When Shen Qingyue arrived home, Qiuqiu was lying on the sofa.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, it lifted an eyelid and took a glance.
Then it went back to sleep.
(；一_一)…
Shen Qingyue changed her shoes and walked over to sit on the sofa.
Qiuqiu didn’t move.
She reached out and stroked its head.
Qiuqiu squinted its eyes, a purring sound vibrating in its throat.
Shen Qingyue didn’t say anything.
She just sat there.
Her mind was spinning.
Everything that happened today.
The fall.
Her sitting on Lin Mo.
Face to face.
They were so close she could have counted his eyelashes.
And that last part…
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
Her face turned red again.
Qiuqiu suddenly opened its eyes and looked at her.
“Meow?”
Its gaze seemed to be saying: ‘What’s wrong with you now?’
Shen Qingyue shook her head.
“I’m fine, Qiuqiu.”
But Qiuqiu didn’t seem to believe her.
So, Qiuqiu crawled up, walked onto her lap, found a comfortable position, and lay back down.
Shen Qingyue looked down at it. She stroked Qiuqiu’s head.
“Qiuqiu.”
“Meow.”
“Do you think… he thinks I’m heavy?”
Qiuqiu: “……”
It rolled its eyes. It was as if it were saying, ‘He even thinks I’m fat, you think he doesn’t find you heavy?’
Shen Qingyue didn’t understand what Qiuqiu was trying to convey, but she herself felt the question was quite silly.
But she couldn’t help but think about it.
At that moment, her entire weight had been pressed against him.
Would Lin Mo think she was heavy? Would he think she was fat? She weighed less than 90 pounds…
Would Lin Mo think she was stupid?? Oh, not stupid, but useless. Like a Trash-tier Female Character with zero athletic ability.
Would he…
(；一_一)…
She took out her phone.
She opened the chat window with Lin Mo.
The last message was still yesterday’s voice call.
She stared at the screen.
She wanted to send something.
She typed a line: [Thank you for today.]
Then she deleted it.
Too… what was she thanking him for? Thanking him for acting as her Human Meat Cushion?
Thinking of this, Shen Qingyue’s face turned red once more.
So she typed again: [Are you home yet?]
Deleted.
It was already so late; asking if he was home now was too stupid, too obvious.
Try again, try again.
She typed once more: [Um…]
(>﹏<)…
Delete, delete.
Qiuqiu watched her type and delete, then type and delete again, its tail flicking back and forth.
“Meow.”
It let out a cry.
Its tone carried a bit of disdain, as if asking, ‘Can you do this or not?’
Shen Qingyue looked down at it.
“You’re still young, Qiuqiu. You don’t understand anything. You don’t know.”
Qiuqiu was too lazy to deal with her and went back to sleep. It had that feeling of, ‘Ah, right, right, right. I don’t understand? Only you understand, right, you foolish human? Communication is impossible. I’m sleeping.’
Shen Qingyue put her phone down.
She leaned back against the sofa.
Her mind began to spin again.
That last look he gave her. Was he secretly observing her? She had been pretending to sleep at the time, but she could feel Lin Mo looking at her. She had just been too embarrassed to open her eyes.
But that look.
Shen Qingyue couldn’t describe what kind of look it was. What it meant.
But it just…
Made her heart race.
And when he handed her the water, the moment their fingers touched.
It was like an electric shock.
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
‘He must have felt the shock too, right?’
‘Yes, yes, he definitely felt it.’
Otherwise, why would her heart still be racing like this now that she was thinking about it?
Shen Qingyue reached out and touched her own face.
It was burning.
It felt like she had a fever.
Shen Qingyue glanced at the time.
It was 8:38 PM.
Several hours had passed since they parted ways.
Had it really been that long already?
She had been sitting here spacing out, thinking about these things for so many hours.
(；一_一)…
Qiuqiu suddenly woke up.
It crawled up and looked at her.
“Meow.”
“What’s wrong?”
Qiuqiu jumped off the sofa and walked over to the cat food bowl.
It pawed at it twice. Its gaze was a bit… how should one put it? It was like, ‘Whether you’re being stupid or being lovestruck, how could you forget my dinner? Do you want me to eat your dog food? I’m a cat, not a dog. Hurry up and get me food.’
Shen Qingyue: “……”
She had forgotten to feed Qiuqiu.
She got up to pour the cat food.
Qiuqiu began to eat with a crunching sound.
Shen Qingyue stood beside it, watching.
But at this moment, her mind was still spinning.
‘Is he home?’
‘Has he eaten?’
‘What is he thinking about?’
‘Is he also thinking about what happened today?’
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
She took out her phone.
She looked at the chat window again.
It was still empty.
She bit her lip.
This time, she didn’t hesitate.
[Thank you for today.]
Send.
The moment she sent it, she regretted it.
What was she thanking him for…
But it was already sent.
She couldn’t take it back.
She stared at the screen.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The phone vibrated.
Lin Mo: [No problem. Are you home?]
Shen Qingyue’s heart speeded up considerably.
Shen Qingyue: [Yeah, just got back.]
Lin Mo: [That’s good.]
Shen Qingyue stared at those three words.
That’s good.
That was it? That was all?
(；一_一)…
She wanted to reply with something.
But she didn’t know what to say.
Qiuqiu continued to eat with a crunching sound beside her.
Shen Qingyue thought for a moment and typed a line:
[Are you tired today?]
Send.
Lin Mo: [It was okay. You?]
Shen Qingyue: [A bit.]
Lin Mo: [Get some rest early.]
Shen Qingyue: [Okay.]
The conversation ended.
(°△°|||)
She took a deep breath.
She threw the phone onto the sofa.
Qiuqiu looked up at her.
Then it went back to eating.
Shen Qingyue walked to the window.
She looked out at the night sky.
Her mind began to spin again.
That phrase of his—”That’s good.”
What did it mean?
Did he really think “that’s good,” or was he just being polite?
That phrase—”Get some rest early.”
Did he really want her to rest, or did he just not want to chat anymore?
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
She couldn’t figure it out.
But she realized.
She was smiling.
The corners of her mouth were curved upward.
Just like when they were coming down the mountain.
(；一_一)…
But what was she smiling about now?
What was so funny?
She didn’t know.
But she… just couldn’t help it.
***
On the other side.
At Lin Mo’s house.
Lin Mo was lying on his bed.
He was holding his phone.
The conversation from just now was still on the screen.
[Get some rest early.]
[Okay.]
(；一_一)…
‘Was that reply just now too cold?’
‘Should I have said more?’
‘Like, “You should get some rest early too”?’
No, he had said “Get some rest early,” and she replied with “Okay.”
That was the end.
A normal end to a conversation.
But why did he feel… like something was missing?
(｡•́︿•̀｡)…
He rolled over.
His mind began to spin, replaying today’s events.
Her falling.
Her sitting on him.
Her looking at him.
And that last part…
(；¬＿¬)…
‘No, no.’
‘I can’t think about it anymore.’
He put the phone aside.
He closed his eyes.
Five seconds later.
He opened them again.
He picked up the phone.
He looked at the chat window once more.
It was still those same two lines.
He stared at the word “Okay.”
He stared for a long time, then put the phone down.
He continued to lie there.
His mind began to spin again.
She asked him, “Are you tired today?”
Did she really care if he was tired, or… was it something else?
He replied, “It was okay.”
What did “It was okay” mean?
It was okay meant it was okay.
But would “It was okay” seem too dismissive?
(；一_一)…
Forget it.
He wouldn’t think about it.
He rolled over.
He buried his face in the pillow.
But that smile of hers—yeah, that smile.
The smile at the corners of her mouth.
It kept spinning in his head.
Like a pop-up ad.
He couldn’t close it.
Forget it.
Whatever.
Forget it, whatever happens, happens.