‘So uncomfortable…’
‘My body’s so hot.’
‘My stomach hurts too… why?’
‘Am I feverish… because of what happened yesterday…?’
Dazedly opening her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
‘Right, I stayed overnight at Liu Yinuo’s place. This is no longer that old attic. And… last night, Liu Yinuo came to find me…’
She tried to move her shoulders, and even that simple action felt sore. Ye Xingmian turned her head and saw…
Liu Yinuo’s sleeping face.
The curtains hadn’t been drawn last night, and the morning sunlight spilled golden across her face, making her eyelashes sparkle.
However, she was sleeping on the outside, so Ye Xingmian couldn’t move easily.
‘Her body felt terrible, sore and aching, making her very uneasy.’
Ye Xingmian frowned slightly and tried to sit up and get out of bed.
Unfortunately, her long hair accidentally brushed across Liu Yinuo’s face. The girl sleeping with her frowned in slight displeasure and quickly opened her eyes.
“Xingmian… what are you doing?”
Ye Xingmian stiffened. To keep Liu Yinuo from noticing her abnormality, she forced a smile and shrank back, moving a bit further away.
“I… want to go to the restroom.”
“Huh?”
Liu Yinuo sat up as well, tilting her head in confusion.
She didn’t seem to mind at all, just staring at Ye Xingmian intently.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look well. Is your stomach hurting again?”
“Mm… a little…”
Although she got an answer, Liu Yinuo was still worried. She squinted and reached out a hand to touch Ye Xingmian’s forehead.
Feeling the abnormally high temperature, she frowned deeply.
“You have a fever?”
Seeing that she couldn’t hide it anymore, Ye Xingmian could only respond with an “mm.”
“What are you hiding for? Embarrassed? Well, anyway, do you still need to go to the restroom? Take this with you, and change while you’re at it. I’ll go get you some medicine.”
“Either you caught it from me, or you got chilled outside yesterday. Either way, it’s nothing serious. You should be fine after taking medicine.”
And just like that, everything was arranged.
After that, Liu Yinuo started to straighten her clothes and get out of bed.
“What are you spacing out for? Aren’t you going?”
Liu Yinuo suddenly turned her head to look at Ye Xingmian, who was in a daze.
“Ah… mm… okay, I’m going.”
Ye Xingmian hurriedly left like that.
Today was supposed to be the first day of Ye Xingmian’s stay at the Liu home.
Things were going naturally, no major problems.
But watching her retreating figure, for some reason, Liu Yinuo inexplicably thought of yesterday.
To be precise, it was the Ye Xingmian who, after getting drunk yesterday, clung to her with eyes full of dependence.
Like a little kitten…
Pursing her lips, Liu Yinuo’s gaze dimmed a little. She shook her head and went out to get the medicine.
She hadn’t fully recovered from her cold either, and there was still plenty of medicine at home.
But what she didn’t expect was that as soon as she stepped out, she ran straight into her mother.
“Awake?”
Her mother was sitting on the living room sofa, holding a cup of hot milk, apparently having breakfast.
Liu Yinuo squinted.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He went to work first. I’ll be going soon too. Work has been pretty busy this year; no time to rest even on weekends. It should ease up after a while.”
“Mm.”
Nodding, Liu Yinuo was about to walk past nonchalantly.
“Speaking of which, you still didn’t listen to me last night. You went to see her in the middle of the night, didn’t you?”
“Mm.”
She had just come out of Ye Xingmian’s room, so it would be hard to hide it. Besides, she had no intention of hiding it.
However, Mother Liu glanced at her and suddenly sighed.
“You didn’t do anything bad to her, did you? Don’t do things you shouldn’t. She has a soft temperament, don’t force her.”
“I know.”
There were two glasses of milk on the table, apparently prepared for the two of them.
Liu Yinuo sat down on the sofa and took a piece of bread.
This breakfast was quite simple, but easy to prepare. Their family often ate breakfast like this.
She stuffed the bread into her mouth and chewed quietly.
“Mom knows what you’re thinking.”
Her mother, sitting across from her, suddenly spoke.
“You have feelings for her, don’t you? Don’t think you can hide it from me. I’ve seen it all.”
“Huh?”
“Mm…”
Liu Yinuo hadn’t intended to hide it anyway.
“Mom doesn’t oppose you, even if you’re both girls. Technology is very advanced now; it can meet your needs.”
This was somewhat unexpected for Liu Yinuo.
She hadn’t thought her mother would be so open-minded. She had expected some opposition…
“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing love. You’re still young; you have the capital to make mistakes.”
“But Mom still has to say: don’t let it affect your future, understand? Mom doesn’t want you to do something foolish for her.”
“Oh…”
As expected, she brought this up again. Liu Yinuo was a little dismissive.
“Everyone has all kinds of desires, but sufficient material resources are the foundation for satisfying desires. Otherwise, it’s all empty talk.”
The sound of flushing came from the restroom.
Mother Liu glanced sideways, then stood up.
“That’s all Mom wanted to say. I won’t nag anymore. I hope you’ll remember. I’m leaving now. Take good care of her.”
“Okay.”
Mother Liu left, closing the living room door behind her.
Soon, Ye Xingmian, who had finished in the restroom, also came to the living room.
Her steps were a bit unsteady. She came over holding her head, her eyes somewhat vacant.
“Aunt… did she leave?” she asked.
“Mm, just left. Come over first. Do you want to eat something first, or take medicine first?”
Ye Xingmian was silent for a moment, then slowly came over and looked at the food on the table.
“Did Aunt prepare all this?”
“Mm.”
“She worked so hard… um, maybe I should make you breakfast from now on, and do housework too… I can’t just eat and stay for free…”
“It doesn’t matter. Do whatever makes you happy.”
“Mm…”
Ye Xingmian sat down next to her.
“Where’s the medicine?”
“Want to take medicine first? I’ll get it for you.”
“Mm, thanks.”
After taking medicine and eating breakfast, Liu Yinuo told Ye Xingmian to lie down in bed.
“Is it okay? The living room looks a bit messy. I… I can help clean up…”
“Listen to me.”
Liu Yinuo said in a tone that brooked no argument.
“Alright…”
Ye Xingmian finally nodded.
Once on the bed, Liu Yinuo brought over her schoolbag and pulled out an exercise book.
“Now I’m going to start tutoring you. Did you leave any books at the Lin house?”
“I don’t think so… My books are all at school.”
Ye Xingmian was a bit groggy and uncertain. The high fever seemed to affect her state, making her look not very sharp.
“Mm, that’s fine. If you did leave any, it’s okay. You can just use mine.”
“Mm…”
“Where should we start? Is this okay?”
“Okay…”
Actually, Ye Xingmian felt terrible.
Her stomach hurt, her head was dizzy, and she couldn’t concentrate at all.
But since it was Liu Yinuo’s suggestion, she had to grit her teeth and listen.
If she could, she would really like to take a nap and sleep a bit more.
After all, it was still early…
The first day at the Liu home didn’t seem as warm as she had imagined.