“Hmm? No response? Have the two of you already gone out? In that case, I’ll just open the door and tidy up the room a bit.”
A few seconds later, before Su Wanli could even figure out how to respond, Li Yunsheng’s muttering came from the doorway. It was followed by the sound of a key sliding into the lock.
“…!”
Su Wanli’s heart tightened. On instinct, she raised her hand, trying to push away the arms of Meng Wange, who had pulled her into an embrace.
However, Meng Wange seemed to have the same idea.
A rare flicker of panic passed through her usually calm, indifferent eyes. Almost at the exact moment Su Wanli moved, she immediately let go and distanced herself a small step away.
But that small distance—that misalignment of less than half a second—became the last straw.
Su Wanli, who had barely been able to maintain her balance, suddenly found her hands grabbing at empty air. Her body could no longer keep steady. Helplessly, she tilted forward and fell headfirst into Meng Wange’s warm, soft embrace.
To be precise, Su Wanli’s cheek accidentally landed right on the two soft curves of Meng Wange’s chest.
“—!?”
The sensation was so soft, so unreal, that Su Wanli felt as if she had plunged headfirst into a warm, fluffy cloud.
Click.
Without any pause, Li Yunsheng opened the door with one hand while the other held a tray with two bottles of mineral water.
She yawned lazily, stretched a little, and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. Then, her gaze landed on a rather intimate scene.
Su Wanli’s arms were tightly wrapped around Meng Wange’s waist, her cheek pressed against Meng Wange’s chest. Meng Wange, in turn, had instinctively wrapped her arms around Su Wanli—one hand resting on Su Wanli’s shoulder, the other gently patting the back of her head.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
The only sounds were the waves washing against the shore and a few seagulls crying overhead.
Li Yunsheng lightly scratched the tip of her nose. Her eyes lingered on Su Wanli’s face for a moment, then slowly moved downward, landing on the half of a forearm that was ambiguously slipping past the hem of Meng Wange’s pajamas—its palm currently somewhere unknown.
“Uh, well…”
The expression on Li Yunsheng’s face shifted from the initial lazy, casual look to one of slight confusion and surprise, and finally settled into a knowing, sly smile.
“Ahem, I’m really sorry. It seems I’ve come at a bad time and interrupted you two lovebirds. Classmate Meng Wange, please continue. Don’t mind me. I’ll just drop off some water and… oh no, I mean these two bottles of water. I’ll leave them at the door of your room. I’ll be going now.”
“Hey!? Wait!!”
Seeing the clearly misinterpreted expression on Li Yunsheng’s face, Su Wanli’s cheeks flushed bright red. Flustered, she smacked away Meng Wange’s arm, propped herself up on the bed, and shouted back at Li Yunsheng’s retreating figure—
“It’s not what you think!? What ‘lovebirds’?! We were just sleeping normally!”
“…Mm-hmm? Just sleeping normally, you say?”
Li Yunsheng, who had already halfway stepped out of the room, raised an eyebrow at this. She smiled and turned back to face the two girls on the bed.
“Well then, I’ll go ahead and tidy up the room for you, okay? But before I change the sheets, there’s something I need to ask.”
She placed the tray lightly on the table in the room, then pointed at the small, long-dried patch of crimson on the bedsheet.
“May I ask… does this blood—I mean this stain—hold any sentimental value for the two of you? Would you like to buy it as a keepsake?”
“…Huh? Sentimental value? As a keepsake? What nonsense are you talking about? Why would I want to buy a broken bedsheet…”
Su Wanli frowned in confusion, then followed Li Yunsheng’s finger to look at the bloodstain on the bed.
The bedsheet, the bloodstain, the sentimental value, buying it as a keepsake…
Su Wanli’s brain churned slowly for two or three seconds before she finally realized what this innuendo-spouting female shopkeeper was trying to imply.
“…Ha!? Th-this is nosebleed! Just nosebleed! Ordinary blood that came out of my nose, okay!? What are you even thinking!? Meng Wange and I didn’t do anything weird!”
“Hehe, I wasn’t thinking anything. You’re the one who suddenly got all flustered.”
Li Yunsheng shrugged casually and gave Su Wanli a slight grin.
“But you did say it was a bloodstain, right? Bloodstains are really hard to wash out, especially dried ones. So technically, you’d need to pay the inn fifty yuan as compensation. However, since you’re both students and you’re so cute, I’ll be generous and not charge you. I’ll just change the sheets for free.”
“Hmph! Who cares about your fifty yuan? I’ll transfer it to you! But this really is just—”
Meng Wange gently patted Su Wanli on the shoulder and smiled, shaking her head. Then she leaned down to straighten Su Wanli’s collar and covered her exposed calves and sides with the blanket.
After doing all this carefully, she looked politely at Li Yunsheng, who was standing at the door, and spoke—
“Madam Li, this is indeed my friend’s nosebleed. We ate some spicy food last night, so she’s a bit overheated. Please leave two more bottles of water at the door. We’ll tidy up the room and then go out.”
“Ohhh, overheated. Good excuse. I often get overheated after eating hotpot too.”
Hearing this, Li Yunsheng nodded knowingly. She didn’t linger any longer. She waved at the two girls and turned to leave.
But just as she was halfway out, she seemed to remember something. She turned back again and looked at Su Wanli with a concerned expression.
“Oh, and to avoid a bad experience at our establishment, I’d like to ask in advance: will you two be coming back tonight to… have hotpot again? If so, I can prepare an extra set of sheets in your room in advance. You can just change them yourselves.”
“I already told you, it’s just a nosebleed!!!”
“I’m talking about a nosebleed too, aren’t I?”
Li Yunsheng winked at Su Wanli, flashing a pure, innocent smile. Then, humming a little tune, she leisurely closed the door behind her.