MTMIO Chapter 38
by VolareA week later.
Around seven in the evening, Lu You went to pick up Yue Yunxi from the airport as agreed.
While waiting, she took out her phone and opened the sheet music in her album. As she was looking at it, a WeChat new message notification popped up.
These kinds of notifications appeared frequently when she first returned to Nanquan, but as she took on more tuning jobs and became too busy to reply, they quickly decreased.
So much so that the chat history was blank for four days.
Until last night when new content was added—
Yue Yunxi asked her: [Will you still come pick me up from the airport?]
Not understandingly telling her that she didn’t have to pick her up if she was too busy.
Nor tactfully and jokingly reminding her to remember to return the straw hat, so she wouldn’t forget.
But asking her so carefully.
Lu You was surprised to realize how familiar she was with Yue Yunxi’s way of speaking to her.
At the same time, she felt a huge sense of guilt.
And a faint embarrassment.
That night on the terrace, Chen Feifei told her that someone as delicate and sensitive as Yue Yunxi would understand if she was given the cold shoulder once or twice.
So, she deliberately made herself busy, creating enough excuses to reduce the frequency of chatting, in order to cool down the ambiguous atmosphere between them.
Lu You didn’t know if Yue Yunxi had noticed something, which was why she asked her that.
But in that slight embarrassment, she clearly knew that she was taking advantage of Yue Yunxi’s thoughtfulness and consideration, trusting that she would respect her social boundaries and not disturb her too much, which was why she dared to do so.
Like using the other person’s kindness for her own convenience.
The weather hadn’t been good these past few days, the humid and hot air felt like it was trapped in a plastic bag, causing Lu You to have headaches that felt like being pricked by needles for several days in a row.
And the guilt brought about by this realization made it impossible for her to tell Yue Yunxi that she couldn’t pick her up, even if she was feeling unwell.
Gathering her thoughts, Lu You unscrewed the cap of the bottled water in her hand, took a sip, and the coolness soothed the slight depression in her throat. She opened WeChat and took a look.
The message was from a customer whose nickname was “Eleven.” Lu You always felt that this person was a bit strange. Before, they would ask her every few days when she was coming back from her trip. Now that she was back, they were asking her when she would go to Lost Deer.
At first, she would reply to this person out of politeness, patiently reminding them to contact Chen Feifei.
After doing that many times, she lost her patience and now often pretended not to see the messages.
This time was no exception.
Lu You swiped her finger across the screen to get rid of the annoying little red dot, and was about to exit WeChat when she saw an @ mention pop up in the group that had recently been renamed “Big Dipper.”
Yun Zhu: [Has anyone picked up Old Yue yet?]
Lu You glanced at the arrival gate and replied: [Not yet]
As soon as she switched out of the group chat, Chen Feifei sent a private message: [These past few days have been crazy busy, I was thinking of checking up on you, but I haven’t even had time to take out my phone [Future is bleak.jpg]]
YoYo: [It’s okay, I’ve been really busy lately too, I haven’t had much time to chat [Future is yin and yang.jpg]]
Chen Feifei: [How are things going with the goddess? What kind of relationship have you developed?]
YoYo: [Pure friendship]
The chat window displayed “The other party is typing…”
Lu You didn’t really want to talk more about this topic, and quickly typed: [What about you?]
The typing indicator hung for a few seconds, then Chen Feifei typed a “?”
Lu You added: [You and Yun Zhu]
Chen Feifei: [We have a lip-friendship [smile]]
“…”
Lu You generally didn’t ask about other people’s privacy, but Chen Feifei was a friend she had known for many years and hadn’t lost touch with. She thought about it and asked: [Haven’t confirmed the relationship?]
Chen Feifei: [Shrug, she hasn’t brought it up, and neither have I.]
YoYo: [Really don’t need to communicate? Or are you just planning to continue this ambiguous relationship?]
Chen Feifei: [We’ll see.]
Seeing that Chen Feifei wasn’t willing to talk much about relationship matters either, Lu You figured that everyone was an adult and could make their own judgments, so she didn’t say anything more.
The sound of luggage wheels rolling sounded like a tide surging out of the arrival gate.
Lu You looked up from her phone and caught sight of Yue Yunxi in the crowd at first glance.
Big waves are often associated with a lazy and romantic style, but Yue Yunxi’s curly hair was not like that. Perhaps it was because her natural curls were more natural than those permed later, making her look even more mature and elegant.
An off-the-shoulder fitted top that showed off her superior shoulders and neck and highlighted her full bust, high-waisted jeans, a simple yet stylish outfit, fully displayed her soft and charming temperament. Plus, she was carrying a cello case, making it hard not to notice her.
In comparison, it wasn’t so easy to spot her in her short-sleeved shirt, denim overalls, and baseball cap.
But almost at the same time as her gaze fell on Yue Yunxi, Yue Yunxi’s line of sight also landed on her.
Lu You took an imperceptible deep breath, put away her phone, walked forward, and greeted, “Hi.”
Then she handed over the straw hat and a bottle of room-temperature water.
The corners of Yue Yunxi’s lips turned up slightly. She took the hat and put it in the tote bag on top of her suitcase. She opened the bottle cap and said, “Long time no see.”
Lu You pretended to be natural and replied, “Less than a week, it doesn’t seem like a long time.”
Yue Yunxi smiled, picked up the bottle, and swallowed the words that were lingering on her lips with the tepid water.
It hadn’t been long, but it felt like she had been living like years.
After she finished drinking the water and put the bottle in her bag, Lu You reached out and said, “Let me take the suitcase.”
Actually, it was easy to push the suitcase, it wasn’t hard. The heavy thing was the cello, but she instinctively felt that actively helping to carry the cello was a more intimate thing.
Yue Yunxi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she lowered her eyes, hiding the light flowing in her amber pupils. She pushed the suitcase in front of her.
Lu You reached out and grabbed the handle, leading her towards the parking lot, and casually asked, “Was the performance successful?”
“Very successful.”
Lu You nodded.
After a moment of silence, Yue Yunxi said quietly, “You seem to have been very busy lately. I almost thought you wouldn’t have time to pick me up today.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that I’d be taking lessons with Teacher Zhong later, and I’d have to spend time practicing the piano. So I contacted the old customers to see if they needed any tuning services recently. The old customers recommended new customers, and I got a lot of jobs. And I also had to re-familiarize myself with the sheet music, so… I didn’t even have time to chat.”
These were all the truth. Lu You didn’t touch her nose, but because she felt guilty, her voice became softer and softer. She didn’t even dare to look at Yue Yunxi’s reaction to these words.
Until she heard a soft sound, like a laugh and a sigh, indistinguishable.
Lu You’s eyes shifted to the side.
Yue Yunxi just happened to open her lips to speak: “Chatting is not important, what is important is to not be so busy that you forget to eat and sleep.”
The sound of the wheels rolling was like gravel rubbing against her heart, leaving some shallow marks.
Lu You couldn’t help but tighten her grip on the plastic bottle filled with ice water, withdraw her gaze, and lower her head to the dark gray ground. Her voice was even lower: “It’s not to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep, I’ve been sleeping earlier than before.”
Although she wasn’t sleeping well.
“Three meals a day, without missing one.”
Although they weren’t at the right times.
Lu You felt that her voice was like squeezing a cold bottle in a warm palm, slowly flowing out, containing the soreness and emotion that was stirred by Yue Yunxi’s words.
Yue Yunxi responded gently, “That’s good.”
Lu You’s throat rolled and rolled, but she didn’t say anything after all.
When they arrived at the car, Lu You pressed the car key. Yue Yunxi and she put the suitcase and the cello case into the trunk and the back seat respectively.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Lu You said, “I haven’t driven for a long time, so I’ll drive slower.”
This was the first time Yue Yunxi had been in her car. The car was filled with a faint fragrance, like white roses blooming at night, immersed in the soft, cool moonlight.
“It’s okay.” Yue Yunxi pulled the seat belt over and buckled herself into this fragrance, breathing slowly, “Slower is good.”
Perhaps what she wanted to express was that slower was safer, but when it fell into Lu You’s ears, it derived another meaning.
Lu You held the steering wheel, as if she had forgotten what she was supposed to do for a while, and was in a daze.
Taking out her phone from her pocket and pulling up the navigation, she asked Yue Yunxi, “Are we going back to Lanwan?”
But she heard Yue Yunxi report the name of her new residential complex: “Bamboo Rhyme Jiangnan.”
Lu You was stunned, and slowly realized that this was the name of the residential complex where Yue Yunxi’s secret base was located.
Yue Yunxi leaned against the back of the seat and stared at her for a while. Seeing that she didn’t move, she changed her words gently: “Let’s go back to Lanwan, my car is still there.”
“Okay.” Lu You pulled up the address of Lanwan, as if she had finally finished a strenuous task, her shoulders sank a little, and then she stalled again.
Because she noticed that Yue Yunxi’s eyes would drift towards her from time to time.
Lu You connected to Bluetooth and chose soothing classical music to play. “Do you want to sleep for a while later?”
Yue Yunxi turned her head to look at her: “I’m not very sleepy.”
“…Then, can you not look at me while I’m driving? I get nervous easily, and I’ll revert to being a newbie.”
Yue Yunxi was stunned for a moment, then smiled, indulgently saying, “Okay, I won’t look at you.”
However, she had only turned her head to the window for two seconds when she turned back to look at her again.
Just as Lu You pulled the seat belt over to buckle it, she looked up and their eyes met gently.
Lu You: “…”
“We’re not driving yet.” Yue Yunxi saw that her cherry lips were slightly open, as if she wanted to say something but was choked up. She curved her lips and smiled, softly saying, “I wanted to ask you, have the class times been confirmed?”
“Yeah.” Lu You looked away and fastened her seat belt. “Starting on the 1st, Teacher Zhong said to study for a month first. She has a performance in September, so we’ll have to arrange it then.”
Yue Yunxi asked again: “Where are you taking classes?”
“Teacher Zhong said she bought a small Western-style house on Huaixi Road a long time ago, but it’s been idle and unused.”
Yue Yunxi pondered: “That small Western-style house.”
Hearing the meaning behind her words, Lu You asked, “What’s wrong with that small Western-style house?”
Yue Yunxi’s gaze swept over her face from the corner of her eye. After hesitating for a while, she opened her mouth and said, “It has a lot of interesting things in it, like a small exhibition hall, and there are also two hundred-year-old antique pianos.”
Hearing this, Lu You’s eyes lit up, and she asked with interest, “Can they still be used?”
“I’m not sure about that. You can ask Auntie Zhong when you get there.”
“Okay.” Lu You nodded, released the handbrake, suddenly paused, and glanced at Yue Yunxi.
Their eyes met, and Yue Yunxi immediately understood. She turned her head, cast her gaze out the window, and supported her chin with her hand, just barely concealing the slight curve of her lips.
Lu You turned the steering wheel and drove the car out of the parking lot.
It had rained outside, and the streetlights were reflected in the puddles, connecting with the car lights to form a chain, heavily scraping against the dim night.
Yue Yunxi really didn’t look at her directly again, she only adjusted her sitting position occasionally at the traffic lights.
The cold air-conditioning spread to every corner of the car, brushing away the impetuousness that was about to float to the surface. Lu You secretly took a breath.
When the classical music playing in the car switched to the cello piece “Jacqueline’s Tears”, the car reached its destination and stopped at the door of Tao’s house.
Hearing only a few seconds of the opening melody, Yue Yunxi was startled.
Fortunately, Lu You quickly reached out and turned off the music, opened the car door lock, and reminded her, “We’re here.”
Yue Yunxi said “Mm”, unbuckled her seat belt, paused for a moment, lowered her head, took out a square gift box from her bag, and handed it to Lu You, saying, “A souvenir for you. I was in a hurry this time, so I didn’t bring anything for Grandma. If she asks, tell her I’ll make it up next time.”
The bright red gift box was like a fire burning into Lu You’s eyes, setting those difficult, settled emotions ablaze again.
She looked up, gazing into the opposite light amber eyes.
That warm and soft color seemed to have a temperature even hotter than that touch of red.
Lu You seemed to be burned. Her long eyelashes fluttered lightly, and she immediately lowered her head.
The gift box was still hanging in front of her eyes. Seeing that she didn’t take it, Yue Yunxi held her breath slightly, suppressing the faint restlessness, and opened the gift box, saying, “It’s nothing much, just a few glass candies, and a… Triangel.”
She took out the delicate angel doll inside and handed it over.
Because of “Triumph in the Skies”, Triangel was very popular for a while, and Lu You had learned a little about it.
The one in Yue Yunxi’s hand was a pink little angel. Pink, representing the protection of love.
Lu You closed her eyes.
Before today, she still had a glimmer of hope, thinking that she could pretend that nothing had happened and continue to get along with Yue Yunxi without a fuss.
But now she found that she had overestimated herself.
Face-to-face communication was completely different from online chatting and phone calls. Facing someone with such a strong presence as Yue Yunxi, with the knowledge of their secrets, she simply couldn’t pretend to be ignorant.
Even looking at each other for a second was unbearable.
Every word that Yue Yunxi said, every expression she showed, would affect her emotions and plunge her into unease, sadness, guilt, and embarrassment.
Lu You’s hand supporting herself on the seat curled up again and again, her fingertips pressing shallow marks on the cushion, but she didn’t raise her hand to take the box. She took countless deep breaths, and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Yunxi, last time at Lost Deer, you said you had someone you liked…”
In the corner of her eye, the hand holding the pink Triangel moved slightly, slowly sinking down.
Her temples were throbbing with pain. Lu You swallowed hard, and in a ringing sound in her ears, she heard her own weak voice, so low that it was almost drowned out by the cicadas screaming outside, “…That person is…”
Choked up, she stopped speaking.
She didn’t know how long it had been, maybe dozens of seconds, maybe a few minutes. Time was diluted under the dim streetlights, flowing slowly.
She heard a long sigh, followed by a voice that was still gentle but seemed so helpless.
“I’ve been found out?”
Lu You stiffened, as if she had stepped on an empty step. Her heart skipped a long beat.
She was stunned for a long time, and her trembling eyelashes struggled to lift, meeting Yue Yunxi’s gentle eyes. She forced herself to ask clearly, “You… do you like me?”
“Yes, I like you.”
Even though she had already deduced it, the moment she heard Yue Yunxi say it to her face, Lu You’s heartbeat was still disordered. Then, a sense of panic surged up, messing up the words she had conceived countless times.
“I’m sorry, I, I originally wanted to pretend that I hadn’t noticed anything, but, I really can’t stand myself like this. You, you’re too good, you’re too good to me… I can’t just accept all this goodness and not give any response, stringing you along…”
Yue Yunxi listened patiently, her dim eyes falling on the doll in her hand, the position of her heart being pressed by her fingertips.
She loosened her hand a little, waited for Lu You to finish speaking, and then opened her mouth and said, “It’s okay, YoYo, you have the right to reject me, you don’t need to feel sorry for it.”
After a slight pause, she continued in a trembling voice: “I should be the one apologizing. I was too obvious, making you feel troubled.”
Even though she herself was so sad, she still prioritized her feelings.
Lu You suddenly felt like she had eaten that unripe pomegranate. The sourness went straight into her nose. She shook her head, and then lowered her head even lower: “I’m sorry…”
That humid voice, like a little girl who had done something wrong and was about to cry at any moment, made Yue Yunxi sigh softly: “Then can you give me a reason to reject me?”
Lu You didn’t say anything for a while.
“…Is it because of Tao Xin? Do you still…” Yue Yunxi pursed her lips, not daring to ask if she still liked Tao Xin.
Lu You shook her head without thinking: “No, I don’t like her anymore… I don’t know how to say it…”
Yue Yunxi remained silent, patiently waiting for her to organize her words and give a reasonable reason.
A quiet atmosphere permeated the cold air.
After a long time, Lu You calmed her breath, her throat choked: “…The internet says that you have to clean your heart first, so that the next person who moves in will feel comfortable. I’m not ready to start another relationship yet… Also, during the time right after the breakup, I regretted it every day, regretting that relationship with Tao Xin… It’s not just because she cheated, but actually, even when she was a little cold to me, I thought about breaking up. Because the relationship was different, I needed more, every time I thought of how good she had been to me before, I would think, if I hadn’t turned our friendship into a romantic relationship, wouldn’t it have developed into this…”
Yue Yunxi took a slow breath: “I understand, you think friendship lasts longer than love, right?”
Lu You nodded.
“Do you remember me telling you that any kind of relationship is just an embellishment of life, not the whole thing?”
“I remember… but I’m still very afraid of losing.”
From childhood to adulthood, she seemed to always be losing.
Losing her mother’s love, losing her father’s care, losing her grandfather’s protection, losing the company of her childhood friends, losing a friendship that had once made her feel the sunshine…
Lu You looked up, her eyes red, with a few stubbornness in her tearful eyes, “This sentence doesn’t only apply to me, does it?”
Yue Yunxi’s eyelashes trembled, and she closed her eyes slightly, “But YoYo, you can’t be friends with someone who makes your heart flutter.”
Her soft tone seemed to carry the mist in her eyes.
Lu You was slightly stunned, realizing that her question was hurtful, and lowered her head, murmuring: “…Sorry.”
“You’re not wrong, you don’t need to apologize.” Yue Yunxi paused and asked, “I want to know, what do you feel about me now?”
Her head was getting more and more painful, and Lu You’s brain was blank, not answering.
“Is it… that you don’t like me?” Yue Yunxi asked tentatively.
Lu You shook her head.
Yue Yunxi’s eyes rippled, but she didn’t continue to ask about the other possibility, just nodding: “Okay, I understand.”
After a moment of silence, she said: “I don’t want to lie to you, I can’t go back to the way we used to get along, now that you know how I feel.”
She had blocked the road of friendship.
Lu You’s heart felt like it had been lightly pressed by a cat’s paw, faintly spreading a slight pain.
“You can take your time to consider it, I’m not in a hurry.” Yue Yunxi smiled wanly, and then said, “Before you figure it out and get ready, I won’t bother you again. You don’t need to be troubled, and you don’t need to feel embarrassed.”
At the end, Yue Yunxi looked deeply at Lu You, and then, almost resolutely, turned her face away, opened the door and got out of the car.
She took her own suitcase, put on the cello case, walked to the side of the passenger seat, and through a window and a distance that was neither far nor near, said to Lu You, who was still stunned in the driver’s seat, “Take care of yourself.”
Lu You turned her head and saw the dark black cello case covering half of her body, her figure disappearing into the car parked in the garage, and heard the sound of the luggage wheels rolling over the stone road turning into the sound of a car starting.
Until the two cars passed each other, the faint light in the rearview mirror disappeared into the night.
The faint fragrance of Yue Yunxi could still be faintly smelled in the car, floating in the cold air, like a gentle fall.
Lu You smelled that faint fragrance.
She didn’t know why, but she felt sad, even sadder than when she had glimpsed Yue Yunxi’s feelings.
A car light flashed by, and she subconsciously turned to look, it was another car that had taken the wrong road.
Her eyes fell down and she saw the gift box on the back seat.
Reaching over, she opened it, and there were only seven iridescent candies left inside.
Such fragile glass candies that would break easily if one wasn’t careful.
–
Yue Yunxi’s car drove aimlessly on the city’s night roads for nearly two hours, and finally stopped in the parking lot of Luowu Park.
Getting out of the car, she habitually walked towards the entrance of the mountain, but as she approached, she suddenly remembered the scene of the two of them holding hands and coming over that day.
The wet touch of their palms seemed to be imprinted in her mind.
Imbued with a memory of climbing to the top of the mountain with her.
Even the fresh wind in the mountains seemed to still retain her scent.
Yue Yunxi clenched her hand, and her footsteps didn’t stop. She passed the entrance of the mountain and strode towards the path leading to Ningfu Temple.
It was the peak season for viewing fireflies, there were many people and many fireflies, flashing and connecting into a yellow-green galaxy.
Yue Yunxi stood on the path, squatted down, and looked at a nearby glow, blankly watching. She suddenly sympathized with the girl who had said to her with a grievance two months ago, “Fireflies can’t heal me either.”
But what to do, climbing the mountain can’t heal me anymore.
She stretched her fingertip to the tip of a leaf, startling the little bug, fluttering its wings with a tail of light, hiding in the shadows.
Suddenly, a small glass bottle was handed over, with several fireflies living inside.
From not far away, there was a low call: “Wen Xing.”
Yue Yunxi turned her head and looked over. The little girl standing next to her was looking at her with big, beautiful eyes, and stuffed the glass bottle into her hand.
Then, the little girl turned and walked to the side of the woman who was calling “Wen Xing”.
Yue Yunxi withdrew her eyes, looked at the small glass bottle in her hand, unplugged the wooden stopper, and released the fireflies inside.
After a while, the little girl came over again, reached out, and stuffed something into her arms.
Using the light of her mobile phone, Yue Yunxi saw clearly that it was a moon-shaped clay pendant.
Yue Yunxi curved her lips, took out the Triangel from her bag, and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl took it unceremoniously and hugged it in her arms.
After a while, the little girl’s parents came over. It was a young woman with a cold temperament. “I’m sorry, Xingxing is an autistic child and can’t refuse. How much is this doll? I’ll transfer it to you.”
Yue Yunxi smiled and said, “No need, this is a fate doll. She and I are destined.”
The other party still felt sorry. Just as the child wanted to eat ice cream, Yue Yunxi said, “Then please buy me a vanilla ice cream as well.”
When they arrived at Luowu Park, the child’s parents bought two ice creams. Yue Yunxi sat on a bench with the child and ate ice cream.
The cold and sweet ice cream soaked on the tip of her tongue, but didn’t go down her throat.
She remembered the person who had to eat vanilla ice cream whenever they were unhappy.
She wondered if they would also buy one today.
The little girl named Wen Xing tilted her head and looked at her, not knowing what she was looking at, and asked, “I, watching, what?”
“I am watching what?” Yue Yunxi repeated in contemplation, pursed her lips and bent them slightly, the arc rippling with bitterness, “Watching the moon.”
Like a cold light, tonight it only shines on her.