The Lady I Flirted With Is Here - Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Lovers

After swapping into her slippers, Lin Xian dragged her suitcase into the living room. In the blink of an eye, she noticed the coffee table was piled high with snacks: her favorite ham sausages, jellies, potato chips, spicy beef tendons, and more. Beside them sat three boxes of chocolates of varying sizes.

She suddenly remembered a custom: people give chocolates on Valentine’s Day, don’t they? She had first learned of this tradition in middle school, but after years of being single and on the verge of graduating university, she had long forgotten such romantic gestures.

She patted her chest, feeling a strange twinge of guilt. As her hand rested back on the handle of her suitcase, a new idea bubbled up—though she wasn’t sure if local agricultural specialties counted as Valentine’s gifts.

Lin Xian felt a wave of embarrassment. She was likely the first eccentric in history to give her girlfriend a crate of local produce for Valentine’s Day.

The bedroom still held the faint, cool scent of pine that lingered on Fang Daiyu. Beside the pillow lay a neatly folded set of pajamas. Having braved the early morning cold to catch the train, the sight of the soft bed and duvet made exhaustion and hunger hit her at once. After a hot shower and changing into the pajamas, she ate a leftover cup of tonkotsu ramen from the train and drifted into a hazy sleep.

When she woke up, the sky was pitch black. Accustomed to the longer daylight of the South, she found it hard to adjust. The bed was warm, but her head felt heavy with post-sleep grogginess. Bored, she picked up her fully charged phone and began scrolling through her social media feed.

Valentine’s Day was the disaster zone for showing off food, drinks, gifts, and affection. In previous years, she would have blocked her feed and spent the night at a KTV in her hometown singing until dawn. Coming home in the gray morning light, she could never hide the loneliness and emptiness in her heart. The sudden cold wind would wake her numb heart, reminding her: Another year alone.

But today was different. What used to be an eyesore of public affection now only elicited a calm, casual “like” from her. She even had the energy to critique the gifts. She clicked on a high school friend’s post showing off a gift box of flowers and a necklace from a boyfriend and felt a haughty sense that it was all a bit tacky.

Instead, she shivered, ran into the living room, grabbed a box of chocolates, tore it open, and popped one into her mouth.

“Delicious!” she praised. Perhaps love had blinded her, or perhaps, as a young girl, she had always hoped for a lover to send her chocolates. Now, looking back at the lights of the city, that childhood regret had been unintentionally mended.

The sound of the front door closing came from outside. Lin Xian hadn’t gotten out of bed yet when the bedroom door was pushed open. Holding a chocolate in her mouth, she whirled around. Startled yet delighted, she saw Fang Daiyu standing at the door. Daiyu wore an avocado-colored down jacket and the couple’s scarf Lin Xian had bought for her. Her long hair was tied back in a half-bun, revealing a smooth, high forehead and deep, bright eyes. In her hands, she held a bouquet of strawberry flowers—each berry plump, red, and hand-picked. A star-shaped light was tucked into the bouquet, the reddish-yellow glow bathing half of Daiyu’s face, making her look like a prince who had stepped out of a fairy tale and into reality.

Lin Xian licked her lips. Meeting again after their separation, she was so excited she was speechless. Daiyu’s body felt slightly cool, carrying the winter chill, so she didn’t dare lean too close to her “kid” just yet.

Staying half a step away, Daiyu reached out and rubbed the startled little face peeking out from the covers.

“Dazed?” She smiled slightly, gently pinching the round cheek that had grown a bit plumper from holiday eating. “Don’t recognize your girlfriend anymore?”

With those words, the switch in Lin Xian’s brain flipped back on. With tears in her eyes, she lunged at Daiyu, heedless of the cold. She clung tightly to the body she had missed for so long, burying her head in the crook of Daiyu’s neck, inhaling that familiar, comforting scent.

“I missed you so much!” her voice muffled.

Caught off guard, Daiyu felt a little ball of fire crash into her cold body. Fearing she would pass the chill onto Lin Xian and make the girl sick, she quickly pulled her back and pressed the strawberry bouquet into her hands.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Xianxian.” She pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The flowers on the street were almost sold out. I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a proper bouquet in time.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Lin Xian hugged the heavy strawberry bouquet, her heart overflowing with joy. She plucked a strawberry—nearly half the size of her palm—and bit into it. Sweet juice and fragrant, smooth flesh filled her mouth.

“So good!” She looked at Daiyu and smiled contentedly.

As soon as she finished the sentence, the remaining half of the strawberry was snatched away. Daiyu threatened her helplessly, “If you eat unwashed fruit again, I’ll have to spank you!”

Lin Xian knew Daiyu wouldn’t actually do it. She turned around and shook her bottom provocatively. When Daiyu reached out to playfully strike, she scrambled back under the covers.

The sound of running water came from the kitchen—Daiyu was washing the strawberries. Lin Xian climbed out of bed, and after confirming no “sneak attacks” were coming, she tidied the bed and dragged her suitcase out to lay it open.

When Daiyu brought in the washed berries, Lin Xian had already spread out all the local specialties. The bed was a mess of packages. Lin Xian stood by the bed and opened her arms wide: “Ta-da! This is your Valentine’s Day gift!”

Daiyu froze for two seconds. She set the strawberries on the small coffee table, nodded, and said deadpan: “Thank you.”

Lin Xian was dissatisfied. “Why aren’t you surprised at all!”

Daiyu chose her words carefully: “It was… within expectations.”

“Impossible!” Lin Xian refused to believe it. “I bet you’ve never even tasted most of these.”

Daiyu explained, “By ‘within expectations,’ I mean that Xianxian’s gifts are always uniquely creative.”

“Are you satisfied, then?” These were the gifts Lin Xian and her grandmother had spent over ten days preparing together.

Looking at the bed full of food, Daiyu imagined the young girl dragging this massive suitcase all the way from Dali to Beijing by herself. She was deeply moved but also wanted to laugh. Lin Xian was watching her expression carefully, as if terrified of disappointing her.

She pulled Lin Xian into her arms and sat down on the sofa by the bed. Facing each other, their breaths mingling, Daiyu’s right hand stroked the nape of Lin Xian’s neck. She could feel the pulse of the girl’s blood.

“I’m very satisfied, Xianxian.” She leaned in close, her lips carrying the scent of sweet strawberries as she gave her a light kiss.

“Next time, don’t carry so much by yourself. If you want to give me a gift, you can mail it.” She hugged Lin Xian’s back, their heartbeats synchronized.

Any lingering worries Lin Xian had were dissolved by Daiyu’s words. She was satisfied because Daiyu understood her. I put in all that effort to cross mountains and rivers to bring you my favorite things because I want you to be happy too.

The value of a gift lies in the fact that I am willing to spend time thinking of you; even with all the hardship on the road, it was worth it.

They held each other quietly for a long time, feeling each other’s heartbeats and the warmth of their bodies, listening to the muffled engines of cars on the street below. To Lin Xian, this Valentine’s Day was worth every penny. To Daiyu, it was beautiful.

That night, Lin Xian introduced the items from her hometown, passing on her grandmother’s regards.

“These are honey walnuts—walnuts soaked in wild honey. They’re sweet and crunchy, and they won’t make you ‘overheated’ if you eat too many. Grandma said you have a sweet tooth, so these are for your snacks.” Lin Xian handed over a large bag filled with individual packets.

“And these, you’ve probably had before. Mao Duo Li sour tamarind cakes, in passion fruit and original flavors.” She handed over two more large bags.

Daiyu could only lay them out on the coffee table.

“These! Flower cakes from Jia Hua. I bought two boxes, and this box is Yunnan ham cakes. I don’t know if you’ll like them, but I love them! Don’t you love flower cakes? I went to the shop early in the morning to have the master make and pack them fresh.” Lin Xian handed over three more boxes of pastries.

“Oh, and this,” Lin Xian said mysteriously. “This beef jerky is something Grandma specifically asked someone to buy from Ruili. You’ll definitely love it; it’s incredibly fragrant! Grandma never asks anyone to get beef jerky for my friends!”

She paused. “Guess why?”

“Why?” Daiyu humored her.

“Because it’s so expensive!” Lin Xian shook her head. “A beef jerky shop owner my aunt in Ruili knows makes this. They raise their own cattle and make it fresh. My aunt supervised the whole process before mailing it back.” She handed over two heavy foil-wrapped packages of jerky.

Daiyu couldn’t help but laugh, but her smile froze when Lin Xian pulled out a whole leg of ham.

“How… how do we eat this?”

Lin Xian transformed into a professional salesperson. “This is Xuanwei ham! It’s delicious. You can steam it, boil it, or just slice a few pieces into chicken soup or ribs—it’s amazing!”

“And, and!” Lin Xian handed over several spice packets. “These are two big bags of dipping chili—the pride of us Dali people. This is a bag of caoguo (black cardamom) to put in the ham soup; I searched everywhere in the North and couldn’t find any as fragrant as this. And these—our homemade pickles are too hard to carry, so I bought these pre-packaged Midu pickles.”

Daiyu accepted the “real” agricultural specialties with a blank expression, only for Lin Xian to pull out a large bag of beans.

“Beans? How do you eat these?”

Lin Xian was beaming. “Nanjing beans! For cooking with the ham. When I was little, Grandpa and Grandma loved making Nanjing beans and ham for me, especially on rainy days. Not a single one of these beans is cracked—Grandma hand-picked them one by one for you!”

At this, Lin Xian sounded a bit jealous. “When I first came to Beijing, Grandma wasn’t even this nice to me.”

Finally, Lin Xian pulled out a stack of rushan (milk fans), and the exhibition of specialties ended. Daiyu breathed a sigh of relief. (Of course, in the years to come, she would be “assimilated” and realize just how delicious these gifts were.)

The snow outside hadn’t melted yet. Lin Xian changed her clothes, and they headed out at 7:30 PM. Throughout the winter break, she had been clamoring for hot pot, but Lin Fangyun had refused, claiming Lin Xian was getting too “round.”

While packing away the specialties, Lin Xian had grumbled to Daiyu about it. If Mom wouldn’t allow it, Daiyu surely would—and she was right.

“A new Chongqing hot pot place opened downstairs. It’s pretty good, and it’s perfect for a snowy day.” Before leaving, Daiyu checked Lin Xian’s gloves and scarf multiple times. To her surprise, Lin Xian grabbed her hand and gave her one of the gloves.

“Let’s take one each. The other hand is for holding my girlfriend!” Daiyu wrapped the scarf around Lin Xian’s head until it covered her ears like a mask. Lin Xian blinked her eyes cutely to convince her.

Seeing Lin Xian wasn’t struggling, Daiyu didn’t push further.

On Valentine’s Eve, the hot pot restaurant was packed with girls holding flowers and beaming boys. The shop even had a promotion: 30% off for Valentine’s Day.

Lin Xian sat by the glass window on the second floor, happily dipping food into the pot with Daiyu. Through the window, she could see the snow-covered street and the festive red banners.

As she ate, Lin Xian suddenly felt inspired. “Daiyu, let me tell you a fairy tale.”