Chapter 16: Like.

Xu You didn't want to pick up on that or continue the conversation, so he said, "Drink some milk and go to bed early."

Min Duan didn't care about emotions, not even his own, let alone anyone else's, but he was sensitive to Xu You's moods, especially the curve of her brows and lips that descended when she was down, making him feel like there was a ball of iron thorns stuck in his heart, sinking and dulling.

Xu You had no desire to drink milk. Instead, he gave Min Duan a cup of powdered milk with honey, and without looking at him, handed over the glass in his hand.

Min Duan didn't take the cup and covered the back of her hand with his palm.

The palm of his hand is the warm wall of the cup, the back of his hand is slightly cool body temperature, the temperature difference between the two places made Xu You stunned, slowly raised his head and looked at Min Duan, he slightly drooped his eyelashes, his lips pursed downward, his translucent eyes were quiet and revealed his grievances.

Somehow, Xu You's heart stirred, and he said, "What do you think of Qi You?"

Min Duan paused before saying, "You treat her better than I do." From the moment he met Qi You, he wasn't too happy about it; as soon as she arrived, she shared his space with Xu You, ate the things Xu You made, tasted the apple pie and strawberry sauce Xu You made just for him, and ended up sleeping with Xu You.

As long as Qi You was around, Xu You would always divide his attention between her, hanging out with her and talking to her.

Everything becomes a trio.

Obviously it was just the two of them before and everything was fine.

Min Duan was too annoyed, from the moment he opened his eyes, and wanted to dismember Qi You and bury her, or turn her into a puppet and tell her to get lost.

But Qi You is Xu You's cousin, and they are so close that Xu You would be angry if he did anything.

So Min Duan is holding back, always thinking that Xu You doesn't care about him as much as he did before.

Min Duan pursed his lips and said in a less than friendly tone, "When exactly is she leaving?"

When he finished speaking, Min Duan looked at her cautiously, fearing that she would take it personally because of his unfriendly attitude towards Qi You.

Xu You laughed at his sour expression, his mood clearing the clouds and clearing the sky as he shoved the glass into his hand and turned toward the bookcase.

Min Duan squeezed the glass tightly and followed her, watching the way she rummaged around the bookcase, looking for something, as he waited and watched her quietly.

After a while, Xu You drew out a book with a pink cover and black letters pressed underneath and walked over to hand it to Min Duan.

Min Duan subconsciously stretched out her hand, and only halfway did she notice the title of the book - "The Most Elegant Woman with a Strong Heart".

"......" His hand paused, suspecting for a moment that he had misread it, and asked with less certainty, "For me?"

"Yeah." Xu You nodded matter-of-factly, turning the pages of the book and spreading them out for him to see.

Min Duan saw at first glance a line of extremely conspicuous words - "Don't let jealousy destroy your sanity, a wise woman will become a beautiful landscape, walking gracefully on the winding road of life."

Min Duan: "............"

"How's that," Xu You grinned, "like it?"

Min Duan draws his lips together and raises an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

Xu You nodded vigorously, affirming, "Of course."

Min Duan hesitated and reluctantly said, "Then ...... like it."

"Huh," Xu You looks down, then notices something, "Not this page, where did you put it, I'll look for it."

Then she clattered through two-thirds of the pages and re-spread them out in front of him.

Min Duan looked down, is a jasmine bookmark, was pressed flat jasmine flowers residual fragrance, faded some white color, some yellowing, lines become clear and beautiful.

"For you," Xu You said with a smile, "It doesn't need to be well cared for, and will stay for a long time."

In the quiet of the room, the pale yellow light fell quietly on her, and she raised her eyebrows lightly, her eyes curving up as the crescent moon falling in silver splendor outside the window.

The hot air from the glass of milk wafted between the two of them, and Min Duan's fingertips landed on the bookmark and rubbed it carefully, the frustration in his eyes disappearing in an instant.

In its place was the curve of his lips raised.

--

When Xu You finally managed to fall asleep in the second half of the night, it was after ten in the morning when he woke up again, and no one was on the other side of the bed.

She walked out of the room and saw Qi You standing on the balcony talking to someone on the phone. There was some distance between them, so she couldn't hear the exact content, but the smile on Qi You's face was mixed with a sweetness that she couldn't hide, so she didn't need to guess who she was talking to.

Xu You walks to the bathroom to wash up while thinking about how to deal with this matter.

The sunlight near eleven o'clock was bright and warming.

Qi You hangs up the phone, both hands resting on the railing, still smiling, Xu You sits on the millet collapse on the balcony and greets her to come and sit.

"Are you in a relationship?" Xu You wasn't going to beat around the bush and cut straight to the chase.

Qi You smiled and said, "Yeah." It was nothing to admit, besides she had met her cousin's husband, so what did it matter if she let her cousin know she was in a relationship.

Xu You: "His name is Shaosi Xu."

"Cousin You ......" Qi You froze and said in a surprised tone, "How do you know?" She hadn't told anyone about this.

"It was his fiancée who let me know." Xu You said in a calm tone.

"Sh, what?" Qi You took a long time to find her voice, "Cousin, you can't be kidding ......"

Xu You flicked on his cell phone and opened the photo album and video to show her, which he had taken at Lanlan Lin's birthday party last time.

Several photos were taken with fireworks in the background, and Shaosi Xu and Lanlan Lin embraced and kissed each other in a romantic atmosphere.

Qi You opened his eyes wide and stared fixedly for several moments before his eyesight stung and moved away.

Xu You didn't say anything else, and there was no need to say anything else.

A moment of silence.

Qi You got up, her voice a bit astringent and trembling, "Cousin I'm a bit tired, I'll go back to my room to rest first."

Her reaction was much calmer than Xu You had expected, only the reddened corners of her eyes and curled fingers revealed her inner unrest.

Xu You lowered his eyes and sighed softly, "Get some rest."

--

Xu You had been sitting on the balcony on the rice floor without moving, staring at the sunlight on the floor, the sunlight falling on the floor, reflecting the fine and slightly bright spots of light.

As time drifted on, the daylight faded and seemed to ebb away from this ground.

When she came back to her senses and realized that it was already evening, this was a habit of hers, when she had something on her mind, she would stare at something and stare blankly, and after she slowed down her mind, she would feel that everything could slowly get better, and that what couldn't be made better could be slowly made better.

She had been in this world for some time now, often feeling that it was fake and the people in it were alive, the contradictory illusions giving her a cutthroat sense of not being able to distinguish between falsehood and reality.

But she's figured out now that falsehood and reality are out of her hands, and she just does what she wants to do.

-

Min Duan always comes out to eat every meal, rain or shine, and it's never happened that he hasn't left his room from morning to evening like today.

Xu You went to his room and knocked twice: "Min Duan?"

After waiting for a while and not hearing Min Duan's reply, there was some movement from inside, the muffled sound of something heavy hitting the ground, and the sound of ceramic glassware shattering on the floor.

Something was not right, Xu You felt uneasy, twisting the door handle did not open, so I had to bang on the door: "Min Duan, what's wrong, what's going on? Open the door!"