BSS - Chapter 136

Chapter 136

On a cool summer day, Xu Wei wore a deep black silk slip dress. It was very short, the silky black fabric barely wrapping around half her body, making the skin of her chest and shoulders look even more like porcelain.

Xu Wei was still damp from her shower, even her eyelashes were wet. A droplet of water rolled down her collarbone, deepening the color of the black slip. Their eyes met, as if flipping a switch. Deng Chuan watched her with single-minded focus, watched her gently close the door, her slender white legs moving through the air as she walked over, leaned down, and cupped Deng Chuan's face. She postured as if to kiss her, then paused with a smile that was both teasing and playful, as if waiting to see Deng Chuan's next reaction to decide whether she should follow through.

Lustrous red lips hovered before her eyes, the face before her so vibrant and lovely. Xu Wei's breath brushed against her face, and her unique scent washed over her. Deng Chuan couldn't resist leaning forward, raising a hand to wrap around her waist. The fabric of the slip was cool to the touch.

Just as her mind began to race, Deng Chuan felt Xu Wei's fingertips, resting on her face, move slightly, caressing her cheek with a tiny motion.

It was a touch devoid of desire; Xu Wei's beauty in that moment became as soft and clear as water. It was a quiet, quiet moment in the dead of night after a year apart. Deng Chuan felt instinctively that she should say something, perhaps smile; she knew Xu Wei liked the way she smiled. But despite all the pleasantries for breaking the ice and the charming mannerisms she had picked up in a foreign country over the past year, she couldn't bring herself to display any of them now.

Deng Chuan could only press her lips together and raise her other hand to once again wrap around Xu Wei's waist.

The way the kid was trying to look calm with her eyes wide open was a little silly. Xu Wei couldn't help but want to smile, but just as the smile reached her lips, just as she lay down, following the pressure of the hands on her waist, just as she was about to kiss her, she noticed that the fascination and awe in Deng Chuan's eyes had been skillfully concealed. In their place was a quality that felt a little unfamiliar to Xu Wei.

Her usual confidence had transformed into a pure focus, tinged with a strong assertiveness that made the way Deng Chuan lowered her head especially potent. Those beautiful, always composed eyes that Xu Wei knew so well were now burning with a wildfire.

The flames blazed, burning in Deng Chuan's eyes, yet the heat was filtered by the inherent calm within them, becoming cool and clear. As if enveloped by these silent, cold fireworks, Xu Wei fell into that gaze, her heart completely captured. She finally realized that her little friend hadn't wasted the past year; she seemed to have truly grown up a little. The rare composure Deng Chuan had possessed in her youth, the composure that had always flustered her, was gradually transforming into an even more captivating presence.

This version of Deng Chuan felt a little unfamiliar to Xu Wei, yet also a little gratifying. Her heart softened, and she couldn't resist raising the hand on Deng Chuan's face to stroke her head.

Following the gentle pressure, Deng Chuan narrowed her eyes and obediently lowered her head. The bright light in the room left the relaxed expression on her face completely visible.

Xu Wei savored her relaxation, her hand sliding down from Deng Chuan's head to pinch her earlobe. "What were you doing just now?" When she had entered, she'd noticed Deng Chuan staring blankly at a gift box. She straightened up, picked up the gift box from beside the pillow, and lay down in the embrace Deng Chuan opened for her, gesturing for her to open it without hesitation.

Deng Chuan held her with one arm and the gift box with the other, looking somewhat reluctant. "It's my gift. I'll look at it myself in secret."

"Haven't you already seen it?" Xu Wei said.

About this birthday gift. Deng Chuan remembered now. She actually remembered it very clearly. She knew it contained the telephoto lens she had wanted for a long time, and she also knew there was a card densely filled with Xu Wei's writing.

So she held the box preciously and said, "No way- there's still stuff I haven't seen. It's a gift from you. You already know what's inside, so let me look at it myself."

Seeing the happy stubbornness on her face, Xu Wei finally remembered what was inside. Thinking of the contents of the card, she felt a little embarrassed, yet also expectant. She turned her head away and agreed, "Alright, then you can find a time when I'm not around to look at it in secret."

Deng Chuan agreed with a "sounds good," reached out to place the box on the floor, then turned back and properly hugged Xu Wei. "What time is it?"

Xu Wei glanced toward the window, then turned back, resting her head on Deng Chuan's shoulder. "I don't know." She recalled the time she saw in the living room before her shower. "It should be six o'clock."

"The sky is about to get light," Deng Chuan murmured in satisfaction, closing her eyes as Xu Wei reached up to turn off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

"Mmm." Xu Wei stroked her neck, letting her hand rest there. "Go to sleep."

The soft blanket covered them, and warmth and softness surrounded them from all sides. Xu Wei snuggled against her, their hair spilling softly within their embrace.

With her eyes closed, Deng Chuan heard Xu Wei ask, "Tomorrow… what will you say when you go home?"

Perhaps she shouldn't have said tomorrow, but rather in a few hours today. Deng Chuan's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. In her gradually blurring consciousness, she heard herself answer Xu Wei, "I'll just ignore them…"

Whether she couldn't be bothered to think about it or truly didn't want to deal with the problem, Deng Chuan did indeed sleep at Xu Wei's place until the sun was high in the sky.

The strong midday sun shone through the curtains into the room. Outside the window, the cicadas chirped noisily, their calls rising and falling in waves. Deng Chuan frowned, raised a hand to shield her face, and opened her eyes.

The bed was empty, leaving her all alone. Deng Chuan rubbed her eyes and quickly remembered where she was. She propped herself up and looked around. The room was quiet; even Juzi and Zhou Liu were nowhere to be seen.

Deng Chuan felt for the phone on the nightstand. The screen showed it was already past one in the afternoon. There were many unread messages on WeChat and several missed calls, all from Lao Deng, asking where she was. It gave Deng Chuan a bit of a headache. Remembering her answer to Xu Wei's question last night made her even more unsure of how to reply.

She decided not to reply for now and got out of bed to wash up.

As soon as she got out of bed, she kicked the gift box she had placed on the floor last night. The box containing the telephoto lens was quite heavy, and it made a dull thud. Deng Chuan hissed in pain.

The pain in her foot finally made Deng Chuan properly acknowledge the gift box on the floor. She squatted down, held it in her arms, and hesitated over where to put it. As she hesitated, her curiosity to open it and see what was inside gradually got the upper hand.

She had nothing to do right now anyway, and she had already agreed with Xu Wei that she would look at it herself, so opening it now should be perfectly reasonable, right?

As she thought this, Deng Chuan began to untie the knot on the gift box. Her well-defined fingers carefully undid the ribbon, her expression growing unconsciously more and more serious.

Finally, the ribbon fell away. Deng Chuan leaned against the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor. She lifted the lid of the gift box and peered inside at the gifts.

Everything went smoothly. Deng Chuan took out the telephoto lens she had wanted for a long time. Although it wasn't the main point, it was still something she had wanted for ages. She couldn't resist opening it and fiddling with it for a moment, satisfying her initial excitement. Only then did she reach for the card inside.

The card was closed. Its blank, gold-stamped cover was embossed with clusters of sprawling, drooping flowers. Below the branches was Xu Wei's elegant yet forceful handwriting: To Deng Chuan.

Just those three words, and Deng Chuan's heart began to pound wildly.

The curtains partially blocked the sunlight, softening its scorching heat. The chirping of the cicadas gradually faded. Deng Chuan leaned against the foot of the bed, propped up one knee, and rested her chin on it as if for support. She blinked, then steadied herself with great effort before she dared to open the folded card.

Opening a card didn't require much strength, yet Deng Chuan suddenly felt that she was only now truly unwrapping her gift.

Her twentieth birthday gift.

Deng Chuan composed herself and looked down.

The card began with: Dearest Deng Chuan…

Seeing those words, just like when she had seen Xu Wei's possessive social media post, Deng Chuan unconsciously bit her lower lip again.

Biting her lip, she read on.

"Dearest Deng Chuan:

To be honest, the feeling of writing your name is strange. I call you by your name often, but I rarely write it. Calling your name often gets an immediate response, but writing it means I have to wait for a reply, just like with this letter now. Thinking of it that way seems a little regrettable. But then I think, if this wait is the same kind you once endured, then I can already feel happy.

It's five in the morning now. The sky outside isn't light yet, and the room is quiet. I can't sleep, so the light is on. Zhou Liu and Juzi are sleeping at the foot of the bed. You're not here, so they've left your spot empty.

In another nineteen hours, it will be your twentieth birthday. Twenty. I've often been in a daze over this number recently. Numbers are supposed to be extremely precise concepts, but when applied to you, they seem so vague. When I think back on the stages of my own life, they're also tied to numbers, but I can quickly see the logic within them, segment by segment of years, clearly laying out my short life of twenty-some years.

But you're different. I understood from a long time ago that you are different.

Is stressing this fact too cheesy? Does this count as a love letter? I don't know.

Deng Chuan. Just like now, when I'm with you, I always become unlike myself. I start to care about many trivial things. I always want to know what you're doing, if you've eaten today, what the weather is like in Beijing or the UK, what you've encountered. But most of the time, I can't bring myself to ask. I'm always waiting for you to bring it up yourself. Placing this awkward expectation on you might not be fair. But I'm also very happy, because you have never let me down.

Sometimes I dream, and when I wake up, the space beside my pillow is quiet. My message notifications are piled with the trivial details of your life you sent me over seven hours. I wonder if you can feel my desire to kiss you in that moment, all the way in the UK. Of course, you are my clever child. Whether you understand or not, you deserve my forgiveness. In this life that you reveal to me so unreservedly, I often feel your softness and beauty. Sometimes, I have my own troubles and low moments, when work is chaotic and I feel stuck in a rut, or when I occasionally hear bad news about a classmate or an old friend. They are all unpleasant stories. Life is unpredictable. When people grow up, they often live for more than just themselves, which makes everything seem cruel. But strangely, I rarely think of you when I'm feeling down. You are always beautiful and soft. I exclude you from these unpredictable, cruel realities, and your existence also allows me to wander through my low moments more calmly. Don't worry, my low moods don't last long. After all these years, I certainly have the ability to regulate my emotions. But even adults need to be willful sometimes, don't they?

It's possible I need you more than you need me. As I said before, I rely on thinking of you to lift my spirits when I'm down, because your existence has already brought me enough happiness and joy to offset the bad. When we first got together, I always tried not to expose my vulnerabilities, but the longer we're together, the more I find that, without realizing it, you have already become my small pillar of support.

I often fall asleep thinking about these things, and then I can see you in my dreams.

It's nearly dawn where you are now. You're staying up late to study again and haven't said goodnight to me yet. I know that when you're young, the hours of the night always seem so long, long enough to contain all your ambitions. But thankfully, whether you were seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, or now, your approaching twentieth year, time has not failed your efforts, and it has been kind to your softness and beauty.

Many people have told me that in the end, all that's left of a relationship is habit. Although we've only just begun and haven't reached the years where we would be reduced to 'habit,' I hope you never think that way, and I won't either. It's true that I witnessed your most brilliant youth, saw you through those days when you were a little clumsy and very smart, and of course, those days are gone forever. I also haven't had the chance to imagine what you'll look like when you return to me in half a year. But whether you are inexperienced or mature, I won't be satisfied with having had you at your best; I want to have you as you are always becoming better.

Deng Chuan. I'm sorry, forgive my inability to express myself. I had thought of so many things to say to you in my heart, but now that my pen is on the paper, I can only write your name again.

This card isn't very big. I'm not good at writing. I've rambled on about so many things without realizing it; it seems too verbose.

Or perhaps, what I really just want to say is.

Dearest Deng Chuan:

Happy Birthday.

I miss you very much.

I love you.

I hope you have a good dream tonight, I hope I'm in your dream, and I hope tomorrow you are a brand new twenty-year-old.

The sky is already getting light. You were very good and said goodnight to me on time. I thought about it and decided I had to add this sentence.

Dearest Deng Chuan, I don't know what you will encounter in the future, what we will encounter, but I permit you to always be my dear child, yet I also understand you won't stop there.

So, grow up slowly, don't be anxious."

The signature was Xu Wei's elegant and forceful script.

Xu Wei.

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