Chapter 32
Zhuo Zhi couldn’t understand why kissing a hand needed to be “taken slowly,” but since Li Qinyue had said so, she couldn’t just blurt out “No, right now!”
She retracted her hand, hiding it inside her sleeve, then clamped it between her knees.
She kept it there the entire ride back. By the time they arrived home and got out of the car, the wind had made her fingertips numb.
Back at the villa, Li Qinyue said she wasn’t full and ordered some barbecue even though it was late.
Zhuo Zhi kept thinking about the hand kiss, absentmindedly accompanying Li Qinyue as she ate.
Li Qinyue watched another episode of a variety show while eating barbecue, then made a long video call after turning off the TV.
Zhuo Zhi glanced at the time. It was getting late, even for Li Qinyue, who was a night owl.
She cleaned up the table and stood in a spot out of the camera’s view, waiting for Li Qinyue to finish her call.
Li Qinyue went upstairs, still talking on the phone and smiling. Zhuo Zhi followed, keeping a distance.
Li Qinyue entered her bedroom on the third floor and finally hung up the call. Before Zhuo Zhi could say anything, Li Qinyue started taking off her clothes.
She never cared about being naked in front of Zhuo Zhi. Zhuo Zhi quickly turned around, averting her gaze.
When she turned back, Li Qinyue had already entered the bathroom.
The sound of running water filled the air. The bedroom door was open, and Zhuo Zhi could hear Li Qinyue moving around and playing music.
As Zhuo Zhi waited for Li Qinyue to finish her bath, accompanied by soothing music, she felt sleepy. She slid down to the floor and dozed off.
When she woke up, a fragrant scent filled the air, and Li Qinyue’s wet hair was right in front of her. Her fox-like eyes were staring at Zhuo Zhi, as if looking at a chicken ready to be slaughtered.
Startled, Zhuo Zhi jumped back, her awkward movement only lifting her a little before she landed on her butt with a thump.
Li Qinyue burst out laughing, “Such a scaredy-cat?”
“No…” Zhuo Zhi rubbed the back of her head, “How did I fall asleep?”
“Who knows,” Li Qinyue stood up and offered her hand, “Sleeping by my door, like a guard dog.”
Zhuo Zhi chuckled, taking her hand and standing up, “You haven’t…”
She stopped mid-sentence, her mind clearing up a little. She looked at Li Qinyue, carefully observed her expression, and said, “Sister, it’s getting late, I’m going to bed.”
She turned to leave, but Li Qinyue didn’t let go of her hand, “Hey, leaving in the middle of a sentence makes you a bad dog.”
Zhuo Zhi thought that she had already been called a dog twice in this short conversation, so she simply barked, “Woof!”
Li Qinyue was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.
Zhuo Zhi watched her laugh, finding it a bit funny herself, a smile spreading across her face.
Li Qinyue suddenly straightened up, pulled Zhuo Zhi’s hand to her lips, and gave it a quick kiss, “There, you scaredy-cat.”
Caught off guard, Zhuo Zhi froze. Li Qinyue let go of her hand, turned, and went into her room, waving, “Good night.”
“Good… night,” Zhuo Zhi mumbled after a while, staring at the closed door.
As she went downstairs, Zhuo Zhi was still a little dazed. But when she reached her own room, washed up, and lay in bed, the daze disappeared, and Zhuo Zhi started to feel a sense of injustice.
Li Qinyue had teased her all night, making her worry from the moment they got into the car. Hours had passed, she was mentally prepared, and Li Qinyue had just brushed it off with a quick peck?
Zhuo Zhi raised her hand, looking at it under the ceiling light. The warm yellow light shone through her fingers, highlighting the smooth lines of her palm and long fingers.
Li Qinyue had said her hand was beautiful, it was indeed beautiful.
But such a beautiful hand, after Li Qinyue had finally gotten the chance, she just… let it go?
Zhuo Zhi was unhappy. She thought she had figured out Li Qinyue’s tricks, but in the end, she realized she was still standing at the starting line, never having truly entered the game.
Tsk, Zhuo Zhi retracted her hand, rolled over, and burrowed under the covers.
“Fox spirit.”
That night, Zhuo Zhi slept restlessly. She dreamt of Wang Zilai, with his big belly, forcing Lan Xi to drink, glass after glass. Slowly, Lan Xi’s blue hair turned red, then yellow, purple, green…
Zhuo Zhi watched a whole night of rebellious hair colors. As dawn approached, the hair turned black, and her heart skipped a beat. When the face looked up, it was Li Qinyue’s.
Zhuo Zhi rushed over, grabbing Li Qinyue’s arm and trying to drag her home. But Li Qinyue refused to leave, telling her with a smile that this was an adult game.
Zhuo Zhi gave Wang Zilai a good beating, but Li Qinyue still wouldn’t leave, drinking glass after glass. Zhuo Zhi couldn’t hit her and was so angry she felt like her lungs were going to explode.
With her lungs about to burst, Zhuo Zhi suddenly woke up, staring at the ceiling for a long time before finally releasing some of her pent-up frustration.
She looked at the time. It was a little early, but she could get up now.
She was going to wake Li Qinyue up and give her a good lecture, telling her to stay away from people like Wang Zilai and never drink again, not even a single drop.
Angrily brushing her teeth and washing her face, Zhuo Zhi stormed up to the third floor and raised her hand to knock on the door, then hesitated.
Her self-preservation instincts reminded her of the time she had woken Li Qinyue up and been subjected to a torrent of curses over the phone. If it happened again, Zhuo Zhi didn’t know if she could resist using her special privilege.
No swearing, or she would be kissed on the lips.
Zhuo Zhi pursed her lips, realizing they were a little dry.
She lowered her hand and slowly went downstairs, slowly changed into her running clothes, and opened the door.
A gust of cold north wind blew in, making her hair fly and her eyelashes freeze.
Zhuo Zhi blinked, looking at the scenery outside, her heart filled with joy.
It was snowing.
Heavy snow.
Like a spring breeze overnight, a thousand trees blooming with pear blossoms.
Mountains dancing like silver snakes, plains vast like wax elephants, vying with the heavens for height.
“Yay!” Zhuo Zhi jumped up high, then turned and ran back inside.
She had a reason to wake up Li Qinyue now!
Such heavy snow! Shouldn’t they get up early to celebrate?!
Zhuo Zhi bounded up the stairs four steps at a time, quickly reaching Li Qinyue’s door. “Bang, bang, bang,” she knocked loudly.
“Sister Qinyue, Sister Qinyue, wake up! Wake up, wake up! You can’t sleep anymore!”
“Thump,” something was thrown at the door.
Zhuo Zhi paused for a moment, then continued knocking, “Wake up, wake up, you really can’t sleep anymore! Good stuff, good stuff! I’ll take you to see something good!”
After ten minutes, the door finally opened a crack. Li Qinyue’s hair was messy, covering most of her face. She glared at Zhuo Zhi and growled, “What?”
“It’s snowing!” Zhuo Zhi said quickly, keeping her arm wedged in the door.
As expected, Li Qinyue’s next reaction was to slam the door shut, pinching Zhuo Zhi’s arm. Zhuo Zhi let out an exaggerated “Ouch!”
Li Qinyue let go, glanced at her arm, and saw that it was safely bundled up in a down jacket.
“Sister, Sister, Sister,” Zhuo Zhi called out repeatedly, “The snow scenery on the mountain is so beautiful, let’s go make the first footprints in the snow!”
Li Qinyue squinted at her, “Not interested.”
“Let’s go build a snowman! A big snowman!”
“Not interested.”
“Have a snowball fight! A big snowball fight!”
“Not inter…”
“Roll snowballs, big snowballs!”
“Not…”
“Go sledding!! I’ll make a sled, and we’ll slide down from the mountaintop!”
Li Qinyue: “…How long will it take?”
“Huh? How long will what take?”
“To make the sled.”
“Ten minutes!!! I have all the materials and tools in the workshop! I’ll go right now!”
“Fifteen minutes,” Li Qinyue said, “I’m going to wash my face.”
Fifteen minutes later, Li Qinyue came out wearing a brightly colored ski suit, looking full of energy.
As she went downstairs, she heard Zhuo Zhi shouting from the yard, “Sister, Sister, I’m done, come quickly!”
Li Qinyue couldn’t help but quicken her pace. She went outside, scanned the yard, and her gaze landed on something in Zhuo Zhi’s hand.
She frowned and said, “This?”
“Yep,” Zhuo Zhi threw the object on the ground, “It’s all downhill from here, and no one’s around, we can slide down!”
It was a rough, makeshift wooden raft. If it were meant to be on water, it could be called a raft. The pieces of wood were of varying thicknesses, tied together tightly with thick red ropes with gold threads. It was simple and crude, bearing no resemblance to a “sled”.
Zhuo Zhi held one end of the red rope, looking like she was leading a donkey. Li Qinyue pointed at the object, her lips moving several times before she finally said, “This? Slide down?”
“Yes, sit on it,” Zhuo Zhi immediately squatted down and sat on the raft, looking back at Li Qinyue, “Sister, you’re not experienced, so sit behind me and hold onto my waist.”
Li Qinyue felt a little dizzy. Holding onto Zhuo Zhi’s waist sounded nice, but sitting on this shabby wooden contraption, being seen by people in the villa complex, that wouldn’t be nice at all.
“Let’s…” she thought for a moment, “I suddenly want to build a snowman.”
“Okay!” Zhuo Zhi stomped her foot on the ground, “We’ll slide down to the plaza and build it there, where everyone can see it.”
“Ah, it’s so cold,” Li Qinyue turned around, “Let’s wait until it’s warmer before we go out.”
“It’s not that cold today. It’s not cold when it’s snowing, it only gets cold when the snow melts.” Zhuo Zhi kicked off, and the raft slid forward.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling, whether from the cold or excitement, the colors Li Qinyue liked most.
“Well…” Li Qinyue looked at her, “I’m hungry.”
“I brought some snacks and nuts,” Zhuo Zhi patted her pocket, “We can eat on the way.”
Li Qinyue couldn’t come up with any more excuses. She felt that if she made another excuse, she would be truly evil.
She made one last attempt, “Is this really fun?”
“Super fun!!!” Zhuo Zhi shouted, “I always play with it when it snows on the mountain. Master and the nuns next door find it too cold, no one wants to play with me. I don’t make it this big when I’m alone, and I can stand up and slide. Can you imagine? Standing up and sliding down the mountain path, it’s super fun!!!”
Li Qinyue felt a pang of sympathy. She took two steps towards Zhuo Zhi, “Are there no friends on the mountain?”
“It’s all adults on the mountain, the children live at the foot of the mountain. Their parents don’t allow them to go up the mountain in this weather, they say it’s too dangerous…”
But no one cared whether it was dangerous for Zhuo Zhi to do this, and no one would accompany her to enjoy this simple pleasure. Li Qinyue felt a little sad.
Zhuo Zhi waved the red rope, “Come on, Sister!”
Li Qinyue took two more steps forward. As she bent down, she saw a cleaner from the villa complex with a broom, ready to sweep the snow.
She quickly straightened up, “Well, they’re clearing the snow, it’ll be gone soon. Let’s… let’s go up the mountain.”
“Okay!” Zhuo Zhi didn’t suspect anything. She jumped up, tightened the rope, and lifted the raft.
They walked out together. It was winter, and there were few guests in the villa complex besides the staff.
The snow hadn’t been cleared in time, and many roads were still covered in a thick layer of fresh snow, soft and comfortable to step on.
Zhuo Zhi stared at Li Qinyue’s feet and suddenly asked, “Are you tired, Sister?”
“Hmm?” Li Qinyue looked at her.
Zhuo Zhi’s eyes lit up. She ran in front of Li Qinyue, suddenly dropped the raft, slung the rope over her shoulder, and said, “Come on, Sister, stand on it, I’ll pull you!”
It was a bizarre scene. A few shop assistants who were unloading goods nearby looked over.
Zhuo Zhi turned her back, getting ready to pull, looking back at Li Qinyue with a happy smile.
Li Qinyue felt a bitter taste in her mouth, her mind filled with a song about the love of a boat tracker.
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