MTMIO Chapter 27
by VolareAfter my brain slowly processed the information that I was about to share a room with Yue Yunxi, it directly crashed and went blank.
It wasn’t until Yue Yunxi reminded me, “Let’s go.”
“Oh.” Lu You straightened up, brushed the long hair that had fallen forward, and swept it back. “What kind of room?”
She felt that her state was like a gear that wasn’t quite meshed properly. Her thoughts couldn’t turn smoothly, and she kept getting stuck.
In her vision, Yue Yunxi, who was pushing the suitcase forward, paused, stopped in place, released her hand, placed it on the handle, and curled her fingertips. Only after Lu You slowly walked to her side did she grip the handle again, lift her foot, and say, “A king-size bed room.”
“A king-size bed room is… only one bed?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu You regretted it.
People really shouldn’t stay up late; their thinking ability can’t keep up, and their mouth can’t be stopped.
She didn’t know why she already knew it was a king-size bed room, but still had to confirm if it was just one bed.
She also didn’t know what kind of mentality she had when asking this question, whether she was willing or unwilling to sleep in the same bed with Yue Yunxi.
Yue Yunxi looked at her, and her red lips parted slightly: “Is it that you don’t want to share a bed with me?”
The question was very direct.
Lu You was stunned for a moment.
“It’s not that.” Her nose felt a little itchy, and she scratched it, saying, “I just feel it’s a bit inappropriate.”
The habitual little action was done between the pauses in her words, making it impossible to tell which sentence was a lie.
“Where do you think it’s inappropriate?” Yue Yunxi asked.
Lu You moved her lips, but didn’t make a sound.
Because she suddenly realized that the room allocation was the result of everyone’s discussion.
Everyone else had no objection, probably because they had a common understanding –
It’s nothing for a neighborly sister and a neighborly younger sister to sleep in the same room, in the same bed.
But her hesitation and entanglement made the relationship between the two jump out of the category of “neighborly sisters.”
It transformed Yue Yunxi’s identity from “sister” to an adult woman who fit her sexual orientation.
It made “nothing” become “something.”
After a brief silence, Yue Yunxi breathed out softly and slowly, explaining unhurriedly, “The suite has the best conditions, so it must be for the grandmothers. I thought you would want to be closer to them, so I booked that king-size bed room for you first. Then, considering your… sexual orientation…”
Lu You turned her head to look over.
Yue Yunxi’s eyes glanced over from the corner of her eye, lightly brushing against hers, then lowered to the empty space in front of her, tightening her grip on the handle and continuing:
“It’s inconvenient to share a bed with other people your age. I originally thought about having Mi Mi stay with you, but Mi Mi stays up late and is a bit noisy. She wouldn’t be able to take care of the grandmothers, and might even disturb their rest.”
No one is more suitable than her.
It seemed that way.
Lu You asked, “What about your sexual orientation?”
After a moment of silence, Yue Yunxi answered with a question, “Is the answer important to you?”
Lu You was slightly stunned and fell silent again.
The afternoon sunlight was divided into irregular geometric shapes by the window lattices in the corridor, scattered and mottled on the ground, so that every step taken was staggered between light and shadow, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.
The surrounding sounds of conversation from men, women, old and young, the sound of rollers that were sometimes stuck and sometimes smooth, the sound of elevator doors opening and closing, were intertwined into a noisy background sound.
Under such a topic, these few seconds of silence seemed even more delicate.
Like a kind of ambiguous tug-of-war.
After a while, seeing the grandmother walking in front of her stopping to admire the small courtyard of another suite, Yue Yunxi slowed down and said softly, “If you really don’t want to be with me, I can ask Zhong Mi to switch later.”
The usual gentle tone, containing a bit of indulgence.
And vaguely revealing a hint of grievance and helplessness.
Lu You reacted a beat late. Always asking about this, it really did make it seem like she didn’t want to be with her.
“No need. It’s just that I’m particular about my bed, and I’ll sleep late for the first few days, and… I’m a very, very restless sleeper. I’m worried it will affect your sleep.”
Yue Yunxi smiled, “How restless can you be?”
The tone of her voice didn’t seem to quite believe the degree of the two “very”s.
Or maybe, no matter how restless she was, she could tolerate it.
Lu You said, “I kick the blankets and roll around in bed.”
The ending sound suddenly stopped.
“Roll around in bed?” Yue Yunxi repeated.
Lightly biting out the ambiguity of the doubt.
Lu You cleared her throat and explained dryly, “Slip of the tongue. I meant I sleep diagonally, rolling from the left side to the right side, and sometimes even rolling off the bed.”
Yue Yunxi chuckled, “It’s okay, I’m not much better. Let’s roll together.”
Lu You glanced at Yue Yunxi.
Just as she walked to the grandmother’s side, the grandmother heard the phrase “roll together” without rhyme or reason, and chimed in, “Roll what together?”
The way she chimed in was wonderful.
She didn’t ask who was rolling with whom or where they were going to roll, but rather what they were rolling together.
Corresponding to her slip of the tongue earlier, it was as if she was gathering the already thin ambiguity again, making it thick.
Lu You choked and didn’t say anything, subconsciously looking at Yue Yunxi.
Yue Yunxi also paused as she swiped her room card.
After a “click” sound, she pushed open the door and said casually, “It’s nothing.”
The grandmother didn’t press further, and her attention fell into the courtyard behind the door, “Oh? It looks pretty good.”
As she spoke, she took Li Can’s arm and went in for a walk around.
White walls and gray tiles, simple with a rustic charm. In the middle of the courtyard was a pomegranate tree, its branches winding and extending to the viewing terrace, with sparse pomegranates hanging between the branches and leaves.
Behind the tree, the main room was a double bedroom, the west side was a glass room with a small kitchen and laundry room, and the east side was the king-size bed room that Lu You and Yue Yunxi would be staying in.
“Li Zi will come over to help her grandmother pack up later, you help grandmother first, I’ll take care of that side.” Yue Yunxi pushed the suitcase through the door and asked, “Is there anything you want me to take over?”
Hearing no response, Yue Yunxi turned around, lifted her thin eyelids, looked at Lu You following her into the room with a blank face, and called her, “You You?”
Lu You suddenly came back to her senses, “What’s wrong?”
Yue Yunxi patiently repeated what she said.
Lu You took off the backpack hanging on her left shoulder and handed it over.
Yue Yunxi took it and placed it on top of her suitcase, as if asking casually, “What were you thinking about just now?”
She thought about a lot of things, some real and some not.
But none of them were easy to say.
Lu You tapped the handle with her finger, sometimes tapping and sometimes not.
She actually wanted to say “nothing,” but the words were already on her lips when she suddenly recalled Yue Yunxi saying the same thing when she perfunctorily answered grandmother a few minutes ago, so the first thing she said was, “I was thinking… you actually sleep restlessly too. It’s hard to imagine.”
This was the least secretive of all her random thoughts in those few seconds.
At least, that’s what she thought.
This kind of self-affirmation was like a brief pause after the sound of cicadas.
But after only a few seconds, it was covered by an even louder sound.
“No need to imagine, you can experience it tonight.”
In the sound of cicadas, Yue Yunxi’s gentle and soft tone was set off.
The word “experience” was used so vividly.
In her brain, the three words “roll around in bed” hadn’t completely faded away, as if they had been traced over again with the tip of a feather.
Her throat suddenly felt a little itchy, a feeling similar to wanting to smoke.
But it wasn’t entirely that.
Lu You coughed twice for no reason.
The sound of cicadas rose and fell in her ears, one after another, as if sawing up and down a rusty string after the plum rain season.
“Wow! This little courtyard is pretty good! It’s just too far away, but it’s good, it’s quiet.”
Following the sound, Li Can supported her knee and stood at the door, taking a few breaths, looked around, and after straightening up, her eyes fell on Lu You. She pointed outside and said, “There’s a vending machine at the door. Do you want to go buy a bottle of iced water?”
The topic jumped too much.
Lu You raised her eyebrows, “Huh?”
Li Can said concernedly, “I saw that your ears and face are so red. Don’t tell me you have heatstroke.”
Lu You: “…”
Turning her eyes to meet Yue Yunxi’s gaze, she hadn’t felt anything before, but now she truly felt the heat.
She closed her eyes, moved her gaze away pretentiously, and pushed the suitcase, saying, “It’ll be fine after I blow some air conditioning, I’ll go help grandmother pack up first.”
“I’ll go too.” Li Can quickly followed her.
The air conditioner was turned on in the room. After entering, Lu You turned around to close the door, her lowered gaze following the shadow of the wooden door to the end.
The light scattered from the shade of the tree, like Broken gold,hot on the floating Bee white.
Until that Pot-on froze in place, Lu You raised her head. Through a dense pomegranate tree, she could vaguely see the open door of the room over there, and a section of delicate and snowy skin supporting the door.
And above that, their eyes might have met.
Or maybe not.
After a while, Lu You blinked lightly and silently closed the door.
After laying out disposable bed sheets, placing daily necessities, and teaching them how to use the electrical appliances for grandmother and them, Chen Feifei and the others came over in a line like little trains in less than two minutes.
Entering the courtyard gate, Yun Zhu looked around and muttered, “It should be quite romantic to watch the stars here.”
Chen Feifei stared at the green fruit on the tree and asked, “Can this pomegranate be eaten?”
“Probably not, it doesn’t look ripe at all.” Jian Yanzhi analyzed seriously, “It must be sour and astringent.”
Zhong Mi clamored, “I’m so hungry, I’m so hungry, what are we eating?”
Li Can had just finished packing up and was tired and hungry, “What are we eating?”
The remaining people also became repeating machines.
It wasn’t until they heard Yue Yunxi say that she had booked a private restaurant in advance that they stopped.
Lu You still wanted to go back to the king-size bed room to see what it looked like, but she was hugged by Zhong Mi as soon as she reached the pomegranate tree.
The thirteen-year-old girl wasn’t big, but she was strong, and she stopped her directly, saying, “Sister! Let’s go, let’s go eat delicious food!”
She pulled her out as she spoke.
Lu You turned her head and glanced at Yue Yunxi, who had closed the door. She couldn’t see anything inside with just a little crack in the door.
Lu You had no choice but to give up, thinking that she could only see what the layout was like when she got back from dinner.
ˉ
The private restaurant was not far from the B&B and was a must-see restaurant for tourists traveling to Xicheng. It was not only because the dishes looked good and tasted delicious, but more importantly, it had an excellent location.
It was located in the most prosperous long lane in the ancient city, with a row of oil-paper umbrellas suspended in the air, and a bluestone paved road winding and extending below, circling around.
The starting point was the ending point, and the restaurant was located in the area between the two points, so you could take a stroll along the street after dinner to digest.
On both sides of the street were quaint little shops selling food snacks, with wisps of smoke lingering faintly in the night; some selling local specialty handicrafts, small and delicate; and some selling particularly creative items…
For example, a shop they passed at the end of their visit was called “Secrets That Can’t Be Said.” It allowed customers to enter a tree-hole-shaped art installation, write down their secrets on letter paper, seal them in glass bottles, and finally throw them into the artificial pond in the shop.
They might be picked up by a stranger with whom they had a connection, or they might lie at the bottom of the pool for the rest of their lives.
Lu You was assigned a light yellow piece of letter paper. She looked at the blank paper and thought, “I don’t know what to write.”
She glanced at her side, and Yue Yunxi was also looking down, her eyes on the empty space, her expression blank.
Lu You’s remaining light slid down and landed on the light blue paper in her hand. She asked, “Have you figured out what to write?”
Yue Yunxi gathered her thoughts and hummed.
Lu You turned her eyes, “What?”
Yue Yunxi tilted her head to look at her.
Lu You’s eyes were curved, and the lights in the shop fell into her dark pupils, illuminating a bit of slyness.
Reflected in Yue Yunxi’s eyes, she also curved her lips, with her usual gentleness and tolerance, “Mischief.”
Lu You smiled sheepishly.
“Secrets that can’t be said, I can’t tell you.” Yue Yunxi said softly.
The specially added explanation seemed to lightly scratch something in Lu You’s heart.
It was originally just a whim, but now she was really curious.
But it was no use being curious.
Lu You could only swallow, “…Oh.”
Waiting to enter the tree hole was long and boring, so Lu You went to tease grandmother again, “Grandmother, do you have any little secrets?”
Grandmother patted her hand, “Yes, but I won’t tell you either.”
Lu You snorted, poking the pink letter paper in grandmother’s hand and said, “If you don’t tell me, then I’ll come by myself next time and fish up your little pink secret.”
Grandmother said with a smile, “Okay, then you go fish it up. Maybe you’ll find a bunch of jokes.”
“Jokes?”
Grandmother pointed to the rule sign by the pool and told her to go look at it.
Lu You moved over, and after reading it, couldn’t help but snort.
The shop owner was still a businessman after all, charging twenty yuan for each retrieval. Not only were there secrets from strangers in the pool, but there were also jokes that the shop owner had stuffed in randomly.
As she was still looking, someone’s cell phone rang. Lu You followed the sound and saw Zhong Mi take out her phone from her small bag.
After answering, the first thing she said was a soft, “Mommy~”
Zhong Mi shared excitedly with the person on the other end, “I’m out playing with sister! …Mm-hmm! I had chicken soup for dinner! I ate braised pork! Sister eats skinny meat and I eat fatty meat, hehe~ …I’m in a tree-hole shop now, it’s a shop where you write secrets, sister…”
Her voice paused, Zhong Mi quickly glanced at her here, then walked out of the shop, gradually becoming inaudible.
Lu You lowered her eyes, unconsciously clenching the paper.
Until the shop owner asked her and Yue Yunxi to enter one of the two tree holes on the left and right, respectively.
After entering the tree hole, Lu You sat on the wooden stump and spaced out for a while, before picking up the pen and slowly writing down words on the paper.
Afterwards, she rolled the paper into a drifting bottle and threw it into the small hole in the wall.
Pushing the door open, she didn’t see Yue Yunxi’s figure. She asked Yun Zhu and learned that she was still in the tree hole and hadn’t come out yet.
Yun Zhu teased, “Old Yue’s secret is really big~ She’s been writing for so long… Is she confessing her love to the air inside!”
As soon as she finished speaking.
With a “plop” sound, the drifting bottle slid down from the winding tree-branch pipe and fell into the water.
Lu You stared at the circles of ripples that were rippling, as if she could still feel the jump in her heart just now.