MTMIO Chapter 53
by VolareChapter 53: Soul Dance
It was nearly ten o’clock at night when they returned home. After showing Yue Yunxi’s grandmother and Auntie Liu, who was constantly yawning, around the study in the courtyard, she sent them back to their rooms, taught them how to use the various switches in the bathroom, and then excused herself.
Lu You stayed in the room, waiting until her grandmother and Auntie Liu had both showered and were lying in bed, then plugged in the voice-activated night light on the bedside table before leaving.
Gently closing the door behind her, she turned around to see Yue Yunxi leaning against the wall, phone in hand.
Lu You walked over, inadvertently glancing at the phone screen, which was still on the Tetris interface.
“Are Grandma and Auntie asleep?” Yue Yunxi asked, putting away her phone.
Lu You nodded, “Yeah.”
“What about you?” Yue Yunxi paused before asking, “Are you going back to your room to shower and sleep?”
Lu You hesitated.
Perhaps because this was Yue Yunxi’s home, filled with her presence everywhere, especially the more private bedroom.
It felt completely different from when they were in Beicheng. She hadn’t felt it when she put down her luggage, but now, in the quiet of the night, nervousness, awkwardness, and even more complex emotions surged up like the tide.
“Or, should we go back to that study in the courtyard for a while?” Yue Yunxi suggested.
“Sure,” Lu You replied a little too quickly, her eagerness too obvious, so she added, “I didn’t get a good look at it just now.”
Yue Yunxi smiled, tilting her head towards the direction of the stairs, “Let’s go then.”
As they walked downstairs and passed the living room, Yue Yunxi said, “Wait a moment,” and grabbed a bag, filling it with some of the snacks and fruits they had bought at the supermarket.
Lu You craned her neck to see, “Are you going to eat durian in the study?”
Her tone clearly disapproved.
Yue Yunxi asked with a smile, “Is that not allowed?”
“Yes, it is,” Lu You said, touching her nose.
Yue Yunxi glanced at her, hiding a smile as she lowered her head, pretending to take out her phone, “I need to check something.”
“Check what?”
“Whether Pinocchio can eat durian.”
Lu You was both speechless and amused, “Pinocchio doesn’t want to eat durian tonight.”
“Then I won’t take it,” Yue Yunxi said, walking back to her with the bag, “How about I bake it for her to try tomorrow? What do you think?”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
They walked easily across the bluestone path through the small courtyard, stepping onto the wooden platform that connected to the small pond, sliding open the glass door, and entering the room. Yue Yunxi pressed a button on the side wall, and a soft, warm light instantly illuminated the entire space.
“Look around as you please.”
Yue Yunxi went straight to the island counter to put down the snacks.
Lu You, on the other hand, headed straight for the bookshelf that took up almost an entire wall on the right side, looking up, reading the titles on the spines of the books from top to bottom, occasionally taking one out and opening it in her hand to browse the contents.
From time to time, she would also get distracted, listening to the sounds of Yue Yunxi bustling around at the island counter—
The plastic bag being opened, snack wrappers being grabbed, the rustling sounds followed by the sound of water washing things, then the sound of a knife cutting fruit…
The rich fruity aroma of oranges wafted to her nose through the breeze.
Lu You raised her eyelids, looking in the direction of the island counter. Yue Yunxi was standing on the other side of the island counter, one hand holding an orange, the other holding a fruit knife, focused on cutting the orange.
Only after Yue Yunxi put down the fruit knife did she look away.
Distracted, unable to focus on the words, Lu You closed the book.
As she put the book back on the shelf, Yue Yunxi seemed to remember something and called out to her.
“Hmm?” Lu You turned to face Yue Yunxi and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Pouring the sliced orange into the juicer, Yue Yunxi gestured with her chin towards the extra space next to the island counter, “Do you think there’s enough room here for a piano?”
Lu You visually measured the space and said, “I think so.”
“Then, should we move your piano over here?” Yue Yunxi asked.
Lu You was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, “Wouldn’t that be too much? I’m planning to look at houses these next few days.”
Yue Yunxi’s fingertip hovered over the juicer button.
“I’m not sure how many *private fans* know the address over at Lanwan. It’s too much of a safety hazard. I can’t keep hiring bodyguards to stand guard at the door,” Lu You said, shifting her gaze back to the bookshelf, her voice gradually lowering, “And it’s not good to keep bothering you here.”
The sound of the juicer abruptly broke the silence.
After a while, Yue Yunxi responded, “Are you planning to rent or buy?”
“I’m more inclined to buy, buy a fully furnished place. Grandma is getting old, and some landlords aren’t willing to rent to elderly people.”
“So you’re not planning to live in Lanwan anymore?” Yue Yunxi confirmed again.
“No,” Lu You nodded.
“Since you’re not planning to live in Lanwan anymore, and it will take more than a day or two to find a satisfactory fully furnished place, why not move the piano over here? Just treat this place as a transition,” Yue Yunxi added, “You’re competing in mid-October. Teacher Zhong reminded you not to slack off.”
Lu You thought about it, unable to find any more reasons to refuse, so she agreed, “Alright.”
In the direction she was facing, a yolk-yellow spine stood out among the dark colors, the title printed in a white box.
“Letter from an Unknown Woman,” Lu You reached out and pulled it off the shelf, “I remember, the one you had… the one that was torn, was called that too.”
The pause was a deliberate concealment of Tao Xin’s name.
Yue Yunxi stopped filtering the juice, put down the pitcher, and looked up at her.
“Wasn’t it? I should remember correctly, right?” Lu You raised her hand, showing Yue Yunxi the book cover, “I bought this book when I went to the bookstore during my high school summer vacation. I saw this book and remembered you reading it before, so I bought one back. I thought it was a suspense thriller at first, but when I read it, I realized it was a story about unrequited love.”
Her hand stopped turning the page.
Her gaze fixed on a spot, under the slightly yellowed transparent tape, a crooked tear snaked between the neat printed letters.
Completely tearing open the uncertain factors in her memory.
Lu You was stunned for a long time. When she came back to her senses, Yue Yunxi had already left the island counter and was standing in front of her. She looked down at the description of a young girl’s thoughts in the book, suddenly thinking to ask, “Could this book be the origin of your unrequited love?”
“Are you teasing me?” Yue Yunxi asked.
Lu You opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly felt a weight lifted from her hand.
Yue Yunxi closed the book and grabbed it, then, the hand holding the book brushed past her ear, slowly placing the book back in its place.
Lu You was trapped between the bookshelf and her embrace, her back stiff, her heartbeat erratic.
But she didn’t think to step aside.
The tilting book was straightened with a touch of a fingertip. Yue Yunxi maintained a sense of propriety as she pulled away, and said softly, “That’s not very good.”
“I didn’t mean to tease you. I just wanted to confirm the time,” Lu You said, turning her head to look at the spine of the book, “You wouldn’t have started having a crush at thirteen, would you?”
Yue Yunxi seemed surprised by her train of thought, widening her eyes, then, flicking her forehead with her finger, “What are you thinking? That’s too young. I hadn’t even blossomed yet.”
Lu You rubbed her forehead, watching her back as she returned to the island counter, and followed, asking, “When did you blossom?”
Yue Yunxi paused in her steps, “You’re trying to trick me.”
Lu You tutted, “You’re being too guarded.”
“Isn’t it good to be a little guarded?” Yue Yunxi picked up the pitcher, pouring the filtered juice into a glass.
Lu You’s gaze followed Yue Yunxi’s actions, her expression absentminded, “No, it’s good.”
The mountain peaks sitting in the glass were gradually submerged in orange juice.
Yue Yunxi had once given her a similar glass, but she had never used it.
“Do you really want to know that much?” A glass straw sank into the cup. Yue Yunxi pushed one of the cups towards her, “Then, I—”
“No need!” Lu You interrupted, “You don’t have to humor me just because I want to know. I’m just curious. I’m not in such a hurry to know. Tell me when you really want to tell me.”
She bit down on the coquettishness in her tone, took a sip of the juice, and her eyes lit up, “It’s delicious!”
The topic was diverted with unusual ease.
The light in Yue Yunxi’s eyes rippled with her upturned lips, her fingertips caressing the wall of the glass. Even though she hadn’t taken a sip, it felt as if her mouth was already full of sweetness.
She asked with great interest, “Do you want to go feed the mosquitoes?”
Lu You widened her eyes slightly, “?”
Yue Yunxi’s smile deepened, “Let’s sit outside.”
Lu You smiled, “Okay.”
“Do you want any snacks?” Yue Yunxi pointed to the snack cart, “Let’s take them with us.”
Lu You grabbed a bag of potato chips, but quickly let go.
“What’s wrong?” Yue Yunxi asked.
“Eating this so late at night will make me fat,” Lu You said, looking down at the orange juice in the glass, “Drinking this so late at night is already a sin.”
“No matter how many bags of potato chips you eat or how many glasses of orange juice you drink, it won’t make up for the weight you’ve lost these past few months,” Yue Yunxi scrutinized her, “You won’t look good if you get any thinner.”
Lu You grabbed the potato chips and hugged them to her chest.
Yue Yunxi chuckled.
“Don’t laugh,” Lu You turned away from her, “Eat with me.”
“As you wish,” Yue Yunxi’s smile did not diminish, but rather increased, “I’ll get fat with you.”
Lu You, “…”
The two walked to the platform outside and sat down on the cushions next to the folding wooden table.
Despite talking about feeding mosquitoes, the blue-violet lights that were remotely turned on by the pond were actually for killing mosquitoes.
The night was already cool this season, the air moist, and the autumn breeze brushed across the surface of the pond, creating ripples, and the moonlight swayed on the lotus pond.
The chirping of insects hidden in the grass, the rustling of leaves, the sound of fish tails splashing, the crunching of potato chips… like a moonlight sonata composed by man and nature.
Lu You propped her arm on the small wooden table, resting her head in her hand, emptying her mind, and enjoying the breeze.
It wasn’t until the little Bichon Frise ran over, sniffing around her, that Lu You was drawn back to attention and noticed that Yue Yunxi’s gaze was fixed on her.
She wanted to pretend not to notice, but that undisguised gaze was impossible to ignore.
Unable to bear it any longer, Lu You adjusted her sitting position, glanced back quickly, and cleared her throat as a reminder.
Yue Yunxi understood, smiled, and said softly, “The moonlight is beautiful tonight.”
Lu You’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head to look again.
But now Yue Yunxi was in the same position as she was earlier, really looking at the moon in the sky.
It was hard to tell if that exclamation was really about the moonlight, or if it was as the saying went, with a hidden meaning.
Lu You picked up her glass and took a sip of the orange juice, the rich fruity fragrance filling her nose, stirring up her heart and unsettling her mind.
She could no longer sit in the silent atmosphere with peace of mind, simply admiring the same scenery as Yue Yunxi.
She always wanted to say something.
Out of the corner of her eye, the little Bichon Frise went from her to Yue Yunxi, wrinkling its little nose, sniffing twice, and wagging its tail like a windmill.
“It likes you a lot,” Lu You said.
“Yeah, I’m likeable.”
Lu You laughed at the unexpected response, “I didn’t realize you were so narcissistic.”
“Then I’ll be more modest and rephrase it,” Yue Yunxi said, “The dog follows its owner.”
“Yes, Grandma likes you a lot.”
“Aren’t you its owner?”
Lu You didn’t say anything.
Yue Yunxi scratched the Bichon Frise under the chin, chuckling softly.
The topic ended, and a period of silence followed.
In Lu You’s messy thoughts, Yue Yunxi’s conversation with Yue Shao suddenly flashed through her mind. Without much thought, she asked whatever came to mind, “Are you also jealous of Tao Xin with Auntie Yue?”
“Also,” Yue Yunxi repeated softly.
Lu You’s lips, which were touching the rim of the glass, slowly parted.
She almost choked on the orange juice because of that “also.”
Yue Yunxi candidly replied, “I guess you could say that.”
Moving the glass away from her mouth, Lu You took out a potato chip and said, “Maybe we have different perspectives. From my perspective, Auntie Yue is actually closer to you than she is to Tao Xin.
You know, when I used to go over for dinner, I was often envious of you.”
Yue Yunxi turned her head to look at her, “Envious of what?”
“Envious of you having a mother to take care of you,” Lu You said, eating the potato chip, recalling, “I remember one year when the season changed, Auntie Yue scolded us for not wearing enough clothes. When she was talking to Tao Xin and me, her tone was very gentle, and her words were brief.
Although it’s not good to say this, it really felt like a superficial reminder. But when she was talking to you, she clearly had a bit of a scolding tone, she was really afraid you would catch a cold.”
Lu You listed on her fingers, “When we were eating, she would only ask you to eat more vegetables, only caring about whether you were getting a balanced diet. And when everyone did something wrong, she would only criticize you.”
Hearing this, Yue Yunxi laughed, “Does being criticized also make you envious?”
Lu You pursed her lips and smiled, her smile receding as she said, “When I used to do something wrong and was being lectured by my… by my mother, she would always tell me that if I was disciplined at home, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes in society and be lectured by others. Others wouldn’t be as patient as my mother, explaining the reasons to me.”
The light from the house shone diagonally onto the small wooden table, and Yue Yunxi sat in that soft light, her features sharply defined by the light and shadow.
Her upturned corners of her mouth had long straightened, her eyelids drooping, her expression very light, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
Lu You took a couple of sips of juice, swallowing some surging emotion, and continued:
“Actually, Auntie Yue’s indulgence towards Tao Xin is the same as her politeness towards me. But towards you, she obviously has the attitude of a parent towards their own child. Because you’re her own, she has higher expectations, and maybe she also has the common problem of older generations of Chinese parents, hiding their concern in sternness, and not being considerate when speaking to their children.”
After an unknown amount of time, Yue Yunxi raised her eyes, the pale orange light seeping into her eyes from the corners, but not adding much warmth.
“I can understand what you’re saying, and I understand the reasoning. But from my perspective, sometimes I wish she could treat her own daughter the same way she treats other people’s children, giving me a little understanding, trust, and tolerance.”
After a slight pause, Yue Yunxi sighed and smiled, “Maybe my expectations are too high, so when they’re not met, I feel especially disappointed.”
Give…
Humble wording, helpless sighs, a light laugh that seemed self-deprecating.
Lu You felt like something was pricking her heart.
There was a subtle pain, like the ripples created by a fish tail in the pond, spreading out in circles.
For a moment, she wanted to say something to comfort Yue Yunxi, but upon reflection, she dismissed the idea.
She remembered the passage she had just read in *To Kill a Mockingbird*: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
But when you really walk the path they’ve walked, you find it difficult to even pass by.
Any words of comfort, without being able to truly empathize, seemed pale and powerless.
The ripples slowly dissipated, the water surface returned to calm, and the pond merged silently into the inky night.
After a long while, Lu You said, “You once said that any relationship is just an embellishment to life, not the whole thing.”
“That’s right,” Yue Yunxi smiled, her smile much lighter and gentler than before, “So I didn’t let getting more love from her become my whole life. The affection one person can give another is like a luxury, a privilege to have, but fine without it.”
Light words, but they had the effect of thunderclaps in Lu You’s ears.
Because Yue Yunxi was indeed doing just that.
She had a career that provided a financial base; she had her own private space; she had her own friends; she had elders who could provide emotional value. She had her own life, and she had never placed too much importance on getting equal love from Yue Shao.
She just had some emotions occasionally, occasionally allowing emotions to override reason.
And people always have emotions.
Not just in terms of family, but also in terms of love.
In the two years she was with Tao Xin, Yue Yunxi never disturbed them, nor did she neglect her own life because of it.
Even her way of processing bad emotions was to go to a high place and look into the distance, relaxing while also exercising.
“Thank you for letting me understand her behavior and thoughts from a different perspective.”
Lu You’s thoughts returned, and she said weakly, “Thank you for what? You understand the principles. I want to comfort you, but I don’t know what to say to truly comfort you.”
Her eyes swept to the Bichon Frise, which was snuggling into Yue Yunxi’s arms to show its affection, and she said, “I’m not as good as it.”
Yue Yunxi joked, “I wouldn’t mind you learning how to make me happy like that.”
Lu You raised her eyebrows, “Are you sure?”
Yue Yunxi stared at her for a few seconds, then flicked her hair, “…Not sure.”
Lu You turned her head away, pursing her lips, suppressing the upward curve.
“Actually…” Yue Yunxi changed the subject, “That phrase, ‘Any relationship is just an embellishment to life, not the whole thing,’ don’t you find it familiar?”
Lu You looked at the pond in front of her, her eyes unfocused, her eyebrows gradually furrowing.
She couldn’t find any memory related to that phrase in her mind.
“It’s from~” Yue Yunxi trailed off, creating suspense.
Lu You gathered her thoughts, looking at her curiously.
Their eyes met, Yue Yunxi smiled, and added softly, “From little Lu You’s mouth. Actually, it comforted me very early on.”
“?!” Lu You widened her eyes, incredulous, “Did I really say that? How come I don’t remember at all?”
“After all, it was many years ago, and you were very young then. It’s normal that you don’t remember.”
“But you remember,” Lu You muttered, “You’re not that much older than me.”
Yue Yunxi chuckled softly and said, “It’s because I often wrote about the experience of hearing you say that phrase in my compositions that I can remember it so clearly.”
Lu You’s eyebrows were almost knotted together, but she still couldn’t remember when she had said such a thing.
Seeing this, Yue Yunxi considerately asked, “Do you need me to give you a hint?”
“A little bit.”
“One year, when I was walking home from school, I passed the small square at the southwest gate, and I saw you sitting on the swing.
At the time, I thought you wanted to be alone, so I didn’t go say hello. Later, after dinner, I saw that it was raining outside, and I was worried that you were still there, so I took an umbrella to check…”
Yue Yunxi’s gentle and soft voice seemed to add a filter of time to the words.
As each word fell into Lu You’s ears, it pulled back the curtain of memory.
During that time, she would go to the swing in the small square almost every day, waiting as the time passed by, waiting for Zhang Wenyin to appear at the gate and take her away.
On the day she decided to wait for the last time, she kept telling herself, “Just wait five more minutes. If she doesn’t come, I’ll go back.”
Wait five more minutes.
Wait five more minutes.
…
She clutched the iron chains of the swing, watching the sky fill with ink, watching the gate go from crowded to empty, watching the dry ground under the streetlights gradually be dampened by raindrops.
After who knows how many five minutes, she raised her arm, wiping her damp eyes with the back of her hand, got up from the swing, and looked towards the gate.
Staring at it for a moment, she climbed onto the slide instead, the castle top above the platform could block the rain.
Just wait for the last five minutes. She sat on the slide with her arms crossed, comforting herself once again.
The rain got heavier and heavier, occasionally being blown onto her arms by the wind, a cold that seemed to penetrate her skin.
Footsteps came from the climbing ladder.
She turned her head, full of hope and surprise.
The light in her eyes, after seeing that the person opposite her was Yue Yunxi and not Zhang Wenyin, extinguished like the last few seconds of a firework, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
“Why are you still here? It’s raining, aren’t you going home?” Yue Yunxi asked, squatting down.
She lowered her head, twisting her fingers, not speaking.
“You didn’t bring your key?”
“Are you in a bad mood?”
“Are you being bullied at school?”
She didn’t answer any of them. Yue Yunxi remained calm and patient, not losing her temper because of her silence.
On the contrary, she became even more gentle.
Perhaps seeing her looking back at the gate from time to time, Yue Yunxi changed her question, “Are you waiting for someone?”
As if finally entering the correct password, she started to speak.
She buried her head even lower. She hadn’t spoken for too long, and when she opened her mouth, her voice was hoarse, as if it had been rolled over by gravel, “Waiting for my mom.”
There was a long silence, or maybe it was only a short moment.
Yue Yunxi reached out and touched her head, “I’ll keep you company.”
Her eyes were round, dyed red.
Just as the tears were about to fall uncontrollably, she grabbed Yue Yunxi’s arm and stood up, heading straight to the stairs without looking back.
Yue Yunxi quickly caught up with her, keeping half a step away, the hand holding the wooden deer umbrella handle was almost touching her arm.
“Aren’t you waiting anymore?”
It was almost impossible to hear Yue Yunxi’s question in the rain.
But her ears were particularly good.
She shook her head.
“I’m not waiting anymore.
No matter how many more five minutes I wait, that person won’t appear.”
“Will you come again tomorrow to wait?” Yue Yunxi asked again.
Before turning the corner, she stopped and looked back at the gate of the residential complex.
The night was like an ink block soaked in rain, that area the thickest.
She turned her head back very slowly, walking forward step by step, spitting out each word, her voice low, mixing with the sound of the rain, as if she was answering Yue Yunxi, but even more so as if she was warning herself.
“Any relationship is just an embellishment to life, not the whole thing.”
…
“That must have been more than ten years ago. If you hadn’t said it, I really wouldn’t have remembered it at all.”
Lu You savored the memory, a touch of pride curving her upward lips, “I didn’t realize I was so clear-headed as a kid, able to spout such profound words.”
Yue Yunxi was amused by her tone, “You’re still clear-headed now.”
“Not as much as I was when I was a kid,” Lu You picked up her glass, taking a sip of the orange juice, perhaps it had been left out for too long, but it had a slight astringency, “I’m living backwards.”
After a brief silence, Yue Yunxi asked softly, “Can I ask you a presumptuous question?”
“What?”
“If your mother came to find you at this time, would you…” Yue Yunxi paused, organizing her words, “Would you be willing to repair your relationship with her?”
Lu You was stunned, put down the glass in her hand, and her gaze fell to the remaining orange juice at the bottom.
After thinking for a long time, she replied, “To be honest, I don’t know.”
Lu You wasn’t the kind of person who was very willing to confide her thoughts to others.
But perhaps Yue Yunxi’s temperament was too gentle, too much like a listener.
Or perhaps it had been suppressed for too long and had already reached the critical point, and she needed to pour it out.
“When they first divorced, my dad, and his secretary at the time, told me that my mom didn’t want this family for the sake of her career, and that I was a burden, so she wouldn’t take me with her.”
“And then?” Yue Yunxi asked.
“Later, I went to my dad’s company and caught him and his secretary in the office…” Lu You frowned and closed her eyes, dismissing the image that appeared in her mind, “I watched his girlfriends change one after another, some of them could even be his daughters.
Then I knew why my mom was so insistent on getting a divorce.”
“Later, Grandma told me some things about my mom.
She said that before she got married, she was a flower in the orchestra, capable and beautiful.
A lot of people were after her, but she had terrible taste and fell for my dad.
After she got pregnant with me, she had terrible morning sickness, so she left the orchestra. Affected by pregnancy hormones, her figure changed, and she didn’t look as good as before.
My dad, on the other hand, often wasn’t home during her pregnancy. To put it nicely, he was on a business trip, but really he was cheating.”
“On the day she gave birth to me, there wasn’t a single person by her side.
After I was born, my dad’s frequency of going home didn’t increase, but decreased. Grandma was worried, so she came to the city to help. Because of disagreements, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law often argued.
Then my mom was diagnosed with postpartum depression, and she was on the verge of collapse every day.”
Lu You twisted the pinky ring on her little finger back and forth, saying with difficulty:
“But, I haven’t had a child, so I can’t fully understand her suffering. Sometimes I can’t help but selfishly think, ‘It wasn’t me who made her give birth to me.’
That’s pretty awful, isn’t it, that thought.”
The pinky ring was twisted faster and faster, with more and more force, until her hand was covered by a warm touch.
Yue Yunxi squeezed her hand reassuringly and said, “People are complex. It’s normal to have those thoughts. Don’t punish yourself.”
Not comforting, but true understanding.
Lu You’s shoulders slowly relaxed, and when she spoke again, there was no anger, but more grievance.
“I’ve looked it up. Many mothers with postpartum depression even reject their children and refuse to breastfeed.
But Grandma said that even when she was depressed, she never gave up feeding me.
She taught me how to be a good person, taught me how to play the piano, and took care of me in every possible way.
She clearly showed that she loved me, but why, why after the divorce could she act like she had never given birth to me?
For so long, she didn’t look for me… not once.
Not even a text message, not a single phone call.
I was worried that something had happened to her, and I tried everywhere to find out about her, searching for her information.
Then the woman my dad married found out, and that night they showed me a picture of her holding a baby, telling me that she had a new family and her own child.
I was happy that nothing had happened to her, that she didn’t have a terminal illness. But I was also very sad, very angry… so, I really was a burden she had forgotten.”
Her voice was soaked in emotion, like damp wood, constantly being squeezed by the words she spoke.
Even the Bichon Frise noticed her sadness, trotting over to lie down at her feet.
Yue Yunxi’s throat was blocked, and she couldn’t say the words she wanted to say.
She couldn’t even bear to look at Lu You any longer.
Lu You’s lowered gaze fell on Yue Yunxi’s bony hand, her hand still being held by the other woman.
After a moment, she pulled her hand away, her gaze touching the faint red mark under the pinky ring.
“You said, why would she want to repair our relationship at this time?”
Not long after she said those words, Lu You suddenly laughed, shook her head, and took a deep breath, “It’s just a hypothetical situation. It’s not like she’s really going to come looking for me.”
Yue Yunxi’s heart clenched, “Maybe, one day, the hypothetical situation will come true, and she will walk in front of you and explain things to you, that some things are misunderstandings, and it’s not that she didn’t want to see you…”
Lu You gradually couldn’t hear Yue Yunxi’s words clearly, staring blankly at the moon in the sky.
Round, with a small corner missing.
She had also seen a moon like that when she was sitting on the swing in the park as a child.
She had also seen moons that weren’t missing a corner, moons that were hazy, clear, crescent-shaped…
She always imagined the scene of reuniting with her mother when she looked at the moon, fantasizing about them living together, and then she would look at the gate.
Constantly experiencing the feeling of expectations falling flat.
Drinking the last two sips of orange juice, Lu You put down the glass and said softly, “Let’s talk about something else.”
Yue Yunxi lowered her eyes, staring at her hand on the table, her long fingers slightly curved, the outline of her bones distinct as if carved from art.
Her palm could still feel the lingering warmth.
Yue Yunxi curled her fingertips, stood up from the cushion, and picked up the two glasses that had contained the orange juice, “Wait for me.”
Lu You’s eyes followed her figure, watching her return to the house, put the glasses in the sink, and then go to the snack cart. Her back was in the way, and she couldn’t see what she was taking.
Seeing that Yue Yunxi was turning around, Lu You quickly straightened up, listening to her approaching footsteps.
An icy-cold mini can of Coke was held out in front of her, and Lu You reached out to take it, “Are you planning to feed me back to my previous state tonight?”
Yue Yunxi looked down at her.
Lu You was very tall, but also thin. She was sitting cross-legged now, looking up, like a small figurine.
“One night is clearly not enough.”
Yue Yunxi said very seriously, as if she really had that intention.
“If you feed me like this, I’ll just gain weight in the wrong places.”
“That makes sense. I should do some strength training too.”
“Yeah,” Lu You nodded in agreement, looking at her arms, “Actually, I think I look okay like this now. I’m just a little skinny. It’s mainly because I’ve been too lazy these past few months. When I work out again and get my definition back, I’ll have a great figure.”
Yue Yunxi raised her eyebrows, unable to help but smile, and then asked, “Do you still want the Coke?”
Not wanting to spoil the fun, Lu You raised the can, “I’ll just indulge a little tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll keep you company.”
Yue Yunxi took her own can of Coke, touched it to the one in Lu You’s hand, “I’ll drink Coke with you, and I’ll work out with you.”
The sound of the aluminum cans lightly bumping together swirled around her ears with the wind, stirring up Lu You’s heart.
“I’m planning to go back to Lanwan the day after tomorrow to get the piano,” Yue Yunxi sat back down opposite her, “Do you want to come with me?”
Lu You nodded.
“Should we find someone to move your piano over then?”
Lu You nodded again.
Feeling like she was just a nodding robot, Lu You thought about it and extended the topic, “Speaking of pianos, when I was a freshman, one time in class, our teacher was talking about the pianos she had encountered in her tuning career, and then she mentioned a website for custom pianos. I especially liked a crystal piano that was displayed there.”
She emphasized the word “especially.”
Yue Yunxi asked, “Is the website still there? Can you show me what the crystal piano looks like?”
Lu You took out her phone from her coat pocket.
When she turned on the screen, a vertical row of spam text messages immediately came into view.
Seeing that her expression was off, Yue Yunxi asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Lu You swiped the text messages off the screen, searched for the website, found the crystal piano, opened the page, put the phone on the table, and pushed it to Yue Yunxi to see.
The phone vibrated, and another spam text message popped up.
Catching a glimpse of the content, Yue Yunxi immediately frowned, “Did another private fan send it?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about them,” Lu You said, expertly dismissing the message, as if she had never received it, and continued talking about the piano, “I was thinking of buying it and putting it in the bar, like the antique piano in Teacher Zhong’s small building, mainly for decoration, but of course, it could also be played.”
Yue Yunxi didn’t say anything immediately, as if she was thinking about something.
After a moment, she came back to her senses and asked, “Why didn’t you buy it?”
“I couldn’t bear to, I couldn’t make up my mind,” Lu You poked the price displayed on the screen with her index finger, “It’s more expensive than the renovation costs for my bar!”
Yue Yunxi was amused by her complaining appearance, and suddenly remembered to ask, “I heard before that