Heart Flutter

Chapter 168

The car slowly turned onto a familiar road—so familiar that Tang Yan could probably drive it with her eyes closed.

She still remembered how she had stormed out just over a month ago, how Aunt Ji had refused to come out even as she moved her things. Back then, Tang Yan had felt like nothing more than a guest in that home.

And now they were going back. Life was strange like that—dramatic, and drama often mirrored life.

“We’re almost home. Ready?” Ji Yuqing glanced over at her.

Tang Yan tugged her seatbelt and pouted, “Home is home. Who’s afraid? I’m not going to let someone piss me off and drive me away again.”

Ji Yuqing chuckled at her defiant tone, then settled into a calmer expression. “Honestly, I feel more and more like I can’t live without you.”

Tang Yan flushed instantly. Her cheeks burned—she’d been completely caught off guard by that sudden sweet line.

“You’re weird today,” she mumbled.

Ji Yuqing blinked. “Weird how?”

“Weird in a good-looking kind of way,” Tang Yan shot back with a cheesy line of her own. Sure enough, Ji Yuqing’s face turned red, and she shivered from a sudden wave of goosebumps.

“That’s so cringey… but I kinda like it.” Ji Yuqing laughed softly, her eyes focused on the road, the corners of her mouth curved upward.

Tang Yan leaned back smugly, arms crossed. “Then I’ll keep saying stuff like that from now on.”

The house had been empty for over a month. Ji Yuqing had been too busy to come home, and a fine layer of dust coated the furniture and appliances.

“Looks like we’ll be cleaning until nightfall,” Ji Yuqing remarked, glancing around.

“It’s fine, I’ll handle it. You sit and rest,” Tang Yan said, setting down her suitcase and rolling up her sleeves.

“I’ll help. I’m not eighty years old and immobile.” Ji Yuqing smiled. “Besides, cleaning together is kind of fun, don’t you think?”

Tang Yan paused. She didn’t want to make Aunt Ji feel old or incapable, so she nodded. Fair enough.

Still, Tang Yan tried to take on most of the heavy lifting and left the easier chores for Ji Yuqing. Her favorite part was watching Aunt Ji clean the windows—graceful, curvy, every movement mesmerizing like some seductive dance. Tang Yan stood there hugging a mop, totally entranced, practically drooling. In the end, she couldn’t help it—she ran over and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Ji Yuqing laughed and gently pushed her away, a bit flustered. “Don’t—everything’s dusty. It’s dirty.”

“I don’t mind,” Tang Yan grinned shamelessly.

After cleaning their 200-square-meter apartment from top to bottom, even Superwoman Tang Yan was exhausted. She slumped at the table, downing glass after glass of water. Ji Yuqing looked equally drained, sprawled on a chair in silence.

After a long pause, she finally said, “I don’t have the energy to cook.”

Tang Yan looked up. “Wanna order takeout for dinner?”

“Yes!”

They instantly agreed. Too tired, and the fridge had been emptied of anything edible. Cooking would mean shopping, washing, prepping, and cleaning after—why bother when food could come to them?

Dinner restored Tang Yan’s energy, and she latched onto Ji Yuqing’s waist playfully. “Let’s shower and get to bed early.”

Ji Yuqing smirked, teasing, “What are we doing in bed?”

“Sleeping!” Tang Yan replied, completely straight-faced.

“Just sleeping?” Ji Yuqing arched an eyebrow.

Tang Yan buried her face in her chest. “You know what I mean.”

Two hours later, Tang Yan was spent—physically, emotionally, thoroughly satisfied. She curled up beside Ji Yuqing like a lazy kitten, fiddling with the fur ball on her winter pajamas.

Ji Yuqing sat propped up, playing on her phone, when she suddenly remembered something.

“By the way… earlier, your mom mentioned some software and diary. Said that’s what changed her mind about us. What’s that about?”

“Oh… just this little app I built while I was missing you. Nothing serious—just a personal thing. It’s full of bugs, I never fixed them.” Tang Yan rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed.

Naturally, that piqued Ji Yuqing’s curiosity. She tilted her head and asked sweetly, “Can I see?”

“Ugh… no way. It’s too embarrassing!”

“Please? Pretty please?” Ji Yuqing turned on the charm.

Tang Yan lasted zero seconds. She gave in immediately.

“Okay—but no laughing!” She got up, retrieved her laptop, and added, “There’s only a desktop version. I’m the only user.”

But as she logged in, her eyes widened. There were now over twenty users. She hadn’t promoted it—just shared the link on Weibo. Where did they come from?

While Ji Yuqing read through Tang Yan’s diary entries, Tang Yan wondered what all those new users were doing inside the app.

The app was designed for queer users. After selecting your gender, your “partner” and “ideal partner” fields automatically adjusted to the same gender. It let users log life events, relationships, couple diaries, anniversaries, hand-holding dates, and so on. That was all Tang Yan had built—just a personal space to record her love story with Aunt Ji.

After reading all the entries, Ji Yuqing’s eyes were wet. She didn’t know how to express what she felt—so she simply said a rare phrase:

“I love you, Yanyan.”

Tang Yan looked over, stunned, just before Ji Yuqing leaned in and kissed her.

It was a long kiss—dozens of seconds. By the end, Tang Yan felt flushed, like she’d downed a shot of vodka.

“I really like this app,” Ji Yuqing said, lips still tinted from their kiss. “You’re smart and talented. So—do you want to grow it into something bigger?”

“Huh?” Tang Yan was still dizzy from the kiss.

Ji Yuqing rested her cheek on her hand, head tilted, looking effortlessly seductive. “I said—do you want to make this app into something real? A full product?”

Tang Yan scratched her head. “It’d be hard on my own… and it’d take a lot of time.”

“That’s fine. I’ll invest. I’ll find people to help. You just focus on building. How about it?”

“Are you serious?” It felt surreal.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Ji Yuqing smiled. “I’ve got idle capital. Better to invest in you than some random startup. You’ve got the talent. Wouldn’t you rather create something of your own than write code for someone else forever?”

She wasn’t wrong, but Tang Yan hesitated. “I don’t want to rely on your money… that’d make me feel useless.”

“Silly girl. Don’t draw such lines between us. And hey—I’m the investor, I’m the boss. You’d be my employee. I’ll pay you a big salary.”

Okay… that didn’t sound so bad.

“When you’re ready, we’ll get started. See if you know any great developers. I’ll help build the rest of the team. A company needs more than just coders.”

That part didn’t worry Tang Yan at all. Aunt Ji had years of industry experience—she could definitely run a business.

And as for tech talent… Tang Yan already had someone in mind.

Ji Yuqing kept scrolling. “Yanyan, look! Someone left reviews for your app!”

“Where?” Tang Yan leaned in, excited.

“Here.” Ji Yuqing pointed.

There were only a few comments—but they were heartfelt. Tang Yan’s confidence soared.

User A: “First impression—super clean UI. Just like the dev’s Weibo. No fluff, just the download link. Clearly built for fun, with lots of bugs still. But honestly, for someone like me in the queer community, this app is amazing. I can write my thoughts to my partner without fear of judgment or prejudice. It’s comfortable here.”

User B: “Loved the app. Found it after reading the dev’s diary entries. My girlfriend and I had a similar story. Hope you two made it through. Please keep developing this. A private space like this for our community is priceless. Thank you.”

User C: “A friend—well, my girlfriend—recommended it. I really love the dev’s writing. You seem emotionally sensitive. Despite your tough childhood, you found someone to stay with for life. Hang in there. This path is hard, but we’re walking it with you.”

Reading them, Tang Yan’s eyes reddened.

Ji Yuqing quickly grabbed tissues and dabbed her eyes. “Reading those, did it stir something in you?”

Tang Yan nodded without hesitation. “Yes. It surprised me. I never expected feedback like that. I want to keep building this. Make it better. Invite more people into this little family.”

“Then I’ll help. All the way.”

The next morning.

Tang Yan sat at the breakfast table, too excited to eat. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number from her contacts.

Ji Yuqing sat across from her, silent, waiting patiently.

The call connected. Tang Yan spoke quickly, “Is this Senior Wei? It’s Tang Yan.”

Wei Yufan blinked awake on the other end, still groggy from sleep. “Oh—Tang Yan? What’s up?”