After she finished speaking, You Ran felt as if the room suddenly became quiet. The air stopped moving, and time seemed to stand still. It felt like an hour had passed before she heard Qu Yun's reply: "Okay."
I leisurely looked up at the clock on the wall—the second hand had only completed a quarter of a revolution.
Even when she reaches the end of her life, You Ran probably won't understand why she made such a suggestion, and what she won't understand even more is why she doesn't feel any regret after making such a suggestion.
The only explanation is that terrible mental illness.
Stockholm syndrome led her to fall in love with the man who took pleasure in tormenting, insulting, despising, and teasing her.
After they established their relationship, the two sat on the sofa and watched TV... for a full two hours.
During this time, no one spoke.
You Ran's mind was in complete chaos. Despite being so old, she had very little experience in love.
The first time... let's not even mention it. It can be summed up as something too painful to recall, and there's no point in learning from it.
The second time was with that athletic guy. The lesson learned from that relationship was not to ask him any questions while he was eating noodles.
After racking my brains, this is all I have.
As for creating those sweet moments in a relationship, You Ran hadn't learned any of them, so she could only stay on the sofa in silence.
Thinking about it carefully, something doesn't seem right. Her lack of dating experience is causing the current awkward silence, but why isn't Qu Yun taking the initiative?
Is it also because of a lack of dating experience?
You Ran dismissed the conjecture. Although Qu Yun had a bad personality, his looks were undeniable. In today's era of male beauty, there would definitely be many girls like her who would fly head over heels for him.
Could it be that he's not interested in me?
Feeling listless and dejected, I realized the old saying was true: if you're too proactive, men won't appreciate you.
Lost in thought, Qu Yun suddenly spoke up: "Want to go see a movie?"
You Ran naturally nodded in agreement with the suggestion, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The two then went to the movie theater. There weren't any big movies showing recently, only older films being shown. When You Ran and the others arrived, "The Promise" was playing.
Around noon, there were only a few people in the movie theater. You Ran and Qu Yun found a seat and sat down.
You Ran has always felt that many things in the world will not develop in the expected direction in the end.
Movies are a prime example. Many films that claim to be hilarious end up making people sleepy, while many films that claim to be philosophical end up making people laugh out loud, such as "The Promise".
Even though she had already watched it three times, You Ran still laughed heartily while stuffing popcorn into her mouth.
Halfway through the story, a scene between the alluring Nicholas Tse and the stunning Cecilia Cheung in the golden cage brought You Ran back to her senses.
Watching the ambiguous relationship between the two on the screen, You Ran began to have wandering thoughts.
By the way, movie theaters are a great place to hold hands and kiss.
She glanced at Qu Yun, but he didn't react at all. His eyes were alluring, but his expression was serious.
"Fine," You Ran sighed inwardly. "If I can even say things like 'I want to date,' why should I pretend to be reserved?"
So, in the darkness, You Ran reached out her hand from the popcorn and began to approach Qu Yun's hand.
One centimeter, one centimeter, one centimeter, leisurely, cautious, and nervous—no wonder people say dating is also a physical activity.
Finally, she got closer to her target. You Ran's eyes narrowed mischievously—the next step was to place her soft hand into Qu Yun's warm palm.
Just as You Ran's lust was about to be satisfied, she caught a glimpse of Qu Yun's hand moving, as if he was about to join forces with You Ran.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Qu Yun raised his hand to slap You Ran's hand away, and he did just that.
"Ouch!" You Ran withdrew her hand, looking like a wronged woman: "Why, why did you treat me like this?"
Qu Yun looked at the screen and said calmly, "Wipe the cream off your paws first."
You Ran: "..."
Even after such a huge blow, You Ran still wanted to devour Qu Yun completely.
This was the fifth lesson Qu Yun taught her—Stockholm syndrome is terrifying.
[Lesson 6] Jealousy is a must
She sat leisurely on the steps, propping her chin up with her hand, looking at Qu Yun, who was engrossed in reading on the sofa, with eyes as sweet as honey.
Handsome, truly a handsome guy.
Yu Ran's saliva was flowing freely. This handsome guy would belong to her alone from now on.
Thinking of this, he leisurely raised his head and began to laugh.
But there's always something impure about that smile.
You Ran wasn't one to keep things to herself, so she asked directly, "Qu Yun."
"Hmm?" Qu Yun raised his eyebrows slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the book.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend before?" You Ran began to peel back the layers of her skin little by little.
"Yes, I have." Qu Yun was a straightforward person, and also someone who didn't want to be taken advantage of. "And you? Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
"I guess you could say we were," You Ran replied with some difficulty. After a pause, she asked, "Hey, we're in a relationship now? Why do I always feel like something's missing between us?"
"Really?" Qu Yun replied somewhat perfunctorily.
"Hey, are you happy that I'm your girlfriend?" You Ran asked.
"It's alright," Qu Yun replied indifferently.
You Ran couldn't hold back any longer. She ran downstairs, snatched the book from Qu Yun's hands, cupped his face in her hands, and demanded, "Tell the truth, why did you agree to be with me?"
Her tranquil eyes reflected Qu Yun's calm face: "Because... you're like a cat."
Upon hearing this, You Ran was so frightened that she took three steps back and shrank into the corner, saying, "Could it be... that you like beastiality?"
Qu Yun's lips curled slightly: "You think I'm human?"
He nodded leisurely. Yes, he was a beast.
Just as You Ran was deep in thought, Qu Yun suddenly asked a question: "Have you done your social practice assignment?"
With a mischievous grin, she said, "Aren't you my boyfriend? Why don't you just do it for me?"
Qu Yun sneered: "I'm still your teacher... If you don't hand it in when school starts next semester, I'll take your head in exchange."
You Ran wasn't intimidated by the threat. She thought of something else: "Well, it seems that we two are quite similar to Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu."
Qu Yun looked up at her, his gaze clear and distant, like the sky in the desert. After a long while, he said, "I won't discourage you since we've just started dating."
You Ran then thought of something else to worry about: "What if the school finds out about us? Will we end up dried up like mummies?... Hey, let's keep our secret for now, what do you think?"
Qu Yun nodded: "Okay, but... what are you doing?"
"Look at you," You Ran replied honestly, "with affectionate eyes."
Qu Yun took a light breath and then stood up.
"Where are you going?" You Ran tugged at his sleeve.
Qu Yun looked down at her and finally uttered, "Shanghai University... What, interested in coming along?"
You Ran twisted the hem of her clothes, a faint blush rising to her cheeks, and whispered, "So soon we're being so honest with each other? I feel a little embarrassed... But since you've invited me so sincerely, I'll take a look."
Qu Yun: "..."
You Ran settled into Qu Yun's house. Both of them were terrible cooks, so they could only order takeout or eat at restaurants for every meal. You Ran gained three pounds due to overnutrition, but considering that she had already found another job, she had no sense of crisis.
During this time, You Ran kept her phone off and had no idea who had tried to contact her.
About a week later, You Ran figured that the person she was trying to hide from had left, so she turned on her phone.
Sure enough, the text message notification showed many missed calls, but Cheng Yuan's number only showed one.
You don't need to make many calls; one call is enough to see everything clearly.
He always does the same thing; he never does anything unnecessary.
The only number left was her mother Bai Ling's. Just as You Ran was about to call, her mother called.
There was no blame in Bai Ling's tone; she simply said, "Your brother is gone. Come back."
He hung up the phone and let out a long sigh.
"What's wrong?" asked Qu Yun, her new boyfriend.
"I'm going back now," You Ran said.
"Oh." It was just a single letter, the pronunciation was too short, and You Ran couldn't quite make out its meaning.
"Why don't you have any feelings of attachment to me as your girlfriend?" You Ran asked, quite dissatisfied.
"Distance makes the heart grow fonder," Qu Yun replied.
"Heartless and ungrateful," You Ran explained to Qu Yun.
Qu Yun raised his eyebrows, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
You Ran pursed her lips, then suddenly pounced on Qu Yun on the sofa like a cat.
"What are you doing?" Qu Yun asked.
"Actually, I used to really hate you." You Ran looked into his eyes, her fingertips starting to itch, wanting to trace those delicate, alluring lines.
"Really? I didn't realize that." Qu Yun smiled.
You Ran reached out and pulled at the corner of his mouth, saying seriously, "But my feelings for you are different now. I'm serious... Qu Yun, what about you?"
You Ran lay on Qu Yun's chest, their bodies pressed tightly together. She could even feel the wind from his blinking eyelashes brushing against her cheeks, like tiny, soft down.
Qu Yun didn't speak; he simply slowly raised his head and brought his lips close to You Ran's.
The air seemed to suddenly become still, with only the white fungus simmering in the iron pot in the kitchen, bubbling and sizzling, sticky, slightly sweet, and slightly cloudy.
Just as the two soft lips were about to touch, You Ran stretched out her hand and pushed Qu Yun's cheek away.
“I thought,” Qu Yun turned her head and raised her eyebrows, “that you wanted to kiss me.”
"You should hold hands before kissing." You Ran scoffed, "Ignorance is horrible. I despise you."
After saying that, You Ran pressed down hard on Qu Yun's chest, then stood up, picked up her bag, and casually slung it over her shoulder, saying, "I'm leaving now, your girlfriend. Call me if you need anything."
Then, You Ran strode away with great strides, but as soon as she opened the door, she heard Qu Yun call her name from behind: "You Ran".