GV – Chapter 99

Three months into their relationship, the two had settled into a stable phase.

Stability meant that Song Zhiqing had finally broken free from the psychological shadow of her lover suddenly leaving her. She no longer felt the urgent need to prove that Ye Yuhuan truly existed by her side. Of course, this came at the cost of Miss Ye Yuhuan’s aching back and weak legs.

At the same time, Ye Yuhuan had also come down from the dreamlike high of a long-held wish suddenly coming true. She no longer worried from time to time that she was just a substitute, that if someone who was more like “Song Zhiqing” appeared one day, she—a person with only a soul, and a soul that had added many layers of disguise at that—would naturally be replaced. As a psychologist, she certainly wouldn’t let such dark thoughts fester between them. Ye Yuhuan told Song Zhiqing all her concerns. Of course, in the end, Miss Ye Yuhuan once again paid the price of an aching back and weak legs.

It must be mentioned that even though Miss Ye Yuhuan wished she could tattoo the words “I am not Song Zhiqing” on her body, it was quite obvious that as she gradually let go of her insecure feelings, that “Song Zhiqing” temperament began to emerge in her interactions with Song Zhiqing.

This emergence was very subtle and exceedingly natural. Ye Yuhuan didn’t notice it at all. Instead, she was astonished that this version of herself could get along so well with Song Zhiqing. It was as if they were two lost puzzle pieces that had finally found each other.

In the early morning, Ye Yuhuan opened her eyes and subconsciously reached for the space beside her. It was cold.

Ah, Song Zhiqing had gone to shoot that movie she was halfway through filming.

It had been… Ye Yuhuan bit her lip and calculated. They hadn’t seen each other for two days.

She missed her so much.

It must be noted here that not long after Song Zhiqing started dating Ye Yuhuan, she had coaxed her into moving in together.

After the “five absurd days” incident, Ye Yuhuan went home and stayed for about… a day and a half. And for half of that day, she was on the phone with Song Zhiqing.

This prompted Ye Chu to resume his Diary of My Darling Daughter’s Growth, which he hadn’t updated since Ye Yuhuan was ten, after a twenty-two-year hiatus—

3.26

Huanhuan seems to be in a relationship. She hasn’t been home for three days.

3.27

Four days!

3.28

Five days!

3.29

She finally came back today. Her clothes were different, and they didn’t fit well. What on earth have they been doing these past few days? Did they not even have time to buy a single piece of clothing?

But, Huanhuan is really in a relationship.

3.30

I’ve never seen Huanhuan talk so much in my life. If Huanhuan had started dating earlier, I wonder if she would be more cheerful now.

This diary stopped being updated on March 30th of this year. The reason was that on this day, while Song Zhiqing was on the phone with Ye Yuhuan, she ended up just running over to their house.

Seemingly aware that showing up unannounced was not good behavior, especially since Ye Yuhuan had rejected her request to visit her parents just the day before, Song Zhiqing acted extremely reserved and polite. She didn’t say much, and despite being in her thirties, she managed to affect the shy and innocent demeanor of a young person just starting out in the world.

Whatever her parents asked, she answered obediently. Her posture was such that it seemed if they were to ask for her bank card PIN, she would recite it digit by digit without batting an eye.

Si Zhen watched Song Zhiqing, who sat before her as primly as a primary school student, yet whose gaze kept darting toward Ye Yuhuan from the corner of her eye like a middle schooler in their first romance. A wave of speechlessness washed over her.

I have no intention of breaking you two up, so isn’t this whole ‘begging for forgiveness’ act a bit…

Too gratifying?

Yes, Si Zhen was quite enjoying it.

Enjoying it so much that she took the initiative to suggest, “Why don’t you two go for a walk?”

Upon hearing this, Song Zhiqing immediately shot up from the sofa and gave an exaggeratedly deep bow. “Thank you, Auntie!”

Then she grabbed Ye Yuhuan and ran outside.

Really now, Si Zhen sighed to herself. So this is the kind of relationship Huanhuan is in.

The moment they got into the car, they started kissing passionately. Ye Yuhuan had been passionately in love with Song Zhiqing in the virtual world, too. It was normal for young love to be deep and intense; after all, they had young bodies and surging hormones. But now they were over thirty, an age when their peers who had entered marriage were starting to worry about the burnout phase. Yet, they were still so fervent, as if the fire from the virtual world had spread to reality, burning the sky crimson, bringing tears to their eyes, and drenching them in sweat.

After the kiss, the two held each other, panting.

Song Zhiqing whispered in a voice tinged with grievance and an unpracticed, coquettish tone, “I missed you so much.”

“But you have to work tomorrow, and after you start, we won’t even be able to talk on the phone. What am I going to do then?”

Ye Yuhuan felt as if she had fallen into a pool of syrup. Right now, the syrup was soft and sweet, but it would eventually harden into a solid block of candy, trapping her in its center with no escape.

Fortunately, I like candy.

Ye Yuhuan clumsily yet skillfully pecked at Song Zhiqing’s lips, mumbling indistinctly, “I miss you too. We can go on a date this weekend.”

Those beautiful peach-blossom eyes blinked and blinked, their dark, slightly curled lashes seeming to brush against the very tip of Ye Yuhuan’s heart.

“But the weekend… we have to wait all week for the weekend.”

After saying this, Song Zhiqing fell silent, just looking at Ye Yuhuan pitifully.

A face as divine as hers making such an expression would have been enough to start a war in ancient times. In the modern era, it was enough to steal a wife.

Ye Yuhuan finally understood. She paused for a moment before asking, “Do you want to live together?”

Song Zhiqing nodded but didn’t speak.

Compared to the obedient “Ye Yuhuan” from the virtual world, the real-world Song Zhiqing was clearly much harder to handle. Song Zhiqing wasn’t like “Ye Yuhuan”; she didn’t have the self-imposed repression born from a lifetime of guilt. When it came to her own needs and desires, she had always been proactive in pursuing them.

As for Ye Yuhuan, the real “Song Zhiqing,” because she was psychologically healthy, her personality hadn’t changed much from the virtual world: she was incapable of refusing any of Song Zhiqing’s/“Ye Yuhuan’s” requests.

Ye Yuhuan was seeing her off for nearly an hour. Si Zhen, with considerable foresight, had already decided not to cook Ye Yuhuan’s portion of dinner. But then, Ye Yuhuan actually came back.

How strange. Seeing someone off without getting herself sent off along with them.

But it was close enough.

“Dad, Mom, I want to live with Song Zhiqing.”

Si Zhen: “????”

Ye Chu: “!!!!”

They had previously worried that their little cabbage, which they had raised for over thirty years, would rot in the field. But they never expected this little cabbage to go from complete silence to a stunning debut. After more than thirty years of barely unfurling its leaves, it was now planning to run off with someone else?

Ye Chu was the first to speak, his voice booming, “No! What’s this about living together? You’re not even married!”

Ye Yuhuan had no choice but to helplessly remind him, “Dad, I’m a lesbian. There’s no difference between living together before marriage and living together after marriage.”

There’s no chance of getting knocked up.

Ye Chu was left speechless. He secretly cursed himself for having accepted his daughter’s sexuality so easily back then. If he had been like those more conservative parents, tossing and turning for a dozen nights, poring over all sorts of information about homosexuality, and only reluctantly accepting it after confirming that his child’s orientation was indeed innate, then he would at least be an expert on lesbianism by now!

Unlike Ye Chu, Si Zhen, who was closer to her daughter, sensed the real crisis hidden behind the simple words “living together.”

She said gently, “Huanhuan, living together means sharing a life. You have to expose all your good and bad sides to each other. Are you sure you want to be so hasty?”

Ye Yuhuan fell silent for a moment. Song Zhiqing’s pitiful expression seemed to appear before her eyes again. She pursed her lips, lowered her gaze, and said, “I can’t predict what will happen in the future. I can only follow my heart and live each day to the fullest as opportunities arise.”

To love with all my might when I can, and to love silently when I can’t.

That’s all.

Si Zhen sighed. These two were indeed precocious, but it seemed that because certain parts of their souls had matured too early, they had sapped the nutrients from other parts, leaving them still trembling and immature.

Extremely afraid of loss, yet at the same time, extremely eager to possess. It wasn’t proper, it wasn’t stable, but because of that, it was full of passion.

“If you want to go, then go. Your father and I don’t need you to stay with us. We’re planning to go to Finland for inspiration in a while. A university there has invited us to be short-term lecturers.”

“Huanhuan, remember what I told you. Have a good relationship. That girl, Xiao Song, she doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

Ye Yuhuan fiddled with the hem of her clothes. Although it was a little embarrassing to be so open in front of her parents, she really wanted to share this with someone right now. “Song Zhiqing is really amazing. She can cook, she’s a great director—she won Best New Director for her first film—and she can even fight…”

Seeing Ye Yuhuan gushing like this, Si Zhen rubbed her temples. “Huanhuan, if I recall correctly, I have no intention of breaking you two up. You don’t have to speak up for her like this.”

The tips of Ye Yuhuan’s ears turned slightly red. “I know, but I… ahem, I just wanted to show off a little.”

I’ve found a treasure!

Something like that.

Si Zhen silently returned to her art studio and closed the door.

However, on this morning three months later, with her treasure away at work, Ye Yuhuan felt very, very, very unhappy.

It wasn’t a strong unhappiness that made her want to break something. It was a faint unhappiness that submerged her emotions and made everything feel listless.

It was awful.

But Song Zhiqing was working. She couldn’t disturb her.

She felt awful like this for the whole day. During that time, Song Zhiqing called her twice, both times stealing a moment from her busy schedule. The set was so noisy that Song Zhiqing had to raise her voice to be heard.

“Huanhuan, I miss you so much.”

“It’s so boring here. I don’t want to work anymore.”

The lead actor, who had been walking over to the monitor to discuss the effect of the last take with the director, froze in his tracks. Three question marks slowly appeared above his head.

Was this the same ice-queen director who barely said anything on set besides “Action”?

Honestly, for as abstract as Song Zhiqing’s script analyses were, the sweet nothings she whispered to Ye Yuhuan were just as concrete.

The lead actor silently retreated to his original spot, feeling that he now understood the essence of his character. Song Zhiqing had been holding up that one take, and when asked, she would only say the feeling wasn’t right before ordering another take.

She had been torturing everyone.

Now I finally understand what kind of feeling that is, thought the lead actor, whose role required him to portray someone falling in love.

On the other end, listening to Song Zhiqing’s complaints, Ye Yuhuan naturally couldn’t complain along with her. That would be too willful, and Song Zhiqing still had to work. She could only console her against her own feelings. But after hanging up, she once again faced the empty house.

Ye Yuhuan thought: It’s so boring here. I don’t want to be home alone.

I miss Song Zhiqing so much.

This longing lasted into the night. After washing up, Ye Yuhuan walked to the bedside. If Song Zhiqing were here, she would have already rushed over to help dry her hair. Then, as she dried it, they would kiss intermittently—not lingeringly, just light touches.

The lingering came after the hair was dry.

However, Song Zhiqing wasn’t here. She could only dry her own hair.

Damn it.

Ye Yuhuan clenched her fists, turned, and walked out of the room, heading straight for the walk-in closet while booking a ticket on her phone.

She didn’t have work tomorrow. If she went now, she should be able to have a meal with Song Zhiqing.

Ye Yuhuan hastily changed into some clothes to go out. Thanks to her outstanding aesthetic sense, she still looked striking, completely out of tune with the quiet, nighttime villa district. But just then, a woman in black, whose presence was perfectly in tune with the quiet atmosphere, walked into the district.

Her face was pale and etched with deep exhaustion, making one worry about her physical condition. But judging from her brisk, energetic stride, such worries seemed unnecessary.

The two met two hundred meters from the gate of Song Zhiqing’s villa.

Ye Yuhuan immediately ran over and hugged the woman, burying her head in her neck and breathing in the faint but reassuring scent of her. “Why are you back?”

Song Zhiqing rubbed her chin against Ye Yuhuan’s cheek. “I missed you too much, so I gave the crew a day off.”

Then she asked, already knowing the answer, “Why are you going out so late?”

Ye Yuhuan hugged Song Zhiqing tighter, her voice muffled against her skin. “I was going to find you.”

This longing was like a volcanic eruption. Just as humans cannot make lava flow backward, Ye Yuhuan could not restrain her heart’s desire to see Song Zhiqing.

“We’re so in sync,” Song Zhiqing said with a smile, her tired face instantly looking as if it had been placed in a vibrant spring.

The cool summer night breeze blew, rustling the leaves. It was a moment that could make a person feel happy.