Dating Myself - Chapter 47

An Mu glanced at Chen Han, recalling the lie she had fabricated about liking Chen Han. Although she had later said she no longer liked her, Jian Yixi seeing her with Chen Han would surely make her suspicious again.

This just goes to show: don’t lie if you don’t have to. Even the briefest lie can leave endless complications.

Fortunately, the current situation wasn’t too bad. Jian Yixi trusted her, so clarifying things would be fine.

An Mu calmly opened the door. Jian Yixi subconsciously clutched the cake box in her arms. The moment she saw An Mu, her eyes shone brightly like stars.

An Mu smiled, opening the door wide and stepping aside.

“Come inside first.”

The familiar tone and gentle voice assured Jian Yixi that An Mu was still the same An Mu. She hadn’t become distant after more than two months apart; everything was as usual. Jian Yixi’s tense posture relaxed, her smile grew brighter, and the characteristic little dimple blossomed beside her lips. Her voice was light and cheerful.

“Aren’t you surprised? Are you excited? I made a special trip…”

Jian Yixi was talking as she walked in, but her words immediately halted when she saw Chen Han right behind An Mu. After a stiff pause, she forced out the rest of her sentence:

“To… to celebrate your birthday.”

“I am especially surprised, truly.”

An Mu took the cake box from her, placed it casually on the shoe cabinet, and offered her a pair of guest disposable slippers.

Chen Han smiled and extended her hand: “Hello, I’m Chen Han.”

Jian Yixi looked at the slippers by her feet, then at Chen Han’s long, beautiful hand, and finally, her eyes settled on the necklace around Chen Han’s neck.

The atmosphere was awkward. Chen Han held out her hand, but Jian Yixi stood rooted to the spot.

Before An Mu could intervene, Chen Han smiled and gave a small shake of her hand.

“Is my hand very dirty?”

Jian Yixi was startled. Her gaze finally moved away from the necklace, and she instinctively shook her head.

Chen Han then took the initiative to lightly grasp her hand and shook it. “You must be Jian Yixi? It’s nice to meet you.”

“I… I’m happy too.”

After changing into the slippers and coming inside, Jian Yixi’s nerves, which had just relaxed, tightened again, making her even more awkward than before.

Chen Han’s phone rang at the perfect moment; the supermarket delivery person had arrived.

“I’ll go downstairs to get the groceries.”

Since she was the guest, An Mu offered, “I’ll go instead.”

Chen Han had already picked up her high heels from the shoe cabinet. While changing, she said, “It needs an electronic code; it’s better if I go. Besides, Jian Yixi just arrived. You should spend some time talking to her.”

Her tone was so intimate it was as if she were a co-hostess. Jian Yixi, sitting stiffly on the sofa, became even stiffer.

With a click, the door closed, and the sound of Chen Han’s heels disappeared outside. Jian Yixi didn’t relax because of her departure; her back remained straight on the sofa, and she had even forgotten to take off her backpack.

An Mu came over and naturally helped her take off the backpack. Only then did Jian Yixi somewhat regain her composure.

“I… I came to celebrate your birthday.”

“And you have the nerve to say that? Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday? Are we not friends?”

“I… I was at home then, right? And neither of you was around. Even if I told you, it would have been…” Then she realized what she’d said and her eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me either! You’re making a false accusation!”

Seeing that she was finally a little more animated, An Mu, uncharacteristically, smiled and called her a “silly girl,” gently rubbing her soft, dark hair.

“If I’m silly, why are you touching me? Aren’t you afraid of infection?”

Jian Yixi finally laughed, though it was still a little forced. She pulled open her bag strap and started pulling things out.

“Look, I just bought a whole chicken, woolly chestnuts, eggs, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and Shanghai greens. You should have seasoning at home, right? If not, I’ll go buy some, and a piece of ginger too; I forgot to buy that. I’m making you three dishes and one soup. The two of us will definitely…”

She paused, then corrected herself: “The three of us will definitely have enough.”

—She was clearly still bothered by Chen Han.

“I don’t like her,” An Mu stated.

“Mmm, I know, I didn’t say you… Eh? What?”

Jian Yixi looked up, her round, dark eyes like clear morning springs, filled with transparent confusion.

“I said, I don’t like Chen Han. I only pulled Chen Han in as a buffer before because Maomao kept pestering me. The truth is, I don’t like anyone, and Chen Han and I are purely just friends.”

“Really? Then, then…”

Jian Yixi’s gaze fell on the Mobius necklace around An Mu’s neck.

An Mu touched the necklace, got up, and picked up the express packaging that she hadn’t had time to throw away.

“This is a birthday gift from my childhood friend, Liang Sirui, the one I mentioned to you. It just happened to clash with Chen Han’s gift.”

Jian Yixi carefully examined the label on the packaging bag. Her face broke into a smile she couldn’t suppress, no matter how tightly she pressed her lips together.

“Ahem, well, you didn’t have to show me; I believe you.”

—If you didn’t smile so furtively, I would believe you.

An Mu didn’t bother to expose her.

“I know. I just let you see it since the packaging hadn’t been thrown away yet.”

Since she couldn’t hide her joy anyway, Jian Yixi gave up trying to pretend. She beamed, unzipped an inner pocket of her backpack, and pulled out two braided red string bracelets. One had a mini koi fish pendant, and the other had a mini “Guaranteed Pass” charm (保過符). A few small clear beads decorated the knots.

“This is the birthday gift I prepared for you. It’s not valuable, but I learned to braid it myself. It’s the thought that counts, right? One for each of us. You pick one.”

An Mu thought for a moment and chose the “Guaranteed Pass” charm. Jian Yixi, without a word, took the bracelet and slipped it onto An Mu’s wrist. With two pulls, she tightened the knot. The China-red string circled An Mu’s fair, pale wrist, looking exceptionally beautiful.

Jian Yixi fiddled with the small, adorable “Guaranteed Pass” charm, which was smaller than a fingernail, and proudly claimed the credit.

“You’ll definitely get into Tsinghua. I personally gave this ‘Guaranteed Pass’ charm its blessing (开光)!”

“You?” An Mu teased. “Which nunnery are you the abbess of?”

“You’re the nun! Sincerity makes it work, you know? I was super sincere when I braided it! It’s definitely effective!”

“If I don’t get in, I’ll come and hit you, you little nun thief.”

“You said it! Then if you do get in, you have to call me ‘Sister’ three times! No, three times is too little. You want to hit me and call me a nun thief? Three times isn’t enough. You have to call me ‘Sister’ for three days!”

An Mu ignored her, picking up the other small koi red string and putting it on Jian Yixi.

“An Mu, I’m talking to you. Do you dare agree? I’m older than you anyway, so calling me ‘Sister’ is no loss for you.”

—You’re seventeen, I’m twenty-nine. Is that no loss for me?

An Mu changed the subject.

“Were you sincere when you braided the koi fish?”

“Of course, I was sincere.”

“Then… the ‘Guaranteed Pass’ charm is for definitely passing the exam. What does the koi fish represent?”

“Does that even need to be said? Of course, it’s good luck!”

Just as she finished speaking, Jian Yixi suddenly remembered.

“You said you don’t like Chen Han. Then who were you talking about that night at my house?”

“It was no one. I was humoring you. You and Maomao are both so naggy and annoying, you know? I kept saying I don’t like anyone, but you two kept asking. What could I do? I had to make up some fictional person so you would stop.”

Jian Yixi wrinkled her pink nose and lowered her eyes, a little embarrassed.

If An Mu had said this at the time, Jian Yixi might not have believed it; she might have been even more convinced that An Mu liked her. Now that they were separated, it actually increased the statement’s credibility. After all, if An Mu truly liked her, she wouldn’t have been willing to leave Weicheng, and if An Mu did have someone she liked, she wouldn’t need to hide it from Jian Yixi.

It seemed An Mu truly didn’t like her, nor did she like Chen Han.

If she didn’t like her, they could be friends for life.

If she didn’t like Chen Han, there was no need to worry about An Mu being hurt by Chen Han again.

The gloominess from before vanished. Jian Yixi’s spirits lifted significantly. She took out Maomao’s gift, then excitedly ran to the entryway to retrieve the cake, carefully opening it to check. Thankfully, the cake was perfectly intact; only the edge of the box had a little cream on it, which didn’t affect the whole thing.

“We’ll eat this at midnight. Otherwise, it won’t be fresh if we leave it out all night.”

After checking the cake, Jian Yixi carried the chicken, chestnuts, and other groceries into the kitchen. She first searched everywhere for seasoning. An Mu’s kitchen was fully stocked, including all the seasonings. An Mu’s mom had recently bought them, as she had originally intended to hire a nanny to cook for An Mu regularly, but An Mu had refused.

Watching Jian Yixi clumsily handling the featherless chicken, An Mu found an apron and tied it around her. After two months, Jian Yixi had lost a lot of weight. Her slightly chubby stomach was now flat, and the curves of her waist were noticeably concave. An Mu felt, though it might have been her imagination, that she might have also grown a bit taller.

An Mu instinctively pinched her waist, though she couldn’t see the flesh. It was still possible to pinch a little—a common situation for most homebodies, where even a little bit of flesh could feel soft and easy to pinch due to lack of exercise.

“You seem to have lost weight.”

“The stress of studying. That’s normal. I think you’ve lost some weight too.”

Jian Yixi’s ears were flushed pink. She was busy tearing open packaging bags and didn’t even look at An Mu.

An Mu reached out to help, but Jian Yixi bumped her away with her elbow.

“I told you not to bother me. Don’t cause trouble.”

An Mu genuinely didn’t know how to cook, so she was happy to sit back and chat with her.

“Did you take the high-speed rail?”

“No, the high-speed rail is too expensive. I took the green-skin train (older, slower train).”

The green-skin train would take at least seven or eight hours to reach the West Station, but the ticket price was indeed much cheaper than the high-speed rail.

“When did you get on the train?”

“Around three in the morning, but I left home at eleven. It’s safer to arrive at the station early, and I was also worried about not being able to find a taxi in the middle of the night. Maomao originally wanted to come too, but she doesn’t dare stay out overnight. Her mom would break her legs.”

Eleven o’clock…

An Mu remembered Maomao shouting about grades in the group chat at eleven last night. Was she deliberately covering for Jian Yixi?

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I saw you chatting with Maomao last night.”

Jian Yixi kept her head down, huffing and puffing as she washed the pitiful, plucked chicken. Her ears were still bright pink.

“I just wanted to give you a surprise.”

“Alright, you win. How many days off did you take?”

“Two days. The train leaves tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll get home around eleven or twelve. It won’t affect my sleep.”

“Cancel your ticket. I’ll buy you a high-speed rail ticket.”

“No need!” Jian Yixi finally turned to look at her, her cheeks the same peach pink as her ears. “I planned everything out perfectly. Don’t worry about it. Don’t you have another exam tomorrow? Go study. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

An Mu was about to insist when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.”

The moment An Mu turned around, Jian Yixi quickly wiped her wet hands on her apron and forcefully rubbed the side of her waist that had been pinched, finally managing to rub away the lingering sensation. She leaned forward against the sink, letting out a silent sigh of relief.

—What is wrong with me?