Chapter 54
In the front hall, the guesthouse owner was incredulous when she heard that Qi Baizi wanted to buy the camera. At the same time, she was a bit hesitant. “Actually, this camera doesn’t belong to our guesthouse. It was left by the previous owner.”
“Then does she still want it?”
“She said she did before, that she’d come pick it up when she had time, so we kept it for her. But later when we asked her a few times, she stopped responding…” The guesthouse owner hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a kraft paper-colored box from under the shelf. “But her daughter did contact us once, saying they didn’t want any of it anymore and that we could dispose of it as we saw fit.”
“You see, besides that camera, they’re all artistic decorations. We don’t have space to display them, so we packed them away.”
“So you see… if you’re buying, could you take it all?”
“If she ever comes back looking for it, I can give her your contact information. That way, I’ll have an explanation.”
Qi Baizi hesitated for a moment, then called Gu Yuetong, who was still in the hot spring bathhouse, and briefly explained the situation.
Gu Yuetong’s voice showed no fluctuation as she agreed.
Qi Baizi was even more puzzled, but she didn’t show it, just relaying the message naturally.
The guesthouse owner immediately hand-wrote a transfer agreement for Qi Baizi to sign and collected a deposit. She also offered to refund the deposit after a year, regardless of whether the previous owner came back or not, only hoping that they would keep the items safe for the time being.
When Qi Baizi returned to the small courtyard with the box and the agreement, she found that Gu Yuetong was already back.
“You’re not soaking anymore?” Placing the box on the ground, Qi Baizi glanced at the camera on the table and asked, “Where are Li Yi and the others?”
“They went back.” Gu Yuetong’s gaze lingered on the box for a few seconds before she turned to look at Qi Baizi. “How much?”
“She didn’t charge us.” Qi Baizi replied, “But I paid a five-hundred-yuan deposit. Is President Gu going to reimburse me?”
As she spoke, a faint smile played on her lips, and her tone was light. It was clear that even though she had questions, she was trying hard to suppress them so as not to ruin the atmosphere.
Gu Yuetong didn’t say anything, just took out her phone and transferred the money to her.
After receiving the transfer, Qi Baizi feigned a satisfied smile, then casually handed the agreement to Gu Yuetong and sat down on the edge of the bed to talk to her. “How come you all came back so quickly? Didn’t Li Yi want me to take more pictures for her?”
As she spoke, she reached for the camera on the table, wanting to investigate the matter.
But Gu Yuetong suddenly grabbed her hand, interrupting her action.
The air seemed to freeze. Qi Baizi saw a faint loss of composure on Gu Yuetong’s face.
She pulled her hand back and subtly changed the subject. “Why don’t I see the cat?”
Gu Yuetong was at a loss for words for a moment, turning her head to search the floor. “It was just here.”
Qi Baizi got up and went to the inner room to look around, but didn’t see it. She came out to search again, and her peripheral vision caught that the camera originally on the table had disappeared. She narrowed her eyes, pretended not to notice, and continued looking for the cat.
She finally found the cat under the bed. The little thing was curled up in a corner, its big eyes wide and round, looking wary. Qi Baizi had to coax it with cat food for a long time before it crawled out.
“Good thing the beds at home are solid, so she can’t hide under them,” Gu Yuetong joked weakly, getting off the bed to help boil a pot of hot water for the goat milk powder.
After settling the kitten, Qi Baizi went to take a shower.
Gu Yuetong had already showered after coming back from the hot spring. Her long, waterfall-like hair was still dripping a little. While Qi Baizi showered in the bathroom, Gu Yuetong stood at the adjacent sink, blow-drying her hair.
The person in the mirror had skin as white as snow and defined features. Gu Yuetong had been looking at this face in the mirror for twenty-seven years, but now, under the noise of the hairdryer, she felt a little dazed.
Why did it feel so unfamiliar? The features were still hers, but her expression seemed less and less like her own, revealing a strange sense of detachment.
What was she like before?
Gu Yuetong thought of the photos she had seen in the camera earlier. Although that set of photos was for a classmate’s art photography assignment taken just before graduation, and the emotional expression and poses were exaggerated, the look in her eyes was still as she remembered it. That included Wang Lin standing beside her. Back then, Wang Lin was full of spirit, like a proud phoenix. But when they met not long ago, Wang Lin seemed like a completely different person, humbling herself and using both threats and inducements for money, as if she would say anything.
Gu Yuetong was lost in her memories. When Qi Baizi came out, she was leaning on the counter with both hands, staring blankly at the mirror.
Qi Baizi didn’t wake her. She dried her hair with a disposable bath towel and walked to the bedside, cleaning up the goat milk the cat had knocked over.
The little one seemed to know it had done something wrong. As Qi Baizi wiped the floor, it kept rubbing against her feet, accompanied by a friendly “purr.”
Perhaps it’s playing with me, Qi Baizi thought.
She picked it up by the base of its two front legs and smiled at it.
The little one suddenly started kneading the air.
So it was missing its mother.
Qi Baizi picked her up, placed her on her lap, and nuzzled the cat’s forehead with her chin, mimicking a mother cat licking her kitten’s fur. Stroke by stroke, the kitten’s purring gradually softened, and finally, its body went limp, and it lay completely still on Qi Baizi’s lap.
“Asleep?” Gu Yuetong’s voice came from behind.
Qi Baizi hummed a soft “mm-hmm” and gently placed the little one in the temporary nest Gu Yuetong had made with her clothes.
“Should we sleep too?” she asked Gu Yuetong.
Gu Yuetong pointed towards the hairdryer. “Do you want to blow-dry your hair?”
“No need,” Qi Baizi said. “Let’s rest.”
The two lay under the same blanket, their eyes closed, their arms touching. The much-anticipated moment of sharing a bed had arrived, yet Qi Baizi didn’t feel particularly excited.
Gu Yuetong was hiding something from her. There was a secret in that camera.
And that box of things. Although Gu Yuetong didn’t show it, her cool indifference was even more telling.
Qi Baizi’s hair was a bit damp. When she turned over, she tried to move as little as possible, afraid of flicking her hair onto Gu Yuetong’s face. But upon observation, she realized it was Gu Yuetong who was leaning towards her.
If she turned back from her current position, their shoulders would overlap.
But Gu Yuetong said nothing, simply and tacitly shifting aside.
Qi Baizi didn’t want to let herself get caught in an emotional vortex again. She was very satisfied with Gu Yuetong, with everything about her. She wasn’t afraid of Gu Yuetong having secrets.
She just hoped Gu Yuetong wouldn’t have it so hard.
“That camera, was it yours before?”
Gu Yuetong seemed to have guessed she would ask. After a moment’s hesitation, she hummed in affirmation.
“Are there old photos inside?”
“Yes.”
Qi Baizi turned to face Gu Yuetong. “I can’t see them, right?”
In the darkness, Gu Yuetong’s eyes brightened and then dimmed. “…I think so.”
“Okay.” Qi Baizi smiled. “I won’t look.”
Gu Yuetong could clearly hear a hint of disappointment in her tone. She wanted to explain, but Qi Baizi suddenly propped herself up and kissed her.
It was a long, delicate, passionate kiss, accompanied by fingertips sliding down to her chest, gently teasing.
Gu Yuetong held back the gasp that was about to escape her lips and used the same method to touch her back, but Qi Baizi grabbed her wrist, gaining the upper hand.
In the night of the Jingzhou suburbs, two figures intertwined.
The next morning, Qi Baizi was applying makeup in front of the mirror. Gu Yuetong rummaged through her bag and pulled out another bottle of flesh-toned primer, placing it on the sink. “Can this cover it?”
Qi Baizi sighed and shook her head.
Gu Yuetong regretted being so impulsive last night. Perhaps it was the release after long suppression, like rain after a long drought, that was too irresistible. She had left a series of dense bite marks on Qi Baizi’s neck.
And they hadn’t faded by this morning.
Gu Yuetong’s skin was nearly flawless, and the few makeup products she had brought could only neutralize the discoloration slightly; complete concealment was impossible.
“Forget it, I’ll just wear my jacket hood.” After fussing for over ten minutes, Qi Baizi gave up. “Worst case, I’ll just have to come clean with Li Yi.”
Her tone was one of giving up, with a hint of petulance.
She had expected Gu Yuetong to be shy and annoyed, but she just responded with a faint, “Okay.”
Qi Baizi couldn’t process it and asked in a daze, “Okay what?”
“Coming clean.”
“…Huh?”
Gu Yuetong said no more, just gave a serene smile and started packing her luggage.
Qi Baizi packed the kitten’s things, while Gu Yuetong stuffed both their luggage together.
A few minutes later, Li Yi came knocking on the courtyard gate.
Qi Baizi was folding a pee pad, so Gu Yuetong went to open the door and let Li Yi in.
Li Yi said, “I’ve ordered breakfast. Let’s eat something before we leave.”
“Okay.” Gu Yuetong turned and called to Qi Baizi, “Come out and eat.”
Qi Baizi paused, then quickly zipped up her jacket to the top, put on her hood, and walked out.
Li Yi glanced at the glaring sun, a little hesitant. “Are you sick?”
“…Yeah.”
Considering everything that happened last night, Li Yi’s mind started to wander with impure thoughts, her eyes darting between the two of them.
“Let’s go?” Qi Baizi urged. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” Li Yi helped lock the courtyard gate, and the three of them met Auntie Qin at the breakfast table.
Seeing Qi Baizi so bundled up, Auntie Qin couldn’t help but frown.
“I didn’t dry my hair last night… I caught a bit of a chill,” Qi Baizi explained, feeling Auntie Qin’s questioning gaze.
After she said this, the atmosphere became even stranger. Both Li Yi and Auntie Qin showed expressions of doubt.
Gu Yuetong looked at them helplessly and yanked off Qi Baizi’s hood.
Qi Baizi was startled and quickly tried to cover the marks Gu Yuetong had made, but Gu Yuetong admitted it openly. “We’re in a relationship, please understand.”
“…”
The three at the table were speechless. Gu Yuetong glanced around at them, then lowered her head to drink her tea.
“Ah… I understand,” Auntie Qin said, coming back to her senses and nudging Li Yi beside her with her leg.
Li Yi was still staring blankly at Qi Baizi’s hand. After getting the signal, she quickly chimed in.
“Understood, understood. My lips are sealed.”
Only Qi Baizi was left, not knowing whether to stay silent or speak, awkwardly drinking her porridge. She hadn’t expected that after going public with their relationship in front of Li Yi, she would be more embarrassed than Gu Yuetong.
After returning to the Old Fortress, it was already noon. Auntie Qin had specially ordered food from Jinghua Tower to mark the end of the “team building.” After the meal, Auntie Qin and Gu Yuetong went upstairs to pack their luggage, while Li Yi and Qi Baizi awkwardly drank tea downstairs.
The two hadn’t said a word since they got back. Li Yi wanted to ask something several times, but seeing the marks on Qi Baizi’s neck, she couldn’t bring herself to.
In the end, it was Qi Baizi who broke the silence. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hide it from you. Actually, I wanted to go public more than anyone.”
Li Yi looked at her. “Hmm?”
“…But President Gu’s status is special, so we agreed to keep it a secret for now,” Qi Baizi said, getting a little embarrassed. “Including from you.”
“It’s nothing,” Li Yi said magnanimously. “It’s not like I’m unhappy because you hid it from me.”
“Then why haven’t you spoken to me all morning?”
“…I just feel a bit stupid.” Li Yi recalled how she had jumped in to meddle when the two were fighting a couple of days ago, thinking she had saved their relationship. Her face instantly flushed red.
“I feel like I was a bit of a third wheel.”