Keep My First Kiss Safe For Me - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The summer break before the final year of high school was ruthlessly compressed. Fan Yue spent her days painfully attending extra classes while counting down the days until the final exam results were released.

The competition between the aspiring college student and the first-grade elementary student—who was still struggling with pinyin and basic characters—finally ended with Fan Yue’s unprecedented victory, ranking in the top twenty of her class. At the dinner table that weekend, Fan Yue accepted the red envelope containing 1,000 yuan in cash from Fan Shicheng with a triumphant air, looking quite smug at the disgruntled Fan Xinghang.

That night, Xie Yanyan asked Fan Yue to bring her graded test papers to her room. Although the teachers had already gone over them, the classroom explanations were brief. Xie Yanyan wanted to pull out some key points to review with Fan Yue one more time. However, Fan Yue, having just tasted the sweetness of progress, clearly had her mind elsewhere.

This leap in grades was primarily thanks to Xie Yanyan. What kind of gift should I buy her? Skincare? Fan Yue scanned the desk and saw several bottles that looked like skincare products, though she couldn’t read the English on them.

A necklace? Fan Yue’s peripheral vision drifted to Xie Yanyan’s slender neck; she seemed to never wear such ornaments.

Perfume? Fan Yue leaned in a bit closer to catch the scent on her. The freshly showered Xie Yanyan gave off a faint, lingering fragrance from her long hair. Why hadn’t I noticed before that this shampoo smelled so good? Fan Yue couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Xie Yanyan turned her head to see Fan Yue with her eyes slightly narrowed and her nose scrunched up, looking like a cat trying to snuggle up for attention.

The distance between them was too small; Xie Yanyan’s elegant nose was right there. Realizing her lapse in composure, Fan Yue jerked her head back, awkwardly scratching her hair—which had grown down to her jawline—and laughed. “Haha, this shampoo smells really nice.”

Seeing that her mind wasn’t on the questions at all, Xie Yanyan leaned back against the chair and said in a mock-authoritative tone, “What, you got your reward and now you’ve lost interest in studying?”

“No way! I was just thinking about what gift to get you,” Fan Yue asked with a touch of distress. “What do you want? I don’t know what you like or what you’re missing. I think gifts should be something the person actually likes.”

Hearing her dilemma, Xie Yanyan tilted her head in thought for a few seconds and then gave a light laugh. “Then… buy me a doll?”

“Just a doll?” Fan Yue thought this was too ordinary; she had a whole row of “doll soldiers” on her bed.

Xie Yanyan nodded. “I want something a bit special. Come buy it with me.”

“Okay.”

After Fan Yue left the room, Xie Yanyan stared at the desk for a while. Then she got up and pulled that box out from under the bed. Though it had been staying under the bed, the box was clean, without a speck of dust on the surface.

She sat on the bed, opened the lid, and took out the rag doll. It had been well-protected. She had searched every corner of the living room until she found the black eye Fan Yue had broken off under the sofa, and used superglue to stick it back. It wasn’t as firm as before, so she kept the doll tucked away, only taking it out occasionally to look at it.

She’d had dolls when she was little—no little girl doesn’t like them—but hers were all very cheap, with quality that matched the price. Even with her careful handling, they broke easily.

Later, she met Fan Yue. At their first meeting, Fan Yue said she was as pretty as this doll. At their second meeting, Fan Yue gave the doll to her. She loved it so much; she finally had a beautiful, high-quality doll that Fan Yue had given her. But that doll was also the one Fan Yue had personally discarded and damaged.

Even later, her mother got a stable job and married Fan Shicheng. To make up for the material lack of the past, Xie Rong wanted to buy her many things, but there was nothing she really wanted.

However, now she had something she wanted: a doll that truly belonged to her, given by Fan Yue.

…

The next day, after lunch, the two of them headed out together. The weekend bus was extremely crowded. Even Fan Yue, a “pro” at navigating public transport, was trapped in the throng, unable to move.

The shorter girl sighed at the wall of people surrounding her. Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed. Just as Fan Yue was about to see which pervert was trying to get a feel, she saw Xie Yanyan forcefully push past a large man, pulling her hand to move forward until they reached the back of the bus.

There was a small space there where the two of them were pressed close together. Xie Yanyan raised her arm in a protective gesture, shielding her. Fan Yue looked up and saw her pointed chin and lovely lips; for some reason, she didn’t know where to look.

Rongcheng bus drivers had always been aggressive. With a sharp turn, the momentum sent Fan Yue flying directly into Xie Yanyan’s arms. Xie Yanyan gripped the handrail with one hand and wrapped the other around her, looking like an intimate embrace.

They were pinned in this position by the crowd. The air conditioning was on high, yet the heat in Fan Yue’s face wouldn’t subside.

Finally reaching their stop, Xie Yanyan instinctively held her hand to get off the bus, letting go casually after a few steps. Looking at their hands that had been joined and then separated, Fan Yue felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness in her heart.

A short walk after getting off brought them to a department store. When Fan Yue was little, her dad often brought her here to buy toys. Many of her dolls—including the one in Xie Yanyan’s box—were bought here. Unsure what kind Xie Yanyan wanted, she habitually came here.

On the third floor, Fan Yue expertly led Xie Yanyan to a doll specialty shop. The store was packed with dolls of all kinds. Fan Yue looked around and asked, “Which kind do you like?”

Xie Yanyan’s gaze searched the shop for a while, finally settling on a row of figures. Fan Yue looked too; it was a row of cloth dolls with different character designs—boys and girls, long hair and short hair, dresses and sportswear, all sorts of styles.

On the upper shelf was a long-haired doll with big Q-version eyes and a dress. Fan Yue thought it looked quite a bit like Xie Yanyan.

Xie Yanyan walked to her side, reached up, and took down the one next to the long-haired doll. It was a doll with a bob-cut, wearing a little sundress, smiling with wide eyes. Looking at this doll, Fan Yue felt it looked familiar.

Xie Yanyan handed the doll to her and said, “This one.”

As if possessed, Fan Yue stood on her tiptoes and took down the long-haired doll as well, bringing both dolls to the counter to pay.

The shopkeeper finished the transaction and asked, “Do you want them gift-wrapped?”

“No need.”

After Xie Yanyan spoke, she took the bob-cut doll and pinched its cheeks with interest. Fan Yue forced the long-haired doll into a high-difficulty leg split.

“Is this the only gift you want? Are you sure?” Both of them held a little cutie in their hands. Fan Yue pointed at another boutique and asked, “I still have plenty of prize money left. You can ask for something else.”

Xie Yanyan pulled the bob-cut doll’s ear, spotted a row of movie promotional posters in the hallway, and stopped. “Let’s go watch a movie.”

“Sure!”

Fan Yue agreed readily. Since she had promised Xie Yanyan a gift, she was happy to let her make the plans.

The cinema was on the fourth floor. Fan Yue usually came here for Disney animations or comedies for a laugh. Unfortunately, there were no such films showing at this time. Scanning the schedule, Xie Yanyan picked the closest romantic drama.

With ten minutes before the show, Fan Yue was engrossed in the trailers on the electronic screen. Xie Yanyan returned with popcorn and coke, handing the bucket to her. Fan Yue hugged it to her chest and was about to grab a handful when her wrist was caught.

“Clean your hands before you eat.”

Xie Yanyan pulled a wet wipe from her bag and began wiping Fan Yue’s right hand.

The sensation was cool and ticklish, and Fan Yue’s face heated up again. She muttered, “I washed my hands.”

Xie Yanyan didn’t look up, continuing to carefully wipe her palm and the spaces between her fingers. “You touched the sofa just now.”

“Fine.”

Watching Xie Yanyan’s meticulous actions, Fan Yue thought: Isn’t this a bit too intimate? Would Xie Yanyan do this for others? Before she could come to a conclusion, it was time to enter the theater.

Because it was a romance, the audience was almost entirely couples. The pair sitting in front of them was particularly mushy; they were flirting intensely, and instead of using their own hands, they insisted on feeding each other snacks.

Fan Yue gave them a silent, annoyed look, only to have a piece of popcorn suddenly stuffed into her own mouth. She turned in surprise to look at Xie Yanyan, who looked perfectly natural, staring straight ahead and saying softly, “It’s starting.”

The lights dimmed. No longer needing to watch the greasy couple, Fan Yue watched the movie seriously. The film was a typical romance: the leads fall in love at first sight but face separation due to various misunderstandings. As the hero is leaving, the heroine rushes to the airport to make him stay.

The two leads, who were almost thousands of miles apart, suddenly sparked with passion, embracing, kissing, and tumbling onto the bedsheets. Such a heart-pounding scene was quite impactful for a young, naive girl. What was worse, the couple in the front row actually started performing a live version.

Even though the lights were dim and the seats provided some cover, the couple kissed with such loud, oblivious sounds that Fan Yue, sitting right behind them, couldn’t ignore it.

Fortunately, the eye-searing sight was soon blocked. In the dim light, Fan Yue saw Xie Yanyan hold the popcorn bucket in front of her eyes, then with a firm push, the entire bucket of popcorn tipped over onto the front row.

Popcorn rained down from the sky. The inseparable couple finally broke apart. The boy turned around in a rage and barked, “What are you doing!”

Xie Yanyan shrugged. “Sorry, my hand slipped.”

The boy, frustrated at being interrupted, wanted to argue further, but several other annoyed audience members spoke up: “Is this theater your bedroom? Go roll in the hay somewhere else!”

“What lack of manners!”

“Can’t you afford a hotel room?”

Under the collective assault, the boy went silent in embarrassment.

After that interlude, the theater returned to peace. However, Fan Yue couldn’t help but dwell on Xie Yanyan’s action. Her heart felt as if a small deer had broken in and was jumping around wildly.

…

When they got home in the evening, Fan Shicheng and Xie Rong were busy with dinner in the kitchen. Fan Xinghang, who was glued to a cartoon, immediately saw the new dolls the sisters had bought and ran over to take a look.

“Don’t touch!” Fan Yue slapped his hand away. Xie Yanyan pulled her doll closer into her arms.

“Tch, it’s just a doll. Stingy!” Fan Xinghang pouted and ran into the kitchen to beg his mom for a new Ultraman—the extra-large kind.

During dinner, Fan Shicheng asked them, “Yanyan’s birthday is coming up. How about we go to a resort for a vacation?”

This time, his proposal received unanimous approval from all family members.