Gu Siyu lay on the bed, covered in sweat. Huo Junxian was lying beside her, asleep, with her hand tightly gripping Gu Siyu's waist. Gu Siyu glanced sideways and saw a red mark on her waist.
Gu Siyu removed her hand, but Huo Junxian continued to exert pressure, not letting go. Gu Siyu applied some force, and Huo Junxian followed suit, but it was evident that she was still asleep.
Unscientific.
Gu Siyu mumbled to herself, lying on her side for a while. She leaned over to kiss Huo Junxian's cheek, planting kisses on her lips.
Huo Junxian, with closed eyes, soon allowed Gu Siyu to pry open her lips and play with her tongue.
Huo Junxian was awakened by the actions, her eyelashes trembling. She opened her eyes, a hint of redness in them, looking like she hadn't slept well. She responded a few times and closed her eyes again, lazily speaking, "Gu Siyu..."
"Don't call me Xiaoyu anymore?"
Gu Siyu leaned against her nose, and a hot breath fell on her lips as she spoke.
"Xiaoyu is not here." Huo Junxian replied in a hoarse voice.
Right, right.
This jerk, when they slept together, kept calling her Xiaoyu. Gu Siyu felt humiliated, like a dog. She cursed her fiercely in her heart.
In a retaliatory manner, Gu Siyu bit Huo Junxian's lips. Huo Junxian winced in pain, opened her eyes again, and touched her lips, saying, "It hurts."
Gu Siyu took the opportunity to get off the bed. She stood at the bedside, putting on her clothes, buttoning them with her hands behind her back. Turning around to see if Huo Junxian was going to wake up, she really wanted to give her a slap to wake her up properly.
However, a woman's tired appearance was quite charming—languid, with a slightly open crack at the bottom of her eyes, imprinted with her figure.
Huo Junxian's fair and white fingers drew on her waist. "Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu..."
Gu Siyu held back from exploding with vulgar words. "A dog that misses you so much can go back by itself later."
She pulled down her shirt to cover her body and walked to the door, sniffing it. There was no sweat smell on her body, but she picked up Huo Junxian's perfume scent. Huo Junxian used a very fresh fragrance, somewhat like apples and grass. It was the scent of the popular girls' perfume lately. A mature woman using this scent didn't seem out of place at all.
Sniffing a couple more times, she started to get addicted. Gu Siyu took a shower and came out. Holding a towel, she dried her hair. Huo Junxian got up. She was a bit unsteady on her feet, holding onto the door and looking at Gu Siyu, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"What do you want to eat?" Gu Siyu asked.
"Don't do it..."
"You still want to do it?" Gu Siyu glanced at her. "You've exhausted everyone; take a break."
Huo Junxian tucked her hair behind her ears and said, "I didn't mean that. I was thinking, 'don't do it,' are you hungry? I can cook for you."
"No need for that. You'd better freshen up first." Gu Siyu twisted her hair. It was hot, and she didn't feel like using a blow dryer. She would let the natural wind dry it.
She checked her phone. He Xiao had called and sent several messages in the morning, all very brief. Gu Siyu replied: [When you arrive, let me know.]
A quick response.
He Xiao: [I just arrived! Oh my, the first-class cabin is so luxurious. Have you ever sat in it? I even saw several big internet celebrities inside, according to my observation.]
Gu Siyu: [Want their autographs?]
He Xiao: [No, I'm not a fan of celebrities. Mainly, I don't dare to strike up a conversation, hahaha.]
Gu Siyu: [Take care and take a taxi over.]
He Xiao: [Okay, thanks for Siyu's first-class cabin sponsorship!]
After replying to the messages, Gu Siyu also noticed the bathroom door opening. Huo Junxian, her body still wet, had changed into a thin short-sleeved shirt. She was wearing Gu Siyu's clothes, and it seemed like she wasn't wearing anything inside, with the fabric appearing empty.
"Did you order takeout?" Huo Junxian asked.
"I did. Isn't it uncomfortable to cook in this hot weather? Just enjoy it if you can." Gu Siyu reclined on the sofa, leaning to the side.
Around three o'clock, the doorbell rang. It was the takeout Gu Siyu had ordered – fried chicken and beer. She placed the items on the coffee table in the living room, and Gu Siyu went to turn on the old TV, a relic from the early 2000s.
Gu Siyu introduced her antique TV, saying, "I brought it back from the flea market during high school, fifty bucks. It pained me for a whole month."
"You don't seem to watch TV much," Huo Junxian asked, "Why did you buy it?"
Unable to turn on the TV, Gu Siyu gave it a couple of slaps. The screen became blurry, with the sound tuned to a local channel, filled with snowflakes, making it hard to see what was being broadcast.
Gu Siyu said, "Just hearing the sound makes it feel like home."
It was strange how, from the first year of junior high to the third year, her temperament became increasingly unrestrained. However, as she approached eighteen, around the age of fifteen, her courage suddenly diminished. She had to turn on the lights when entering a dark room, and when she came back, if she couldn't hear any sound, her ears would play tricks on her, always feeling like someone was knocking on her door. Helpless, she saved up some money and bought a TV.
They ate while listening to the sound. Gu Siyu opened the beer and asked Huo Junxian if she wanted some. Huo Junxian shook her head, not a fan of beer. Gu Siyu drank alone. When she was about to finish, Huo Junxian asked her to share, so Gu Siyu went to the fridge and brought out a bottle of orange soda for her.
Incidentally, she also took out the documents from last time and threw them at Huo Junxian.
Huo Junxian didn't catch it, and the papers fell to the ground. She wore gloves while eating fried chicken and asked, "Can you open the soda for me?"
Gu Siyu peeled the can and handed it to her. The water droplets on the bottle wet her fingers. It had the scent of oranges, and she wiped it dry with a tissue.
"Do we need to talk about He Xiao?" Huo Junxian asked calmly, taking a sip of the soda.
Gu Siyu raised an eyebrow, instantly becoming less calm. She said, "I did what you told me. I don't plan to have any more dealings with her. What else do you want?"
Her tone wasn't great, destroying the atmosphere she had managed to warm up. She finished the last sip of beer, exhaled, and tried hard to suppress her irritable temper, saying, "I think if we're going to cooperate, there's no need to be in constant opposition. We should have some understanding between us, right?"
Huo Junxian pressed the can against the table, "Well, we should both be more straightforward."
Gu Siyu had a sip of beer. She sat on a cushion with her back against the sofa, eating to fill her stomach. She slowly said, "Let me reiterate. He Xiao is my friend, including Duan Jiayang. They are both good people, regardless of how crazy we are. I cannot let them get into trouble because of us."
She looked at Huo Junxian seriously, "It's absolutely essential that nothing happens to them. Whatever trouble I get into is my own doing, and it has nothing to do with others. So, if we're going to cooperate, if we're in this together, the precondition is not to involve the people around me."
Huo Junxian tapped her fingers on the soda can, "You've said this many times." She wiped off the water droplets from the bottle, "I understand."
During the lull in the atmosphere, she made a comment, "You care a lot about your friends and treat them well, quite different from your surface appearance."
"I don't want to discuss this with you. I just don't want others to be involved." Gu Siyu brushed over the topic without going deeper.
Not bringing it up again, but Huo Junxian also remained silent. Gu Siyu turned her head to look at her deeply.
Huo Junxian spoke, perhaps too calmly, making her expression seem emotionless and a bit cold. "Regarding this matter, I can promise you not to cause trouble for them. But in the future, many things are uncertain. He Xiao is your friend, not mine. If she provokes me one day, I won't be magnanimous. My promise is that as long as she doesn't provoke me, I won't harm her."
Huo Junxian wiped her cheek with a tissue, "Just like before, you don't bother me, and I won't talk to you. If you provoke me, then I'll deal with you. Everyone is like this. You're not a saint, and neither am I."
Gu Siyu was convinced. He Xiao had a good temper and wouldn't provoke her. Although she was a bit silly, she wouldn't be foolish enough to run into her gun barrel. As for Duan Jiayang...
If she insisted on running into trouble, Gu Siyu couldn't do anything about it.
Gu Siyu opened another can of beer. "Tell me, what's your plan, and what should I do?"
Huo Junxian leaned against the sofa like her. The snowflakes on the TV screen kept flickering, making a buzzing noise, and it was impossible to see what TV show was playing.
"Jin Yuansen knows that I want to send him in. He's not afraid of going to jail, though. After repaying the losses to the company, he still has a large part of his wealth left. Even if he goes in, his assets won't be confiscated. Now, he's determined not to spend a dime, and he won't transfer his shares. If he goes to jail for a few days and comes out, he can continue to live a carefree life."
For Jin Yuansen's current offense, as long as he personally repaid what he owed and made some contributions while in jail, he wouldn't stay there for long. Even if Huo Junxian sued him now, he could still apply for bail.
Gu Siyu turned the cup, "So you want me to take his money away, and then you create some trouble so that he willingly sells his shares?"
"Yes, you're smart. That's the idea. Jin Yuansen is determined that nothing of his goes through my hands. Besides, you've seen his wealth; he's very rich. There's no way to force him to sell his shares." Huo Junxian said.
Gu Siyu licked her lips, making a noise, "That's his personality, stingy as hell. Is all his wealth given by you?"
"No, he earned quite a bit himself. In the earlier years, he helped my dad a lot, especially in the business. My dad trusted him, and since I didn't like going to the company back then, my dad wanted him to make money for me and gave him many opportunities. Later, he secretly started a company, accumulated a lot of wealth, and added the property he got from the divorce. He has quite a bit of money now." Huo Junxian said, "Jin Yuansen's family used to work in real estate agencies, and he's good at selling houses..."
"Didn't he say his family used to be very wealthy, but due to bankruptcy, he had no choice but to marry you?" Gu Siyu laughed, "Do you know what the company says about him?"
"How do they describe him?"
"Saying he's begging on his knees, relying on his wife to climb up."
"Isn't he exactly that kind of person?" Gu Siyu laughed, "He's quite lacking in self-awareness, good at pretending."
The two were quite unanimous when mocking Jin Yuansen.
Their cups clinked as they drank together, and Gu Siyu said, "Jin Yuansen is incredibly stingy. It's not easy to take money from his mouth, let alone deduct a few billion. I need to think about it carefully."
"Yeah." Huo Junxian's eyes held a smile, seemingly trusting her completely.
Gu Siyu's swallowing motion slowed for a moment, feeling a kind of inflated admiration. She attributed it to the haziness from the alcohol and withdrew her gaze from Huo Junxian, saying, "Speak if you have something to say, don't keep staring at me."
"It's just..."
"You've mentioned so many conditions, and I also want to propose one." Huo Junxian said.
Gu Siyu put down the bottle, contemplating the possibilities, and looked at Huo Junxian with caution. "If it's too much, you better not say it."
"I don't know if it's too much. You judge for yourself." Huo Junxian smiled with intense warmth in her gaze.
Gu Siyu thought, Huo Junxian probably wants to set a rule for how many times they sleep in a day?
Huo Junxian seems more eager than she thought.
If she agrees, it's as if she becomes Huo Junxian's exclusive... She has to obey everything Huo Junxian says. If she doesn't agree, she lacks self-discipline.
In the midst of her contemplation, Huo Junxian said, "Regardless of when, don't rashly do dangerous things. Don't let yourself get hurt. I hope you can discuss things with me before making decisions. Let's find solutions together and prevent incidents like the airport from happening again."
Gu Siyu was slightly stunned.
Huo Junxian asked softly, "Can you?"
"You..." Gu Siyu thought for a moment, choosing her words, "You, this, is too much."
Excessive concern, crossing boundaries.
Huo Junxian said, "Sometimes you also need to consider yourself, think more about yourself, cherish your life. Don't think that pain is normal, and don't believe that enduring it will make it go away."
"Alright, stop talking." Gu Siyu is not accustomed to this level of care.
They had only eaten half of the fried chicken, and the room was filled with the smell of frying. The TV was playing a plot with a war against Japan, which took a while for them to realize.
They spent the whole day at home. The air conditioning made their heads dizzy. When it got a bit cooler later in the evening, Gu Siyu turned off the TV and cleaned up the garbage in the house, taking it out.
Gu Siyu found a pair of hot pants for Huo Junxian to wear, but it was a bit challenging. The size just didn't match. After rummaging through the entire wardrobe, she found an old one for Huo Junxian to make do with.
Huo Junxian reluctantly put it on. The loose white short-sleeved shirt on her body could cover up some flaws; otherwise, the chest area would look odd. Gu Siyu crossed her arms, watching her struggle to fasten the hidden buttons.
"Did people make fun of you for your chest when you were in school?" Gu Siyu asked, "Staring at your chest and making jokes about you."
During the school years, rumors and gossip were abundant. It's estimated that every well-endowed girl had been discussed, mocked, and even subjected to various vulgar comments. It seemed like everyone had taken it for granted that such girls were not serious and bias had turned into verbal violence.
Gu Siyu tied the garbage bag and slammed the door. She heard Huo Junxian make a sound of agreement. Huo Junxian said, "People made fun of me too, quite a lot. But when my dad found out, he would send someone to deal with them. Over time, no one dared to speak ill of me. Later, due to some reasons, I rarely went to school."
Gu Siyu responded with an "oh" and found some common ground. "I didn't like going to school back then either. I would deal with anyone who made me unhappy. I was more into fighting and cursing than studying. You have good grades, why didn't you go to school?"
"Well, I have good grades, so there's no need to go to school."
"...,"
Huo Junxian said: "Teachers taught me everything. Going to school wasn't fun. I just turned my head to look at the scenery outside, daydreamed every day, and then got into conflicts with my classmates. I'm not good at getting along with them, and the school environment felt strange to me. My dad was more worried about me. Wherever I studied, he would invest in that school, become a director, and the school mostly listened to my dad. Going or not didn't matter to me."
"Is your dad overly protective of you?"
Huo Junxian just laughed and didn't say much.
Gu Siyu was also curious and asked a couple more questions. After throwing out the garbage downstairs, she didn't ask much. The two of them were really extremes, one living under pampering, and the other living under hatred.
In the first twenty years, they couldn't have any intersection. Even if they were to meet on the street one day with a distance of 0, it would just be a passing glance, and neither would pay much attention to the other.
Is this world logical, arranging everyone's lives according to a plan, making the rich rich, the poor poor, and the ordinary ordinary? Or is there no logic, and everyone's life is random, a mix of good and bad, forming a chaotic and dramatic narrative?
The two walked along the forest path, the heat of the twilight just passing. It wasn't very cool. Construction sites, motorcycles, and cars stirred up dust on the side. Gu Siyu tilted her neck. Yesterday, Huo Junxian made her sleep in an awkward position, and she turned to look at Huo Junxian, her gaze falling on her knees.
Huo Junxian had long legs. Wearing Gu Siyu's clothes leaned more towards youth, but with a touch of a married woman's charm, especially with her surging waves, she appeared very alluring.
In bed, Huo Junxian was energetic, not at all lifeless. Gu Siyu thought about her initial impression of her, saying she looked dull at first glance and incapable, which now seemed completely biased. Huo Junxian was still looking at her, her gaze not shifting at all. Gu Siyu was worried that she might bury herself somewhere and struggle to get up.
After Huo Junxian finished looking, she walked to Gu Siyu's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with her. Then, she commented in a casual manner, "I think this is good."
"Hmm?"
Huo Junxian pointed at Gu Siyu and then at herself, "Just you and me."
Gu Siyu hesitated, her hands in her pockets, and her lips parted. She said, "What do you mean, just you and me? Look, and there's also the wind..." There wasn't much wind now. She waved her hand to stir up some, "There are trees around, and birds on the trees, and on the birds..."
Huo Junxian tilted her head and said, "On the birds, there are clouds, and the clouds reside in the sky." Then she lowered her head, lips curved in a smile, "Right?"
The feeling conveyed by these words was strange. Gu Siyu frowned, her temples pulsating. What's going on? Why do they talk like they're reciting poetry?
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Translator's note: Yes, just you and her. It's quite heartwarming to hear that Huo Junxian is concerned about Gu Siyu.
TO BE CONTINUE...