Gu Lingluo (the patron) was very perceptive. She immediately tilted her head and dodged, asking, “What are you doing?”
Liu Xia (the student) gave a dry laugh, curled her fingers, and retracted her hand. “N-nothing, nothing. I just saw you have an ear piercing and was a little curious. When did you get your ear pierced? Did it hurt?”
Gu Lingluo was visibly stunned for a moment. “Ear piercing?”
“Yes, an ear piercing. Isn’t this one?”
Liu Xia extended her “evil paw” a second time, but Gu Lingluo evaded her again.
Gu Lingluo’s expression had returned to normal. She lowered her eyes and continued to rub Liu Xia’s swollen ankle. “Where is the cat food?”
Patron, aren’t your topic-changing skills a bit too clumsy?
“In the coffee table drawer.”
Gu Lingluo massaged a few more times, then extinguished the blue flame in the bowl and took the cat food to the balcony.
As soon as she opened the door, the little kitten immediately latched onto Gu Lingluo’s leg, meowing sweetly. Liu Xia, the legitimate owner, was treated like air, completely outside its scope of care.
Animals are just animals; whoever gives milk is the mother!
Liu Xia was souring (lemoning in Chinese slang). The cat was just acting cute and licking her hand yesterday, yet today it didn’t recognize her. She would never buy it dried fish again!
The kitten purred happily while eating its cat food. The apartment finally returned to quietness. Gu Lingluo let out a slight sigh of relief; the meowing since they entered had given her a headache.
She closed the balcony door and came out. Without sparing a glance at Liu Xia, she went directly to the kitchen, heated some water, and brought it over.
“Put your hands in.”
Liu Xia didn’t think much of it, assuming she was being told to wash her hands. She smiled and reached in, “The bathroom has hot water; why go to the trouble of specially… Hiss! Oh my God!”
She instantly pulled her hand out after putting it in, the pain nearly killing her on the spot.
It wasn’t because it was hot—although it was indeed hot, it wasn’t unbearable—it was because of the stinging pain in the scraped area.
Liu Xia held up her wet, dripping, pathetic paws and looked at the cold-faced King of Hell, who showed no expression.
“This water…”
“I added salt.”
Why didn’t you tell me it was saltwater? I could at least have been mentally prepared! That sudden shock truly made me want to cry from the pain!
The patron is truly a sadist! A super sadist! Does she enjoy seeing me tormented?
“Soak it for a little longer; it’ll disinfect it.”
Liu Xia tremblingly reached out her hand for a second time, but then suddenly drew it back before soaking it.
“Um… this little wound will be fine with just one soak; there’s no need to soak again, hahaha…”
The patron watched her expressionlessly. Her voice grew softer as she spoke, and even her awkward laughter muted itself.
She finally believed that the suppressive aura of masters in fantasy dramas was real. The patron hadn’t said a word, yet Liu Xia could no longer resist.
Gritting her teeth and wearing a bitter face, having made all the mental preparations, she suddenly plunged her hand in again.
Splash! Water splashed everywhere.
Emmmm… Huh?!!
It didn’t hurt much?
Perhaps because the wound had already been exposed to the saltwater, and she was mentally prepared, she didn’t feel the pain as much this time.
Thank God, thank the Virgin Mary, thank all the Gods and Buddhas!
After soaking her hands in the saltwater for a while, and then rinsing them with slightly warmer boiled water, Gu Lingluo finally dumped the bowl out.
“Are your knees okay?”
“Fine, fine. I was wearing thick clothes.”
Although her jeans were ripped, she still had leggings underneath. Liu Xia was sensitive to the cold and valued her life, so she would never be so silly as to choose style over warmth. Dressed so thickly, her knees were at most slightly red; they would be fine without even a rub.
“Good. Get some rest early.” Gu Lingluo pulled down her sleeves and turned to leave, not lingering for a moment.
Huh?
She was just going to leave?
She hadn’t been able to coax her over with blood, sweat, and tears; how could she let her leave so easily?!
“Wait a minute!”
Gu Lingluo grasped the doorknob and looked back, her gaze cold and clear.
She had successfully stopped her, but Liu Xia’s mind went blank trying to figure out how to make her stay.
“Um… can you review the reading translation we did today?”
Gu Lingluo responded calmly, “I’ll specifically review it with you on Friday.”
Liu Xia’s eyes lit up, “Then come to my place to go over it on Friday! We can’t talk loudly in the library!”
“I will translate it directly and include annotations for you to read. If you don’t understand anything, send me a note.”
“I think I definitely won’t understand any of it! Won’t it be too troublesome to ask about each one? It’s better to come directly to my place. After the lesson, we can grab a meal or something.”
“Anyone with eyes can understand my annotations.”
Gu Lingluo turned to leave again. Liu Xia refused to give up, saying, “Then let’s just say it’s to thank you for bringing me back today. I sincerely invite you to a simple meal when you come over on Friday. Please don’t refuse again. You’ve refused me ten times already!”
Gu Lingluo was unmoved: “Counting this time, it’s eleven.”
Eleven times…
Heh heh. Are you trying to subtly express your refusal?
I’m sorry, that’s not subtle at all!
Liu Xia glanced at the clock, her eyes darting around. She shamelessly said, “Well, if you don’t want me to thank you, then forget it. But look, it’s so late. I’m injured and can’t make my own food. Why don’t you exercise some student camaraderie and help me whip up some noodles or something?”
Gu Lingluo frowned at her, finding it unbelievable that she could utter such a shameless request.
“Order takeout.”
“I can’t answer the door when the takeout arrives. Look at my clumsy legs and feet; opening the door is a problem. If I fall and sprain it again, wouldn’t that just worsen the injury?”
“Then don’t eat.”
“How can I not eat? I’m an injured person now! Not eating is bad for wound recovery!”
“Injured person?” Gu Lingluo glanced at the small scrape on her palm.
Liu Xia argued eloquently, “We live in a humanitarian society now! We can’t discriminate against a wound just because it’s small! Besides, my foot is sprained so severely. Even if I can’t have pig trotters (a Chinese dish believed to aid recovery) as a tonic, I shouldn’t go hungry, should I? Since you brought me home, you might as well finish the good deed—see the Buddha off to the West (a Chinese idiom for seeing a task through to the end)!”
Gu Lingluo scoffed, “Fine. Then just starve to death and go West.”
What?!
They say the most vicious thing is a woman’s heart. Gu Lingluo, you’ve shown your true colors!
Liu Xia wailed, “How can you be so heartless? Even strangers have a bit of feeling when they pass each other by. We’re friends, after all.”
“I’ve said I don’t need friends, and you are not my friend.”
“Why aren’t we friends? Do you misunderstand what a friend is? We’ve known each other this long and are together so often. Even if we weren’t friends, we are now. Either you make me food, or I’ll order takeout and you help me get it. Either way is fine. I won’t use you for free; I’ll repay you.”
“I don’t need your repayment.”
Liu Xia took advantage of the opening.
“Hehe, I knew you wouldn’t let me repay you! Who are we to each other, right? Then I’ll trouble you. Since you don’t look like you want to cook, I’ll order takeout. Thanks!”
Gu Lingluo had witnessed a new level of shamelessness. She let out a soft breath, suddenly feeling like a fool for standing here arguing with her.
Let her put on whatever show she wants; she can act it out herself!
Gu Lingluo turned to leave. She had barely taken a step, still not out the door, when she heard a bitter laugh from behind.
“Are you really going to leave? I was just joking earlier; please don’t mind it. I actually just wanted to keep you here for a little longer. It was the same when I was sick before; being alone in the apartment always made me feel like the whole world had abandoned me. And now I’ve suddenly sprained my foot, so…”
Her voice caught, and Liu Xia covered it up with a smile.
“Thank you for bringing me back and for all your trouble so late. I didn’t even get you any food. I’m truly sorry. You… please be careful on your way.”