After Escaping Marriage - Extra 11
Chapter 154: Extra 3 - Parallel World
Yu Qingtang’s eyes suddenly deepened.
Cheng Zhanxi thought she was angry—after all, it had only been a few minutes since the last time she’d been upset. She sheepishly tried to pull her hand back, but couldn’t.
Yu Qingtang gripped her hand tightly, looked into her eyes, and slowly lowered her head, pressing her lips against it.
The wet sensation slowly seeped in, bringing with it a strange sense of comfort.
Cheng Zhanxi looked down, watching Yu Qingtang lick her hand. She inexplicably felt the scene was a bit… Her age and experience were insufficient for her to find the right word to describe it. Years later, when Yu Qingtang often gave her that same look, she would come to understand that the word was sensual.
Cheng Zhanxi stared, unblinking, at the tip of Yu Qingtang’s pink tongue as it darted in and out of sight. She swallowed, not trying to pull away.
The sound of the kitchen door sliding open startled the two, who were lost in the moment in the living room.
Almost simultaneously, one pulled back her hand and the other her mouth, and they shot to their feet.
“Teacher’s wife.”
“Auntie Su.”
Su E stood at the kitchen doorway, a look of confusion on her face.
Yu Qingtang said nonchalantly, “Did you need something, Teacher’s wife?”
“Oh, I was,” Su E took a moment to react before remembering why she had come out. “...I came to get two eggs.”
Yu Qingtang turned and went to the corner of the dining area, opened the refrigerator, took out two eggs, and walked into the kitchen, placing them on the counter.
She returned to Su E. “Is there anything else I can help with, Teacher’s wife?”
Su E glanced at Cheng Zhanxi, who was standing where she had been. Gone was her usual playful smile; instead, she looked particularly nervous, her hands by her sides unconsciously clenched into fists. Su E said gently to Yu Qingtang, “No, that’s all. You two go on and have fun.”
Su E went into the kitchen. Through the glass door, she saw Yu Qingtang take Cheng Zhanxi’s hand in the living room. The two of them sat down on the sofa together, their actions intimate and sweet.
Sweet?
Su E frowned, wondering why that word had been the first to pop into her head.
Su E turned on the stove, shaking her head and chuckling to herself.
After having dinner at Teacher Tian’s house, the two girls took the Cheng family’s car home. Cheng Zhanxi’s hand kept touching the web of her left thumb, the spot that had been bitten and licked, her expression alternating between blankness and contemplation.
Yu Qingtang, for her part, gazed at the scenery outside her window. She didn’t speak the whole way, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward.
The driver dropped Yu Qingtang off first. Wei Tingyu was waiting for her at the gate. Yu Qingtang stood with her father and said “see you tomorrow” to Cheng Zhanxi in the car. Cheng Zhanxi replied in kind.
The driver turned the car around and drove away from the Wei residence. Yu Qingtang watched the car disappear into the darkness, then turned to meet Wei Tingyu’s strange gaze.
Yu Qingtang: “?”
Wei Tingyu’s expression returned to normal as he asked with gentle concern, “Are you hungry?”
Yu Qingtang shook her head. “I just ate at my teacher’s house not long ago.”
Wei Tingyu smiled, put an arm around her shoulder, and they went inside together.
After the car came to a steady stop, Cheng Zhanxi jumped out and ran into her house—
“Mom!”
“Mom, Mom, Mom!”
A maid cleaning the living room told her Song Qingrou was in the tea room. Cheng Zhanxi bounded toward the tea room, knocked, and then pushed the door open.
The fragrance of tea filled the air.
Song Qingrou poured some light red tea from an exquisite Zisha teapot and beckoned for Cheng Zhanxi to come have some.
Cheng Zhanxi sat cross-legged opposite her. She lifted her left hand slightly, thought for a moment, then held out her right hand instead.
Song Qingrou looked up. “What for?”
Cheng Zhanxi said, “Mom, bite me.”
Song Qingrou: “?”
Cheng Zhanxi: “Oh, just do it. Bite the web of my thumb.”
Song Qingrou gave her an “I have no idea what you’re doing” look and bit the web of her thumb lightly, not even leaving a mark.
Cheng Zhanxi closed her eyes to feel it. After a long moment, she murmured, “That’s not right.” It’s not the same feeling.
Song Qingrou didn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”
Cheng Zhanxi said distractedly, “Nothing.”
Children grow up and eventually have their own secrets. Song Qingrou didn’t press the matter.
Cheng Zhanxi thought about it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out, so she decided to put it out of her mind. She picked up the cup on the tray to drink, but Song Qingrou tutted, poured out the cold tea, and refilled it for her.
Cheng Zhanxi sniffed the tea’s aroma and slowly drank it all.
She watched her mother’s nimble hands, her gaze unwavering, and said, “I want to learn, too.”
Song Qingrou had her move to her side and patiently taught her how to brew tea, guiding her hands.
Stars dotted the night sky, which faded from light to dark. The moon descended opposite from where it had risen, sinking below the horizon as the red sun leaped forth.
Cheng Zhanxi put her schoolbag into the desk cubby. A strange feeling at her fingertips made her pause. She took the object out and looked down to find a letter addressed to: Cheng Zhanxi.
There was no sender’s name.
The envelope was sky-blue and exquisitely designed.
At sixteen, Cheng Zhanxi was no longer a first-grader. In fact, things like this had been appearing in her desk from time to time since the second grade.
She knew what it was… a love letter.
The first time she received one, she had curiously opened it to read the contents and even told Yu Qingtang about it after school. As a result, Yu Qingtang’s expression had turned terrifyingly dark, and she’d told her that if she ever dared to look at something like that again, she wouldn’t speak to her for a whole day. A love letter from a stranger was nowhere near as important as Yu Qingtang, so Cheng Zhanxi never looked at them again after that. To put it simply, she wouldn’t even give them a second glance.
But this time, she didn’t put the letter back right away. Instead, she took a second look.
Because in the top right corner of the envelope, there was a Q-version drawing of a little person. The art was quite good, and from the likeness, she could tell it was her. After a couple of glances, Cheng Zhanxi tossed the love letter into her desk.
She never expected that this love letter, destined for the trash can in a few hours, would unexpectedly cause quite a bit of trouble.
Cheng Zhanxi returned from gym class. Because she had stopped by Yu Qingtang’s classroom during the break, she was a little late getting back to her own. The moment she walked in, the noise in the classroom died down, and the atmosphere felt a bit strange.
Cheng Zhanxi saw a girl sitting in her seat, holding several sheets of letter paper. The sky-blue envelope was on the desk.
Cheng Zhanxi narrowed her eyes.
The person who wrote the love letter to Cheng Zhanxi was one of the school’s popular figures. Back then, chuunibyou teenagers liked to rank “class idols,” “grade idols,” and “campus idols,” and the letter’s author was a certain Campus Idol Qi. Not only was Campus Idol Qi tall and handsome, a good basketball player, and from a family that ranked high even among the wealthy students, he was the very definition of a Prince Charming.
The news that Campus Idol Qi had a crush on Cheng Zhanxi and had even written her a love letter spread like wildfire through the first-year class. Since he was a second-year, the second-years found out as well.
Cheng Zhanxi herself was no unknown. With her outstanding looks, good personality, and superior family background, the two were considered a perfect match, a talented scholar and a beautiful lady from families of equal standing.
Cheng Zhanxi was inexplicably caught up in a scandal and was annoyed to death, especially since Yu Qingtang was giving her the cold shoulder because of it. Cheng Zhanxi felt like her world was turning black even with her eyes wide open. How could she be so unlucky?
What she hadn’t expected was that this Campus Idol Qi was completely clueless and actually came to her classroom to ask her to talk outside.
The gossip-mongers went even crazier. The rumors became more and more outrageous, with some confidently asserting, as if they had witnessed it themselves, that their parents had already met and they would be engaged upon graduation.
Cheng Zhanxi: “?”
In the afternoon, Cheng Zhanxi was even called to the head teacher’s office for a talk, where she was tactfully advised to keep her relationship low-key.
Cheng Zhanxi tried to clarify things with the head teacher, but the teacher was quite open-minded, wearing a tolerant expression that seemed to say, “Don’t worry, I’m just giving you a reminder, I won’t break you up.”
Cheng Zhanxi felt like killing Campus Idol Qi, as well as the classmate who had rummaged through her desk.
After the last class of the afternoon, Cheng Zhanxi went to find Yu Qingtang. Most of the students had gone to eat, but Yu Qingtang was studying in the classroom. She heard the sound of a chair being pulled up beside her but didn’t look up. Then, a heavy weight settled on her shoulder.
Cheng Zhanxi sighed in her ear.
Yu Qingtang stopped writing.
Cheng Zhanxi’s arms came up, wrapping around her slender neck. “Waaaah.”
Yu Qingtang: “…”
Cheng Zhanxi whimperingly told her about being called in by the teacher that afternoon. Seeing her looking so pitiful and wronged, Yu Qingtang’s annoyance at the escalating rumors dissipated for the most part. The whole thing had been started by Campus Idol Qi writing her a love letter and that classmate, Wang, going through her desk. It had nothing to do with Cheng Zhanxi. Could she really blame her for being too beautiful and too likable?
Yu Qingtang waited for her to finish crying, then wiped her tears away and said gently, “Don’t cry. I have an idea.”
Cheng Zhanxi looked up. “What is it?”
Yu Qingtang hesitated slightly. “I’m just not sure if you’ll be able to accept it.”
Cheng Zhanxi said firmly, “As long as it can clear my name, I’ll do anything, even be your beast of burden.”
Yu Qingtang: “…That won’t be necessary.”
Yu Qingtang didn’t need her to be a beast of burden; she just needed Cheng Zhanxi to be her girlfriend.
Most of the students at the prestigious high school they attended were either rich or noble. Many of their parents had studied abroad, not to mention the abundance of foreign teachers, so the school’s atmosphere was much more open than the outside world. Here, being gay wasn’t a big deal; it was treated almost as openly as being straight.
Teardrops clung to Cheng Zhanxi’s long lashes, a pitifully beautiful sight. She understood immediately. “You mean we should pretend to be a couple?”
Yu Qingtang: “…Mhm.”
She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch Cheng Zhanxi’s eyelashes.
Cheng Zhanxi clapped her hands in delight. “Okay, let’s do what you said.” After her initial excitement, she added, “But how do you pretend to be a couple? I don’t have any experience.”
Yu Qingtang couldn’t help but half-roll her eyes at her. “As if I have any experience.”
Cheng Zhanxi took her hand and nuzzled her palm with her cheek. “But you’re smart. In my eyes, you can do anything.”
The corners of Yu Qingtang’s lips curved up.
Then she returned to her usual demeanor and said, “One, you can only have eyes for me, no one else. Two, only I get to bully you; you can’t let anyone else touch a single hair on your head. Three, you’re not allowed to accept love letters from other people. Four, you’re not allowed to hide anything from me…”
Cheng Zhanxi listened, committing the rules to memory, and as she listened, she couldn’t help but start to laugh.
Yu Qingtang: “What are you laughing at?”
Cheng Zhanxi laughed. “I was just thinking that pretending to be a couple isn’t so hard. I already do all the things you mentioned.”
Yu Qingtang looked at her with a peculiar expression.
Cheng Zhanxi: “?”
Does she have something she wants to say to me?
Yu Qingtang’s lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing, only, “We’ll just play it by ear if anything comes up in the future.”
“Okay.” Cheng Zhanxi was completely obedient to her. “Want to get something to eat? I’m hungry.”
Yu Qingtang put down her pen, and Cheng Zhanxi skillfully tidied up her desk for her.
The two walked shoulder to shoulder toward the cafeteria, the afterglow of the sunset stretching their two intertwined shadows out behind them.
“Tangtang, I want to eat fish-fragrant shredded pork.”
“We’re almost at the cafeteria.”
“I want the kind you make.”
“Is there something special about the way I make it?”
“Special love for a special me?”
“…”
“Hahahahaha.”
Yu Qingtang watched Cheng Zhanxi laugh her head off, a flash of helplessness in her eyes.
She seems like she’ll never grow up, even though her chest is already so big.
As her thoughts turned to this, Yu Qingtang’s gaze slid downward, and she swallowed imperceptibly.
Cheng Zhanxi, oblivious to the covetous gaze upon her, reached out to put an arm around Yu Qingtang’s shoulders. Yu Qingtang tutted, so she pulled her arm back and took her hand instead.
It’s been ten years, and Yu Qingtang still hasn’t accepted the fact that she’s half a head shorter than me, Cheng Zhanxi thought. She only lets me hold her hand.
They walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. On the way, they passed a straight couple also holding hands. Cheng Zhanxi looked down at her and Yu Qingtang’s hands, and an immense sense of satisfaction washed over her.
But besides that, she felt like something was different.
She frowned and observed the couple carefully for a moment before it dawned on her.
She copied what she had seen, parting Yu Qingtang’s delicate fingers and sliding her own soft, white fingertips in to interlace their fingers.
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