A few strands of hair, not completely combed, were wrapped around her snow-white neck, and a ring of rose-red teeth marks marked her fair skin. Xu Chacha leaned closer and could even see the pulse beating rhythmically under her skin, and suddenly felt her throat go dry.
She subconsciously swallowed, and the thought that she had bitten herself made the teeth mark made her feel even more ashamed for no reason.
"I didn't really mean to bite you, you... pushed me yourself." Xu Chacha retreated after confirming that the mark hadn't broken the skin, and then tried to cover it up by ruffling her hair to cover her neck.
"Yeah, I brought this on myself." Wen Mubai smiled at her, his voice a little hoarse for some reason, but it had a sexy quality that sent shivers down one's spine.
“That’s how it is.” Xu Chacha’s eyelashes trembled a few times. “I’m done blowing, I’m going to sleep.”
"Go ahead." Wen Mubai raised his chin.
Xu Chacha didn't dare to look up at her eyes and asked softly, "Where do you want to sleep? You have to tell me."
"The guest room hasn't been cleaned much. You can sleep at my place tonight, and I'll change the sheets for you tomorrow when they're almost dry."
These past two days have been rainy, and although she had told the housekeeper to tidy up in advance, the washed sheets haven't been dried properly and are still damp.
"..." Xu Chacha stopped talking, put on her slippers and walked inside.
Wen Mubai probed from behind, "Teacher Xu, am I sleeping on the sofa tonight?"
Wearing fluffy slippers, Xu Chacha ran quickly with small, quick steps, as if a ghost was chasing her. When she reached the front of the house, she spoke at the last second before closing the door.
"Come in and sleep."
Once inside the room, Xu Chacha slowly calmed down and took a good look at the bedroom. The decor was very minimalist, as if she was afraid that adding another piece of furniture would mean having to dust it again.
She walked across the smooth wooden floor to the bedside, slowly lifted the soft quilt, bent her knees and knelt down, pressing her face against it.
The tip of her nose smelled faintly of detergent, along with some familiar scents that belonged only to that person.
Even in such an awkward position, she couldn't help but close her eyes, as if she had found some kind of tranquilizer.
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Chacha heard Wen Mubai's unhurried footsteps outside. She then seemed to wake up from a dream, her face flushed, and she jumped up from the ground. She hurriedly crawled into bed and pretended to be asleep.
Wen Mubai opened the bedroom door and came in, noticing her flushed face. "Is the air conditioning too high?"
Xu Chacha shook her head, then nodded, "Maybe... a little."
"What do you mean by 'possible'?" Wen Mubai had no idea what mischief this little rascal was up to this time, so he thoughtfully turned down the air conditioner's fan speed. "If you're sleepy, go to sleep first. I'll wake you up at nine o'clock tomorrow."
She doesn't have to get up early on weekends, but now she has to supervise Xu Chacha to make sure she eats three meals a day properly and takes good care of her stomach.
Xu Chacha's head was half-exposed, her dried hair fluffy and spread out on the pillow, like a furry long-haired dog.
She nodded obediently, "I know, go ahead."
Wen Mubai gave her one last suspicious look, opened the wardrobe, took a change of clothes, and went to the bathroom outside.
"The light switch is on the bedside table on the left."
Xu Chacha watched her leave before slowly getting out of bed.
She was sweltering under the thick blankets and wearing fluffy pajamas. She turned her head to look at the bedside table on the left, intending to dim the light, but instead she spotted the photo frame there.
The frame is small, about the size of a palm, and inside is a Polaroid photo.
A baby-faced little girl's smile as she turns around.
It was taken at the lantern festival ten years ago.
The picture frame seems to have never been replaced. There is a scratch on one corner, but it has been wiped very clean. It seems to have been held in the owner's hand every day, played with and looked at.
Xu Chacha reached out and traced her finger across the little girl's face in the photo. "Little beauty, you're quite pretty, aren't you?"
She also had a strange constitution. At the age of seven or eight, her baby fat should have faded by now, but not her. Even though she was already very thin, her face was still round. When she wore fitted clothes, she looked like a big-headed doll, but her parents always praised her for being cute.
When Wen Mubai came in after washing up, he thought Xu Chacha should have already gone to sleep, but when he looked up, he saw her lying on the edge of the bed, swinging her legs back and forth.
She took a few more steps closer and saw that Xu Chacha was staring at the photo and grinning foolishly.
"What are you looking at?"
Xu Chacha was startled and turned her head, "Why do you walk so quietly?"
"You're just too engrossed in looking at it." Wen Mubai walked past her, picked up the photo, and said, "You've been looking at this for ages?"
“Yes.” Xu Chacha blinked, then, having somehow mustered the courage to ask her, “You’ve kept my photos all this time, did you miss me a lot during those years you were abroad?”
Wen Mubai made no attempt to hide his feelings, "I do want to, but I'm not an ingrate."
"Who are you calling an ingrate?" Xu Chacha retorted.
"I don't know." Wen Mubai sat down on the edge of the bed, turning to the side and combing his long hair. "I forgot who it was that didn't reply to my messages for three days at a time. I had to ask them for ages before they agreed to a video call, and after a few words, they sent me off to work."
Xu Chacha was hit in the knee by arrow after arrow, and silently shut her mouth and said nothing.
"Can you help me think of who it is?" Wen Mubai turned his head to look at her.
Xu Chacha lowered her head, "I saw you were busy then... I didn't want to bother you..."
She was having a disagreement with herself at that time. On one hand, she wanted to see Wen Mubai a few more times, but on the other hand, she was worried that if she saw him more, she would feel even more reluctant to part with him.
So we talked less and less, but privately I preferred to search for gossip and rumors online.
"Okay." Wen Mubai put down the comb and lay down on the edge of the bed. "Then I'll bother you more often in the future."
Xu Chacha remained sitting stiffly, glancing at the woman lying down, then at the lamp.
Should she turn off the light first or lie down first?
If Wen Mubai still wants to read for a while, wouldn't it be inappropriate for her to turn off the light?
But the lights aren't turned off...
She simply didn't have the courage to lie down.
With a crisp "snap," it was Wen Mubai's hand that made the sound.
The dimming light gave the air a slightly ambiguous feel, and Xu Chacha's throat tightened. She even asked a silly question.
Are you going to sleep?
"It's eleven o'clock, my dear," Wen Mubai reminded him. "Aren't you going to take care of your health?"
"Oh...oh oh oh."
Xu Chacha stretched out her legs, which were almost numb from sitting, and wanted to lie down gently, but Wen Mubai spoke up again.
"Wearing it to sleep?"
"Ah...ah?"
"What are you so nervous about?" Wen Mubai laughed, his breath warm against her cheek. "It's not good to sleep in thick clothes."
"That's right."
Xu Chacha raised her hand, which was hanging on her waist, unsure whether to take off her pants or her clothes first.
"Take it off and give it to me." Wen Mubai reached out his hand. "Fold it up and put it by the bedside so you can find it tomorrow."
Xu Chacha panicked, feeling a sense of dread, like someone who had been putting off submitting their homework but was suddenly being pressured by their teacher to finish it.
She slowly took off her pants, tucked herself into the blanket, and then dawdled as she took off her shirt. "I'll fold it myself." She carefully folded the shirt in her arms like a treasure before presenting it to Wen Mubai.
Wen Mubai grabbed it with one hand, stretched out his arm and placed it on the cabinet next to him, and lay back down even closer than before.
Xu Chacha touched her icy arm; in the dead of winter, this person was sleeping in only a tank top.
Aren't you cold?
Wen Mubai reached out and pulled her close, saying, "This way you won't be cold."
Xu Chacha was wearing a thin undershirt, but with it clinging to her so tightly, that barrier became negligible.
She could feel Wen Mubai's breath, heartbeat, and the softness of his skin. Being in the same bed made her feel as if she were becoming one with him.
That hug made her heart flutter.
She wanted to become a squirrel, to catch Wen Mubai every winter and hide him in her blankets.
"You haven't had a girlfriend while you're abroad?" This was a question she had wanted to ask for a long time.
Before, I was afraid that my little secrets would be exposed if I asked, but now that they're already known, there's nothing wrong with asking.
Wen Mubai rested his chin on the top of her fluffy head. "In your words, you don't have those worldly desires."
Xu Chacha laughed, a laugh like a fool, "Do you know that Sister Panpan said you're almost an immortal, so when does Immortal Wen plan to return to the mortal realm?"
"Are you joining in making fun of me too?" Wen Mubai lowered his head.
Xu Chacha raised her chin and leaned closer to her. "No, what I meant was, if you never have any worldly desires, you really make me seem like a hooligan."
“I didn’t have this before, but now I have to endure it.” She tightened her arms around Xu Chacha’s waist. She was always cold-blooded, but she didn’t know when her body temperature had become as hot as Xu Chacha’s. “So please go to sleep quickly, my little darling.”
Chapter 62 Get Up!
Xu Chacha refused to sleep, wrapping her arms around her, "When did you find out that I wrote that book?"
“At the beginning,” Wen Mubai said.
But she did not elaborate on her reasons.
The first time I saw that book was when I casually flipped through a sample in a bookstore. Because it was written by a rare domestic author, I took a closer look. But as I read it carefully, I found the writing style strangely familiar.
It wasn't that Wen Mubai was narcissistic; the book read very much like something she herself would write.
After buying it and reading it, I was surprised to find that every detail of the interactions between the two main characters matched the points in my memory.
It was then that Wen Mubai realized that the child chasing behind him wasn't skipping along, but rather taking steady, light steps, as if afraid of disturbing him, approaching silently.
It was from that time that she began to look at this "child" as an equal, earlier than Xu Chacha had thought.
Much, much earlier.
...
The next morning, Xu Chacha was awakened by a familiar clanging sound.
She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and sighed, "They're blowing up the kitchen again."
Presumably to prevent her from catching a cold after getting up, Wen Mubai deliberately turned up the air conditioner temperature when he went out, and Xu Chacha's cheeks were all warm.
She warmed her pajamas under the covers for a while before daring to put them on, then slipped on her slippers and went out to check on the situation in the kitchen.