Struck as if by a bolt of lightning, Xu Youzhi stood frozen in place, exactly ten steps away from the bathroom door.
Apply… apply the lotion?
But… could she really go in?
“This isn’t very appropriate, is it?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Jiang Ruoxun’s voice drifted out from inside, laced with a light laugh. “I really don’t have the strength to do it myself. I can’t even lift my arms. Youzhi, are you really not going to come help me?” A hint of grievance and dissatisfaction leaked from the bathroom, sounding as if she were accusing Xu Youzhi of being disobedient.
When a cold, aloof movie queen makes such a humble and pleading request, Xu Youzhi finds it impossible to refuse.
Holding the bowl of hangover soup, she stepped inside.
The bathroom was filled with a bathing fragrance, carrying a subtle, expensive scent of lime.
Jiang Ruoxun was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The water, topped with white foam, covered her body, leaving only her slender neck and her head visible as she rested with her eyes closed.
“You’re here,” she asked softly.
“Mhm. Drink the hangover soup,” Xu Youzhi said, placing it on a nearby chair.
Jiang Ruoxun didn’t pick it up to drink. Instead, she lifted a hand as white as jade. “I’ll drink it in a moment. Youzhi… can you apply it here first?”
“Shouldn’t you wipe your whole body clean before applying it?” Xu Youzhi asked innocently.
Jiang Ruoxun opened her eyes, which were flickering with light.
The smile on her lips didn’t fade as she asked, “Do you want to see, Youzhi?”
Xu Youzhi averted her gaze, her earlobes suddenly flushing hot. She had never showered with Li Qingshuang or Kuang Yuan; she valued her privacy, which was why she had moved out of the dorm so early.
But… she was indeed a little expectant.
“If you don’t mind, Sister, then I don’t mind.”
As soon as she spoke, a silver bell-like laugh rang out.
“Forget it, I’m afraid you’ll get a nosebleed.” Jiang Ruoxun, of course, wasn’t going to reveal everything so soon. What she wanted to see was the flush on this innocent younger girl’s cheeks; such purity wasn’t something everyone could fake.
“I won’t get a nosebleed. I’m very serious,” the little puppy-like girl said earnestly.
Jiang Ruoxun extended her hand toward her and arched an eyebrow. “But Sister’s body isn’t for just anyone to see. If the little puppy peeks, Sister will have to punish you.”
“I won’t peek.”
As she spoke, Xu Youzhi enthusiastically began to help her wipe down.
The movie queen’s skin was exceptionally well-maintained. To Xu Youzhi, it felt like touching a bar of soap—slick, smooth, and carrying a pleasant fragrance.
Jiang Ruoxun’s face was still slightly flushed from the alcohol. Watching the “little puppy” carefully wipe her skin, the corners of her lips remained turned up. Her fondness for the girl increased by several degrees.
After a while, Jiang Ruoxun urged her to leave.
Less than a few minutes after Xu Youzhi stepped out, Jiang Ruoxun emerged wrapped in a bath towel.
Xu Youzhi didn’t know where to look. Even though Jiang Ruoxun was “covered”—though a towel hardly counted as clothes—she still didn’t dare to look her in the eye. She felt the movie queen’s gaze was like deep water, and she was afraid of drowning in it.
“Youzhi,” Jiang Ruoxun called out.
When Xu Youzhi turned around, the woman leaned in close to whisper in her ear.
“Were you waiting here specifically to watch me?” she asked softly.
Xu Youzhi tilted her head. “No… Sister, why did you suddenly start drinking?”
“Because,” Jiang Ruoxun said, suddenly reaching out. Her slender fingers hooked around Xu Youzhi’s fingertips.
Xu Youzhi felt that she still hadn’t sobered up.
“I wasn’t happy.” Jiang Ruoxun’s red lips were almost touching her ear, her tone heavy with grievance. “When I’m unhappy, I drink.”
“Why were you unhappy?” she asked.
“I’m not telling you.” Jiang Ruoxun purposefully kept it a secret, leaving just enough of a trail to keep the other girl curious and guessing.
“Then you must try to be happy.” Xu Youzhi didn’t know how to comfort people, but she figured a movie queen must have a good reason to be upset. She didn’t want someone so beautiful to be filled with sorrow.
“So, you have to take care of me.” The older sister, eight years her senior, actually said such a thing to her junior, almost as if she were performatively seeking emotional support.
“Hmm?”
“Stay and sleep with me.” When she said this, there was a hint of restraint in her voice, and a layer of pink brushed her cheeks.
Xu Youzhi did not refuse. Of course, she was also worried that Jiang Ruoxun might start drinking again. Midnight was often the time when people felt most sentimental and helpless.
However, when they slept, Jiang Ruoxun was incredibly peaceful—so peaceful that her breathing was faint, audible only if one leaned in close.
Xu Youzhi propped up her head to look at her, catching sight of those moist, full red lips.
The more she looked, the more her face flushed, as her mind drifted back to the image of applying the lotion to Jiang Ruoxun.
Her thoughts were in disarray.
She couldn’t help but shake her head. Her “Sister” treated her like a sibling; she shouldn’t cross the line.
With those thoughts swirling, she eventually grew drowsy and fell asleep.
The next morning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun shone brightly.
When Xu Youzhi woke up, her body felt a bit sore. The person beside her was gone, and the sound of a running shower came from the bathroom.
Xu Youzhi pulled the blanket tighter. She couldn’t help but think that the movie queen’s bed smelled so good, and she unconsciously took a deep breath of the scent.
By chance, a towel smelling of cold fragrance slid down and hit Xu Youzhi on the head.
Xu Youzhi’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t this the towel Jiang Ruoxun had worn last night?
Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table rang. It was her former dorm leader.
“Youzhi, are you free right now?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Li Qingshuang and Kuang Yuan are fighting in the dorm. They’re so loud that we can’t sleep.”
She even sent a recording of the argument.
Li Qingshuang: “Why are you just getting back now?”
Kuang Yuan: “What’s wrong with me going out with my boyfriend?”
Li Qingshuang: “You two were together? Out all night? Did you go to a hotel?”
Kuang Yuan: “We went to a hotel. I don’t think I need to report that to you, do I?”
Li Qingshuang’s voice was clearly trembling: “Kuang Yuan, make yourself clear. Why did you go to a hotel with Xiao Yang? What did he do to you?”
“Li Qingshuang, are you sick? You have to control what a boyfriend does with his girlfriend?”
“Stop fighting, both of you,” the dorm leader pleaded.
Li Qingshuang’s voice broke into a sob, sounding devastated. Xu Youzhi’s heart ached as she listened: “Kuang Yuan, please don’t stay with him. He’s really not worth it. He’s really not.”
Kuang Yuan’s tone turned irritable: “But I really like Xiao Yang. I’m happy when I’m with him.”
Li Qingshuang: “Are you not happy when you’re with me? We’ve been together for almost six years.”
Kuang Yuan: “A friend is different from a boyfriend.”
Li Qingshuang clearly paused.
Her trembling voice struggled to finish a sentence: “Who says it’s different… YuanYuan, I beg you. I’m begging you, okay? For the sake of all our years together, break up with him. He really doesn’t deserve you. Break up with him… please.”
Kuang Yuan usually had a good temper, but she couldn’t stand someone bad-mouthing her boyfriend. she let out a mocking laugh: “Li Qingshuang, you really disappoint me.”
Following that, the sound of a door slamming echoed loudly.
“After they finished fighting, Qingshuang just kept crying. I’ve never seen her act so humble before. You’re their best friend—you should be the one to handle this.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Xu Youzhi realized the shower had stopped.
Jiang Ruoxun was standing in the doorway wearing a black silk dressing gown, her arms crossed. Her sharp eyes flickered with amusement.
“Youzhi, why is my towel in your hands?” she asked with a mischievous smile, her eyes bright and clear.
Xu Youzhi looked at the towel in her hands, startled, and hurriedly threw it away.
“It’s not what it looks like!”
Jiang Ruoxun watched her towel fall lonely onto the edge of the bed and pouted. “Youzhi, is that how you treat my things?”
Xu Youzhi was overwhelmed with embarrassment. She opened her mouth to explain, but the other woman covered it.
Jiang Ruoxun muffled her mouth and laughed softly. “Never mind that. Do you want to go out for a stroll today?”
Her hand felt cool yet carried that same cold fragrance. Xu Youzhi made a pitiful “wuu wuu” sound since her mouth was blocked.
Jiang Ruoxun let go, and Xu Youzhi said, “Sister, I have to go see my friend. She’s in a very bad emotional state right now.”
“Oh, those friends from the BBQ place?” Jiang Ruoxun thought for a moment.
Xu Youzhi nodded. “They actually have very good tempers. I don’t know how they ended up fighting like this.”
Li Qingshuang’s voice had been so loud earlier; how could Jiang Ruoxun not have heard?
Jiang Ruoxun crossed her arms, offering a piece of advice: “That man is your friend’s boyfriend, right? Tell your friend to be careful.”
She hadn’t wanted to get involved, but for Xu Youzhi’s sake, she had observed them.
When the man watched his girlfriend fight with her best friend, his gaze had been dismissive and his lips had curled up, as if he enjoyed the spectacle of two girls fighting over him.
However, the most pitiable one was the friend named Li Qingshuang. The other girl seemed gentle, but she actually had a firm grip on the situation and clearly wasn’t as simple as she looked—she was a perfect match for her boyfriend.
By the time Xu Youzhi left the house, Li Qingshuang had already left the campus.
As for where she went, she didn’t tell Xu Youzhi. She simply turned off her phone and sat in a cafe, lost in her sorrow.
When the waiter brought the coffee, Li Qingshuang snatched it and gulped it down. The waiter was startled and left awkwardly.
“Kuang Yuan, Kuang Yuan!” Li Qingshuang said through gritted teeth. “I treat you so well, and yet you still left with another man…”
She wanted to curse Kuang Yuan a dozen times, but all that came out was an endless stream of “whys.”
In the end, she just couldn’t bring herself to hate her.
As she spoke to herself, her eyes reddened again, but she found she had run out of tissues.
Just as Li Qingshuang was about to call the waiter, a pack of tissues appeared beside her.
“Here, use these,” a very gentle voice said.
It felt like a soft breeze brushing past her ear.
Li Qingshuang looked up and saw a woman with long, slightly wavy hair, wearing a knitted cardigan. She looked a few years older than her.
Her features weren’t strikingly sharp, but she was radiant, with bright eyes and white teeth. Her clean face was lightly touched with makeup, and a faint dimple appeared on one side.
But what truly stunned Li Qingshuang was her aura—gentle as water, like a lotus flower. Her slight smile was as refreshing as a spring breeze, and even the strands of her hair seemed to exude a gentle fragrance.
She was similar to Kuang Yuan, but even more refined.
“Thank you… thank you, Sister.” Li Qingshuang covered her mouth and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you ‘Sister’ without knowing your age.”
“It’s alright.” The woman continued to smile, clearly not minding. “You do look younger than me.”
Li Qingshuang’s face reddened. She noticed a laptop nearby and realized the woman had been working there; she must have disturbed her.
“Did I disturb you?”
The woman shook her head with a gentle smile and asked with concern, “A little, but I’m more worried about you. Did you have a fight with someone?”
“No.” Li Qingshuang wiped her tears.
Are even this sister’s tissues this fragrant?
Suddenly, much of Li Qingshuang’s gloom vanished. She was about to say thank you, but the woman saw a car pull up outside. Her expression shifted slightly, and she smiled. “If you’re okay, I’ll be going now.”
Li Qingshuang let out a small “ah”—the “Sister” she had just met was leaving already?
Just as the woman stepped out, Xu Youzhi walked in.
At the same time, Jiang Ruoxun sat in her car wearing sunglasses, watching the two of them, and also watching the car that was driving away.