Chapter 11 – Uniform

When Xu Shicai woke up, she found her whole body aching. As she turned slightly, she instinctively reached out to prop herself up. Only then did she slowly open her sore eyes and see the ground unusually close to her.

Where is this? After a moment of confusion, she quickly became alert and sat up.

She was sleeping on the sofa, and that willful, unreasonable demon had actually kicked her to the sofa to sleep!

As she got off the sofa, Xu Shicai felt a pounding headache, aching waist, and even her toes hurt; there wasn’t a single part of her that felt comfortable. She couldn’t help but grit her teeth and turned to look at a door, trying hard to avoid recalling what had happened yesterday.

She had bought a pile of stomach medicine yesterday, but the person who needed to take it had said the pain was unbearable. Wen Jialuo sat on the bed, her eyes particularly clear, but her sweaty hair and still abnormal complexion proved the pain she had just endured.

Xu Shicai rubbed her ankle vigorously and glared at the girl who had stood up: “What are you doing?”

“Taking a shower.” Wen Jialuo’s voice was still hoarse as she swayed to grab some clothes and entered the bathroom.

Ignoring her, Xu Shicai flopped back onto the bed. She was too tired to move anymore. The previous tension had vanished completely, and fatigue surged over her. Fortunately, her cousin’s classmate wasn’t too bad; at least she had made an effort. As for whether the other party appreciated it, that really wasn’t her concern.

While dozing on the bed, she felt someone kicking her foot. Xu Shicai impatiently turned over to avoid it, rubbing her face against the soft blanket and mumbling, “Let me sleep…”

“Get up and take a shower.”

She felt her collar being tugged, pulling her upper body upright. Xu Shicai opened her eyes and turned to see Wen Jialuo had already changed into pajamas, wrapped up tightly.

“I’ve put your pajamas in the bathroom; you can just wear them.” After speaking, Wen Jialuo pulled back the covers and lay back down.

“Your hair is still wet.” Xu Shicai frowned, looking at the water stains on the white pillow.

“If you keep making noise, I’ll kill you…” Wen Jialuo’s voice was nearly muffled.

Xu Shicai stared at the girl still huddled under the covers: “What a little devil.”

The bathroom wasn’t large, and the walls were covered with colorful tiles, creating a bit of a rainbow effect in the mist. While showering, Xu Shicai thought about her situation. Here she was, naked in the bathroom, while another girl lay on the bed outside…

She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the inexplicable thoughts that had popped up in the steam.

After finishing her shower and drying her hair, she checked the front door lock, turned off the living room lights, and returned to bed.

However, as soon as she lay down, she turned her head and saw a pair of eyes staring at her—pitch black pupils, unfathomably deep and dark.

“… What’s wrong? Still not feeling well?”

“There’s a sofa in the living room!”

“A sofa?” Xu Shicai nearly choked, “Are you really making me sleep on the sofa?”

“There are blankets and pillows in the cupboard; help yourself.”

Xu Shicai angrily sat up from the bed: “I even went out to buy medicine for you, and I’m still your guest. Do you have any sense of reason?”

“We agreed on this before you came,” Wen Jialuo’s voice remained stubborn. “Get out.”

“You…” Xu Shicai felt a bit dizzy and couldn’t help but laugh, “You really are the most infatuated person in the world. Not only do you want to maintain your spiritual chastity for your senior forever, but you also won’t let anyone else get close to you.” She leaned down, getting very close to Wen Jialuo, close enough to see her own reflection in the other’s eyes, with a somewhat malicious mockery, “You’re destined to live a lonely life.”

Wen Jialuo closed her eyes briefly, her thin lips moving as she ruthlessly continued to shoo her away: “When you leave, please turn off the lights.”

So in the end, Xu Shicai had to curl up on the sofa for the night. Fortunately, the sofa was large enough that she didn’t end up tossing and turning all night. But it was also possible that she simply fell asleep out of frustration.

When she woke up, she moved her hands and feet a bit, but there was still no movement from behind that door. The chaos of last night had left Xu Shicai with no time to survey her surroundings. Now that it was daylight outside, she wandered around the room.

This was a three-bedroom apartment with a rather old layout, lacking any sense of aesthetics. The three bedrooms were lined up in a row, across from a long living room and kitchen bathroom. Aside from Wen Jialuo’s bedroom, the other two were tightly closed, leaving Xu Shicai feeling a bit frustrated, not even knowing if there were beds in them. She had really ended up obediently curling up on the sofa. She had sensed that this area was quite remote, so the outside was also very quiet. Last night, she had thought sleeping on the sofa would be uneasy, but in this noise-free environment, even her dreams were stable. Thinking about the quietness here, it was a desirable condition for living.

Although Wen Jialuo was unpleasantly described and had a terrible attitude, Xu Shicai, adhering to the principle of being a good person, still walked over to the fridge.

To her surprise, there were quite a few things inside. At least there were many eggs and noodles.

It was hard to imagine that Wen Jialuo would proactively cook for herself; wasn’t she still trying to ascend to godhood? Since it was hard to understand, Xu Shicai decided not to think about it. Even if she wasn’t hungry, her stomach was already pressed against her back.

The kitchen was fully equipped, and Xu Shicai pulled out a spatula and placed it on the induction cooker, quickly boiling water. In the meantime, she tidied herself up, then beat the eggs, swirling the golden strands of noodles in the egg mixture. Although it lacked vegetables and was a bit lacking in color, she found a bottle of sesame oil, and the aroma compensated for it.

“What are you making?”

The soft voice behind her startled Xu Shicai, and when she turned around, she saw Wen Jialuo leaning against the door, her hair sticking up high.

With a chuckle, Xu Shicai felt all the pent-up anger from the previous night vanish. She had never seen Wen Jialuo look so covetously; she even wondered if her family had seen such a look in a long time.

“Egg noodles. Want some?”

Wen Jialuo walked over nonchalantly and looked at the pot of noodles covered in egg: “Just this?”

Xu Shicai raised an eyebrow: “You can choose not to eat.” After saying this, she reached up to grab a bowl from the cupboard.

Seeing her so skilled in her movements, if Xu Shicai hadn’t looked fine, Wen Jialuo would have suspected she hadn’t slept all night just studying how things were arranged here.

Wen Jialuo said nothing more and turned to brush her teeth and wash her face, soothing her disobedient hair in front of the mirror.

Finally, both of them sat at the dining table with bowls, slurping the noodles.

Xu Shicai finished first and watched Wen Jialuo, then asked curiously, “Aren’t you quite able to eat?”

“Because you’re a guest,” Wen Jialuo replied.

“Oh…” Xu Shicai responded, “So you not eating is just for your family to see?”

“At first, it wasn’t. I really didn’t want to eat; whatever I ate, I would vomit. Later, it got a bit better.”

“I’ve been wanting to ask,” Xu Shicai propped her elbows on the table, continuing to dig deeper, “Did you develop anorexia just to let your family know the severity of the situation?”

Wen Jialuo stopped eating and looked at her. The woman smiled slyly, clearly waiting for her to take the bait.

“Exactly. Desperate measures to survive, that’s what my grandfather taught me.”

“No way.” Xu Shiqi shook her head.

“We’ve been around them since we were little, growing up listening to the stories of the older generation,” Wen Jialuo smiled. “If you learn and don’t apply it, you’re not a good student.”

Xu Shiqi sighed. If the old man knew that his granddaughter was twisting those glorious stories for her own use, he would definitely be furious.

“So what was with your stomach pain last night?”

“Not eating will naturally lead to a rebellion from the stomach. And don’t tell my cousin,” Wen Jialuo looked at her with a threatening expression. “They don’t know.”

“Didn’t you have dinner?” Xu Shiqi was puzzled.

“The food was too spicy.” Wen Jialuo thought for a moment. “I hadn’t eaten anything the whole day before that.” She added, “And I caught a cold breeze by the lake at night…”

“A cold breeze goes into your lungs, not your stomach!” Xu Shiqi stood up to clean the dishes, too lazy to talk to her any further. People who don’t cherish themselves deserve to suffer.

“No need to wash; an aunt will come to clean up in a bit,” Wen Jialuo shouted from behind.

Xu Shiqi suddenly understood. No wonder the place she was staying felt so homely; it turned out someone was there to take care of her. Since it was someone else’s place, Xu Shiqi felt she had no right to speak too much and prepared to leave. Wen Jialuo called her back; since she was going out anyway, she might as well accompany her to catch the bus.

While waiting in the living room, Xu Shiqi received a call from home. They said the health bureau had come early to take new samples, but this time their attitude was good, suggesting it was just a formality and there seemed to be room for things to turn around, so she shouldn’t worry.

Xu Shiqi breathed a sigh of relief and then saw Wen Jialuo walk out.

She almost dropped her jaw because Wen Jialuo was actually wearing a uniform.

A light blue shirt and a dark blue knee-length skirt; a golden badge and shoulder insignia with an obvious red shield. The outfit couldn’t be called pretty, but Xu Shiqi thought that if it wasn’t custom-made for her, it must have been altered later. Because it surprisingly didn’t look bad on her; rather, it gave off a somewhat dashing vibe…

Xu Shiqi recognized which unit this uniform belonged to. The store her family owned had to deal with this unit as well. But this little demon actually looked serious about going to work, which surprised her.

With the Wen family’s conditions, she could choose to do anything. Although Baohua went to college, she wholeheartedly wanted to be a good housewife, so she just went along with it. But she really didn’t expect that Wen Jialuo would choose a nine-to-five civil servant life.

“Did you get in through the back door?” Xu Shiqi pointed at her uniform and asked tentatively.

Wen Jialuo looked down at herself and then shot her a glare. “I passed the exam properly.”

Xu Shiqi looked unconvinced. “You can handle such a mundane life?”

“Only a simple life can lead to a good one,” Wen Jialuo adjusted her outfit and smiled at her. “Isn’t that right?”

Xu Shiqi fell silent for a moment and then sighed deeply.

Some people, once they make a decision, will expend all their energy to realize it. Every action they take reinforces the determination needed for that decision. To put it nicely, it’s called having a tenacious spirit, but it could also be called stubbornness. For Wen Jialuo, it was probably a matter of not turning back even after hitting a wall.

“I see you’re strong; fine then.” Xu Shiqi smiled, this time sincerely. She too had decisions she couldn’t avoid, but she didn’t have the courage of Wen Jialuo to say with certainty how she would proceed. She had too many worries and couldn’t throw herself into the abyss like Wen Jialuo, so she could only take it five years at a time. She didn’t know how far that would drag on; things too far in the future were something she dared not contemplate.

So, she actually envied Wen Jialuo—a girl with so much courage.

Before leaving, while changing shoes, Wen Jialuo suddenly said, “Thanks for last night.”

Xu Shiqi was taken aback.

“But you really don’t know how to buy medicine; most of it was useless,” Wen Jialuo added.

“Yeah, just don’t let me see you in pain again,” Xu Shiqi said, both amused and exasperated. “I got a call from my mom; things at the store should be fine. Thanks.”

Wen Jialuo turned back with an impatient look. Xu Shiqi seemed to remember she had promised not to bring it up and could only shake her head and keep quiet.

“By the way, when you ask your dad, let me know what he says,” Wen Jialuo took out her phone. “Give me your phone.”

Xu Shiqi handed it to her, puzzled, and watched her randomly press buttons.

“This is my number; save it.”

“Got it.” Xu Shiqi smiled warmly, her voice soft. “You’re actually pretty good.”

Wen Jialuo snorted a couple of times, then opened the door and went out.

When they got downstairs, Xu Shiqi carefully observed the characteristics of the hallway. She hadn’t told Wen Jialuo about getting the wrong floor last night; otherwise, it would have surely led to mockery. Although she didn’t see the point in remembering, she was still troubled enough to take note of it.

Now it was daytime, a good time to take a look around this community. The spacious area in front of the building served as a parking lot on one side and featured a proper basketball court and a few ping pong tables on the other. Under the trees, there were even some fitness equipment for the elderly; it seemed small but complete. Xu Shiqi didn’t know why Wen Jialuo lived here, but she carefully observed the young guard stationed at the entrance; his stance looked like he had been in the military.

Wen Jialuo saw Xu Shiqi to the bus stop and waved goodbye before heading to work.

Xu Shiqi couldn’t help but find the events from yesterday to now somewhat amusing. Originally two parallel lives intersected, and because they were parallel, probably due to a clash of energies, their intersection became particularly noteworthy. As the bus sped along the highway, Xu Shiqi gazed seriously out the window. Unfortunately, she didn’t see the artificial lake. She only remembered that there didn’t seem to be any construction sites or machinery by the lake yesterday; perhaps it was an artificial lake that was planned for development but was abandoned.

Humans are such unpredictable beings. What is lasting love, or, for that matter, what is love? Xu Shiqi actually didn’t know. For her, love was harder than for others; how could one talk about lasting love? A marriage with constraints at least has the power of constraint, while a relationship without constraints feels like a future that could collapse at any moment. Not wanting to face such a dead end, she simply decided not to build a nest for love; this way, it felt safest.