Chapter 48
After the confrontation with her teammates, the pain in Lou Mi’s chest intensified, but remembering Chi Lin’s message, she left the club and drove to South Lake Third High.
It was getting colder. Lou Mi waited in her car at the usual spot.
Chi Lin saw Lou Mi’s message thirty minutes after school ended.
Ms. Qi had been giving a motivational speech, urging the students to prepare for the final exams.
“Entering eleventh grade is like entering the fast lane on the highway. Everyone is accelerating! If you don’t get your cars checked and tuned up now, you’ll be left behind!”
A student, undeterred, said, “But Ms. Qi, we’re underage. We don’t even have driver’s licenses.”
The class laughed.
Ms. Qi, after scolding the student, finally dismissed them, even later than usual.
Chi Lin, buttoning her coat against the wind, hurried to Lou Mi’s car.
She opened the door, letting in a blast of cold air.
“Been waiting long?” she asked, her nose and ears slightly pink from the cold, her eyes bright.
“Not long,” Lou Mi replied, having waited patiently, her game console untouched.
“What did you want to tell me? Tell me now.”
Chi Lin, not wanting to have this conversation in such a confined space, said, “Let’s go home first.”
At home, they could have some… breathing room.
And if Lou Mi decided to attack her, she could run.
Lou Mi shook her head, locking the car doors. “We’re not going anywhere until you explain yourself. What did you ‘do’ to me? My teammates heard your message. They’ve been teasing me all day.”
“I’m sorry… but how did they hear my message?”
Chi Lin’s unspoken question was: Don’t people listen to voice messages privately, with headphones?
She had, as always, hit the nail on the head.
“…Never mind that. I was humiliated. You have to take responsibility,” Lou Mi said, then chuckled, amused by her own words.
Chi Lin, hearing the words “take responsibility,” thought about the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and blushed.
Lou Mi, noticing her reaction, poked her cheek. “What are you thinking? How’s your fever? Did it go down?”
“I’m fine now,” Chi Lin replied.
Lou Mi touched her forehead. It was cool.
Young people recover quickly.
“So tell me what happened,” she said. “I’m dying of curiosity.”
Chi Lin, having spent the day contemplating her actions, decided to confess.
She hadn’t intentionally taken advantage of Lou Mi. She had been trying to save her life.
And Lou Mi, having gone straight to the club instead of seeing a doctor about her chest pain, might not know the cause. Further delays could be dangerous.
After careful consideration, Chi Lin decided to tell the truth.
“Sister, promise me you won’t be angry, no matter what you hear. It’s not good for your… injury.”
Lou Mi nodded. “I won’t be angry. So I was right. You think you injured me.”
“I did injure you,” Chi Lin said.
Lou Mi chuckled. “Don’t blame yourself. It was my fault for sneaking up on you. And we wouldn’t have fallen into the pond if I hadn’t startled you. It’s my fault, not yours.”
Chi Lin said seriously, “No, it was my fault.”
Lou Mi patted her head. “It’s good that you’re taking responsibility, but it really wasn’t your fault.”
Chi Lin glanced at Lou Mi’s lips, a soft, inviting pink, like a marshmallow.
Lou Mi’s gentle smile made Chi Lin feel safe, as if she could confess anything without fear of judgment.
She recounted the incident, focusing on the life-saving measures, describing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a detached, clinical tone, devoid of any… romantic implications.
At least, that’s how she perceived it.
Lou Mi’s smile, however, slowly faded as she heard the words “mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
“Wait a minute,” she interrupted. “Mouth-to-mouth? Like… that kind of mouth-to-mouth?”
Chi Lin, her shoulders hunching slightly, nodded.
Here it comes… the storm is brewing…
She braced herself for an explosion, but the anticipated typhoon of anger never materialized.
Lou Mi’s fury seemed to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared.
Chi Lin’s heart, like a lovesick teenager’s, fluttered with a mixture of relief and disappointment.
“Okay, I understand. Let’s go home,” Lou Mi said, setting the navigation.
Chi Lin, surprised by her calm reaction, simply said, “Okay.”
When they arrived, Lou Mi, her fever seemingly worse, said she needed to rest.
As she was about to close her bedroom door, she saw Chi Lin standing behind her.
Lou Mi leaned against the doorframe, exhausted. “What?”
“You should see a doctor. I might have… used too much force during the CPR. You might have injured your… sternum.”
“So you did attack me,” Lou Mi said, trying to sound playful.
“It was an accident. I was panicking,” Chi Lin explained.
“I’m kidding. You saved my life. I wouldn’t be angry at you for that. Do you think I’m that unreasonable?”
“No, but it’s not fair to you. It was your… first kiss, right?”
Lou Mi almost choked. “Where did you learn these ancient customs? What’s fair or unfair about it? Wasn’t it your first time too?”
Chi Lin was speechless.
It wasn’t her first time.
Her firsts had all been with the Empress.
Her guilt intensified.
“I thought it was something serious,” Lou Mi said, sighing. “Still a child, despite your attempts at maturity.”
Chi Lin thought, Whatever you say, young lady.
“Anything else? I’m really tired,” Lou Mi said.
“Good night,” Chi Lin said, concerned about Lou Mi’s exhaustion.
Lou Mi nodded and closed the door.
She was indeed exhausted, the fever medication making her drowsy.
But a warm, pleasant feeling lingered in her chest, a feeling she didn’t want to acknowledge.
She turned over, a smile playing on her lips, hugging her pillow tightly as she drifted off to sleep.
She dreamt of Chi Lin.
The setting was blurry and indistinct, the details unimportant.
What mattered was Chi Lin in her arms.
Chi Lin, like a tamed wildcat, her gaze filled with longing.
Lou Mi cupped her face, their eyes meeting.
And then she kissed her.
…
She woke up feeling… strange.
What kind of dream was that? Chi Lin is underage!
She glanced at the clock on her nightstand.
Wait, it was Chi Lin’s birthday.
Which meant… she was eighteen.
A legal adult.
Lou Mi hugged her pillow, a surge of excitement… then a sharp pain in her chest, knocking the wind out of her.
She had to see a doctor today.
The X-ray showed no broken bones, just bruised muscles.
The doctor, after hearing her account of the incident, joked, “That girl must really hate you. Good thing your sternum is intact. That could have been serious. Avoid strenuous activity for a while, especially with your competition coming up.”
Lou Mi hadn’t realized how close she had come to a serious injury.
Leaving the thoracic surgery department, she ran into Dr. Bai in the hallway.
“What are you doing here?” Dr. Bai asked, surprised.
Lou Mi, feeling slightly embarrassed by her frequent medical visits lately, first her head, now her chest, mumbled, “Just getting an X-ray.”
“Is everything alright?”
“Just a muscle strain.”
“Take care of yourself,” Dr. Bai said. “My whole family is looking forward to watching Nine Heavens dominate the Winter World Cup.”
“I’ll get you front-row tickets,” Lou Mi said.
Dr. Bai beamed, then her expression turned serious. “Come see me before the World Cup for a full checkup.”
“Okay…”
“And no more… unauthorized medications.”
“I haven’t…”
“You seem a little… nervous.”
“I’m not taking any medication!”
Dr. Bai smiled. “I believe you.”
Leaving the hospital, Lou Mi felt better, both physically and mentally, though a sense of unease lingered.
She went to the club and reviewed match footage of their main rivals with her teammates, strategizing for the upcoming Winter World Cup.
They also decided to choose a fifth member, a substitute, from the trainees.
During the afternoon break, while getting coffee, she overheard Xie Buyu and Pagoda talking by the window, their expressions unusually serious.
“…Prepared for defeat?” Xie Buyu asked Pagoda, her tone light, but her words heavy. “We’ve never lost before, but this year is different.”
“I’m prepared, but I still want to win. Otherwise, we might face A Bao and Xiao V’s team next season, based on the rankings.”
“I don’t want to face them either. They know us too well, especially Mi-jie. Remember those practice matches? A Bao was the only one who could counter Mi-jie. If we face her in a real competition…”
Lou Mi didn’t hear the rest. She turned and walked away.
She got a drink from the vending machine, trying to remember the practice matches Xie Buyu had mentioned, but the details were hazy.
She accessed the club’s database and searched for the match footage, scrolling through dozens of pages before finding it.
She had misremembered the date.
Dr. Bai had warned her about the medication, but she couldn’t stop taking it.
She needed the neural stimulants to perform at her peak during the World Cup.
And they weren’t banned yet.
She took some fever medication on her way home and slept through the rest of the drive.
She woke up in the garage, feeling much better, her fever subsided.
Chi Lin should be home by now. She hurried upstairs and saw Chi Lin sitting by the front door.
As she approached, she noticed three children sitting across from Chi Lin.
Lou Mi: “??”
“Mimi, you’re back!” Mr. Yan, holding a fruit platter, emerged from the kitchen, greeting her cheerfully.
Lou Mi felt disoriented, as if she had entered the wrong house.
“Grandpa Yan, what are you…”
“I brought my grandson and his friends for a calligraphy lesson with Master Chi, and a little… opera practice,” he said, popping a grape into his mouth.
“Our Master Chi is so talented! A one-stop shop for all your educational needs! Ha ha ha!”
He burst out laughing, leaving Lou Mi and Chi Lin speechless.
Mr. Yan had set up a low table, similar to the ones used in Dayuan, and Chi Lin was kneeling before it, surrounded by calligraphy supplies.
She had clearly been writing since she arrived.
She looked at Lou Mi with a pleading expression, silently begging for rescue.
The three children across from her also looked miserable, their legs numb from kneeling, their faces a mixture of boredom and resignation.
“Grandpa Yan, I need to talk to Chi Lin. Come on, Chi Lin, to my room,” Lou Mi said.
Chi Lin jumped up instantly. “Okay!”
They entered Lou Mi’s bedroom, and Lou Mi, glancing at the living room, closed the door.
“How did he… rope you into this? Are you actually teaching now?”
Chi Lin sighed dramatically. “I didn’t want to, but he was waiting for me at the school gate. I couldn’t escape.”
“At the school gate…” Lou Mi, impressed, gave Mr. Yan a mental thumbs-up. He’s a pro.
“If you don’t like it, I can make them leave,” Chi Lin said.
“It’s not about what I like,” Lou Mi said, then, realizing she sounded dismissive, added, “I don’t want them taking up your study time, but Grandpa Yan is… persistent. I’ll tell him you’re busy preparing for the final exams and you can teach them after you graduate.”
Chi Lin agreed. It would be more effective coming from Lou Mi, the “elder.”
Lou Mi went to talk to Mr. Yan, who said, “It’s fine. It’s the weekend. A little relaxation is good for her.”
Lou Mi, her voice sharper now, said, “It might be fine for you, but not for Chi Lin. The college entrance exam is a crucial moment in her life. She can’t afford to waste any time. No, I don’t agree. Take the kids and leave. She can teach them after she graduates.”
Mr. Yan, unfazed, smiled. “You’re so fierce. Even Master Chi hasn’t complained.”
Lou Mi’s smile widened. As long as he left, she didn’t care how “fierce” she seemed.
Before leaving, Mr. Yan whispered to Chi Lin, “We’ll continue our lessons when your sister isn’t around.”
Lou Mi: “…”
Chi Lin said, “Grandpa Yan, I’ll do whatever Sister says. If she says no, it’s no.”
Mr. Yan, defeated, left with the children.
Lou Mi wanted to kick the door.
“That old man… I have to talk to Grandpa. This can’t happen again.”
“Don’t be angry,” Chi Lin said. “It’s not good for your chest.”
Chi Lin’s words had an unexpected effect on Lou Mi. Her annoyance vanished, replaced by a soft, almost affectionate expression.
She looked at Chi Lin as if she were a… pet.
“I went to the hospital today,” she said, her voice gentle.
“What did the doctor say?”
“No broken bones, just bruised muscles. The doctor asked me how much the person who performed CPR on me… hated me.”
Chi Lin, feeling a pang of guilt, said, “I don’t hate you. I was just panicking. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know, silly. I was joking.”
“Even jokes can be… hurtful,” Chi Lin said, then paused, unsure how to describe her relationship with Lou Mi.
Friendship? Too distant.
Family? Lou Mi wouldn’t like that.
The other option… was too dangerous to utter.
Lou Mi, hearing her hesitation, mentally filled in the blank with the word she longed to hear, her heart fluttering.
“It’s your birthday today,” she said, changing the subject. “I ordered a cake. It should be here soon.”
Chi Lin had forgotten about the original owner’s birthday. “Really? I completely forgot.”
“How can you forget your eighteenth birthday? It’s a big deal! And your parents are on their way home with a… surprise.”
Chi Lin looked at Lou Mi expectantly.
Lou Mi smiled. “Don’t worry, I got you a gift too. Come here.”
Lou Mi’s bedroom was connected to her study and a storage room filled with figurines, toys, and a large liquor cabinet.
Chi Lin’s eyes lit up at the sight of the liquor cabinet.
Could it be…?
Lou Mi opened the cabinet doors, gesturing dramatically.
“Welcome to adulthood.”
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