Chapter 49: Teaching

“Mm, I’ll smile more.”

Lu Weizhu nodded.

She wanted to smile—who wouldn’t want to?

Wei Yu subtly shook her head, and Lu Weizhu fell silent.

She hastened her eating, quickly finishing the meal before standing up.

“Yun-jie, you eat first. I’ll go prepare something for Wei Yu.”

Saying that, she returned to the kitchen.

“Ah…okay.”

Watching Lu Weizhu’s retreating figure, Bai Yun’s movements slowed considerably.

She always felt that Lu Weizhu wasn’t very happy, but she didn’t want to pry too much—their relationship was still too distant.

Looking down at the half-finished dishes on the table, Bai Yun’s mood felt a little awkward.

Time passed, and before long Lu Weizhu came out of the kitchen.

She had chopped meat and was now cooking meat porridge.

Her mood was somewhat tangled as she returned to the sofa and sat down, unpacking the embroidery she had bought online.

A large piece of cloth embroidered with a bamboo pattern, a pattern sheet, some needles and thread, and a big bag of small green plastic beads.

“Feels…a bit troublesome.”

The embroidery Lu Weizhu had purchased measured two meters long and one meter wide.

She spread the cloth over her lap and began threading the needle under the lamp’s light.

Her movements were clumsy; she furrowed her brow, seeming to have overestimated her skill.

Bai Yun sat at the dining table, watching Lu Weizhu and the cloth in her lap from a distance, feeling somewhat puzzled inside.

“Weizhu, what are you doing?”

She asked.

“Mm.”

Lu Weizhu was silent for a moment.

What was she doing?

Naturally, preparing a birthday gift for Bai Lu.

But was it really necessary to start now?

Not at all.

In fact, Lu Weizhu just wanted to calm herself through embroidery; she didn’t want to show her bad side in front of Bai Yun.

Bai Yun was very important—extremely important.

“I’m preparing a birthday gift for a friend,” Lu Weizhu answered after hesitating.

The birthday gift was real, but the friend might not be.

That person didn’t regard Lu Weizhu as a friend, probably never would see her as an equal in this life.

“I see…”

Bai Yun nodded.

“A handmade gift, huh? Is it for a very important friend?”

She couldn’t help but wonder who was more important between herself and that unknown friend.

But she quickly realized something was wrong.

Why was she thinking like that?

“Ah…important or not, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Lu Weizhu’s words were contradictory.

“As for making it by hand…it’s just because I don’t know what they like.”

She shrugged.

“Oh, okay.”

Bai Yun didn’t press further and buried herself in eating.

After the meal, she came over to Lu Weizhu’s side.

Lu Weizhu had already embroidered a small patch on the cloth, though the stitches on the back were messy, making it clear it was her first time doing this kind of thing.

Bai Yun recalled the toys she used to buy at the elementary school store—pieces of cloth and some thread, following the instructions to stitch the desired pattern.

It had been too long, so Bai Yun didn’t remember the exact details but recalled the simplest method: the Ten Cross Stitch.

She lightly tapped Lu Weizhu’s hand.

“Mm, huh? What is it, Yun-jie?”

Turning her head, Lu Weizhu was startled to find Bai Yun so close.

“Ah!”

The needle in her hand pierced the embroidery cloth, and the tip pricked her left index finger.

The sudden sting made Lu Weizhu cry out.

Though she had experienced this pain countless times, her finger always felt more sensitive than other places.

“Ah, are you okay? Sorry…”

Bai Yun felt a bit nervous, not expecting to scare Lu Weizhu like that.

She really hadn’t thought Lu Weizhu would be so easily startled.

“…Huff…huff…I’m fine, really. Yun-jie, don’t worry about it.”

Lu Weizhu pulled out the needle; a tiny drop of blood shimmered brightly under the lamp.

She sucked on her finger, then blew gently on the prick.

The wound was small and only bled a drop or two; only the sting lingered at the fingertip.

“Is there something you want to ask?”

Turning her head, Lu Weizhu composed herself and quietly asked.

“…De…….”

Bai Yun hesitated, unsure how to begin.

She had wanted to teach Lu Weizhu the Ten Cross Stitch but had ended up scaring her instead; she felt embarrassed.

“Well, I saw your stitches were too messy, so I wanted to teach you Ten Cross Stitch. But I didn’t expect to startle you.”

After a while, she finally managed to say it.

Lu Weizhu was silent.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just a bit too timid.”

She moved her finger.

Then she started undoing the stitches.

Fortunately, she hadn’t sewn much; she quickly removed all the thread.

“Can you teach me?”

She looked at Bai Yun.

“Of course, I can!”

Perhaps wanting to make up for scaring her, Bai Yun was a little excited.

She patted her chest.

“Sit closer.”

Without giving Lu Weizhu a chance to move, Bai Yun leaned in herself.

“Ah, okay.”

Before she realized it, Bai Yun was right in front of her, their faces almost touching.

Glancing to the right side with her peripheral vision, Lu Weizhu saw Bai Yun’s throat trembling slightly.

She felt a bit nervous.

Was it too close?

In fact, Bai Yun was just as nervous.

She could feel the girl’s body heat, hear her breathing, and smell the faint, unknown fragrance on her.

Bai Yun’s hand trembled.

Why was she acting so strangely?

It was supposed to be just a normal lesson!

Collecting herself, Bai Yun gritted her teeth and took hold of Lu Weizhu’s small hand, wrapped with bandages on the back and palm, which made her feel a pang of sympathy.

When her fingertips touched the exposed skin, all she sensed was softness and tenderness—an indescribable comfort.

“…”

Bai Yun took a deep breath.

“Yun-jie?”

Beside her, Lu Weizhu looked confused.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a Ten Cross Stitch lesson?

“Weizhu.”

Hearing the girl’s puzzled voice, Bai Yun forced herself to calm down and called her name.

“Hold the needle like this, start the thread from here, then pass it through…”

She began teaching, her gentle voice echoing in Lu Weizhu’s ear.

Gradually, Lu Weizhu set aside her confusion and focused fully on Bai Yun’s instructions.

“All right, I got it.”

In less than ten minutes, Lu Weizhu remembered the basic embroidery technique.

“Good, as long as you learned it. Haha.”

Bai Yun sheepishly withdrew her hands, laughing softly.

The soft, cool, wonderful sensation lingered on her fingertips, leaving her wanting more.

If only it could last a bit longer, if only…

“!”

Snapping her mind back, Bai Yun stood up.

What kind of awkward thoughts was she having?

“Weizhu, it’s getting late. I’ll head home first.”

Not daring to linger and embarrassed to face the innocent, clueless girl, Bai Yun quickly said goodbye and left the house, leaving Lu Weizhu alone.

“…Ah…why did she leave?”

Lu Weizhu had been happy to have learned a new skill, but now her smile froze.

“…Did I do something wrong?”

She instinctively blamed herself, setting down the embroidery cloth.

While searching her mind for anything she might have done wrong, she went to the kitchen to check on the porridge prepared for Wei Yu.