Chapter 25 : 9 minutes and 58 seconds

Across the street, in that restaurant.

As Chi Yuqin walked in, she was fiddling with her phone, a lazy look on her face.

Her fingertip swiped and she dialed Si Xiaolin’s number—

“Are you off work?”

“I am.”

“Any plans?”

“No, why?”

“Nothing, just treating you to dinner.”

With that, Chi Yuqin hung up and then sent her location.

Si Xiaolin on the other end was completely bewildered, looking at the location sent to her phone.

By the time she arrived, Chi Yuqin was already sitting in the restaurant, at a table by the window. There were two pots of green plants on the windowsill, and a small red fruit hung from the leaves. The color was red and moist.

Chi Yuqin’s two arms were propped up on the table. The light above her was yellowish, casting a glow on her. Her brows were faint, her lips straight, her eyes listless. She looked as bland as she could be.

Her fingers would occasionally swipe on her phone screen. She rarely watched short videos, but today she was in a particularly leisurely mood. The light and cheerful music was not too loud, coming from her phone.

Seeing Si Xiaolin arrive, Chi Yuqin casually pushed the menu over.

“Why the sudden urge to treat me to dinner?” Si Xiaolin said as she pulled a chair and sat down, flipping through the menu.

Chi Yuqin, who had been looking down, suddenly looked up. Her previously straight lips inexplicably twitched. Her eyes, which had been bland just now, suddenly flashed with a hint of cunning. She said calmly, “To ‘pick up the pieces’.”

Although Chi Yuqin had a sharp tongue and a bad temper, she was definitely not the type to make such dirty jokes. They had grown up together, and Si Xiaolin could vouch for that.

“Go pick one up for me to see. You’re crazy.”

Usually, when the two of them ate, it was a quick affair. But today was strange. Si Xiaolin had already finished eating, but when she looked up, Chi Yuqin was still holding her chopsticks, eating vegetables one bite at a time, slowly… not like her.

And not only that, but her expression also made Si Xiaolin a little confused—Chi Yuqin would take two bites of vegetables, then glance at the pot of green plants on the windowsill. Not only did she glance, but she would also use her fingertip to hook the small red fruit, rubbing her fingers, and when she looked away, she would smile.

Si Xiaolin had never seen this side of Chi Yuqin. It was as if she had changed into a different person.

“Did you get promoted to director?”

Normally, Chi Yuqin would have rebutted her, but today she was in a really good mood. She held the straw, took a sip of lemonade, and the sour but not bland taste swirled in her mouth—

“If I really become the director, what will you give me?”

“I’ll buy firecrackers and set them off at your door, and then hang a banner at the entrance of your residential complex, get a guard of honor, with gongs and drums and firecrackers. How’s that? Loud enough?”

After she finished, she saw Chi Yuqin smile again, and her scalp immediately went numb—

“Can you please not smile?”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s creepy.”

When Chi Yuqin was expressionless, there was nothing wrong. But whenever she had an expression, it was a sure sign that she was up to no good.

Si Xiaolin had suffered a lot in this regard.

At this moment, Chi Yuqin’s smile faded, and she turned to look out the window again.

Si Xiaolin couldn’t hold back anymore and followed her gaze out the window.

“What are you looking at?” Chi Yuqin asked.

“I’m looking at what you’re looking at.”

Chi Yuqin didn’t answer until a group of people came out of the restaurant across the street.

She threw down the straw and pushed the cup away from her—

“Are you done eating?”

“Long ago~”

“Then let’s go.”

The neon signs lit up the entire street. Two girls, flushed from drinking, were walking at the very end of the group.

Tang Zhen pulled Liu Sisi. “Are you okay?”

“This is nothing. Back in the day, I used to drink by the round. What about you… your face is so red, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

As soon as she finished, the senior who had insisted on punishing them with wine ran over again… saying he wanted to take them home—

‘It’s so late, and you’re girls. It’s not safe.’

‘I brought you out for dinner, so I can’t just not take you home, right?’

The nice words were all very pleasant, but they just didn’t sound sincere.

As if he wasn’t the one who had been encouraging them to drink at the dinner table just now.

Not safe? Who was really not safe?

They were both clear-headed girls. How could they not see through this little trick?

Liu Sisi waved her hand. “No, no, we’re not drunk. We won’t trouble you.”

With that, she pulled Tang Zhen and said goodbye to the ‘kind person.’

Liu Sisi hailed a cab and left, leaving Tang Zhen alone.

The moonlight was sinking in the western sky, with a few faint stars occasionally flickering. The streetlights on the side of the road were blocked by the lush branches of the trees. The orange-yellow light passed through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the thin shoulder under the streetlight.

Tang Zhen stood there, glancing across the road. After a moment of hesitation, she took out her phone from her bag. Her brow was slightly furrowed, her eyes deep. She suddenly took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily, as if she had made some important decision.

She opened the ride-hailing app and entered her home address as the destination, but she didn’t click ‘call now.’ Her fingertip swiped and she brought up the stopwatch, pressing start.

The faint light from the phone screen shone on the girl’s face. Her eyes were fixed on the rapidly changing time on the stopwatch, and her fingers uncontrollably tapped the screen in time with the changing numbers—

One tap, another tap, click, clack…

Would she come?

I don’t know.

Like Schrödinger’s cat, both dead and alive.

The stopwatch showed 00:05:47. A car stopped half a meter in front of Tang Zhen’s feet. The car wheel suddenly entered Tang Zhen’s line of sight, and a hint of joy flashed in her eyes, but it dimmed in the next moment when she saw the color of the car.

Si Xiaolin had seen her when she was turning around. She was standing alone on the side of the road, and she didn’t know what she was doing, just staring at her phone. At this moment, she rolled down the car window and stuck her head out—

“Hey, what a coincidence.”

Tang Zhen’s heel rested on the curb. She nodded. “Ah… it’s you.”

“Of course it’s me. What are you doing out here so late at night, not going home? Drinking the wind?”

“I…”

“Going home? I’ll give you a ride.”

“No thanks, I have to go back to the hospital. I can just take the subway back later. Thanks.”

Si Xiaolin didn’t think much of it. After all, for people like them who worked at the hospital, working overtime at a moment’s notice was normal. She glanced at the time. It was not even ten yet, so it was still quite early.

She said goodbye to Tang Zhen again and then drove away.

Under the dim yellow streetlight, the large green banyan tree was like a monster. Its lush and thick branches swayed with the evening wind, and the soft moonlight fell on the girl, making her look even more frail and helpless.

The stopwatch was still running. Tang Zhen looked at the seconds on it…

Just ten minutes, just this ten minutes. When the ten minutes were up, if she still didn’t come, she would call a cab and leave.

The concrete was hot, making the soles of Tang Zhen’s feet and her calves ache and swell.

She looked down again—three and a half minutes left.

The store sign that had been lit suddenly went out. It just so happened that this store was right next to Tang Zhen. It was just one sign that had gone dark, but it seemed to have dimmed the entire area.

A sudden gust of wind blew into her collar. Perhaps because of the alcohol, the night wind felt a little chilly. Tang Zhen unconsciously pulled her collar tighter and wrapped her arms around herself, her hand holding the phone clenching even tighter.

Just then, a black SUV slowly drove up. It neither honked nor flashed its hazard lights, but drove straight up to her and stopped steadily.

Tang Zhen’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand was faster than her brain, and she instantly stopped the stopwatch—

9 minutes and 58 seconds.

Meanwhile, Si Xiaolin was still waiting at a red light. She picked up the water from the storage compartment out of boredom. She hadn’t even taken a sip when she glanced at the rearview mirror and immediately sat up straight, her face full of shock—

“Holy shit… what’s going on?”

“So it was to ‘pick her up’?!”

The black car was steaming, the engine humming. The car window was rolled down by the person inside.

Joy flashed in Tang Zhen’s eyes. Her gaze moved up with the descending car window. The faint light in the driver’s seat lit up her eyes.

Chi Yuqin was sitting upright, her left elbow bent and resting on the car window, her knuckles slightly… hanging down.

Tang Zhen saw Chi Yuqin’s jaw move, and two very light words floated into her ears—

“Get in.”

The voice seemed to be knocking on her heart, wrapped in a water-soaked sponge… the night cleverly concealed some ambiguous feelings, but it couldn’t hide the young girl’s aroused gaze.

Tang Zhen didn’t hesitate and pulled open the passenger door and got in.

She obediently buckled her seatbelt, obediently blinked, and then obediently curled up, leaning back… against the soft and comfortable leather seat back.

Tang Zhen seemed to be sinking into it, a small figure, her cheeks flushed red. Her head was tilted toward Chi Yuqin, her head hanging… her eyes were open, but she didn’t speak. Her lowered eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly, she only stared at this person’s suit pants.

She saw that the last two buttons of Chi Yuqin’s shirt were undone, the left hem loosely tucked into her waistband, the right hem just hanging by her side.

She kept staring, until her eyes were sore, her vision blurry, and the vertical stripes on the shirt had a double image.

Tang Zhen rubbed her fingertips, an itch like an ant bite. A strange tingling sensation rushed from her fingertips to her heart, and then spread from her heart to her limbs. Her actions and thoughts were not quite under her control. She couldn’t help but want to touch the corner of this person’s shirt hanging by her side.

Emboldened by the alcohol, she did as she thought. Her fingertips were cautious and tentative, slowly reaching out. Just as Tang Zhen thought she was about to succeed, only a centimeter away, she was suddenly stopped.

“Sit properly.” Chi Yuqin’s voice was as cold as ice, without a trace of warmth.

Tang Zhen touched the air, but it was like hitting lava. She quickly pulled back her hand.

When she looked up again, she was instantly thrown into an ice cellar, exiled to the North Pole.

She saw—Chi Yuqin was frowning.

Tang Zhen was abruptly woken from her bewitched state. Her head, which had been tilted toward Chi Yuqin… quickly turned to the other side.

She was still curled up, her breathing still rapid, but compared to the rapid breathing from just now, it was completely different.

Tang Zhen closed her eyes, then opened them again after two or three seconds.

She was hurt, but she couldn’t understand. Hadn’t Chi Yuqin come to pick her up? If not, why was it such a coincidence? If so… then why was she so cold now?

When Liu Sisi was in trouble, she could ask if she needed a ride. Why couldn’t it be the same for her?

The joy that had been shining in her eyes returned to calm. After the calm, disappointment gathered.

In the end, she was still unwilling.

Tang Zhen brought up the stopwatch on her phone again, watched it start… and then pressed it again.

Ten minutes represented an opportunity. She told herself that as long as Chi Yuqin looked at her, even if it was with the same frowning expression as just now, Schrödinger’s cat could live.

But until four ten-minute intervals had passed, start, stop, reset, Tang Zhen had pressed it four times in a row, and Chi Yuqin hadn’t said a single word.

The car stopped at that dark alley entrance.

Tang Zhen said thank you and then got out of the car. Her fingers twisted the strap of her backpack, her fingertips turning red. She strode forward as if escaping.

She wanted to laugh, to laugh at herself for losing her mind today.

But she didn’t blame Chi Yuqin, after all, she hadn’t done anything—

She just didn’t want to be touched.