CSGM - Chapter 116
Chapter 116: Bathroom Confession
Chu Xi looked at her, her brow unfurrowed in a happy smile. "You really shouldn't overthink it."
Ren Zhi: "..."
Is it possible that you're the one who's thinking too little?
The fact that Chu Xi was as dense and straightforward as a block of wood gave Ren Zhi a headache.
If anyone else had dropped such hints, they would have known to maintain a proper distance long ago.
Or rather, even though she had intentionally spoken with a cold tone, Chu Xi's enthusiasm burned right through it, allowing her to forge ahead without hesitation.
With her frankness and sincerity alone, Chu Xi could completely break through all of Ren Zhi's defenses.
A direct approach was the perfect counter to overthinking. For the first time, Ren Zhi felt completely helpless when facing someone.
Chu Xi even smiled and said:
"Should I carry you to the bath? Or should I bring a basin of water over for you to soak your feet?"
Ren Zhi's mind was in chaos.
"I need to take a bath..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Chu Xi immediately swept her up in a princess carry and took her to the walk-in closet.
Chu Xi had her face a row of nightgowns and asked, "What do you want to wear later?"
The voice floated down lightly from above Ren Zhi's head.
"The green nightdress... Stop carrying me around all the time! I can walk."
Chu Xi said, "It's more convenient for me to carry you, and you're so light."
Ren Zhi said in a low voice, "Chu Xi, put me down."
Chu Xi replied seriously, "Is it really convenient for you to move when your leg is acting up again? Don't make things hard for yourself. There's no one else here. Let me do it, it's fine."
As she spoke, she even chided her, "Who told you to go out on a rainy day, and without even applying your medicated plaster properly?"
At this point, Chu Xi was indeed a little displeased.
She was genuinely worried about Ren Zhi's pain.
Ren Zhi saw her brow furrow slightly.
Ren Zhi pressed her lips together.
She found herself in a very difficult situation.
She didn't want to hurt Chu Xi's enthusiasm with a blunt rejection. Of course, she was also afraid that if she spoke up, Chu Xi would realize the reason for her guilty conscience. Compared to the other's frankness, her own lack of self-control was simply embarrassing.
But being slowly boiled like a frog in warm water, she worried that one day she would truly become dependent on this taste of special treatment.
If she fell in and couldn't pull herself out, she would be completely done for.
The precise pain of a straight girl flirting with a lesbian was exactly this kind of dilemma.
Ren Zhi sat in the bathtub, rinsing off the soap. The sound of trickling water continued for a long time.
Ever since the drone incident in the complex, a screen had been placed in front of the bathtub.
Chu Xi sat waiting behind the screen, which was painted with a green seaweed pattern. Resting her chin on one hand, she muttered:
"No wonder you smell so good. You take so long to bathe."
Facing her tonight, Ren Zhi felt exceptionally tired.
"Don't talk."
"Oh."
She normally never took this long to bathe. Tonight, her chaotic thoughts had simply caused her to drag things out.
As for why she was delaying, Chu Xi was the last person with any right to comment on how long she was taking.
After a moment of enforced silence, Chu Xi asked again from behind the screen:
"Did you soak in the tub?"
Ren Zhi: "No."
Chu Xi: "Then be careful not to let your leg get cold, and don't get the medicated plaster wet."
Ren Zhi: "I know. Aren't you going back to sleep?"
Chu Xi: "But you've been giving me the cold shoulder all day. I want to spend a little more time with you tonight."
"Anyway, your leg hurts, so let me keep you company. I can carry you back later."
Listening, Ren Zhi closed her eyes, wrung out a washcloth, and pressed it to her face.
Half a minute later, she mustered her courage and said mockingly to Chu Xi:
"Don't be so clingy. You might make me misunderstand and think you've fallen for me."
Heaven knew how much mental preparation it took for a closeted gay woman like Ren Zhi to deliver that line so lightly, as if it were a joke.
It was a good thing she was an actress, and a good thing she had excellent line delivery.
--What a coincidence. While Chu Xi was waiting, she had been thinking about what Jin Yuan had said to her that evening.
When Ren Zhi suddenly said this, it was as if someone had tapped her on the head from afar.
A thought flashed through her mind, and Chu Xi felt a moment of sudden enlightenment. Before her brain could even process it, the words were already on the tip of her tongue.
"Yes, I like you."
Clatter--
The showerhead fell into the bathtub, nearly flipping over and spraying Ren Zhi in the face.
Just as Ren Zhi picked it up, Chu Xi's voice continued from behind the screen without a pause, the words tumbling out one after another like beans from a winnowing basket:
"Of course I like you, and I hope you can open your heart to me. If something's on your mind, will you tell me? When you can't sleep, it's not just the drone that can keep you company-I can, too. Would sleeping with someone else make you feel more secure? You really shouldn't feel like you owe me anything. If I can take care of you, I'm willing to do it forever. Even if things get troublesome, you are not a trouble. You're different from everyone else in my heart. When you're with me, maybe you can learn to carry less baggage; that might suit you better. If you feel that doing so much for you as just a friend is a psychological burden, then how about I become your girlfriend?"
By the time she finished, Ren Zhi had gone numb to the feeling of the water from the showerhead hitting her body.
After all, Ren Zhi was a goddess who had been pursued by many people.
Especially in recent years, she had received countless confessions-many from men, but quite a few from women as well.
There were confessions in parks, in restaurants, online from people who'd had too much to drink, in love letters tucked into gifts, and even shameless ones from people blocking her hotel room door.
Of course, no matter the setting, she was already used to the spectacle of a confession.
Now, even if someone stood before her and said, "I love you, Ren Zhi," her heart wouldn't stir much.
If time were turned back to last year, the sheer number of pursuers would have often annoyed her.
Only what Chu Xi did tonight caught her completely off guard.
Her mind buzzed and went blank.
Strictly speaking, even a confession where someone suddenly knelt with flowers the moment she opened her hotel room door wouldn't count as truly being caught off guard.
Because those were all scenarios she had mentally prepared for.
Only Chu Xi-who, unlike others with their attentive lead-ups or stammering shyness, had just rattled off a huge speech before landing a direct hit-was truly and completely unexpected.
It even made Ren Zhi hesitate blankly for a second-
Is Chu Xi confessing to me?
The content of the last sentence drilled into her ears, and her brain's interpretation was: It seems so.
Ren Zhi now felt as if she'd been caught completely unprepared.
She felt as if she had entered a frozen world, with only a mass of chaos flowing through her mind.
Why did Chu Xi suddenly say all this?
From the moment she said, "Of course I like you," Ren Zhi had found it hard to fend off.
By the time she finished with "how about I become your girlfriend?" Ren Zhi almost hallucinated that she had traveled to a parallel world and met that world's version of Chu Xi.
Because just a moment ago, everything had been completely normal...
After waiting for a long time without a reply, Chu Xi made a questioning "Hm?" sound.
"Ren Zhi, did you hear me? Yes or no?"
Behind the bathroom screen: "..."
Hearing her calm and composed tone, Ren Zhi carefully pondered what could possibly be wrong with Chu Xi.
At least she believed Chu Xi wouldn't play a prank on her.
Chu Xi had asked very seriously, perhaps even with a degree of sincerity.
But it was like she was asking with the same seriousness and sincerity if she could drink the milk from her fridge.
Before she could answer, Chu Xi asked worriedly:
"What's wrong? Are you okay? Can I turn around and take a look?"
Ren Zhi instantly snapped back to her senses and answered in a split second:
"Don't come over!"
"Oh, okay... Don't worry, I won't peek. I just thought you might have fainted."
Ren Zhi closed her eyes and pressed her eyelids, feeling that she herself wasn't far from fainting.
"Chu Xi, have you lost your mind?"
"What?"
Suddenly being scolded, Chu Xi was taken aback.
But she quickly recovered.
"You're gay anyway, and I happen to be a woman. What's the problem with me being your girlfriend?"
Ren Zhi took a slow breath. She didn't deny Chu Xi's assertion about her sexuality, but said:
"Aren't you straight? Why would you be my girlfriend?"
Chu Xi answered without a second thought.
"As long as you're willing, I don't have a problem with it."
"Okay?" she pressed urgently.
Silence fell behind the screen again. This time, Chu Xi didn't interrupt Ren Zhi's thoughts.
Chu Xi lost track of how much time had passed.
Ren Zhi spoke. "No."
No.
No.
Chu Xi turned her head in astonishment, staring at the green screen as if her gaze could pierce right through it.
"Why?"
She hadn't anticipated an answer, but upon hearing this reply, she felt an unprecedented wave of nervousness.
There was also surprise, wrapped in the thousand tangled thoughts that flooded her mind in that instant.
This sliver of surprise was a reflection of her subconscious expectations.
Ren Zhi didn't answer. The sound of water stopped, and as Chu Xi stared at the screen, she saw a graceful silhouette getting dressed in front of the tub.
She went in, picked up the limping Ren Zhi, and carried her back to the bedroom. Finally, she couldn't help but ask again:
"Can't I be your girlfriend?"
Ren Zhi's eyes shifted away from her as she grabbed her phone, diverting her attention.
"No."
Chu Xi frowned, unable to accept it, and questioned her again.
"Do you think I'm not good enough?"
She hadn't failed the film audition where she played two roles, one of them a reverse role.
When she auditioned for the most sought-after female lead in Jade-Carving Ballad, she had succeeded.
How could it be that when it came to Ren Zhi, she was being rejected?
Ren Zhi stared at her phone, her gaze fixed. Even the act of swallowing felt stiff.
Chu Xi must have taken the wrong medicine today, she thought.
She couldn't be like Chu Xi, letting her heart and mind fall into chaos.
"No," Ren Zhi refused, crisply and decisively. She then told Chu Xi, "Hurry up and go downstairs to sleep. Stop thinking about it."
A new depth, like the night itself, appeared in Chu Xi's eyes.
Like a whirlpool forming in the heart of the tide, a new thought quietly began to form within her.
No one can predict the arrival of a mysterious whirlpool in the deep sea, just as the human psyche is forever difficult to fathom.
Chu Xi had a sudden intuition.
Perhaps a moment ago, she had only been telling Ren Zhi that they could give it a try.
But now, Ren Zhi's rejection had unexpectedly sparked an even stronger desire within her.
Even as she was about to leave, she had to add one more thing:
"Okay, I'll head back for now. But will you reconsider? Think more about my good points."
Comments
Post a Comment