"How dare you, Yao Mei! How f*cking dare you! (ʘ言ʘ╬)
That poor, wonderful woman took a literal arrow for you, and you dare call that 'friendship!'
Friendship!? The sheer audacity!" (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Zhu Na Ran raged and rambled at the 'audacious' scene before her as the show continued to play out, regardless of her harsh reaction.
Her fingers were itching to throw her snacks at the stage, hoping one would land on Yao Mei's dense skull.
However, what a terrible waste of food that would be.
Therefore, several plates worth of snacks found their way into Zhu Na Ran's stomach as she munched on the light snacks in rage.
"What is wrong with you, Yao Mei! ʰᵘʰ (ꐦ○_○）✧
Can't you see how much Wan Li loves you!?" (#｀ε´)
'Aiyah! How the heck can this girl be so dense! Her total lack of awareness is so infuriating! (°言°怒)
The two of them have been together for more than a year, but how can Yao Mei be so oblivious to Wan Li's feelings!
And there were so many blatant and obvious signs too!' ＼`•̀益•́´／
That time, Wan Li found Yao Mei injured in the rain and nursed her back to health when she was sick from the cold.
Or when Yao Mei dealt with a lot of emotional stress after recalling tragic events from her past, Wan Li was there to comfort and care for her!
Of course, the most recent event, when Wan Li took a literal arrow in the back for Yao Mei to save her life from a martial arts expert!
"Ughhhh, Heavens! Yao Mei, you're killing this auntie!"щ(`A´щ;)
However, it wasn't just the grand gestures that displayed Wan Li's strong affections for Yao Mei. Instead, the smaller ones, one that would go unnoticed to the untrained eye, gave away the sincerity of Wan Li's feelings.
Such as how Wan Li would always cook homemade dishes and would bring a lunch box of Yao Mei's favorite food every time the pair rendezvoused at their favorite meadow.
Or how Wan Li would stitch hand stitch garments for Yao Mei to wear in the changing seasons until her fingers grew red from the number of times she pricked her fingertips.
Or — Zhu Na Ran's favorite gesture from Wan Li — the way that whenever the pair would hold hands, walking around the meadow or hiking up the hill, she would rub the back of Yao Mei's hand with her thumb.
Whenever she saw Wan Li do it to Yao Mei with an adoring gaze in her eyes, a fuzzy feeling couldn't help itself but tickle her heart.
'Strange, very strange. But it's adorable!' (◕v◕✿)
Of course, Zhu Na Ran would notice these small gestures because she was a drama connoisseur and knew most play tropes' ins and outs.
However, no matter how much Zhu Na Ran wanted to shake Yao Mei silly for her foolishness, alas, they were illusions; and they wouldn't hear her ramblings.
And although it pained Zhu Na Ran to watch poor Wan Li try to win over the stupidly dense Yao Mei, she watched the show, albeit frustrated.
Not that she didn't have a choice not to, but now she was too invested!
'Who would've thought that The Story of Lovebirds was based on the two lovers' folktale?'
Although, she found it hard to believe that such a dense human being to any signs of love, such as Yao Mei, would've ever walked the realm.
'Aiyah, that abridged retelling by those juniors didn't do these two lovers any justice.'
In true star-crossed lovers fashion, the pair were from rival sides of a massive war that tore up the region and their nations.
But the most surprising factor to Zhu Na Ran was that the couple in question were grinding mirrors[1].
'Not a common trope that I see every day, but the story is interesting enough.'¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Wan Li was a noble young lady from the Ming Xiang nation and was known for her mild temper and beauty.
However, throughout the play, it was apparent to Zhu Na Ran that such behavior was a pretense as she would always scold Yao Mei for some small actions here and there.
'Heh, Wan Li kinda resembles Senior Sister in that sense. A complete mensao[2] through and through.' (｀3´)
And the oblivious one, Yao Mei, was from Xiao Qiang. Growing up as a poor orphan in the streets, Yao Mei lived as a petty thief before being caught and sold off as a slave. However, out of pure luck, Yao Mei managed to escape her slavers and disguised herself as a man and joined the military for protection and food to eat.
It wasn't until Yao Mei's group was ambushed on Yong Yuan He Mountain that the destined lovers met.
Wan Li saves Yao Mei, and despite their differences, the two had some chemistry between them and grew close.
Though one fell sooner than the other.
The show was nearing its midpoint, and she was dying to know if Yao Mei finally got the signals that Wan Li has been throwing her this entire play.
'Aiyah, Wan Li, Wan Li!
You got to go a more forceful route! Mild hints are not working on your dense love interest.' ( ✧A✧) YES!!
And if it were a commonplace joke, every time that Wan Li was close to confessing her feelings or Yao Mei finally catching a hint, something would happen between them and bring them a few steps back once again.
'Ah, if they don't get together soon, I think I'm going to lose it!' (@ˋ _ ˊ@)
---
Zhu Na Ran's eyes were glued to the stage as she watched a sweet and intimate moment between the two lovers. On a high cliff, the pair overlooked the valley of flowers as the moon above shone down on them, giving them a heavenly glow.
"The moon looks really nice tonight," Yao Mei praised as she took a swig of fruit wine.
"Em," Wan Li nodded in agreement. However, her eyes flicker to look at the shining moon. Instead, she continued to sneak peeks at Yao Mei. "It's lovely."
Although Wan Li had yet to confess her true feelings, Yao Mei was already starting to get some vague idea of how the other girl felt; but, Yao Mei didn't dare act on it for fear of her being wrong.
'Ah, mutual pining at its finest. （*＾＾*)
But come on Wan Li!
Now is the perfect opportunity! Go for it! I'm rooting for you!
Why are you letting this opportune moment go to waste!?' ( ✧V✧)
"It's getting late," Yao Mei started as she stood up and brushed the grass off her clothes. "We better head down soon before anyone notices."
"Ah Mei," Wan Li murmured out softly as she grabbed Yao Mei's hand. "I don't want you to go.
I-I, I li-
I am afraid. What if something were to happen to you?"
"Ah Li," Yao Mei chuckled at the other girl's downtrodden mood and patted her hand, comfortingly. "We'll meet again tomorrow. But I need to go back to the camp soon.
My comrades are getting suspicious. They keep bugging me and wondering if I'm going to bring back a sister-in-law for them."
Wan Li's face flushed at such a thought. The thought of marrying the one that she loved wholeheartedly. And although such a thing seemed like a distant fantasy, she couldn't help but hope.
"Well, promise me that you'll be safe on your way back. I might not be there to save you like last time."
"Haha, what do you take this girl for? Plus, I can handle myself just fine.
There's no need for you to worry."
"Hmm," Wan Li sighed softly, cursing the fact for her lack of courage to be straight with Yao Mei. "As long as you are safe and sound, the sky will be blue[3]."
"Alright," Yao Mei smiled as she patted Wan Li's head. "I'll see you next time!"
"Yeah, next time…"
The scene promptly faded out as the lights returned, and the guests started to stretch out their legs. It appeared that they had reached one of the breaks in between the plays.
"Aiyah," Zhu Na Ran groaned as she stretched out her arms. "Pausing right when it was gonna get good too, ah." ( - v-)
'Honestly, Wan Li should've just gone for it! The mood was so good!
Ah, I suppose there will be a next time for her to confess. Like perhaps, the next day!'
However, as hopeful as Zhu Na Ran was for these two girls' future, such a story would only be immortalized in tragedy.
[1] Grinding mirror - the title of ancient lesbians, refers to the sexual behavior between them. One way they have sex was that the two sides pondered each other's bodies (scissoring) because of their similar body structure. Therefore, it looked like a mirror was between them, so it was called a grinding mirror. Not as cute a cut sleeve, but I suppose I'll take what I can get…
[2] Men1sao1 - the Chinese equivalent of a tsundere. The term literally translates as 'outwardly cold or retiring, but deep and passionate inside.'
[3] As long as you're safe and sound, the sky will be blue - (ni3 ruo4 an1hao3 bian4 shi4 qing2tian1) A popular saying to express concern. I thought it was quite cute, so I just plopped it in.