Keep My First Kiss Safe For Me - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The TV in the living room was playing various holiday galas as background noise. Fan Yue was sprawled on the sofa, clutching her phone and reading an e-book so intently that she didn’t hear a word Xie Yanyan said to her.

“What are you doing?” Xie Yanyan’s voice piped up out of nowhere. Startled, Fan Yue instantly locked her phone and hugged it to her chest, stammering, “No—nothing.”

Xie Yanyan swept a glance over her. “What kind of novel are you reading that makes you skip meals and sleep?”

Fan Yue tried to laugh it off. “It’s nothing, just reading something random to relax.”

Seeing her guilty expression, Xie Yanyan warned, “Read less of that. Too much of it is bad for your ears.”

“Huh?” Fan Yue blinked stupidly. What did one have to do with the other?

“I asked you twice what you wanted for lunch and you didn’t hear me.”

Uh, she had just been too focused on the “sublime love” between two boys. Fan Yue shifted the blame to the TV: “The singing was too loud, that’s why I didn’t hear you.” With that, she switched the TV off.

It was already the third day of the Lunar New Year. Fan Yue had been living a life of utter comfort these past few days. With a full stomach, her tongue grew sweet as she tried to flatter Xie Yanyan: “Anything is fine. Whatever you make tastes good.”

Just then, her phone rang. Fan Yue answered immediately: “Hello?”

“Hello, is this [My Dearest]?” A middle-aged man’s voice came from the other end.

Fan Yue felt a wave of disgust. Assuming it was a harassment call, she barked into the phone, “Who’s your ‘dearest’? You pervert!”

Hearing the commotion, Xie Yanyan walked out of the kitchen, a bunch of green onions in one hand and a knife in the other.

“Don’t hang up!” the man hurried to clarify his identity. “I’m a delivery courier!”

“Delivery?” Fan Yue thought for a moment; she hadn’t done any online shopping recently.

The man explained, “I’m delivering a parcel. The recipient’s name is written as [My Dearest], and this is the number provided.”

It was her number, alright. Could it have been sent to the wrong person? Fan Yue asked, “Who is the sender?”

The man checked the shipping label and read: “Princess Qianqian.” He also recited the last few digits of the phone number.

It was Xiao Qian. Once Fan Yue confirmed it, she realized the man was working hard to deliver packages even during the New Year. Feeling bad for her earlier attitude, she apologized: “I’m so sorry, I thought it was a prank call. Where are you? I’ll come down and get it now.”

The man had a good temperament and didn’t hold it against her. He said, “I’m at the gate of the Research Institute compound. The guard won’t let me in, so you’ll have to come out and pick it up.”

Fan Yue said “Okay,” and the courier kindly reminded her: “This package is quite heavy.”

“It’s fine, I can carry it.” How heavy could it be?

It was very heavy.

Fan Yue watched as the courier struggled to unload a large cardboard box. She wondered what on earth Xiao Qian had sent her. She dialed Xiao Qian’s number, but there was no answer.

She decided to just get it inside first. Fan Yue used every ounce of strength she had just to move it a dozen meters. Getting it upstairs by herself was out of the question. At this hour, everyone was out visiting relatives for the New Year, and there wasn’t a soul in sight in the compound. She had no choice but to call Xie Yanyan for help.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Yanyan answered quickly.

Fan Yue heard the sound of a spatula clanking against a pan. Feeling embarrassed, she spoke up: “Um, can you come down and help me carry a package? I can’t move it anymore.”

“Oh.” The call ended.

While waiting, Fan Yue tried calling Xiao Qian again, but she still didn’t pick up. Where did she go? And what did she send me? Something this heavy… could it be books?

She took out the key she carried with her and sliced through the tape on the box. She peeled it back slightly to look—it really was books.

Why send me so many books? I won’t even read them. She wanted to see exactly what they were, but Xie Yanyan arrived and immediately grabbed one side without a word. Fan Yue quickly grabbed the other, and together they hauled the large box back home.

Once the box was placed in the entryway, Xie Yanyan asked casually, “What’s this?”

“Study materials,” Fan Yue replied.

Xie Yanyan: “???”

Her look suggested she didn’t buy it for a second.

Fan Yue took a pair of scissors to the tape to prove it to her, but just as she cut it open, her phone rang. Finally, Xiao Qian was calling back. She put the scissors back on the cabinet and stepped aside to take the call.

“What’s up, Yue’er?” It was noisy on Xiao Qian’s end.

Fan Yue asked, “Where are you?”

The surroundings were lively as Xiao Qian raised her voice: “I’m in Bali! I just got out of the ocean, so I didn’t hear your call.”

Being rich was certainly different; she’d flown off to a tropical island for the New Year. Fan Yue could practically hear the waves crashing on the shore, but she stuck to the point: “What is this box of stuff you sent me?”

“Ah, it’s there already? I thought it wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. I didn’t have time to tell you,” Xiao Qian lowered her voice. “Well? Is it a surprise? Do you like it? Tell me I’m the best—I was afraid reading too many e-books would hurt your eyes, so I bought you all this good stuff.”

Sensing something was wrong, Fan Yue turned back to look at Xie Yanyan. The girl was still standing there, and her hand was reaching into the box. Fan Yue asked in a trembling voice, “What… exactly is it?”

Xiao Qian said with excitement she couldn’t hide: “Physical copies of Danmei (BL) novels!”

Holy crap!

Fan Yue dropped the phone and lunged to stop her, but it was too late. Xie Yanyan was already holding one up, arching an eyebrow at her. “Study materials?”

The one she was holding happened to feature two men embracing on the cover. Combined with the title, it was glaringly obvious what kind of book it was. Fan Yue felt as if ten thousand “grass mud horses” were stampeding through her heart, and she silently thanked Xiao Qian’s entire family.

Xie Yanyan pulled out two more. One of the covers featured two half-naked men! Fan Yue’s nose was practically ready to bleed.

Xie Yanyan, however, remained calm. She looked at her with a half-smile. “Is this the kind of ‘little smutty books’ you’ve been reading lately?”

“What smutty books! I’m a pure, innocent young girl, how could I read that?” Fan Yue coughed twice, defending herself: “They aren’t smutty books. That… I was just, you know, doing some ‘research’.”

She reached out to grab the book, but Xie Yanyan used her height advantage and deliberately held it high. Fan Yue jumped but couldn’t reach it. Xiao Qian’s phone kept ringing, so Fan Yue gave up the struggle and answered.

Xiao Qian’s voice sounded nervous now: “What happened? You said your parents went to Sanya, that’s why I dared to send it to your house. Did they find it?”

Fan Yue gritted her teeth and whispered, “My sister saw it.”

“Your sister!” Xiao Qian was instantly embarrassed. “How did she see it?”

Fan Yue rubbed her forehead. “I told her it was study materials.”

Even Xiao Qian didn’t believe that: “How could you possibly be reading study materials?”

True. She had been careless.

Fan Yue sighed. “Forget it, it’s fine. Have fun over there.”

Xiao Qian then hesitated: “Yue’er, my parents want to stay here for two more days. I won’t make it back by the fifth. We won’t be able to spend our birthday together this year.”

“It’s okay. We’ll celebrate when you get back,” Fan Yue comforted her. She and Xiao Qian shared the same birthday; because of this coincidence, they were as close as twins. For the past few years, they had always celebrated together.

“Yeah, wait for me to get back.” Xiao Qian chatted a bit longer about how they would make up for the missed birthday.

After hanging up, Fan Yue noticed that Xie Yanyan had actually flipped through all the books. Could she be a fellow fan? She asked tentatively, “Do you want to read them?”

Xie Yanyan tossed the book back into the box. “I don’t read smutty books.”

If you don’t read them, why did you flip through every single one? And stop with the ‘smutty books’! Dark lines appeared on Fan Yue’s forehead. She warned in a stern tone, “Who’s reading smutty books?”

Xie Yanyan picked one up. The cover showed one man pinning another man down.

Fan Yue: “…”

Great. There was no explaining this away.

With a red face, she stuffed all the books back into the box and said petulantly, “So what if I do read them?”

“Are they all guy-on-guy?” Fan Yue gave a miffed “Mm-hm.” Xie Yanyan said in a very low voice, “Are there no girl-on-girl ones?”

“What?” Fan Yue didn’t catch that.

“Nothing.” Xie Yanyan turned and walked away.

Fan Yue struggled to haul the books into her room and hide them under her bed. One good thing about her family was that Fan Shicheng and Xie Rong respected their privacy; they never went through the children’s things. As for Fan Xinghang, he wouldn’t dare without permission.

After dinner, the two were back on the sofa doing their own thing. Since she’d been caught anyway, Fan Yue didn’t bother hiding. She boldly took out a book and began reading while munching on an apple.

She was reading a campus romance, but after all, fiction was fake. She wanted to “ship” real people. Thinking of this, Fan Yue tossed the book aside and crawled a few steps toward Xie Yanyan. Refusing to give up, she asked, “Just tell me, who does Duan Feiyu actually like?” She had been observing him lately and hadn’t seen him acting flirtatious with any boys.

“Is he not from our school? Which school is he from then?” Fan Yue was dying of curiosity.

Xie Yanyan put down her phone and tilted her head to look at her. “Why are you so concerned about this?”

“I’m just naturally curious.”

“What else are you curious about?” Xie Yanyan really wanted to know what went on in Fan Yue’s head every day.

“Lots of things,” Fan Yue seized the chance to ask. “For example, what’s hidden in that box you keep your dolls in?”

Xie Yanyan was caught off guard by the sudden question. Her expression became unnatural, and she averted her gaze. “Nothing.”

Fan Yue leaned her face in closer, staring into her eyes. “Then why is that doll in there? Wasn’t it broken?”

At this, Xie Yanyan abruptly looked up and met her gaze, intentionally asking, “And who broke it?”

They were very close—close enough to feel each other’s breath. Losing her nerve, Fan Yue backed away and stopped talking.

She was the one who broke it. That doll had been among the things Xie Yanyan brought when she moved in. Once, in a fit of anger, Fan Yue had thrown it on the floor, knocking out one of its eyes. She hadn’t seen the doll since then.

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward, until the silence was broken by a ringtone. Fan Shicheng was calling. He said in a troubled voice, “Yue’er, the weather here changed suddenly. All flights for the next two days have been canceled. We might not make it back by the fifth.”

“It’s okay,” Fan Yue said. “Just come back when the weather is better. Safety is most important.”

“But what about your birthday?” Fan Shicheng was worried about missing his daughter’s birthday.

Fan Xinghang chimed in from the side: “Sister Yue’er, I want to go back and eat your birthday cake!”

Fan Yue laughed and replied, “Do you want to celebrate my birthday, or do you just want to eat cake?”

In truth, Fan Yue didn’t really care about the birthday itself; it was just an excuse to eat cake and get together. As for presents, she didn’t lack anything—besides, Xiao Qian had already given her such a “big” surprise.