MTMIO Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Pineapple Flavored Gummy Candy

When they arrived in Vienna, it was already dark.

The teacher had arranged for an assistant to pick them up from the airport and drive them to the 19th district.

It was the Christmas season, and the streets were filled with the atmosphere of Christmas. The neon lights of the Christmas market seemed to melt the snow on the ground. The Christmas tree, half as tall as a building, in the square was adorned with twinkling lights. Huge red bows decorated the Baroque buildings, and the notes of Christmas carols danced in the interplay of light and shadow, faintly drifting into the car from the various instruments of street performers.

Lu You wiped a small clear patch on the foggy car window, took two photos with her phone, and sent them to Yue Yunxi and Zhang Wenyin, reminding them, “Remember to tell your mother you arrived safely.”

After sending the messages, she immediately stuffed her hands into her pockets and hunched her neck, feeling extremely cold. Even in the air-conditioned car, she felt chilly.

“Okay,” Yue Yunxi responded and rattled off a string of German to the driver.

Lu You didn’t understand, but she saw the driver turn up the car’s air conditioning a bit.

The 19th district was in the suburbs of Vienna, near the Danube River. The house was in a villa area, next to the Kahlenberg scenic area. The landscaping was excellent, and the surrounding facilities were relatively complete, offering tranquility amidst the bustle.

The assistant left the car and departed with a friend’s car.

Opening the door and entering the house, Lu You looked around. It was a three-story building, decorated in an “old money” style, with a low-key sense of luxury. It seemed someone had cleaned in advance. The house was clean and tidy, and the dust covers on the furniture were neatly folded on the chairs.

“The teacher had someone come and do a basic cleaning. The water, electricity, and heating all work normally,” Yue Yunxi changed the password on the door’s combination lock, then opened the shoe cabinet and took out two pairs of slippers wrapped in dust covers. “But the daily necessities are probably expired. We’ll see what we need in the morning and go to the supermarket to stock up in the afternoon.”

Lu You nodded and put on the slippers. “Good thing tomorrow isn’t Sunday.”

Most stores and supermarkets in Austria were closed on Sundays, but with Yue Yunxi’s personality and experience, she must have considered this already.

“A story there?” Yue Yunxi went to check the condition of the water, electricity, and heating.

Lu You followed closely behind her, saying, “The first time I came, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so I didn’t check any guides. I didn’t know about this. I got my period and couldn’t even buy sanitary napkins. I complained on Weibo, and a student sister living in the 9th district saw it and brought me a pack.”

“I saw that Weibo post. Then you treated her to a meal, and when you got back to the hotel, you posted another Weibo complaining that the food wasn’t good, feeling very sorry for her. She comforted you, saying it was okay, and you chatted back and forth,” Yue Yunxi said, opening the faucet in the washbasin, occasionally testing the water temperature with her fingers.

“…” Lu You cleared her throat and said, “The person who came to clean must have used lemon-scented cleaner. The air smells sour.”

Yue Yunxi glanced at her. “Come wash your hands.”

“…Huh?” So soon?

“We’ll go upstairs later to make the beds. The sheets and duvet covers have been washed but not put on yet,” Yue Yunxi keenly sensed the wrongness in her expression and flicked her forehead. “What are you thinking about?”

“Ouch! That hurts! I wasn’t thinking about anything!” Lu You rubbed her forehead, relieved, and reached her hands under the water to wash.

Sure enough, the water temperature was just right.

After washing her hands, she carried her suitcase and followed Yue Yunxi upstairs. She had a sudden thought: “Speaking of which, that student wasn’t someone you found, was she?”

“Why would you think that?” Yue Yunxi was a little surprised.

“I just thought of it for no reason,” Lu You muttered. “You’re so scheming, it’s not impossible.”

“I wish I had, but when you posted, I was still on the plane. By the time I saw the post, I had just arrived in Vienna,” Yue Yunxi paused her hand on the bedroom doorknob, thinking for a moment, “It was about twenty minutes later, I think.”

“Twenty minutes… You remember so clearly,” Lu You teased. “Were you feeling regretful at the time?”

Yue Yunxi vigorously ruffled her hair. “Yes, I was.”

While chatting idly, they made the beds. The two of them took travel-sized toiletries into the shower room, stood side-by-side in front of the washbasin, listening to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” and brushed their teeth with mouths full of foam, discussing the cases in Detective Conan that involved the piece.

After washing her face, Lu You received a video call from Zhang Wenyin.

Yue Yunxi gestured to her and went to take a shower first. When she came out, Lu You was almost done talking to Zhang Wenyin. They switched places, and Zhang Wenyin handed the phone to Yue Shao.

Half an hour later, the two of them hugged their respective deer plushies, simultaneously lifted the covers from either side of the bed, and squeezed into the middle, huddling together for warmth.

“So tired,” Lu You lay flat on her back, hugging her deer plushie with one arm, tucking the blanket under her chin. “I don’t think I’ll have trouble sleeping tonight.”

“Then take advantage of the drowsiness and go to sleep quickly.”

Lu You closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

People were so strange. They were extremely sleepy before getting into bed, but once they lay down, they didn’t want to sleep.

She turned over to face Yue Yunxi, meeting a pair of eyes that were equally sleepy and dazed. She bent her arm and rested her head in the crook of it. “I suddenly realized something.”

“Hmm?”

“It seems we don’t need to deliberately adjust our schedules after all.”

Perhaps she was too tired, Yue Yunxi just laughed softly, without saying anything.

After a moment, her breathing gradually evened out, and as if out of instinct, she vaguely said to her, “Good night.”

“Good night,” Lu You also closed her eyes.

As her consciousness drifted to the edge, a thought popped into her mind for no reason.

— So, the other night, was it a sudden whim? Or was it done deliberately to help her adjust to the time difference without any problems?

–

The second day in Vienna, the weather was very nice. The sun was out, and she was too tired the night before, so the curtains weren’t completely closed.

The pouring sunlight streamed through the glass and onto her face, bright but without much warmth.

Opening her eyes, the unfamiliar environment made Lu You a little dazed.

But turning her head, Yue Yunxi’s sleeping face came into view, and that daze instantly disappeared.

Yue Yunxi showed no signs of waking up.

Lu You leaned in and kissed her cheek, then quietly got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Only after the door closed did she start washing up.

After that, she wandered around the house, learning that the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and indoor swimming pool were on the first floor, the bedrooms and study were on the second floor, and the third floor had a music room and a gym.

She also made a shopping list. There were many things to buy, but fortunately, the car the assistant left for Yue Yunxi was a pickup truck.

When she returned to the room, Yue Yunxi was still asleep.

Lu You nestled into the armchair by the bed, took out her phone, and chatted with Chen Feifei and Li Can in their group chat. She sent the shopping list to the group, and they added a few more items for her.

During this time, she would occasionally turn her head to look at the sleeping beauty on the bed.

Afterward, she clicked into her email and saw a new message. Her eyes lit up, and she no longer looked at the bed.

Until she heard Yue Yunxi “Hmm?”

Lu You turned her head and saw Yue Yunxi opening her eyes, and a smile couldn’t help but appear on her face: “You’re awake?”

Yue Yunxi’s lips curved into a smile. She adjusted her sleeping position, made room for one more person, and beckoned from under the covers, “Come here.”

Lu You moved over and just sat on the edge of the bed when Yue Yunxi reached out and pulled her down. Lu You fell to her side, sharing a pillow with her.

Her nose was filled with her warm and soft scent.

“When did you wake up?” Yue Yunxi asked.

“About an hour ago,” Lu You told her everything she had done, and felt a warm palm touching her cheek as she shared the shopping list.

“And you’ve just been sitting here waiting for me to wake up?” Yue Yunxi stroked her cheek with her left hand.

When she rubbed her ear, the calluses on her thumb from playing the cello scraped against her face.

A tingling sensation.

Lu You murmured from her throat: “Mmm.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I wanted you to sleep a little longer. There was nothing urgent. Anyway, I wrote down everything we needed to buy and even had Zhizhi and the others check it over. Once you woke up, washed up, we could just go out…”

Her voice grew softer and softer, until Yue Yunxi’s thumb lingered on her lips, and she fell silent.

Her fingertip stroked her lip bead.

Lu You’s breathing slowed, and she involuntarily looked up.

Just as they were about to kiss, Yue Yunxi’s hand stopped her.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.”

“I don’t mind,” Lu You kissed her without explanation.

She was wearing a thick woolen coat, but Yue Yunxi was wearing something thin. Her robe was disheveled, and the straps of her nightgown had slipped off her shoulders.

Under her palm, the silk fabric felt smooth and clear. Lu You pinched it, creating the same tactile sensation as that night on the rooftop.

Yue Yunxi’s breathing became more and more rapid, but her fingertips slowly and deliberately scraped against the palm of her left hand.

It was like an invitation with suggestive meaning.

“I’m going to–”

Lu You hadn’t finished speaking when an alarm suddenly rang in her pocket, interrupting everything.

She took it out and looked at it. It was a 9 a.m. alarm.

“?” She didn’t remember setting an alarm.

“…I set it,” Yue Yunxi closed her eyes and explained, “I thought I would wake up earlier than you. When you went to take a shower last night, I set an alarm for you to eat breakfast.”

“Oh~” Lu You got up and said, “It’s time, I have to go eat breakfast~”

“There’s nothing for you to eat for breakfast here,” Yue Yunxi grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to her original spot.

Her wrist was held tightly, and Lu You’s hand was drawn over, feeling warmth and wetness through a layer of breathable, thin cotton.

Yue Yunxi bit her ear, “Only me, will you eat?”

Lu You leaned on her shoulder, enduring her embarrassment, smiling, and said, “How can I eat without washing my hands? Didn’t the adults teach you when you were little, you have to wash your hands before eating?”

This time, just as she finished speaking, Yue Yunxi’s phone rang again, completely interrupting the emotions that had barely been sustained.

Rarely, obvious negative emotions – annoyance – were revealed between Yue Yunxi’s eyebrows.

Lu You couldn’t help it and laughed unkindly.

Yue Yunxi glared at her and pinched her, afraid of being pinched again, Lu You quickly restrained the corners of her unruly mouth, and ingratiatingly kissed her: “Shall we do it outside? So that I don’t have to wash my hands and come back and be interrupted by some unexpected situation.”

Most importantly, it was already late, and she didn’t know if she could buy everything in the nearby supermarket.

They still had to clean up after buying everything.

“Using appetizers as the main course is worse than not eating at all,” Yue Yunxi stuffed a pillow into her arms, got out of bed, and walked towards the shower room while gathering her long, curly hair.

Lu You knelt on the bed, hugging the pillow, and said to her in a pinched voice, “Next time, next time for sure~”

So bratty.

The hair tie used to tie her hair was thrown over by Yue Yunxi, bounced off the pillow, and landed in front of her knees.

Lu You was stunned, picked up the hair tie, fell back on the bed, covered her face with the pillow, and with a thin wrist, put on the hair tie, covered her laughing stomach, and her arm went up, the amplitude of her shaking shoulders getting bigger and bigger.

A little moon, upset by unmet desires and throwing a tantrum, was a little cute.

Not a little.

Very cute.

ˉ

The two people’s time that day was basically spent shopping.

On the one hand, it was because Yue Yunxi hadn’t lived in this house for half a year, and she needed to replenish a lot of necessities.

On the other hand, Lu You wanted this place to have the feeling of “home,” whether it was the two of them living here, or Yue Yunxi coming here to live alone for work in the future.

Non-essential items that could add to the sense of happiness also had to be purchased.

Yue Yunxi let her add whatever she wanted, whether it was useful or useless.

She only acted as a translation tool – a tool person holding a translator.

“So what did you say to the driver yesterday? Italian?” Lu You pushed the shopping cart forward, “Let’s look at the fruit.”

“German, I told her to turn up the air conditioning a bit,” Yue Yunxi added, “I only know a few everyday sentences.”

“That’s obviously a bit more advanced than everyday, right?” Lu You muttered.

“In Ningguta, that’s considered everyday.”

“What the hell is Ningguta?”

Lu You laughed and leaned on her, watching her put a pineapple in the shopping cart, and she immediately couldn’t laugh, “You eat it!”

“Okay, I’ll eat it, then you eat it.”

“…”

She suspected that this person was being mischievous, but she had no evidence.

They had dinner at a not-very-good Western restaurant near the supermarket.

Passing by a flower shop, they saw beautiful “Pink Lady” cut flowers. Lu You went in and bought a bouquet and handed it to the real “Lady”.

Yue Yunxi held the flowers with one hand and asked, “Is this to make up for the roses you didn’t have at the proposal?”

“I just saw them and thought they should be in your hands, so I bought them. But, you can also understand it that way. Although there was nothing when I proposed, but!” Lu You raised their clasped hands, “Every day we’re together in the future, we can have everything.”

Yue Yunxi tightened her grip on her hand, her lips curling up, “I’m looking forward to it.”

Looking forward to every day I’m with you, discovering or creating the little joys hidden in ordinary life.

The two of them drove home with a car full of things. Lu You roughly sorted the things into different bags. Yue Yunxi held the roses to revive them, and then they cleaned up together.

In the kitchen, Lu You put things in the refrigerator while calling out the names and quantities of the food.

Refrigerator magnets and a small house-shaped panel were stuck on the refrigerator door. Yue Yunxi held the door with one hand and wrote on the panel with a pen in the other.

After writing, she drew a small deer in the lower right corner.

After the kitchen was completely cleaned up, Yue Yunxi paused as she passed the refrigerator and looked at the panel –

A speech bubble was added above the deer’s head, with the words: After eating all these, will you become round?

Opposite, a curved moon was drawn, and the moon said: I might become like this.

A downward arrow pointed to a round moon.

And opposite, below the deer pattern, it was written: !!! Wow~ I’ve become a mooncake!

Yue Yunxi: “…”

Her soft laughter was the ending note of the kitchen cleanup.

At the sink, Lu You hummed a song, arranging the couple’s toothbrushes, cups, bath towels, hair-drying caps, and slippers in pairs. Yue Yunxi came in when she was laying out the absorbent mats and non-slip mats.

“The shower gel and shampoo are all on the shelf,” Yue Yunxi’s soft voice interrupted her singing.

“Okay~”

She started humming the song again, and went into the shower room to hang the towels and bath ball, and glanced at the toiletries that Yue Yunxi had neatly placed on the shelf.

Coming closer, she realized that labels were stuck on all the foreign bottles and jars, with their names, scents, production dates, and expiration dates written in Chinese. A deer and a moon were drawn in the lower right corner of each label.

An extra label was stuck on the bottle of her favorite orange-scented shower gel.

The moonlight shone on the little deer, and the little deer said: Wow, you’re orange-flavored.

A layer of transparent tape was applied on the outside to make it waterproof.

It’s a pity she couldn’t add a few more strokes.

The bathroom door was closed, and the “click” sound dropped. Lu You’s gaze found Yue Yunxi, who was spreading a wool pad on the sofa. She walked over and hung on her shoulder.

“Copycat,” Lu You laughed, accusing her of “unethical” behavior, “You’re actually copying my little comics.”

“Nonsense, I’m copying my wife’s.”

Yue Yunxi went to get the pillow. Lu You followed like a pendant, putting her arm around her shoulder, following her wherever she went, never leaving her side.

“Then your wife is bad too, she’s copying mine!” Lu You scratched Yue Yunxi’s chin. “Why don’t you come with me, beauty~ I’m much better than your wife. I have looks, I have a figure, I’m talented, and I’m good in bed!”

“…” Yue Yunxi couldn’t help but laugh, turning her head to look at her, her eyes seeming to pull silk, extremely slowly sliding down, sticking to her lips, touching and then retracting.

Lu You couldn’t help swallowing.

“Okay, 11 p.m., she’s not home, I’ll wait for you. Let me see how good you really are in bed.”

The last sentence was said close to her ear.

Lu You was aroused, and just wanted to press her over for a kiss, but the other party pushed her away after saying it, and walked straight out of the room.

Wait, are we really going to wait until 11 p.m.!

Lu You tiptoed in place and followed her two or three steps later, “Where are you going?”

“To arrange flowers.”

The bouquet of flowers was placed in a water-patterned glass vase and placed on the display stand next to the fireplace by the French windows.

After cleaning up the living room, Lu You went to draw the curtains before going upstairs, and glanced over.

The flowers were still hanging with water droplets, wet, making the pink petals look more delicate.

Outside the French windows, the night was as dark as ink. At the end of the lawn was the silhouette of the mountain peaks, and above that, the silver moon was bright.

The water droplets on the petals condensed light, as if the moonlight was biting on the roses.

This picture appeared in her mind again and again when Yue Yunxi was biting the tip of her index finger, sitting lazily on the sofa, with her long legs resting on her shoulders, making her bow her head in submission.

At this moment, the moon was in her heart, the flowers were under her mouth, blooming at her fingertips.

Her breath brushed the pistil, causing the entire flower to tremble.

“Tonight’s moon is a… pineapple-flavored gummy candy.”