Ji Yuning froze as she turned around.
Auntie... this is for you.
The familiar words made Ji Yuning's heart clench. She composed herself, turned to the side, and asked calmly, "How much?"
"..."
After boarding the bus, Ji Yuning skipped the empty seats in the middle and went straight to the corner at the back of the bus.
The bus ride home takes nearly fifty minutes, but thankfully it's a direct route and I don't need to transfer.
As the car started moving, Ji Yuning slowly closed her eyes. The corn she held in her hand radiated warmth, but the heat could only warm her palm and couldn't reach anywhere else.
Chapter 51
As the bus approached its final stop, the number of passengers gradually decreased, until finally, when Ji Yuning got off at her stop, she was the only passenger left on the bus.
With two "clicks," the car door opened and closed.
The moment the bus started moving, Ji Yuning walked towards the villa.
A gust of wind swept by, and without the protection of the bus, it blew directly onto her face. Ji Yuning's eyelashes fluttered, and she glanced down at the corn in her hand.
Halfway through the journey, the corn had lost its warmth. If Ji Yuning hadn't been holding it the whole time, it would have gone cold long ago, instead of still being warm as it is now.
Ji Yuning put her hands, along with the corn, into her pockets, looked up, and continued walking forward.
But as soon as she raised her head, Ji Yuning stopped in her tracks, her body frozen in place.
A few steps away, in front of a billboard, stood a woman wearing a brown coat and a beige scarf, holding a cat in her arms and clutching the cat's leash in her hand.
The woman was looking down at her phone, but she didn't seem to see what she was looking for. Her face, illuminated by the billboard lights, showed a slightly worried expression that was clearly visible even in the darkness.
The woman put her phone in her pocket, whispered a few words to the cat in her arms, and then looked up at the bus stop while tossing her hair.
Similarly, the woman saw Ji Yuning standing a meter away.
Their gazes met in mid-air, and an unreadable emotion flashed in each other's eyes.
Fang Bai's furrowed brows instantly relaxed, the worry between his brows replaced by a smile, and he called out in a gentle voice, "Xiao Ning."
The voice was soft and gentle, yet it reached right into Ji Yuning's heart.
Ji Yuning's lips moved, but her throat felt as if it were blocked by cold air, and she couldn't speak. She opened her lips again, but in the end, she could only let out a soft "Mmm" from her nose.
Fang Bai knew Ji Yuning would react this way, and she said softly, "Aren't you cold standing there? Come over here."
Ji Yuning didn't not want to move, but after seeing Fang Bai, her legs felt like lead and she couldn't move.
Hearing Fang Bai's words, Ji Yuning calmed her complicated emotions. Only then did the blood flow in her legs. She looked at the woman under the light and took small steps toward her.
Fang Bai stood still, intending to wait for Ji Yuning to walk up to her before turning around and walking back together.
She had something she wanted to say to Ji Yuning.
Ji Yuning quickly covered the one-meter distance.
As she got closer, Ji Yuning saw Fang Bai's nose, which was red from the cold, and his earlobes, which were also red.
Fang Bai didn't notice that Ji Yuning was observing her. She turned around with Bei Bei in her arms and said, "Let's go."
What are you doing here?
Before Ji Yuning even asked the question, she herself didn't realize that a faint sense of anticipation was rising in her heart.
Fang Bai guessed that Ji Yuning would ask her this question, so she showed Beibei, the cat in her arms, to Ji Yuning, "Walking the cat~"
Contrary to what she expected, Ji Yuning asked in a low voice, "Walking the cat?"
Faced with Ji Yuning's questioning, Fang Bai smiled gently, offering a protective shield: "Don't you think Beibei is getting as fat as a pig?"
Ji Yuning looked at Beibei. Although it was a little swollen, it was only in appearance. Ji Yuning had given Beibei a bath a few days ago, and she knew that Beibei was not actually fat, just that its fur was a little frizzy.
Fang Bai was unaware that her seemingly perfect excuse had been exposed. She explained why she was at the platform: "I was walking the cat and ended up here. I remembered that you hadn't gone home, so I thought I'd wait for you here with Beibei for a while."
After Fang Bai finished speaking, he waited for two seconds, but Ji Yuning did not reply. He paused and was about to continue, "We've only been here for two minutes, and you've already arrived."
Ji Yuning stopped.
Seeing this, Fang Bai stopped and turned to look at her.
Ji Yuning called out in a hoarse voice, "Auntie."
You've come to pick me up.
Don't hide it anymore.
Fang Bai was taken aback: "What's wrong?"
Ji Yuning came back two hours later than usual. Although Fang Bai knew what she was doing and that she was the female lead and wouldn't die, he was still very worried.
Especially considering that Lu Raomei shouldn't be there at this time, Fang Bai was afraid that things would turn out like last time, when Ji Yuning unknowingly encountered an accident. She wouldn't die, but she would be injured.
So after worrying for an hour and a half, Fang Bai went out under the pretext of walking the cat.
She did walk the cat on the way from the villa to the bus stop.
Fang Bai assumed that Ji Yuning's sudden call to her was because her behavior had disgusted her.
It's impossible not to feel hurt.
But instead of the expected accusations and indifference, she was asked in a low voice, "Why didn't you message me to ask?"
Ask her why she isn't going home, ask her why she hasn't gone home yet, ask her where she is.
Ji Yuning kept her head down, so Fang Bai couldn't see her expression. He could only infer her thoughts from her tone, but her tone was flat, so he couldn't deduce anything.
The words sounded more like a reproach.
"I was afraid of bothering you."
Because I know what you're doing, I'm afraid of bothering you. And because I know you dislike me, I'm afraid that if I send a message, I won't get a reply.
Fang Bai suddenly felt down. Even if she said she was just walking the cat, Ji Yuning was smart enough to figure out that walking the cat was just an excuse, no matter how much she tried to hide it.
Why are you questioning her now?
Fang Bai switched arms to hold Bei Bei and continued walking into the distance. "You should have told me you were going to be late."
Ji Yuning tightened her lips.
She was wrong.
She had already deceived him by claiming to be studying, but because of her inexplicable emotional fluctuations these past few days, she wanted to know how much he cared about her, and naively waited for him to take the initiative.
The two walked one after the other, less than thirty centimeters apart.
After taking a couple of steps, Fang Bai heard a voice from behind him: "...Sorry."
Children who admit their mistakes and correct them are always liked by adults, and children who have a good attitude in admitting their mistakes are even more so. Fang Bai glanced back and said softly, "Just be more careful next time."
Ji Yuning hummed in agreement.
Fang Bai glanced at Ji Yuning out of the corner of his eye. Perhaps because of the warm lighting, the coldness in Ji Yuning's eyes and the chill at the corner of her mouth softened a bit, and she no longer had the aloofness that usually made strangers want to stay away.
Fang Bai seized the opportunity, coughed lightly, and said to Ji Yuning, "Auntie wants to discuss something with you, okay?"
Ji Yuning looked at Fang Bai and nodded slightly.
“It’s winter now, and it gets dark earlier. By the time you usually get home, it’ll be completely dark.” Fang Bai paused, meeting Ji Yuning’s eyes. “So, Auntie was thinking, why don’t you study at home?”
Actually, Fang Bai had this idea a few days after Lu Raomei appeared, but he was worried that Ji Yuning would refuse, so he didn't tell her. Until Ji Yuning came home late today, Fang Bai finally made up his mind.
“For example, video calls,” Fang Bai continued. “Don’t worry, Aunt Wu and I won’t come upstairs to disturb you while you’re studying.”
Another gust of wind blew by, but this time it was unexpectedly gentle, only ruffling Ji Yuning's bangs.
Fang Bai's hair, which he had tucked behind his ear, was also blown around, with a few strands flying up.
Fang Bai flicked her hair with her slender fingers, looked directly at Ji Yuning with her eyes, and asked softly, "Is it okay?"
The corn in her pocket, which she was holding, suddenly warmed up again. It was hot, and the corn that had just been warming her hands was now burning Ji Yuning's heart, making it pound.
The warmth started from her heart and spread to her limbs. Before long, Ji Yuning felt warm all over her body.
It's so hot.
Ji Yuning pulled her hand away, trying to cool down, but the heat inside her body didn't subside at all.
Fang Bai waited for Ji Yuning to reply, when she saw the other woman pull something out of her pocket. "Corn?"
Ji Yuning glanced down, then raised her hand and handed the item to Fang Bai, whispering, "Here you go."
Aren't you going to eat?
Ji Yuning lowered her eyes: "I don't like sweet things."
Fang Bai asked, "Why buy it if you don't like it?"
"..." Ji Yuning paused for a moment, remembering what the boss had said, "to warm your hands."
"Are you cold?" Fang Bai lowered his head and naturally reached out to touch the back of Ji Yuning's hand that was holding the corn.
The moment they made contact, Ji Yuning's raised arm froze.
Feeling the temperature of Ji Yuning's hand, Fang Bai murmured, "It's alright."
Fang Bai took the corn that Ji Yuning gave her and handed the cat to Ji Yuning, saying, "You hold Beibei."
When she felt a weight in her arms, Ji Yuning subconsciously looked down. After she gently stroked Beibei's head to soothe it, Ji Yuning lifted her eyelids, wanting to look at Fang Bai.
Suddenly, a white light appeared before my eyes.
By the time Ji Yuning realized what was happening, Fang Bai had already wrapped the scarf around her neck.
Fang Bai looked at the bow that she tied in front of Ji Yuning with her scarf, and the way it looked so natural made Fang Bai's eyes crinkle. She smiled and asked Ji Yuning, "Isn't this much better?"
I don't need it.
That's what Ji Yuning should say.