The Night is Called Gentle - Chapter 20

Want to give you a little scare.

In the afternoon, Yan Huaiqing said she wanted to get closer to Lin Zhixia.

By evening, her arm suddenly felt heavy, and a warm body nestled into her embrace.

Lin Zhixia, like a liquid kitten, pressed against her, clung to her. Her scorching body temperature and heated breath seeped through the fine stitches of the cashmere sweater, tingling against her skin.

Yan Huaiqing froze for a moment.

“Lin Xiaoman?” She gently shook her arm. “Are you still sober?”

“I am,” the person in her arms slowly lifted her face, blinking with dazed eyes, her cheeks flushed even redder. “Teacher Yan, I’m perfectly sober.”

Yan Huaiqing looked at her teetering state and didn’t quite believe it.

“I had dinner at your place and drank the sweet soup with alcohol in it,” Lin Zhixia said, unconsciously tugging at the corner of Yan Huaiqing’s clothes, her speech slower than usual.

“My body feels warm and comfortable, just a little floaty. It’s fine…” She shook her head a couple of times, earnestly trying to prove her point.

But only drunk people try to prove they’re not drunk.

Yan Huaiqing smiled helplessly, lowering herself to steady Lin Zhixia. “Can you walk steadily? Let me help you to the sofa to rest for a bit.”

“Okay.” Leaning on Yan Huaiqing’s arm, Lin Zhixia wobbled a few steps before suddenly stopping. She turned to examine Yan Huaiqing’s arm and asked, “Can you hold me and spin me around ten times?”

“Right now?” Yan Huaiqing’s eyebrows twitched as she instinctively assessed Lin Zhixia’s figure. It was possible, but

“Not now,” Lin Zhixia shook her head, her expression serious. “I’m a bit dizzy right now. I can’t spin.”

Yan Huaiqing nearly laughed out loud, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Staggering forward a few more steps, the arm linked with hers suddenly parted into a smug grin. “Teacher Su can spin Teacher Yan ten times, and Teacher Yan can spin me ten times. I win.”

This time, Yan Huaiqing did laugh. She helped Lin Zhixia sit on the sofa and asked curiously, “What did you win?”

Lin Zhixia twisted away from her grasp, sliding directly onto the carpet. Leaning against the sofa, she looked up and replied, “Teacher Su has no one to hold her.”

So she’s treating Su Wangyue as a rival, Yan Huaiqing thought, surprised.

Casually handing her a cushion and a shawl, Yan Huaiqing played along. “Well, you’ve definitely won. Teacher Su really doesn’t have anyone to hold her.”

“Why not?”

“She has a large frame, weighs more, and doesn’t want to reveal her weight.”

“Oh.” Lin Zhixia lowered her head and giggled. But soon, as if feeling jealous, she buried her hands in the shawl, tracing circles. “But she can call you ‘A-Yan.’”

Yan Huaiqing’s ears tingled again. After a moment’s thought, she replied, “One to one, it’s a tie.”

She didn’t say, “You can call me that too,” which left Lin Zhixia unsatisfied.

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, her eyes lit up, and she looked up at Yan Huaiqing. “She’s never lain on a rocking chair with you listening to Pingtan.”

“Very good, two to one. You win.” Yan Huaiqing surrounded her with cushions and went to pour a glass of warm water.

Teacher Su must have been to Yan Huaiqing’s house. Teacher Su must have also drunk the sweet soup. Teacher Su.

Lin Zhixia had been happy at first, but after tilting her head and weighing the situation in her mind, she lifted her eyelids dejectedly. “She’s your partner. I can’t win.”

Quite the competitive spirit.

When Yan Huaiqing turned back, she saw Lin Zhixia avert her gaze, turn away, and bury her face in the shawl as if she were about to shatter.

Poor thing.

Drunk people are always unpredictable in their moods, so it’s best to go along with them.

Yan Huaiqing slowly approached her, set the water glass aside, and knelt on the carpet, softly reassuring her, “You’re my partner too, you know my behind-the-scenes partner.”

The shawl rustled slightly, followed by the sound of breathing, and then a muffled voice: “A person’s scent is like another version of them in this world.”

After a long pause, fingers fiddled with the fringe, and the breathing resumed. “The shawl smells nice.”

Judging by her tone, her mood had already shifted.

If she hadn’t been drinking, Lin Zhixia probably wouldn’t have said that last part. But drunk, she wasn’t so reserved.

Yan Huaiqing looked down at the fuzzy head but didn’t respond. Instead, she gently brushed the stray hairs away from her neck before turning to lean against the sofa.

They sat back-to-back, their figures overlapping only in the lamplight.

It had long been dark outside, with distant lights visible through the window. The carpet beneath them felt like the softest cat bed in the world.

The little cat let out a few soft breaths, then suddenly reached out a paw to poke her arm, shakily straightening up. “Teacher Yan poured me water. Thank you.”

Even drunk, she still managed to find a way to save face.

Yan Huaiqing reached out to steady her and handed her the glass.

Lin Zhixia held the bottom of the cup with her hand and took small sips.

She wasn’t thirsty.

Yan Huaiqing could tell and quietly observed what she would do next.

She saw Lin Zhixia’s eyelashes flutter restlessly before she let out a deep sigh into the glass.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s not as good as the sweet soup.” She tilted her head and glanced toward the dining table, still thinking about that bowl of sweet soup.

“You can’t have any more.”

“Teacher Yan is like a dog trainer.” A drop of water clung to the corner of her mouth.

“Did I train you?”

“Keeping a puppy hungry is how you tame her.” She lifted her hand but missed wiping it.

“I made a whole table of dishes how could you be hungry?”

“You did train me.” She lifted her hand again, still missing.

“Are you a puppy?” Yan Huaiqing found herself reaching out to wipe the corner of her mouth.

Lin Zhixia’s mind went fuzzy in an instant, her eyelashes fluttering in panic.

“Aren’t you a little cat?” Yan Huaiqing withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened and turned to place the glass on the coffee table.

Lin Zhixia shakily lifted the back of her hand to wipe the spot Yan Huaiqing had touched, then unconsciously brushed her nose. Her train of thought bounced like a spring.

“Teacher Yan, if there were no ‘Many Mountains,’ would you still invite me to dinner?”

“Yes.”

“And would you still add me on WeChat?”

“Yes.”

“Not just to ask me to work.”

“No.”

“Then you’re really nice.”

Her words were starting to slur, but her body uncontrollably leaned in her direction, swaying unsteadily.

“Do you want to sleep for a bit?” Yan Huaiqing turned back and let her lean against her.

Lin Zhixia slumped onto her shoulder. “Your turn.”

Yan Huaiqing clearly struggled to keep up with her abrupt topic changes. Hesitantly, she asked, “My turn for what?”

“You ask me.” She turned her head to look at her, her breath brushing against Yan Huaiqing’s chin.

Yan Huaiqing nodded slowly, draped the shawl over her, and asked leisurely, “Xiaoman, why did you hide your author identity from me?”

“Wanted to surprise you.”

“Oh.” Little cats love to startle people it made sense.

“When were you planning to surprise me?”

“Don’t know.”

That also made sense.

“Xiaoman, did you really agree to the adaptation because of me?”

“Discovered you all know now, ah” She inexplicably sighed, the sound drifting toward the direction of her heart.

Yan Huaiqing felt an unfamiliar tenderness surge within her chest. “So you knew from the very beginning what I intended to do?”

“No.”

“Then how did you know I could accomplish it?”

“No idea.”

Before the words fully faded, a furry head drooped heavily, sliding into the hollow of her shoulder. With two soft breaths, she was asleep.

The maternal radiance within a woman is profound it flows through your veins, awakening the most primal protective instincts, compelling you to pour forth all your tenderness.

Yet it is also perilous, for no one knows at what age or moment it will awaken.

By the time Yan Huaiqing became aware of it, her hand had already unconsciously patted Lin Zhixia’s back several times.

The warm, slender body nestled in her embrace, the scorching, damp breaths indulged against her cheek. As she draped the shawl over her, she couldn’t resist gently brushing aside the stray hairs trapped beneath.

She startled herself a little.

Yan Huaiqing loosened her hold slightly, lifted her head to gaze out the window, and shook her head helplessly.

After holding her a while longer, she finally rose and lifted the other into her arms.

Perhaps because the person in her arms was too deeply intoxicated and held no wariness toward her, she felt no psychological burden.

Before setting her down on the sofa, she glanced around, took a few pacing steps, spun in place twice as if testing something, and only then laid her down.

Even eight-foot-long water sleeves were no challenge with her arm strength, she could indeed spin her ten times.

It was only when she returned to the room to fetch a blanket that the other stirred slightly awake, again feeling utterly baffled.

Just who was taming whom?