She Comes Into My Dreams Every Night - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Are You Here to Perform Stand-up Comedy?

How could Lin Jue agree?

Lin Jue actually agreed.

Next to Su Huaiwang, the pure, otherworldly-looking young woman was carefully turning the skewers, brushing them with sauce using a soft brush. The sweet aroma wafted directly into Su Huaiwang’s nose.

No?

Su Huaiwang mechanically turned her head, her gaze fixed on Lin Jue.

Lin Jue looked up, gave her a sweet smile, put down the sauced skewers, and pulled out a piece of paper from the side to wipe Su Huaiwang’s sweat.

“Is it too hot? Do you want to take a break? I can watch this side.”

The jade-like girl’s amber eyes gazed at her, carefully showing concern.

“No, I’m fine… I just find it a bit strange…”

Su Huaiwang averted her gaze and flipped the skewers in her hand. The sticky oil coating the skewer handles got on her hand, an uncomfortable feeling. She instinctively frowned.

Seeing Su Huaiwang frown, Lin Jue immediately became nervous: “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Su Huaiwang turned her head, her expression a little dazed: “It’s just that you can barbecue. I feel like it doesn’t quite fit your temperament.”

As for what did fit Lin Jue’s temperament, the image of her sitting in front of a piano or an easel suddenly popped into Su Huaiwang’s mind. The gentle sunlight streamed in, falling on the girl, and golden particles danced in the air, creating a perfect painting.

For some reason, even though she had never seen Lin Jue do these things, Su Huaiwang just felt that the most suitable place for her to appear was in such scenes.

She shook her head, warning herself not to judge a book by its cover.

Lin Jue didn’t know what she was thinking. She was relieved to know she hadn’t done anything to displease Su Huaiwang, and her smile returned:

“I grew up in the countryside. I can do many things you wouldn’t expect.”

Her tone was warm, the implication being that Su Huaiwang should ask her for help more often.

Su Huaiwang looked at her in surprise, murmuring: “Indeed…”

Just now, when unloading the car, Lin Jue’s small frame had carried the majority of the items effortlessly, barely breaking a sweat. This shocked Tu Zhuozhuo, whose jaw nearly dropped, making her instantly tear up and want to ask how she trained.

Speaking of Tu Zhuozhuo… Su Huaiwang’s attention shifted away from Lin Jue again.

She looked straight ahead at the person having a blast playing with the two dogs.

Tu Zhuozhuo was wearing a sexy summer outfit, with her thighs and belly exposed. Her wet, pale skin reflected the sunlight, almost blinding Su Huaiwang. The sunglasses she called an accessory were now genuinely serving their purpose, firmly perched on her head and not falling off despite her vigorous movements.

The two dogs and one person were playing, splashing water everywhere, and Little Huang’s tail was wagging so fast it looked like a propeller.

Tu Zhuozhuo’s silvery laughter continuously reached Su Huaiwang’s ears. Su Huaiwang tightened her grip on the skewer, a surge of irritation rising in her heart.

Lin Jue leaned closer, nervously licking her lip: “Do you want to go play for a bit…?”

She spoke with a hint of uncertainty, because she both wanted to enjoy a world of two with Su Huaiwang under the canopy and could sense that Su Huaiwang was currently in a state of annoyance.

“No,” Su Huaiwang said: “I don’t like sun exposure. I just can’t stand how that person dragged us out here only to play happily herself and not do any work.”

To say Tu Zhuozhuo hadn’t done any work was clearly inaccurate.

She helped set up the canopy, the grill, and the picnic table. But when it came to the actual grilling, the spoiled young lady who never did manual labor struggled. After consecutively burning several skewers, Lin Jue tactfully exiled her to the water’s edge.

“I don’t like sun exposure either.”

Hearing Lin Jue’s words, Su Huaiwang instinctively glanced at her: “Indeed. I can tell, you’re very fair.” If described in Tu Zhuozhuo’s terms, she probably wouldn’t be as white as Lin Jue even after being dead for three days.

It was just that sometimes a glance would give a fleeting impression of excessive paleness, lacking in blood, but upon looking up again, that feeling would be completely gone.

Lin Jue lowered her head, examining her own skin.

The pale complexion on the back of her hand warmed under the ghost’s intentional gaze. Mimicked veins appeared on her hand, as if real blood flowed within them.

It was true that Lin Jue didn’t like the sun; no specter liked the sun. But if it was to be by Su Huaiwang’s side, she could tolerate this small discomfort.

With this thought, she turned to Su Huaiwang and smiled: “When the skewers are done, should we go play in the water for a bit?”

“?” Su Huaiwang was confused. Weren’t they just talking about not liking the sun?

“In a little while, the sun will set.”

Entering summer, the days were long and the nights short, but in their area, the sun would eventually set. They could play in the water for a bit under the sunset glow.

“Otherwise, wouldn’t it feel like a bit of a waste?”

As Lin Jue spoke, she glanced at the slowly setting sun and the oblivious Tu Zhuozhuo.

For some reason, Su Huaiwang actually saw a hint of mischief in that calm glance, which made her unable to hold back a laugh.

“Sure.”

Although she claimed not to like the sun, Su Huaiwang was actually prepared to play in the water, changing her perennial long pants for shorts. Lin Jue probably had the same idea, as she was also wearing shorts today, which was rare.

“Hey, hey, hey, what are you two smiling at each other about? You’re making us feel left out!” Tu Zhuozhuo’s voice cut in. She returned with the two wet dogs, water dripping from her own hair. She complained discontentedly from the shade of the canopy, then squatted down and wailed, hugging Little Huang’s head: “Little Huang! Our fate is so tough! Your owner is busy chatting with the pretty lady and has forgotten all about us!”

Little Huang, being a small dog, didn’t understand all that. It only knew it was sticky and uncomfortable, so it broke free from Tu Zhuozhuo’s embrace and violently shook its fur, spraying water.

It is said that water does not disappear; it only cycles and transfers. All the water on its fur was shaken onto Tu Zhuozhuo. The already damp Tu Zhuozhuo now looked even more like a drowned chicken.

Seeing the young lady in such a sorry state, Su Huaiwang finally burst out laughing.

She put down the skewer and called the two dogs: “Come, come over and drink some water.”

Big Gray and Little Huang wagged their tails, scampered over happily, and gulped down the water.

“Where’s mine? Where’s mine?” Tu Zhuozhuo hovered behind the two dogs, her eyes pleading.

Su Huaiwang rolled her eyes at her: “Isn’t there water in the car? The little dogs can’t open a bottle of water themselves, but you, a grown person, can’t?”

“Ugh… but I want you to take care of me…” Before Tu Zhuozhuo could finish her piteous plea, she caught a bottle of water that Lin Jue tossed over.

Lin Jue said nothing after tossing the water, only continuing to grill the next batch of skewers with a faint smile.

Tu Zhuozhuo thanked her gratefully, twisted open the cap, and guzzled the water.

Perhaps because it had been left in the sun for too long, the water was warm enough to sting her throat slightly.

With her water replenished, she came back to life, squatting next to Su Huaiwang, who was meticulously feeding the dogs, and whispered to her:

“Well, did you take advantage of the opportunity I created for you?”

Su Huaiwang pushed her away in disgust: “You smell like a drowned dog. Stay away from me.”

Tu Zhuozhuo immediately became displeased: “Do you want to look at the two darlings in front of you before saying that! Answer my question! Don’t change the subject!”

“So you didn’t work and ran off to play in the water just to create a private opportunity for us.”

“Exactly, exactly.” Tu Zhuozhuo’s greatest asset was her thick skin; she patted her chest without a trace of shame.

Su Huaiwang gave her a speechless look: “We were just grilling skewers together. By your logic, when your boss puts you and a colleague together to work, they’re actually creating an opportunity for you?”

“Ugh, why is your brain so rigid…” Lin Jue was walking toward them, and Tu Zhuozhuo’s words came to an abrupt halt.

Tu Zhuozhuo, fearless of dizziness, abruptly stood up: “We’re just friends, no other relationship, okay…”

Lin Jue gave her a strange look: “I just wanted to ask you both, the skewers are ready. Do you want to eat?” Of course, it was not impossible that she wanted to interrupt their whispering.

Upon hearing the mention of food, Tu Zhuozhuo, who had been an international student for several years, immediately had her eyes light up: “I’m coming right now!”

She scurried off, leaving Su Huaiwang still holding the water feeder for the dogs.

Lin Jue squatted down, moved closer to her, and whispered in her ear, mimicking Tu Zhuozhuo’s action: “Want to go play for a bit?”

A cool breath wafted over. Su Huaiwang shivered involuntarily, feeling a tremor inside her brain. Her leg gave out, and she stumbled backward.

Lin Jue was quick, steadying her while holding her wrist to keep the water feeder stable, preventing the water from spilling all over her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Lin Jue said apologetically, but she didn’t distance herself. Meaning, Su Huaiwang’s poor little ear was still being subjected to her “torment.”

Lin Jue truly didn’t do it on purpose; she only wanted to do what Tu Zhuozhuo did. Furthermore, her apology wasn’t because she knew what she did wrong, but merely because she knew Su Huaiwang had almost fallen because of her.

The first thing Su Huaiwang did after steadying herself was to push Lin Jue’s shoulder to move her away, stammering: “I’m- I’m fine.”

She lowered her head, her face redder than it had been next to the grill, especially her ears, which were burning hot.

“Let me help you up.”

The two little dogs had finished drinking and were watching the two of them with innocent, wide eyes. The sight of their eyes made Su Huaiwang intensely embarrassed, and she quickly took Lin Jue’s hand to stand up.

Lin Jue started walking toward the picnic table but felt someone grab the hem of her clothes.

Before she could turn back, Su Huaiwang had quietly leaned in, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Didn’t you say… we should go play for a bit?”

Instantly, it was as if small bouquets of flowers violently bloomed in Lin Jue’s heart. She nodded emphatically.

A setting sun on the horizon hadn’t completely dropped yet, like an egg yolk drenched in raw egg white, stubbornly clinging to the fiery summer sky. But at this moment, Lin Jue no longer felt so annoyed by the sunset; she even felt it was a bit… “romantic”? Clearly, this was a word only humans would use.

Someone present was more familiar with the word than she was, such as Su Huaiwang, who was lowering her head, trying to banish the embarrassment, shyness, and some unspeakable adjectives from her mind, and also… Tu Zhuozhuo, who had been happily eating skewers.

With a clatter, Tu Zhuozhuo’s paper plate dropped onto the table. She looked at the two people walking toward the water in disbelief:

“Oh my god, seriously, Su Huaiwang, you’re an old dog learning new tricks! Getting all romantic!”

Her friend’s sudden change made her feel both unfamiliar and heartbroken.

After thinking for a moment, she decided:

Before they came back, she would devour all their skewers! Today, Tu Zhuozhuo was going to have a hearty and delightful love affair with her one and only mouth!