Chao Xin didn’t sleep for long. She woke up around ten o’clock, first glancing at Paipai’s bedroom door, then at Xiang Wan’s room, both empty.
She rubbed her neck as she walked out, spotting Xiang Wan asleep on the lounge chair in front of the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
Curled up, face turned sideways, she was sleeping.
Chao Xin didn’t disturb her, opting to lie down on the nearby couch. She unlocked her phone, feeling a bit uncertain about what to do. Eventually, she settled on listening to the second episode of the audio drama with her earphones.
This choice turned out to be terrible.
Because at the 12th minute, it was the passionate scene she had recorded with Xiang Wan.
Through the high-fidelity headphones, it felt as if Xiang Wan was panting into her own ears, eyes, and brain.
The unbearable high and the desperate low were vividly depicted, crystal clear.
This kind of scene wasn’t particularly special to Chao Xin, what was special was that Xiang Wan was sleeping beside her at this moment.
It’s rare to feel this way, her voice was incredibly seductive, like a siren’s song coming from the deep, yet her body was unabashedly lying a meter away from you, her face pure, her breath steady, soft like an innocent baby.
Feeling her ears heat up, Chao Xin shut off the episode and exited the app. With a soft ‘click’, Xiang Wan’s eyebrows twitched.
Carefully turning over twice on the couch, her hair as dark as ink curling around the back of her head, Chao Xin couldn’t fall asleep and picked up her phone again.
This time, she recalled Xiang Wan’s previous words and typed in “WanXin”.
But Xiang Wan guessed wrong, the CP[1] super topic of her and Chao Xin wasn’t called WanXin, it was called WanChao.
Watching the waves together tonight, waiting for the tides of emotion to rise.
Chao Xin stared at the two-sentence description of the CP topic over and over, then clicked on her and Xiang Wan’s CP pictures.
There were real photos of the two of them which were photoshopped together, as well as cartoons.
She clicked on a long Weibo post with many replies, it was a serialized story. The Chao Xin and Xiang Wan in the story were both strange and familiar, just like they were in the audio drama, playing the roles of passionately devoted lovers.
She began to space out, staring at her phone.
But a voice came close to her ear, Xiang Wan’s tender cheek leaning against her ear, attentively watching her phone screen.
And then she said, “You’re looking at me.”
Chao Xin snapped back to reality, a large block of text on her phone read:
Xiang Wan has a voice kissed by God, and a body favored by God. Heaven has crystallized the best snow peaks on her chest, and personally planted the buds of cornel. The undulating mountains are her waist, but you have to personally venture into the valley before she is willing to openly show you the boundless plains.
Xiang Wan murmured softly, “There must be a water source deep in the plains, capable of nourishing the heart of a traveler on the brink of demise.”
“What is that?” Having just awoken, she hadn’t clearly seen the preceding text, only spotting the characters ‘Xiang Wan’. Then Chao Xin’s hand slipped, and Xiang Wan’s gaze fell on the last sentence.
With a click, Chao Xin locked her phone.
“Awake?”
“Mmm.”
Chao Xin sat up, her hair slightly itchy, and so was her heart.
Xiang Wan also straightened up, her sticky back a bit itchy, and so was her heart.
When she had opened her eyes, she saw Chao Xin lying on the couch, engrossed in her phone. She was about to call out to her when she saw her own name in the text.
It meant that while Chao Xin was sitting beside her, she was still unsatisfied and searching for her.
This sense of ‘insatiability’ gave Xiang Wan a peculiar feeling, because it brought with it a touch of ‘satisfaction.’
The door lock rattled, Paipai rubbing her eyes and shuffling out in her slippers, sniffled and asked, “Chao Xin, why didn’t you wake me up, did I oversleep?”
“We’re not going today,” Chao Xin said.
“Not going? Why?” Paipai hadn’t quite understood.
Xiang Wan said, “Ms. Chao isn’t feeling well, and you’re still dizzy, aren’t you?”
Watching her wobble as she walked.
Paipai blinked hard twice, sat on the couch before she looked at Chao Xin anxiously, “What’s wrong with you?”
She enunciated each word, very gently.
“It’s nothing, just had a bit of alcohol yesterday.”
“How can a bit of alcohol make you feel unwell?” Paipai kicked off her shoes, curled up on the couch, wrapped her arms around Chao Xin, and snuggled into her lap.
Chao Xin laughed, pondering before saying, “Perhaps, it was fake alcohol.”
“Oh my, should we go to the hospital?” Paipai, growing sleepy again, nuzzled into her neck, murmuring.
Xiang Wan glanced at Paipai clinging to Chao Xin, gave a small smile and moved to sit on the lounge chair.
Chao Xin also glanced at Xiang Wan. Paipai rarely acted like a spoiled child, and she felt a bit embarrassed.
So she patted Paipai’s waist lightly, “Why are you lazing around on the couch? People will laugh.” She whispered the last half of the sentence.
“But it’s so comfortable here, and it smells so good.” Paipai didn’t let go, burying her head and nuzzling again.
Xiang Wan turned over and lay on her stomach, half her face buried in her arm. Her bright eyes fell on Chao Xin’s slender, white hand, then on her neck, described by Paipai as ‘smelling good.’
“What is it?” Chao Xin, listening to Paipai’s gradually steady breathing, turned her head to look at Xiang Wan. Why was she staring at her?
“Nothing.” Xiang Wan buried her face.
“She’s asleep, I’ll carry her in.” Chao Xin stood up, cradled Paipai in her arms and settled her into the bed in the bedroom.
Rubbing her sore arm, Chao Xin came over to Xiang Wan and said, “I’m going to take a bath first. Think about what you want to eat for lunch, I’ll cook for you.”
Xiang Wan had taken care of her all night yesterday, making her feel a bit embarrassed.
“Alright.”
Chao Xin let out a breath; perhaps because she hadn’t rested well, her chest still felt a bit uneasy and pained.
She planned to sleep for half the day at home in the afternoon.
After her bath, Chao Xin saw that Paipai had not closed her bedroom door properly. She wanted to close it for her, so the noise of cooking wouldn’t disturb her.
As she approached, she heard Paipai inside, speaking with exaggerated breathiness, “Yes, that’s right, my mom drank fake alcohol.”
“Qiu Shanshan, my mom drank fake alcohol.”
“Do you know, Luo Yu, my mom drank fake alcohol.”
“We’re not going to the amusement park because my mom drank fake alcohol.”
“Has your mom ever drank fake alcohol?”
“My mom has.”
“And she’s still alive.”
- CP means ship in Chinese social media. [return to text]
CNYuriTranslation 