Chapter 46
Christmas Eve was the most festive night of the year. Lin Qianqian chose to leave the house in the late afternoon, conveniently concealing the fact that she had slept through the morning and most of the afternoon.
Following her carefully curated itinerary, she directed Lu Yin to a bustling night market.
The streets were crowded, the traffic heavy, and by the time they arrived, it was completely dark.
A claw machine, offering various prizes, stood at the entrance of the market.
Lin Qianqian’s eyes immediately landed on a Santa hat.
“Sister!” she exclaimed, exchanging cash for tokens. “See that Santa hat? I’m going to win it!”
She knelt down, ready to play, and Lu Yin placed a small stool behind her.
The first attempt: three mismatched symbols.
“One more time. It’s just the first try,” Lin Qianqian said, ever the optimist. “I only need nineteen Santa hats. I wouldn’t be able to carry any more.”
The second attempt: the same result.
The third attempt: another failure.
…
On her nineteenth attempt, the first two symbols finally matched: two Santa hats. The third symbol, however, tantalizingly close, slipped away.
Lin Qianqian turned to Lu Yin. “Twenty tokens. Have I been scammed?”
Lu Yin sighed. “I’ll reimburse you.”
“I refuse to give up,” Lin Qianqian declared, inserting another token. Finally, three matching symbols appeared, but not the ones she wanted.
She exchanged her prize for a pack of blind box stickers. “I definitely lost this round,” she said, her earlier enthusiasm slightly diminished.
She led Lu Yin to a less crowded area and sat down. “They’re Christmas-themed stickers, with a hidden design.”
She quickly opened the pack. “The hidden design!” she exclaimed. “It’s a little deer!”
She jumped up and down excitedly. “Sister, I got you!”
Lu Yin’s lips parted slightly, silently accepting the strange declaration.
“Worth it! Twenty tokens well spent! This is much better than a Santa hat!” Lin Qianqian beamed. “I’ll put one on myself first.”
She peeled off a sticker and placed it on her shirt, then another on Lu Yin’s collar. “And one for you, Sister.”
She took a picture of the stickers and sent it to Ming Yao.
“Huh? Did she block me?” Lin Qianqian looked at her phone, confused. “No, it says I’ve been deleted…”
She assumed Ming Yao was drunk and acting out again. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa, a table laden with delicious food sat untouched.
Ming Yao sat at the table, her plate empty, a set of pristine cutlery beside it, her gaze fixed on the woman opposite her.
“Even if you don’t eat anything, the food will be removed after forty-five minutes,” Zhong Shiwu said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Don’t forget your after-dinner exercise. I don’t want a repeat of last night, when you were almost ten minutes late.”
“I didn’t eat anything. Why would I need to exercise?”
“Isn’t it part of our schedule?” Zhong Shiwu walked over and patted her head. “Whether you do it or not is your choice, but whether I make you do it is mine.”
She pulled up a chair and sat beside Ming Yao, her gaze softening with feigned concern. “New Year’s is just around the corner, and then Spring Festival. Can’t you even endure this for a little while longer?”
She reached out to touch Ming Yao’s hand, but Ming Yao pulled away, standing up and backing away from the table, grabbing a steak knife, the blade pointed towards Zhong Shiwu.
“Ming Yao, be a good girl,” Zhong Shiwu said, her smile fading. “I’m your mother. You shouldn’t treat me like this.”
“Send me away!” Ming Yao said, her voice trembling despite the knife in her hand. “I don’t want to stay here anymore! Send me back abroad!”
Zhong Shiwu sighed, leaning back in her chair, her fingers drumming on the table as if considering the proposal.
“I want to leave tonight!” Ming Yao pressed, her bravado unconvincing, her words sounding more like a plea.
“No, that’s not a good idea,” Zhong Shiwu said, her voice soft, her rejection firm. “I don’t like it.”
She sat up straight and yawned. “You know, some parents don’t like punishing their disobedient children during the holidays, so they deal with them beforehand. I’m starting to understand why.”
Ming Yao dropped the knife, kneeling on the carpet, her hands on Zhong Shiwu’s legs. “Or…can I at least move somewhere else? I need some privacy.”
Zhong Shiwu glanced at her watch, issuing a final ultimatum. Her smile returned, and she gently stroked Ming Yao’s hair. “Yaoyao, you have five minutes left for dinner.”
She picked up the knife, expertly sliced the steak, and offered a piece to Ming Yao. “Here.”
Ming Yao opened her mouth, the taste of the steak lost on her.
“Two minutes left,” Zhong Shiwu placed the plate on the floor. “Hurry up.”
Ming Yao reached for the steak with her hand, but Zhong Shiwu slapped her hand away with a fork. “Don’t be messy. Use your hands.”
Ming Yao looked at the fork, then at Zhong Shiwu, who casually tossed it across the table.
She hesitated for a moment, then leaned down and took a bite of the steak with her mouth.
“Ninety seconds,” Zhong Shiwu said, pressing her hand against Ming Yao’s head. “You have to eat faster.”
Ming Yao opened her mouth wide, devouring the steak, biting her tongue in her haste, but ignoring the pain.
She was already counting down the seconds until her mandatory after-dinner walk.
Lin Qianqian was still reveling in her sticker victory.
She peeled off a few more stickers and placed them on Lu Yin’s shirt, then leaned in to kiss the little deer sticker on Lu Yin’s collar, only to be pushed away.
“Hey! What’s wrong with kissing a sticker?” she grumbled, kissing the sticker sheet in her hand instead.
If they weren’t in public, she would have pinned Lu Yin against a wall and kissed her senseless.
They continued their stroll through the night market, Lu Yin’s phone buzzing with payment notifications.
Lin Qianqian loved quirky little trinkets. She was now wearing reindeer antlers and had retrieved a mini paintbox from her pocket.
She found a mirror and painted her nose white.
“When did you steal that?” Lu Yin asked, seeing the familiar paintbox, a mixture of amusement and exasperation in her voice.
“It’s not stealing! It’s ours!”
“Fine, when did you confiscate it?”
“This morning, while you were showering,” Lin Qianqian said, placing her hand over her heart dramatically. “I battled my conscience for eight hundred rounds, and I emerged victorious.”
Lu Yin watched her, then led her further into the market.
Lin Qianqian paused, then asked, “Does it matter?”
“No, use it if you want,” Lu Yin said, her gaze scanning the crowd, unsure where to go next.
She rarely visited such crowded places. If Lin Qianqian hadn’t returned, she would have spent Christmas Eve like any other workday, even Spring Festival.
When the art institution first opened, they had only rented the studio space, no office, the teachers barely acquainted. Company dinners had been frequent.
Back then, her refusal to attend had been interpreted as aloofness, but as they got to know her, they understood her preference for solitude, no longer pressing her to socialize.
“A dog! A Samoyed!” Lin Qianqian exclaimed, pulling Lu Yin towards a fluffy white Samoyed. After asking the owner’s permission, she knelt down and petted the dog.
“What’s its name?” she asked.
“Trouble,” the owner replied.
“Trouble?” Lin Qianqian’s eyes lit up. “What a fun name! And so fluffy!”
She spent five minutes showering the Samoyed with affection before reluctantly standing up.
“Sister, do you like dogs? Or cats?”
Lu Yin considered it. “Not really.”
“Why?” Lin Qianqian looked back at the retreating Samoyed. “They’re so cute!”
“I don’t have the energy to take care of one.”
Her words held a deeper meaning. She didn’t want to divert any of her attention, her energy, away from Lin Qianqian.
A pet, another living creature in their home, would disrupt the delicate balance of their relationship.
“But I want one. Can I get one?” Lin Qianqian asked, her eyes pleading.
“No.”
“Why not?” Lin Qianqian demanded.
“I don’t want anything else in this house,” Lu Yin said seriously. “Even if it makes you happy, it would make me unhappy.”
Lin Qianqian hadn’t expected such a direct answer. She had thought Lu Yin would lecture her about the responsibilities of pet ownership.
“I’ll accept that answer,” she said, a smile playing on her lips, leading Lu Yin towards a giant Christmas tree.
Lu Yin hadn’t changed.
But in the past, she would have told Lin Qianqian what was wrong with her behavior. Now, she simply stated her own feelings, her own preferences.
It made Lin Qianqian feel closer to the real Lu Yin, their connection deepening.
The Christmas tree was decorated with colorful lights, and people were taking pictures. Lin Qianqian wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
She stood in front of the tree, asking Lu Yin to take her picture.
The flash went off a few times, and she rushed over to see the photos. “I look amazing! Sister, you’re such a good photographer!”
Lu Yin smiled at her flattery.
Lin Qianqian didn’t ask Lu Yin to pose alone. She pulled Lu Yin towards the tree and asked a passing stranger to take their picture together.
“Sister! Smile!” she said, without turning around.
The stranger obliged, and Lin Qianqian thanked her, eager to see the photos.
She was beaming in every picture, and Lu Yin, as requested, had a faint smile on her face.
The only difference was that Lin Qianqian was looking at the camera, while Lu Yin was looking at her, her gaze intense and unwavering.
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