“Sigh. Did you have fun today?”
Li Yang leaned on the windowsill, his eyes full of anticipation.
“It was okay, I guess.”
An Ling replied.
“Can’t you say something like ‘I was so happy today, it was really fun’ to make me happy too?”
Li Yang said in a cheesy tone.
“An Ling only knows how to act all cool and aloof.”
An Ling’s ears twitched.
“Who’s aloof? I’m just like this.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Lady An Ling is just this kind of aloof person.”
Li Yang smiled and raised both hands in surrender.
“So, may I ask the aloof Lady An Ling, do you have any plans for tomorrow?”
An Ling paused.
She had pretty much finished her homework.
Even if she didn’t finish the rest tonight, she could quickly complete it tomorrow morning.
“Homework,” she still answered.
“Sigh! I bet Lady An Ling has already finished it, right?”
“No.” An Ling replied. It was true—she still had a little left, so it counted as unfinished.
“Even if you finished, you could read a book or something. You’ve been working all day. Take a break.”
“Read a book again?”
Li Yang frowned.
“Why don’t you ever think about having fun on the weekend?”
“What’s wrong with reading?”
An Ling retorted, unwilling to back down.
“Reading increases your knowledge. Unlike certain people who only know how to play games.”
“Playing games is a way to relax. At our age, if we don’t play games, are we supposed to go out and mess around in society?”
“Of course not!” An Ling passionately shot down the idea.
“Don’t get so worked up, aloof Lady An Ling. I was just giving an example.”
An Ling looked at him. Indeed, playing games at least wouldn’t cause any real problems.
This guy wasn’t the type to become a delinquent anyway.
“What’s wrong?” Li Yang noticed she was spacing out. “Worried about me?”
“Not at all!” An Ling immediately denied it.
Li Yang looked at her reaction and couldn’t help laughing.
“If you laugh at me again, I’ll curse you out! Don’t think I can’t scold people just because Auntie isn’t here, you big idiot!”
Li Yang looked across at An Ling, whose face had turned a little red. Her scolding had absolutely no strength behind it. It was nowhere near as fierce as the ones he usually heard.
“Wow, Lady An Ling actually knows how to curse people? How rare.”
“You…” An Ling’s ears stood straight up. “If you laugh again—!”
An Ling had only cursed at Li Yang back in elementary school.
After moving away, she had spoken politely to everyone and had basically forgotten how to scold anyone.
“I’m not laughing, I’m not laughing.”
Li Yang said the words, but the corners of his mouth were still curved upward.
“After all these years, you still haven’t improved at all. Your insults are still the same childish ones from when we were kids.”
“So what! I cursed at you and you’re still laughing!”
“Then should Lady An Ling’s scolding make me cry?”
An Ling was rendered speechless by his words. She opened her mouth but couldn’t think of a comeback.
She glared at Li Yang. Her ears trembled with anger, her tail puffed up behind her, but she still couldn’t get any words out.
Li Yang loved seeing her like this. He couldn’t hold back the smile on his face at all.
“You!”
An Ling was both embarrassed and angry.
She grabbed a small plush toy from the windowsill and pretended she was going to throw it.
“If you laugh again, I’m really going to smash you!”
“I’m not laughing anymore, I’m not laughing.” Li Yang quickly wiped the smile off his face.
“Alright, it’s getting late.”
Li Yang checked his phone.
“You should sleep early. Tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow you should rest properly.”
Remembering what An Ling had said earlier, Li Yang decided not to push too hard.
“I’ll also do some homework tomorrow.”
“I thought you didn’t have any homework as a single person,” An Ling teased.
“Hey, what kind of thing is that to say? If it weren’t for the teacher checking, I really wouldn’t want to do it.”
Li Yang waved his hand. “Holidays are meant for having fun.”
“You’re just lazy,” An Ling jabbed at him.
“If there was no homework, you’d go completely wild playing.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
Li Yang waved his hand.
“Anyway, I’ll be home tomorrow too. If you get bored, just call me. I’m free anytime.”
“I won’t get bored,” An Ling said softly.
“Sure, sure. Lady An Ling is the best at entertaining herself.”
Li Yang smiled and raised his hands.
“Then I’m going in. Sleep early.”
“Mm.”
An Ling closed the window, drew the curtains, and climbed back into bed.
She buried her face in her tail, but her ears remained perked, listening to the sounds from the opposite side.
An Ling rolled over and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
Tomorrow… she should just rest properly tomorrow.
With that thought, she slowly closed her eyes.
***
On the other side, Li Yang was also lying in bed. His phone was playing a video, but his mind was elsewhere.
After observing her for some time, he felt certain that An Ling was hiding something from him. But she wouldn’t tell him.
A few years ago he had felt the same way, but An Ling had left too suddenly and he never got the chance to observe closely.
Now that she was back, he could pretty much confirm it.
His childhood friend seemed to have too many things bottled up inside.
She didn’t talk to anyone about them.
Now she had built what she thought was a very strong psychological armor around herself, but that armor seemed to be trapping her inside instead.
But An Ling was still the same An Ling. He was sure of that.
She hadn’t changed.
As long as he could help her take off that armor, the problem could be solved.
He couldn’t rush it though.
He still didn’t know exactly what was affecting his childhood friend.
First, he needed to slowly warm her up and find out what the real issue was.
***
The next morning, An Ling was woken by the sunlight.
The curtains weren’t fully closed, so golden light squeezed through the gap and fell on her face, warm and comfortable.
She had that dream again last night, but she still couldn’t clearly see the contents of the memory fragments.
An Ling squinted and rolled over, reaching for her phone on the bedside table.
9:30.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and smoothed out her messy hair.
Bird chirps came from outside the window, along with faint car sounds in the distance.
Weekend mornings were especially quiet.
An Ling got out of bed, washed up, changed clothes, and sat down at her desk.
Only a little homework remained: the last two big math problems and more than half a Chinese exam paper.
She picked up her pen and began writing.
After finishing the essay, she checked the time. It was 10:30.
All her homework was done.
An Ling put away her notebooks and stood up to stretch.
What should she do next?
She walked around her room, picked up her phone and checked it. No new messages.
She opened a video app and scrolled for a while, but nothing interesting caught her eye.
She walked to the window, secretly pulled the curtain open a little, and peeked at the opposite house.
Li Yang’s window was open, but she couldn’t see anyone.
An Ling let the curtain fall back, sat down on the bed, and hugged her tail while spacing out.
Maybe… she should read a book for a while?
With that thought, she picked up a novel from the bedside table, flipped through a few pages, then put it down again.
She couldn’t get into it.
An Ling sighed and buried her face in her tail.
Why am I suddenly so bored?
Just as she was debating whether to go back to sleep for a bit, the familiar sound came from the window.
Thump… Thump… Thump…