MTMIO Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Dazzling White

The indoor air conditioning had been off for a while, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Lu You maintained an awkward posture, looking at the bathroom with glass on three sides, only feeling a wave of heat permeating from the inside out.

After a long while, a cicada chirped outside, probably from that tree, its high-pitched tone standing out amidst the low-frequency croaking of frogs.

The air conditioning fan blades began to turn, emitting a subtle sound.

Lu You twitched her ears, turned around, and remained silent for a moment.

This kind of bathroom with no sense of privacy made it awkward for whoever showered first.

“You go first. I’m afraid that if I shower, the floor will be too wet and inconvenient for you,” Yue Yunxi said, glancing at Lu You’s left leg propped up on the stool. “Is it easy for you to wash alone?”

Without much thought, Lu You replied directly, “It’s easy.”

Though physically challenged, she was mentally strong.

Yue Yunxi stared at her with a worried expression, “Don’t be stubborn. If it’s not easy… I can help you.”

The towel wrapped around the ice pack paused against her ankle for a moment, the cold, damp feeling covering the lingering heat on her skin.

Startled by the cold, Lu You snapped out of her daze, moved the ice pack away, and said softly, “No need, I’m OK on my own.”

Yue Yunxi thought for a moment and said, “Then call me if you have any problems.”

Lu You nodded and said “Okay,” supporting herself to stand up from the chair, and suggested, “I want to go see Grandma first.”

On the way back, she had received a WeChat message from Li Can, saying that Grandma and Granny had already taken showers and gone to bed. When she entered the courtyard, she saw that the room where Grandma lived was indeed dark, but the moment Yue Yunxi closed the door, she glimpsed from the corner of her eye that the window next door had the faint glow of a night light seeping out.

Yue Yunxi walked over, preparing to help her up.

The sound of knocking rang out in the room first.

Immediately after, Grandma’s old and hoarse voice came from outside, “Yoyo?”

“Yeah!”

Lu You responded, wanting to hop over on one foot to open the door for Grandma, but before she could take a step, Yue Yunxi pressed her back down into the chair.

“Sit down, I’ll open the door.”

“…Okay.”

Yue Yunxi opened the door.

Grandma walked in carrying a bulging canvas bag, glanced at Lu You’s ankle, and asked Yue Yunxi, “How were the examination results?”

Lu You blinked a few times, somewhat understanding why Yue Yunxi was so worried about her showering alone.

Even her own grandma didn’t trust her much. Clearly, she was sitting right here, but she grabbed Yue Yunxi to ask about her condition.

“There’s nothing too serious, a sprained ankle and swelling. The doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory and swelling-reducing medication,” Yue Yunxi said. “She needs to rest for a while.”

“Then can she still come out with us to play later?” Grandma asked.

“I think so?” Lu You sat up straight.

Yue Yunxi glanced at her and said with a smile, “She can. Just walk less. There are cars for rent in the scenic area we’re going to.”

There were no chairs to sit on in the room, so Yue Yunxi led Grandma to sit at the end of the bed, taking the opportunity to pick up the red rose petals on the quilt one by one.

Grandma raised her eyebrows and smiled, looking at her, reaching out to pick up a rose petal and holding it between her fingers, teasing, “This is a room for young couples, right? Still doing these things.”

Noticing Yue Yunxi’s hand pause, Lu You felt that the heat that had barely subsided seemed to rise up again, and hurriedly changed the subject, “What’s in this bag of yours?”

“Oh, it’s the brooches I made for you. I forgot to distribute them in the yard today. I was originally going to bring them to Li Zi to distribute over there, but I forgot again. I’m getting old, my memory is getting worse and worse.” Grandma put the rose petal beside her, took out the packaged brooches, and handed them to Lu You, saying, “Just put them here, you can give them to them later.”

Lu You was about to reach out to take them when a tender, lotus-root-like white arm stretched out in front of her, and a clean, slender hand took the brooch box from Grandma before she could.

“Give it to me,” Yue Yunxi said. “I’ll bring them to them tomorrow.”

“This bamboo one is for Yun Zhu,” Grandma instructed as she handed it over.

Having already learned about it in advance, Yue Yunxi didn’t interrupt Grandma, patiently listening to her introduction, first placing the brooches on the desk, and finding a bag to repack them.

“These two are for you,” Grandma said, taking out the last two boxes from the cloth bag.

Lu You and Yue Yunxi looked over at the same time.

Grandma held a box in each hand.

On the left was a square box, inside the transparent plastic seal was a laurel brooch, inlaid with small golden beads as stamens, the leaves curved and brushed with gold powder, making it very delicate.

On the right was a long box, inside lying a laurel hairpin, the laurel leaves straight, the color of the osmanthus also more orange, relatively speaking, a bit rougher.

It was clear that they weren’t made by the same person.

“This is the one I wrapped,” Grandma first raised her left hand, then raised her right hand and said, “This is—”

“No! Why did you bring my defective product over too…” Lu You jumped up from the chair, her ankle ached, and she fell back down again.

She could only watch helplessly as both boxes were taken by Yue Yunxi.

“Take it easy,” Yue Yunxi frowned at her.

“That’s right, what’s the rush!” Grandma echoed, “Be careful not to fall again.”

“You said you threw it away, it’s so ugly,” Lu You muttered.

She didn’t know what the psychology was, but she didn’t want to give something so rough that she made to Yue Yunxi.

“It’s okay, it’s a pity to throw it away. I just happened to have a wooden hairpin, so I wrapped it around it. It looks pretty good, doesn’t it, Yunxi?”

Yue Yunxi squeezed the long box, squeezing out an “Mm” from her throat, paused slightly, and said, “It’s pretty, it’s just a pity, Yoyo taught me how to do my hair before, but I didn’t learn it after several attempts.”

“It’s okay, isn’t the person right here? Her hand is fine even if her foot is injured, just order her to help you do your hair.”

Lu You tilted her head, her eyes widening slightly.

Her dazed look was a bit like a puppy that couldn’t quite understand what people were saying.

Grandma patted Yue Yunxi’s arm again and said, “If you don’t get it the first time, just have her teach you a few more times.”

“Okay.”

In Yue Yunxi’s soft voice, there was a faint smile.

Lu You’s gaze shifted to the corner of her eye, only seeing the curved, broken hair swaying charmingly beside her cheeks, making her expression not very clear.

The softness in her temperament seemed to have increased a bit.

Putting the rose petals back into the cloth bag, Grandma glanced at Lu You, “What’s with that expression? You have to thank Yunxi for carrying you to the hospital. See if you’ll look at the road next time you walk or not.”

Lu You straightened her head, and put away a bit of her expression, saying, “…I will, please go back to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow to play.”

“Okay, you guys wash up and sleep early too.” Grandma got up.

“I’ll see you off.”

Yue Yunxi used her phone to light the way and send Grandma to the other room.

Before entering the door, Grandma paused and said to Yue Yunxi embarrassedly, “This girl has never had her mother by her side since she was little, she doesn’t know how to take care of herself at all, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of her a little these two days.”

After a moment of silence, Yue Yunxi responded gently, “Don’t worry, Grandma, go to sleep.”

After Grandma entered the room, watching the night light turn on and then off, she turned back.

At this time, Lu You was hopping on one foot to the vanity, taking her backpack from the clothes rack, opening the zipper, and first taking out her pajamas.

As she took out her underwear from the bag, the door “squeaked” and opened from the outside.

Lu You subconsciously turned to look over.

The moment their eyes met, Yue Yunxi’s gaze drifted down a bit, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Lu You followed her gaze and lowered her eyes.

The hand frozen in mid-air curled into a chicken claw shape, holding a black [bra] in her hand.

Lu You immediately wrapped the underwear into her pajamas, and crab-walked to the bathroom door.

The cold air conditioning wind blew on her body, but she felt as if she was standing under the scorching sun, being seen through by the hot gaze, her whole body feeling unbearably hot.

It was really strange, when she was in school, there were girls all over the dorm, and she never felt so ashamed to take her underwear to the bathroom.

Maybe it was because she knew Yue Yunxi’s sexual orientation, and she felt different than facing a straight woman.

“Are you preparing to take a shower?” Yue Yunxi closed the door with her backhand.

Why did she close the door?

Shouldn’t she go out?

Lu You slowly blinked her eyes, stuttering, “Um… that…”

Yue Yunxi raised her eyes to look at her.

Lu You shifted her gaze, “Could you, wait outside?”

Yue Yunxi stared at her for a while, glanced at the glass door behind her, lowered her long eyelashes, and lowered her eyes, “Okay, I’ll be outside the bathroom, call me anytime if you’re not comfortable.”

Her voice was as calm as an ancient well, as if she was responding to a request without any selfishness.

???

Lu You opened her mouth, wanting to say not outside the bathroom, but when she turned her eyes, she caught sight of her face in the vanity mirror, looking helpless and caught off guard.

“…”

No wonder Yue Yunxi would misunderstand.

Seeing that she hadn’t entered the shower room, and didn’t say anything else, Yue Yunxi fluttered her eyelashes and asked, “Or… do you need me to help you?”

“No, no! I can do it myself.” Lu You licked her dry lips, and said in one breath, “That, could you, go out and wait for me?”

Yue Yunxi followed her hand and glanced at the door, turned her head, her gaze sweeping over her blood-red neck, paused for a moment, and then turned to walk to the desk, turning her back to her and saying, “I’ll just wait here, in case there’s anything, I can hear you if you call out, don’t worry, unless you specifically call me to help, I won’t turn around and peek at you.”

The last sentence had a bit of a joking tone, making it impossible to refute for a moment.

Lu You pursed her lips, still wanting to say something.

But she saw that Yue Yunxi had already sat down, picked up a bottle of mineral water and a tablet, opened the film and television app, and stopped her hand from selecting a film, reminding her without turning her head, “Don’t make the water too hot.”

Stalling any longer wouldn’t change anything, so Lu You took three steps back, glancing back at the shower room.

“Don’t stay in there too long,” Yue Yunxi reminded her softly again, “Your ankle won’t be able to take it.”

She didn’t even turn her head to look at her.

Lu You mumbled “Okay,” thinking to herself, she didn’t know if her foot could take it, but if she stayed too long, she definitely wouldn’t be able to take it.

Taking a slow deep breath, she gritted her teeth and took off all her clothes, hugging her chest, while keeping an eye on Yue Yunxi outside as she adjusted the water temperature.

The sound of water flowed in her ears.

Yue Yunxi unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water, and after a while, took another sip.

The tablet remained on the screen for selecting a film, and was slow to be swiped. After a moment, the screen went dark, reflecting the scene on the opposite side, outlining the curved silhouette.

With a “snap,” it was placed face down on the table.

Yue Yunxi’s hand pinched the edge of the tablet, her fingertips curled and uncurled, slowly released, opened her phone, and clicked into the music app.

In the bathroom, Lu You washed quickly, wishing she could finish it in a few minutes, but she had sweated a lot on the way out, so she couldn’t be sloppy.

She could only peek at Yue Yunxi outside from time to time through the glass.

Constantly paying attention to the other’s back while showering.

Lu You had never experienced this kind of thing before, and the water temperature wasn’t too high, but it steamed her face red.

She didn’t know how many times she cursed the design of the bathroom glass door in her heart.

Until she caught the sound of a cello song in the sound of water, the brisk arpeggios depicting a quiet night pierced by the bright silver moonlight.

It was Debussy’s Clair de Lune.

Lu You was in a trance for a moment.

She couldn’t help but look out, her gaze lingering for longer than before. In her line of sight, Yue Yunxi’s distinct fingers slowly caressed the smooth mineral water bottle.

The moment the network lagged and the music wasn’t loaded, the sound of water fell in the empty room, making it even more subtle.

Yue Yunxi’s hand suddenly stopped.

The thin bottle seemed to have flattened a bit.

Lu You saw it, and the nerves that had relaxed a little tightened inexplicably.

She hurriedly lowered her head, looking at the winding stream of water under her feet, and closed her eyes deeply.

Time flowed slowly in an awkward posture with the re-sounding of Clair de Lune and warm water.

After enduring the ordeal of washing, Lu You breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of liberation from the restraint.

But this feeling didn’t last long.

Because she found that, compared to being careful that Yue Yunxi wouldn’t turn her head to look while she was showering, it was even more torturous to listen to the sound of rushing water outside and restrain herself from looking up at the glass door when she heard any movement.

Especially when she was drying her hair with the hair dryer, she accidentally glimpsed a scene through the vanity mirror.

An inch by inch, the creamy-white long dress slipped off the tender, lotus-like shoulders and arms, caressed the thin back, flowed over the waist dimples and softness, passed over the slender legs, and slid to her feet.

Dazzling white.

So white that it seemed to be able to stimulate people’s instinctive desires.

Lu You’s eyelashes trembled, she draped the towel over her head to cover her eyes, and turned up the hair dryer by one level.

The wet hair dripped water, seeping into another pair of eyes.

In the downcast gaze of those eyes, fingertips and water slowly wandered over the abs.

Dragging the time out to be long.

Absentmindedly drying her hair, Lu You heard the sound of the door being pulled open, breathed out, turned off the hair dryer, pulled off the towel from her head, and got up, ready to quickly go back to bed.

She wouldn’t overthink if she fell asleep.

Turning around, she saw Yue Yunxi standing next to the bathroom door with her two big white legs bare, lowering her head to button up her pajamas.

Buttoned to the middle, the snow-white arc was vaguely visible under the slightly open collar.

The noisy cicadas and frogs outside, along with the sound of water still flowing in the shower room, played a symphony, filling her ears, and making her heartbeat a mess.

Lu You immediately turned her head to the side, limped to the end of the bed.

“Did you apply the medicine?” Yue Yunxi asked her softly.

Lu You’s action of climbing into bed paused, “…Not yet.”