BSS - Chapter 44
Chapter 44
"Don't say you're sorry."
Xu Wei tilted her head up and looked at Deng Chuan, speaking softly.
The moonlight reflected on her beautiful face. Deng Chuan reached out, her hand brushing past Xu Wei's slightly raised chin, then gradually moved upward, slowly and gently landing in that patch of moonlight, as if plucking a lotus from the moonlight.
Both of them fell silent. As if drained of strength, Deng Chuan stared blankly into those tender, loving eyes. She felt all the irrepressible palpitations and guilt rise and fall with the tide of her emotions before settling down. In the depths of Xu Wei's eyes, everything, including Deng Chuan herself, seemed to gradually dissolve into nothing.
"You should think more about yourself," Xu Wei said.
Meeting Deng Chuan's gaze, she smiled candidly. "It's too early to talk about four years from now, Deng Chuan. Life doesn't give you second chances. I just hope you don't take a wrong step, and more importantly, that you don't have any regrets."
"I'm not afraid of regret." Deng Chuan was still looking at her, her brow slightly furrowed. "I'm just afraid of leaving behind regrets."
"No regrets," Xu Wei coaxed her, pretending to shake her head seriously, but a faint smile spread across her face. Accompanied by the night, it draped her in a layer of rose-colored, soft, delicate gauze.
She pressed her face against Deng Chuan's shoulder and said softly, "When you get to my age, you'll understand. Four years… four years isn't actually that long. It passes in the blink of an eye. But you're different. You're still young. You can see more, better scenery. Youth is fleeting, don't waste it."
Deng Chuan really wanted to ask her, if four years isn't long, what if there are many more four-year periods after that?
No one could say what the world would be like then.
But at that moment, Xu Wei lifted her head, her gaze deep and meaningful as she said, "I'm not afraid, so you shouldn't be afraid either."
Her lips curved into an incredibly gentle smile for Deng Chuan.
That night, as they were about to part, Deng Chuan, sitting in Xu Wei's passenger seat, leaned over to hug her.
She hugged so tightly that Xu Wei could barely breathe. Xu Wei could only pat her on the back, signaling for her to relax a little.
Deng Chuan said nothing, still holding her tightly. A faint floral scent hung in the air—it was the Aisha roses lying on the back seat, mixed with Xu Wei's own fragrance. Deng Chuan closed her eyes.
If only time could stop at this moment, she thought.
At the end of July, Deng Chuan successfully received her acceptance letter from P University.
During the month of waiting for the letter, she passed Subjects One and Two of her driving test, attended the teacher appreciation banquet, class reunions, and the graduation ceremony, and went out with friends. After all the complicated affairs were over, life gradually returned to tranquility.
As always, Deng Chuan kept her schedule packed. After passing Subject Two, her driving practice time was reduced. She practiced driving in the morning, tutored in the afternoon, and asked Xu Wei out for a walk in the evening.
The student she was tutoring was a younger girl from her high school. Her parents were acquainted with Lao Deng and had heard about Deng Chuan's reputation, both directly and indirectly, for a while. It was only natural that they sought her out, offering a rate higher than the market price.
The girl would be starting her third year of high school after the break. Her other subjects were decent, but her English foundation was truly weak. In the first session, Deng Chuan had her do a test paper and also looked over her past report cards and exams to get a preliminary understanding of her level.
While Deng Chuan was preparing her lesson, Xu Wei happened to be beside her. The school had assigned her to teach a second-year high school class next year, so her holiday tasks were much lighter. As Deng Chuan was engrossed in writing her teaching plan, Xu Wei took the opportunity to see how she was doing.
"Not bad at all, Little Teacher Deng." Xu Wei placed her hand on the back of Deng Chuan's, which was resting on the desk, intentionally teasing her.
Deng Chuan was sitting cross-legged on the living room carpet in Xu Wei's home. Hearing this, she smiled a little sheepishly. "Being a teacher is so hard."
Xu Wei watched for a moment, poured her a glass of water, and casually flipped through the English textbooks piled beside her.
Deng Chuan had brought the books—her English textbooks from her first and second years of high school—to help her structure the knowledge system. The pages were flat and well-preserved. The notes inside were dense, and Xu Wei flipped through them page by page with great interest.
Besides notes, there were more notes. There was nothing personal or interesting, let alone any doodles or drawings. Xu Wei couldn't help but think with a smile, She's way too serious.
She put the book down and leaned over to look at Deng Chuan's progress. Little Teacher Deng's thinking was clear. She had broken down the knowledge framework into individual key points, supplemented with classic examples and real Gaokao questions, and had even planned out the homework she would assign.
Seeing Deng Chuan being so serious, Xu Wei, on the contrary, felt a bit playful.
Deng Chuan kept her head down, so Xu Wei simply reached out to massage the back of her neck and deliberately struck up a conversation. "Little Teacher Deng, how is your student's learning situation?"
Deng Chuan, focused on listing out the key points, replied, "She's quite diligent."
"Oh." A slender, delicate hand pressed on her shoulder. The next second, Xu Wei leaned close to her ear, watching Deng Chuan write and scribble with her pen, and also watching Deng Chuan herself.
Deng Chuan sensed her gaze. She wrote for a little while longer but couldn't help putting down her pen and turning her head to ask, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Xu Wei said nonchalantly. "Just looking at you."
Deng Chuan nuzzled her cheek. "I'm almost done. It'll just be a moment."
"I'm not rushing you."
As Xu Wei said this, her gaze remained on Deng Chuan's face. The white light from overhead gave her the illusion of being back a few months ago. Deng Chuan's side profile hadn't changed much, except that the hair on her forehead was a bit longer. Her lips were unconsciously pursed as she wrote, which, along with her straight nose and bright, sharp eyes, gave her an exceptionally strong presence.
It seems she's grown up a little more.
Xu Wei stared at Deng Chuan's profile for a while, then suddenly reached out and touched her chin, giving it a little scratch as if teasing a cat.
This made Deng Chuan look at her once again.
"Let me do your makeup," Xu Wei said, holding her chin. Her gaze drifted lightly to Deng Chuan's lips.
Deng Chuan was a good student, and also a good model. She gladly put down the teaching plan she was halfway through writing and let Xu Wei pull her into the bedroom. She sat down at a small table covered in bottles and jars and watched as Xu Wei studied her for a moment, then twisted open a small tube and used her finger to gently dot the product on the sides of her face, the tip of her nose, her chin, and her forehead.
It was cool to the touch. Deng Chuan resisted the urge to turn her head away, enjoying Xu Wei's focused gaze.
The scent of the primer quietly diffused into the air as Xu Wei traced Deng Chuan's features with her fingers.
Deng Chuan's looks weren't masculine; on the contrary, she was a girl with very distinct and well-defined features. So much so that when Xu Wei got to the contouring step, she paused her hand by the side of Deng Chuan's nose in frustration, gave it just a light sweep, and then finished with the contouring.
Xu Wei told Deng Chuan to close her eyes, and Deng Chuan obediently did so. The dark shadows of her lowered lashes seemed to close away a bit of Xu Wei's own flustered feelings.
She filled in her eyebrows, watching them take shape under her fingertips, complementing her high nose bridge and further accentuating her refined beauty.
She cupped her face, carefully applying color to her lips. Their soft breaths brushed against each other's faces, a distance more intimate than a kiss.
"Done." Xu Wei gestured for Deng Chuan to press her lips together, then put an arm around her shoulder to look in the mirror.
"Is it pretty?" she said gently, while gathering the long strands of Deng Chuan's hair that had fallen onto her shoulder and tying it up for her again.
Deng Chuan stared blankly at the reflection of Xu Wei, who was looking down as she tied her hair, and said in a low voice, "It's pretty."
"Deng Chuan." Xu Wei leaned down, looking at their two reflections in the mirror with Deng Chuan. She wanted to say something but didn't. She just remained silent, leaning against Deng Chuan's shoulder. After a long moment, she gave her ear a restrained kiss.
They spent a lot of time in Xu Wei's small rented apartment. Deng Chuan went out so frequently at night that even Lao Deng, who was rarely home, noticed. They would curl up on the sofa and watch all kinds of movies. Deng Chuan preferred calm, profound art-house films, and Xu Wei would often fall asleep leaning on her shoulder.
They also read on the sofa and shared watermelons. Xu Wei's family sent a lot of lychees, most of which ended up in Deng Chuan's stomach. The sticky juice from peeling the lychees dripped down, and Zhou Liu always liked to snuggle up to Deng Chuan. Afraid the cat would get his fur dirty, Xu Wei would just pick him up and move him aside.
Meanwhile, Su Mian spent her last week in town. Two months before the start of the term, she flew to the UK to prepare for the winter semester.
Deng Chuan successfully passed Subjects Three and Four of her driving test. After she got her license, her uncle kept his promise and quickly slapped the new car keys into her hand.
The new car was a black Lexus UX. Deng Chuan took it out on the road a few times by herself and finally felt confident enough to persuade Xu Wei to sit in her passenger seat.
Xu Wei, however, agreed without hesitation. "Okay. Your Sister Yang Jing is coming tomorrow. It's perfect timing to pick her up from the airport."
Yang Jing's flight was at three in the afternoon. At first, Deng Chuan didn't recognize her. She had dyed her hair back to black and removed her bright makeup, and her features were surprisingly delicate and pretty.
But her personality was the same as ever. As soon as she saw Deng Chuan, she gave her a meaningful smile, smiling so much that it completely dispelled the initial sense of unfamiliarity Deng Chuan felt.
She casually handed her suitcase to Deng Chuan and subtly intercepted Xu Wei's hand as she came to help, sighing theatrically, "Oh my god, you two have such great skin."
Xu Wei said, "Yours would be good too if you didn't stay up all night."
"That's different," Yang Jing said in a matter-of-fact tone. "How can my skin be good without the nourishment of love?"
Xu Wei took a deep breath, slowed her pace to wait for Deng Chuan who was walking behind them, and ignored Yang Jing's comment.
Yang Jing's words relentlessly followed her. "Teacher Xu, why are you being so cold?"
"Are you like this with me now too?"
"You've changed." Yang Jing sized up Xu Wei's outfit as she walked. "You even wear below-the-knee skirts now."
Xu Wei lowered her voice. "Keep it down."
Yang Jing replied in a whisper, "Okay."
The three of them walked to the parking lot, put the suitcase in the trunk, and Yang Jing pulled Xu Wei into the back seat with her.
She glanced at Deng Chuan, who was focused on driving, and whispered to Xu Wei, "So you two… how are things going?"
Xu Wei glanced at her and nodded once.
Yang Jing hesitated for a long time but couldn't suppress her curiosity. She leaned in and asked Xu Wei in a true whisper:
"So… are you… compatible?"
Xu Wei followed her gaze and saw Deng Chuan's eyes in the rearview mirror, focused on the road.
She only glanced for a second before looking away. Without a word, she turned her head to look out the window.
Seeing Xu Wei's reaction, Yang Jing leaned close to her ear and, with a mischievous tone, enunciated her words carefully, "No way. You're telling me, Deng Chuan… can't do it, can she?"
The warm breath tickled her ear, and the three "can'ts" made Xu Wei choke on her words. She was silent for a long moment, then suddenly let out a long sigh, took out her phone, and started tapping on the screen.
Yang Jing waited for a long time without getting a reply. Seeing her ignoring her and just looking at her phone, she said with dissatisfaction, "What are you doing? How can you be playing on your phone when I just got here?"
"I'm booking a ticket to send you away immediately."
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