Around three in the afternoon, Qin Yue returned home. Upon entering the house, she found Qin Mom and Qin Xin sitting together, quietly watching television.
To be honest, there was a strange sense of tranquility in the air.
"I'm back."
"Yueyue is back," Qin Mom seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly greeted her, "How was the meal? Did everything go well?"
"Pretty much settled," Qin Yue casually replied, "It's fine."
With several adults personally involved, just to secure a part-time study opportunity, how could she not give them face?
To be honest, before returning home a few days ago, Qin Yue really didn't expect this turn of events. She was worried about whether her girlfriend, Bai Ningning, would be accepted in her role.
When she first met her relatives after returning home, their friendly attitude surprised Qin Yue. She thought to herself that the elders were so open-minded and didn't mind her having a girlfriend at all.
Little did she know that their lack of concern was because they had an excuse to find a partner for themselves. Clearly, they didn't think Bai Ningning could become the future mistress of the Qin family. In their minds, the daughters of family friends were more suitable.
What a fanciful thought! They didn't even consider that Qin Yue had known those girls for many years and occasionally interacted with them. If anything were to develop, how could it wait until Bai Ningning's feelings blossomed?
Thinking of this, Qin Yue asked, "Qin Xin, how is Ningning doing?"
"I've given her the medicine," Qin Xin said, her eyes glued to the television.
That's right, she had intimately helped her sister-in-law with her medicine, and her sister still had to say thank you.
"Thank you for your help," Qin Yue sighed in relief, "How is she after taking the medicine? Is she better?"
Qin Xin thought to herself that she didn't know if Bai Ningning was better, but she was feeling great.
"She should be fine. After taking the medicine, she fell asleep quickly and hasn't complained of pain again."
Qin Yue nodded; such behavior should indicate she was better. The rest was just about getting good rest.
"I'll go check on her."
...
Bai Ningning had entered a big sister state.
To be more precise, she had entered a state that Qin Yue often experienced before—lying in bed for a day or two after a battle, often in a half-dreaming state, her consciousness muddled and unclear, reminiscent of her early years. Occasionally waking up, she would quickly fall back asleep.
When one sleeps for too long, they tend to feel more tired. Bai Ningning wanted to muster the energy to get up, but having just been injured, even though she was better, she didn't dare to move much, so she simply continued to sleep.
It was just a matter of sleeping a little and waking a little. Occasionally, when she woke up, Qin Yue would support her, feeding her some porridge, which was a way to supplement her nutrition.
"Ah, so this state," she said drowsily, "Requires feeding?"
Qin Yue pinched her little face, both amused and exasperated: "Of course, if you don't eat, you'll be hungry."
Bai Ningning nodded in confusion: "Got it."
"Got what?" Qin Yue asked, puzzled.
Bai Ningning nodded seriously and said, "In the future, when you're lying down, I'll feed you."
The implication of her words was, don't worry, you'll still be the one lying down in the future.
Qin Yue was so annoyed her teeth itched, but she couldn't do anything to the injured person, so she simply rubbed the pillow.
"That won't do, you can't eat that," Bai Ningning thought she was ordering from a menu, "At least not until… before."
When there's nothing to eat, one will still be hungry.
This was the early years of Bai Ningning, in a half-dreaming state, although her consciousness was fuzzy, her intelligence and thinking were like a real middle school student.
But her level of cluelessness was completely consistent with her usual self, showing no signs of weakening.
...
On Wednesday morning, Bai Ningning finally woke up, with clear thoughts.
After sleeping intermittently for two days, the pain was gone, but her legs felt a bit numb, and she didn't want to move much.
"You're awake," Qin Yue said, sitting beside her and peeling an apple, "It's Wednesday, and Qin Xin has already gone back to school. I thought you still needed rest, so I asked for an extra day off for you."
What? It's already Wednesday? And I got a day off from class? That's great.
Bai Ningning watched Qin Yue's movements, her slender fingers pinching a large apple while the other hand held a fruit knife, skillfully and quickly peeling the apple skin.
"You…"
"I won't use that anymore," Qin Yue said proactively, "It's boring."
Bai Ningning recalled her battle experience and patted her chest in fear: "It is quite boring."
The more the pillow trembled, the more her heart shook.
Qin Yue stuffed a piece of apple into her mouth: "I had no experience the first time using it and accidentally hurt you. How are you now? Do you still feel uncomfortable?"
"I'm good," Bai Ningning said, pinching the lace of her underwear, "I felt better after taking the medicine."
"Yeah, I had something important to do and couldn't get away," Qin Yue recalled the previous days, "Fortunately, Qin Xin helped."
Bai Ningning nodded in agreement: "Yeah, it's good to have a younger sister to help."
The family really needed a straightforward girl who could help out at critical moments.
"Also, the relatives arranged for three girls to intern at the company," Qin Yue told her, "They'll be here this weekend."
Sitting by the bed, while peeling the apple for Bai Ningning, she detailed the situation, which felt a bit like reporting "official business" to her girlfriend.
"This weekend, huh? That's fine," Bai Ningning thought for a moment, "I'll go take a look then, and check on the progress of my project."
Qin Yue curled her lips but didn't say anything.
She thought Bai Ningning was going to scout the competition, but in fact, Bai Ningning just wanted to see pretty girls.
There was nothing else to it; it was simply curiosity. It was normal for a girl from the countryside to want to see what the daughters of the city were like.
Once the conversation was over, the two continued their warm apple-feeding play. After all, they had already taken a day off and didn't need to go to school, so there was nothing to worry about.
Wait, I seem to have forgotten something.
Bai Ningning suddenly remembered that she had an appointment with someone on Wednesday afternoon.
At this time, they should already be at the club activity, right? Forget it, I'll send a message later to explain to the other party.
...
"Just like that year, hurriedly carving out such a beautiful rumor of forever together~"
The girl walked into the dormitory, humming a few notes along with the melody, but soon realized something was off.
She hadn't played any music.
Turning around, she was shocked to find that her roommate was listening to that song.
"Lingyin," she said in surprise, "Didn't you say you don't listen to Faye Wong?"
"I want to listen," Lingyin turned over on her bed, "Don't ask."
Her roommate curiously asked, "What happened to you?"
"Nothing, just simply want to listen."
Lingyin wouldn't tell her that she had a "date" arranged last weekend and had given up her club activities today for Tian Ge to handle. She had dressed up specially and even worn new clothes, waiting for that person to arrive.
But after waiting for a long time, they never showed up. In the afternoon, she couldn't help but run to her class to ask about it.
It was laughable; they hadn't even come to school at all.