Spring Night of Misty Rain - Chapter 41

Out of a principle of self-protection, Shen Zeyu strictly and solemnly rejected Xu Luosu’s invitation. Her reasoning was that the Soviet Union was very cold in the winter with heavy snow, which would be detrimental rather than helpful to her condition. With things put that way, Xu Luosu couldn’t push further. However, she didn’t drop the matter entirely, merely giving a light snort: “Well, we’ll see when the time comes.”

Shen Zeyu couldn’t be bothered to argue. After drying her hair, she grabbed her midday medication, swallowed it in one go, threw back the covers, and went back to sleep.

Xu Luosu had wanted her help with the Lego set, but seeing her go to sleep like that, she was powerless. She could only sigh and sit at the coffee table alone, looking at the jumbled mess of parts and muttering to herself: “Hmm… where does this go?”

“Is the base supposed to be set up like this? Why don’t the parts match… huh…”

With such a constant stream of muttering, it was impossible for anyone to sleep. Shen Zeyu was eventually disturbed enough to get out of bed. She walked to the girl’s side in her cotton slippers, wrapped in a blanket, and squeezed her aside: “Let me see…”

Her tone was quite sharp. Beside her, Xu Luosu suppressed a smile and feigned surprise: “Senior Sister, why did you come over? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Shen Zeyu knew she was doing it on purpose. She gave her a look and said crossly, “What do you think?”

“Alright, enough nonsense. Hurry and build the base layer, then you can build upward.”

“Oh…”

Xu Luosu didn’t waste any more words, watching as Shen Zeyu picked up the blueprints and carefully identified the parts before starting to assemble the base.

This Lego set had thousands of pieces and a very tedious assembly process. Shen Zeyu had only started when the medication began to take effect. She sat on the sofa, wrapped in her blanket and holding a piece, her head nodding like a chick pecking at grain. Drowsiness swept over her, and she could no longer hold herself up.

Sitting beside her, Xu Luosu saw her nodding off and couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and pulling her into an embrace. As Shen Zeyu’s head bobbed, she slumped completely into the girl’s arms. Shallow breaths spilled against her chest; Xu Luosu felt the weight on her heart as Shen Zeyu fell into her embrace.

A tingling, numbing sensation rose from her chest, making Xu Luosu’s eyes burn. She looked down at the fluffy head resting on her chest, a very unfamiliar emotion surging in her heart.

Although her undergraduate degree was in Drama and Screenwriting, she was self-taught in International Finance and Trade. Compared to acting, she was more naturally talented in business. In the words of Teacher Zhou Qingyang, she understood script structure and acting techniques very well, but her acting was always an imitation of others; she lacked something of her own.

Therefore, she could easily master any shallow role. Once it involved deep emotions, she was unable to perform. She couldn’t understand why someone would say words of hate while their eyes hid affection. Why someone would speak of love while their eyes were full of tears. Why just being close could bring joy, yet being apart brought such pain. Why, despite being right next to each other with love in their eyes, they couldn’t take more intimate actions.

For example, right now, Shen Zeyu was in her arms. Her emotions were fluctuating so violently, yet she couldn’t take a step closer.

Xu Luosu let out a soft sigh and leaned back onto the sofa with the other woman in her arms. Amidst the other’s mumbles, she quietly pulled her body up, tucking her firmly into her embrace. The familiar scent of lychee enveloped Xu Luosu. She looked down at the fluffy curls and, after much hesitation, finally pressed a solemn kiss upon them.

As she pulled back, Xu Luosu looked at the woman’s fair forehead and asked herself: Is this what “liking” is? It was more intense than friendship and narrower than pity—it even vaguely gave rise to a desire for possession. Every aspect of it could drag a person into the abyss of jealousy. It was no wonder Shen Zeyu was unwilling to set foot here.

“Sigh…” Holding Shen Zeyu, Xu Luosu looked up at the ceiling and let out a soft sigh.

Relying on her superb “clinging” techniques, Xu Luosu managed to stay in the hospital. Because it was winter and the weather was cold—combined with the medication—Shen Zeyu’s sleep time increased visibly. When a person becomes lazy, it’s hard to care about other things. She spent most of her time sleeping, and on the rare occasions she woke up, she would be dragged into building Lego by Xu Luosu. When she grew tired of building and went back to sleep, Xu Luosu would start handling her work.

Time flowed quickly. By the time Chen Ci came to the hospital to visit again, it was almost New Year’s Eve, and the massive model of the ocean liner was mostly completed. Chen Ci had come to take Shen Zeyu home for the New Year and was incredibly surprised to see Xu Luosu in the ward. “Why is President Xu here?”

After asking, she looked at Shen Zeyu with a look of condemnation: What on earth is going on?

Explaining the situation was too troublesome, so Shen Zeyu sat on her bed and turned her head to look out the window, attempting to play dead. Xu Luosu, however, was quite calm and natural. “I asked the doctor, and he said that family members are allowed to stay as caregivers this time. So, I came on the third day after Senior Sister was admitted.”

“Family member?” Chen Ci weighed those words, looking at Shen Zeyu with suspicion. “You two…”

Xu Luosu reached out to link arms with Shen Zeyu, leaning against her and smiling with complete sincerity. “Junior and senior sisters count as family too!”

“Furthermore, Senior Sister had to be hospitalized for observation because of her writing work. It’s only right that I stay with her.” She didn’t outright say she was there to pursue Shen Zeyu; if she spoke so plainly, Shen Zeyu would likely blow up.

But Shen Zeyu didn’t particularly like this ambiguous way of puting it either. She released Xu Luosu and squeezed out a forced smile: “Mm.” She looked up at Chen Ci. “What are you doing here? Bringing me New Year’s supplies?”

Chen Ci was full of doubts, but with Xu Luosu present, she couldn’t ask much. She swallowed her questions and said directly to Shen Zeyu, “The New Year is coming. I’m here to take you home for the holidays.”

Before Shen Zeyu could answer, Xu Luosu hurriedly blurted out, “No!”

She spoke too quickly, causing both Shen Zeyu and Chen Ci to look at her in unison. Xu Luosu realized her reaction was too much, but the words were already out and couldn’t be taken back. She forced herself to stay calm and pulled Shen Zeyu to stand beside her to face Chen Ci. “I’ve already discussed it with Senior Sister. We’re going to my house for the New Year this year.”

After finishing, she looked down at Shen Zeyu. “Right, Senior Sister?”

Xu Luosu was gambling. She gambled that Shen Zeyu didn’t want to go to Chen Ci’s house for the New Year, and she gambled that Shen Zeyu was a dignified person who wouldn’t expose her in front of Chen Ci. Sure enough, Shen Zeyu gave her a glance and spoke without a hint of a blush: “There is such a consideration.”

Chen Ci was stunned. She looked at Shen Zeyu, then at Xu Luosu, then at Xu Luosu’s hand gripping Shen Zeyu’s, a suspicion forming in her heart. However, she didn’t say it to their faces, merely looking at Shen Zeyu with a strange expression. “You’re really going to President Xu’s house for the New Year?”

Shen Zeyu didn’t want to lie, so Xu Luosu quickly interjected, “That’s right. Senior Sister Chen, why would we lie to you?”

Shen Zeyu had practically grown up under Chen Ci’s watch. Since she wasn’t speaking up, it meant things might not be exactly as stated. However, it also meant she was siding with Xu Luosu. Chen Ci saw through her thoughts, gave an “OK” sign, and instructed her: “If you change your mind, remember to call me. I’ll come back to take you home.”

“Mm.”

Chen Ci stayed for a bit longer, and after some small talk, she departed. Once she was gone, Xu Luosu relaxed completely, sitting on the armchair and letting out a long sigh of relief.

Shen Zeyu sat on the sofa, poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, and looked at Xu Luosu with a half-smile. “When exactly did we discuss going to your house? Why didn’t I know about it?”

Xu Luosu knew she would ask this and looked back at her with a beaming smile. “We can discuss it right now.” As she spoke, she took out her phone, opened her WeChat family group chat to a message from a month ago, and shoved it in front of Shen Zeyu. “A month ago, I told my grandmother, my parents, and my sisters that if I didn’t bring you home this year, I wouldn’t go back either and would stay in the hospital with you.”

Shen Zeyu scanned the messages. Seeing Xu Qingyue’s “Support” comment, she choked on her tea and began to cough violently.

“Cough, cough, cough…!” She coughed so hard it seemed the world was ending, scaring Xu Luosu into dropping her phone and running over to pat her back. After a while, Shen Zeyu took another sip of tea to finally suppress the fit.

She turned to Xu Luosu, her eyes still watery. “Seriously, why do you love to ‘pre-order’ things so much?”

Xu Luosu didn’t react immediately. “What?”

Shen Zeyu was nearly dead from anger. She set down the teacup and said through gritted teeth, “You didn’t discuss anything with me, yet you went and told your family. If I don’t go with you, what will your family think of you, and what will they think of our relationship?”

Shen Zeyu was truly at a loss. She knew the other woman was reckless, but she didn’t expect it to this extent. Yet Xu Luosu wrinkled her nose and looked at her with an innocent face. “But… would you really make me a liar?”

Shen Zeyu was momentarily speechless. Seeing her defeated expression, a sly smile slowly bloomed on Xu Luosu’s face. “See? You won’t let me be a liar. Since that’s the case, what do I have to be afraid of?”

Shen Zeyu finally realized: Xu Luosu was taking advantage of her good temper and repeatedly jumping over her “red lines.” She was fuming, and her breathing became rapid. The over-breathing made her a bit dizzy. She forced herself to stand up from the sofa and take several deep breaths.

But her anger had nowhere to go. She looked at the tea tray, then at the distant Lego model, and finally fixed her gaze on Xu Luosu. “You… you…!” She said “you” several times but couldn’t get out a full sentence.

Xu Luosu saw that she was truly angry and quickly stood up, supporting her with one hand while stroking her chest with the other—half coaxing and half acting like a spoiled child. “Alright, alright, Senior Sister, I was wrong. Just forgive me, okay?”

Shen Zeyu was too angry to utter a single curse. Finally, she pointed a finger at the Lego set. “You’d better finish that thing yourself before the end of the year, or don’t even think about me going back with you!”

To hell with dignity! This girl had one trick after another; she was never going to look out for her again!