When Spring Awakens - Chapter 9

The message was sent by Wen Wanbing in a half-asleep, half-awake state.

Busy and colorful lives become monotonous at night, the noise and clamor fade into the background, and emotions take the upper hand, making it easy to impulsively make decisions one shouldn’t especially when her emotions were at a low point.

Wen Wanbing had thought that taking a shower would ease her exhaustion and help her calm down.

But things didn’t go as planned. Lying in bed, she caught sight of the clip placed beside her pillow, and the caged beast named desire began stirring restlessly again.

Out of sight, out of mind Wen Wanbing tucked the clip into the bedside drawer.

Exhausted yet unable to sleep, she tossed and turned, clutching her phone, mindlessly switching between Weibo and Xiaohongshu, mechanically noting ad performance data in her memo app.

Work that encroaches on rest time is the best lullaby.

Wen Wanbing finally began to feel drowsy.

In that hazy state where dreams and reality blurred, she was led by her deepest, most honest instincts, tapping away on the nine-key keyboard.

In the sliver of consciousness before her eyes fully closed, she glimpsed the answer she had wrestled with for an entire week being sent like shedding a heavy burden, she suddenly felt lighter.

Just before losing consciousness completely, Wen Wanbing thought Fu Junxue would probably ask her, just like the last time she decided to sign up for diving lessons, “Have you thought it through?”

She still had a chance to back out.

Her phone slipped from her limp hand, the screen dimming gradually, until a reply popped up in the chat.

[Snowflake]: 【Then let’s talk after today’s lesson.】

At some point, it had started raining again a soft, steady patter. From the living room came faint rustling sounds, mingling together. Though not loud, it was enough to disturb her sleep.

Frowning, Wen Wanbing cracked her eyes open and instinctively reached for her phone to check the time.

The screen was still on her chat with Fu Junxue.

Her gaze lingered on Fu Junxue’s last reply, her eyes widening slowly as confusion set in.

Dazedly, Wen Wanbing sat up.

icey: 【Why didn’t you ask me this time if I’ve thought it through?】

Fu Junxue replied almost instantly with a voice message.

“From the first time I asked you to when you replied, a whole week has passed. I figured you must have given it careful, thorough consideration before making a serious decision, right?”

If this had been text, Wen Wanbing might have been able to argue, to backtrack on her decision and retreat into her shell.

But Fu Junxue had sent a voice message, one where her tone was unmistakable.

Any drowsiness Wen Wanbing had was instantly shattered by that message, leaving her wide awake.

For an entire week, the power to decide had been in her hands.

But once she took that step, there was no taking it back.

Wen Wanbing ran a hand through her hair from front to back: 【What are we talking about after the lesson?】

Two more voice messages came through.

“Hmm~ Let’s talk about our future relationship and how we’ll interact. For example, things couples do holding hands, hugging, kissing.”

Wen Wanbing’s breath hitched. Flustered, she cut off the playback, feeling heat rush up her neck to her ears, her entire face burning.

She grabbed the air conditioner remote, turned it on, and lowered the temperature by one degree. Leaning back against the headboard, she inhaled and exhaled slowly, steadying herself. After several deep breaths, her gaze fixed back on the voice message.

It took her a long moment before she tapped to continue playing.

“And things like meals, movies, traveling, etc. Considering you’ve never been in a relationship, it’d be clearer if we talked in person.”

Instantly turning serious. Wen Wanbing let out a sigh of relief, secretly feeling a bit embarrassed.

She had thought things would only get more and more improper.

The first voice message ended, and Wen Wanbing tapped on the second one.

“Don’t sneak off again after class. Let’s chat in my car~ What do you think, girlfriend? Is that okay?”

Girlfriend!

The lingering warmth on her face, like embers on the verge of dying out, was suddenly fanned back to life with a gentle breath, the sparks flaring up even hotter.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Wen Wanbing was startled, reacting as if she’d been caught reading novels during surprise inspections in her childhood. She instinctively turned off her phone screen and placed it beside her. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Wen Xing was the first to enter, rushing to the bed and half-climbing onto it. Her grape-like eyes fixed on Wen Wanbing. “Apple.”

A few days ago, Wen Xing’s homework had included a personification sentence: “The apple blushed shyly.” She hadn’t understood it and had read it over and over. Wen Wanbing realized Wen Xing was trying to say she was blushing, and instantly, her face burned even hotter.

“Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?” He Xiuying, who had followed behind, reached out to feel her forehead.

Wen Wanbing observed He Xiuying still the same as before, sealing away unpleasant memories deep in her mind as if they were just dreams, waking up with her emotions back to normal.

“It’s not hot, though.” He Xiuying compared the temperature to her own forehead, concerned. “Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No,” Wen Wanbing replied, covering her face with her hands and making up an excuse. “I was just stuffy under the blankets while sleeping.”

“Covering yourself with blankets in the middle of summer, I don’t even know what to say to you.” He Xiuying chided lightly, tapping Wen Wanbing’s forehead with her fingertip.

Wen Xing giggled at the gesture.

“I’m going grocery shopping. You take care of Xingxing.” He Xiuying clicked her tongue and sighed. “Ugh, this rainy weather is such a nuisance.”

“I’ll go grocery shopping,” Wen Wanbing offered.

“No need. I already made plans with Uncle Zhang. He said his housekeeper’s cooking isn’t great and wanted to eat my dishes, so I told him to come with me to pick out what he wants.” He Xiuying organized the money in her wallet as she asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything’s fine,” Wen Wanbing replied.

“Anything, anything, how am I supposed to buy you ‘anything’?” He Xiuying grumbled as she walked out, adding, “And stop covering your face with the blanket! You’ll make yourself sick. Look at how red your face still is like a monkey’s butt.”

After seeing He Xiuying out, Wen Wanbing turned back to find Wen Xing had climbed onto the bed and circled behind her, fiddling with her phone.

Wen Wanbing’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly swapped her phone for the spherical nightlight on the bedside table Wen Xing loved round objects and soon lost interest in the phone.

Grabbing her phone and looking at the screen, Wen Wanbing felt her vision darken.

Somehow, a voice message had been sent. Holding her breath, she tapped to play it.

He Xiuying’s teasing about her flushed face came through crystal clear.

Fu Junxue replied with a voice message, laughing through the first half as melodious as it was mortifying: “Wen Wanbing, are you blushing?”

As if she could actually see her blushing. Wen Wanbing pressed her lips together and replied weakly: [No.]

To divert the topic, she deliberately circled Fu Junxue’s earlier suggestion about chatting in the car and replied: [Okay.]

[Snowflake]: “Great~ Whatever my girlfriend says~”

Although it was her own suggestion, she now claimed to defer to her opinion. Wen Wanbing let out a light, exasperated chuckle through her nose before belatedly realizing by responding this way, she had tacitly agreed to Fu Junxue calling her “girlfriend.”

Another voice message popped up on the screen.

“Will your face turn red as a monkey’s bottom again by then?”

The words were laced with unmistakable laughter.

Wen Wanbing flopped sideways onto the bed, yanking the blanket over her head until her face was completely hidden, as if the warmth in her cheeks could genuinely be blamed on the stifling covers.

Her phone chimed twice with a low battery alert.

After plugging in the nearly dead device, Wen Wanbing got up and walked to the window, drawing back the curtains and cracking open the glass pane for fresh air.

Outside, the sky was a wash of gray clouds, like ink bleeding across paper, dark in some places, lighter in others. The steady rain wove a thin veil of mist that cascaded downward, shrouding everything in a hazy glow.

She didn’t like rainy days.

Rain made the toil of venturing outside all the more inconvenient.

Rain brought gloomy skies and damp air, an oppressive feeling.

Drops pattered against the roof, tapped at the window, drummed against the parasol tree leaves a chaotic, staccato rhythm.

“Can you hear it? The sound of the rain.”

Mimicking Fu Junxue in the photo, Wen Wanbing reached her hand outside. Perhaps the room’s air conditioning had left her fingers cold, because when a raindrop landed on her fingertip, it carried a faint, perceptible warmth.

Maybe rain wasn’t so bad after all.

Maybe the decision she’d made wasn’t so terrible either.

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