Chapter 44: A Secret Revealed

Outside the door, a faint blush colored Duan Yan’s cheeks, like the gentle afterglow of a sunset spilling onto flawless snow, revealing a hint of shy charm.

Her heart still seemed to be pounding from the intimate contact just moments before. That tender sweetness stirred ripples in the lake of her heart, which refused to calm for a long time.

Subconsciously, she used her fingertips to lightly touch her own burning lips. The soft sensation made her involuntarily savor the fervent and delicate… moments in the room.

“Sister Yan, should we leave now?”

It was Xu Qin’s voice.

“Mm.”

Duan Yan responded, her thoughts slowly returning.

Seeing Xu Qin’s calm demeanor as she carried the luggage, Duan Yan felt it was necessary to tell her about her relationship with Song Jin.

After considering her words for a moment, Duan Yan spoke to Xu Qin.

“Xiaojin… she’s my girlfriend now.”

Unexpectedly, Xu Qin just nodded calmly, without a trace of surprise, and even said with a relaxed tone, “Mm, I know.”

“? You know?”

Duan Yan frowned slightly, her heart filled with confusion. ‘Could it be that Xu Qin could tell she liked Song Jin?’

Xu Qin explained, “Weren’t you already together? Didn’t you share a room when you went to France before? Miss Song even told me not to say anything. Didn’t Miss Song tell you?”

Duan Yan suddenly remembered this morning when Song Jin had woken up from a nightmare, saying she had something to confess when she returned.

‘Could this be what she wanted to confess?’

‘It’s not a big deal. But since Song Jin feels guilty, I should definitely tease her a little.’

Duan Yan didn’t expose Song Jin’s little lie, just nodded slightly. “I just didn’t expect Xiaojin to tell you so soon.”

She clearly remembered that Song Jin had only confessed to her on the last night of their trip. To tell someone else before her, wasn’t that a bit backwards?

After a long and tiring flight, they finally arrived in Country F.

As the two of them walked out of the airport, there was a flower girl selling flowers.

“Miss, would you like to buy a tulip?”

Duan Yan saw the pink tulips at a glance, and it immediately made her think of the tulips Song Jin had given her. She hadn’t intended to buy flowers, but in the end, she bought a few stems.

Just as she was about to leave, Duan Yan heard a familiar sentence: “Est-ce ta petite amie?”

Duan Yan stopped in her tracks and turned to look.

She saw a pair of fashionable girls standing in front of the flower girl, looking no older than their early twenties. One of the girls answered, “oui…”, while the other looked a bit shy.

The answer was similar to Song Jin’s at the foot of the Ferris wheel. What did it mean?

Duan Yan was very curious and wanted to know the meaning of the phrase.

So, she asked Xu Qin to wait for her where she was, while she herself went up to ask.

Duan Yan asked the flower girl in English.

The flower girl gave a brilliant smile and explained in English, “That sentence means ‘Is she your girlfriend?’, and ‘oui’ means ‘yes’.”

So that’s what it was. At the time, Song Jin had even lied to her, saying the little girl was acting that way because she saw a celebrity.

Duan Yan smiled faintly at the flower girl. Her heart didn’t feel angry at Song Jin’s ‘deception’; instead, it was as if she were enveloped by a sweet, warm current, full of happiness.

She bought a few more tulips, making a total of nine.

After tidying up a bit, Duan Yan told Xu Qin to go rest.

Watching Xu Qin’s departing figure, Duan Yan sat on the bed and felt a pang of loneliness.

This was the first time she had spent a long night alone since she and Song Jin had gotten together.

For some reason, this night seemed even longer than usual, so long that she could barely endure it.

Because she had once had it, she could no longer tolerate a night without her company.

At this moment, Duan Yan especially missed Song Jin’s warmth, missed her voice…

She missed her so, so much…

Duan Yan picked up her phone and subconsciously opened Song Jin’s satellite chat window, wanting to hear her voice.

She typed a few words, then deleted them.

The last message was from Song Jin, telling her to rest early. Six hours had passed since then.

At this time, Song Jin was probably asleep.

Duan Yan bit her lip. It was better not to disturb her. She had an audition tomorrow; she couldn’t bother her.

In the end, she gave up the idea of sending a message and just opened Song Jin’s Moments.

Since confirming their relationship, Song Jin had made all her Moments visible to her.

Duan Yan scrolled through her Moments, trying to soothe her lovesickness.

Looking at the energetic Song Jin in the pictures, Duan Yan couldn’t help but save the pictures and give them a like.

On the other side, Song Jin lay quietly in bed.

She had just experienced a shy first kiss.

That light touch…

The sweetness of their first kiss surprised her, but it was followed by shame.

The moment Duan Yan pushed her away, Song Jin couldn’t help but feel a little dejected.

‘Compared to the posts I searched online, is my kiss/ing tech/nique too poor?’

It was just a little clumsy.

Once she got close to Duan Yan, she forgot everything, her mind a complete blank.

Song Jin secretly thought: ‘This is definitely not my fault. It must be a lack of experience.’

‘If I read more experience posts now and practice more with Duan Yan when she comes back, I can definitely satisfy her.’

Song Jin was full of confidence in her ability to learn.

With a heart eager to learn, Song Jin kept reading posts, studying the art of kissing.

After watching for a while, Song Jin turned over, her hand unconsciously touching the empty pillow beside her, and a strange sense of loss welled up in her heart.

‘I miss her so much.’

Song Jin couldn’t help but open her satellite messenger. To her surprise, Duan Yan had just liked her post, and it was only five minutes ago.

‘She’s not asleep either? Is she thinking of me?’

Song Jin’s heart felt as if it had been filled with honey. She eagerly opened Duan Yan’s chat window.

“Why aren’t you asleep? (Cat peeking)“

The other party seemed to be waiting for her as well and replied to her message quickly.

[Girlfriend (to be married): I know everything. (Image)]

In the photo was a bouquet of pink tulips, their petals delicate and beautiful, just like the ones she had given to Duan Yan before.

Below the flowers in the photo was a piece of paper with some words written on it.

Song Jin zoomed in on the picture. When her eyes fell on the text, they couldn’t help but widen.

‘She knows.’

It was a sentence in French: “Est-ce ta petite amie?”

Followed by “Oui.”

[Girlfriend (to be married): “You little liar. You confess without telling me, and secretly deceive others. (Cat looks fierce).”]

The corners of Song Jin’s mouth turned up slightly. She could feel that although Duan Yan was a little angry on the surface, she was actually just pretending. So, she immediately recorded a voice message, repeating the dialogue from the photo in French, and sent it over.

“Can you forgive me? (Pitiful)”

[Girlfriend (to be married): “I’ll forgive you, reluctantly.”]

Seeing Duan Yan’s message, Song Jin was delighted.

[Girlfriend (to be married): “Do you miss me?”]

Although she missed her very much, she was the one who had sent the first message. So, she deliberately pretended not to understand: “Why should I miss you? (Confused)“

[Girlfriend (to be married): Really?]

[Girlfriend (to be married): But I miss you.]

The two messages arrived almost at the same time. The longing was transmitted through the screen, and a warm current surged through Song Jin’s heart.

The corners of Song Jin’s lips gently lifted into a sweet smile. Her fingers danced lightly on the screen, almost pressing the words “I miss you too,” but she ultimately hesitated and then deleted them.

“Oh, is that so?”

“I don’t miss you at all.”

Her words carried a hint of playfulness, like a small child who, having received a piece of candy, was not satisfied with just one and wanted to ask for more and more sweetness, deliberately saying they didn’t like that one piece.

Song Jin’s gaze was fixed on the chat box, watching the “typing…” indicator flicker on and off.

She secretly gloated, thinking: “Surprised, aren’t you? Didn’t expect that I don’t miss you at all.”

However, a few minutes passed, and the other party’s message still hadn’t arrived. Even the “typing…” prompt had disappeared.

Song Jin started to get anxious. She bit her lower lip and finally couldn’t help but break the silence first.

She quietly transformed into an orange cat, curled up in the quilt that was saturated with Duan Yan’s scent.

Song Jin used her cat paw to press the record video button and sent a video to Duan Yan.

“But, I asked her for you. She said she misses you very much.”

“Not just in her heart, but her ears and tail also want to be petted.”

Duan Yan knew in her heart that Song Jin was deliberately giving her the silent treatment. She tried to suppress the impulse to contact her first, waiting for Song Jin to speak.

‘How could Song Jin not miss her?’

‘That’s absolutely impossible.’

Sure enough, after just a few minutes of her resolute silence, Song Jin couldn’t hold back and sent a video.

In the video, a cute orange cat was curled up in the middle of the quilt, its soft fur shimmering with a delicate luster under the dim yellow night light.

Those clear eyes stared straight at the screen, as if they could see through the screen to the distance. Its slightly drooping whiskers revealed the grievance it felt from the lack of its close companion’s company. That appearance was both endearing and made one want to reach out and pet it.

Seeing the pitiful state of this little orange cat, although Duan Yan knew it was a trick of Song Jin’s, she still couldn’t help but send a voice message.

“So cute. I really want to pet it.”

“It’s getting late. You have an audition tomorrow. Rest early, goodnight.”

Receiving Duan Yan’s two voice messages, Song Jin was secretly pleased, her tail almost 翹上天去 (cocked up to the sky/sticking up in pride).

‘Hmph, as if I can’t handle Duan Yan. Didn’t she just obediently send me a message?’

With Duan Yan’s voice echoing in her ears, Song Jin felt as if she were right beside her. She listened to it with satisfaction several times before replying with a “goodnight.”

However, Duan Yan did not reply again. She must have fallen asleep.

After a good night’s sleep, Song Jin said goodbye to Auntie Lian, telling her that she would be going home for a few days and would be back in a few days.

After the audition in the morning, Song Jin rushed home.

As soon as she stepped into the house, she saw Song Yuan hovering around a woman who felt both strange and familiar.

“Mom, this is…”

Grandma Song Ning appeared out of nowhere and lightly tapped Song Jin on the forehead with a smile.

“Why aren’t you greeting her?”

“Why are you here?”

Song Jin hadn’t seen Song Ning in a long time. She smiled and threw herself into Song Ning’s arms.

Song Ning caught Song Jin, stroked her head, and smiled at the other woman.

“Mom, Xiaojin hasn’t seen you in so long, after all. It’s normal that she doesn’t recognize you right away.”

‘Grandma is calling her Mom, so she is?’

Song Jin looked at the woman opposite her suspiciously. She did indeed look very much like the great-grandmother she had seen in photos, but she looked a bit young, like her own mother. So, Song Jin’s tongue got tied, and her voice was slightly hesitant.

“Great-grandmother?”

The lady gave her a gentle smile and nodded. “You finally recognize me. I used to lick your fur for you when you were little. Have you forgotten so quickly?”

‘Lick my fur?’