MTMIO Chapter 68

Chapter 68: What a Romantic Reason

As soon as the words left Lu You’s mouth, she felt over a dozen pairs of eyes focusing on her.

Inquisitive, gossipy, shocked… every kind of look imaginable, as if they wanted to burn holes in her with their gazes.

Lu You scratched her nose and pretended to be calm as she said to Yue Yunxi, “Grandma couldn’t stand me being idle at home, so she told me to pick up my sister and listen to your class while I’m at it.”

Someone mumbled awkwardly, “I thought it was Teacher Yue’s…”

The rest of the sentence faded away as their eyes met.

The gazes that had been fixed on her shifted away, some with disappointment, others with understanding.

Everyone except Yue Yunxi, whose eyes remained glued to her face, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

That look seemed to see right through her, as if to say she was only brave for a second.

Lu You turned her face away, listening to the students say their goodbyes and disperse. Finding an opening, she asked, “Do you want the milk tea now?”

The next second, she answered herself, “Let’s have it now, to soothe our throats.”

She heard Yue Yunxi answer the students’ questions, her voice hoarse.

Sticking a straw into one of the milk teas, Lu You handed both cups to Yue Yunxi, then grabbed the nearby piano case. “Let’s go.”

The classroom was lit by fluorescent lights, the bright light shining on the black straps held in her hand, so white it was almost dazzling.

The hands that tuned pianos were larger than most girls’, long but not slender or delicate, the skin thin and the bones prominent.

And the common ailment of piano players, the skin on the fingertips had a thick, calloused feel…

Yue Yunxi’s gaze lightly touched them before landing on the pendant hanging from the side handle of the piano case.

A small giraffe, swaying back and forth as Lu You carried the piano on her back.

Such a carefree appearance.

Yue Yunxi lowered her eyes, held the straw in her mouth, and took a sip of the milk tea.

Not warm enough, but still sweet.

Leaving the classroom, the opposite side was a nearly floor-to-ceiling window, with beautiful scenery visible at every step.

Several female students stood by the window, helping each other take pictures.

Lu You watched with interest, unable to resist turning back for another glance even after passing them.

“You’re going to bump into someone.” Yue Yunxi reached out and tugged her.

Hearing this, Lu You quickly followed the direction of the pull and stepped aside, leaning half her body into the warm embrace. Looking closely, she realized no one was passing by them at all.

“There’s no one about to be bumped into.” Lu You realized, “Yue Yunxi, you’re just teasing me.”

Yue Yunxi raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you calling me ‘sister’?”

So it was for this title. Lu You puffed out her cheeks. “You childish ghost, which sister teases her younger sister like this?”

“Told you not to walk without looking.” The refreshing scent of citrus faded away as Yue Yunxi blinked. “Is the school beauty too pretty, or is it interesting to watch others take pictures? You were so engrossed.”

Lu You was curious. “Which one is the school beauty?”

Those students were either photographing backs or profiles; she hadn’t seen a single face clearly yet.

“In our year, the school beauty was…”

Tao Xin.

Lu You glossed over it, not saying the name, thinking that Tao Xin, with her love of showing off, must have told Yue Yunxi on the very first day she was chosen.

“I don’t know how they were selected, but I didn’t receive a voting notice. However, one thing is certain: the school beauties of each year are all the same type.”

A very magical type, pure and sweet little white flowers, as if with a buff, having a good appearance that makes people feel protective at first glance, making people unable to blame them for making mistakes.

“I don’t know if there have been any changes this year.”

“No,” Yue Yunxi continued walking forward.

Lu You immediately followed, clicking her tongue. “Tsk, how can the aesthetic still be the same after so many years, without any change?”

“What about you?” Yue Yunxi suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Lu You was confused. “Me what?”

“Has your aesthetic changed?”

Lu You was stunned, a flash of inspiration, and she tilted her head to look at Yue Yunxi from a tricky angle, like a bird in some online picture.

“Why do you keep looking at me? Can’t you walk properly?” Yue Yunxi glanced at her sideways.

Lu You said with a smile, “Admiring my current aesthetic.”

Yue Yunxi’s expression went blank for a moment, like ink dripping onto paper, her eyebrows and eyes tinged with a joy that gradually unfolded.

Lu You turned her head back, a sly look in her smile. She changed the subject. “Li Zi gave me two movie tickets. Let’s go see it after dinner.”

“Okay.”

“How about eating dumplings tonight? I happen to have a walking dipping sauce here.”

Yue Yunxi almost couldn’t help but laugh, relying entirely on self-control to suppress it. She kept a straight face and said, “Not really.”

She didn’t deny the second half of the sentence, though.

“Everyone says women are made of water. I don’t think that’s right. Someone is clearly made of vinegar.”

Yue Yunxi didn’t change her expression. “Someone? Who is someone?”

Lu You walked in front of Yue Yunxi, facing her as she walked backward. “Someone who likes me, and someone I like~”

That smile spread directly from the corner of her mouth into her eyes, a brightness that could not be described by cunning or liveliness.

Yue Yunxi found that she really liked watching Lu You smile. It was like breathing oxygen, able to heal.

“Be careful you don’t really bump into someone.” Her tone unconsciously softened.

“Isn’t that what you’re here for?” Lu You teased intentionally. “Would a walking dipping sauce let me bump into someone?”

Yue Yunxi looked over her shoulder, saw a head-down gamer coming towards them, sighed heavily, and stopped by the wall.

Lu You followed and moved sideways. “What does that sigh mean? You didn’t plan to remind me?”

Yue Yunxi pretended to be annoyed. “Oops, you found out.”

Lu You: “…You’re really willing.”

“Willing. Can you still escape?”

Lu You pursed her lips.

Seeing her sulky look, Yue Yunxi couldn’t help but smile, coaxing her like a child. “Want me to make it up to you?”

Lu You was interested. “How will you make it up to me?”

“How about I take a picture of you too?” Yue Yunxi examined her outfit for the day.

Light makeup, almost bare-faced, which made her good complexion even more obvious, like a small, freehand painting, elegant but not lacking refinement, paired with an off-white casual suit.

“Today’s style suits you very well,” Yue Yunxi added.

The opposite glass window reflected their figures. Lu You’s eyes inadvertently swept across it, and she remembered the last time she carried a piano.

She stood in front of a similar glass wall and said regretfully, “If I had known, I would have dressed handsomely today.”

A casual sigh, she had forgotten it after saying it, but someone had meticulously and properly kept it in their heart.

Lu You’s eyes rippled and said, “Okay, take a picture and I’ll use it as my partner’s screen saver.”

Catching the pause in Yue Yunxi’s movement of taking her phone, Lu You turned her head to look at her. “Can’t I?”

Yue Yunxi chuckled and said, “Of course you can.” She reached out her hand again. “Give me the bag.”

Lu You took off her bag and handed it to her. She walked to the opposite side and, under Yue Yunxi’s direction, took a few photos with the piano case on her back.

From a trace of awkwardness to posing generously, it was hard to say if it wasn’t because the person taking the photos was Yue Yunxi, earnest and focused, giving enough emotional value to make her completely forget her shyness.

She could be vain, she could be quirky, she could be abstract, she could be unnatural, she could be imperfect, she could honestly show herself, fearless of any side.

Because every side would be appreciated by the other.

Yue Yunxi let her put down the piano case. In between, she slipped the bag that had fallen to her arm back onto her shoulder. “What’s in the bag?”

“An umbrella.” Lu You put down the piano case, supported it with one hand, and observed Yue Yunxi’s expression. “Grandma said it might rain and told me to bring it. I originally wanted to text you to ask where your umbrella was, but I was afraid of affecting your class, so I went to find it myself.”

Yue Yunxi nodded slowly, drawing out her words. “Yes, Grandma also asked you to pick me up.”

Very good, she said so much, and this person only heard the first sentence.

Half-open windows let in the wind. Lu You brushed away the disheveled hair that had been blown around, held back for a few seconds, but still couldn’t help but turn her head and laugh in annoyance and amusement.

Outside the glass window behind her, half-red and half-green leaves swayed on the branches of the goldenrain tree, like surging waves, sending wind between the ups and downs, stirring up a few strands of hair.

Adding a bit of ease and charm.

All of it was captured in the photo by Yue Yunxi.

When Lu You turned her head back, Yue Yunxi was coming towards her.

Waiting for her to walk in front, Lu You said softly, “If I hadn’t said that Grandma asked me to pick you up, tomorrow, no, maybe tonight, rumors would have spread.”

“What rumors?” Yue Yunxi came closer, handing over her phone.

They took advantage of the opportunity to look at the photos and continue to say whispers that only the two of them could hear.

“Teacher Yue is dating a piano tuning student, and a female student at that!”

Lu You lowered her voice, stretched her throat, and pretended to be gossipy.

Amused, Yue Yunxi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Still laughing.” Lu You solemnly said, “The school prohibits teacher-student relationships. If it rises to the level of your professional ethics being violated, losing your job is a small matter. What if a motivated person puts it online and you get cyberbullied? Spreading rumors is easy, but refuting them is exhausting. Do you know that, Teacher Yue?”

Yue Yunxi replied obediently, “I know. I will follow Teacher Lu’s teachings.”

The gentle appearance reminded Lu You of the yo-yo at home, which was also like this when scolded after making a mistake, very obedient and obedient.

But actually, it was still harboring small thoughts.

For example, teacher-student relationships are prohibited, so the student instantly becomes a teacher.

Lu You hooked the corner of her mouth, swiped the screen, cut to the next photo, and suddenly thought of saying, “Actually, you understand everything.”

She almost forgot that with Yue Yunxi’s EQ and IQ, how could she not understand these truths.

“You’re just deliberately provoking me to explain to you.”

“Teacher Yue, are you tired from class and want to be educated?” She said a sentence and swiped the screen.

Yue Yunxi didn’t deny it. “I like the way you think about me.”

One sentence made her lose her temper.

Lu You’s fingers curled up and suddenly stopped, the screen freezing on the last photo.

The glass reflected layers of tree shadows, the blurry center being the piano case and her figure. The captured scene was not clear, and the heavy grain created a mood. Half a profile, a wisp of hair slanting across the eyebrows, crossing the bridge of the nose.

Lu You followed that strand of hair and poked at the upward corner of her mouth in the photo. “Do you know, this was originally forced laughter.”

“Now is it?” Yue Yunxi asked. “Is the anger gone?”

Forced laughter, anger gone. Similar sounds, completely different meanings.

Lu You was struck by an inexplicable laugh and said, “The photos are well taken. For the sake of this photo,” she still had to maintain some face.

Yue Yunxi pulled her phone back. “Then I have to cherish it.”

Gentle and soft words, which really set off some piety.

Lu You leaned over and watched Yue Yunxi set the photo as her screen saver.

So that’s how she cherishes it.

Lu You couldn’t help but smile. “What should I do?”

“Hmm?”

“I seem to be completely unable to resist your tricks.”

Yue Yunxi paused the action of sending photos to her. “The meaning of unable to resist, is it like or dislike?”

Like a serious inquiry, but also like a straight-ball tease.

Lu You answered vaguely, “It depends on the trick.”

“For example?”

“Some tricks are fun, while others are traps.” Lu You’s eyes turned and threw the question back. “Do you think a little deer would like traps?”

Not to mention deer, no animal would like traps.

Yue Yunxi didn’t speak.

Lu You turned her head.

Yue Yunxi was looking at her, her eyes gentle and deep, very much like the clouds in the sky outside, soft and thick, hiding some subtle emotions.

Lu You couldn’t tell what those emotions were specifically, but could only feel that they were all moist.

“Then are you that kind of deer?” Yue Yunxi asked.

Originally it was a general reference, but Lu You looked at Yue Yunxi’s eyes and didn’t know why, she couldn’t even say “sort of.”

“Not entirely. People and animals are ultimately different.” Lu You picked up the piano case and said, “Let’s take my car later. Leave your car at school first.”

Perhaps the topic was too jumpy. Yue Yunxi reacted for a few seconds before responding softly.

“Don’t you ask me why I arranged it this way?” Lu You guided her.

Yue Yunxi asked cooperatively, “Why?”

“That way I’ll have a reason to send you back tomorrow.”

Yue Yunxi couldn’t help but curl her lips, and the rich emotions in her eyes faded away a lot.

“What do you want for dinner?” Lu You asked her. “Is there anything you want to eat?”

Yue Yunxi shook her head. “Anything is fine with me. It depends on what you want to eat.”

Lu You drew out her words. “Then—”

“Except for dumplings.” Yue Yunxi emphasized with a straight face. “No dumplings.”

Lu You laughed uncontrollably.

Yue Yunxi glared at her softly.

Completely harmless, but instead fueling her arrogance.

“Oh, no dumplings, only…” Lu You turned her head to look at Yue Yunxi, her red lips opened and closed, saying the word “dumplings” with the same mouth shape. “Is that right?”

Yue Yunxi pretended to be deaf and dumb.

“Isn’t it?” Lu You hooked her arm and swayed back and forth. “Good sister?”

When Yue Yunxi heard her call her “good sister,” she thought of restraining herself yesterday without making a sound. This person climbed up and called her “good sister” one after another, telling her not to endure so hard. Her expression became unnatural.

“If you don’t speak, then you don’t want it either.” Lu You didn’t plan to let her go.

Yue Yunxi had to admit, “…You’re really hard to resist.”

Lu You laughed even more happily.

Yue Yunxi looked at her ears, which were flushed red with laughter or shyness, and silently curled her lips.

Really, the more amateurish, the more she likes to tease.

Leaving the teaching building, it hadn’t rained a drop all day, so Lu You temporarily put the umbrella aside.

They chatted about daily trivial topics, walking straight to the parking lot.

She pressed the car lock, and there was a “beep.”

Yue Yunxi opened the door of the passenger seat and was stunned.

Sitting in the seat was a bouquet of flowers, mainly apricot-colored multi-headed roses, paired with pink cushion chrysanthemums, champagne-colored cockscomb flowers for transition, supplemented with cosmos, aster leaves, and fountain grass decorations.

The wind wrapped in moisture brushed past her and into the car, and the faint fragrance floating in the air evoked her memory of another bouquet of flowers—

At that time, it was still the plum rain season. Backstage at the theater, after the concert, Lu You gave her and Zhong Shuyun each a bouquet of flowers. It was obvious at a glance that they were finished bouquets from a flower shop, with the same arrangement on the delivery pages of almost every flower shop.

Unlike the bouquet in front of her.

Yue Yunxi reached out, and when she was about to touch the flower, she curled her fingers back. “Are these flowers for… Feifei’s mother?”

Her heart felt like it had been gently scratched.

Not very painful, but not very comfortable either.

Lu You was too familiar with Yue Yunxi’s current state, because she had experienced it countless times, either in love or in family relationships.

Harboring the expectation of receiving a surprise but also fearing the disappointment of hope, pretending not to care, and cautiously probing.

She suddenly didn’t want to simply say they were for you.

“They’re for my girlfriend.”

Yue Yunxi said “Oh,” looking down at the flowers, her fingertip touching the pearlescent paper packaging the bouquet. “Do you have other girlfriends?”

Lu You was a little confused: “?”

Hearing a chuckle, she saw Yue Yunxi raise her head, feigning sudden realization. “Oh, no, they’re for me.”

Lu You realized that she had been teased again. She shouldn’t have changed her mind! She should have said directly that they were for you.

Thinking about it, if she had really said that, maybe this person would have blurted out: Why are you giving them to me? What am I to you?

“…Yue Yunxi, you’re really a bit bad.”

Yue Yunxi hugged the flowers and sat in the car, smiling, “What, am I not a good sister now?”

Still a gentle tone, a warm timbre like bubbling hot springs.

Lu You slandered, a needle hidden in cotton.

The pearlescent paper scraped against the air, and in the rustling sound, Lu You turned the steering wheel and drove the car out of the parking space.

“Why did you give me flowers?” Yue Yunxi asked, embracing the flowers. “Is today a special day?”

“The first date after confirming our relationship, does that count as a special day?”

Yue Yunxi smiled. “It does.”

The car drove on the paulownia road, very much like the road that passed by the flower shop yesterday. Lu You looked at the wide road outside the windshield and recalled, “Actually, I wanted to give it yesterday. On the way back from the hospital, I passed by the flower shop and saw this flower so beautiful. I immediately thought of you, wanted to show it to you too, wanted to buy it and give it to you.”

Just a quick glance, and she had this idea.

She had to go around a big circle to drive the car to a section where she could make a U-turn.

The flowers were almost bought by someone else.

After taking the flowers from the clerk, she hugged them in her arms and admired them up close, her mind full of how happy Yue Yunxi would be to receive them.

She thought gratefully, “I’m glad I didn’t miss it.”

“So that’s how it is. What a romantic reason.” Yue Yunxi lowered her head, sniffed the light floral fragrance that floated in the wind, and a deeper smile bloomed on her lips.

The sky outside was gloomy, and it could rain at any time.

And she was in a sunny day.

“I’m honored that I have your desire to share.” Yue Yunxi Yue Yunxi’s fingertip lightly stroked the apricot-pink petals. “I like them very much.”

Lu You didn’t speak, but just clenched the steering wheel tightly.

Her heart was like a red balloon that had been inserted into an air pump, suddenly bulging and continuing to expand.

Light and full.