MTMIO Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Still Sensitively Caught

That day after returning home, Lu You hung the small giraffe ornament on the closet doorknob and didn’t take it out again.

Tuesday afternoon, she called Chen Feifei to go to Mingda Shopping Mall to pick up the pair of earrings.

She was giving a plain white mother-of-pearl pinky ring. Lu You directly replaced the silver ring on her left little finger with it, and then accompanied Chen Feifei to buy clothes.

After shopping for more than an hour, they didn’t buy many clothes. Chen Feifei was quite discouraged. Coming from the clothing store, she collapsed and directly switched to the gym.

The gym was on the top floor of Mingda. The two of them took the elevator up. After entering the store, Chen Feifei went to warm up, and Lu You went to the front desk to inquire about membership transfer matters.

This place was really too far from Lanwan. She anticipated not having many opportunities to come to the gym.

The front desk handed over a QR code card, telling her to transfer it out and update the information online.

Lu You took a picture of the QR code, sat down on a chair in the lounge area, and also took a few pictures of the gym’s facilities, posting a Moments update about transferring her membership.

Before long, someone came to inquire.

By the time Chen Feifei came over after showering, Lu You had already transferred her membership.

“So, are you planning to find a gym near Lanwan and get a membership there?” Chen Feifei pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.

Lu You lazily rested her face on her hand: “I’ll think about it. I’m a bit too lazy to go alone.”

Before she finished speaking, she heard Chen Feifei exclaim in surprise: “Hey? Goddess?”

Lu You followed her line of sight, turning her head and raising her eyes.

It was Yue Yunxi and Yun Zhu.

Lu You greeted Yue Yunxi, exchanging pleasantries and saying, “You’re here to work out too? What a coincidence.”

The two of them sat down in the empty seats next to them. Yun Zhu raised the corners of her lips, smiling meaningfully: “It is indeed—”

She caught a glimpse of Yue Yunxi’s placid eyes and changed her tone, “It’s a coincidence!”

Lu You was stunned for a moment.

Then, she heard Yue Yunxi say in a flat tone: “I saw your Moments post. I happened to be nearby, so I came to take a look.”

Lu You nodded slightly to show understanding.

Yue Yunxi lowered her eyes, her gaze sweeping over her hand resting on the table, noticing that the style of the pinky ring encircling her little finger had changed.

Yun Zhu asked, “What are you two planning to do later?”

“Go back to Lost Deer.” Chen Feifei invited, “Want to go for a drink? It’s right next door.”

“Sure, Lao Yue mentioned it before, but I haven’t been there yet.”

So, the four of them headed to Lost Deer together. Lu You and Chen Feifei walked in front to lead the way, while Yue Yunxi and Yun Zhu followed behind.

A distance was left between them. Yue Yunxi lowered her voice: “I received an invitation today that happens to conflict with that concerto performance you invited me to. Two choices, which one do you think I should choose?”

As a friend of many years, Yun Zhu naturally understood the unspoken meaning of this sentence. She took a deep breath and said with an awkward laugh: “I promise, I will definitely not say anything out of line in front of Miss Lu again.”

Before she finished speaking, Lu You in front turned her head to remind: “The manhole cover over here is broken, be careful not to step on it.”

She picked up a branch from the roadside and stuck it in as a sign to remind passersby.

Yue Yunxi’s eyes rippled, and she responded with a “Okay.”

Soft and gentle, completely different from the low and gloomy tone just now.

Yun Zhu silently cursed “damn it” in her mind, thinking that this was truly China’s famous double standard.

Entering the bar, the four of them sat down at a table near the pool table. The waiter brought drinks and fruit juice.

Yun Zhu and Chen Feifei introduced themselves to each other. Talking about their surnames, they laughed and said, “I originally thought my surname was rare enough, but I didn’t expect to meet someone even rarer. Then she tells me that her hometown is a whole village of people with that surname.”

Chen Feifei asked: “Where is Goddess’s hometown?”

Yue Yunxi said in a flat tone: “Xicheng.”

Lu You raised her eyebrows in a bit of surprise. Last time, when she said that her grandmother wanted to go to Xicheng to play, Yue Yunxi didn’t mention this matter, and didn’t even have any special reaction.

She raised her eyes and looked towards Yue Yunxi.

The moment their gazes met, Yue Yunxi blinked lightly, as if knowing the question in her heart, and added: “I live in a very remote area, far from the main urban area. I came to Nanquan at eleven years old and never went back, so most of the time I feel like I’m not even from Xicheng.”

No wonder.

Later, they talked about going to S City. Because Chen Feifei’s home was not far from Yun Zhu’s, Yun Zhu arranged: “Then I’ll pick you up when the time comes. Miss Lu will go with Lao Yue. Lao Yue knows the address.”

Yue Yunxi followed up: “Then let’s meet at the entrance at one o’clock on Thursday afternoon.”

“Okay.” Lu You thought that S City wasn’t far, but it wasn’t exactly close either, so she suggested, “You drive when we go, and I’ll drive when we come back.”

Yue Yunxi thought for a moment and said: “If you can go to sleep on time.”

Lu You: “…I’ll try.”

The corners of Yue Yunxi’s lips curved into a shallow arc.

Over there, Yun Zhu and Chen Feifei added each other as friends, and also added Lu You.

Yun Zhu’s WeChat nickname was a cloud emoji.

Lu You couldn’t help but think of Yue Yunxi’s WeChat name.

A moon, a cloud, working towards the same result in different ways. It had the sense of a hidden couple’s name set for an underground relationship.

Lu You paused in her thoughts. Could they really be a couple?

Noticing that there was a standing microphone on the stage, Yun Zhu asked: “Do you have a resident singer?”

Chen Feifei: “She quit. We haven’t found a suitable one yet.”

“Then can I go up and sing a song?” Yun Zhu asked.

Chen Feifei hesitated: “Do you sing well? You won’t scare all our customers away, will you?”

Yun Zhu scoffed: “Are you kidding? If I didn’t love the violin and become a violinist, I would definitely be a big star now!”

Chen Feifei was shocked: “You’re a violinist! I thought violinists were all the especially elegant types!”

“What do you mean? Are you saying I’m not elegant?”

Chen Feifei blinked her eyes.

Yun Zhu turned her head to seek Lu You’s help: “You’ve seen the concert, you tell her, am I elegant when I perform?”

“Elegant…” right, Lu You touched the tip of her nose.

“You’re lying.” Chen Feifei pointed at her, “You like to touch your nose whenever you lie!”

Lu You lowered her hand, helplessly looking at Yun Zhu and saying: “Sorry, I didn’t pay much attention.”

Yun Zhu supported her forehead: “Okay, okay, you were only paying attention to your Yunxi-jiejie.”

Yue Yunxi coughed lightly twice.

Lu You turned her eyes to glance over. A beam of dim yellow light spilled down from the wall lamp. Yue Yunxi was sitting in that intersection of soft light and obscure shadow. Her features were outlined more brightly by the halo of light, and her expression was set off even more faintly by the gray shadow.

It had the luxurious and cool feeling of brocade silk half-burned to ashes.

It seemed that she was displeased with Yun Zhu making such a joke.

Yun Zhu curled her lips, stood up and said: “I’ll prove my singing ability first.”

Chen Feifei still wanted to say something, but Yun Zhu interrupted her in advance: “If it doesn’t sound good, I’ll give you money.”

“Alright then.”

Yun Zhu went to the stage, made some preparations, and then started singing.

Her voice was lower when she sang than when she spoke, full of a sense of story.

“It actually sounds pretty good. I feel like it’s better than…” Chen Feifei stopped herself in time, “Some singers are better, even.”

Yue Yunxi’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She raised her eyes and looked across the table.

Lu You was resting her chin on her hand, thinking about something, and didn’t respond. After a moment, she opened her mouth: “Feifei, if we can’t find a suitable resident singer, how about letting customers pay to sing themselves? If it sounds good, it’s an enjoyment for other customers, and if it doesn’t sound good, it’s still fun.”

“Good idea~” Chen Feifei pondered for a few seconds, took out her phone, and opened the notepad, “I’ll make a plan. Do you two want to go play some pool over there or something?”

Lu You looked at Yue Yunxi, soliciting her opinion with her eyes.

Yue Yunxi said with a faint smile: “I’m fine with anything.”

So, the two of them went to the pool table.

Lu You used the ball rack to arrange the balls, put the cue ball on the head string, and said: “You break.”

Yue Yunxi chose a suitable cue, wiped the tip with chalk, and started the topic at the same time: “Before, at the gym, I heard you say you didn’t want to go to the gym alone?”

“Yeah, there are too many men. It’s especially uncomfortable to go alone.”

Yue Yunxi leaned over, her sight locked on the cue ball, the tip aligned, a clean hit. “Then, would you consider being partners with me? The women’s gym I’m going to now isn’t far from Lanwan. It’s better suited to women’s body types and strength. The equipment is complete, and there’s a heated swimming pool.”

Just a scatter, no balls in the pockets.

Lu You hesitated: “I’ll consider it.”

The description of the gym was already very tempting, and having someone to be a gym buddy with made her feel like she would agree immediately if it was anyone else.

It was a pity that it was Yue Yunxi, who was so closely related to Tao Xin.

She sank a ball, chose solids, and leaned over to align the tip with the cue ball again, when she heard Yue Yunxi say the name of the gym.

Yue Yunxi didn’t force the issue, she only said: “You can go take a look if you have the opportunity. It’s okay if you don’t want to go, you can directly reject me.”

She wasn’t asking her to go specifically when she had time, but to take a look if she happened to pass by.

Lu You responded with an “Okay.” The force of her shot was reduced by more than half.

She thought to herself that Yue Yunxi’s art of speaking was truly high.

So high that it made those awkward thoughts seem especially affected.

Yue Yunxi’s skill with the pool cue was also high, sinking one ball after another.

Lu You felt like she was a frog, one “wow” after another, until she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and looked at it.

It was a message from her childhood friend, Bo Mingyan, telling her that she planned to return to the country and asking if there was anything she wanted her to buy.

Lu You inexplicably thought of Yue Yunxi praising the stuffed toy on her bed for being cute, so she asked Bo Mingyan: [Can you bring me another one of that little deer you gave me?]

Not two minutes after sending it, Lu You began to regret it, and quickly added another message: [Never mind, don’t bring it.]

Another matching ornament, another matching stuffed toy. Although she didn’t mean anything by it, it felt a bit subtle.

Yun Zhu had just finished singing a song on stage and was begged by the guests in the front row to sing another one.

The gentle and delicate melody rippled through the air.

Bo Mingyan didn’t reply. Lu You put away her phone, her gaze thoughtfully falling on Yun Zhu who was singing on stage.

Unconsciously, she spaced out for a long time. Yue Yunxi gently reminded her: “It’s your turn, Youyou.”

“Ah… okay.” Lu You came back to her senses, not even using chalk, and absentmindedly shot a ball directly.

The cue ball fell into the pocket.

Yue Yunxi helped her retrieve it from the net and asked: “What are you thinking about?”

Lu You pursed her lips, still unable to resist: “Yunxi-jiejie, can I ask you a question, even if it’s presumptuous?”

Yue Yunxi raised her eyes and looked over: “Hmm?”

It felt like her ear had been brushed by a feather. Lu You rubbed it and confirmed, asking: “Are you and Yun Zhu… a couple?”

Yue Yunxi’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she denied it: “No.”

Lu You nodded lightly, went to the table and brought over the unfinished drinks, handing Yue Yunxi her cup.

“Why did you think that?” Yue Yunxi suddenly asked her in a deep voice.

Lu You confessed frankly: “I thought your WeChat names were those emoji expressions, I thought they were couple names.”

“Is that so.” Yue Yunxi explained, “She’s copying me.”

There was a hint of accusation in her tone. Lu You chuckled: “So, Yunxi-jiejie doesn’t have a partner.”

Yue Yunxi raised her eyebrows and asked: “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Lu You took a sip of the sour fruit juice, smiled, and said: “If you did, you’d be jealous.”

“I don’t have a partner.” Yue Yunxi’s hand gripped the straw in the cup, stirring it gently, and suddenly raised her eyes to cast a glance at her.

Light and quick, like a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface, and then sinking back into the rippling cup.

The ice cubes rubbed against the wall of the glass, a crisp dingdong sound, intertwined with the melodious singing, her light sigh was so soft, hidden within it, but Lu You still sensitively caught it.

Caught that glance, and also caught that sentence.

“But there’s someone I like.”