Yuri (Part 2)

"Lingjing... what's wrong?" Shasha's heart was actually pounding as well. Another girl had seen her body—what exactly did that mean? She could not make sense of it, but when she saw Lingjing begin to cry, she set aside her wild thoughts and sat by the bed to comfort her.

"Wah... Jiaming, Jiaming..."

"Yeah, Jiaming was awful. He actually ran in without knocking. Later, I'll—"

"No, that's not it. Wah... Jiaming saw us like that. He... he must look down on me in his heart now..."

"H-how could that be? Jiaming wouldn't—"

"He definitely won't say it out loud, but... but he must be thinking it. Wah..."

The little girl sobbed softly. Shasha clumsily tried to comfort her, but she had little experience in this sort of thing. Whenever she spoke, she ended up saying she ought to beat Jiaming up to vent her anger. They were both her friends, but he had seen not only Lingjing's body, but hers as well. Giving him a beating would not be excessive.

Sitting beside her and handing her tissues, Shasha waited more than ten minutes before Lingjing finally stopped crying on her own. Her voice still caught in her throat. "He... he really won't look down on me?"

"Of course not. At most, he'll... he'll be jealous." Shasha blurted out nonsense, then after a moment, quietly asked, "Lingjing, do you... do you like Jiaming?"

In those days, saying one "liked" someone basically meant the same thing as love. As soon as the question came out, Lingjing's little face was flooded red again. "I... we grew up together. We... we're good friends..."

"That's not what I mean." Shasha gave Lingjing a deliberately carefree pat. "You know what I mean. I mean, when you grow up, do you want to marry him?"

Lingjing shyly lowered her head. After a long while, she finally stammered, "I... I... when we went camping last year, those two people caught me. He... he said he would trade himself for me, and he said I was his... his..."

She worked up her courage for ages, but still could not say the words "girlfriend." Shasha had already understood what she meant. A faint sense of loss stirred in her heart, but she grabbed Lingjing's hand. "All right, I get it. If he dares laugh at you, I'll... I'll... Hmph. Anyway, he won't dare. Come on, let's go have breakfast..."

"But..."

"It's not like we can skip breakfast. There are two of us and only one of him. No need to be afraid of him!" She seemed to have forgotten that neither of them had ever feared Jiaming in the first place. Still, she felt a little guilty now. After tidying their clothes slightly, they headed out. Lingjing's eyes were still bright red.

Hot congee, fried dough sticks, and soy milk had already been laid out on the dining table downstairs. When the two of them came down and washed up, Jiaming was holding a bowl of congee and gulping it down. His shoulders kept shaking. Shasha had unconsciously felt embarrassed as she approached, but seeing him like that immediately made her angry. She grabbed a small pillow and smacked it down at Jiaming.

"I'll make you laugh! I'll make you laugh..."

"Whew... Hahahaha... Stop hitting me, I surrender... Hahahaha..."

"You're still laughing!" Shasha planted her hands on her hips and moved to Jiaming's other side. The two girls stood one on each side of him. Shasha looked fierce, while Lingjing merely twisted her hands in front of her chest, her slender fingers turning red and purple from the strain. Her reddened eyes looked ready to cry again. Jiaming reached out and gently wiped a tear from her cheek, then opened his arms and pulled both girls close by the shoulders.

The dining chairs in Shasha's home were large to begin with. With that pull from Jiaming, both girls were immediately seated beside him. Although the three of them had grown up together, and fighting or holding hands was nothing unusual, this was the first time Jiaming had suddenly acted so intimate. With their shoulders held, both girls leaned against him at the same time. Their cheeks instantly reddened, yet neither struggled.

Jiaming spoke softly. "Don't worry. I understand. We've been together for so many years; this is just a little thing. Um... it did give me quite a fright, but no matter what, the three of us are still good friends, right? From now on, we'll be good friends for life... So now I know too—you really don't need to worry about me. Come on, kiss in front of me and let me see... Hahahaha... Ah, that hurt. I got hit..."

In truth, Jiaming had overestimated the two girls' emotional intelligence. Neither of them understood the first half of what he said, but the middle part reassured Shasha and Lingjing. When Jiaming mischievously pushed the two girls together and tried to make them kiss, they tacitly punched him at the same time. Blushing furiously as she broke free, Shasha was about to speak when Jiaming, normally a peace-loving person, suddenly sprang up, grabbed the feather-filled cushion behind him, and smacked it down on Shasha's head.

Dust flew everywhere. Caught off guard, Shasha could only scramble under the dining table in embarrassment and crawl out the other end. She seized a cushion and chased after him, while Jiaming hurriedly fled.

"Gu Jiaming, don't run..."

"Come on, Liu Huaisha! Lingjing was supposed to be my girlfriend, but you stole her away. Today, I'm going to give you a proper beating!"

"Hmph, die of jealousy! Die of jealousy! Lingjing belongs to me now, so stop right there..." Shasha got swept up in the mood. She demonstratively kissed Lingjing's snow-white cheek, then charged after him with a cushion in hand.

Bang, bang, bang! Thump, thump, thump...

The entire villa was thrown into chaos. Only Lingjing remained standing there, her face flushed red. Jiaming had said she was supposed to be his girlfriend, but Huaisha had joined in the fun too. What did Jiaming mean when he said he understood? And good friends for life... for life...

Had the matter really been resolved just like that? Wouldn't that... be strange...

She thought about it for a long time but still could not come up with an answer that satisfied her. She merely touched the spot Huaisha had kissed amid all the teasing, an expression both annoyed and amused appearing on her pretty face. Picking up a cushion nearby, she charged at the two of them.

"Ah—"

Forget it. Let it be like this...

"Ah, two against one? That's not fair... You two shameless sluts..." That was Jiaming, being chased all over the place.

"Haha, Lingjing, help me beat him! Hurry and help! Ah... why are you hitting me too... Jiaming, you're despicable! You actually ambushed me..." That was when Lingjing suddenly switched sides, allowing Jiaming to ambush Shasha.

"Ah—help! I won't do it again, I won't, I won't, I won't... Help..." That was the weakest one, Lingjing, being pinned down on the sofa by the other two and pelted with cushions...

Amid all the rumbling and commotion, the Liu Family villa was filled with the innocent spirit of children that morning.

I really never thought I'd write Yuri... Of course, Yuri isn't the theme of this book. I decided before I started writing: whatever was fun, whatever was shameless, that was how I'd write it. It's reached fifty thousand words now, so please click, save, and vote. Thank you. Though the new-book rankings are far beyond my reach, I still want to see how far I can go...

.