Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 43

That argument, although it brought out the accumulation of long-standing resentments between the sister and brother, might have been a turning point for them—a crisis that led to an opportunity.

Tao Yi’an already held a complex mix of love and hate for Siqi. They were once close; Siqi was the sister he admired, but also the love rival who stole his affection, the irresponsible family member who left without a word, and now an erratic person. This tangled emotional state was probably not something he could digest in a short time. Even though I understood that his anger was directed only at his sister, unfortunately, his sister was my girlfriend, the person who slept beside me every day. All I could do was to avoid stepping on his sore spots; the rest depended on how much interaction he and Siqi could restore.

“He provoked me, and I deliberately provoked him back. His competitive spirit is no less than mine. You must have heard clearly downstairs. Besides criticizing his attitude towards relationships, I even attacked the art field he’s currently dedicated to! He will certainly work hard to prove himself now. Just wait and see, this strategy of mine—using provocation—is definitely going to work!”

…I suddenly felt I shouldn’t hold any more expectations for their sibling relationship. Oh well! Cross that bridge when we come to it!

As for Yiting, I later called her and confessed my relationship with Siqi. She was greatly astonished, unable to imagine how I could be “turned gay.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! I could only explain that I still liked men more, but this time, the person I fell for was “Tao Siqi,” and what her gender was, I didn’t want to care about.

Then there was Siqi. She started contacting Momma Tao—which was a good thing! Compared to their stern father, perhaps starting with their mother was a better idea.

Finally, there were matters between Siqi and me.

The day I accompanied her home, I told her about renewing the lease for the room across the hall, which earned me a roll of her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“‘What’s wrong’ indeed!” Her tone was calm, but her expression was a little upset. I looked at her innocently. She pursed her lips and randomly played a piece of piano music. “We are a couple, right?”

What kind of nonsense question was that?

“Yes, we are! Hey, wasn’t it just a moment ago that someone sweetly declared me to be her girlfriend?” I moved closer to her affectionately. She wasn’t too receptive at first, so I played with her scarf, using the tassel at the end to tickle her cheek. She finally yielded to my teasing and spoke up!

“You can move in with me!” Huh? Was she upset about this? “Wouldn’t that save us a sum of money?”

I knew she would say that. “But I have so much stuff, and although your luggage is minimal, this space is only sufficient for one person. Wouldn’t me coming over every day still count as cohabitation?”

She frowned disapprovingly. “I can organize my things more. Try moving in.”

“No, I don’t want to. A lot of it is books and lecture notes. Besides, I’ve already renewed the lease with the landlord. Going back on my word will make me unpopular!”

She raised her eyebrows and glared at me, as if she wanted to refute but couldn’t find a reason. She pouted, simply dropped the topic, and continued messing around with her photos!

Hey, is she sulking?

No way! Tao Siqi, the woman like the wind, is sulking with me? “Hey! Are you mad? Siqi? Big Beauty? Little Birdy? Goddess Siqi?”

She laughed. “What’s with that ‘Goddess Siqi’?”

“You jokingly call me ‘Xiaoning Princess,’ so of course you’re a goddess!” I continued to tease her, and she immediately burst into laughter, breaking her feigned anger! She simply left the computer chair, and I let her hug me over to the bed. She cupped my face and gave me a passionate kiss without further ado.

Her lips were soft, and her breath carried the aroma of beer… I was pressed down by her, letting her passion run wild on my lips and cheeks. Her kiss this time was particularly aggressive, and she even gave me a bite at the end.

“You have the most excuses… Are you sure you’re not moving in?”

Under her pressure, I was less certain than before. She saw my hesitation at a glance. “You said that place is easy to rent, even if you don’t take it, they’ll surely find a tenant… You said you’re willing to come over every day, doesn’t that mean you don’t really need that room? Move in and live with me, okay?”

“Hmm…” With her persuading me with both soft and hard tactics, it was really hard not to be tempted. “What if I practice my musical instrument every day and disturb you?” A thought suddenly struck me; I hadn’t told her about learning the ukulele yet.

“Musical instrument?”

I nodded, left her embrace, and opened my suitcase, pulling out the buried ukulele from amidst a pile of clothes! “Look! I’m learning this now.”

She widened her eyes in surprise. “I remember you saying your sister was learning it?”

“Hmm, originally she was. But my sister got a bit lazy later, and after climbing Jade Mountain with you… I vaguely felt that I actually really love music.”

I bit my lip. It seemed presumptuous for me to say that when I couldn’t even sing well. “Perhaps it’s because I love it that I once became obsessed with him, the one who could play music… I never thought I would learn myself, but during that trip, I seemed to have found it.”

I caressed the strings of the ukulele. The wooden soundbox felt warm in the cold air. “I found the passion that I had always neglected.”

I strummed a few times without a pick, playing the tune of “Chiisana Koi no Uta” (A Little Love Song), which I had been practicing lately.

I sang a section casually. Even though I missed a few lyrics and wasn’t sure if the words I sang were completely correct, Siqi’s face was flushed, and she seemed very moved. When I finally finished singing, she pinched her nose and applauded softly for me. “It sounds great, your singing.”

“Really? Don’t just flatter me!”

She shook her head. “I’m not flattering you! That Japanese drama was very popular back then, and I roughly remember the meaning of the lyrics… The way you just sang it, I feel like you’re confessing to me through the song.”

Is that why she was so touched?

She smiled and sighed, holding me tightly, resting her chin on my forehead. I took in her breath, feeling that every exhale was pink. “Let you make noise! If I can hear you sing like that every day, I’m willing to be disturbed… Please, come live with me!”

My eyes inexplicably welled up. “You… Oh, you’re so annoying! Doing everything you can…” I wiped away the tears and lightly poked her chest with my index finger. “Fine, I’ll listen to you. I’ll move in with you!”

She smiled contentedly, as if she had gained the whole world.

Although I made the decision, I had already paid part of the rent to the landlord, so I would temporarily keep that room for another month. That was fine; I could take advantage of the remaining lease term to slowly organize my things and fill up her room!

On the first day of the new semester, I received a message from the Man-Faced Fish band’s group chat. They were planning a concert at the school plaza and asked if I wanted to attend.

The time they arranged was in the afternoon, and they planned to sing three songs. I thought about it and decided I could bring my ukulele. I remembered Jack-xuezhang was a musical instrument expert. I had recently hit some bottlenecks in my self-practice, so perhaps I could ask the master for guidance?

I went with Yiting, who looked surprised when she saw me holding the ukulele. I had mentioned it to her before, but hadn’t had a chance to show her. Besides, all her attention was now focused on the person sleeping next to me.

Ever since she found out I was “turned gay,” and I inadvertently revealed that Siqi was Chu, her slight aversion to Siqi immediately vanished. Now, whenever she encounters Siqi, she smiles very flatteringly!

After the turmoil of changing guitarists, Man-Faced Fish’s overall performance had returned to its previous level. Many music fans came to the scene… including Tao Yi’an. But seeing him still felt a bit awkward, so I just waved to him from a distance, and he, deep within the crowd, made no move to come over.

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. They had only finished one song when the rain started pouring down mercilessly! The rain came quickly, and they looked a bit disheveled as they tried to protect their instruments! They could only hastily announce the end of the performance and quickly pack up the speakers, instruments, and other important assets. The guitar was easy to handle, but Jack-xuezhang’s drums and Monk-xuezhang’s electronic keyboard required extreme caution. The driver of the band’s van hurried down to help pack, and the music fans also scattered immediately!

I couldn’t spot Tao Yi’an in the crowd! And Yiting could only manage to hold an umbrella. We were slightly separated by the rush of people. I used my jacket to protect my ukulele and slowly moved towards the most crowded area.

When I squeezed to the side of the van, they had already finished packing up everything. Loser was very surprised to see me. I made eye contact with all of them, except for one person—”Where is Saya-xuejie?”

“Huh! Oh yeah, she was just here…”

The answer was revealed! When she returned to the side of the van holding an umbrella, she was accompanied by the person in the wheelchair—Tao Yi’an!