Chapter 50: Explanation Is an Excuse

“Xiao Zhen?” She rolled her wheelchair toward the balcony. “Are you okay? I’m coming in?”

“Wait!” Finally, Ruo Xiaozhen’s flustered voice came from the balcony, sounding muffled, as if she was covering her mouth. “Yan Yu, don’t come over! That… please, wait, don’t come over right now!”

This reaction was too strange. Yan Yu stopped at the balcony door, her hand on the doorknob. If Ruo Xiaozhen really needed help, would barging in like that make her more embarrassed? But what if she was really in trouble…

“Xiao Zhen, are you sure you’re okay?” Yan Yu asked softly. “If you need help, just say so. If you don’t want me to come in, then make that clear, okay?”

The balcony was silent for a few seconds.

Then, the door was pulled open a crack from the inside.

Ruo Xiaozhen’s face appeared in the gap, her cheeks impossibly red, her eyes darting around, not daring to meet Yan Yu’s gaze. “Well… I, I’m fine, really, it’s just… I accidentally knocked down the clothes rack…”

This excuse was too flimsy. Yan Yu’s gaze passed over Ruo Xiaozhen’s shoulder and looked into the balcony. Several already dried clothes hung on the drying rod, swaying gently in the morning breeze.

On the ground…

Several pieces of clothing were scattered on the floor.

And in Ruo Xiaozhen’s arms, she was tightly clutching something.

Yan Yu’s eyes fell on that bundle of clothes. After a few seconds of recognition, she suddenly understood.

Those were the clothes she had taken off yesterday.

“Xiao Zhen,” Yan Yu’s voice was very soft. “What are you doing holding my clothes?”

Ruo Xiaozhen’s whole body stiffened, her face even redder, almost bleeding. “I, I was just… planning to take them to the washing machine! Yes, washing clothes!”

“I already put them in the laundry basket yesterday,” Yan Yu looked at her. “And you said you were going to school.”

“I, I suddenly remembered I have no classes this morning!” Ruo Xiaozhen was incoherent, frantically trying to stuff the clothes in her arms into the washing machine behind her. “So I, I wanted to wash the clothes first before leaving…”

But she was too flustered, her movements too large. The clothes in her arms weren’t held securely, and several pieces slipped and scattered on the floor.

Among them was one piece: Yan Yu’s undergarment.

Pale purple, cotton, a very ordinary one. At this moment, it lay quietly on the floor tiles, appearing a bit glaring in the morning light.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Ruo Xiaozhen was completely petrified, her eyes wide as she stared at the underwear on the floor, then suddenly looked up at Yan Yu. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

Yan Yu was also startled for a moment.

Then, she sighed softly, rolled her wheelchair forward a bit, bent down, and reached out to pick up that underwear.

“This isn’t suitable for machine washing,” her voice was calm, showing no emotion. “Hand washing is better.”

Ruo Xiaozhen finally found her voice, but it was sharp and thin, almost cracking. “I, I’ll wash it! I’ll hand wash it for you! Yan Yu, don’t move, your health is bad, let me do these things!”

She reached out to take the underwear from Yan Yu’s hand, but Yan Yu gently avoided her.

“It’s okay,” Yan Yu said, looking up and smiling at Ruo Xiaozhen. “This is my intimate clothing. It’s only right that I wash it myself. Besides…”

She paused, her gaze lingering for a moment on Ruo Xiaozhen’s flushed face and darting eyes.

“Besides, you don’t actually have to do it like this,” Yan Yu’s voice was very light, very gentle. “Xiao Zhen, if you want to help me wash clothes, you can just say so directly… You don’t have to be so sneaky about it.”

The tips of Ruo Xiaozhen’s ears were bright red.

“I, I wasn’t being sneaky!” she defended urgently, but her voice grew softer. “I just… just… was afraid I wouldn’t wash them well, would ruin them… so I wanted to take them out first to see how best to wash them…”

This reason was even more untenable than the previous one.

Yan Yu didn’t expose her.

She simply held that underwear, used her other hand to turn the wheelchair, and headed toward the sink. “It’s okay, I’ll wash this one myself. If you’re willing to help with the others, I’ll trouble you.”

“I’m willing! I am!”

Ruo Xiaozhen quickly said, crouching down to hastily pick up the other clothes from the floor and stuffing them all into the washing machine, her movements frantic as if performing some kind of bomb disposal operation.

Yan Yu turned on the faucet, adjusted the water temperature, soaked the underwear, then squeezed a bit of laundry detergent into her palm.

She scrubbed very carefully, her fingertips gently rubbing the fabric as white foam slowly built up.

The balcony was very quiet, only the sound of running water and the gurgle of the washing machine starting to fill.

Ruo Xiaozhen stood by the washing machine, her fingers unconsciously picking at the machine’s edge, her eyes occasionally glancing at Yan Yu’s back, then quickly looking away.

After a long while, she finally said in a very small voice, “Yan Yu… you, you’re not going to ask?”

“Ask what?” Yan Yu didn’t turn around, continuing to wash the clothes in her hands.

“Ask…” Ruo Xiaozhen’s voice got even smaller, almost drowned out by the sound of water. “Why I… took your clothes…”

Yan Yu’s movements paused.

She put the washed underwear aside, turned on the faucet to rinse the foam from her hands. The water was very cold, sending a fine shiver over her skin.

“When you want to talk, you’ll naturally tell me,” she said, her voice coming through the sound of running water, a bit muffled. “If you don’t want to, that’s okay too.”

Ruo Xiaozhen said nothing.

Yan Yu turned off the faucet, dried her hands with a towel, then wrung out the washed underwear, spread it out, and hung it in an inconspicuous spot on the drying rack.

After doing this, she turned her wheelchair to face Ruo Xiaozhen.

The girl was still standing there, head down, fingers twisted together, like a child waiting for judgment after doing something wrong.

“Xiao Zhen,” Yan Yu called her softly. “Look up.”

Ruo Xiaozhen slowly lifted her head, her eyes red, whether from shame or anxiety unknown.

“I’m not angry,” Yan Yu said, her tone very serious. “Really, you’ve done so much for me, taken care of me, cooked for me, accompanied me to check-ups… I’m very grateful in my heart. So, if you have anything on your mind, or have encountered any difficulties, you can tell me. Even if I can’t help, at least I can listen to you.”

Ruo Xiaozhen’s lips trembled.

“I…” she started, her voice choked. “I just… just think you’re too good, Yan Yu… But, but now you… live here alone, your health is bad, and that bastard Su Qinghan treated you like that… I, I can’t stand it…”

The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, and finally tears fell. “I just want to do something for you, anything… wash clothes, cook, clean the room… But I’m stupid, I can’t do anything right, and I, I almost ruined your clothes…”

Yan Yu listened quietly. Only after she finished did she reach out.

Ruo Xiaozhen was startled, then slowly crouched down, burying her face in the blanket on Yan Yu’s lap.

Yan Yu’s hand landed on her head, stroking it very gently.

“Xiao Zhen,” she said. “Thank you. Really.”