My Idol Turns Out To Be My Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 35

The hotel window was cracked open, letting in the mountain’s unique scent of camellia on the night breeze. Moonlight filtered through the dark, gauze-like night, spilling elegantly between the two of them like a line dividing light from shadow.

Lin Sanyuan spoke, her voice sounding a bit dazed. “It’s not that I want to chat with you, it’s that Professor Tang has something she wants to say to me, right?”

Tang Hengzhi froze, a look of clear astonishment crossing her face.

Lin Sanyuan rubbed her cheeks, then balled her fists and lightly tapped her own head. She felt herself entering a state that was simultaneously crystal clear and utterly delirious. Her reaction time was long, which made her questions sound a bit like she was settling old scores long after the fact.

“The first time you saw me at He Wenyu’s house, Professor Tang, you already had something you wanted to say to me, didn’t you?”

It wasn’t a sudden realization. For the past month, Lin Sanyuan had been running away from these questions. She didn’t like her stagnant life suddenly changing, fearing she might face consequences she couldn’t handle. The mark of maturity is learning when to keep one’s mouth shut.

Looking at things tonight, however, it seemed she still hadn’t learned to be mature.

Yet, in Tang Hengzhi’s eyes, Lin Sanyuan seemed to have grown up a lot. She was no longer that little girl who was so easily soaked through by the rain.

Tang Hengzhi didn’t deny it. She offered a soft apology. “I’m sorry. Could we find a different time and a better occasion for me to talk to you about those things?”

She wasn’t ready yet. Or rather, everything she had prepared could be easily scattered into pieces by the person standing before her. Lin Sanyuan always managed to catch her off guard. It happened at He Wenyu’s house, and it happened when she offered her that piece of okra.

It was still happening now. Every time Tang Hengzhi felt she had approached her with careful deliberation, the end result was always a total collapse. If things were too messy, there was no way to handle these issues properly.

Lin Sanyuan sat with her arms wrapped around her tucked knees, her chin resting on top, her expression somewhat vacant. She liked avoiding problems, but she didn’t accept others avoiding hers.

Tang Hengzhi’s apology was polite and sincere, but Lin Sanyuan didn’t really want to accept it. Yet, if she kept pushing, she would be the only impolite one left. She was a timid person; knowing when to stop was her forte. She didn’t have it in her to be sharply, rationally aggressive.

The bottle of red wine He Wenyu had ordered at the hotel wasn’t finished yet, sitting quietly by the sofa. When Lin Sanyuan sat down, the back of her hand brushed against the cold bottle.

Well… what about being a little less sober?

She picked up the bottle and took two gulps.

Tang Hengzhi pursed her lips and reminded her, “You can’t handle your alcohol.”

Lin Sanyuan shook the bottle and said, “There’s no fridge here. Red wine won’t keep overnight. It’s a waste if I don’t finish it.”

Tang Hengzhi said, “Then let it be a waste.”

“I don’t like wasting things.”

Tang Hengzhi fell silent for two seconds, watching her pick up the bottle again. Her cheeks puffed out like a hamster as she gulped down the remaining wine until only a tiny bit was left.

For some reason, Tang Hengzhi’s usually dormant emotions became restless. “You were very wasteful when you ate that orange today.”

Lin Sanyuan tossed the nearly empty bottle onto the carpet. Her alcohol intolerance kicked in quickly; her cheeks turned a bright rosy pink, and her body began to radiate heat. She stood up unsteadily and accidentally kicked the bottle further away. The last few drops of wine splashed out, staining her pure white cotton socks red.

Fearing she would fall, Tang Hengzhi braced her tired body and reached out to support her.

Lin Sanyuan dodged the help, reaching back to grab Tang’s arm and tilting her palm upward. A rare look of surprise appeared on Tang Hengzhi’s calm face.

A small, round, cold object was pressed into her palm. A tiny, bright orange.

Thump! It felt as though something had been knocked over inside Tang’s heart.

“Why do you have an orange?” Tang Hengzhi asked, sounding a bit silly.

Lin Sanyuan gripped her wrist, her gaze fixed intently on the small orange in Tang’s palm. She exhaled warm, wine-scented breath and said, “I bought it.”

“You bought it?”

“Mhm. When we were having dinner tonight, I went to the restroom. There was a fruit stall outside the restaurant.”

She had only bought one. The owner had looked at her like she was a pauper.

Tang Hengzhi’s fingers curled inward. Her ink-dark eyes seemed to hide a whirlpool, calm yet deep.

Lin Sanyuan knelt on the sofa. The restlessness brought on by the alcohol made her feel very hot. She rubbed her toes against each other, trying to pull off her clean cotton socks, but failed, only succeeding in rubbing her white ankles red.

She shifted her gaze from the orange and looked directly into Tang’s eyes, asking softly, “Can you still not talk to me?”

Tang Hengzhi couldn’t pull her scattered thoughts back together. She couldn’t help but scratch her neck, leaving behind visible marks. Her tone was somewhat helpless. “Can I have some chewing gum?”

What chewing gum? Lin Sanyuan didn’t like these stalling tactics.

She pressed the heel of her hand against Tang’s arm, sliding it firmly and forcefully over the red, itchy skin beneath her clothes. She caught Tang’s scratching fingers, pinned them down, and pressed her back against the sofa.

When Lin Sanyuan leaned in, she carried the faint scent of body wash. The tips of her hair were still slightly damp, brushing against the back of Tang’s hand, cool and ticklish.

Tang Hengzhi shuddered, her breathing tightening.

She heard Lin Sanyuan’s voice whispering right next to her. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. I’ll just find the answers myself. I gave you the orange, and I’ve been drinking. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I definitely won’t remember a thing.”

She sounded like a total heartbreaker, acting as if having a few drinks gave her the right to do whatever she wanted.

Tang Hengzhi felt as though the medicine she’d taken earlier wasn’t working at all. The itching was getting worse, and her physiological reactions were growing stronger. The wrist that was being held struggled instinctively, wanting to scratch again.

Lin Sanyuan made a muffled sound in her nose, like the warning growl of a small, angry beast. She pinned her down fiercely, yet her voice was soft, sweet, and almost tender. “Does it itch a lot?”

Tang Hengzhi’s chest rose and fell as her body temperature climbed. Something was swirling beneath her cool exterior. She pursed her lips and remained silent, her face devoid of expression.

She really wanted some chewing gum.

“You won’t let me scratch?” Lin Sanyuan had beautiful double eyelids and elegant eyelashes, but her hair was exceptionally dark, like it had been dyed with ink. Each strand was distinct, contrasting against her snow-white skin. With her usual “gloomy” expression, she didn’t look particularly gentle.

But now, as she spoke to Tang Hengzhi, the corners of her eyes tilted upward instinctively into a clever arc, catching a rare, quiet warmth. Her dark eyes, refracted through her glasses, seemed to hold a hazy, confused glow.

“No,” Tang Hengzhi said softly, but she clearly expressed her refusal.

Lin Sanyuan understood again. It seemed that whenever she asked at a time like this, the answer would always be “don’t,” “cannot,” “not allowed,” or a flat-out rejection.

Fine. She wouldn’t ask then.

She moved her face closer. Her wine-scented breath greeted that slender, fragile neck first before she bit down.

It wasn’t a hard bite, more of a dull nibbling, still carrying the lingering sweetness of milk candy. It had less power than a nursing kitten.

Yet, Tang Hengzhi reacted as if a vital point had been struck. Her fingers spasmed violently as she gripped the sofa, her fingertips sinking deep. The bones in the back of her hands stood out, and physiological tears even welled up in the corners of her eyes.

But she didn’t have the strength to push the person off her.

When Lin Sanyuan bit, she was like a toothless kitten. Once she caught a piece of soft skin, she could patiently grind away at it. Even though teeth are technically more dangerous than fingernails, the places she bit didn’t feel a sharp sting. Instead, it was a dull, soothing sensation that actually began to settle that world-turning itch bit by bit.

She would let go of one spot, give it a comforting lick, and then move to bite another. She was a very patient kitten, not missing a single patch of reddened skin, biting her way up the neck to the back of the ear.

The skin there was very thin, too thin for a kitten to grab with its teeth, so she pecked at it slowly. She pecked until the skin behind the ear was bright red, and even the untouched earlobe turned a deep crimson.

Tang Hengzhi had been very quiet, but as her ear was being pecked, she couldn’t help but let out one or two shallow sounds, like soft rain falling silently into deep snow.

The neck and the back of the ear were now damp. Tang Hengzhi felt a hand slip in from the hem of her shirt. The movement was practiced as it pressed gently against her stomach.

She gave a sudden start, her palm bracing against Lin Sanyuan’s thin shoulder.

Lin Sanyuan let go of the area behind the ear. Her eyes were even redder than those of the allergy patient, as if soaked in a shade of rouge. She panted softly, her five fingers splayed out as she gently rubbed Tang’s stomach. Her voice was still sweet and soft, like a kitten kneading dough.

“Do you need me to stop the itch here, too?”

As soon as she asked, Lin Sanyuan regretted it. She would definitely be rejected.

Sure enough, Tang Hengzhi reached in and gently pulled her hand out. She breathed deeply, as if struggling to get enough oxygen. When she spoke again, her voice was veiled in mist. “It doesn’t itch anymore.”

She felt somewhat relieved that the medicine was finally taking effect. Otherwise, the next place to be bitten probably wouldn’t have been just her stomach.

Lin Sanyuan didn’t push it. She had run out of strength anyway. She slumped softly against Tang’s body, her chin resting in the hollow of Tang’s collarbone. Her thick, dark hair spilled over them, appearing to wrap the two of them together.

She murmured, “So, did I cure you?”

Tang Hengzhi didn’t answer. She looked down at the moonlight reflected in Lin’s eyes, her brow slightly furrowed. She asked in a low, strained whisper, “Can I have some chewing gum?”

This was the third time tonight she had asked for it.

Lin Sanyuan didn’t ask why she was so fixated on it. She stared at Tang’s neck for a long time, not daring to let her eat anything she shouldn’t. Once she confirmed the red hives had faded, she sat up and fished a pack of gum out of the coat draped over the back of the sofa. She pulled out a stick and handed it over.

Wait. Why did that look like a henchman handing a cigarette to a boss?

Tang Hengzhi reached out to take it, but Lin Sanyuan awkwardly pulled it back. She lowered her head to unwrap the paper, rolled the long strip of gum into a small coil, and pressed it against Tang’s lips like she was feeding her a sweet, slowly pushing it onto her soft tongue.

Tang Hengzhi stared blankly as she took the cool gum. she gave it a light nudge with her tongue, hesitant to bite down. When she spoke, her clear voice was a bit muffled.

“Let’s talk, shall we?”

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