After Escaping Marriage - Extra 26
Chapter 169: Extra 3 - Parallel World
“What are you smiling about?” Cheng Zhanxi asked, already knowing the answer.
Ever since she’d said the word “girlfriend,” Yu Qingtang’s usual composure had crumbled. Cheng Zhanxi sat on a chair drying her hair, while Yu Qingtang sat on the edge of the bed, a faint smile constantly playing on her lips as she watched her.
“Guess,” Yu Qingtang said with a smile.
“I’m not guessing.” Cheng Zhanxi turned her head, letting the air from the hairdryer pass through her strands.
Watching the smooth, long hair under the blow-dryer, Yu Qingtang couldn’t help but imagine her own five fingers running through those soft locks.
With that thought, she stood up.
Cheng Zhanxi was caught off guard when the hairdryer was taken from her hand. She glanced up at Yu Qingtang, then obediently turned her back to her.
Everyone has a different opinion on the sexiest part of a woman’s body. To Yu Qingtang, Cheng Zhanxi’s thick, long hair was certainly sexy. Her knuckles grazed the roots as she lifted the beautiful tresses, revealing a small, fair ear, its rim tinged with a faint blush.
Yu Qingtang’s fingertips landed at the base of Cheng Zhanxi’s ear and slowly caressed it, sparking a sensation akin to an electric shock. Cheng Zhanxi’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly a few times. She closed her eyes, her back stiffening.
Yu Qingtang’s touch didn’t last long, as if it were a casual gesture. Afterward, she quietly went back to drying her hair.
Cheng Zhanxi tossed the used towel into the laundry basket, tidied up the bathroom, and methodically mopped the water from the floor tiles.
Watching her busy figure, Yu Qingtang remarked with a sigh, “I never saw you do any of this back home.”
Without turning her head, Cheng Zhanxi said, “How long have I been away? Haven’t you noticed I’ve evolved into a master chef?” She sighed dramatically, “Can’t be helped. It’s all for the sake of survival.” With that, she mopped the floor with even more vigor.
Yu Qingtang chuckled, but her mood was also a little complicated.
Taking care of oneself was a basic skill. It wasn’t that she felt sorry for Cheng Zhanxi for having to do these chores; it was just that, looking back now, she felt she had missed out on so much of Cheng Zhanxi’s life. Because of excessive pride and self-esteem, she had wasted so much time.
“When did you realize you liked me?” Yu Qingtang asked her that night as they lay in the same bed.
“I don’t know either.” Cheng Zhanxi looked uncertain. “About a year ago, I guess.”
Yu Qingtang laughed.
Cheng Zhanxi knew there was something unusual about this. She tilted her head on the pillow and asked, “What about you?”
The long years of a secret crush are bitter when you’re the only one who knows, but when two hearts connect, they become a badge of honor for love, and all the memories turn sweet.
In a light tone, Yu Qingtang smiled and said, “Seventh grade.”
“Sev-seventh grade?!” Cheng Zhanxi nearly shot up from the bed.
Yu Qingtang pulled her gaze from the ceiling and moved it to Cheng Zhanxi’s face. Looking into her eyes, her own eyes curved into crescents as she said, “That’s right. I’ve liked you since seventh grade.”
In a flash, Cheng Zhanxi immediately crossed her hands protectively over her chest.
Yu Qingtang: “...What’s with that expression?”
Shouldn’t a normal person be touched by this? Why was she acting like she was about to be assaulted?
Cheng Zhanxi blurted out, “You were way too precocious!”
Yu Qingtang half-rolled her eyes at her. “It’s you who’s too dense!”
This was the downside of being childhood sweethearts; bickering was a conditioned reflex practically etched into their genes.
Cheng Zhanxi recalled an old incident, and her expression changed drastically. “No wonder you didn’t dare look at me when I got my first period! You told me to put my pants on! So you’ve been lusting after me since way back then!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
What kind of nonsense was this? She was only thirteen back then, what the hell did she know about lusting!
Yu Qingtang, who always held herself to high standards, couldn’t stop herself from cursing internally.
Yu Qingtang reached out and pinched Cheng Zhanxi’s cheek, squeezing the soft flesh hard between two fingers. “Say that again?” she threatened.
Cheng Zhanxi, knowing when to yield, begged for mercy. “I won’t, I won’t say it again.”
Yu Qingtang let her go and explained, “That was just a normal sense of shame, okay? What normal person would just stare at someone taking off their pants?”
Cheng Zhanxi verbally agreed, “Okay,” but her eyes darted around mischievously as she looked at her, clearly not believing a word.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Her lifelong reputation was ruined right here and now.
Cheng Zhanxi, thinking she had uncovered an incredible secret, said leisurely, “I never knew you were this kind of Yu Qingtang...”
Yu Qingtang raised her hand, pretending to pinch her cheeks again. Seeing this, Cheng Zhanxi grinned and changed her tune. “Smart, beautiful, and devoted. As expected of my girlfriend. I must have been blessed in a past life.”
The corners of Yu Qingtang’s lips couldn’t help but curl up. She let out a soft hmph.
Seeing that she had placated her, Cheng Zhanxi asked doubtfully, “Then why didn’t you tell me? We could have caught the last train for young love.” She looked regretful.
“...” Yu Qingtang said, “You have the nerve to ask? If you weren’t so dense, do you think I wouldn’t have dared to tell you? On the night of my eighteenth birthday, if you had said a single coherent thing after kissing me, we would have gotten together long ago.”
Cheng Zhanxi humbly admitted her mistake. “I was wrong. It’s all my fault,” she said earnestly.
She was so sincere that Yu Qingtang started to feel embarrassed. “I was at fault too,” she said. “If I had just confessed when I saw you off to go abroad, we would have been together long ago too.”
“Not necessarily,” Cheng Zhanxi said, frowning as she recalled that time.
“Hmm?” Yu Qingtang looked at her.
Cheng Zhanxi said, “I didn’t know if I liked you back then. I was just clueless, but I felt like you needed to say something to me. I just didn’t know what. If you had really confessed at the airport, I probably would have been scared and would have had to think about it for a while before giving you an answer.”
This made Yu Qingtang curious. “Then how did you figure out you liked me?”
Cheng Zhanxi’s gaze flickered away imperceptibly. Staring at the corner of the bedroom, she said, “I just missed you a lot after I went abroad. I thought about you every day, so much that I couldn’t sleep. I even cried secretly a few times. It was only later that I realized I might have developed different feelings for you.”
Yu Qingtang blushed, then felt a pang of heartache. “Then why didn’t you tell me?” The thought of Cheng Zhanxi hiding under the covers in a foreign country, missing her so much she cried, made her unbearably sad.
Cheng Zhanxi said in a small voice, “Wouldn’t that have been embarrassing?” Not wanting to dwell on her early days abroad, she changed the subject. “What about you? Did you miss me?”
A hint of shyness appeared on Yu Qingtang’s face. She nodded, but seeing that Cheng Zhanxi wasn’t satisfied, she said aloud, “Yes.”
“Did you miss me enough to cry?”
“...No.”
Cheng Zhanxi huffed and turned her back to her.
Yu Qingtang shook her shoulder, but Cheng Zhanxi only responded with a proud huff.
Yu Qingtang propped herself up on her elbow, leaned over, and kissed Cheng Zhanxi’s ear.
Like a drop of rouge dissolving in water, Cheng Zhanxi’s ear turned red at a visible speed. She spun around, her face flushed, and accused, “You’re breaking the rules!”
Yu Qingtang was in a rather good mood. A smile played on her lips. “Where’s the referee?”
Cheng Zhanxi said, “I’m the referee!”
Yu Qingtang rested her head on one arm, looking at her leisurely. “Then how do you want to penalize me?”
Cheng Zhanxi’s gaze swept past the tip of her ear. Suddenly, in a surprise move like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, she pinned Yu Qingtang beneath her. “By giving you a taste of your own medicine, of course.”
She opened her mouth and bit Yu Qingtang’s earlobe.
A wet sensation spread from behind her ear. Caught off guard, Yu Qingtang let out a low “mhm.” The sound made Cheng Zhanxi feel as if ten million ants were simultaneously gnawing at her heart and senses. Her heart pounded incredibly fast, and her breathing quickened.
Something wasn’t right.
Cheng Zhanxi immediately released the young woman in her arms.
Yu Qingtang raised a hand to cover her damp ear. The heat radiating from the tip of her ear made her lower her gaze and bite her bottom lip.
Cheng Zhanxi gently regulated her breathing. After a long moment, she whispered, “Unfair,” gently moving past the initial topic.
Because of the unexpected turn of events, the two didn’t talk much more. They lay flat on their backs, side by side, holding hands.
Cheng Zhanxi’s free hand, the one not holding Yu Qingtang’s, was clenched into a fist. All sorts of chaotic images flashed through her mind as she took a deep, restrained breath.
Yu Qingtang, meanwhile, stared at the ceiling, her dark pupils growing deeper. No one knew what she was thinking.
A slight movement came from the pillow beside her. Yu Qingtang’s eyes flickered as she heard Cheng Zhanxi take the initiative to suggest, “Should we sleep?”
Yu Qingtang: “Mhm.”
Cheng Zhanxi turned off the light.
In the darkness, their breathing became clearer, and the presence of the person beside them grew stronger. Cheng Zhanxi was a good sleeper and soon grew drowsy, but she never fell into a deep sleep. The reason she couldn’t sleep soundly was that Yu Qingtang had slipped her knuckles from between their intertwined fingers and was now stroking Cheng Zhanxi’s long index and middle fingers with the pad of her thumb, on and off.
As a painter, Cheng Zhanxi didn’t have the habit of keeping long nails. Her fingertips were rounded and neat.
Yu Qingtang played with her fingers for a while before clasping her hand tightly again and relaxing into sleep.
She had napped in the afternoon and had just arrived from home, so she wasn’t very sleepy. She started dreaming as soon as she fell asleep.
At four in the morning, Yu Qingtang woke from a dream. Her knuckles curled involuntarily; the sensation her fingertips had brushed against was smooth and slick. In the dim light, she saw Cheng Zhanxi sleeping in her arms, her nightgown wide open, completely unaware.
Yu Qingtang closed her eyes, pulled her hand back, and fixed the other woman’s messy collar. Then she quietly opened the bedroom door and went out.
On the first night after their confession, she’d had a wet dream next to her girlfriend. In the living room bathroom, Yu Qingtang cleaned herself up while deeply reflecting on her actions.
Cheng Zhanxi slept until six. She opened her eyes and stared at the empty pillow beside her for a moment, then suddenly leaped up and rushed out the door.
The apartment wasn’t large. Hearing the noise, Yu Qingtang came out of the kitchen, a carton of milk still in one hand.
Cheng Zhanxi breathed a sigh of relief, then strode over with her arms open. Just as she was about to hug her, she hesitated.
Yu Qingtang smiled at her. “Good morning, girlfriend.”
A smile bloomed on Cheng Zhanxi’s face, and she hugged her tightly.
“Morning, baby.” Cheng Zhanxi’s voice, thick with the lazy nasal tone of someone who had just woken up, had a cozy, domestic feel as it sounded by her ear.
Yu Qingtang quickly raised the hand holding the milk, letting Cheng Zhanxi hug her quietly for a moment before patting her on the shoulder. “Go wash up. Breakfast is almost ready.”
Cheng Zhanxi kissed her on the cheek, praised her for being clever with her hands, and then ran back to her room to wash up.
Clever with her hands… Yu Qingtang stood where she was, savoring the compliment. She glanced down at her own hands, and the corners of her lips hooked up slightly.
“I’m off to school.”
“Okay, be safe on your way.”
Cheng Zhanxi had already reached the door, but she ran back in a few quick steps and hugged Yu Qingtang’s waist, whining, “I don’t want to go to school.”
Yu Qingtang was sitting on the sofa. She stroked her long hair and said softly, “Come back early.”
Hearing her gentle tone, Cheng Zhanxi found it even harder to leave.
“Maybe I should take another day off?”
“Can you take a week off?” Yu Qingtang looked at her and smiled.
Cheng Zhanxi whimpered twice like a puppy, rubbing against her knee, before letting go and heading off to school.
After Cheng Zhanxi left, Yu Qingtang made a call to her master, Teacher Tian. Afterward, she took out her laptop and began typing something intently into a document.
“What’s wrong with you? You look so down.” Yu Jianxing walked up and patted Cheng Zhanxi on the shoulder.
Cheng Zhanxi snapped out of her daze as if waking from a dream. “It’s nothing,” she said. She looked at Yu Jianxing, wanting to speak but hesitating. She wanted to share the good news of being with her beloved, but she felt listless from being separated from Yu Qingtang for a whole day.
Cheng Zhanxi sighed.
Yu Jianxing rarely saw her so listless. “What’s really wrong?” she asked.
Cheng Zhanxi said, “Yu Qingtang came to visit me.”
It was strange. Just a moment ago she was listless, but the moment she mentioned Yu Qingtang’s name, her face lit up, and her mood index soared.
Seeing her smiling like a flower, Yu Jianxing immediately and shrewdly said, “Something’s up! Spill it!”
Cheng Zhanxi waved her hand shyly. “It’s nothing much. We just got together.”
Yu Jianxing jumped up in excitement and threw her arms around Cheng Zhanxi’s neck, laughing loudly. “You! Pulling off something so big without a peep. You’re just trying to shove your public displays of affection in my face, aren’t you?”
Cheng Zhanxi laughed heartily.
Yu Jianxing’s eyes lit up. “So? Have you hit a home run yet?” Wow, she sounded like an old pro from the get-go.
Cheng Zhanxi pushed her on the forehead. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
An unnatural flush appeared on her face.
Yu Jianxing pointed at her. “Don’t you dare say you haven’t thought about it!”
Cheng Zhanxi gave a light cough.
Of course she... had thought about it.
In fact, it was thanks to Yu Jianxing that she had truly realized she liked Yu Qingtang. For her eighteenth birthday, Yu Jianxing had given her a gift—a small snowman. Cheng Zhanxi didn’t have anyone she liked, but she was instinctively curious about that, so she tried it. Afterward, using the excuse of being adults, Yu Jianxing generously shared a lot of related knowledge with her, including but not limited to novels and movie discs.
As a normally developing girl, Cheng Zhanxi started having colorful dreams at night. The other main character in those dreams was, without a doubt, always Yu Qingtang.
If she tried to explain that her feelings for Yu Qingtang were purely sisterly, the panties she had to wash every morning wouldn’t agree!
So when Yu Qingtang asked her how she knew she liked her, of course Cheng Zhanxi couldn’t tell the truth!
Cheng Zhanxi avoided Yu Jianxing’s question and said in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Yu Jianxing rolled her eyes. They were adults now, couldn’t they play some adult games?
Cheng Zhanxi still had class, so she bid a hasty farewell to Yu Jianxing. “I’m off. I won’t be having dinner with you tonight.”
Yu Jianxing cursed “Choosing a lover over friends” at her retreating back, then happily ran toward another classroom in the opposite direction.
In the classroom, Cheng Zhanxi used the last minute before class started to miss Yu Qingtang. Yu Jianxing’s words inadvertently surfaced in her mind.
It was true that she thought about it, but Yu Qingtang was surely different. She seemed so cool and aloof, devoid of such thoughts, as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
Cheng Zhanxi twirled her paintbrush between her fingers. Then she recalled Yu Qingtang’s aroused reaction when she bit her ear last night, and her conviction wavered.
She should be... pure, right?
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