Meow~
The moment Fang Bai heard Bei Bei's cry, she forgot everything else. She walked to the shoe cabinet, placed her hand on Bei Bei's head, and gently stroked it, "Little Bei Bei~"
Contrary to Fang Bai's expectations, Bei Bei did not dodge her touch. Instead, Bei Bei sniffed Fang Bai twice, then rubbed her head against Fang Bai's hand, occasionally sticking out her tongue to lick it.
Fang Bai immediately looked at Ji Yuning and said with delight, "It still remembers me."
Ji Yuning put her suitcase aside, walked to Fang Bai's side, and reached out to Bei Bei. Their hands rubbed and kneaded Bei Bei's body. "Mmm, I remember your scent."
Fang Bai knew that pets would remember their owners' scent and voice, but three years was a long time for a pet, and she didn't expect that Bei Bei hadn't forgotten.
She rubbed Beibei's ears and asked softly, "Beibei, what do I smell like?"
A voice whispered in my ear: "Sweet."
Fang Bai looked at Ji Yuning, "I was asking about Bei Bei."
Ji Yuning withdrew her hand. "Yes, it told me."
Fang Bai smiled, then turned her gaze and pinched Bei Bei's front legs with both hands, wanting to hug her. But when she lifted her up, she realized that Bei Bei not only looked chubby, but was actually quite well-endowed. She said, "Bei Bei, you're such a piggy~ How did Xiao Ning feed you so much?"
Fang Bai walked towards the sofa as she spoke. The cat in her arms was too heavy, and it was a little tiring for her to hold it while standing.
Sitting on the sofa, Fang Bai asked Ji Yuning, "Who fed Beibei while you were gone? Miss Yuan?"
Ji Yuning shook her head slightly, about to speak, when the sound of the door opening interrupted her.
"Beibei, I'm here." He Ziyan opened the door and greeted Beibei as usual, but Beibei wasn't on the shoe cabinet. She turned her head and saw the suitcase by the door. Then she looked up and saw the person standing in the living room.
"Ji Yuning, why didn't you tell me you were coming back?! Is that it—"
He Ziyan stopped talking when she saw the person sitting on the sofa.
He Ziyan carefully checked again, and after confirming that she hadn't misread it, she called out, "Aunt Fang?!"
Fang Bai was surprised by He Ziyan's appearance. The image of the little peacock had not faded, but her eyebrows and eyes had matured, and her features had become much more elegant. She was very beautiful.
Seeing Fang Bai, an acquaintance, was a great joy. He picked up Bei Bei and stood up, saying, "Xiao He, it's been a long time."
He Ziyan stood there for several years before replying, "Long time no see." She excitedly wanted to hug Fang Bai, but stopped when she passed Ji Yuning.
Finally, looking at Fang Bai, she said with a mix of joy and frustration, "Aunt Fang, why did you suddenly go on a trip? And you left your phone at home without contacting us."
Fang Bai smiled and said, "It's not that it was sudden; I had made plans."
It was just very sudden for them.
After calming down, He Ziyan walked towards Fang Bai naturally, her tone so natural that it didn't seem like they hadn't seen each other for years, there was no sense of unfamiliarity at all, "I thought Ji Yuning had made you leave in anger. Before, when I asked her anything, she wouldn't say a word."
Ji Yuning glanced at He Ziyan.
The latter raised an eyebrow at her, slightly provocatively, as if she had suffered a lot of grievances with Ji Yuning and was now able to complain to Fang Bai with a bit of smugness.
Fang Bai smiled and said, "No, I just wanted to clear my head."
"Oh, oh." He Ziyan teased Beibei with her finger and asked Fang Bai, "Where were you during the time you were back in China, Auntie?"
“In Nancheng,” Fang Bai answered He Ziyan’s question, then paused and asked, “How did you know I had returned to the country?”
“Her!” He Ziyan pointed to Ji Yuning and looked at Fang Bai, saying, “A while ago, she suddenly asked me to feed Beibei, and then she disappeared for a long time. When I asked her, she said she was going to see you. She’s so stingy that she wouldn’t even tell me her address, otherwise I would have gone to see you too.”
Fang Bai looked in the direction He Ziyan was pointing and saw Ji Yuning looking at them calmly, completely unconcerned about He Ziyan's "accusations".
He Ziyan sat down on the sofa and continued, "These days, isn't the 'white moonlight' thing popular? Someone is probably afraid I'll do something, that's why they're not saying anything."
Fang Bai raised an eyebrow. "White Moonlight?"
Seeing Fang Bai's puzzled expression, He Ziyan smiled at him and said, "Aunt Fang, to me, you are practically my white moonlight."
"What does that have to do with Xiao Ning?" Fang Bai asked.
She could tell that He Ziyan was referring to Ji Yuning, but she didn't quite understand what He Ziyan meant.
Isn't "white moonlight" a common trope in novels? And isn't Ji Yuning's white moonlight Mu Xuerou?
But what is her relationship with Mu Xuerou?
He Ziyan was clearly taken aback when she heard what Fang Bai said. She stared blankly at Ji Yuning and saw that the other person was pursing her lips and had helplessness in her eyes. He Ziyan then burst into laughter, which was quite unkind of her.
Fang Bai and Ji Yuning's eyes were immediately drawn to her.
Both of them frowned; Fang Bai was puzzled, while Ji Yuning was... frustrated.
After laughing a few times, He Ziyan coughed heavily twice to calm herself down, and then explained to Fang Bai, "N-nothing, I was just joking."
Fang Bai remained silent, his gaze falling on He Ziyan and Ji Yuning, feeling that the two were speaking in riddles.
Ji Yuning's expression had already darkened when He Ziyan burst into laughter. She looked at He Ziyan and asked, "Is there anything else?"
He Ziyan nodded: "Yes."
She took Beibei from Fang Bai's arms, saying, "I haven't fed Beibei yet."
“I’ll feed him myself,” Ji Yuning said softly. “You can go now.”
"No, how can you kick someone out like that?" He Ziyan moved closer to Fang Bai's back and said in a low voice, "Aunt Fang, look at her~"
Ji Yuning: "..."
Fang Bai looked at He Ziyan and said softly, "Lunch is about to start. Why don't you stay and eat with us?"
On their way back, they bought a lot of things at the supermarket and decided to cook at home.
He Ziyan: "Okay~"
Fang Bai made a move to pick up the bag, but Ji Yuning picked it up first, saying, "Go rest for a while, I'll do it."
After saying that, Ji Yuning turned and went to the kitchen.
Glancing at Ji Yuning's retreating figure, He Ziyan turned to Fang Bai and said, "I'll go help her in a bit, Aunt Fang, you can rest."
After a pause, He Ziyan asked again, "Aunt Fang, would you like to feed the cat? It's so much fun feeding Beibei."
Fang Bai's interest was piqued by He Ziyan's words. He turned his gaze away from Ji Yuning and nodded with a smile: "Okay."
While feeding the cat, Fang Bai learned that He Ziyan and Ji Yuning were in the same school and major, and even shared a dormitory. However, they only occasionally returned to the dormitory, and He Ziyan had also rented a house nearby.
No wonder the two get along even better than before.
After feeding the cat, He Ziyan said she would go to the kitchen to help Ji Yuning wash vegetables, while Fang Bai pulled his suitcase to the side bedroom to pack his luggage.
kitchen.
Seeing that Fang Bai was no longer in the living room, He Ziyan looked at Ji Yuning and said sarcastically, "Ji Yuning, you're no good."
The sound of chopping vegetables suddenly stopped.
The atmosphere was a bit cold, and Ji Yuning's expression was not as indifferent as usual, but He Ziyan seemed not to notice and said, "I thought you brought Aunt Fang back because you two were together, but it seems that Aunt Fang doesn't even know how you feel about her."
He Ziyan clicked her tongue: "Tell me, are you impotent or not?!"
Ji Yuning lowered her eyes and remained silent, then resumed chopping the vegetables.
Amidst the "da" sounds, He Ziyan hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "You...you haven't confessed to her aunt yet, have you?"
He Ziyan kept staring at Ji Yuning's profile as she spoke, noticing that Ji Yuning's eyelashes trembled, but she didn't say a word.
It was as if he had tacitly agreed with her words.
He Ziyan lowered her chin slightly, blinked, and said to Ji Yuning, "I take back what I just said. You're not incapable, you're too capable."
After Fang Bai left, He Ziyan realized that her feelings for Fang Bai were exactly the same as what Fang Bai had said when he rejected her, so today she could joke about the past at will.
He Ziyan initially thought that Ji Yuning was the same as her, but after Fang Bai had been gone for a while, she realized that he wasn't.
He Ziyan witnessed the three-year search, and Ji Yuning's persistence in Fang Bai filled her with awe.
She thought that Ji Yuning's love, which she had suppressed for so many years, would burst forth like a flood the moment she saw Fang Bai. No matter how indifferent Ji Yuning's personality was, the waves of love would be more turbulent than the crashing waves in front of her.
But unexpectedly...
As He Ziyan was thinking, Ji Yuning's voice rang in her ears, "I said that."
She paused, turned to look at the person chopping vegetables without stopping, and asked, "Then why?"
Ji Yuning's lowered eyes darkened.
He Ziyan didn't ask the whole question, but she understood what she meant.
Why did Fang Bai "ignore" her feelings?
Because everything she said had one premise—Fang Bai was her aunt.
Therefore, in Fang Bai's view, what she said about liking someone was a perfectly normal expression, a way of confiding or being coquettish, but definitely not a confession.
And then… Ji Yuning frowned slightly. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but sometimes she could sense from conversations that Fang Bai seemed to think she had someone she liked.
Ji Yuning put the chopped vegetables into a plate, then took the washed vegetables from He Ziyan and chopped them on the cutting board.
His movements were methodical and his expression calm and composed.
He Ziyan glanced at Ji Yuning, then turned her head to look at the living room. Not seeing Fang Bai, she fixed her gaze on Ji Yuning again.
"Aren't you in a hurry at all?" He Ziyan's eyes flashed with deep thought, but in the end she really couldn't figure out what Ji Yuning was going to do.
She didn't know that the lurking wolf was waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
The opportunity that Ji Yuning was waiting for was to keep Fang Bai by her side completely.
For example, now.
He Ziyan waited for Ji Yuning's reply, then raised her chin, gave Ji Yuning a raised eyebrow, and teased, "How about I go and confess to Aunt Fang again?"
As soon as He Ziyan finished speaking, the sound of chopping vegetables stopped.
She looked down at the knife in Ji Yuning's hand, her heart suddenly racing.
She regretted it a little; she should have waited until Ji Yuning put down the knife before saying anything.
Ji Yuning glanced at He Ziyan, "Okay."
He Ziyan was stunned for a moment before becoming wary. Ji Yuning's reaction was different from what she had imagined; something was definitely amiss.
Sure enough, the next second Ji Yuning said, "Xue Rou is going back to China soon. You can wait until she comes back before confessing. Then invite the two of us to watch."
He Ziyan: "..."
A few seconds later, He Ziyan pouted, "I was just kidding, can't you even take a joke!"