Chapter 47: The Glass In Ji Xiao's Hand Was The One She Had Just Used While Waiting For The Food

The small trumpet's nimble sound turned a few notes, exuding a sense of vitality with the band's trademark playful laziness and rebelliousness.

A dozen different scales struck Wei Qingyu's heart, each note inscribing the inexplicable throbbing of a girl's heart.

It was like the confusion of not knowing what joke the person in front of her was making.

And it was like the tension of having someone peek into a secret deep in her heart that she herself didn't even know.

Wei Qingyu held the glass in front of her, the condensation clinging to her skin as she gripped the glass.

The icy sensation traveled from her palm to her brain, giving her a series of throbbing stimulations.

"What are you talking about?" Wei Qingyu looked at Ji Xiao, trying to appear calm, and asked back.

Ji Xiao looked at Wei Qingyu's overly calm expression and instantly realized that her previous words might have been too vague.

She quickly waved her hand and explained, "It's not what you think."

"I was wondering if you like the scent of my pheromones? I heard you mention earlier that the higher the level of pheromones, the more aggressive they are. So I just wanted to ask if you find my pheromones too aggressive and if you wouldn't like them."

“Why would you think that?” Wei Qingyu looked at Ji Xiao calmly.

Wei Qingyu didn't know why, but when she heard Ji Xiao's words, that sense of nervousness instantly dissipated.

Her turquoise eyes returned to calmness without a ripple, even the hand gripping the glass relaxed.

Only the throbbing in her chest remained unsettled, proving that she had been so nervous that her arms had stiffened because of the girl's nonsense.

Ji Xiao lowered her gaze, looking at the steam in front of her, and said, "Because I smelled Liu Meina and my dad's pheromones, which are aggressive but not pleasant at all, I'm afraid my pheromones would be unpleasant to others too.

"And only you have smelled my pheromones, so I want to know if you like my scent..."

Ji Xiao spoke and then looked at Wei Qingyu, swallowing the remaining half-sentence at her lips: will there ever be a day in the future when you want to remove the gland that releases this scent?

Mist swirled between the two. Wei Qingyu calmly met Ji Xiao's gaze, clearly seeing the unease written in those golden-orange eyes.

Her normally indifferent heart was unexpectedly touched in a soft spot.

Wei Qingyu turned the glass in her hand and softly said, "No, your pheromones smell nice."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xiao felt a sudden sense of relief. "Really?"

In an instant, the unease disappeared from the girl's eyes, replaced by joy.

Her emotions, as always, were written all over her face, coming and going swiftly.

Wei Qingyu looked at her and couldn't help but smile along with her in her heart.

Whether it was due to drinking a beverage with alcohol or because there were already such malicious intentions in her heart, she couldn't tell.

She glanced up slightly, looking at Ji Xiao sitting opposite her, her turquoise eyes flashing a hint of tipsy haze and mischief.

The girl's thin lips parted slightly, and she took the initiative to add, "That feeling is like the most ripe and juicy peaches picked from around the world, carefully distilled into brandy."

The voice was gentle, brushing past Ji Xiao's ears and causing a ripple in her heart.

She had never imagined someone would describe her pheromones like this.

"Though the alcohol is strong, it carries the sweetness of peaches. Even when tightly wrapped, it doesn't feel hard to swallow."

The girl's voice continued.

Through the mist in front of her, Ji Xiao saw Wei Qingyu sitting upright at the table, her distinct fingers twirling a straw, stirring the slightly melting ice cubes inside.

The crisp sound of ice cubes, mixed with the warmth of steam, gently flowed into Ji Xiao's heart.

It felt like there was an invisible hook, subtly teasing the most sensitive part of her heart.

One moment, then another.

A vague itch stirred in her heart, igniting an unseen fire.

But when Ji Xiao looked again, Wei Qingyu still sat upright across from her.

Her loosely gathered long hair fell in wisps around her temples, accentuating her delicate face.

The corners of the girl's eyes and eyebrows showed calmness as if she truly was earnestly describing the answer she wanted to know.

Ji Xiao couldn't help but curse herself in her heart, feeling that she, as an adult, must have been overthinking.

So she picked up her chopsticks and stuffed a big mouthful of meat into her mouth, trying to suppress it with spiciness.

However, the result of fighting violence with violence hadn't shown its effect yet; in the next second, Ji Xiao's brows furrowed.

A peppercorn, meticulously planned, lurked within the meat roll and caught Ji Xiao off guard, crunching down on it.

Instantly, a numbing bitterness spread in Ji Xiao's mouth, already filled with spiciness. Even if she spat it out immediately, the taste didn't diminish in the slightest.

Across from her, Wei Qingyu watched Ji Xiao's reaction and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Ji Xiao drank the last remaining drink in one gulp and replied with a big tongue: "Peppagorn.”

Upon seeing this, Wei Qingyu immediately took one of the glasses they put together, poured water on it and handed it over to Ji Xiao. In the next second, a hint of surprise flashed in the girl's eyes.

The situation was urgent, and Wei Qingyu didn't have time to distinguish which of the two identical glasses was which.

It wasn't until she put down the water pitcher and saw the other dry glass on the table that she realized the glass in Ji Xiao's hand was the one she had used while waiting for the food.

"Wait..." Wei Qingyu was about to warn Ji Xiao but saw her bring the glass to her lips.

The glass reflected the overhead light, casting a warm glow in Wei Qingyu's gaze.

The girl's crimson lips touched the rim of the glass, and with each regulated movement of her throat, the water previously kissed by others moistened it.

Wei Qingyu clearly heard the unbalanced thumping from her own heart.

It echoed the same nervousness stirred earlier by the young girl's blunder.

"Ah—" With a gulp, Ji Xiao finished the glass of water, relieving the bitter numbness in her mouth. Holding the lifesaving glass in her hands, she gratefully said to Wei Qingyu, "Thank you."

"...You're welcome." Wei Qingyu suppressed the flutter in her heart, pretending to remain calm as she replied.

The jazz music lingering in the shop gradually reached its climax, and outside the window, the first snowfall was also tapering off.

As the lights dimmed, Ji Xiao placed the glass back beside the one that had never been used.

Yet, it now held an ambiguous secret known only to it and Wei Qingyu.

….

Night fell, and the window projected the warm white light from the room onto the snow-covered ground outside.

Byakuran* sat in his designated seat in the display cabinet, nibbling on a piece of marshmallow, silently watching over his domain.

*a character from Katekyo Hitman Reborn! - a manga/anime series, Chinese name: Bai Lan

The sound of flushing came from the bathroom, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the room.

Ji Xiao leaned against the wall as she walked out of the restroom.

It was only then that she realized Wei Qingyu wasn't lying earlier at the hotpot restaurant—the original owner of this body truly couldn't handle spicy food.

The burning spiciness was more intense than the spicy food she had at Fang Yiming's house that day. Her stomach had been churning since the afternoon, and from five to eight o'clock, Ji Xiao had already made three trips to the toilet.

Not knowing if this was the last time she would expend all the energy stored in her body, a feeling of exhaustion spread from Ji Xiao's limbs.

She leaned against the wall as she walked back to her bed, feeling each step incredibly heavy.

Finally, Ji Xiao reached her bed and collapsed onto it.

The cramping pain in her stomach persisted. Ji Xiao placed one hand on her stomach while reaching for her phone from under her body with the other hand.

Opening her friends list, Ji Xiao found the familiar avatar and sent a message: [Help me find some medicine for diarrhea and bring it over.]

Just a second later, vibrations came from the next room.

Ji Xiao had no one else to turn to for help but Wei Qingyu.

Wei Qingyu looked at the message from Ji Xiao and immediately set down the pen in her hand. She replied: [What's wrong? Is your stomach acting up again?]

Ji Xiao glanced at Wei Qingyu's message, which showed she knew Ji Xiao's body better than herself. She chuckled self-deprecatingly: [Yes, I guess I still can't handle spicy food.]

[Wei Qingyu: Wait for me, I'll go downstairs to get some medicine and come to you right away.]

No sooner had Ji Xiao sent the message than she heard the sound of a door closing in the next room.

She wasn't sure what was happening to her; she could even distinctly hear the light and swift footsteps of a girl in the corridor, getting farther away.

As if remembering something, Ji Xiao reopened the chat box and cautioned Wei Qingyu: [If Aunt Wu finds out, please don't say it was me.]

Otherwise, she would inevitably endure Aunt Wu's friendly chatter and the family doctor's exaggerated physical examinations.

Wei Qingyu looked at Aunt Wu standing not far away in the living room, sighed softly, but replied nonetheless: [I understand.]

Seeing Wei Qingyu's message, Ji Xiao inexplicably felt reassured.

She tossed her phone back onto the bed, and the stomach pain that had been curled up eased slightly.

With no more vibrations that had occurred earlier, the room became incredibly quiet.

Ji Xiao stared at the clean, white ceiling, suddenly feeling that the light in front of her was unusually cold.

Everything in the room was still familiar to her, but an overwhelming sense of boundless loneliness engulfed her from all sides at that moment.

The palpitations that had been lingering over her were magnified, coursing through her bloodstream to her brain, clouding her clarity.

In the girl's heart, the wild beast that had long been imprisoned was curled up, chained, and emitting low, melancholic cries in that gloomy cave.

In the silent night sky with no stars or moon, the dense silence under the overcast clouds made one feel anxious.

She could no longer distinguish whether it was stomach pain or something else. The sense of loneliness and the unreleased possessiveness pervaded her whole being.

The girl felt like an abandoned and helpless infant, recalling how she had been in her mother's womb, slowly curling up into herself.

‘Dangdang.’

Two crisp knocks sounded on the door, and Wei Qingyu's voice followed from outside.

"Ji Xiao, I've come to bring you medicine."

The girl's voice remained cool and calm, but it sparked a fire of anxiety in Ji Xiao's heart behind the door.

A faint hint of mint drifted in through the crack in the door, and in an instant, Ji Xiao understood what she was experiencing.

"Don't come in!"

‘Click.’

Seeing no response from inside the room for a long time, Wei Qingyu worried that something might be wrong with Ji Xiao. She grasped the door handle, about to open it and come inside.

Ji Xiao suppressed the panic in her heart and, with effort, got up from the bed, intending to rush over and quickly lock the door.

‘Creak—’

The silver door handle brushed past Ji Xiao's fingertips.

Ji Xiao was a step too late; the door to the room was forcefully pushed open by Wei Qingyu from the outside.

Through the quiet corridor came a cold night breeze. With a ‘bang’, the door that had just been opened was suddenly slammed shut again.

Almost the next second, the girl who had just appeared at the door was forcefully pressed against the now-closed door.

Pain instantly spread from her shoulder to her back, and a brutal sense of restraint kept coming from the fair wrist at her side.

"Ji Xiao, you really..."

This sensation brought back distant memories for Wei Qingyu, who felt despair watching the person who had pushed her against the door.

Before she could finish this trembling statement, the usually calm and composed turquoise eyes of the girl suddenly trembled uncontrollably.

The overwhelming scent of peach brandy surged from above Wei Qingyu's line of sight.

The girl's disheveled hair hung in her vision, and a pair of golden-orange eyes burned with an unquenchable flame.

Ji Xiao's susceptible period had arrived at the weakest moment of her body.

Author's Note:

As everyone knows, wood doesn't suddenly open up; it only splits uncontrollably at a critical point.

Thank you all for your reminders. I fixed a small bug in the previous chapter. Muah! OvO