Chapter 5: Close at Hand

Raws: https://m.danmei.la/book/18516/2760181.html

10:00 PM

Brush~

Brush~

The faucet was turned so far that the water came out fiercely, and after a few breaths, the whole bathroom began to heat up.

The bathroom kept the same style as the rest of the house, big enough, comfortable enough, and delicate enough. 

The white bathtub was cleaned every day. It was spotless and very comfortable at first sight, but after hesitating for a moment, Lin Xingqing didn’t use it. Instead, she chose to take a standing shower. Even though she had been inside for a while, she didn’t take her clothes off. She just stood under the shower head and let the water spray and drench her whole body.

The water temperature was good, it wouldn’t get cold. The bathroom door was closed and you couldn’t see the outside.

Sharing the same bed and the same pillow…

At the request of Party A, Party B shall perform the obligations of a couple…

Those two lines of words turned through and rang inside of Lin Xingqing’s mind for a long time, until her whole heart began to panic.

In fact, Lin Xingqing already had this kind of awareness. There is no such thing as good for no reason. Moreover, Fang Xia had paid about a million yuan of redemption.

Just becoming aware of it again, waiting for the last moment, finally, Lin Xingqing was flustered.

“Hu~”

With a long breath, Lin Xingqing, with her wet body, walked to the mirror.

There was a huge mirror in the bathroom, which was also spotless. When Lin Xingqing wiped the water off the mirror, a person’s shadow was clearly revealed.

Her long, curly hair was wet and dripping on her face. Her slightly charming facial features and the extremely red lips had an unknown, but intriguing attitude. Her clothes were adhering closely to her skin, revealing the front, the convexes, the back, and the concaves of her body.

The woman in the mirror could see the daze in her eyes, her face and body already gave off a mature and detachable look. Even when many people look at this appearance, they think that it must be a veteran who has read thousands of sails.

But in fact, the owner of the body has not even talked about the pure love of a little hand.

Because of wanting to grow up urgently, wanting to take care of her father, to study hard and work hard, those things have occupied too much time and energy that she has not even had time to think about the rest of the fundamentals.

And now…

She, who has not even used her own hand, is going to sleep with Fang Xia, who is also a woman, and offer herself.

 Lin Xingqing clearly saw the confusion and uneasiness in her own eyes.

 “Lin Xingqing.”

Through the closed door, the cold voice was muffled, but it could never be mistaken.

“Fang Xia, I’ll be right out.”

In response to the voice, Lin Xingqing  randomly wiped a handful of water drops off of her face. She quickly suppressed the dazed and uneasy look in her eyes.

Brush~

Brush~

With the water still running loudly, this time Lin Xingqing conscientiously and carefully cleaned up.

Just like how she was undoubtedly afraid of the future, it was just as sure that Lin Xingqing had chosen to come here. No matter what she thought at the moment, she still chose to continue.

There is no such thing as free lunch, you always pay it back after eating. This is the unquestionable truth.

***

“Fang Xia, I’m done washing up.”

“Mm, wait for me.”

During that short conversation, Fang Xia’s figure disappeared from sight and Lin Xingqing heard the sound of water running.

Looking around the quiet room, not knowing how, Lin Xingqing relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

It’s like telling yourself, you could stretch out your neck and cut with your knife, an early death and an early rebirth. On the other hand, you would be happy to delay it for even one more moment. (1)

She doesn’t know what to call such a situation.

The room was bigger than she expected. The floor was carpeted, she could feel the soft touch on her bare feet. The general theme of the room was blue, with dark blue curtains and light colored bed sheets and quilts. The number of items and in the room was not small, but the largeness of the room allowed for them to be arranged neatly. Even though the room lacked much of the gentleness associated with girls, the room was still very comfortable.

Lin Xingqing stood still for a moment. After looking at the dark blue bed once again, she bit her lips and slowly walked towards the side of the bed. 

Even though carpet was soft on her feet with every step she took, even though there was no one else in the room, the closer she got to the bed, the faster her heart beat.

With the sound of falling water still raintly ringing in her ears, Lin Xingqing stood quietly at the side of the bed and looked at it. She could not help but look at the door of the bathroom. She tightly clenched her hands and took a few deep breaths. Her hands trembled as she pulled out a corner of the quilt and slowly got in the bed.

The room had a few traces of being lived in, but after lifting the quilt and lying flat beneath it, Lin Xingqing could smell a faint scent, the fragrance of some type of flower. 

This is… the scent of Fang Xia.

Fang Xia…

With that name in her mind, Lin Xingqing shrunk into herself and closed her eyes tightly in a vain effort to hide herself. 

***

Closing the door, drying her body, putting on her pajamas, Fang Xia went through these motions with practiced ease. When everything was done, she went to the huge mirror and wiped off the condensation with her hand. The mirror revealing her usual cold gaze, Fang Xia looked at the person in the mirror for several seconds before slowly reaching out to their chest.

Thump, thump, thump~

The fierce beating of her heart was making that sound. 

Lin Xingqing~

Even just thinking of that name was enough to make the fierce beating of her heart even more intense.

***

Why haven’t you come yet?

Did she misunderstand, was Fang Xia going to let her just sleep?

But this bed has the scent of Fang Xia, what’s going on?

Did Fang Xia see her sleeping here, so she left?

The bed was really comfortable, and without the faint sound of the wate, it seemed very quiet. 

A soft bed, a quiet environment, this was the most comfortable setting for sleeping, but with the fragrance still lingering, even though she was alone, Lin Xingqing felt that she couldn’t calm down at all. She wanted to open her eyes, jump out of the bed, and find a different place to sleep for one night. 

“Squeak.”

Lin Xingqing’s wishful thinking went uninterrupted for some time. Then, she heard the sound of a door closing, and the sound of footsteps followed.

Fang Xia.

Lin Xingqing didn’t have to open her eyes, it couldn’t be anyone other than Fang Xia.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps proved that Lin Xingqing’s earlier thoughts were really nothing more than wishful thinking.

Lin Xingqing didn’t feel relaxed at all. Instead she became more and more nervous.

Her originally closed eyes closed even more, unintentionally biting her lip tightly. Her body was stiff, hand unconsciously gripping onto a corner of the quilt. Besides half of her heard, her entire body was tightly hidden by the quilt.

The quiet footsteps soon stopped, but Fang Xia’s gaze was strong. Even if there were no words, even without the sound of footsteps, Lin Xingqing knew that Fang Xia was looking at her wit ha strong, scorching look. 

Should she open her eyes?

Since the time has come, she should cut her neck and open her eyes like she had said earlier.. 

But…

Before her thoughts were resolved, Fang Xia’s took back her gaze. But before Lin Xingqing could relax, the other side of the bed was pressed down slightly. Then the quilt opened. If there was no fragrance before, now the flower scent became more and more intense, almost as if it were touching her skin when Fang Xia laid down. 

Sharing a bed, the moment was really happening.

At that moment, no matter what Lin Xingqing had been thinking about before, she couldn’t focus on anything other than controlling her breath and making her body relax.

Naturally, Lin Xingqing has good friends. They are women. They share a bed, they talk about interesting and sweet things, they sleep together for a night. Although few, they still existed.

But this is Fang Xia, who she signed a marriage contract with. The contract clearly states that matrimonial duties and behavior would be carried out when necessary!

Even though Lin Xingqing couldn’t imagine how such duties would be put into practice considering that they are both women, she couldn’t treat the situation with her normal mindset. She couldn’t help but to be nervous.

But she is so close to her, after even a little bit of inattention, Fang Xia’s breath quickly steadied.

There was no excessive behavior. Even though they were lying in the same quilt, they didn’t do anything. Fang Xia just laid there and fell asleep quietly.

Lin Xingqing kept her eyes closed and her body stiff for a long time. Even though she felt the warm breath on her side calm down, she didn’t dare open her eyes. But when the breath of the person next to her kept the same frequency and did not move, after hesitating for a long time, she finally opened her eyes slowly.

It was late at night, and the tight curtains did not let in light from outside of the house. Even after adapting to the darkness, Lin Xingqing still could not see clearly. But when she turned her head carefully to look at the face so close to her, she was fascinated for a moment.

Fang Xia, what kind of person are you, why can’t I tell?

The author has something to say:

Lalala, yesterday’s chapter received seven comments and also received likes. I was instantly revived. (2)

Although this chapter is finished, I still have a cold on such a hot day (the more I say it, the more pitiful it is ←_←). In short, I love you all, line up one by one!

Translator’s Note:

This chapter was longer than the others and was a lot harder to translate. The author used some idiom-esque and metaphorical phrases that I’m not sure I really understand but I tried my best! I’m posting this before editing (because I feel bad I took so long lolol) but I promise I’ll get to it eventually! Thank you for waiting for the chapter~~

EDIT: I edited the chapter, but if you see any mistakes or such, feel free to lmk!

1) (AKA on one hand it would be nice just get it over with, on the other hand you really don’t want to do it)
2) It says she “还收到了投雷”, which means to receive thunder. Based on context I think this means likes?

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