I've Been Waiting a Long Time for You to Break Up - Chapter 4

With the help of the moving company, the two of them moved everything out of the rental apartment in an hour and a half.

On the way back, Gu Xiaoshuang kept turning her head to look out the window. Lin Huai glanced over at her, swallowing the words she wanted to say. When they reached home, Lin Huai quickly took all of her belongings upstairs. Six black storage bags and two extra-large packing bags were piled up in the living room, and the two of them were also carrying various odds and ends.

Once the moving crew left, Gu Xiaoshuang looked at the mountain of items with a sense of collapse. She stood there for a long while with her hands on her waist, staring, before feeling a bit guilty toward Lin Huai. “How am I supposed to tidy all this up?”

Lin Huai took the bag off her back and said, “Transfer your money first; we can talk about these things when you get back.”

Gu Xiaoshuang took out her card and waved to Lin Huai, who had followed her out. “I’ll go myself.”

Lin Huai was rearranging her hair; she looked at her with her hand raised, clearly not intending to let her go alone, but Gu Xiaoshuang insisted, “Let me go by myself. I have other things to do. I’m begging you.”

The light from outside the window had shifted to cover a large portion of the floor. Lin Huai watched Gu Xiaoshuang against the backlight. After a while, she nodded and said, “Be back within three hours.”

Gu Xiaoshuang exhaled slowly. Her mind was still a blur, and Lin Huai’s figure looked somewhat shaky to her. She only heard “three hours,” so she nodded and quickly made her escape.

Lin Huai stood at the doorway watching her enter the elevator, then chose without hesitation to go back and tidy up the things in the room.

Gu Xiaoshuang and Jiang Xu were completely finished, and there were still many things to handle in the short term. She could not let Gu Xiaoshuang go out and live by herself.

Lin Huai owned the apartment, so it didn’t matter how many things were piled up. There was a guest room prepared for Gu Xiaoshuang, and the studio space was large enough to hold all the equipment used for filming. She set an alarm and began to tidy up.

Gu Xiaoshuang rushed to the bank before closing time to transfer her funds. She also checked the balance on another card and met with the insurance agent she had always been in contact with to discuss some policies she would no longer renew. Once all of this was completed, she realized she wouldn’t make it back in time. She immediately apologized to the agent and packed up quickly to leave.

Lin Huai often set time limits for herself when doing things; if she couldn’t finish a task before the time was up, she would be angry with herself.

Gu Xiaoshuang knew this and never made Lin Huai wait, but there was too much to handle today; she truly couldn’t make it back within three hours. While waiting for a red light, she called Lin Huai. The person on the other end sounded a bit rushed, asking the moment the call connected: “Where are you?”

Gu Xiaoshuang became even more anxious upon hearing this, fearing she was causing trouble for Lin Huai. “I’m on my way back; I couldn’t make it in time.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and the person seemed to chuckle, their tone no longer urgent. “I know. Don’t rush, drive carefully.”

When Gu Xiaoshuang returned, she was twelve minutes late. Lin Huai was waiting for her in the garage and directed her to a parking space not far away.

After Gu Xiaoshuang parked and stepped out, she asked, “Did you rent another one?”

Lin Huai glanced at her car to see if anything had been left behind while Gu Xiaoshuang was closing the door, and said with a smile, “You rented it.”

“That’s good.” Gu Xiaoshuang held her bag, relieved by what she said.

Lin Huai was a very considerate person. To make Gu Xiaoshuang feel more at ease, she didn’t take it upon herself to pay the rent, but quickly helped her secure this parking space—solving the problem without making the other party feel awkward.

As they walked back together, Gu Xiaoshuang stole a couple of glances at Lin Huai, marveling at how there could be such a mature and perfect person in the world. Even after knowing Lin Huai for so long, she had never been able to learn the traits that the other woman possessed.

When they got back, the meal they had ordered had arrived. As Lin Huai carried the takeout inside, she said to her, “I’ve roughly categorized your things and put them in the studio. You can check them out tonight or tomorrow. Nothing there is urgent; rest for two days first before unpacking.”

Gu Xiaoshuang nodded and couldn’t help but say, “How are you so well-rounded? Why do you arrange everything so well?”

Lin Huai looked up at her with a smile while unpacking the containers. “Helping you tidy up some things makes me well-rounded?”

Gu Xiaoshuang helped take the food out and huffed, “Just you wait and see; there’s no telling how much more you’ll have to help me with later on.”

“There will always be times when I need you, too,” Lin Huai said, handing her a pair of chopsticks. “Do we even need to talk like this?”

They had known each other for five years; indeed, such things were unnecessary.

Lin Huai had ordered home-style dishes, including the king oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms that Gu Xiaoshuang loved. Because she loved mushrooms, Lin Huai had once joked, “Your nickname shouldn’t be Xiao Xiao; it should be ‘Mushroom’.”

After dinner, Gu Xiaoshuang volunteered to take the trash downstairs. Lin Huai raised her chin in permission, her demeanor carrying an indescribable sense of pride.

Gu Xiaoshuang watched her for a long time by the dining table with the trash in hand. The anxiety about being a burden gradually faded, replaced by a sense of ‘dissatisfaction’ toward Lin Huai. “Is this how you treat a guest?”

Lin Huai was wiping the table and looked up upon hearing her. “Is this how you treat a landlord? It seems I have to start charging rent.”

Gu Xiaoshuang was left speechless and turned away with a laugh to throw out the trash.

On the way, she opened her phone. There were no new messages except for a few more from Jiang Xu. Jiang Xu hadn’t made the matter public; the fans were completely unaware, and in the comments of the latest video, they were still talking about the two of them.

Looking at those messages, Gu Xiaoshuang’s eyes moistened. Everyone thought they were good together, and everyone gave them their blessings, yet it had ended this way.

She stood outside for a while longer before returning. Lin Huai was cleaning the house, and Gu Xiaoshuang thought about helping but was stopped by the other woman. “You should go shower first; you know there’s only one bathroom in the house.”

Gu Xiaoshuang didn’t go immediately. She stood by and watched for a while. Lin Huai was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, the loose fabric hanging emptily as she moved, making it seem as if she were so thin she had no body at all. Beneath the hair tied behind her head was a slender neck, with veins moving faintly with her motions.

“Lin Huai,” Gu Xiaoshuang suddenly rubbed her arm and grimaced, “you are so thin.”

“What, are you envious?” Lin Huai was cleaning the floor in the living room and turned her head to look when she heard this.

That wasn’t what Gu Xiaoshuang meant; she felt that Lin Huai was unhealthily thin.

Before going to shower, Gu Xiaoshuang said to her, “You should eat more in the future.”

Even though she, who had to film videos for the screen, hadn’t become as thin as Lin Huai, she knew Lin Huai insisted on working out—which showed some muscle definition—but she was still as thin as a twig.

Because Gu Xiaoshuang had slept during the day, she wasn’t the least bit sleepy. She tossed and turned in bed for a long time, finally deciding to announce the status of her relationship with Jiang Xu. But when she opened her phone, she saw many notifications popping up on Weibo.

Jiang Xu had made the breakup public. Now, everyone following their original account knew the account was in Jiang Xu’s hands, so they came to Weibo to comfort her.

Gu Xiaoshuang had a good personality and treated her fans well, so many of them came to say they would only support her from now on and hoped she would open a new account soon.

She flipped through her archives and found a few unposted transformation and hand-dance videos, but they were all unoriginal. She didn’t want to use those for the first post on her new account.

Finally, after much deliberation, she just posted a Weibo to comfort her fans, saying she would open a new account soon.

She went through the private messages and comments she hadn’t seen yet, and it was nearly one o’clock by the time she finished. As soon as she saw the time, she reflexively threw her phone away, covered herself with the blanket, and closed her eyes, not falling asleep until she heard the birds chirping outside.

She didn’t know that while she was unable to sleep, Lin Huai was also tossing and turning in another room. Lin Huai repeatedly reviewed the comments under Gu Xiaoshuang’s Weibo and checked their old video account. Since Jiang Xu had posted a faceless clarification video, that account had lost nearly 500,000 followers, and the number kept dropping every time she refreshed the page.

Jiang Xu hadn’t deleted the videos on that account. She had never shown her face, and the clarification video was also faceless; presumably, she didn’t intend to use that account in the future.

Jiang Xu’s affairs had nothing to do with Lin Huai, but she was worried that Jiang Xu might do something harmful to Gu Xiaoshuang because her career was taking a nosedive.

For now, everything seemed okay.

Lin Huai put away her phone and sighed before going to sleep, her mind filled with thoughts of the next day.

They both slept late and stayed in bed until the sun was high in the sky. When Lin Huai woke up, it was nearly ten o’clock. She pushed open the door and heard no movement in Gu Xiaoshuang’s room. Since she wasn’t awake yet, Lin Huai washed up and went out to buy groceries.

It wasn’t until the rice was steamed and only the stir-frying was left that there was still no sound from Gu Xiaoshuang’s room. Lin Huai went over and knocked on the door, and a muddled response came from inside.

Then, with a chaotic clatter, Gu Xiaoshuang opened the door with her hair a mess and gave Lin Huai a sheepish smile. “Sorry, my alarm didn’t wake me up.”

Lin Huai was relieved to see she was fine and nodded with a smile. “Wash up and get ready to eat.”

While cooking, she also made a bowl of egg drop soup for Gu Xiaoshuang. Gu Xiaoshuang washed up and sat outside the kitchen waiting for her.

When Lin Huai served the first dish, she asked, “Sitting so comfortably?”

Gu Xiaoshuang hadn’t fully woken up yet. Lin Huai sang a song as she walked by, “Parents don’t expect their children to make great contributions to the family, they’re happy if they just pick up the chopsticks and set the bowls…”

It wasn’t until she went back into the kitchen that Gu Xiaoshuang realized she was being teased. She laughed and followed her in to help set the table, singing as she walked out, “Parents don’t expect their children to make great contributions to the family, all they hope for in a lifetime is peace and safety.”

“You sang that wrong, didn’t you?”

“What’s wrong?” Lin Huai looked over while stir-frying. “I’ll sing whatever I want to sing.”

Gu Xiaoshuang teased her back with a laugh: “Who do you think you are, putting on such airs?”

Lin Huai smiled and said nothing more.

She only cooked two dishes; they both had small appetites, and Gu Xiaoshuang, in particular, had no appetite for food.

While eating, Lin Huai asked, “Do you have any plans to open a new account recently? There’s a shoot I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I couldn’t find a model, so it’s been delayed until now. Would you be willing to model for me?”

As soon as Gu Xiaoshuang heard this, she knew Lin Huai was trying to help her. She took a sip of soup, and as her body warmed up, she hummed softly, “If you beg me, maybe.”

Lin Huai couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m begging you. No one else can really shoot this; I feel like only you can do it.”

“Don’t speak too soon,” Gu Xiaoshuang raised a hand to stop her. “What if I can’t pull it off either?”

Lin Huai just shook her head. “You will.”