She Said She Has Feelings For Someone - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams

Apple and Hot Orange Tea.

At the autumn sports meet of S-City No. 1 High School, in the shadows beneath the bleachers, Xia Leshuang’s bright face was filled with a helpless smile. It was all because her classmate, who loved stirring up trouble, was passionately reciting a fan-fiction story.

Yes, fan-fiction. A story where Xia Leshuang herself was one of the main protagonists.

“Hey, listen properly!” Her classmate pushed her with dissatisfaction. “This is hot off the press!”

“The two of them laughed and chased each other up the stairs. Unexpectedly, Bian Xingyao’s foot slipped, and she fell backward. However, Xia Leshuang was quick—she caught her firmly in her arms—”

“‘Yo, is this a Sister Bian falling from the sky?’ Xia Leshuang smiled brightly, and in her arms, Bian Xingyao’s face turned beet red—”

“Alright, that’s quite enough—” Xia Leshuang couldn’t take it anymore. She reached out her long arm and snatched the two sheets of orange stationery.

“Hey, hey, hey! Xia Leshuang, you’re a sore loser! You said we could ship whoever we wanted!”

The handwriting on the paper was neat and elegant. The several hundred words were written without a single correction, mirroring the purity of its author.

“Sis, I’m calling you ‘Sis.’ This is a commission from Great God Lu that I waited over a month for! I’m begging you, give it back—”

As her classmate wailed in despair, Xia Leshuang quickly stuffed the paper into her pocket. Her smile was as radiant as the sun: “Lend it to me for a day. I’ll give it back tomorrow.”

Her smile was so bright, and the mischievous glint in her eyes flickered so intensely, that her classmate couldn’t help but shiver. “What… what are you doing? You aren’t going to cause trouble for Great God Lu, are you?”

“Great God Lu is a paid ghostwriter! Don’t you dare touch my ‘chef’! Even if you’re the main character, you can’t do it!”

Xia Leshuang let out a “Yo” and raised an eyebrow. “Quite the sense of justice you have there.”

“Fine, stop looking so miserable,” she used her slender finger to push away the pouting face in front of her. “I won’t cause her trouble.”

She turned to leave. Behind her, the classmate asked gloomily, “Then where are you going?”

“To the bathroom!”

As if.

In the empty classroom building for the second-year students, a figure was curled up, walking down the stairs. Upon closer inspection, you could see she was trembling. Suddenly, her foot slipped—

“Hey! Careful!”

Xia Leshuang caught her firmly. Feeling the scene was strangely familiar, her mouth moved faster than her brain: “Is this… a Sister Lu falling from the sky?”

Lu Shuyu froze in her arms. It took a long time for her to lift her head. Xia Leshuang saw her pale face and the fine beads of sweat at her hairline.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Xia Leshuang was terrified by her appearance. “Lu Shuyu? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”

“No…” Lu Shuyu grabbed her tightly. “Period cramps…”

Without a second thought, Xia Leshuang picked her up in a bridal carry. “I’m taking you to the infirmary!”

But the light coming from somewhere grew brighter and brighter, and her head began to throb. Suddenly, her foot stepped into empty space—

“!”

Waking up from the dream with a start, the throbbing headache of a hangover and the weightless sensation of falling in the dream hit her simultaneously. Xia Leshuang closed her eyes for a long time before she could recover.

Though the sunlight had ruined her dream, she had to admit: one shouldn’t be greedy for sweet dreams, or the disappointment upon waking would only be doubled.

It was then that she realized her vision was blocked. “What is this?”

Pulling the object off her forehead, her vision cleared. Xia Leshuang saw a sticky note. On the note was a familiar, more elegant and mature version of that handwriting.

There was also a piece of transparent medical tape used to reinforce it.

Xia Leshuang remembered; the two of them had discovered years ago that transparent medical tape had excellent stickiness. She hadn’t expected that a random discovery from the past would become a habit for Lu Shuyu.

She pursed her lips, swallowing the emotions in her heart, and stood up to carefully read the message:

Xia Leshuang:

Don’t worry, this is my home. You were drunk yesterday, so I let you stay for the night.

— Lu Shuyu.

After reading it several times, Xia Leshuang tucked the note into her pocket before standing up to look around Lu Shuyu’s home.

It was a one-bedroom apartment with great natural light. The decor and furniture were simple yet warm. An orange blanket was folded neatly on the fabric sofa in the living room; it seemed Lu Shuyu had slept there last night.

However—

Upon seeing the clean glass coffee table, fragmented memories suddenly rushed into her brain.

“I… I danced while hugging the coffee table?”

Xia Leshuang’s eyes widened in horror. Soon, more fragments filled her head.

“I… I also hugged the toilet while crying and throwing up?”

“Kill me now…”

Why was her “reunion plot” like this?! Did she have no dignity left?!

B-City, Cherry Film & TV Building.

The light for the 20th floor turned on. Lu Shuyu stepped out of the elevator. Little Li at the front desk greeted her familiarly: “PD Lu is here to see President Min again?”

Lu Shuyu saw the gossip in her eyes but didn’t correct her. She simply nodded with a smile. “Is she in?”

“She is, she is!” Little Li nodded vigorously. “President Min is so dedicated to her work! She’s never late!”

Never late…

“Um…” Lu Shuyu blinked. “Okay, then I’m going in.”

“Sure thing!” Little Li replied quickly. “I’ll prepare some tea~”

“Thank you.”

The moment she pushed the door open, she heard Min Wutong say, “You’re getting more and more familiar with my little secretary.”

Sitting down at the desk, Lu Shuyu smiled. “Isn’t that thanks to you, President Min?”

After a bit of small talk, a knock came at the door. Little Li brought in the tea: “PD Lu, your favorite—Green Apple and Iced Orange tea. Please enjoy~”

Lu Shuyu liked cold drinks, but to avoid inconveniencing others, she usually drank whatever was available unless she was ordering for herself. Min Wutong’s office was no exception until now.

“Why so sudden?” She raised an eyebrow, confused.

Little Li winked. “President Min specifically asked me to prepare it!”

She bolted out the door, leaving Min Wutong staring with wide eyes.

Lu Shuyu chuckled. “It seems we have a ‘shipper’ here, trying to play matchmaker.”

Min Wutong realized and shook her head with a laugh. “Well, it looks like I’m going to have to disappoint her.”

Hearing this, Lu Shuyu raised her eyebrows sharply. “President Min, do you… have someone?”

“Ahem,” Min Wutong cleared her throat. “Don’t pin this on me. Clearly, there’s something weird between you and Xia Leshuang.”

At the mention of Xia Leshuang, Lu Shuyu froze slightly. She couldn’t help but think of last night. Because the room was filled with another person’s breath and scent, she had been so overstimulated that her heart raced, leading to insomnia.

Seeing her yawn, Min Wutong was surprised. “I was wondering why you came to see me so early today. Didn’t sleep well?”

Lu Shuyu shook her head, waving away the memories of last night. “It’s a long story.”

Min Wutong’s expression didn’t change much. It seemed that apart from the people involved, no one knew that she had taken Xia Leshuang home and let her stay the night.

“Fine.” Min Wutong clicked her mouse, and the printer nearby started spitting out paper.

Lu Shuyu counted the sheets. When it was finished, she stood up to take them—one copy for each.

“However,” Min Wutong flipped through the proposal. “Didn’t you say before that you needed more time to finish this?”

“Yeah. I had insomnia last night, so I finished it up,” Lu Shuyu said casually.

Min Wutong was surprised. Lu Shuyu usually kept a regular schedule, and Song Yi’s team had a strict rule against staff pulling all-nighters or working overtime. “If it’s serious, I can recommend a doctor.”

Faced with her concern, Lu Shuyu guiltily lowered her eyes and gave a vague response. “I know.”

The variety show proposal in her hand had been changed from an “Actor” theme to a “Director/Screenwriter” theme. Before the change, they couldn’t finalize it because Lu Shuyu and the others felt the subject matter was too dry to make interesting. Later, upon hearing that an old friend of Min Wutong wanted to cultivate female screenwriters and directors, Lu Shuyu felt it was a great topic. However, how to present these two professions in a variety show required a lot of thought and optimization, which was why the proposal was only now taking shape.

They discussed it until after noon.

“Okay,” Min Wutong put down her pen. “I think the general direction is fine. I’ll send it to Bai Wei later.”

“Good. It’s just a first draft anyway. If Film Queen Zhuang has any thoughts, she can bring them up.” Lu Shuyu stood up.

“Can I treat you to lunch?” Min Wutong asked.

Thinking of the person back at her house, Lu Shuyu shook her head. “I have something to do.”

“Alright.” Min Wutong shrugged. Seeing her about to leave, she added, “Shuyu, regarding our relationship… if you need to, we can ‘clarify’ it at any time.”

Lu Shuyu paused, then replied, “No need for now.”

“But,” she finally remembered what she heard yesterday, “do you know what happened five years ago? President Zhou said Film Queen Xia was ‘disobedient’ five years ago.”

Min Wutong frowned, thinking for a moment. “Could it be about the blind date?”

Blind date?

“The eldest son of the Tan family, the one who had a shotgun wedding.” The Tan and Min families were close, so Lu Shuyu had heard of them.

“A month before that wedding,” Min Wutong spread her hands, “Zhou Hongcai introduced him to a blind date—with Film Queen Xia.”

“Yikes…” Lu Shuyu looked disgusted. “Is he holding a grudge until now just because that didn’t work out?”

She let out a cold laugh. “As expected of a man from the Zhou family—petty for no reason and completely classless.”

…

It wasn’t until she was back downstairs at her apartment that Lu Shuyu finally snapped out of the thoughts regarding what Min Wutong had said. She didn’t understand why Xia Leshuang had to go through all of that.

The nervousness she felt while going upstairs vanished the moment she opened the door.

Xia Leshuang was gone.

The one-bedroom apartment she had lived in for a year suddenly felt empty and cold. Lu Shuyu curled her lip.

The place had been cleaned. The sunflower bedding in the bedroom had been replaced with the spare orange and orange-cat set. The sunflowers were hanging neatly on the balcony to dry, looking a bit wrinkled from the sun. The garment steamer had been moved next to the balcony for easy ironing.

The person who once couldn’t even figure out how to mop a floor was now this thoughtful.

On the dining table sat a thermos she rarely used. Inside was fresh tea brewed from apples and oranges. Under the thermos was a sticky note.

It was Xia Leshuang’s handwriting, a bit more orderly than before:

Thanks for letting me stay. Drinking iced drinks is bad for you.

…That’s right.

She had been healthy for many years now and no longer had to suppress her love for ice; she had forgotten how she used to tremble with pain every month.

It was because of that pain that she had lost her strength on the stairs and fallen into Xia Leshuang’s arms.

“Xia Leshuang, it’s not just you.”

“I, too, have changed a lot.”