Chapter 26 : Some bonds are destined from the first glance.

As soon as Tang Zhen returned, Chen Min noticed that her mood was off.
Not only did she smell of alcohol, but her face was also flushed red.
She was dejected, with no spirit at all.

She poured a cup of hot tea and walked over, placing it in front of Tang Zhen and asking—

“How much did you drink?”

“A colleague gathering. I had a little.”

“A little, and your face is this red?”

Chen Min didn’t believe her.
At colleague gatherings like this, it was mostly the girls who were at a disadvantage.
Let alone a newcomer like Tang Zhen, even someone like herself who had been in the workforce for many years couldn’t avoid being forced to drink sometimes.

However, Tang Zhen was telling the truth.
She really hadn’t drunk much, less than two bottles of beer in total.
This wasn’t her first time drinking.
In fact, she had started drinking earlier than most girls, and it was her own father, Tang Mingzhong, who had taught her.

Old Tang didn’t let her smoke, but it was he who had introduced her to alcohol.
Old Tang said that it wouldn’t do for a girl to not know how to drink when she was out.
If she got drunk after just a couple of glasses, it would be easy for bad people to take advantage of her.
It was because she had been exposed to it early on, and her curiosity had been sated, that when her peers were showing off and asking for drinks, Tang Zhen had already moved on to the stage of being able to quietly eat peanuts by herself.

She couldn’t be called a heavy drinker, but she certainly wasn’t a lightweight either.
But for some reason today, her head felt particularly dizzy, her mind particularly unclear, and the alcohol seemed to be affecting her face more easily than usual.

“I’ve cooked some noodles. Want some?”

As soon as she finished speaking, a series of thuds sounded from the corridor— “Your delivery is here!”

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

Tang Zhen was the first to smile— “I’ll go get the door~”

A portion of snail rice noodles and a portion of sliced roast duck.

Tang Zhen held the two delivery bags and turned to smile at Chen Min again. “Si Xiaolin ordered it, right?”

A late-night delivery, without any prior notice.
Who else could it be but Si Xiaolin?

Chen Min remembered.
She had indeed muttered in the office during the day that she wanted to eat snail rice noodles and sliced roast duck.
But Si Xiaolin was clearly not there when she said it.
How did she know…

However, Si Xiaolin just had a knack for it, as if it was in her bones, especially when it came to Chen Min.

Tang Zhen was still smiling.
Chen Min’s face was a little hot.
At her age, she was actually feeling a little embarrassed. “What are you smiling at? Now you have to eat even if you don’t want to.”

A bowl of snail rice noodles, a portion of sliced roast duck, and a bowl of green vegetable noodles.

Unless Chen Min had several stomachs like a cow, she wouldn’t be able to finish all this food even if it killed her.

The two of them moved two small chairs and sat on either side.

Tang Zhen looked at the delicious food on the table, then at Chen Min, and suddenly said with feeling—

“Si Xiaolin is really nice.”

Chen Min had just taken a bite of a fried egg when her chopsticks immediately stopped.

Her expression changed.
She looked at Tang Zhen’s face, as if in astonishment and doubt.

“What’s wrong?”
Tang Zhen saw the strange look on her face and asked.

“Nothing.”
Chen Min shook her head.
Her throat was tight.
She tried to hold it in, but she couldn’t. “Tang Zhen, what did you just say?”

“What did I say?”

“Just that sentence… your last sentence…”

Tang Zhen blinked, immediately understood, and smiled again. “I said, Si Xiaolin is really nice. She’s so considerate, so gentle, so thoughtful.”

The words floated in Chen Min’s mind, went through her ears, and then came out with a different meaning—’Si Xiaolin is really nice, Si Xiaolin is so good to you.’

They were both adults.
Some things, even if not said explicitly, could be seen.

Chen Min didn’t think Tang Zhen was just simply praising Si Xiaolin as a good person.

Whether it was Si Xiaolin running over to find her all the time, or the meticulous care at the hospital cafeteria that day, Chen Min believed that anyone with eyes and a brain could see it.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Something invisible… was floating in the air.

But Tang Zhen’s as-always clear and kind smile also brought a hint of comfort to Chen Min in the awkwardness.
She could feel… that this girl had no ill intentions.

Since it had come to this, instead of hiding it, it was better to be open.
Chen Min wasn’t afraid of others knowing her sexual orientation.
After all, it wasn’t something to be ashamed of.

She could be honest, but it depended on the person.
After being with her for so many days, her intuition told her that Tang Zhen was someone she could confide in.

“You’ve figured it out? Me and… Si Xiaolin… we…”

Chen Min didn’t finish her sentence.
She looked away.
Even though she knew Tang Zhen had no ill intentions and that she was someone she could confide in, this feeling still made Chen Min feel at a loss.
She hadn’t told anyone about this.
Regardless of whether people could see it or not, Tang Zhen was the first person she had voluntarily opened up to.

“Do you want some water? There are drinks in the fridge. I’ll go get them—”

Tang Zhen quickly grabbed her. “Chen Min—”

Chen Min looked down at her wrist being held by Tang Zhen and felt a little foolish.
She had already said it, so why be so awkward now?

“Do you mind? If you mind, I can move—”

“I don’t mind,” Tang Zhen interrupted her.

Although the internet was full of slogans like ‘heterosexuality is for procreation, homosexuality is true love,’ in reality, you would know that it was just an empty phrase.

Tang Zhen knew how difficult it was for a person to be honest about their sexuality to someone they weren’t particularly close to.
It required immense courage and trust.

The awkward atmosphere was a little better than before, but it had only eased a little… Chen Min’s restraint was still there.

Tang Zhen’s gaze fell on that bowl of noodles.
She suddenly picked it up… and stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth.
Her cheeks were puffed out.
Her clear and bright eyes, when she smiled, seemed to have stars twinkling in them—

“You can’t talk with your mouth full. Chen Min… your cooking is really delicious.”

Before she had even swallowed the noodles, Tang Zhen nudged Chen Min’s shoulder with her arm, the force not too light and not too heavy, her voice frank and sincere. “I don’t mind at all. Don’t overthink it.”

Although Tang Zhen didn’t say a single word of comfort, as Chen Min watched her eat the bowl of noodles she had eaten from, her mouth full, her smiling eyes shining, the softest part of Chen Min’s heart felt as if it had been wrapped in a warm palm.

Actually, sometimes saying it or not is just a matter of a moment.
Now that it was out, it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her heart.

Tang Zhen swallowed the noodles in her mouth and took a large sip of soup.
Her stomach felt warm now.

She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly put down her bowl and chopsticks, turned her shoulders, her expression more serious than ever before. “I have a secret too.”

“I like girls. I like Chi Yuqin… I’ve liked her for seven years.”

Chen Min was shocked.
Her chopsticks slipped from her hand.
If it weren’t for Tang Zhen’s eyes, which could see right through to the bottom of her heart, she would have thought this person was joking with her.

Tang Zhen understood Chen Min’s surprise.
After all, she was quite surprised herself… 7 years, 2,555 days.

“Do you have a cigarette?”

“You want to smoke?”

“I do.”

Chen Min brought the cigarettes out from her bedroom for her.

Tang Zhen took one from the pack, held it between her lips, and with a click… lit it, her movements skilled.

She stood up from the small chair, kicked off her slippers, and sank into the sofa, finding a comfortable position.

Tang Zhen was sunk in the sofa, her body leaning against the back.
Her hair had already been let down, soft and smooth, draped over her shoulders.
One hand rested on her temple, the other on her thigh, graceful and elegant, slender and long.

They say beauty is in the bones, not the skin.
But at this moment, as Chen Min looked at her, she felt that this girl had both.

A girl who couldn’t be more well-behaved, a face that couldn’t be more pure.
Watching the faint smoke come out from between her beautiful lips, she couldn’t describe the feeling.
It was like… dreaming.

“Actually, I’ve met Chi Yuqin before. Seven years ago… when I was a freshman, she came to our school to give a lecture.”

At that time, Tang Zhen was completely disgusted with studying medicine.
She had originally wanted to study law, but she couldn’t go against her parents.
She had been a good and sensible child all her life.
It seemed that once she became stubborn, it was particularly hard for people to accept.
Since she couldn’t go against them, she could only be forced to accept it.

But once something went against one’s true heart, it was difficult to accept it again.

She went to class every day, with no ideals or ambitions, just to not fail her courses.
She didn’t want to study, but she forced herself to, and the more she studied, the more painful it became, and the more she hated it.

Tang Zhen had made up her mind to just lie flat.
She would attend classes on time, follow the rules, not fail her courses, and not leave early.
She would just go through the motions until she graduated, then find a relaxed hospital back home and get a job.

Just as she was caught in this vicious cycle, Chi Yuqin appeared, like a ray of sunshine, on an ordinary autumn day, unexpectedly… bursting into her life, bringing her dead-water-like life back to life.

In a place like a medical university, such lectures were common, with famous teachers and doctors.
There were many people and few tickets.
They were all snatched up on the school forum.
Tang Zhen hadn’t planned on going.
She only got a free ticket because she had helped set up the venue.
On the day of the lecture, she was still in the library, cramming.
If her senior hadn’t sent her a message, asking her why she hadn’t come yet, she would have forgotten about the free ticket she had.

She hurriedly packed her bag and rushed to the auditorium.

Tang Zhen saw her at a glance, in front of the rostrum, the girl in a white coat, squatting on the ground, performing CPR.

Her heart suddenly sped up, her breathing becoming rapid.
It was as if she had been exposed to the sun, with an inexplicable sense of dizziness.

But at that time, Tang Zhen didn’t even know who she was.

The girl’s long hair was past her shoulders, the ends slightly curled outward.
The moment she stood up, her hair brushed past her ear.
The scene of her hair falling was like a slow-motion shot in an old movie.
She was dressed in pure white, her aura like a clivia.
All the other scenes became a blurry background.
Only she was in focus.

Just that one glance, and Tang Zhen had etched her in her heart.

An eighteen-year-old girl, not only so tender that you could squeeze water from her, but her thoughts were also so pure that you could squeeze water from them.

She was called on by Chi Yuqin to be a demonstration subject.
When Chi Yuqin’s fingers touched a sensitive part of Tang Zhen’s sternum, her face suddenly turned red.

Actually, she wasn’t a person who blushed easily, but at that moment… this physiological reaction was uncontrollable.

Tang Zhen looked at Chi Yuqin’s eyes and brows, a clear and pleasant voice entering her ears— “Don’t be nervous, relax.”

The boys below the stage suddenly surged forward, some of them heckling, wanting to go on stage for a demonstration too.

Tang Zhen’s mentality at that time had not completely changed from high school.
She had only switched from student-style camisole bras to lace ones with a bit of style in college.

So, at that moment, as she looked at the boy coming on stage, she was completely flustered, her palms sweating.

It was also Chi Yuqin who pulled her behind her, saving her from the situation.
Perhaps Chi Yuqin’s actions had no special meaning, but to Tang Zhen at that time—it was her who had protected her.

The heart-fluttering came unexpectedly, and without reason.

But people are emotional animals.
Emotions are not controlled by reason.
Love naturally took root in her heart and sprouted.

From then on, Tang Zhen remembered this name, remembered this face, and never forgot.

—

Outside the window, it had started to rain at some point.
The raindrops pattered against the window glass, and a coolness drifted into the room.

Everyone has a story of secret love.
Perhaps it’s a chaotic mess that ends without a resolution, or perhaps it’s a mutual affection that comes to fruition.
But Tang Zhen’s… seemed to be neither.
After all, the few words she had spoken with Chi Yuqin didn’t even count as a greeting.

Chen Min rested her chin on her hand, her gaze a little unfocused—

“Are you sure… you like her?”

Tang Zhen took a deep breath, the ash from her cigarette falling to the floor—

“Would you go around asking about a person just to know a little bit about them?”

“…”

“I dream of her.”

Chen Min’s expression froze… she saw the blush on Tang Zhen’s face, extending all the way to the roots of her neck.

“What kind of dream?”
Was it that kind of dream?

“It’s that kind of dream…”

Tang Zhen put out her cigarette and rubbed her forehead—

“I don’t know why I would have that kind of dream, but I can’t forget her. She’s beautiful, capable, and she protected me in that situation. And I’ve never been like this with anyone else. I’ve tried to transfer my emotions, but it’s useless. The more I try to transfer them, the more clearly I remember.”

“You probably won’t believe it, but that was the first time I met her, and also the only time.”

But some bonds are destined from the first glance.