White Roses and Red Roses - Chapter 5

The next day, Xu Aile apologized to me on WeChat¹.

“Sorry, Xiao Yu, I’ve been so busy with projects lately that I completely forgot what day it was yesterday.”

She said, “I’ve ordered a huge bouquet of red roses for you. Since Qin Rui refused to give you flowers, I’ll make it up to you.”

Sure enough, not long after, I received a call from the delivery service saying someone had ordered ninety-nine roses for me, delivered to the office downstairs.

When I got home in the evening, holding that massive bouquet of roses, I struggled a bit to fish out my keys, and suddenly the door opened from the inside.

Through the gaps in the flowers, I saw Xu Aile’s face and froze for a moment.

“Xiao Yu, not working late today? You’re home so early.”

She smiled as she took the flowers and handed them to Qin Rui.

And he took them, so naturally.

Summer had arrived, and she was wearing a silk slip dress. Qin Rui dressed lightly too, the room’s humid heat wafting out in a rush.

I stood there for a while before asking, “Why not turn on the air conditioning?”

“It seems broken, can’t get it to work.”

Xu Aile replied with a laugh.

I walked over, picked up the remote from the coffee table, pressed a few buttons, and found no response, so I bent down to find two new batteries in the drawer.

“Oh, it was just out of power.”

She realized, nudging Qin Rui with her foot,

“You don’t even know if the remote has batteries? This is your rented place, Xiao Yu’s spoiled you.”

I stood there silently watching them until I felt a sting in my palm.

Looking down, I realized I had clenched my hand too tightly, the keys digging into my skin.

Qin Rui explained calmly, “There were some work matters unfinished, and Aile wanted to chat with you, so we brought them back to handle.”

I nodded, “You two focus on work, I’ll go make dinner.”

Truthfully, my mood wasn’t calm.

I just didn’t know what to say.

One is my best friend, the other my boyfriend, and when they couldn’t stand each other before, I sincerely hoped their relationship would improve.

But now, because of work, their relationship has improved, and I feel uncomfortable.

Maybe Qin Rui was right, I’m just being hypocritical.

As I absentmindedly pondered, I prepared several dishes and set them on the table, calling Qin Rui and Xu Aile over for dinner.

Sitting down, my gaze fell on Qin Rui’s face, and I suddenly paused.

“Is it too hot?” I looked at the bright red on his lips, “Your lips are bleeding, do you need some ointment?”

“…”

“Qin Rui?”

He abruptly raised his hand, wiping his lips forcefully with the back of his hand, his voice oddly cold, “It’s fine, just need some water.”

After dinner, Qin Rui went to the kitchen to wash dishes, and I sat on the sofa, chatting with Xu Aile for a while before seeing her off downstairs.

In the elevator, the bright light shone down, illuminating the diamond necklace on her slender neck, making it sparkle brilliantly.

I glanced at it a few times, suddenly finding it familiar.

As we walked out of the building, I casually asked, and she touched the pendant, smiling,

“Yes, it’s the one I mentioned liking on Weibo² before. Qin Rui bought it for me as a thank you for connecting him with people.”

I froze in place.

“Alright, Xiao Yu, you can stop here, hurry back home, I need to drive back.”

She walked away in her high heels, her graceful silhouette gradually disappearing.

The hallway’s voice-activated lights dimmed, and I stood in the darkness, suddenly thinking of two years ago.

Back then, Qin Rui’s studio was just starting to pick up, and with schoolwork piling up, he was incredibly busy. He managed to carve out half a day for a date, and we tried on a crystal necklace at the mall.

It wasn’t expensive, just over a thousand yuan, but I knew he was tight on funds, so I pretended not to like it, picking out flaws in the mirror.

The shop assistant chimed in, “If you want better quality, you’ll need to raise your budget.”

Before Qin Rui could speak, I quickly said, “But I don’t like wearing necklaces, they tangle in my hair, let’s go look at something else.”

As we left the mall, Qin Rui asked, “Do you like it?”

“Not that much.”

I playfully clung to his arm, looking up and teasing,

“The necklace I like is super expensive, wait until your career is successful, then buy it to propose to me.”

Footnote:

1. WeChat(微信): WeChat is a multi-functional social media and messaging app developed in China.
2. Weibo(微博):Weibo is a popular social media platform in China, similar to Twitter and Facebook.