My Straight Childhood Friend Successfully Pursued Me After The Breakup - Chapter 27.1

Tao Ran’s casual remark instantly set Zuo Xian alight. The girl curled up on the sofa chair with her legs bent, burying her flushed face between her knees, her toes curled.

She dared not speak, afraid that her trembling voice would expose the not-so-simple inner thoughts she harbored.

In her ears were the increasingly outrageous “teases” from the person she loved, who was innocent in their unawareness.

“You’ve made it for me many times before, and I really like it, but your technique is already very good. Do you actually need to go online to refine it further? Won’t that be a little too much effort?”

No, she really couldn’t let her continue.

The thoughts in Zuo Xian’s mind were galloping towards R-rated territory, and eight horses couldn’t pull them back.

She urgently stopped her, “Ranran, are you very busy today? Your voice sounds a little tired.”

“A little,” Tao Ran smiled, “but it was very meaningful, A Xian. I think I’ve found a way to return to China as soon as possible.”

In an instant, all the inappropriate thoughts in Zuo Xian’s head vanished with a pop, leaving only the news that Tao Ran might be able to return home sooner.

Zuo Xian was so excited she almost jumped up, “Really?!”

“Mhm, but the earliest will be after the winter break,” Tao Ran lowered her eyes, looking down at the watch Zuo Xian had given her on her wrist.

The watch hadn’t been adjusted and still showed the capital’s time, the time Zuo Xian was living in.

Eleven twenty-three.

Even though she was living on D country time, Tao Ran still looked at the wristwatch showing the capital’s time many times a day, guessing what Zuo Xian might be doing right then.

When distance became an obstacle, longing was the only way to link the two together.

But as soon as one side stopped, this bridge, which possessed the dual nature of sturdiness and fragility, would instantly collapse.

Tao Ran asked carefully, “A Xian, if I can’t come back that quickly, will you…” Will you make new friends and no longer need me.

“Of course, I will always wait, until you come back.” Zuo Xian’s light yet firm tone, conveyed through the phone, carried a sense of timeless permanence, like a vacuum.

The girl’s solemn promise had the duration of “always,” meaning forever.

On both ends of the phone, the heartbeats of the two girls began to accelerate in unison. Silence spread, yet it wasn’t awkward; instead, unspoken emotions stirred.

Both noticed it, but neither dared to break the barrier.

After the Laba Festival, the New Year was fast approaching. Time flew by quickly, and in just over ten days, it would be the most important festival of the year.

In the previous two years, because Zuo Zhimi’s company was busy and she couldn’t return to her hometown for the New Year, Zuo Xian also spent the Spring Festival in Lu City for two years.

Although the mother and daughter had each other for company, the large villa always felt somewhat empty with only two people.

Especially the first year, Zuo Zhimi had overestimated her cooking skills. She gave Granny Liu a holiday to go home for the New Year and personally cooked for Zuo Xian.

A bowl of tomato and egg noodles almost caused a “family massacre.”

Later, they gained more experience—she bought and stocked enough instant food products at home.

But this year was different; this year, Zuo Zhimi was planning to take Zuo Xian back to her hometown.

Zuo Xian’s maternal grandfather passed away long ago. The old lady lived a remarkably carefree life alone at home, with better energy and spirit than many younger people.

Speaking of Zuo Xian’s maternal grandmother, Ms. Li Yugui, one must mention that she was a legendary figure.

Grandma had no opportunity to go to school when she was little; she couldn’t even recognize her own name. She married Grandpa in her teens.

In those days, marriage was equivalent to finding employment, though there were good and bad outcomes. Some employment guaranteed food and clothing but made you work like a dog, while others provided poor food and clothing and still made you work like a dog.

Grandma didn’t want to be a dog. She was uneducated but knew a saying: among all things, only scholarship is noble.

An illiterate woman who barely recognized any characters, she managed the household while self-studying, eventually transforming herself into the village doctor.

Later, she was even invited to the town hospital, secured official employment, and never had to be a dog again for the rest of her life.

The grandmother was not ordinary, and neither were her descendants.

She had two daughters in total. The eldest, Zuo Zhimi, started her own business right after college and found a firm footing in Lu City, which was full of opportunities back then.

The second daughter, Zuo Zhifan, combined the characteristics of her mother and elder sister.

She followed in her mother’s footsteps, securing a stable government job, but also shared her sister’s boldness, which is why she is now an experienced forensic doctor.

Zuo Zhifan also has a daughter, two years younger than Zuo Xian, but she doesn’t carry the Zuo surname. Her name is Liu Xinyu.

Zuo Zhifan remained unmarried her whole life. Liu Xinyu was the orphaned child left behind by a colleague from her criminal investigation team and was adopted by her when she was a toddler.

She is currently in the second year of junior high. Zuo Xian remembers the last time she saw her, she was still an elementary school student. She really wondered how much she would have changed this time.

Apart from Zuo Zhimi and Zuo Xian, who seemed like a genetic mutation for being warm and outgoing, the rest of the family were quiet types whom you couldn’t get a word out of even with eight sticks.

Liu Xinyu, however, wasn’t exactly quiet, but every word she uttered was like a barb; if you licked your lips, you might poison yourself.

Every time Zuo Xian returned home for the New Year, her favorite scene to watch was her mother sticking close to her grandmother and aunt, who were clearly secretly delighted but pretended not to like it.

Zuo Xian guessed her mother also found it amusing, so instead of feeling weary from her unrequited enthusiasm, she became more determined.

This time, as soon as Zuo Zhimi mentioned returning to Grandma’s house, Zuo Xian was so excited that she started packing her bags early, eager to return home.

The next morning, the mother and daughter had a simple lunch on the plane and landed at Yuzhou City Airport promptly at 2 PM.

Grandma’s house was in the town of Nanding City—two cities over. It was a relatively underdeveloped rural town. Forget planes; there wasn’t even a train station; they had to take a bus.

However, Zuo Zhifan said she would come to pick them up, which saved them a lot of trouble.

The winter in Yuzhou City was much warmer than in Lu City. A simple base layer plus a windbreaker was enough to keep warm.

Zuo Xian pulled her suitcase, following her mother, her eyes scanning the crowd, quickly spotting the target.

In the crowd of people waiting at the arrivals gate, a tall and a short mother and daughter were standing a certain distance away from the rest of the crowd, just as Zuo Xian’s gaze met theirs.

“Auntie!” Zuo Xian raised her hand and waved vigorously, showing a bright smile.

Zuo Zhimi’s eyesight wasn’t as good as her daughter’s. She looked left and right, “Where? Where is she?”

“Right there.” Zuo Xian pointed the direction to her. Zuo Zhimi’s eyes immediately lit up, and she rushed over to give her sister a huge hug.

Zuo Xian followed closely, also wanting to give her dear cousin a hug.

Liu Xinyu stepped back two paces, “No need.”

“We haven’t seen each other for two years. Why are you so cold to me? You used to let me hug you,” Zuo Xian looked at Liu Xinyu, greatly discouraged.

Liu Xinyu said plainly, “Because two years ago, I was still an elementary school student, incapable of fighting back.”

Speaking of elementary school students, Zuo Xian looked at Liu Xinyu with satisfaction, scrutinizing her up, down, left, and right.

Very good. She hadn’t grown much taller. She was still not the shortest person in the family this year.

The Zuo family were all tall, like clothes racks. Even Grandma was one hundred and seventy centimeters tall when she was young, but she had shrunk now that she was older.

It wasn’t right for Zuo Xian to compare herself to an elderly person’s height; that would be too shameless.

Thankfully, there was an elementary school student at the bottom.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Zuo Zhifan ushered everyone away. On the road, her calm eyes looked at Zuo Xian, and she stroked her niece’s head.

“You’ve lost weight.”

Liu Xinyu looked around, then turned to ask Zuo Zhimi, “Auntie, have you been cooking at your house again recently?”

Zuo Zhimi raised her hands, “That’s a huge injustice.”

The group chatted and laughed. Zuo Zhifan drove, the two children sat in the back, and Zuo Zhimi took the passenger seat.

Although Yuzhou City and Nanding City were only separated by one city, the province was mountainous and the territory was vast. The navigation showed that the journey would be a full four hundred kilometers.

As the car got on the highway, all they could see were continuous mountains, one after another, like randomly refreshed NPCs in a game, never-ending.

Zuo Xian pulled out her phone, switched it to selfie mode, and forcefully wrapped her arm around Liu Xinyu’s neck, using the lush green mountains outside the car window as the background.

“Smile.”

Click—