Chapter 25: I Also Want Cake (25)
“Xi Xi? Xi Xi! Liang Xi!” Yang Xiao’s voice got louder and louder, finally patting Liang Xi’s shoulder, which made her react.
“What’s wrong?” Liang Xi looked at Yang Xiao.
“Not what’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with you? You seem distracted lately.”
“Nervous.” Liang Xi rubbed her temples.
“Nervous?” Yang Xiao frowned. “Nervous about the performance? But you often participate in competitions? This is just a New Year’s Day gala. Don’t worry, I won’t hold you back.”
“I’m worried about holding you guys back.” Liang Xi sighed softly and lowered her head.
She was indeed nervous, but not because of the New Year’s Day gala.
Ever since Jiang Zhiyan asked her if she wanted to see her in the black dress, her mind had been filled with Jiang Zhiyan’s look and tone that day.
She had a strong feeling that Jiang Zhiyan was tempting her.
Jiang Zhiyan didn’t seem to be hiding it at all.
Liang Xi clutched her chest, her heart pounding. She wasn’t disgusted, even a bit expectant.
So when would it be…
Her eyelashes fluttered as she controlled her emotions.
On the day of the gala, all three performed well. According to the original plot, Jiang Zhiyan should have tampered with Liang Xi’s dress and caused her to be the subject of gossip.
Jiang Zhiyan did tamper with it—she altered the hem of the dress.
The female lead was indeed the subject of gossip. The altered dress added a sense of fragility and vulnerability, and Liang Xi perfectly showcased the fragile beauty of nascent life through her dance.
System: Speechless.
Jiang Zhiyan’s cello solo was also brilliant. After the performance, a member of the orchestra extended an invitation to her, which didn’t surprise her at all.
Yang Xiao seemed a bit overshadowed by the two, but she didn’t care at all. As long as she didn’t make any mistakes, she was happy. She had long stopped considering Jiang Zhiyan and Liang Xi as the same species as herself. Comparing herself to them would only bring her frustration.
There were many people backstage, so it wasn’t convenient to change clothes yet. Jiang Zhiyan and Liang Xi wrapped themselves in down jackets and went to the rooftop. They had originally planned to call Yang Xiao, but in the blink of an eye, she was gone. They tacitly gave up on looking for her.
Sitting on the chairs provided on the rooftop for people to rest, Jiang Zhiyan took out two cans of milk from her down jacket pocket and opened them. The rooftop had a glass enclosure, and although there was air conditioning, it was still a bit cold.
“When did you buy these?” Liang Xi was a bit surprised.
“When you weren’t looking. They’re warm, drink up.” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand and took a sip of milk.
Liang Xi turned the can in her hand, took a sip, and complained half-heartedly: “You kept looking at me on stage, I thought I made a mistake…”
“Because I just wanted to look at you.” Jiang Zhiyan put down the milk, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at Liang Xi.
An intense and direct gaze.
Liang Xi was a bit embarrassed, her gaze flitting away for a second before quickly returning to Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes. It was Jiang Zhiyan who started it, but in the end, it was she who blushed.
She lowered her head and took a big gulp of milk, trying to hide her flustered state.
She knew that whatever she did now was just self-deception. She could clearly feel her body, from her toes to her cheeks to her hair, burning up. She didn’t know what her face looked like.
She glanced at Jiang Zhiyan from the corner of her eye, and as expected, their eyes met.
Liang Xi’s lips moved, and she took another sip of milk.
Jiang Zhiyan looked away, a smile playing on her lips. She covered her mouth with her hand.
Liang Xi: …
Even though they hadn’t said a word, the air was thick with unspoken tension.
Even the system felt a bit embarrassed, double-checking that this was a romance novel, and the two sitting here were the female lead and the vicious female supporting character.
Jiang Zhiyan shifted and sat next to Liang Xi. Liang Xi subconsciously moved her body, but no matter how she adjusted her posture, it felt awkward. Her heart seemed to be beating even faster, as if it would jump out of her mouth.
“Why are you so nervous?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
Her voice wasn’t loud, and although there was some distance between them, perhaps because it was so quiet here, Liang Xi felt like Jiang Zhiyan was whispering in her ear.
Liang Xi glanced at Jiang Zhiyan with displeasure: “You tell me.”
Jiang Zhiyan leaned closer to Liang Xi’s arm, lowered her head, rested it on Liang Xi’s shoulder, and nuzzled against her. Her left hand fumbled for Liang Xi’s left hand and held it.
Liang Xi’s already stiff body became even stiffer. Turning her head slightly, she saw Jiang Zhiyan’s profile, completely hidden by her long hair.
She was so cunning, hiding her face so well, leaving Liang Xi to blush alone. It was a good thing no one was here.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t had this kind of contact with Jiang Zhiyan before, but this time was especially different. In order not to disturb Jiang Zhiyan, Liang Xi carefully exhaled and then shifted her body slightly, making sure Jiang Zhiyan’s head wouldn’t fall.
The wind outside the glass enclosure grew stronger, snowflakes fluttering down from the sky. This scene was originally created for the male and female leads. They would spend New Year’s Eve together and hold hands for the first time.
Now, it was all hers.
But it wasn’t the first time the two of them held hands.
Jiang Zhiyan’s lips curled up slightly.
Liang Xi shook her empty milk can.
“Jiang Zhiyan.” Liang Xi stared at the milk can, repeating the name in her mind, “Jiang Zhiyan…”
The more she repeated it, the more familiar the name became.
She felt like she was forgetting something very important.
Jiang Zhiyan turned her head, the movement causing Liang Xi, who had finally relaxed a little, to tense up again. She felt something soft brush against her neck.
Just as Liang Xi was about to speak, Jiang Zhiyan sat up, her expression slightly apologetic: “I suddenly remembered I haven’t removed my makeup…”
“Ah, oh, it’s okay.” Liang Xi glanced at her shoulder, her feelings complicated. She couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or something else. The spot on her neck that had felt the strange touch seemed to be itching, but she was too embarrassed to touch it. Looking at Jiang Zhiyan, who seemed completely unaffected, she suddenly felt a little annoyed. “Yang Xiao is right, you’re very bad.”
“Yes! Oh my god, Xi Xi, you’ve finally figured it out.” Yang Xiao, who came up to find them, almost burst into tears when she heard Liang Xi’s words.
“Yang Xiao, you’re actually badmouthing me in front of Xi Xi.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Yang Xiao, widening her eyes slightly, one hand covering her mouth, the other pressing her chest, looking incredibly surprised. “I suddenly forgot, you’ve always hated me. Sigh, I thought after all this time, you didn’t hate me anymore.”
She lowered her head, looking weak, helpless, and pitiful.
“Hahaha, your pretense is useless! Xi Xi has already seen your true colors.” Yang Xiao put her hands on her hips.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at her, suddenly feeling like she was the villainous mastermind.
“Do you know what we were doing just now?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao felt that there was a hidden meaning in Jiang Zhiyan’s words and shrewdly didn’t respond.
Jiang Zhiyan smiled: “See, you don’t know.”
Yang Xiao: ?
She glanced at Liang Xi. Liang Xi… was blushing? Why was she blushing? What did these two do upstairs?
She suddenly realized that maybe she shouldn’t have come up.
Thinking back to Liang Xi’s words, her tone didn’t seem quite right either. She usually called Yang Xiao for anything, but not this time…
Yang Xiao’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two, too much information overloading her brain. She didn’t react for a long time.
Some insignificant things, after being processed by the human brain, would become very problematic. A small seed could instantly sprout and grow, becoming so large that even the person who planted it wouldn’t recognize it.
“What strange things are you thinking about?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Yang Xiao’s increasingly strange expression and waved her hand in front of her eyes.
Yang Xiao coughed twice, her voice stammering slightly: “I was wondering if you guys want to pack up and leave early. We can change clothes in the gym locker room, and then go have dinner. If you don’t want to eat now, then forget it, yes, just message me when you’re ready, cough, cough, I’ll go first. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
After saying that, she ran off, almost tripping in her haste, without waiting for their reply.
Liang Xi’s face flushed red. It took her a while to find the right words: “What do you mean ‘when you’re ready’? What nonsense? What won’t she tell anyone? What is she thinking?”
“I don’t know either.” Jiang Zhiyan just wanted to tease her. Who knew Yang Xiao was such an experienced driver, speeding off at 800 mph. “Then let’s stay a little longer, she’ll keep our secret anyway.”
“What secret do we have that needs…”
Jiang Zhiyan leaned closer to Liang Xi and kissed her cheek.
Liang Xi’s words caught in her throat.
“This secret.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Liang Xi’s expression. “I wanted to do this just now. Just the cheek, you don’t mind, right?”
Liang Xi’s eyelashes fluttered, her hands gripping her skirt tightly as she looked into Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes. She saw “hesitation” and “unease” in Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes for the first time.
Liang Xi stood on tiptoe and kissed Jiang Zhiyan’s right cheek, symmetrical to the kiss Jiang Zhiyan had given her.
“I don’t mind now.” Liang Xi’s voice trembled slightly, her grip so tight she almost ripped her skirt.
Although nervous, she was very satisfied.
Jiang Zhiyan leaned against Liang Xi and laughed: “If I had known you didn’t mind, I would have kissed you somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? I would have yelled ‘pervert’.” Liang Xi lightly pinched Jiang Zhiyan’s arm. “Let’s go down, if we don’t, who knows what stories she’ll make up.”
Liang Xi thought she was very calm, walking step by step, but in Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes, she was practically floating.
…
Yang Xiao sat on the steps of the stairwell, resting her chin on her hand. It was very cold here, and windy, but her heart was burning.
She thought about the details of their interactions, and the more she thought about it, the more real it seemed. Indeed, if there hadn’t been such hints before, she wouldn’t have immediately thought there was something going on between them.
Yang Xiao quickly convinced herself to accept this. Although there had never been a same-sex couple at school, and although she really disliked Jiang Zhiyan, it seemed that Jiang Zhiyan genuinely cared about Liang Xi, and Liang Xi clearly liked Jiang Zhiyan very much…
After receiving a message from Liang Xi, she composed herself, and they met at the side entrance of the auditorium.
“You’ve already changed?” Yang Xiao, wrapped in her down jacket, hurried over to them, her gaze flitting between them. She immediately noticed the faint redness on Liang Xi’s neck. Although her mind told her it was best not to ask, she couldn’t help herself. “Xi Xi, what’s on your neck?”
“Hmm?” Liang Xi froze, remembering the warmth she had felt on her neck.
Jiang Zhiyan calmly took a tissue and placed it on Liang Xi’s neck, carefully wiping it, and said casually: “My lipstick.”
Yang Xiao: Jiang Zhiyan did that on purpose, absolutely on purpose! Otherwise, why would she emphasize that it was her lipstick!
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