The smile on Ye Lan’s face stiffened for a moment as she looked at Mu Xi with some surprise. “What’s wrong? Little Xi, who upset you?”
Her gaze instinctively swept toward Ling Yue, still sitting at the dining table, with a hint of doubt and warning.
Ling Yue seemed oblivious to that gaze, still gracefully lifting her water cup and taking a small sip.
Mu Xi took a deep breath, suppressed the trembling in her heart, mustered her courage, and, almost as if throwing caution to the wind, poured out all the words she had been holding in:
“It’s Teacher Ling Yue! She joked with me, saying, saying she’s your ex-girlfriend!”
At this point, she stared fixedly into Ye Lan’s eyes, wanting to see even a trace of guilt or panic in them.
“How do you explain that?!”
She demanded, her voice rising with agitation, “You deliberately arranged for her to live here, next door to me. What are you trying to do? Do you want to get back together with her? No!”
The more Mu Xi spoke, the more she felt her guess was right. All the unease and doubts she had deliberately ignored now surged up.
“You want to… you want the two of us together… to serve you together?! Playing that kind of… threesome Game?!”
Those words came out of her mouth with immense shame and anger, making her cheeks instantly flush bright red.
She remembered the days at the Manor, when Ye Lan brought Ling Yue to teach her music. How distant they had acted then, even seeming to be on bad terms.
Ye Lan said Ling Yue was a world-class vocal teacher hired for a huge sum, and she had actually believed it!
“And also! Back at the Manor, Teacher Ling Yue said she would take me away… that was also a play you two put on together, right?!”
The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it felt. She felt like a complete fool, played in the palms of these two.
The surprise on Ye Lan’s face slowly faded, replaced by an expression that was both amused and helpless. Looking at Mu Xi trembling with anger, eyes red, not only was she not angry, but a hint of almost doting indulgence appeared in her eyes.
She did not immediately retort. Instead, she stepped forward, wanting to reach out and touch Mu Xi’s cheek, but Mu Xi suddenly turned her head away.
Ye Lan’s hand stopped in midair, paused, then slowly withdrew.
She sighed, her tone rarely softened, carrying a hint of explanation. “Little Xi, what are you imagining?”
She turned her head to glance at Ling Yue, who still remained aloof, her eyes complex, then looked back at Mu Xi and said seriously:
“Ling Yue and I… our relationship really isn’t good. It could even be called pretty bad.”
“As for ex-girlfriend…” Ye Lan paused, as if weighing her words. “That can’t be considered a joke, but it’s not a serious topic either.”
Seeing Mu Xi’s eyes still full of doubt and wariness, she continued to explain:
“A long, long time ago, she and I were acquainted, but not even friends. Back then I was young and reckless, and I probably… um, said something like ‘when I make it big, I’ll marry you’—that kind of nonsense.”
A self-mocking curve appeared at the corner of Ye Lan’s mouth:
“Of course she didn’t agree at the time, and didn’t take it seriously. Now I’m… um, ‘successful in my career’? She brings it up just to choke me on purpose, with a bit of snide mockery, understand? That’s just how she is.”
“Our relationship has never been good, and it’s the same now.” Ye Lan’s tone was very certain. “Believe it or not.”
Mu Xi looked at Ye Lan timidly. The other’s eyes seemed very sincere, not like she was lying. Her voice lowered, but her doubts were not completely gone. “This explanation… sounds kind of… reasonable? Then… then why did you have her live here?”
Ye Lan’s answer was almost without hesitation, her eyes turning gentle again. “I was afraid you’d be too lonely here alone, too bored.”
“I know you respect her, and you like her teaching you music. Bringing her here to continue teaching you to sing and play piano, to chat with you, isn’t that good? At least it can make your life less boring.”
She gazed at Mu Xi, her tone carrying unquestionable certainty. “Little Xi, in this place, besides me, she’s the only person you knew from your past. I just want to make you… a little happier, even if it’s just a tiny bit.”
Ye Lan’s voice was low and magnetic, each word seeming to carry some magic, trying to smooth the wrinkles in Mu Xi’s heart.
‘Lonely? Afraid she’d be bored? Make her a little happier?’
Mu Xi’s heart felt as if something had gently bumped it, a little numb.
Ye Lan’s explanation sounded flawless, even carrying a kind of thoughtfulness for her sake.
‘But was it really like that?’
She looked into Ye Lan’s deep eyes, which clearly reflected her own lost and helpless appearance.
Ye Lan’s love was too domineering, too crazy, often making her feel suffocated, but the thoughtfulness in these words now made her waver for a moment.
And Teacher Ling Yue, who had been like an outsider from beginning to end, finally put down her water cup, stood up, her cool gaze lightly sweeping over Ye Lan and Mu Xi, the corner of her mouth seeming to curve into a very faint, ambiguous arc.
“Since a certain queen has returned, I won’t disturb you two.”
She gave a slight nod, her voice cool as jade striking stone. “Mu Xi, continue lessons tomorrow, don’t forget.”
After saying that, she turned and walked straight toward the stairs, her steps still calm and elegant, as if that little commotion just now had nothing to do with her.
Leaving only Mu Xi and Ye Lan standing there, the air still lingering with unresolved tension and a trace of subtle awkwardness.
Ye Lan watched Ling Yue’s back disappear around the corner of the stairs, her eyes slightly darkened, then immediately returned all her attention to Mu Xi, a gentle smile reappearing on her face, as if the earlier unpleasantness had never happened.
“All right, Little Xi, don’t think about all that messy stuff. Look, I brought you a gift…”
She again held those little trinkets out to Mu Xi, her tone carrying cautious ingratiation.
Mu Xi looked at Ye Lan, then at the little gifts, the doubts and confusion in her heart not completely gone.
‘Was Ye Lan’s explanation true?’
‘Was Teacher Ling Yue’s mention of ex-girlfriend really just a snide joke?’
‘Was the tense relationship between them also real?’
‘Or was all of this just a lie Ye Lan wove to keep her calm?’
Her heart was still like a small boat drifting in the fog, unable to find a definite direction.
The night deepened, and the lights in the Silent Language Building were dimmed a bit, leaving only a few wall lamps giving off a hazy glow.
After Ling Yue left, that taut string did not seem to fully relax. The air still held an inexplicable awkwardness and probing.
Ye Lan seemed completely unaffected, or rather, she deliberately ignored that discomfort, all her attention firmly locked on Mu Xi.
She no longer brought up the previous topic, just followed Mu Xi step by step, like a large accessory that couldn’t be shaken off.
Mu Xi walked to the sofa in the living room and sat down. Ye Lan immediately followed, sitting right next to her, close enough to feel each other’s body heat.
Mu Xi shifted to the side, and Ye Lan shifted along with her, still wearing that gentle, ingratiating smile, her deep phoenix eyes full of focus, as if only Mu Xi remained in the world.
“Little Xi, are you thirsty? I’ll go pour you some water?”