"Brother An Chen! You're back!"
She exclaimed excitedly, her fair cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes sparkled.
Chu Yi looked at Qiao Anchen.
The man whose arm she was holding nodded slightly and spoke calmly, "Xiao Wei, it's been a long time."
"When did you get back? This is..." she asked immediately, then hesitated as if she had just noticed Chu Yi beside her.
"This is my wife, Chu Yi," Qiao Anchen introduced, but didn't tell Chu Yi who the other woman was. The girl in the white dress paused for a moment, then continued.
"By the way, Brother Anchen, I heard you got married. I just returned to China recently and couldn't be there. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, just some important relatives can attend." Qiao Anchen expressed his understanding, his tone sincere. Chu Yi noticed the other party's slightly embarrassed expression and almost forced a smile.
“You rarely come home, why don’t you come over to my house for a visit? My mom will be so happy to see you.” The girl in the white dress hid her disappointment, composed herself, and said. Qiao Anchen paused for a moment, then shook his head without hesitation.
"No, I need to go for a walk with Chu Yi."
"Please give my regards to your aunt."
"Okay." The girl looked disappointed, glanced quickly at Chu Yi, and finally looked back at Qiao Anchen with reluctance.
"Brother An Chen, I'll be going now. See you next time."
"Okay." Qiao Anchen nodded and led Chu Yi forward. Even after they had walked quite a distance, she could still feel the gaze sticking to her back.
After a long while, when the two were almost at the gate of the residential area, Chu Yi still hadn't heard Qiao Anchen speak. She asked casually.
Who was that just now?
"A resident of the same community." Just as they arrived at the security booth, Qiao Anchen nodded and greeted the guard on duty inside, and answered casually.
Chu Yi recalled the girl's appearance from earlier; she certainly didn't seem like an ordinary resident.
She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Qiao Anchen.
"People still call you Brother Anchen." She always calls him Qiao Anchen directly!
“She’s younger than me,” Qiao Anchen replied matter-of-factly.
Chu Yi was taken aback for a moment, paused for a few seconds, but still couldn't help asking.
Are you two very close?
Qiao Anchen frowned in thought, "I'm more familiar with her mother."
"??Um?"
“Her mother lives alone. When I was in school, I would occasionally help her change faucets and light bulbs.”
“…Oh,” Chu Yi said, “I didn’t expect you to be such a kind-hearted young man.”
"It was just something I did on the spur of the moment." Qiao Anchen tilted the umbrella slightly towards her to make sure the sun wouldn't shine on her.
Qiao Anchen's primary and middle schools were nearby, and it only took the two a few minutes to walk there. By then, all the children had left school, and the campus was empty. The security guard registered their ID cards and let them through without any problem.
He didn't want to come, but Chu Yi insisted on coming. Qiao Anchen didn't have a deep memory of his school days, and he only vaguely remembered the location of the classroom.
To be honest, apart from a few major events, most of his memories are vague, and they are nothing more than monotonous and mundane.
However, most of the recent events are still clearly etched in my mind, and when I think about it, they are all related to the first year of junior high school.
Perhaps it was because what happened before was a very novel experience for Qiao Anchen.
After all, it was his first time trying to win over a girl, and he was the first to realize how different men's and women's thoughts are.
Without his personal recollections of his school days, the two quickly finished touring the school, which was neither too big nor too small. On the way back, Chu Yi suddenly remembered something.
"Qiao Anchen, didn't anyone pursue you when you were in school?"
He paused, then added, "I have received some love letters."
"Hmm? And then?" Chu Yi asked with great interest. She couldn't help but imagine whether he would ignore her like the aloof, academically gifted male lead in an idol drama, or throw her in the trash?
Chu Yi thinks the former is more likely.
"I usually return it and apologize to the other person."
"...That's it?" Chu Yi was greatly disappointed, but her gossipy soul had been piqued by the white dress and the school, and she was still unwilling to give up.
"What if they keep pursuing you and even wait for you in the classroom every day?"
Qiao Anchen was silent for a moment before answering.
“If I encounter this situation, I might report it to the teacher.”
"..." Chu Yi tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn't at all. She laughed so hard that she bent over and leaned against Qiao Anchen.
"Hahahaha, this is hilarious! Poor girl, she likes someone and gets caught by the teacher and taken to the office for a lecture, and she might even get punished."
"Qiao Anchen, you've gone too far!" She finally had the chance to speak her mind! Chu Yi was secretly delighted.
"As a victim, this was just a desperate act of self-defense," Qiao Anchen corrected her earnestly. Chu Yi nodded in agreement.
"It's obvious you've been a victim more than once or twice." Otherwise, why would you be so desperate as to report to the teacher?
When they got home, the sun had set. Qiao Anchen put away his umbrella and took Chu Yi's hand. By sheer coincidence, they ran into the girl in the white dress again at the door. This time, she was carrying a bag of fruit and looked like she was about to knock on the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw the two of them.
“Brother Anchen, you’re back. My mom brought some golden autumn pears from home and asked me to bring them over for you to try.”
"Thank you, Auntie." Qiao Anchen reached out and took it. As he finished speaking, he looked like he was about to go inside. The woman in the white dress was still standing there, her bright eyes looking at him with anticipation.
Qiao Anchen stopped in his tracks, grabbing the keys, and asked a question in confusion.
"Is there anything else?"
11. Chapter 11
An awkward atmosphere spread again. Chu Yi glanced at the girl; her eyes were red, and she looked like she was about to cry.
Chu Yi was a little confused. How could someone with such poor combat ability have stayed by Qiao Anchen's side for so many years?
She was still kind enough to step in and help out.
"Hey... Xiao Wei, would you like to come in and sit down?"
As soon as Chu Yi finished speaking, the girl looked at her immediately, her eyes filled with resentment, indicating that she was in a bad mood.
"No."
After speaking, the hem of her white dress drew an arc in the air as she brushed past the two of them, leaving behind a lingering scent of shampoo.
Qiao Anchen was somewhat puzzled, watching her retreating figure.
"What's wrong with her? She seems a little angry."
"You even noticed that?" Chu Yi said casually, taking the key from his hand and opening the door.
"Come in quickly, everyone should be waiting for us to eat."
The two changed their shoes and entered the house. Qiao Anchen handed the pears he was carrying to Tian Wan and explained where they came from. Tian Wan glanced at Chu Yi, took them without saying anything, and put them in the kitchen.
After dinner, Qiao Anchen was called to the study by his father. They talked about something, and Chu Yi and Tian Wan sat side by side on the sofa watching TV.
The two share a great interest in this regard, both enjoying watching romantic idol dramas, and often recommending good ones to each other.
"Hey kid, did you see that Xiao Wei today?" Tian Wan came over after watching TV for only a few minutes, her face full of gossip, which was quite different from her usual intellectual demeanor.
"What's wrong, Mom?" Chu Yi asked, feigning confusion, as if to say, "If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move either."
Tian Wan's eyes flickered, and she lowered her voice, "Let me tell you, that girl always likes to come and see Qiao Anchen, but luckily Qiao Anchen isn't very perceptive, so she always leaves disappointed and runs home with a face full of disappointment."
"Ah..." Chu Yi covered her lips with one fingertip, her eyes widening in apparent surprise.
"That's all thanks to him being unable to grasp the concept..."
Tian Wan gave her a knowing look, patted her on the shoulder, and Chu Yi nodded silently in response.
As the two exchanged their tacit understanding, the door behind them clicked open, and Qiao Anchen walked out, followed by his father, who sat down next to Tian Wan.
"Looking at this again, is that woman's divorce still pending...?" Mr. Qiao took out his glasses from under the coffee table, put them on, and dutifully kept Tian Wan company while she looked at the screen. Qiao Anchen sat down next to Chu Yi. A few minutes later...
"When are you going to sleep?" he asked Chu Yi, speaking very softly so as not to disturb Qiao's parents. You had to stand very close to hear him because of the background noise from the TV.
Chu Yi looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Qiao Anchen pursed his lips and replied, "I'm going to take a shower first."
"Then you go first." Chu Yi didn't expect him to watch idol dramas with her; she was used to it but also felt a little sad.
"I'll go back to my room in a bit."
"Okay, don't stay up too late." Qiao Anchen nodded, stood up and left without looking back.
Chu Yi sat with the two elders for a while longer. After watching an episode of the TV series, it was time for her, the third wheel, to leave. Qiao Anchen had already taken a shower and returned to his room, and was probably reading in bed right now.
She went in to get her pajamas. The room didn't have a separate bathroom; it was outside the kitchen. When she came out, she saw Mr. Qiao peel an orange and personally feed Tian Wan a segment.
Chu Yi, caught off guard and unexpectedly fed another mouthful of dog food: "..."
She quickened her pace silently, closing the bathroom door very quietly, minimizing her presence.
Perhaps the contrast was too stark, Chu Yi was in a low mood all night. After taking a shower, she went back to her room without saying a word, played on her phone for a while, then put it away, closed her eyes, and prepared to go to sleep.
A short while later, Qiao Anchen also turned off the light and lay down.
The room was dimly lit and quiet. The silhouettes of the leaves outside the window were cast onto the floor by the streetlights, revealing a few dappled spots in the darkness. The old house seemed to be filled with a unique atmosphere.
Qiao Anchen lay on the bed that held his childhood and youth, and now, there was another person beside him.
A sudden surge of emotion welled up within him, as if a new part of his life had been added, connecting him to his past and the future, and would accompany him into the future.
Qiao Anchen turned his head to look at Chu Yi. She was curled up in the quilt, lying on her side, her shoulders hunched into a small ball, giving her a petite and delicate appearance.
He turned around to face her, reached out from under the blanket to hug Chu Yi's waist, and pulled her close, his chest pressed against her bony back.
Chu Yi didn't respond. Qiao Anchen hugged her, turned around, and lowered his head to kiss her.
Their breaths mingled, their scents mingling. Chu Yi's lips were soft, and every time Qiao Anchen kissed her, he was completely absorbed, his mind seemingly going blank.
His hand instinctively and skillfully slipped inside her pajamas, climbing up from her waist, but was pulled back just as it was about to reach a soft spot.
Chu Yi avoided his lips, turned her head away, and spoke in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.