I Woke Up and Found Myself Married to the Dean - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Ashamed of Her Own Pettiness.

In the end, Wen Qingyan did not let Si Nanyu continue applying the medicine, but she couldn’t escape being “sent back” to her room.

Si Nanyu even asked her in a low, hushed voice as if there were others in the room she was afraid might overhear—”Can you shower by yourself?”

She asked with a distinct air of bashfulness.

Facing this situation actually made Wen Qingyan feel much better. She had assumed “sending her back” meant “supporting her,” which was shameful enough, but Si Nanyu’s behavior suppressed all her other messy emotions. They were suppressed so deeply they couldn’t bounce back.

Consequently, Wen Qingyan’s tone became much more natural: “I can. I’ll just do a quick rinse.”

“You should go rest.”

It had been a busy day. While Wen Qingyan’s ankle hurt, Si Nanyu hadn’t had it easy either—supporting her all the way back, buying supplies, and applying medicine.

“Oh… okay.”

The response was reluctant. Wen Qingyan shot her a quick glance, and Si Nanyu immediately shrank her neck: “Then I’m going to shower!”

When Si Nanyu was the one overthinking, Wen Qingyan actually felt fine. She nodded and returned to her room.

Si Nanyu lingered at the door for a second. She was wondering if Wen Qingyan’s limited mobility meant she might need help…?

The moment the thought occurred, she immediately stomped her foot and shook her head, trying to disperse those “unclean” ideas. She scolded herself inwardly: Si Nanyu, you’re so impure! Your mind is so dirty! How could you… how could you!

Unable to fully control her wandering thoughts, Si Nanyu slinked back to her room. After a while, she dawdled toward the main bathroom with her things.

The apartment had two bathrooms: a small one in the master bedroom with just a shower, and a larger one outside where Si Nanyu could take a bath. She planned to have a long soak. While the water was running, she grabbed oranges from the fridge and warmed two cups of milk.

The milk was, of course, meant for Wen Qingyan too. But figuring Wen Qingyan was likely still showering, Si Nanyu felt it might be awkward to barge in, and if she left it out, it would get cold. So, she simply drank both cups.

Well, she drank one and took the other into the bath with her to “cleanse her soul.” She wanted to make herself pure again so she wouldn’t have wild fantasies every time she saw Wen Qingyan.

What she didn’t realize was that the moment she entered the bathroom, Wen Qingyan walked out of the bedroom.

Her foot was indeed better, though putting weight on it still caused a dull ache. When she saw the milk cups Si Nanyu had left carelessly on the dining table, she stepped a bit too heavily in annoyance, and the pain made her expression turn sour. After a moment, she limped over and washed the cups with a deep frown.

Teacher Wen~ Finished showering? Is your leg better? If you need anything, I can bring it to you.

Si Nanyu used a tilde (~) after “Teacher Wen” to intentionally soften her tone. After hitting send, she ate her orange and sipped her milk, waiting for a reply.

But she received nothing.

Panic set in. She sat up in the bathtub and yelled: “Wen Qingyan!” “Wen Qingyan! Can you hear me?”

Still no answer. Ignoring the fact that she was covered in bubbles, Si Nanyu wrapped herself in a bath towel and rushed out—straight into Wen Qingyan, who was coming to talk to her.

In her haste, she didn’t notice Wen Qingyan’s slightly flushed cheeks, nor did she realize her own state. Her wet hands grabbed Wen Qingyan as she asked: “Why didn’t you reply to my text? Or my shouting?”

“I thought you fell…”

“Next time… next time… you’re not allowed to do that!” Si Nanyu hesitated for two seconds before speaking with rare seriousness.

Wen Qingyan froze for a moment before explaining why she hadn’t replied: “I was washing the cups.”

It was a very obedient answer.

After saying it, Wen Qingyan couldn’t help but frown again, adopting a critical tone: “Next time, remember to wash your cups after drinking milk.”

The burning sensation in her cheeks was uncomfortable. Confused by her own submissiveness, she spoke sharply to compensate. But her momentum immediately weakened.

Because she saw Si Nanyu… and her disheveled towel.

The heat intensified. Wen Qingyan looked away and reminded her in a small voice: “You didn’t have to be in such a hurry. Your towel… is coming loose.”

Loose?!

Si Nanyu instinctively looked down. It was exactly as Wen Qingyan said. Because she had rushed out, the towel was precariously slipping down her chest. If it weren’t for… well, it might have fallen completely!

Realizing she was essentially naked under the towel in front of Wen Qingyan, Si Nanyu’s skin turned red. Her body stiffened for a second before she hurriedly clutched the towel tight. Backing away, she told Wen Qingyan: “Wait for me, I’ll send you back to your room!”

With a loud bang, Si Nanyu slammed the door, making Wen Qingyan’s eyelashes tremble. She hesitated about whether she should just go back to bed on her own.

But Si Nanyu was too fast. She had barely taken a step before the girl burst out again. She was wearing a camisole nightgown not much more covered than before with her wet hair draped over her shoulders.

“Aren’t you cold?” “No. Let me get you back to rest first.” Si Nanyu shook her head and naturally supported Wen Qingyan, not forgetting to ask: “Is it feeling any better?”

“Yes,” Wen Qingyan said succinctly. She didn’t explain that her ankle was much better; her heart was beating too wildly because of what Si Nanyu was wearing.

It wasn’t until she was tucked into bed under the covers that Wen Qingyan finally let out a sigh of relief. She urged her to leave: “I’m fine now, you should go to sleep too.”

“Ah… okay, but wait a second!”

Si Nanyu didn’t “dare” to linger in the bedroom, but before agreeing, her eyes involuntarily drifted to the photograph on the nightstand.

It was, once again, covered by Wen Qingyan. Nothing could be seen.

A flicker of disappointment rose, but she said nothing and left the room. Wen Qingyan saw this and looked at the photo herself. She had covered it again that night after they shared the bed. She knew Si Nanyu had noticed her attempt to hide her emotions.

But it didn’t matter. She wanted to hide it. She didn’t want to face it, yet she couldn’t bring herself to take the photo down.

“Drink a glass of milk before bed.”

Si Nanyu returned with a cup of milk and spoke gently. Surprise flashed in Wen Qingyan’s eyes. She poked her face out from under the covers and asked in a low voice: “For me?”

“Yeah. I wanted to heat two cups earlier, one for you and one for me, but then I thought you might not be out of the shower yet, so I drank mine first because it would get cold~” Si Nanyu rambled as she helped Wen Qingyan sit up.

She warned carefully: “Drink it now while it’s nice and warm. Then get a good night’s sleep. I’ll buy breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“…Mm. Okay.”

Wen Qingyan sat up with her help and answered unconsciously while drinking the milk. Her mind was filled with the phrase “one for you and one for me.”

She couldn’t help but wonder: how long had it been since Si Nanyu had warmed milk for both of them?

“A glass of milk before bed helps you sleep.” “A glass every day is good for the skin; we’ll both be fragrant and soft.”

Those were the words of the Si Nanyu who had moved into a rental apartment with Wen Qingyan two years after university. After saying it… she had personally verified the “fragrant and soft” part.

Finishing the milk, Wen Qingyan fell into a daze, lost in memories. She only gave perfunctory answers to Si Nanyu’s chatter. By the time she snapped out of it, she was alone in the room.

A massive sense of emptiness enveloped her, as it had on so many nights. The only real thing in her hand seemed to be the empty cup.

With a soft clink, she placed the cup on the nightstand. Then, Wen Qingyan got out of bed, went to her vanity, and pulled out a combination box from the bottom drawer.

Without hesitation, she opened the ring box. Two plain platinum bands. One was Si Nanyu’s. The other was the ring Wen Qingyan had hidden away since the day she learned of Si Nanyu’s “amnesia.”

Their wedding rings.

That night, Wen Qingyan’s ring finger didn’t just have a faint tan line; she wore rings on the ring fingers of both hands. They blunted her emptiness and exhaustion, and she slept soundly the whole night.

The next day, Si Nanyu woke up early. Since Paigu wasn’t home, she didn’t need to walk him. She went out to buy Xiaolongbao and various breakfast items, then sat at the table leisurely waiting for Wen Qingyan to wake up.

It would have been better if it weren’t a rainy, overcast day. That would have made the mood even more beautiful. But even a rainy day wasn’t bad, because every day for Si Nanyu was now spent with Wen Qingyan.

She withdrew her gaze from the window, smiled to herself, and began replying to WeChat messages. Although she was getting used to the app, she still missed a lot of notifications, so she checked them whenever she was free.

Most were from Qin Hua, then Shao Ling, and the teacher groups. One stood out: this morning, Tao Yi had sent a mass message to an old group, inviting former classmates to a movie.

This was a group for the Zhennan music specialists, with over a hundred people. Tao Yi’s message set the group ablaze. Everyone was praising the big star or asking for autographs for their kids or partners.

Si Nanyu looked at it and replied politely: “Congratulations.” Tao Yi replied: “Thanks.”

The polite distance made Si Nanyu realize clearly that they had drifted apart. She felt there were many reasons Shao Ling, their different social circles, and perhaps things she couldn’t guess…

Soon, some eagle-eyed people noticed her reply and teased her and Tao Yi, mentioning how they used to be in a band together. As Si Nanyu read on, her heart sank. An indescribable feeling lingered in her chest.

“What are you doing?”

Wen Qingyan had stood behind her at some point. The sudden voice made Si Nanyu jump from her chair. She forced a smile: “You’re awake?”

Wen Qingyan didn’t answer. Si Nanyu followed her gaze to her phone, paused, and then said: “Just now… Tao Yi invited everyone to a movie in the group. I just replied.”

Aside from the three involved, Wen Qingyan knew the history between Tao Yi, Shao Ling, and Si Nanyu better than anyone. But she hadn’t expected Si Nanyu to reply to Tao Yi at this time.

Because she had slept so soundly, Wen Qingyan had been in a daze for a long time after waking. Once fully awake, she had immediately come to find Si Nanyu. She wanted to see her. But she found her completely absorbed in her phone, so much so that she hadn’t even heard Wen Qingyan’s slightly uneven footsteps.

After a hesitant bite of her lip, she asked what she was doing. The answer left her with complex emotions. She couldn’t put it into words, but her gaze burned as she watched Si Nanyu.

Si Nanyu walked over to her, pointed at her ankle, and asked: “How is it? Does it still hurt much? You should have called me the moment you woke up. I sent you a text about it, didn’t you see?”

As Si Nanyu approached, Wen Qingyan stared at her face and nodded hesitantly. She hadn’t checked her phone; she had come straight to find her.

Then she shook her head: “I didn’t see it.” Her voice was slightly raspy as she described her discomfort: “I felt… unwell after waking up.”

Her words were vague. Wen Qingyan meant she felt emotionally unwell, but Si Nanyu thought she meant her ankle.

Si Nanyu turned to find the Yunnan Baiyao, then pushed Wen Qingyan down onto the sofa. She rolled up her pant leg and began applying the medicine just like the night before.

The two were quiet. Aside from Wen Qingyan’s occasional muffled sound of pain, Si Nanyu only said: “Bear with it a little~”

As she spoke, she looked up. Coincidentally, the sky cleared and sunlight poured through the window. Si Nanyu squinted as if something had glinted in her eyes.

When she opened them again to ask Wen Qingyan something, she realized Wen Qingyan’s sitting posture was… a bit strange?

Wen Qingyan kept her lips pressed shut, her heart racing with guilt. Because of the rings she had put on last night… in her rush to find Si Nanyu, she had forgotten to take them off.

She could only hide her hand while Si Nanyu was squinting. Then, she took the initiative to ask: “Are you done?”

“…Not yet, wait a bit longer.” Si Nanyu was indeed led away by the question and lowered her head to finish applying the medicine seriously.

Wen Qingyan let out a breath, but the hand hidden behind her back clenched involuntarily. She looked down at the attentive Si Nanyu. The agitating emotions from before bed seemed to vanish, and she felt a sudden wave of shame for her own pettiness.

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