Incurable Pain

IP Chapter 49.3

Incurable Pain | Chapter 49.3

She didn’t remember many of her former classmates, so why bother? 

Besides, she naturally avoided awkward situations, and she didn’t want to run into Yu Luoyin at a class reunion.

The two wandered around the furniture store for an afternoon, ordered a lot of things to be delivered to the new house, and then went to the mall. When they were choosing daily necessities, Ah Mo dragged Bai Xunyin to the skincare products section and picked out a bunch of face masks for her.

“Ah Mo,” Bai Xunyin felt unreasonable and couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I already have skincare products.”

“Even if you have skincare products, you still need face masks! Face masks are a woman’s second face, don’t you understand?” Ah Mo stared at her, earnestly educating her. 

“Babe, I won’t argue with you about anything else, but when it comes to beauty, you really have to listen to me. You’re almost twenty-five, and women age very quickly after twenty-five, especially since you’re working intensively at the research institute every day. Don’t you understand the importance of taking care of yourself?”

Bai Xunyin was stunned for a moment and then, being a girl who didn’t really understand skincare products, silently bought the bunch of face masks.

After all, the desire to be beautiful is universal.

Bai Xunyin never paid much attention to her appearance. Even if someone praised her every day, she wouldn’t swell with pride. But that didn’t mean she was willing to become unattractive.

When she returned to her new home in the evening and felt somewhat lonely sitting on the sofa, Bai Xunyin rarely applied a face mask.

Calculating fifteen minutes, Bai Xunyin leaned back on the sofa for a little rest, and then her phone, which was beside her, began to ring restlessly.

With her eyes closed, she slid her finger across the screen without thinking, and the sweet voice of Yu Shitian came from the phone, “Sister, have you finished moving into your new home?”

Bai Xunyin pressed the speaker button with her fingertip, her voice slightly muffled by the face mask, and she replied, “Mm.”

A few days ago, Yu Shitian had called her to go out for afternoon tea and she had told her about moving. It was quite a coincidence that she was calling about it now.

“Then I’ll come over to see you!” Yu Shitian said excitedly. 

“I happened to buy some pan-fried buns from Jinji.”

Jinji was a chain of pan-fried bun shops. They used to go there often when they were in the north.

Hearing this, Bai Xunyin suddenly felt hungry even though she hadn’t eaten much for dinner. 

Without hesitation, she agreed and then tore off the face mask, sent her location to Yu Shitian, who was probably nearby, and invited her over.

The girl must have been nearby because fifteen minutes later, there was a knocking sound on the door.

Bai Xunyin, who had changed into her home clothes, walked over to open the door, and outside was Yu Shitian’s smiling face holding several large boxes.

“Sister, did you just wash your face? It looks so tender.” 

Yu Shitian came in and didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, she sweetly complimented Bai Xunyin and then, even though it was her first time coming in, she sat on the carpet in front of the sofa as if she had been there before, and placed the pan-fried buns and duck blood vermicelli soup on the table.

“Sister, come and eat quickly.”

Bai Xunyin walked over and sat opposite her, looking at Yu Shitian’s watery eyes with a hint of amusement. 

“Why are you so attentive today? Did you make a mistake?”

“Ah,” Yu Shitian sighed and couldn’t help fiddling with the delivery boxes. 

“I’m here to apologize to you, aren’t I?”

“Apologize?” 

Bai Xunyin scooped up some soup with a plastic spoon, was scalded a bit, and asked somewhat indistinctly, “What are you apologizing for?”

“I thought about it later, and it wasn’t right for me to introduce my brother to you.” 

Yu Shitian sighed heavily. 

“I know you two aren’t suitable, and it’s probably my brother’s fault for being so temperamental.”

Bai Xunyin’s hand holding the spoon couldn’t help but pause for a moment, feeling somewhat dry. Her voice sounded a bit bitter. 

“Why?”

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I feel like my brother still can’t forget his ex-girlfriend. It was my mistake to introduce you hastily.” 

Yu Shitian frowned, quite angry as she pounded the table. 

“But it was him who saw your pictures on my Moments, saying you were pretty, and he said he wanted to find a girlfriend!”

“… his ex-girlfriend?” Bai Xunyin’s heart tightened unintentionally, her voice tinged with bitterness. 

“Yeah, besides my brother not being able to forget his ex-girlfriend, I can’t think of any other reason why he wouldn’t get along with you—of course, it’s possible you didn’t like him.” 

Yu Shitian obviously had a lot of confidence in Bai Xunyin, shrugged helplessly. 

“Otherwise, why would they say my brother is temperamental? Since he can’t forget her, he shouldn’t have let me introduce you.”

Bai Xunyin forced a smile and suddenly found it difficult to eat the juicy, fragrant pan-fried buns, feeling sour as if she had dipped them in vinegar.

Yu Shitian observed her expression and said quietly, “I’m sorry, sister.”

Bai Xunyin shook her head, “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, blame it on my brother!” 

Yu Shitian clenched her fists, pushed the blame onto Yu Luoyin, and said angrily, “I don’t know what’s wrong with my brother. He’s been unable to forget his ex-girlfriend for so many years. I think she must be a vixen!”

“… a vixen?”

“Yes, a vixen. My brother’s high school sweetheart.” 

Yu Shitian said solemnly, “What kind of person do you think my brother is? He’s a typical dark and deep elite male. He’s been held back by her for so many years, hasn’t even had a girlfriend since high school graduation, and he’s still thinking about her. If that woman isn’t a vixen, what else could she be?”

…

Bai Xunyin, who seemed to be the ‘vixen’ in question, fell silent and listened silently, even though it was improper, she greedily pieced together bits of Yu Luoyin’s past from other people’s mouths.

“I’ve never seen my brother so devoted to someone, especially to a woman. I’m really curious what that vixen looks like.” 

Yu Shitian propped her chin on her knees, tilted her head, and imagined while making fun of it. 

“You know what, my brother broke up with that vixen after high school graduation. He was like crazy during that time, causing chaos at home, even my uncle…”

Yu Shitian realized she had said too much when she reached this point, revealing all the chaos in her family.

Bai Xunyin, with her clear eyes, listened without blinking, making Yu Shitian feel embarrassed and closed her mouth.

“Hehe, I said too much. Anyway, don’t blame me for it.” 

Yu Shitian fed the pan-fried bun to Bai Xunyin and said firmly, “Experience is the best teacher. I won’t help my brother find a girlfriend again!”

Sitting across from the ‘vixen’ who had just been teased, Bai Xunyin took a bite of the pan-fried bun without expression, then mechanically chewed and swallowed.

Eating this little bit felt like the bits and pieces of Yu Luoyin’s past she had just heard, little by little, making her stomach feel bloated.