CH 56

After finishing their meal, Yu Zhou was going back and Su Chang offered to drive her home.

Initially, Yu Zhou didn’t want to trouble her, but considering the ridiculous behavior of spending over 40 yuan to come and see a cat coughing up hairballs, she felt it would be better not to increase the cost to 80 or 90 yuan or so.

Also, they had ordered dinner using Yu Zhou’s food delivery app…… which was a bit expensive.

So she followed Su Chang down to the underground parking lot, which was cleaner than those garages in the sex scandals. One glance revealed nothing but expensive-looking cars.

However, Su Chang’s car was fine. Even if she made some scratches, she could still afford to pay.

Yu Zhou teased herself once again. Why would she have the urge to scratch someone else’s car out of the blue? Was she sick or something?

Su Chang started the car as she caught sight of Yu Zhou laughing to herself in the passenger seat and she also lifted the corners of her mouth.

Settling into the car, they drove to the surface.

The city neon lights dutifully switched, which made Yu Zhou’s eyes grow blurry. She habitually wanted to move the seat back to lie down.

In the past, when she got off work late, Su Chang would come to pick her up. When she sat in the passenger seat looking at the dazzling lights of the city, she’d be sleepy in no time and put the seat back down to fall asleep.

She paused mid-action and stopped.

Su Chang tilted her head to look at her with a gentle tone, “Take a nap.”

“I’ll wake you up when we’re there.”

Yu Zhou nodded before putting the back of the chair down and crossing her hands over her belly. She leaned her head to the right and slept for a while, but her neck became sore, so she leaned to the left, just like she used to.

The red light was mercilessly counting down while reflecting half of its color on Su Chang’s face. Her hand rested on the steering wheel while her fingers silently tapped.

Yu Zhou had a dream where she was woken up by the commotion downstairs in the morning at about six or seven o’clock. She was annoyed and irritated, wanting to open the window and shouting, “Whoever’s making such a racket, what a scumbag!”

But she didn’t have the guts and could only pace back and forth in her room.

The noise continued as her frustration turned to resentment. She sat on the small couch and made a lot of noise.

The person on the bed woke up, still drowsy but very gentle, asking her, “What happened?”

Yu Zhou complained, “There’s noise downstairs, it’s so loud.”

“Do you hear it?” she asked the person who had just woken up.

“Mhm……” her voice sounded pleasant as she said, “I didn’t hear it, let me listen.”

“‘Dong- Dong-“

“You hear it?” Yu Zhou exclaimed.

The person on the bed laughed. “Yes, I hear it. Come here, no big deal.”

And then Yu Zhou went over, she was held in an embrace and fell asleep again.

As she lay in bed, she wondered why she felt so restless and bothered by that noise, yet she fell asleep peacefully after the person next to her heard it.

After dreaming about the same scene again, she realized that she had a subconscious unease and fear. She feared some noises might disturb their good sleep and only she could hear them. She feared the loneliness of being the only one aware of certain tortures. But Su Chang told her that she heard it too and gently hugged her as if there was nothing to fear.

However, she also felt guilty for waking her up and making her listen, despite the fact that the other person slept soundly and worry-free without hearing anything.

But Su Chang didn’t feel any anger when she woke up, making Yu Zhou envious of herself.

The dream was forgotten upon Yu Zhou opening her eyes in the car. The air conditioning in the car was at a comfortable temperature that was perfect for lulling her to sleep.

She blinked her eyes a few times and shed a tear, looking over at Su Chang who was right next to her.

As the car came to a stop, Su Chang’s face was in front of her. She was already unbuckled while leaning towards her with a sideways posture.

Seeing Yu Zhou open her eyes, Su Chang didn’t leave, instead, her gaze fell on her eyelashes and nose.

Yu Zhou, still groggy, asked her, “Are we there yet?”

Her voice was hoarse and she seemed a bit upset.

Su Chang’s gaze softened even more as she spoke in a soft, almost whispery voice right next to Yu Zhou’s face, “We’re here.”

Her breath brushed against Yu Zhou’s cheek as the dark light in the parking garage fell on the side of her face. All of those made one easily sense her restraint.

“What were you…?” Yu Zhou blinked a few times before becoming more alert but was still a bit confused. Without moving her head, she lazily looked at Su Chang.

“I want to get the tissues from the back seat.”

Yu Zhou leaned up and looked back, but couldn’t see anything. She wondered if Su Chang could really reach it in her current position.

“So…did you get them?” She wanted to move back a bit, but she was still soft and weak from just waking up.

“No, I can’t reach them.”

“Oh.” Yu Zhou’s heart fluttered and she felt as if she could feel Su Chang’s breath.

The atmosphere was too good and she just had a good dream. Even though she couldn’t remember the details, she remembered feeling at ease.

So she had a bit of an illusion, feeling as if her heart could skip a beat in such a condition and it didn’t matter.

Su Chang looked at Yu Zhou, who was curled up in her seat with a sleepy look. In the past, when they arrived at their destination, Su Chang would wake her up instead of waiting for her. At times like this, Yu Zhou wouldn’t have a waking temperament and would usually just yawn, blink, open the car door, give her hand to Su Chang and be led to the elevator.

Because of sleep, Yu Zhou was always well-behaved when she was sleepy.

Yu Zhou’s arm moved as if she was going to turn around and open the car door.

Su Chang cast a glance at her clothing before asking, “Have you sent the clothes in the cupboard for a wash?”

“No,” Yu Zhou replied.

“I didn’t have time,” she added.

Su Chang thought for a moment before speaking softly, “I have a laundry card over here with some money in it that I haven’t used since I moved out. Why don’t you give me the clothes and I’ll wash them for you?”

There was something strange about the way she phrased her offer. It wasn’t like “I’ll give you the card and you can use it”, it was more like “You give me the clothes and I’ll wash them”.

It sounded like vague and ambiguous entanglements. After all, helping someone wash clothes was a much more intimate act than lending them a useless card.

On top of that, Su Chang’s tone was overly gentle, as if she was asking for something else entirely.

Yu Zhou looked at her and suddenly felt powerless once again.

It seemed like she was flirted with by Su Chang once again.

It was a cycle that repeated itself endlessly, as long as she wanted to.

Really, as long as Su Chang wanted to.

Even if Su Chang didn’t say anything, even if Yu Zhou wanted to escape, it would seem like an overreaction.

As if on cue, Yu Zhou unbuckled her seatbelt and sat up, yawning while adjusting her hair before rubbing her eyes and opening the car door. “Let’s go.”

Before leaving, she couldn’t help but glance at Su Chang and ask, “Doesn’t your back hurt from lying like that?”

She had wanted to ask that from the very beginning but never found the right moment.

Su Chang lightly laughed, straightened up and held her waist with one hand. “A little.”

“Then you should go back and rest,” Yu Zhou replied with a short laugh, “Thanks, I’m going upstairs.”

“Okay, good night.”

“Good night.”

Finally at home, Yu Zhou felt like she had just survived a disaster.

She decided to bury this incident in the car along with her dream from before she woke up.

Once she got home, the living room light was on and Xiang Wan was sitting on the couch, reading a book.

“You’re back?” Xiang Wan asked.

“Yeah, why aren’t you sleeping yet?” Yu Zhou changed her shoes.

“I’m about to, just finished showering. I have taken a nap this afternoon so I’m not that tired,”

Xiang Wan replied as she put down her book. She then asked Yu Zhou, “Did you go out for something important?”

Yu Zhou was not someone who hung out with friends often and she rarely had late-night outings. Seeing her tired face, Xiang Wan was a bit worried.

“No, Su Chang said her cat was coughing, so I went to check it out. Turns out it was just a hairball. I was speechless.” Yu Zhou walked over to the water dispenser and poured herself a glass of water, drinking it down in big gulps.

Xiang Wan smiled at her.

“I took a cab there, spent over forty yuan. It wasn’t until I got on the elevator that I thought, why didn’t I just ask her to send a video of the ‘coughing’. Then I wouldn’t have had to make the trip for nothing.”

Xiang Wan said, “Concern leads to confusion.”

Yu Zhou wasn’t sure if she was referring to Su Chang’s concern for her cat or something else entirely.

After finishing her water, Yu Zhou asked, “Are you feeling any better now?”

“The blood is not as much as before and my head isn’t spinning anymore.”

“Is your stomach feeling okay? Any pain?”

“No pain.”

“Good, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I’m so tired. You should go to bed soon too.”

“Go ahead, I’ll read for a bit longer.” Xiang Wan picked up her book.