MTMIO Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Private Romance

Exactly what was different, Yue Yunxi didn’t say, and the two “ostriches” didn’t dare ask further, tacitly accepting the differences between people.

As they exited the elevator, they heard the NPC playing a zombie sharing a joke with the bar owner about ostriches running.

Chen Feifei and Li Can both looked grim, and the owner compensated them with twenty game coins for the claw machine across the street.

The zombie girl’s imitation was even more exaggerated than Zhong Mi’s. When caught, her pose was exactly like the bird “testing the edge of danger” online, hitting Lu You’s funny bone.

Going to the locker to get her things, she couldn’t stop laughing. Not noticing that the opening of her bag was stretched open by the packaging of the deer plushie, she pulled it straight out.

With the bag opening facing down, the deer plushie fell out with a “thud”.

Yue Yunxi scanned the QR code to pay, and turned around to see her bending over.

Her hair was still pinned up with bamboo chopsticks, and her fair nape was flushed with laughter, dyed with a faint layer of crimson.

Yue Yunxi’s gaze lightly touched it, then fell on the deer plushie lying on the floor. She recognized it at a glance as the same model as the one on Lu You’s bed.

Why did she get another one?

Seeing Lu You picking up the plushie from the ground, Yue Yunxi gathered her thoughts, turned her back without a trace, pretending nothing had happened, and asked the owner about the probability of winning a plushie at the store across the street.

Her heel was a little sore. While asking, Yue Yunxi unconsciously lifted her calf to glance at it. Sure enough, the shoe had rubbed a small blister, and now the blister had burst.

When Lu You straightened up, she happened to see this scene, stared thoughtfully for a while, then turned and glanced at the nearby shops.

Noticing a department store ahead, she waved at Chen Feifei and went straight out.

At the front desk, the owner told Yue Yunxi: “One coin per try, basically one plushie for every sixteen coins. But some that are heavier or better looking are more difficult to win.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Yue Yunxi prepared to leave the counter, but when she lifted her foot, her heel stung, and the pain shot up.

Not having a band-aid, she took a tissue from her bag, unfolded it, and folded it in half to pad her heel.

Enduring the pain, she walked to the door, but didn’t see Lu You. Yue Yunxi asked Chen Feifei, “Where’s Youyou?”

“She said she went to buy something.” Chen Feifei snorted and said, “Probably went to buy ice cream, she’s been laughing so much, I think she’s getting hot.”

After hearing the first sentence, Yue Yunxi began to look around, her gaze following Chen Feifei’s guess and locking onto the only milk tea shop across the street that sold ice cream.

But there was no sign of Lu You in front of the shop.

Zhong Mi jumped up excitedly and said, “I want ice cream too!”

“Then let’s go buy it together and meet up with Xiaolu.” Yun Zhu suggested.

“Let’s wait for her, I don’t know where she went to buy it…”

Before she finished speaking, Yue Yunxi glanced at the department store not far ahead, her gaze fixed, and her voice stopped.

Lu You came out from inside with a paper bag, and when she looked up, she met Yue Yunxi’s eyes. Smiling, she raised her hand to wave at her. Seeing everyone gathered at the door, she quickly lifted her foot and jogged over.

Yue Yunxi blinked her eyes lightly, exhaled slowly and deliberately, trying to suppress the inappropriate flutter in her heart.

When she rejoined the group, Chen Feifei looked at the shopping bag in her hand and said in surprise: “Aren’t you going to buy ice cream? What did you buy?”

Lu You: “Band-aids.”

Hearing this, Li Can’s eyes lit up, and she said quickly, “Quick, give me two!”

Chen Feifei said touchedly: “I knew it, Youyou is the best and most considerate, she must have seen my heels being horribly rubbed and went to buy them for me.”

“No.” Lu You took out the band-aids from the paper bag, opened the box, and handed four pieces to Li Can first, “I bought them because Yunxi-jie’s heel seemed to be broken.”

A calm tone stating the facts.

Nor did she rub the tip of her nose.

Yue Yunxi clearly felt that the heartbeat she had just suppressed was drumming uncontrollably again.

The burning sensation caused by the pain in her heel kept climbing upward, like magma, engulfing her with scalding heat and churning in her heart.

Chen Feifei covered her chest like a drama queen and said: “No! You must be lying to me!”

“I really didn’t.” Lu You amusedly gave her four band-aids, then handed the band-aid box and shopping bag to Yue Yunxi, saying, “There’s a pair of slippers inside.”

Yue Yunxi was stunned for a moment, and slowly took the paper bag, her hand gripping the slender carrying rope, still faintly feeling the warmth remaining on it.

Warmly infiltrating her fingertips and palms.

“What slippers?” Yun Zhu asked curiously.

Only then did Yue Yunxi come back to her senses, opened the bag, and took out a pair of square-toe, low-heeled slippers from inside.

The shoe surface decorated with two dried roses had a retro feel like an oil painting, which matched the dress she was wearing.

The tag string that tied the two shoes together was also carefully cut off in advance, lying quietly at the bottom of the shopping bag.

“Wow! They look good!” Li Can leaned over to glance at it, “Xiaolu is biased, why does only Yunxi have them? Our feet need to be liberated too~”

Lu You rubbed her nose and said dryly: “I don’t know your shoe size, and I’m worried that if I buy them, they won’t fit your aesthetics.”

Yue Yunxi was already sitting on a bench next to the mall railing with her slippers in hand, tearing off the band-aid and sticking it on the wound on her heel. Hearing Lu You’s explanation, her hand paused, and the corner of her mouth raised unconsciously.

This statement was full of loopholes.

She could have asked Li Can on WeChat if she needed them.

“Just kidding, don’t be nervous.” Li Can waved her hand with a smile, “I’ll go see for myself, I’ll look for you at the claw machine later, Zhizhi, come with me~”

Saying that, without waiting for Jian Yanzhi to agree, she put her arm around Jian Yanzhi’s arm and left.

“What about me?” Chen Feifei poked Lu You’s shoulder, pointed to herself and asked, “Why didn’t you buy them for me either?”

Lu You lowered her eyes to look at her, and replied: “Because I know you won’t change them even if I buy them.”

Chen Feifei put down her hand, drooped the corners of her mouth, and held back for several seconds, saying in a bad mood: “What did you all eat to grow up so tall, like a sky tree, especially you, what little deer, with such a long neck and legs, you’re clearly a giraffe!”

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart.

Especially when her eyes turned and she accidentally caught Yun Zhu’s meaningful look.

——”It’s the deer that Yunxi likes.”

——”It’s the deer of the giraffe.”

Lu You almost immediately recalled what Yun Zhu had said last time, and thought of the giraffe pendant that Yue Yunxi hung on her violin case.

After that, Chen Feifei babbled something, Yun Zhu teased something again, Zhong Mi was clamoring to buy something, but Lu You didn’t hear any of it.

She thought this was an accidental coincidence, but her heart still skipped a beat for it.

However, she was soon covered by the inexplicable embarrassment of being substituted into it.

Lu You pulled herself out of her complicated and chaotic thoughts, and to ease her embarrassment, touched the side of her neck, and changed the subject by asking: “What are we going to do later? Play the claw machine?”

Having changed into her slippers, Yue Yunxi stood up and said, “Let’s go buy milk tea and ice cream first.”

Passing by the department store, Chen Feifei really couldn’t stand wearing high heels anymore, and decided to buy slippers to wear, said hello, and turned in to find Li Can and Jian Yanzhi.

It took time to make the milk tea, and Yun Zhu took the opportunity to say, “I trouble you two to wait for the milk tea, I’ll take Mimi to play the claw machine first.”

Zhong Mi took the ice cream and said, “I want——”

Before the word “sister” could be said, Yun Zhu covered Zhong Mi’s mouth, half-hugging and half-pushing, and took Zhong Mi to the claw machine store, saying, “You want to play the claw machine, I understand, I understand, don’t make a fuss.”

Yue Yunxi blocked her view, Lu You didn’t see Yun Zhu’s actions, she only heard what she said, and couldn’t help but smile and said: “I don’t know if this store is easy to win in, I still remember when Tao…”

The ending sound came to an abrupt end, and Lu You didn’t say any more.

Yue Yunxi lowered her eyelashes, staring at the dried roses on the shoe surface, deliberately ignoring the last word, and said in a flat voice: “I just asked the owner of the escape room, they said it’s okay.”

After a slight pause, her drooping eyes fell into the open mouth of Lu You’s bag, her red lips lightly pursed, and she didn’t say the specific probability the owner said.

Lu You nodded slightly, lowered her eyebrows and eyes, pursed her lower lip, and didn’t say anything.

A quiet atmosphere flowed between the two.

“When you bought me shoes, you weren’t worried that they wouldn’t fit my aesthetics either?” Yue Yunxi suddenly asked softly.

The question came too suddenly, and Lu You was stunned for a moment, unable to grasp the meaning of Yue Yunxi’s question, even though her tone was extremely gentle.

But she seemed to always be like this.

After a few seconds of silence, Lu You asked uncertainly: “Don’t you like them?”

Yue Yunxi smiled, and sighed softly: “How could I not?”

It was obviously a style design that had been carefully selected for her dress.

How could she not like it.

She liked it so much, she liked it to the point that her heart was jumping with joy, she liked it so much that she couldn’t help but want to announce it everywhere.

But she couldn’t.

The emotion of secret love is like scooping up a ray of moonlight from the other person, wanting to show it off, but afraid of accidentally spilling it, so she can only hold it in her palm and turn it into a private romance.

“Just curious,” Yue Yunxi’s gaze at her swayed with a few teasing expressions, and her voice was softer than before, “Worried that Li Can wouldn’t like them, not worried about me?”

Lu You glanced at her, quickly moved away, hooked the broken hair next to the cheek facing her behind her ear, and cleared her throat: “Not worried.”

Yue Yunxi: “Why?”

She could have said it all at once, but Lu You didn’t add the reason, she could have stopped at “not worried,” but Yue Yunxi asked again.

It was as if a cup of milk tea was passed back and forth in the counter, adding ingredients.

So the rich and sweet taste drifted faintly into the air.

Lu You was silent and didn’t speak.

She seemed to be thinking seriously, and for a short time, she seemed to be lost in thought because of this subtle way of conversation.

After a long while, Lu You explained: “Because I know Yunxi-jie is a very nice person, even if she doesn’t like them, she won’t embarrass anyone.”

Yue Yunxi realized that that wasn’t it at all, she just didn’t know how to answer her.

She said softly and gently: “Am I being issued a ‘nice guy’ card?”

A joking remark, vaguely containing a few traces of reproach.

Lu You blinked and smiled flatteringly.

Yue Yunxi looked at her, her eyes softly opened, and while the corners of her lips were slightly curved, her eyelashes fell halfway, covering the emotions that had spread in her eyes.

“The milk tea is ready.”

“Youyou! Look, are the slippers I bought pretty!”

Near and far, the voices of the counter attendant and Chen Feifei collided, interspersed with the rustling conversations of Li Can and Jian Yanzhi, weaving into a noisy background sound.

In that instant, Yue Yunxi was extremely soft, so soft that only a wisp of air remained, and said: “I’m not a good person.”

Lu You vaguely caught it, but couldn’t hear it clearly.

After taking the milk tea and responding to Chen Feifei, she turned her head and asked Yue Yunxi, “What did you say just now?”

Yue Yunxi lifted her eyelids, her eyes were gentle and moist, without waves, she shook her head and said: “Nothing.”

Such a reaction didn’t seem like nothing.

It was more like there was something, but she didn’t want to repeat it to her.

Lu You respected her need for privacy and didn’t ask any more questions.

After taking the milk tea, they went to the claw machine store to meet up with Yun Zhu and Zhong Mi. Zhong Mi’s small cart already had two plushies lying in it.

At this moment, she was trying to capture a doll that looked like a mop.

The mop doll’s fur was very slippery, and it wasn’t easy to catch.

Yun Zhu said: “Thirty coins have gone down and she hasn’t caught it yet, I told her to change to another one, but she refuses.”

“But I just want this one, playing the claw machine is definitely about catching the dolls you like. If you don’t like them, it’s useless to catch a basketful. You go catch what you like, I’ll catch this with my sister!” Zhong Mi pushed Yun Zhu away and pulled Lu You over, “Sister, help me catch it!”

“I’ll try,” Lu You took a long breath and grabbed the joystick, saying, “But I can’t guarantee that I can catch it.”

“Okay!~”

Using only three coins, Lu You caught the doll.

Zhong Mi excitedly raised the mop doll: “Wow! My sister caught it for me!”

Then she clamped the doll under her left arm and pulled Lu You to continue catching at another claw machine.

The new doll that Zhong Mi liked was very heavy, and the game coins were being consumed quickly.

Lu You put in one coin and was still short one coin. She was about to let Zhong Mi watch here while she went to exchange some more coins.

Before her, a slender finger pinched a game coin and held it against the coin slot, and the fingertip gently pushed it.

With a “thud”, the coin fell in.

Lu You looked up and saw Yue Yunxi standing beside her, holding a full basket of game coins in her other hand, with an air of “Just play, I’ll let you squander it.”

“Aren’t you going to catch one?” Yue Yunxi reminded her gently.

Lu You straightened up, grabbed the joystick, paused for a moment before starting to shake it.

At the end of the last basket of game coins, she caught two shopping carts of dolls. Zhong Mi asked the front desk for two large bags to pack all the dolls, and she walked proudly at the front, hugging two large bags of dolls, “My sister caught them all for me! Wahaha~”

“If this little girl wasn’t too attached to Xiaolu, I would have borrowed her to catch a few for us.” Li Can strung the dolls in her hand into a long string, swinging them as she said.

“You should be content, Zhizhi has already caught a lot for you, look at what Yun Zhu caught for me, what is this thing.” Chen Feifei held up the shark glove in her hand, put it on with a fake smile, and said, “I want to become a shark killer now and chop her off.”

“You should be content, look at Lao Yue, she didn’t catch anything, she just focused on putting coins in for people.” Yun Zhu imitated Chen Feifei’s tone, “I don’t know if you can become a shark killer, but she must have become a coin-operated machine.”

Walking in the back and hearing all of it, Lu You turned her head and glanced at Yue Yunxi. The expression on Yue Yunxi’s face was very faint.

So faint that it was difficult to tell whether she was tired of putting coins in, or just didn’t have any emotions.

Lu You pursed her lips and tentatively asked: “Not happy?”

Yue Yunxi’s drooping eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn’t reply.

Lu You had no choice but to continue: “Why don’t you catch dolls?”

Yue Yunxi glanced at the bag in her hand and said lightly: “There’s nothing I like.”

Lu You thought of Zhong Mi’s words.

It’s useless to catch too many dolls if you don’t like them.

She wouldn’t be happy even if she caught them.

After hesitating for a moment, Lu You took out the little deer plushie from her bag and handed it over: “Here, this is for you.”

Yue Yunxi paused for a moment before taking it from her hand, “It looks like the one on your bed.”

Lu You replied: “It’s the same one.”

Yue Yunxi asked: “Why did you buy another one that’s the same?”

In the corner of her eye, Lu You’s left hand was still suspended between the two of them, her little finger was uncontrollably raised slightly, so the slight curl of the other finger joints could also be discovered.

Lu You didn’t say anything for a while.

Yue Yunxi asked again very softly.

She was clearly the most considerate and gentle person, but she was actually starting to get to the bottom of things.

There was always a feeling that she had seen through everything and still wanted to expose it.

After a few seconds of silence, Lu You said: “If you don’t want it, give it back to me.”

Saying this, she didn’t take back the slightly raised hand, but put it in the pocket of her overalls.

Yue Yunxi lowered her eyes, silently hooked her lips, put the little deer plushie to her chest, picked up the milk tea cup and took a sip, and said in a full of sweetness: “No way, once you give it to me, you can’t take it back.”

The summer evening breeze blew across her face from her direction, mixed with the noise of the city, wrapped in the aroma of oat milk, lingering around her.

Lu You was also holding a cup of unfinished milk tea in her hand, she didn’t pick it up to drink, but just shook it in her hand.

In the transparent plastic cup, the milk tea shook from side to side, and she said “oh” softly.