Therefore, she had no choice but to agree to go out for a get-together.
The two drove to pick up Xu Yuan from her place, but then went to an entertainment venue.
When Xu Yuan saw them, the gloomy mood on his face vanished. He patted Chai Qianning's shoulder and said, "I saw you at dinner this evening. Is that your friend with you?"
Before she could speak, Fang Jiaqin said, "This person went on a date with her lover tonight."
"Lover?" Xu Yuan looked at Chai Qianning in disbelief. "Could I be seeing things? But I saw a girl."
“Sister Xu Yuan, you already knew that Chai Qianning doesn’t like men,” Fang Jiaqin said.
Chai Qianning did say that in junior high school, but everyone thought she was joking. They thought she was just young and saying it casually, just following the trend. They thought she didn't know anything about marriage and love.
The three walked towards the private room, and Xu Yuan couldn't help but ask Chai Qianning, "Do your parents know?"
"I don't know yet," Chai Qianning replied, seemingly not feeling much pressure about it.
Xu Yuan said thoughtfully, "I just wanted to remind you, I didn't mean anything by it. If your parents don't agree, it will be very difficult for you to be together."
"Yes, thank you for reminding me, Sister Xu Yuan," Chai Qianning smiled.
We went into the private room.
The three changed into the provided disposable white, loose-fitting cotton clothes, then lay down on the massage chairs to enjoy the comfort of soaking their feet.
The staff came in and added something to the water in their foot bath basins. A faint milky scent, mixed with lavender aroma, wafted into their nostrils.
The atmosphere was perfect for sleeping, so much so that Chai Qianning almost fell asleep with her eyes closed as she leaned against the wall. If it weren't for Fang Jiaqin suddenly taking out her phone to recommend some food livestreamer to her...
"Let me tell you, I heard this streamer is amazing. Anyone who watches her eat durian on her live stream will fall in love with eating durian." Fang Jiaqin held up her phone and leaned closer.
Chai Qianning tactically covered her ears: "I won't look. Don't try to trick me into eating durian. I will never eat that stuff in my life."
"Seriously, a netizen once said in a live stream that he used to feel nauseous at the smell of durian, but one day, influenced by the streamer, he tried eating a bite of durian and his life was instantly elevated."
"What kind of sublimation? Being so intoxicated that your soul leaves your body?"
"You're the one whose soul has left their body; that person was moved by the delicious food."
"You haven't even tried it, yet you say it's not good. Durian may smell awful, but it actually tastes delicious," Fang Jiaqin continued, trying to sell Chai Qianning her beloved durian.
"I won't try it."
If durian were a brand, it would be unreasonable not to pay advertising fees to Fang Jiaqin, a durian enthusiast.
"Just give it a try."
"No need to try."
Just one bite.
"No."
"Durian candy."
"No."
I feel sorry for you.
"Shut up! I don't want to taste something that smells like poop!"
"Say it again, it's like poop. Is this how your Chinese teacher taught you to use similes?"
"Even shit doesn't smell as bad as this."
"You're slandering durian!"
"Shut up or not?"
I'm going to say it!
"Get out of here, you bastard!"
"Get out of here, you bastard!"
"ah--"
"Huh what?"
At this moment, while Fang Jiaqin was speaking, Chai Qianning had already put a dried squid, covered in wasabi, into Fang Jiaqin's mouth.
The spiciness exploded in her mouth, causing Fang Jiaqin to choke several times and cough up tears. She still couldn't help but accuse, "Chai Qianning! You're not human... cough."
Immediately afterwards, Chai Qianning received an "attack" from the other party using durian candy.
No one knew where Fang Jiaqin got the durian candy, so much so that Chai Qianning didn't even realize it wasn't an ordinary candy before it was already in her mouth.
Although it was durian candy, the durian flavor was enough to make Chai Qianning feel like she had a mouthful of shit, and she blurted out a curse: "Holy shit! Yue—"
Chai Qianning vomited into the trash can and then ran to the sink to rinse her mouth.
So the next scene changed from a wonderful foot bath to Fang Jiaqin and Chai Qianning washing their mouths on the sink, one "yue" at a time.
Xu Yuan, standing to the side, was exasperated by the two of them and couldn't help but rub his forehead: "I say, you two, how come after so many years, you're still the same as before, arguing as soon as you meet?"
After rinsing her mouth, Chai Qianning leaned against the sink to catch her breath. Fang Jiaqin, looking weak and listless, leaned against her, her voice hoarse from the wasabi: "It can't be that bad, can it? This isn't a real durian."
Chai Qianning felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, took it out and glanced at it. When she saw that it was a message from Sheng Muxi, she almost wondered if she had been overwhelmed by the smell of durian.
Why would Sheng Muxi send her a message in the middle of the night?
And it was just a simple question: "Are you asleep?"
Chapter 36 A Huge Misunderstanding
A glass lamp shines down on the marble washbasin. Lingchai's fingers are lightly touched, as if covered with a layer of soft frost.
She stared at the three words Sheng Muxi had sent and paused for a moment.
She would usually be asleep by this time, but tonight she's out meeting up with Xu Yuan, so it's a bit special.
Fang Jiaqin rinsed off the last mouthful of water and went out. Chai Qianning lifted her eyelids to glance at her, then lowered her eyelashes again and typed a reply: 【No.】
The other person didn't ask why she was still awake so late, but instead replied with two words: 【Oh, okay.】
oh oh?
That's it?
Chai Qianning asked proactively, "[Are you having trouble sleeping?]"
Sheng Muxi: [A little.]
Chai Qianning: [What's causing your insomnia?]
Sheng Muxi: [It's okay, I'm going to sleep.]
Chai Qianning blinked slowly, considering the possibility that the other person was having insomnia. Fang Jiaqin called to her from the other side of the door, "Aren't you done rinsing your mouth yet?"
She turned off her phone screen and went outside.
The waiter took the bucket away, and Fang Jiaqin stood on it, playing music and starting to sing.
Chai Qianning sat down, picked up a few pieces of watermelon with a toothpick, and ate them. She listened to Fang Jiaqin, whose musical talent was hardly remarkable, and her ears were about to explode.
She opened her phone, scrolled through her WeChat Moments, ate some fruit, and then Fang Jiaqin dragged her to sing a song. Finally, it was Xu Yuan's turn to sing.
Xu Yuan requested a love song with a slow and gentle melody, which brought a brief moment of peace to the private room.
Chai Qianning and Fang Jiaqin listened quietly, occasionally nibbling on the fruit and snacks on the table. Suddenly, they heard Xu Yuan pause and sigh. Chai Qianning and Fang Jiaqin exchanged a glance, sensing Xu Yuan's emotions, and unsure how to comfort him, they remained silent.
"My ex-boyfriend and I used to sing this song together." Xu Yuan stopped talking and didn't continue singing. Perhaps she was recalling sad things and couldn't continue.
"Sister Xu Yuan." Chai Qianning hesitated before speaking.
Xu Yuan smiled gently: "It's nothing."
Fang Jiaqin glanced at it and couldn't help but say, "Sister Xu Yuan, you and your ex-boyfriend had such a good relationship, why did you break up? Why did you choose to marry someone you don't even like?"
Xu Yuan was silent for a few seconds, then put down the microphone and turned the volume of the song on the screen down a little.
“My parents don’t agree,” Xu Yuan uttered.
"Can't we discuss it?" Chai Qianning said.
Xu Yuan shook his head, looked at Chai Qianning, and asked her seriously, "If you get together with a girl in the future and your parents don't approve, will you choose your partner or your parents?"
Chai Qianning, who had been slumped over, sat up a little by supporting herself with her hands and opened her mouth: "It can't be that extreme, can it?"
Does it have to be this way, where you can only choose between family and your partner?
Fang Jiaqin stopped eating her fruit and said, "Sister Xu Yuan, did you not communicate well with your parents? Communication is really important."
“We’ve communicated with them, but my ex-boyfriend’s family is also against us being together, so it’s double pressure. Even if I promise that I won’t waver because of my family, can I guarantee that my ex-boyfriend won’t waver because of family pressure? He’s an only child, and during the time his parents were against us being together, I could see that he actually felt guilty towards them.”
Watermelon juice sloshed between Chai Qianning's teeth. She listened to Xu Yuan's words, her gaze lingering for a moment before she slowly raised her eyes and said, "So you think this relationship will make both of you feel guilty towards your families?"
"Hmm." A secret sadness flowed through Xu Yuan's body, but she remained calm on the surface: "My ex-boyfriend was very good to me, but my family was also very good to me. Why should I give up my family for love?"
But Chai Qianning believes that love and family affection are not contradictory; warm family affection and beautiful love can coexist.
She wanted to say something more, but Xu Yuan had already shifted the topic to her.
Perhaps because she mentioned liking girls on the way here, Xu Yuan couldn't help but worry about her a bit more: "It's not easy for opposite sexes to be together, let alone the same sex. Even if you're confident you can get your parents' approval, can you guarantee that the other person won't compromise and choose to get married because of family pressure?"
This issue has always existed in the lesbian community. Many lesbians date other women when they are young, but later, due to pressure from society and family, they may choose to get married.
Chai Qianning didn't know if He Xiaoying could accept it if she told her, but she was easygoing and felt that it wasn't a big deal.
——
The next day, Chai Qianning was awakened by the ringing of a bell.
After sending multiple messages to no avail, Su Ye finally resorted to bombarding her with phone calls.
Chai Qianning answered the phone reluctantly, and only after half-closing her eyes did she realize that she had slept straight through to the afternoon.
"Are you taking a nap?" Su Ye noticed that her voice was a little hoarse.
Chai Qianning switched her phone to her other hand, lay down on the pillow, and said with her eyes half-open, "What nap? I just woke up."
"You're something else, old cadre! Do you even know what time it is? Two o'clock! It's two in the afternoon, not two in the morning!"
Chai Qianning held the phone further away from her ear, clearly annoyed by the loud voice on the other end: "Why are you shouting so loudly? Of course I know it's afternoon!"