toyed with the beautiful hand, then placed it against her face, rubbing it. Lowering her starry eyes filled with confusion and affection, she softly asked: “Who is making my little lazy cat unhappy?”

Ling Xi leaned languidly against the balcony railing, allowing Qiao Bo’er to play with her hand without pulling it away. Instead, she unconsciously stroked Qiao Bo’er’s face, moving along the distinct jawline to the earlobe, kneading it gently.

The soft and pleasant touch of that beautiful cheek made her realize that this moment was real, and she didn’t need to return to the dream to suffer the pain of fragmentation.

“Bo’er, thank you.”

The night breeze rustled, but couldn’t blow away Ling Xi’s melancholic sorrow. Turns out, when she wasn’t being playful and joking, she was this subdued, like an unmoving peak, unable to shake off the loneliness and desolation surrounding her.

That soft yet solemn thank you surprised Qiao Bo’er. She raised her hand to cover Ling Xi’s, her breath catching with a pang of sadness. Closing her eyes and tightly furrowing her brows, her voice trembled with sorrow as she asked again: “Why are you unhappy?”

Qiao Bo’er suppressed the tears that threatened to burst out at any moment. She deeply understood that people who suffered from insomnia at night were always lingering in inescapable pain. The person who brought pain to Ling Xi would eventually become a high mountain she could not overcome.

Strong as she was, at this moment, she lost her confidence.

What Qiao Bo’er didn’t expect was for Ling Xi to lean in. The posture of one hand resting on her cheek changed to cupping her face with both hands.

Ling Xi used the moonlight to try and clearly see the subtle expression on Qiao Bo’er’s face. She cautiously asked in return: “Then who bullied my student and made her unhappy?”

Qiao Bo’er sniffled and smiled through her tears: “It’s my Teacher Ling.”

“Was it me?”

“Mhm…”

“Then if I apologize to you, will you be a little happier?” The smile on Ling Xi’s lips became difficult, but Qiao Bo’er shook her head, an unpretentious, arrogant look: “I’m very hard to appease.”

“Stingy girl, let me treat you to my ice cream.” Ling Xi brought her uneaten ice cream cone to Qiao Bo’er’s face, imitating her tone, gently coaxing: “A woman who likes to bully me told me that eating chocolate turns a stingy person into a happy person. A chocolate ice cream cone has the same effect.”

Ling Xi’s memory had a pathological flaw. Aside from her extensive knowledge of ancient texts and artifacts, she barely remembered anything trivial, but she remembered everything the woman in front of her had said.

Perhaps, the woman before her was inherently special to her.

Qiao Bo’er was slightly stunned, then leaned in and took a small bite of Ling Xi’s ice cream. The smooth chocolate, combined with the rich milk, burst with a flavor like love in her mouth.

She tilted her head, deep in thought. She had eaten so many ice cream cones, but the best one was surprisingly in Ling Xi’s hand. A moist sheen involuntarily appeared in her sunken eye sockets.

The intermittent night breeze brought the rustling sound of the dense foliage downstairs. Qiao Bo’er turned and rested on the railing, gazing at the brightly lit houses across the way.

She parted her lips slightly, and when she spoke, her voice was a choked, ethereal sound: “I am a candy, I want to give it to you to eat, sweet and sour;

If you eat it, you will fall in love with me, it won’t be spicy or bitter;

Do you like me, or are we playing hide-and-seek; sometimes up high, sometimes down low;

Why won’t you say it, say that you love me too, my eyes are raining;

I really want to like you, I really want to devour you; I really want… this is what I’m thinking; just thinking, just thinking.”

The lyrics were a naked confession, the singing drowned in the desolate night.

Ling Xi was the fish that didn’t wake with the spring thunder, the goose that flew south and never returned, the moon at the bottom of the sea Qiao Bo’er couldn’t reach.

The hoarse, choked singing couldn’t stir the heart that was like a stagnant pool, yet every single word was like a polite knock on the door, separated by a heavy, locked gate, attempting to awaken the dying deer hiding inside: “Miss Deer, may I come in? I brought sweet and sour candy, I want to share one with you, I want to share loneliness and happiness with you.”

The crystal tear suspended at the corner of Qiao Bo’er’s eye reflected the moonlight. Her crying, like her singing, was unbelievably quiet.

But don’t forget the fleeting fantasy Ling Xi had at their first glance: Qiao Bo’er was the mellow fine wine in the Burgundy estate cellar, blessed by time.

So, the after-effect came slowly and softly, yet it was distinctively intoxicating.

Thus, the stagnant pool, which had never stirred, rippled with shimmering waves.

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