Just as Yuying was about to plunge deep into her thoughts to try and get to the bottom of what the hell is going on, her phone vibrates again.
Yuying checks her phone notifications. This time, it's a text from Tian Gou.
Just as Yuying was about to open the text, there's a knock on her door.
Yuying doesn't even get the chance to say "come in" before whoever who'd knocked on her door opens it with a twist of her doorknob. Yuying could've sworn she'd locked her door, but well, that wasn't the case, apparently.
It's Yuqing, holding yet another box of herbal tea. Yuying widens her eyes. She doesn't even have to ask who it's from. She already knows.
"There's a package for you," Yuqing informs her younger sister, "It's a box of..." Yuqing pauses to look at the sticker on the box, which stated the details of its contents, "Herbal tea...again."
Yuying widens her eyes even more. She hadn't even finished the previous box of herbal tea than Tian Gou had sent her. Heck, she wasn't even halfway through, and she's talking about her and Jiawen combined.
"Why do you keep ordering this brand of herbal tea?" Yuqing asks as she scrutunizes the box as though she could get information out of it, "Is it really that good?"
"I-It's okay," Yuying stammers as she tries to take the box out of Yuqing's hands, "Just give it to me."
"Oho!" Yuqing chirps as she suddenly raises the box higher such that Yuying couldn't reach it.
Yuying internally curses her own shortness. Yuqing had always been the taller of the two. She'd continued growing until she reached a rather impressive height of 173cm. Yuying and her 157cm could never compete against her.
Then again, it was nothing new. After all, Yuqing seemed to have inherited all of their parent's good traits, height included, and left nothing behind for poor Yuying.
Yuqing notices the look on Yuying's face that she's making unconsciously. The former curls the corner of her lips into a smirk.
"Or, perhaps," Yuqing drawls, "Is there someone who's been ordering this herbal tea for you...?"
"N-No!" Yuying splutters a little too quickly for her own good. She doesn't sound convincing at all. "I-I mean, just give it to me."
Yuqing moves her arm just as Yuying jumps up to reach for the box that she's holding. It's almost as though she was a monkey trying to reach for a banana that her older sister was holding or something.
"Not until you tell me who it is," Yuqing grins as she places her other arm on her waist.
Yuying grits internally. Her older sister could be so evil sometimes! No, wait, hold that thought- what is she talking about? She's evil all the time! A wolf in a sheep's clothing...!
"Fine!" Yuying huffs, finally giving up, "It's Jiawen, okay? Jiawen!"
Even though she's usually pretty bad at lying, Yuying is so done with her older sister and just wants to get her box that she actually sounds kind of convincing.
Unfortunately for Yuying, Yuqing wasn't fooled. The skeptical look on her older sister's face told Yuying that she'd failed to convince the former.
"Is that so?" Yuqing asks as she raises a brow, "If it's really Jiawen who's been sending these boxes of herbal tea, why couldn't she just simply pass it to you when you're in hall?"
Yuying felt like tearing her hair out right there and then. Yuqing was being so burdensome! Why does she even care, anyway? After all, Yuqing's life is probably a thousand times more interesting than hers!
"I-It's just something she likes to do, okay?!" Yuying cries out, blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind, though it's so weak that it doesn't sound convincing at all, just like her last comeback.
"Jiawen...has a thing for sending stuff by mail," Yuying lies straight through her teeth. Even though it sounded like complete and utter bullshit, she couldn't help it, nor did she have any other choice. After all, Yuying was just desperate to get Yuqing off her back.
"She's a pretty sentimental person," Yuying continues, practically blabbering whatever nonsense came to her mind at this moment, "She thinks it's sweet to send gifts by mail..."
"Right..." Yuqing cocks a brow. Even though she appears to have heard Yuying out, it's clear that she's utterly unconvinced by her younger sister's weak explanation.
"Okay, you know what," Yuqing suddenly hums as she tosses the box of herbal tea to Yuying without warning.
It catches the latter by surprise as she stumbles forward, barely managing to catch the box before it hit the ground.
"I'll let you off," Yuqing purses her lips, "For now," There's a wicked twinkle in her eyes. "In light of the fact that you'd only just come home from the hospital."
"Aw, you shouldn't have," Yuying mutters sarcastically under her breath in response, making it sound like Yuqing had been so kind and thoughtful to have mercifully let her off the ordeal that she'd put her through in her first place.
Yuqing sticks her tongue out at Yuying before she turns to leave her room.
/Yes...come on.../
/Just get out of my room already...!/
However, just as Yuqing was about to head out of the door, she turns back around.
Yuying, who'd just been about to pump her fist in the air and cheer that her older sister had finally stopped terrorizing her, had no choice but to cut her early celebration short.
She groans internally.
/Ugh.../
/What else do you want...?!/
/Can't you just get out already...!/
"This isn't over," Yuqing hums curtly. There's a smirk on her lips that looks so sinister it could probably give the devil a run for his money. "Little sister."
/You don't have to tell me that for me to know.../
Thankfully for Yuying, Yuqing doesn't try to bug her any further as she leaves her room and closes the door behind her.
Yuying immediately goes over to the door and locks it before Yuqing could come back and poke her nose in. Yuying lets out a sigh of relief as soon as she does this.
Yuying quickly completes the fist pump that she'd been meaning to do earlier before she'd been so rudely interrupted by her older sister before diving onto her bed with the box of herbal tea in her hand.
Yuying takes out her phone again and clicks on her notifications. However, just as she was about to open Tian God's text, she gets a call from him at the exact moment.
Yuying couldn't help but groan internally.
/Is it just me, or do I seem to keep getting interrupted today...?!/
Still, Yuying presses the 'accept' button without any hesitation. Tian Gou must be worried sick like Jiawen since she hadn't responded to their texts and calls all day.
Just then, the call goes through. However, Yuying doesn't hear a sound from the other end. It almost seemed like nobody was there.
"Um," Yuying clears her throat, "Tian Gou, you were the one who sent the box of herbal tea, weren't you..."
A loud shriek sounds from the other end of the line before Yuying could finish her sentence. She's so caught off guard that she reels from her phone so that the scream wouldn't burst her eardrums.
"Oh my tian (tian as in "sky" or "heaven" in Chinese, basically means "oh my goodness"), you actually picked up the phone!!!" Tian Gou exclaims from the other end before Yuying could even get over her initial shock or say anything else.
"Um," Yuying replies, not really not knowing what to say in response. She doesn't really get the overdramatic reaction. "Surprise?"
"Surprise? Really?! Surprise?!!!" Tian Gou huffs from the other end. "It wasn't a surprise that you gave us, Yuying!" Yuying could picture her friend putting his hand on his hip as he was speaking to her, "It was shock, you hear me?! Shock!!! Do you know worried I was?!"
"Geez, Tian Gou," Yuying winces, feeling slightly uncomfortable by how Tian Gou seemed to be making it a big deal when it really wasn't, "Chill out."
"Chill out? Chill out?!?!" Tian Gou snorts from the other end, "How do you expect me to chill out when you'd fallen down the stairs and nearly DIED?!?!"
"Woah, woah there," Yuying chuckles awkwardly, "I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration..."
"Are you okay, Yuying?!" Tian Gou cuts off Yuying once again before she could finish her sentence, "Are you hurt anywhere? Are you feeling light-headed? Are you sure that you're really alright-"
"Calm down, Tian Gou," Yuying reassures in the most soothing voice that she can out on as she tries to get her frantic friend to simmer down. She couldn't help but find herself taking inspiration from Mingyi at that moment. "I'm okay, really."
"There's no need to worry about me," Yuying continues, "I just got back from the hospital, and I'm going to be in my room resting for the rest of the week..."
"It's all my fault," Tian Gou suddenly says sadly from the other end. He sounds so guilty that it's almost as though he's a convicted criminal who'd just heard his sentence in court.
"What?" Yuying frowns, not understanding what her friend was getting at, "What do you mean? Why would it be your fault?"
"I-I should've known that something was off about you yesterday," Tian Gou murmurs remorsefully, "You were acting all strange at the food court, wearing layers and layers of clothes even though the weather was scorching hot as usual..."
"Wait," This time, it's Yuying's turn to stop Tian Gou before he can finish his sentence, "What did you say...?"
/Food court...?/
/Wearing layers and layers of clothes...?/
/And I was acting all weird...?!?!/
Things were only getting even more confusing for poor Yuying.