Bo Liye didn’t start regretting staying overnight at Qin Mingyan’s house until she woke up the next day.
The old-fashioned coconut palm mattress made someone like her, who was used to Simmons mattresses, feel like she had been pressing against hard ridges all night. No matter how she lay, it felt like sleeping on the floor, her bones ached from the discomfort.
Consequently, the moment Qin Mingyan got out of bed, Bo Liye immediately followed suit.
Back at the Bo residence, Bo Liye usually had to be urged several times before she’d agree to get up. Qin Mingyan was quite surprised: “Not going to sleep a bit longer?”
Bo Liye gave a slow yawn and said, “My biological clock is used to it.”
Qin Mingyan looked at her for a few moments but didn’t expose the lie.
Last night, Bo Liye had managed to endure by rinsing her mouth several times, but this morning she absolutely refused to settle. Qin Mingyan had no choice but to rummage through the house, finally turning up a disposable hotel toothbrush with packaging that had already turned yellow with age.
She explained, “I got it from a hotel back when I was working a part time job. If you don’t want to use it, I’ll go out and buy one now.”
Bo Liye glanced out the window at the sky, which wasn’t yet fully bright. Suppressing her germaphobia, she reached out with two fingers to take the toothbrush. “No need, this will do.”
Qin Mingyan proactively opened the packaging for Bo Liye, handing over the pristine white toothbrush handle: “Is it alright to use my cup? I’ll wash it a few extra times.”
This made her seem very fastidious. Bo Liye curled her lip: “It’s not that I’m disgusted by you, it’s… it’s…”
She ‘it’s’ several times without finding a decent excuse, until Qin Mingyan squeezed toothpaste onto her brush and stuffed it into her mouth: “Brush your teeth first. Call me if you need anything else.”
With the toothbrush hanging from her mouth, Bo Liye gave a muffled response.
Qin Mingyan had finished getting ready long ago. By the time Bo Liye came out, she was already in the living room doing her morning reading. Bo Liye leaned in to listen for a bit, it was a classical Chinese text that the teacher hadn’t required them to memorize, long and tongue-twisting. Her footsteps instinctively turned to head back.
Unfortunately, Qin Mingyan had already caught up. Her light, wispy hair was scattered by the lamp’s glow, her features blurred against the backlight: “I have two pages of annotated notes for classical Chinese I organized for you. It’s based on the vocabulary you frequently get wrong in exams and homework. Memorize them thoroughly in a moment.”
Bo Liye turned around and looked at Qin Mingyan wordlessly for a long while, barely able to speak: “Today is Sunday. Can’t you give yourself a break?”
The top student was selfless: “Morning is the best time for memorization.”
Bo Liye had already been doing morning readings for a week and really didn’t want to make things difficult for herself on Sunday: “But I haven’t had breakfast yet. You at least have to let me eat my fill before I study, right?”
Qin Mingyan had been tutoring Bo Liye for two months and had been fooled by her several times. This time, she wouldn’t back down for anything: “You stay home and memorize. I’ll go out and buy it for you.”
“Am I paying or are you? You’re actually trying to manage me now.” Bo Liye reached out and poked Qin Mingyan’s left chest, sounding quite dissatisfied.
Poked into retreating, Qin Mingyan held the two pages filled with writing helplessly and said, “I’m sorry.”
Her skin was naturally pale. When she was expressionless, she looked so clean it was as if all color had faded away, leaving only a lonely coldness.
Bo Liye snatched the two pages back: “Fine, you’re the one who volunteered to be my errand runner. I want thin-skinned tofu buns, the kind without minced meat and get me a cup of soy milk. Not too sweet and not too thick.”
Qin Mingyan was still looking at those two pages: “The classical Chinese?”
Bo Liye felt Qin Mingyan’s tone sounded a bit like she was questioning her: “Since you gave it to me, I’ll obviously memorize it.”
“You won’t leave while I’m gone?”
“I won’t.”
“If you finish memorizing early, you can do some homework. I’ll go get the worksheets for you.”
Listening to Qin Mingyan’s instructions, Bo Liye laughed for some reason.
She was laughed out of sheer exasperation.
She walked over and pulled Qin Mingyan close, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. Just as Qin Mingyan was about to close her eyes, Bo Liye bit down on her, gentle yet cold. “One night has passed and you’re getting more and more demanding. Forget the worksheets. If you want me to listen to you, buy breakfast and come back early to supervise me personally.”
This ‘personal supervision’ was clearly not the standard kind. Qin Mingyan looked at Bo Liye with hesitation, but after a long while, she finally nodded.
Consequently, the efficiency that morning was surprisingly high. Bo Liye finished a total of three worksheets, and her error rate was much lower than usual when checking answers with Qin Mingyan.
However, when it was time to head out for lunch, Qin Mingyan’s lips had become exceptionally red. She had specifically put on a light-colored silk scarf to completely hide the red marks underneath.
During the day, Huashui Alley wasn’t as desolate as it was at night, it felt very lived-in. However, upon seeing Qin Mingyan, the residents invariably stopped their chatting.
Just like at school, the lively conversations always ended as Qin Mingyan passed by. Bo Liye found it strange but said nothing.
She was looking for the way out of the alley: “Hey, was that osmanthus tree from when I got lost last time cut down? Why don’t I see it?”
Qin Mingyan looked at her hand being held and said in a low voice, “It’s in the other direction.”
“Are the flowers still blooming.”
Suddenly, a little girl being led by an elderly woman ran toward them, hugging Qin Mingyan’s legs and calling out happily, “Sister Qin!”
Bo Liye’s words were interrupted, and her tone wasn’t great: “You know this kid?”
Qin Mingyan said, “She should be a resident here too.”
Bo Liye’s expression softened slightly as she heard the little girl ask: “Do you think people who are good at Chinese are smart, or people who are good at math are smart?”
The little girl looked to be in primary school. She looked up with sparkling eyes, her gaze full of admiration: “My grandma said you are the smartest child in our neighborhood. But I’m not very good at math. Does that mean I’m not as good as my younger brother? Will they stop liking me then?”
Bo Liye saw the nervous looking grandmother standing not far away, calling out the girl’s name.
Qin Mingyan just stood there, making eye contact with the little girl. She didn’t push her away, but she didn’t say anything either, appearing unskilled at handling such situations.
Bo Liye turned the little girl around and then leaned down, gently stroking her hair. Her clear voice carried a sense of softness: “A single subject doesn’t represent everything. As long as you work hard, you can take first place just like Sister Qin.”
The little girl turned her head toward Qin Mingyan expectantly.
Qin Mingyan was very unaccustomed to being looked up to like this. She hadn’t expected Bo Liye to mention her while comforting the girl. When Bo Liye secretly tickled her palm, she gave a stiff nod and said, “Yes.”
Hearing this, the little girl ran happily back to her grandmother’s side. Bo Liye turned back to look at the still stony faced Qin Mingyan and couldn’t help but reach out to poke a smile into the corners of her mouth: “Were you always this cold to children before? If I hadn’t been here, she would have been scared to tears by you.”
The base color of Qin Mingyan’s eyes was cold: “Her elders like her brother because of a preference for boys over girls, it has nothing to do with being smart. There was no need to explain further.”
Bo Liye watched the little girl being led away: “But I think that grandma just now was quite nervous about her. It was as if she was afraid you’d do something to the child, treating you like a villain. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Bo Liye’s smile was bright. Even in her simple sportswear, she couldn’t hide her overflowing vitality, appearing out of place in this dilapidated alley where even the sunlight could only reach halfway.
She looked exceptionally innocent and pure.
She possessed the kind of simplicity that came from being raised in wealth, finding such joy in casually comforting a stranger.
Yet, an uncontrollable malice stirred within Qin Mingyan.
She walked with Bo Liye down another path to see that osmanthus tree.
While Bo Liye was lamenting that the flowers had finished blooming, Qin Mingyan said quite abruptly, “It’s right for them to be nervous. Have you forgotten what my mother looked like when her illness flared up?”
Bo Liye frowned, not knowing why Qin Mingyan was bringing this up again: “Your mother just can’t let things go occasionally, the stimulation from her heartbreak was a bit too much. What does that have to do with you?”
Qin Mingyan let out a sarcastic curl of her lips.
“Because they’ve seen not only my mother, but also my grandmother, and perhaps the generation before that.” Huashui Alley had existed since the Republican era and had housed several generations, there were no secrets among neighbors.