Ruan Xi finished reading the message, tore off a sheet from the notebook on the bedside table, balled it up, and tossed it over.
The paper ball lightly hit Cheng Daichuan, who chuckled softly, “Stop messing around, go to sleep.”
Cheng Daichuan’s care, the way he learned guitar for her, the sound of him singing the same French songs she liked, the tone in his voice when he teased her for losing things…
And then there was Ruan Xi’s grandmother.
Grandmother sounded fantastic on the phone; the housekeeper said she had been eating heartily these days.
All of this made Ruan Xi incredibly happy.
She had thought this night would be peaceful, filled with sweet dreams and gentle company.
She never expected that something would complicate things in the middle of the night.
It was half past eleven.
Half-awake, Ruan Xi turned over, and her ankle, still wrapped in an elastic bandage, slipped off the elevated throw pillow. A sharp pain made her suck in a cold breath.
The sleepiness she had so carefully cultivated vanished into thin air.
Fully awake now, she sat up silently, feeling a bit thirsty and wanting to drink some water. Just as she lifted the glass cup, her phone vibrated.
Ruan Xi’s phone was under her pillow, and the vibration came from Cheng Daichuan’s side.
His phone lay on the nightstand between the two single beds, its faint light revealing a new WeChat message notification.
Cheng Daichuan had actually been asleep.
He reached out, picked up his phone, and happened to catch sight of Ruan Xi sitting on the single bed, pausing for a moment, “Ankle hurts?”
Late at night, or early in the morning, Cheng Daichuan’s voice was always a little hoarse.
Deep and husky, it effortlessly stirred the most primal instincts.
Ruan Xi tightened her grip on the glass cup and then handed it to him, “No, it doesn’t hurt. I just woke up. Do you want some water?”
Cheng Daichuan sat up.
The glass cup in the cruise ship cabin was a tall, slender Klin Cup, the same style used in the restaurant and the lounge bar.
Ruan Xi always slept with her hand outside the blanket, and the tips of her fingers felt slightly cool from the air conditioner. When Cheng Daichuan took the glass, their fingertips accidentally brushed together for a moment, and she felt his gentle warmth.
He raised the cup, pressing its rim against his lower lip, “Why are your hands so cold?”
In the quiet night, neither of them had the energy of the daytime. Ruan Xi’s smile was serene, “I just took the blanket off a moment ago, maybe your hands are just too warm?”
Cheng Daichuan lowered his eyelashes, “Is that so.”
The mineral water slid into his mouth, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Ruan Xi could hear the faint sound of him swallowing water; her own breath had grown dry, and her thirst inexplicably worsened, becoming unbearable.
She watched Cheng Daichuan set the glass back on the nightstand, unconsciously licking his lips and then pursing them, swallowing dryly.
He seemed to notice her action and chuckled softly, “Thirsty but still giving me water to drink?”
He reached for the glass again and poured water for her.
Ruan Xi looked at the phone’s screen lighting up on the opposite single bed and suddenly remembered, “Cheng Daichuan, someone just sent you a WeChat message.”
He casually picked up the phone and opened the WeChat app while handing the glass back to Ruan Xi.
She saw a pink pig avatar, “Is that Shi Chao?”
It was just Ruan Xi’s confused thinking late at night; she momentarily forgot that Shi Chao had changed his pink pig avatar back long ago after losing a truth-or-dare game.
Earlier today, Shi Chao still had the World Cup trophy avatar in the group chat.
Cheng Daichuan said, “No, it’s Chen Tang.”
The mineral water tasted faintly like lemon; Ruan Xi took two sips and put the glass down on the nightstand.
She lay back down, unenthusiastically, “Okay, I’m going to sleep now.”
Sleep, my foot.
Her mind flashed with various guesses:
Why was Chen Tang sending Cheng Daichuan a message so late?
Chen Tang had also changed her avatar to the same pink pig as Shi Chao. Did that mean she had returned to the country and played truth-or-dare with Shi Chao too?
Was it today?
Given their relationship, when this cruise trip ended and she went to their place, would Chen Tang be coming along as well?
“Beep—beep—”
Cheng Daichuan kindly turned the air conditioner up two degrees and said “Good night” to Ruan Xi.
Ruan Xi closed her eyes with complicated feelings, “Good night.”
Good night was clearly impossible.
Ruan Xi could never hide things well; any small worry would fill her night with chaotic dreams.
This night was no different.
At dawn, she opened her eyes, a tear slipping from the corner and soaking an oval-shaped wet mark on her pillow.
Cheng Daichuan was not there—probably gone to the gym.
Ruan Xi sat on the bed, staring at the half-empty glass of water from last night, recalling her unpleasant dream…….
In the dream—
Shi Chao had dragged Ruan Xi upstairs; she hadn’t even had time to change her slippers before arriving.
Shi Chao said Cheng Daichuan might be taking a shower. “We talked on the phone earlier; we need Cheng’s permission to open the door.”
The keypad lock opened.
Cheng Daichuan was pushing an abdominal wheel on a mat, arms bent, elbows supporting him as he rolled forward.
His arm muscles tensed, looking great. He turned his head and greeted them.
Ruan Xi looked at Cheng Daichuan rising, awkwardly raised her hand, “Hi…”
Shi Chao slipped off his slippers as if he were at home and went into the living room, holding Cheng Daichuan’s notebook computer, “Cheng Daichuan, what’s in this new folder you made?”
Cheng Daichuan was tidying up, looked up, “Ah, some video footage Madam Shang recorded earlier. She suddenly asked me yesterday to help copy it onto my computer.”
Shi Chao was curious, “Can I see it?”
“Go ahead, there’s some from the kindergarten sports day. See if you can find it.”
Ruan Xi was squatting beside Ais’s cat food bowl, feeding her newly bought canned food.
Hearing their conversation, she stood up, “What video? I want to see too!”
Shi Chao grinned, “Let me show you your elder brother Shi Chao’s heroic moments from kindergarten!”
The video started playing, showing Shi Chao’s tear-streaked face from kindergarten, swollen eyes and missing a tooth.
Ruan Xi: “…”
The background sound was Aunt Shang softly cooing, “It’s okay, Auntie will buy another one for Chao Chao, no more crying.”
Little Cheng Daichuan briefly appeared, holding an ice cream cone, shaking his head helplessly, “Shi Chao, stop crying, you can have my ice cream cone.”
Shi Chao suddenly slammed the laptop shut, red-faced and angry, “Why does Aunt Shang still keep this video?!”
Cheng Daichuan lounged on the sofa, laughing, “Madam Shang said it’s to be played at your wedding.”
Ruan Xi laughed too, clapping excitedly, “Wow, Brother Shi Chao was so dashing.”
Cheng Daichuan glanced at Ruan Xi, “Shi Chao’s one month younger than you.”
Shi Chao wasn’t going to be teased, pointing at the crying, runny-nosed little Shi Chao in the video, his voice rough, explaining that a little girl had bumped into and knocked over his brand new dual-flavored ice cream cone.
Shi Chao also dug up a video of Cheng Daichuan eating pizza as a child, and the two childhood friends happily indulged in nostalgia.
Six-year-old Cheng Daichuan was fair-skinned with bright eyes, mouth smeared with tomato sauce, telling the camera, “I still want to eat Pizza.”
Ruan Xi held her chest, “Wow, Cheng Daichuan, you were way too cute as a kid!”
Cheng Daichuan raised an eyebrow, “Ah, just average.”
Shi Chao protested, “Hey, Xi Zi, aren’t you double-standard? Wasn’t I cute when I was little?!”
Ruan Xi looked troubled, “Just… okay.”
Shi Chao complained, “I cried over an ice cream cone, I was so pure!”
“Ah… this…”
Ruan Xi frowned and glanced at Cheng Daichuan, who laughed so hard his phone nearly dropped.
All the scenes before this dream were real events.
But due to some unspeakable feelings, Ruan Xi had altered her memories in the dream.
……
Later memories—like Cheng Daichuan opening the door to get the spicy hotpot takeaway—were, in her dream, imagined as him coming downstairs to pick someone up.
In the dream, Ruan Xi heard the door open and, along with the bickering Shi Chao, turned her head.
Standing in the doorway was Cheng Daichuan, wearing the black shirt he’d worn to the Welcome Ball. Behind him was Chen Tang.
Chen Tang was the type of girl who grew up elegant and poised, outgoing and jokey, with a pretty smile.
In the dream, she wore sportswear and said, “Shall we go play soccer?”
Cheng Daichuan immediately went back to the bedroom to change into his soccer clothes, and Shi Chao happily changed into his soccer shoes too.
Both of them seemed to have completely forgotten Ruan Xi’s presence, ignoring her calls and happily heading out with their soccer bag.
Ruan Xi hurried after them like a transparent ghost, closely following behind.
She saw them holding snacks, sharing them with each other.
Cheng Daichuan handed the bag of potato chips to Chen Tang, “The sweet potato chips on top are bigger.”
Shi Chao grumbled, “Cheng Daichuan, why are you so biased toward Tang Tang?”
Cheng Daichuan smiled, “Because Tang Tang is my girlfriend.”
…….
Ruan Xi suddenly woke up there, the bittersweet weight of the dream heavy in her chest.
She punched her chest, unable to shake the turmoil.
Sunlight quietly poured onto the single bed through the floor-to-ceiling balcony glass.
The throw pillow used to prop up her ankle was warm from the sun.
Ruan Xi picked it up and found a small rolled-up paper tucked into the woven pattern.
What was this?
She unfolded the crumpled paper, thinking it was probably from the paper ball she had thrown at him earlier.
The paper had a hand-drawn emoji by Cheng Daichuan.
The same one: [sticking-out tongue smile]!
Cheng Daichuan had written:
“Morning, I’m off to the gym. Wait for me, and we’ll have breakfast together.”
He even copied her style of signing off:
your best 亲故 forever!
Ruan Xi stared at the exclamation mark, sensing Cheng Daichuan’s sign-off wasn’t as peaceful as it looked on paper.
She wrinkled her nose and stared at “亲故” (best chingu).
This “best chingu” had come back pretty early.
When he walked in, Ruan Xi was just applying grapefruit-colored lip glaze.
Cheng Daichuan asked if her ankle was better.
Ruan Xi took a few steps across the center of the guest room, “Not only is the swelling gone, I can walk now.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“No, after spraying the anti-swelling analgesic spray, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Cheng Daichuan had wanted to order room service breakfast, but since Ruan Xi’s ankle was improving and she found the room stuffy, they agreed to go to the Chinese restaurant for freshly made small wontons or soup.
Ruan Xi was still thinking about the dream, wondering why she kept drifting away in thought.
She had always considered herself just a good friend, enjoying Cheng Daichuan’s tenderness, favoritism, and care.
But what if Cheng Daichuan had a girlfriend?
This was the question she had been avoiding but which suddenly pushed right into her face at an unexpected moment, pulled out by the pink avatar in a dream.
No matter how close they were, Cheng Daichuan was not hers.
Ruan Xi mechanically climbed the stairs, unable to hear Cheng Daichuan calling her name or notice him stopping.
Cheng Daichuan turned around, and Ruan Xi bumped right into him.
Her forehead hit his jaw, and her nose touched his chest as she stood on the stairs, muffling a groan and looking up.
Cheng Daichuan stood one step above her, touching his chin, asking if she was hurt.
Ruan Xi shook her head.
Cheng Daichuan was wearing a white short-sleeve shirt, pulling at the collar and glancing at the lip print on his chest.
Grapefruit-colored, and the shape was quite pretty.
Ruan Xi saw it too and felt a little embarrassed, “I have makeup remover oil, it should come off…”
Cheng Daichuan said it was fine, gently stroking her brow with his fingertip, “Why the frown? What are you worried about?”