Frivolous - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Yu Lanzhou opened her eyes. In the reflection of the night outside the window, those beautiful eyes appeared somewhat clouded.

She didn’t say a word.

Chen Ran offered a careful explanation: “Living here… although it’s nice, it feels awkward after all.”

“If you’ve accepted my feelings, then staying here with Yu Zhou around would definitely be awkward. And if you’ve rejected me, then I have even less reason to stay.”

“So I thought… I should move out early.”

“Set a time. Tomorrow is fine, right?”

“What?”

Yu Lanzhou’s eyelids lowered slightly, showing a hint of impatience. “Move out tomorrow.”

If Chen Ran took one step back, Yu Lanzhou would take a hundred, or a thousand.

“Oh, okay,” Chen Ran said, dazed. Her fingers twisted the hem of her pajama top over and over, instinctively yielding to Yu Lanzhou’s will. “Okay. I understand.”

“Anything else?” Yu Lanzhou’s voice was coated in frost.

“No, nothing.” Chen Ran took a few steps back before turning around.

Then, as if remembering something, she turned back again. “Also, about Teacher Ruan. It was my fault for turning off my phone and leaving Beijing without permission, not a failure on her part. Could you… let her continue as my manager? I promise I’ll be obedient from now on.”

“Obedient to whom? Chen Ran, do your words carry even a bit of weight?”

Chen Ran had seen the gentle Yu Lanzhou—the Yu Lanzhou who cried beneath her. So now, when the other woman spoke words so harsh and full of interrogation, tears filled her eyes uncontrollably.

She used her left hand to pinch the back of her right hand hard beneath her sleeve, her voice trembling as she apologized. “I’m sorry, Teacher Yu. I misspoke.”

Yu Lanzhou looked at the person before her crying so piteously. Though she was beautiful, it was ultimately tiresome.

Lowering her voice, she said, “Chen Ran, I really hate it when you cry.” Her tone was thick with apparent loathing.

Chen Ran hurriedly wiped her tears with the back of her left hand, then used her arm when her hand became soaked—she looked utterly wretched.

Thinking back, Yu Lanzhou’s sudden change in attitude happened the moment she mentioned moving out.

With reddened eyes, she said, “I won’t cry anymore, Teacher Yu. Can I not move out? I don’t want to leave anymore.”

Crash!

A glass sculpture in the shape of a violin was smashed onto the floor not far from Chen Ran’s feet. Yu Lanzhou asked, “Where do you think you are? Say one more word and you can get out tonight.”

Chen Ran endured the sting in her nose to look at Yu Lanzhou, finding that the other woman’s eyes had returned to that old expression—the way she looked at the masses, or at ants.

Yu Lanzhou’s words never left room for negotiation.

Chen Ran leaned over to pick up the shards one by one. When she reached the seventh piece, she heard Yu Lanzhou say, “Get out.”

Chen Ran closed her right hand over the shards, kept her mouth tightly shut—her face flushing from the effort—and retreated silently out the door, closing it behind her.

Yu Lanzhou realized her reaction tonight had been excessive. But Chen Ran’s reaction when she heard about the manager change, and that moment of unnaturalness when she saw the message, had been clearly seen.

Yu Lanzhou was certain the person on the other end was Su Ping’an.

Chen Ran had rushed back from Linxi, only to say she wanted to move out on the very first night. Move out for what? To make it easier to see Su Ping’an?

The next morning when Yu Lanzhou woke up, the atmosphere was different. On the dining table sat a bowl of porridge with corn kernels and red beans it looked very much like the “dacha porridge” Chen Ran had mentioned. There were also golden-brown fried spring rolls and refreshing side dishes.

Yu Lanzhou didn’t think much of it and tasted everything; the flavor was quite good.

When she arrived home at 10:00 PM, she saw Chen Ran waiting by the dining table in the spacious living room. On the table was a stew pot, a dish of “Drunken Ribs,” and a plate of seasonal vegetables.

Seeing her return, Chen Ran hurriedly stood up, her hands behind her back, and circled around to her side. “You’re back! Have you eaten? I made ginger chicken porridge tonight, and these dishes were just finished. Do you want to try some?”

Yu Lanzhou shot a displeased look at Xu Wan, who immediately lowered her head. Earlier that evening, Chen Ran had asked Xu Wan about Yu Lanzhou’s schedule. Xu Wan figured that since the two had already gone “that far,” she told her. How could she have guessed they were fighting again?

“Go home.”

Yu Lanzhou’s words felt like a pardon to Xu Wan, who tactfully left.

When only the two of them remained in the living room, Yu Lanzhou asked Chen Ran, “Why haven’t you left yet?”

Chen Ran looked at her with a smile, revealing shallow dimples. “It’s not midnight yet. I’ll leave at 11:59 PM.”

She could retreat, but she would do so with a tug-of-war; she wouldn’t let Yu Lanzhou forget her so easily.

“Are you sick?”

Chen Ran shook her head and smiled again. “Have you eaten?”

“Did you make breakfast too?”

“Yes.”

“A waste of effort.”

Yu Lanzhou ignored her and walked straight upstairs. In her peripheral vision, she saw Chen Ran still standing downstairs in the same posture, stunned and motionless.

At 11:30 PM, Yu Lanzhou heard rustling sounds in the hallway, like a suitcase being pushed and pulled. Then there was a sudden thud—likely the suitcase slipping from a hand and hitting the floor.

At 11:45 PM, Yu Lanzhou opened the living room security camera feed. She saw Chen Ran sitting at the table eating; her right hand was wrapped in gauze, and her chewing movements were sluggish.

At 11:55 PM, the cold meal meant for three had been finished by Chen Ran alone.

At 11:58 PM, Chen Ran stood outside the door with her suitcase and gently closed the door.

The missing sculpture in the study had been replaced. The one smashed earlier was a commemorative piece from when an eighteen-year-old Yu Lanzhou won the Dominator Award at an international violin competition—there were no more than three in the world.

Yu Lanzhou’s fingers lightly traced the neck of the glass violin. She stood up and took the repaired guitar from the cabinet—the one she should have returned to Chen Ran last night. She felt a wave of stifling pressure in her chest.

Opening the window, the scent of earth mixed with rain rushed in. A streak of purple-black lightning rolled across the distant sky, followed by a massive roar of thunder. In the flash of light, Yu Lanzhou remembered the girl from years ago in the mountain forest, soaked to the bone in a white T-shirt, her face pale.

After a moment of silence, Yu Lanzhou began typing in a message box to Xu Wan: Come to my place first tomorrow morning, deliver the guitar to Chen Ran, then come pick up.

A voice kept rising in her heart, asking: Do you really want to wait until tomorrow morning?

Yu Lanzhou deleted the message, found Chen Ran’s address in the employee records, took her keys and the guitar, and went to the garage.

Beijing is huge large enough that the drive from the Yu house to Chen Ran’s residence took 40 minutes. Large enough that when she crossed from Chenghe District to Shiyi District, it was only drizzling.

Yu Lanzhou parked at the entrance of the residential complex, hesitating between going in or turning back.

Under the streetlights in the drizzle, a familiar figure appeared. One hand held a tilted umbrella, the other carried a plastic bag. Her long pink hair was striking in the night. She was wearing white short-sleeved pajama set and was walking toward Yu Lanzhou’s car.

Walking to the driver’s side, Chen Ran knocked on the window. Yu Lanzhou lowered the window and looked at her, preemptively asking, “What are you doing out so late?” She didn’t seem to care about safety at all.

Chen Ran lifted the plastic bag with her gauze-wrapped hand. “I’m afraid of scarring, so I bought iodine. And some other medicine.”

She remembered Yu Lanzhou’s pristine body under the soft lights that night. Meanwhile, for herself, everywhere from the chest down was covered in scars.

“Couldn’t you buy it on your phone?”

“I live right here, it’s close.”

After explaining, Chen Ran asked softly, “Why are you here?” Her tone was charming. This time Chen Ran wasn’t drunk, and she clearly captured Yu Lanzhou’s expression: a bit at a loss, a bit embarrassed.

Yu Lanzhou had come out after a shower, so when she turned her head, Chen Ran saw that small kitten-paw mole on her face again. It was beautiful and moving.

Extremely beautiful. Extremely moving.

Chen Ran craned her neck and kissed her lips. Yu Lanzhou didn’t pull back. The umbrella and medicine in Chen Ran’s hands fell to the ground as she gently cupped the other woman’s neck in the rain, pulling her closer.

Chen Ran tangled her tongue with Yu Lanzhou’s, kissing those pale lips over and over, before carefully nipping at them with her teeth. Yu Lanzhou hummed in slight pain.

Chen Ran’s knees went weak; she couldn’t hold herself up and slid down against the car body. Without bothering to pick up her things, she caught Yu Lanzhou’s gaze and asked, “Are you worried about me?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

Yu Lanzhou handed her the guitar from the passenger seat through the window. “Delivering the guitar.”

Chen Ran took it. “Do you want to come up for a bit?”

She knew the ambiguous weight of those words. What was their relationship? Even having no relationship was fine. She only wanted this moment under the night sky, tonight.

Yu Lanzhou’s voice carried that enchanting quality again. “What is up there?”

“Maybe some moonlight, and me.” From her current apartment, one could see a narrow half-moon. And a broken version of me.

Chen Ran saw Yu Lanzhou’s slender fingers tap twice on the steering wheel, then heard the words: “Get in.”

Chen Ran picked up the umbrella and medicine, scurried into the car like a little rabbit, buckled her seatbelt, and asked, “Where are we going?”

Yu Lanzhou looked at her, her eyes deep with desire, her breath like orchids. “Up.”

An uncontrollable shiver of passion ran through Chen Ran. Below her abdomen, because of that word “up,” a restless agitation began to flow.

Parking spots were scarce; they circled almost the entire underground garage before finding one. Yu Lanzhou was an excellent driver. Chen Ran watched her movements intently. Just before they got out after parking safely, she couldn’t resist kissing the center of her lips again.

After a brief touch, she pulled away. Carrying her things, Chen Ran leaned her shoulder slightly against Yu Lanzhou while waiting for the elevator.

Once inside the apartment, she couldn’t care about anything else. The things in her hands fell to the floor again, and the guitar bag was tossed onto the entryway console.

Chen Ran turned on the hallway light, wrapped her arms around Yu Lanzhou’s waist from behind, and slowly pressed her against the cool wall.

Yu Lanzhou looked down at her hands and said simply, “Stand up straight. I have questions for you.”

Chen Ran immediately let go and stood at attention. “Ask.”

“Weren’t you going to stay in Linxi for a few more days? For whom did you come back so early?”

“You.” Chen Ran’s hands started to wander again, her thumb rubbing Yu Lanzhou’s earlobe. With a heavy gaze, she whispered, “For you.”

“The first night you were back, whose message did you receive?”

So that was it. You were that angry because of this. The same sticking point.

Without a doubt, Chen Ran belonged only to Yu Lanzhou, from her soul to her body. She only wished she could cure the “illness” immediately. “It was Su Ping’an. She said she wanted to meet.”

She pulled out her phone and showed the chat records to Yu Lanzhou, saying urgently, “I didn’t go see her. I knew you wouldn’t like it, so I didn’t go.”

Yu Lanzhou saw the two “I’m sorry” messages. Satisfied, she held out her palm, signaling for Chen Ran to lean her face in.

Chen Ran obeyed. After Yu Lanzhou pinched her cheek, Chen Ran tilted her head to kiss Yu Lanzhou’s palm, then moved along her wrist, the line of her arm, shoulder, collarbone, neck, and further up to the side of her face.

She licked with the tip of her tongue until the mole—the kitten-paw print only she could see turned slightly red. Only then did she move to conquer other areas.

Just as she was about to kiss her eyes, Yu Lanzhou suddenly gripped her neck. Chen Ran heard her say: “No more flirting with others.”

The tone was cold, but the sentiment was warm. Especially since Yu Lanzhou wasn’t applying much pressure. The warmth flowed into Chen Ran’s heart like a stream, making her feel blissful. She loved it when Yu Lanzhou treated her this way.

Perhaps she even wished Yu Lanzhou wouldn’t be so soft-hearted that she could be even more excessive with her.

“I haven’t,” Chen Ran acted spoiled with a smile. Her lips moved down to Yu Lanzhou’s pale collarbone, exhaling hot breath. “I’ve always remembered, Zhouzhou.”

Thinking of the time Yu Lanzhou ignored her, Chen Ran shivered slightly. She said even more firmly, “I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t flirt with anyone else.”

Yu Lanzhou released her hand from Chen Ran’s neck, scrutinizing her.

But Chen Ran stared at Yu Lanzhou’s lips, her breathing ragged. “I… I want to kiss you.”

After two seconds without a response, she asked again, “Can I?” Like someone who couldn’t find a way out.

“Why?”

“I want you. My heart is burning for you.” Chen Ran pulled Yu Lanzhou’s hand and pressed it against her chest, letting her feel the thunderous heartbeat and abnormal temperature.

Yu Lanzhou didn’t withdraw her hand, but simply looked at her with her head slightly tilted. “Wrong answer.”

“I love you.” Chen Ran buried her head regardless, mumbling incessantly, “I love you. Because I love you. Because I love you so, so much. Because I love you so, so, so much.”

With a slight surge of her waist against Yu Lanzhou’s hip, Chen Ran didn’t let go. She asked, “What about you? Do you want it?”

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