SWG Chapter 16
by VolareIf Xiao Wenyu saw such a boxy, rugged off-road vehicle on the road, she would probably tilt her head to take a closer look, maybe even check the car’s logo and license plate to see which cool woman was driving such a car that could shatter the tranquility in this leisurely and quiet small town, so out of place with everything around it.
But if she could see the interior, she might try to catch up with the car, to take a closer look at the owner, to see who she was, to be able to decorate the interior of a matte black car so pink and cute.
Xiao Wenyu reached out and touched the big pink rabbit clipped to the air vent again.
It was really too cute, so cute that she thought she was back in Ruan Shengyi’s Chopped Chili Fish Head, not this pure black off-roader.
It also made her feel that Ruan Shengyi, who rolled up her sleeves to go fight someone tonight, was fake, and that Ruan Shengyi, who always kept a clean and quiet face in front of her but was still talkative, was real.
Which one is real?
She didn’t know.
But the big pink rabbit was real, not only on the air vent, but also on the top of the chairs behind them, each with a rabbit holding the chair, its arms acting as a neck pillow, adding a lot of softness to the sporty and sturdy seats.
It seemed that this was the real thing.
Just like sporty seats can also have a lot of softness.
Xiao Wenyu looked at the person whose ears were red all the way to the depths of her neck with a smile that was not quite a smile.
Raising her hand, she poked the rabbit again.
Ruan Shengyi: “I used to have rabbits when I was little.”
Her voice was calm and steady, and if her face wasn’t already flushed, Xiao Wenyu would have really thought that she was indifferent to the scene in front of her, as calm as usual.
Xiao Wenyu hummed softly, as if in response, and waited for more.
Ruan Shengyi: “I actually bought this car earlier, back when… I hadn’t come to Chuncheng yet, and I drove it here. I was alone and lonely, but I didn’t dare to ask anyone to come with me, so I bought rabbits just like the ones I had when I was little and filled the car with them.”
“When I went through the toll station, the toll collector looked into the car curiously several times. It was my first time out, and I didn’t know what ETC was, so I went through the manual toll booth all the way, but it really exercised my ability to take cards…” Ruan Shengyi clicked her tongue slightly, so everything else was left unsaid.
Xiao Wenyu took off the rabbit, held it in her arms, and gently tugged at the rabbit’s fur, “How old was Ruan Shengyi back then?”
“Seven years ago, 20 years old. My birthday is in the winter of the following year, so I had just turned 20.”
At the age of twenty, driving alone to Chuncheng, and having gone through so many toll stations, that was quite a long time.
She used ‘didn’t dare to ask someone to come with her’, rather than ‘didn’t want to’ or ‘didn’t think of’.
Xiao Wenyu remembered the reaction that the photo had brought to Ruan Shengyi a few days ago, her nose felt sore, and she almost burst into tears, but her eyes also became a little moist.
“Your… family…”
“They’re all gone.” Ruan Shengyi answered easily, “I was already alone when I came.”
Ruan Shengyi switched the manual transmission back to automatic, making the car smoother and more stable, and then said, “My home is quite far away, and you have to cross a desert to get out. But it’s also very beautiful, if you want to go play, I can go with you.”
She didn’t seem to avoid mentioning the past, and even seemed a little relaxed, but the sadness deep in her words couldn’t be completely concealed, especially when the other person was paying close attention to her.
Even a little fluctuation would be heard.
Pregnancy reactions still had an impact on Xiao Wenyu, such as at this time, her emotions were like wild horses running wild, any means of control were ineffective, and strong tears were impacting her body and mind, she could even feel her throat tightening for a moment.
The feeling of nausea followed closely.
“You, stop for a moment…” Xiao Wenyu said in a trembling voice.
Ruan Shengyi hurriedly stepped on the brakes and stopped steadily by the side of the road.
She followed Xiao Wenyu out of the car, her brow furrowed, “Are you carsick? The chassis of this car is a bit hard, if you’re carsick, let’s go back.”
Xiao Wenyu squatted by the roadside, retching, her already thin figure curled into a ball at this time, looking even thinner and more pitiful.
It tugged at Ruan Shengyi’s heart fiercely.
She opened the back door and took out the casual jacket that she had casually thrown here from the back seat and gently draped it over Xiao Wenyu’s body.
Ruan Shengyi: “Your stomach problems are really quite serious, you’ve thrown up twice today, let’s go to the hospital to have a look tomorrow?”
“No need.” Xiao Wenyu lowered her voice and stood up with Ruan Shengyi’s help, “I’m used to it, this is what happens when you don’t eat well when you’re young.”
Her emotional fluctuations had been too great today, and the stomach itself was an emotional organ, not to mention that she now had a little one in her body who was particularly sensitive to emotions, so it was normal for her to be tossed around like this.
She stroked her stomach, using the cool autumn breeze to smooth out the dizziness in her head and the sourness in her heart.
Ruan Shengyi: “Is it the problem with the renovation over there? I’ve wanted to say it for a long time, you moved in as soon as the renovation was finished, aren’t you just waiting to get sick!”
“It’s okay.” Xiao Wenyu grabbed her wrist back, “I know what I’m doing.”
“Don’t ‘know what you’re doing’.” Ruan Shengyi grabbed her other arm and brought her in front of her – she missed the flash of a frown between Xiao Wenyu’s eyebrows, and also missed the opportunity to discover those layers of scars as early as possible – “Why don’t you go stay at my place for a couple of days?”
She looked straight into Xiao Wenyu’s eyes, which had become moist from the nausea, trying to persuade her through eye contact, to get her to agree to this suggestion.
The woman slightly lowered her eyes and turned her head away, “No need, I really know what I’m doing. Besides, if I’m going to go back, I’m going back home, what’s it like to go to your place?”
“…”
Yes, they were not related, just neighbors, today’s conversation had already crossed the scope of neighbors, how should they continue to talk, and what identity and position should they use to talk.
Ruan Shengyi let out a sigh in her heart, and was also glad that she had stopped her emotions.
Xiao Wenyu’s character was always to hide ten and say one, if she continued to talk, she might not show it on her face, but she would hate her in her heart.
If she didn’t say it, then she wouldn’t say it.
Xiao Wenyu smiled lightly and said, “Are we still going? I’ve already closed the shop.”
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, much better.”
Ruan Shengyi opened the car door, “Then get in the car, I won’t shift to manual, let’s drive smoothly.”
She walked towards the rear of the car, preparing to go around to the driver’s seat, without looking back.
In fact, it was closer to walk from the front of the car, but Ruan Shengyi couldn’t explain what she was thinking, she seemed to just want to escape, just wanted to walk a long enough road to calm down, just wanted to turn her back to Xiao Wenyu, not to let her see the slightest flaw on her face.
She…
Couldn’t explain what she was thinking.
“Ruan Shengyi.” Behind her, the woman’s voice, like the warm sun in spring, dispelled a piece of moisture in the autumn.
Ruan Shengyi froze in place.
This was one of the few times that Xiao Wenyu had called her name directly, without the title of boss, without a slightly raised tone, and even with a little trembling.
Xiao Wenyu said again, “Don’t turn around.”
Ruan Shengyi stopped in place.
Xiao Wenyu: “It’s 2024 now, you’re 27 years old, you’re great, and you’re also very amazing, you make me admire you from the bottom of my heart, and I also want to tell you from the bottom of my heart—”
“You really, have grown into a very excellent adult.”
Ruan Shengyi suddenly felt that Xiao Wenyu’s voice seemed a little like the female voices in old movies from decades ago, with a little hoarseness carved by the years, and also with the warmth that could only be possessed decades ago.
Otherwise, how could it make her feel that these were words that had traveled through time to reach her ears, as if when she set off from Shacheng seven years ago, someone had said these words behind her, but they only reached her ears seven years later, reached her heart.
And also today, seven years later, crossed the tunnel of time, and once again embraced the her who had decided to escape Shacheng.
Something shattered completely in that instant, and something was completely established in that instant.
Everything, everything, started from this instant.
She didn’t respond, but instead took a step again and went around to the driver’s seat.
*
“This is what you said, the delicious food that you can’t eat after the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
Xiao Wenyu looked at the menu in front of her, and it was difficult to understand how these things were combined together.
She had heard of porridge-based hot pot, she thought it was a Southern preference, but she didn’t expect to see such a store in the Northwest.
This was actually real?!
Xiao Wenyu didn’t know what to say.
She always felt that this was a kind of self-deception.
Ruan Shengyi briefly negotiated with the shop owner, took two aprons back, blinked her single eye, and smiled, “So she’s going to change her business, this really can’t be run.”
“Change it to a Sichuan-style hot pot restaurant?”
“Oh, no, change it to… oil-free spicy hot pot.”
“…” Okay, it’s even more of a self-deceiving thing.
Xiao Wenyu rubbed her forehead, a little speechless.
The interlude that happened on the road just now was tacitly pressed down by the two of them, and now sitting here, time seemed to have gone back to before the departure, nothing had happened, they were still ordinary neighbors.
Xiao Wenyu wouldn’t be nosy to ask what exactly happened in the past, and Ruan Shengyi didn’t want to think deeply about what identity and state Xiao Wenyu used to say those words just now.
Adults must learn to control their emotions.
Although control may not be effective, you still have to control it.
Ruan Shengyi picked up a menu and said, “I also discovered this place when I sent a drunk person who couldn’t get a taxi…”
“Is it the soft and boneless beautiful older sister that you like?” Xiao Wenyu hooked the menu, casually saying words that made Ruan Shengyi so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into the ground.
How could she not hear a word that she said casually?
Ruan Shengyi coughed lightly twice, clenched her fist, “… I’ve eaten here twice, although it looks quite outrageous, but it’s still delicious here.”
“And it’s suitable for people like you who have a bad stomach.”
“It’s a pity that the business is going to change after the Mid-Autumn Festival, so I rushed to bring you to try it once.”
“Little nag.” Xiao Wenyu propped up her chin, seeming to be scolding and acting spoiled.
One sentence made Ruan Shengyi stiffen for a moment.
In all these years, it was really the first time she had heard someone say that she was nagging.
But Xiao Wenyu didn’t seem to realize how powerful her words were, she flicked her hair, put on her apron, and said, “Then have you ever thought about it, if I like the taste here, won’t I have nothing to eat in the future? Let me tell you, I have a very strange appetite.”
She stretched out her finger and gently tapped in the air, “It’ll be all your fault then.”
…