MTMIO Chapter 28

The subtle sound of the lock being flipped passed through the clamorous noise, brushing past Lu You’s ear. Her gaze shifted from the gradually calming pool surface.

The door, carved with the texture of tree trunks, was pushed open, and Yue Yunxi walked out, raising a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Her wavy, curly black hair rippled like waves between her slender, white fingers.

Lu You was reminded of the ripples stirred by the drifting bottle just now, and of what Yun Zhu had said before that.

The next one was Yun Zhu, who clutched her letter, the same color as Yue Yunxi’s, and walked over, sighing, “What earth-shattering secret did you write, taking so long?”

Lu You thought Yue Yunxi would reply to Yun Zhu’s words.

But instead, she saw Yue Yunxi suddenly raise her eyes.

Her gaze, like the summer night wind, wrapped in an imperceptible, heavy heat, brushed past her cheek and floated lightly into the void.

Then, she raised her hand to glance at her wristwatch and muttered, “Was it a long time?”

As if that glance was just a casual sweep.

“Yes!” Yun Zhu teased in a drawn-out tone, “I thought you were writing a confession letter inside.”

Lu You, who was about to help her grandmother go across the street to watch people try to lasso geese, paused upon hearing this and subconsciously turned her head to look at Yue Yunxi.

Under the stark white light, Yue Yunxi’s expression was as usual, and her gaze met hers, seemingly calm, replying indifferently, “Oh.”

Obviously, it was to cut off Yun Zhu’s momentum for joking.

But this single “oh” fell into Lu You’s ears, and a certain nerve was like a piano key with an over-tightened sound post, pressed down lightly, unable to rebound for a long time.

After that, the group went to lasso geese, but Lu You was out of sorts, and when she threw the rings, she didn’t even touch a goose feather, let alone lasso a goose.

Hearing her grandmother and aunt yawning and quietly discussing wanting to sleep when it got late,

Lu You gave the remaining rings to Zhong Mi, called out to Li Can, and greeted the others, “Grandma and Auntie are a little sleepy, Li Can and I will take them back first, you guys keep playing.”

“I’ll go with you.” Yue Yunxi said in a calm tone.

The pause in the middle was when she handed the rings to Zhong Mi.

But this made Lu You inexplicably startled again.

Yue Yunxi looked at her, “Let’s go.”

Lu You composed herself and gave an “mm.”

On the way back, Grandma and Aunt walked hand in hand in front, while Lu You and the others walked side by side behind.

The three shadows under their feet were stretched long by the light of the street lamps along the way, separated by a small distance, sometimes long and sometimes short as the people got closer or farther away.

Lu You looked down, remembering the scene when Tao Xin often asked her to take Yue Yunxi out to play.

It was the same, three shadows side by side.

Sometimes a road could only accommodate two people, and the one who wasn’t talking to Tao Xin would consciously fall behind.

Once, they had to pass through a very long and crowded alley, and it was a coincidence that she and Yue Yunxi slowed down at the same time, so the two walked side by side all the way.

She had forgotten what they talked about at the time, only vaguely remembering that Tao Xin walked quickly in front, complaining that the alley was so long that she couldn’t see the end.

She also remembered that it was a winter evening, and the alley was full of vendors’ carts, steaming, boiling, or grilling something, and wisps of white smoke blurred in the twilight.

The two of them fell behind, walking slowly in the mundane atmosphere.

“Speaking of which,” Li Can suddenly thought to ask, “Have you thought about how you’re going to spend those two days of free time?”

“Not yet, probably just staying at home,” Lu You said with a smile, “Sister Yunxi’s arrangement of two days of free time is really perfect for introverts.”

“Hahaha, Zhizhi also said the same thing, and also said that she won’t have trouble sleeping in a different bed, she’s going to sleep until the sky is dark and give herself a recharge.” Li Can craned her head and asked, “Teacher Yue? Aren’t you planning to sleep through it too?”

The speaker didn’t mean anything, but the listener took it to heart.

Li Can just asked casually, but Lu You thought of their large room with only one bed, and the three words “rolling in the sheets” floated into her mind again.

The fact proved that the old saying “if you don’t watch the road while walking, you’re destined to fall” was absolutely true.

While distracted, Lu You stepped on air while going down the steps, and just happened to have a few children running and jumping past, one of them, chubby, didn’t look at the road and bumped straight into her.

At that moment, she only felt her left foot twist when it hit the ground, taking away most of her strength.

By the time she reacted, she had already fallen on the cold, icy steps, and a burning pain surged upward from two places.

She couldn’t tell whether her ankle hurt more or her butt hurt more.

She only knew that the pain doubled, and Lu You gasped twice, her eyes immediately filling with tears.

Flustered, she subconsciously covered her aching ankle with her left hand, wanting to rub her sore butt, but feeling too embarrassed, she wanted to stand up, but couldn’t muster any strength, so she covered her face with her right hand.

Everything around was chaotic, Grandma and Auntie anxiously asking something; Li Can seriously saying something; the little chubby boy wailing and sobbing something…

Those contents seemed to be isolated outside a layer of film, and she couldn’t hear a word, only capturing Yue Yunxi’s voice in a buzzing ringing in her ears.

Like a string twisted to the extreme.

“Where did you fall?”

Lu You was in great pain and couldn’t speak, waving her hand.

A shadow loomed in front of her, and she looked up, seeing Yue Yunxi squatting in front of her with a stern face, shining her phone light on the ankle she was covering.

Borrowing that dim white light, Lu You also lowered her head to look, her eyes blurred with tears, unable to see anything clearly.

But she could feel that the very strong pain from just now had subsided a lot, so she said, “It’s okay, I just twisted it, I’ll buy some ointment and rub it later…”

Her voice trailed off, because she suddenly felt a coolness on her ankle, it was Yue Yunxi’s hand gently touching it.

Lu You blinked her eyes twice.

In her slightly clearer vision, she saw Yue Yunxi’s fair, slender fingers lightly holding her reddish, slightly protruding ankle.

This picture was really a bit subtle, and she involuntarily shrank her foot back.

“…Did I hurt you?” Yue Yunxi asked softly.

In an instant, several pairs of eyes looked over, some with nervous gazes from her own people, and others with curious gazes from passersby.

Lu You’s face was almost burning from being stared at, and she quickly stated, “No, I feel a lot better already, so what, let’s go back and talk about it.”

“It looks a little swollen to me.” Yue Yunxi got up and arranged, “Li Can, take Grandma and Auntie back first, I’ll take you to a nearby hospital to get it checked out.”

Grandma and Auntie echoed, “You have to get it checked out, it might be a fracture.”

Yue Yunxi originally wanted to reach out and pull Lu You up, but upon hearing this, she moved to her side, directly bent down, and used her whole body to give her leverage.

While placing her hand on Yue Yunxi’s shoulder, Lu You felt Yue Yunxi’s hand support her waist, and couldn’t help but stiffen.

“What’s wrong?” Yue Yunxi asked concerned, “Can you still stand up?”

Lu You temporarily collected her thoughts, “It’s okay, I can.”

“The older sister of this kid’s family works at the community hospital, saying the hospital is nearby, let him lead the way.” Li Can poked the little chubby boy, “Quick, make up for your mistake.”

The little chubby boy wiped his tears, hiccuping as he said, “I’ll take you over there, you, you have to plead for me in front of my sister, otherwise, I’ll get a spanking.”

Lu You couldn’t help but laugh, teasing, “Is this what you call bloodline suppression?”

“Don’t laugh, come on, I’ll carry you over.” Yue Yunxi tied up her long hair.

Lu You lightly “ah”-ed in surprise.

Although Yue Yunxi exercised regularly, although she had been losing weight since the breakup, and Chen Feifei said she was tending toward being gaunt.

But all in all, carrying someone was hard work, and she was embarrassed to trouble Yue Yunxi so much, decisively refusing, “No need, no need, I can walk myself.”

“What if you aggravate the injury by overusing it, or fall again, what then?”

The same gentle tone as always, with a tone as if coaxing a grumpy child.

Content that couldn’t be refuted.

Lu You had no choice but to compromise, first saying to Li Can that it was a bother for her to help take care of Grandma, and then leaned onto Yue Yunxi’s back, her hands resting on her shoulders, propping up her upper body, and slightly pulling away a bit.

“Sorry for the trouble, Sister Yunxi.”

Yue Yunxi seemed not to hear, not responding to her.

The little chubby boy bounded ahead, leading them to turn onto another road, imitating Lu You’s previous tone and saying, “Is this what you call bloodline suppression?~”

The person on her back coughed lightly, obviously choked by this rebounded teasing, and Yue Yunxi silently curved her lips.

Lu You: “We don’t have bloodlines.”

Little Fatty: “Then you call her sister.”

Lu You opened her mouth, she should explain to Little Fatty that she called her sister because she was the neighbor’s sister.

But she didn’t know if it was because she was dazed by the pain, or because she felt too uncomfortable feeling the exchange of body temperature through the thin fabric, she couldn’t remember the words for a moment.

Especially after Little Fatty’s words fell, she still clearly felt that the person under her feet paused for half a step.

As if she had suddenly realized that she had only called her sister once today.

Unlike adults who know when to stop, Little Fatty asked again since he didn’t get a reply.

Lu You remembered to explain: “It’s not only people with bloodlines who can be called sister.”

“But, if you call someone sister without bloodlines, the person being called will be unhappy, my sister is like that, last time a pretty sister called her sister very sweetly, she said the person was being pretentious.” Little Fatty scratched his face, asking puzzled, “By the way, what does pretentious mean?”

Lu You was stunned, not knowing how to explain.

She heard Yue Yunxi say softly, “We don’t know either, you can ask your sister.”

Lu You raised her eyebrows and gave Yue Yunxi a thumbs up.

Yue Yunxi chuckled softly.

Winding and drilling into her ear, Lu You held her neck with one hand and rubbed her ear with the other.

Yue Yunxi was pulled back a bit and looked sideways at what she was doing, just as Lu You put her hand back.

Her soft lips brushed against her forearm.

Lu You froze, and Yue Yunxi stopped too.

The atmosphere fermented silently in the humid air.

Until Little Fatty turned his head and asked, “Can’t you carry her anymore?”

“No.” Yue Yunxi continued to walk forward, taking the opportunity to bounce her up a bit.

Lu You only felt her heart bounce twice with her.

Neither of them spoke, relying entirely on Little Fatty’s rambling to ease the congealed atmosphere.

Lu You forced herself to ignore the accident just now, rewinding back to replay Little Fatty’s story about his sister not liking to be called sister, and couldn’t help but laugh when she thought of something.

Although the shaking on her back was slight, it was obvious. Yue Yunxi asked, “What are you laughing at?”

Lu You lowered her voice and said, “People in the lesbian circle all love older women, the title of sister is the highest respect for the other party, but some straight women think that there’s not much age difference but they keep saying ‘sister, sister,’ deliberately emphasizing the age gap, I suddenly find this difference quite interesting.”

“Everyone loves older women.” Yue Yunxi pondered.

“Yeah, older women are financially independent, have rich life experiences, are emotionally stable, and mentally mature, they can have romance with you and teach you how to do things and how to be a person.” Lu You clicked her tongue and said, “Older women are at the top of the food chain.”

“What about you?” Yue Yunxi asked softly, “Do you like older women?”

Lu You was stunned.

Tao Xin was a few months younger than her, and in terms of mentality and emotions, she had nothing to do with the word “sister.”

The previous example was clearly Put it there, Yue Yunxi shouldn’t have asked that.

“Or…do you only like younger women?” Yue Yunxi asked again.

Whether it was an illusion or not, her voice was lighter than before.

In front, Little Fatty grumbled and complained about his own sister, and the cicadas in the bushes on both sides chirped one after another. Yue Yunxi’s question fell into it, seeming a bit ethereal.

“I, I’m okay with both, it depends on the chemistry.” Lu You asked concerned, “Are you tired?”

She also changed the subject.

“I’m okay.” Yue Yunxi tilted her head, looking at the shadow stretched to the side by the light.

Lu You had been propping her back with her hand, keeping a slight distance.

So that shadow looked like a giraffe with its neck stretched out.

After a moment of silence, she added, “If the little giraffe in the back doesn’t hold its neck so high, it might be a little lighter.”

Little Giraffe: “……Oh.”

After a while, Yue Yunxi felt that warmth that was both near and far, gently and softly pressing against her back.

Reminding her of a small Bichon Frise she met once when she went out, who leaned softly against her instep after she fed it two or three times.

Before going abroad, she told Tao Xin the hiding place of the small Bichon Frise. Later, the puppy was raised in the home of the person on her back.

She was the first to discover the puppy.

It lived in the home of the person she liked.

Even if the process was circuitous, even if the other party didn’t know, could it be considered a good omen——

Could she also live in the other person’s heart?

Lu You asked her in a low voice, “Is it easier this way?”

The hot, humid breath brushed against the back of her neck, seemingly there and not there.

Yue Yunxi’s hands, holding her slender legs, curled up, kneading her fingertips, slightly wet with sweat, and gave a low “mm.”

The shadows of the trees on both sides were thick, and the stone slabs under her feet were not laid flat. In the sweltering weather, the skin pressed together through two layers of fabric was seeping with the most annoying sweat.

But she was thinking, it wouldn’t be wrong to walk this road for a lifetime.

Approaching the entrance of the hospital, Little Fatty pointed to the brightly lit building and said, “We’re here!”

Seeing people coming and going in and out, Lu You raised her neck and said, “Put me down.”

“No, I’ll tell you after the examination.” Yue Yunxi refused her in a soft voice.

It felt like her words had fallen into soft cotton, with no effect at all.

She was in the other person’s hands, and she couldn’t get down if the other person didn’t let go.

Lu You breathed slowly and gave up struggling.

Little Fatty saw her lying limply on her back, covering his mouth and giggling, saying, “There’s no blood relationship, so you can’t call it bloodline suppression, then what do you call this? Being henpecked, right?”

“……”

Lu You pretended to be deaf and didn’t say a word, thinking to herself: Children speak without malice.

But she couldn’t ignore Yue Yunxi’s instantly stiff back.