The night fell completely, without the headlights of vehicles on the street and the bright lights of the streetlights, the dining room was dark and it was nearly impossible to see. Xiao Yuqing and Lin Xian sat opposite each other, no one spoke, and only the sounds of slurping noodles could be heard.
“Aiya…” Lin Xian suddenly gave a small cry of surprise.
Xiao Yuqing immediately stopped moving and looked at Lin Xian nervously asking, “What’s wrong?” She couldn’t see Lin Xian’s expression, but could only vaguely see her black and clear eyes slightly glowing with a little water.
A moment later, she heard Lin Xian’s “hahaha” light laughter.
Lin Xian licked the back of her teeth, and responded with a smile, “I couldn’t see what was in the bowl, so I casually took a sip of the soup and there seemed to be pieces of clams in it, so I choked.”
Xiao Ivana Qing put down her chopsticks, gently pushed her chair away and was about to stand up, “It’s indeed is better to look for a candle first.” Just now, when she said she wanted to find a candle to light up before eating, Lin Xian pulled her and refused to let go, insisting that they eat the noodles while they were hot. This child seemed to have a great obsession with eating while it was still hot, so Xiao Yuqing couldn’t resist her and she had to comply with her.
Lin Xian took Xiao Yuqing’s hand again by feeling and gently applied force, signaling for Xiao Yuqing to sit down. Her tone still carried some cheerful eagerness, “It’s okay, we’re almost done eating. Besides, how fun is it to eat like this, every bite may have a surprise.”
Xiao Yuqing gently squeezed the soft flesh of Lin Xian’s hand with the hand that was pulled by Lin Xian, in a gentle and helpless tone, “Aren’t you afraid of biting something and breaking your teeth?”
Lin Xian opened her mouth, “tap tap” her upper and lower teeth together twice, confidently saying, “No! My teeth are very strong.” As she spoke, she took another sip of soup.
Xiao Yuqing was just about to tease her for not talking nonsense when she heard Lin Xian let out another “aiya” cry, which sounded much more uncomfortable than the one she had just let out.
Xiao Yuqing couldn’t sit still now. She immediately followed the hand that was pulled by Lin Xian and moved closer to Lin Xian. Her hands felt Lin Xian’s cheeks and cupped her small face, her tone carried obvious panic, “What’s wrong, where did you bite again?”
But Lin Xian just opened her dark eyes and looked fixedly at the beautiful face in front of her, which was so close that it couldn’t be hidden in the darkness, and didn’t say a word.
Xiao Yuqing thought she was biting her teeth and couldn’t speak because of the pain, so she was even more anxious. She rubbed Lin Xian’s cheeks, and then her hands left Lin Xian’s cheeks, turned around and went out, “You wait for me….”
Lin Xian saw that she took her seriously and quickly reached out to pull her back, but only grabbed the hem of her coat. She hurriedly called out to Xiao Yuqing and explained in a quick voice, “Aunt Xiao, I’m fine, I’m just teasing you….”
Xiao Yuqing lifted her leg and froze for a moment. The next second, she turned around, looking at the blurred silhouette in the darkness not far away, knitting her eyebrows, and her voice was soft as if somewhat in disbelief with a touch of rare lowness, “You’re teasing me?”
Lin Xian heard such a low voice from Xiao Yuqing for the first time and suddenly panicked slightly. She swallowed unconsciously and realized that she was… too dependent on Xiao Yuqing’s good temper and joked around too much. For some time, she did not have a playful mind, and her mood sank. She faintly closed her eyes, her voice lowered, and mumbled an apology, “I’m sorry, Aunt Xiao, I… shouldn’t have joked around and made you worry….” Today, Xiao Yuqing was frightened because of her fear,. The wind came and rained and she even so carelessly joked to worry her. She was so ignorant.
At first when she heard Lin Xian say that she was teasing her, Xiao Yuqing did indeed have some uncontrollable displeasure rushing through her mind. From yesterday to today, the situation was really too much. Lin Xian’s physical discomfort has always kept her in a state of panic, worry, and guilt. Such a long absence of complex emotions suddenly returned to her body, so she was a little confused, worried, lacking sleep, and during a stormy night, running, but she also had physical and mental fatigue. Now, everything was back on track and Lin Xian actually teased her with a shock, consuming her feelings…
However, when she heard the girl sincerely apologize to her in a small and quiet voice, for a moment, Xiao Yuqing felt that all her displeasure had dissipated.
She couldn’t see Lin Xian’s demeanor, but it was as if she could imagine what kind of good-natured and self-condemned look the girl should have now and what kind of gloom there should be in her deer-like bright and clear eyes. She relaxed her nerves that had been tense and began to reflect on herself, what Lin Xian had done wrong, was just making a joke with her, her making a fuss, and even frightened the child.
She sat back down beside Lin Xian, reached out and touched her little head, revealing a faint smile, her tone back to usual, “It’s okay, I made a big deal out of it. It’s good that you didn’t get hurt. Little liar, quickly eat your noodles.” The two words “little liar” was said naturally and lightly, with an elevated tone and some obvious doting.
Listening to Xiao Yuqing’s soft and considerate words, Lin Xian didn’t know why, but she felt more sour and sad in her heart. Clearly she was wrong, but Xiao Yuqing said it was her own fault.
Aunt Xiao, won’t you even be angry…
She will not even get angry, will not blame others…
Lin Xian’s teeth gently bite the chopsticks, listening to the sound of the bowl and chopsticks colliding near Xiao Yuqing, but her mind was swimming with thoughts, and could not help but think about the problems of life. If people live in this world, if they are strict with themselves, treat others with generosity, and try their best to avoid the grievances imposed by others by themselves, will they inevitably be more wronged by themselves?
Xiao Yuqing did not hear the sound of Lin Xian moving her chopsticks for a long time, so she couldn’t help but remind her in a tender voice, “What are you thinking about? The noodles are getting cold….”
Only then did Lin Xian react, put away her thoughts, smiled cheekily and said, “I was just thinking about how you are so nice, Aunt Xiao.”
Everyone likes to hear good words, and Xiao Yuqing couldn’t help but lightly curl her lips and scold her, “Greasy mouth, eat your noodles quickly.” The voice, however, was even more gentle than just now.
After eating, Xiao Yuqing then touched around the darkness and began to rummage through the tables and cupboards to find the candle items. It should have been a matter that could be solved in a few minutes, but, after turning the house upside down, Xiao Ivana Qing only found half a short scented candle and there was no more….
This half scented candle, if memory serves right, it should be a few years ago when Wen Tong gave her a gift….
Lin Xian touched the half candle held in her hand, thinking of Xiao Wanqing’s soft voice with some embarrassment just now when Xiao Wanqing handed her the candle saying “only this little candle” with a soft voice and couldn’t help but laugh a little.
If her mother was here, she would surely have criticized Aunt Xiao with a few words. This life lived….
Lin Xian was naturally not Zhou Qin, she felt she was very understanding. She just tilted her head to comfort Xiao Yuqing and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay to have a little light to see roughly.” Saying that, as if she suddenly thought of something, she asked another question, “Do you have a lighter or matches at home?” The candle was so difficult to find, she could not help but doubt the existence of the other necessary thing.
Hey, it’s okay, if it’s not possible, they can just turn on the stove to light it up.
However, this time, Xiao Yuqing answered very quickly, with a calm and light tone, “Yes.” As she spoke, she slightly bent her body, and pulled open the drawer of the TV cabinet, from which she felt an object. After a “pada” sound, a small flame was reflected in their dark colored eyes. The flame was bright, small, and warm.
Xiao Yuqing’s smiling face, in this small flickering, warm fire reflected, looks more and more soft and delicate. Lin Xian inexplicably looked enchanted again.
Xiao Yuqing was unaware of it. She stretched out her hand and took the candle from Lin Xian, tilted it slightly, put the candle wick close to the fire, and soon, the candle lit up. She gently held the candle with her slender five fingers in one hand and with the other hand, with a snap, she closed the lighter with ease.
Only then did Lin Xian, by candlelight, notice that Xiao Yuqing was holding an exquisite silver-gray lighter with a cold shine, which seemed to have some kind of pattern engraved on its body. It didn’t look like the kind of disposable items that were always on hand at home.
Xiao Yuqing naturally turned around, pulled open the drawer, threw the lighter in, and then, once again, closed the drawer smoothly. The action seemed skillful and natural, like it had been done a thousand times before.
A guess suddenly appeared in Lin Xian’s mind. She bit her lower lip unconsciously and her eyes gradually sank a little.
The candles were placed on the glass coffee table in the living room, emitting a faint fragrance of lavender. Xiao Yuqing and Lin Xian sat on the blanket laid in front of the coffee table, cross-legged on the floor, opposite each other.
Lin Xian propped her elbows on the coffee table, with both hands on her cheeks, bored. She blinked her big crystal eyes and asked Xiao Yuqing tentatively, “Aunt Xiao, is there anything you can play at home with two people? For example, chess, military chess, or something?” She actually did not hold much hope in her heart. After all, after the candle and cold medicine incident, Lin Xian had probably understood Xiao Yuqing’s previous living condition a bit.
She lived alone, except for food/refinement, other than that, it seems that she did not think much of herself.
Probably, even the food, only because she came, it began to be regular.
Unexpectedly, this time, with the lighter just now, Xiao Yuqing surprised Lin Xian again.
When she heard the question, there was a smile leaping from the bottom of her eyes, and a few lovable hints of triumph?
Xiao Yuqing quickly got up and walked towards the TV cabinet while asking Lin Xian, “Yes. There are chess, military chess, go, aeroplane chess, checkers, playing cards, Monopoly, what do you want to play?”
Lin Xian gave an unexpected “wow” and responded, “I can do it all.” Then, she couldn’t help but wonder, “So all together, Aunt Xiao, do you usually hang out with your friends?” She thought that a quiet personality like Xiao Yuqing might not invite friends to the house too often for fun.
She moved a pile of board games and cards to the coffee table, ruffled her hair in front of her forehead and explained with a smile, “No, this is what I prepared after I heard you were coming. I thought that maybe we could play together sometime.”
Lin Xian’s voice was immediately full of unconcealed joy and happiness, teasing her, “It seems that you were looking forward to my arrival, Aunt Xiao.”
Xiao Yuqing opened the chess box and unfolded the chess sheet, smiling, her watery eyes fixedly looked at Lin Xian, and after a long time, she closed her eyes and smiled shallowly, admitting, “Yes, Lin Xian, I was looking forward to your arrival.”
Her tone was so frank and sincere, but in her downcast eyes, there was a flash of sadness and despondency.
Thank you K for Suppoting this novel! This is 2/10!
The author has something to say:
Every night before going to bed, I have to take an inventory carefully. Have all my cuties come today? \(≧▽≦)/
Daily mental activity
Before going to bed: xx did not come today, crying, she does not love me anymore. (fall asleep with tears)
Wake up the next day: Wow (starry eyes), She came back, I knew she still loves me! Picking up the little cutie in a 100-meter sprint (cross out) no, be a little more reserved, be a lady. That… that I secretly memeda in my heart. ^o^
2/10?? Omg. I supported you to thank you for all your translations, but didn’t think it would mean you’d translate more based on the amount. Thank you for your hard work! I really appreciate it, but I hope you get enough rest too ;_;
They’re both such lovable characters. I’m usually not a fan of age gap, but there’s something about this one that’s really gripping.
It’s fine. You supporting me means you’re supporting the author of this novel. I use the money earned to buy their chapters and so forth. And the characters are very much lovable.
Lin Xian is indeed good at reading people, she caught on to what I’ve been saying really fast too, even though Yuqing is a very pleasant person with a soft gentle temperament it does seem like she neglects herself and gets depressed very easily, seems to be very harsh on herself and always has this atmosphere of avoidance and giving in.
Guess it’s done form if repressed guilt.
Well hopefully Xian is the Rick she needs to attach her emotions to to actually be able to let them out.