Tian Luli is Meixiu's trusted friend back at the orphanage. There were even rumors that they dated, but Meixiu knew what happened.
It's not exactly a relationship or a friendship. When Meixiu was first dropped off at the orphanage, Luli didn't like her presence one bit.
And Luli would always mess with Meixiu, almost bullying her every single day.
But it stopped when Meixiu turned 10, two years after she stepped foot in the orphanage. Meixiu was even confused about why Luli stopped bullying her.
While the others enjoyed the suffering she got, Lulu was nowhere to be found, or if she ever was found, she would always ignore or run away from Meixiu.
That's until Meixiu learned that Luli has a crush on her from one of the bullies who likes Luli.
And an unnamed relationship was created between Meixiu and Luli in the orphanage. Some say they were dating; some say they were friends with benefits, but they were all wrong.
Luli pulled away from the hug, her eyes scanning Meixiu as she rubbed her hands up and down Meixiu's arms.
"Woah, Meixiu, I didn't know you could look clean."
Meixiu is known as someone who is always messy. Her hair would always be ruffled by the bullies, and she got tired of fixing it.
Her clothes were stained from the food or the things the bullies kept throwing at her.
Luli couldn't even see Meixiu in clean clothing every time they crossed paths with each other.
Meixiu's eyebrows rose at the sudden insult she received from the girl, causing Luli to giggle at her reaction.
"Still the same Meixiu."
Luli tiptoes as she ruffles Meixiu's hair, causing the taller woman to scoff and quickly push the woman's hands away.
"Luli, stop it; we're not kids anymore."
Luli's eyes looked at Meixiu as if the taller woman had said something funny.
"What? You like it when I ruffle your hair."
Xiaohui's ears perked up at what she said. Her eyes were looking between Meixiu and Luli, who seemed to be in their own worlds.
They got interrupted when the old lady went out at the back.
"Oh, Luli, you finally got home."
The girl went towards the old lady and helped her with the things she was carrying, smiling at Meixiu as the taller woman went back to her seat.
"Auntie, you didn't tell me Meixiu was here."
"Huh? Meixiu? The one you shared a room with?"
Luli glances at Meixiu, her eyes sparkling in delight to finally see someone from the orphanage.
"Uh-huh, she's sitting there."
Luli points at Meixiu as Ms. Tian arranges the stuff on the table. The old lady looks at Meixiu as she smiles widely, bowing down at her.
-
"Luli, you didn't have to bring another dish for us."
The brunch went well, with Suyin constantly talking to Meixiu. Tingfeng, on the other hand, continues to try to talk to Suyin and Xiaohui, but he either gets ignored or they answer him shortly.
As if telling the man to "stop making conversation with me!"
Luli helped her Auntie in the restaurant as a few other people went in and out of the small, cozy place.
And when their brunch was about to be finished, Luli brought another dish for them to enjoy.
At first, Suyin was confused about why another dish was brought out, but Luli told them that it was free for them to taste.
Suyin can't just say that it's for Meixiu.
Xiaohui couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at the table. Meixiu took notice of this, but she couldn't do anything as Xiaohui wouldn't like to be confronted in front of people.
"That's for taking care of me."
"Come on, that was a long time ago."
Luli puts her hands on Meixiu's cheeks, slapping them lightly as she smiles widely at him.
"Still, I didn't get to thank you formally."
Meixiu glances at Xiaohui, seeing the girl looking at them curiously as she clears her throat and grabs Luli's hands.
"Please, let me introduce you to them."
Luli looks at the three people behind Meixiu, her eyes scanning them as she bows down and smiles widely.
"This is Suyin-"
"I know her; Auntie likes her so much."
Suyin smiles widely as she approaches Luli, offering her hands to the woman.
"Nice to finally meet you."
Luli smiles widely and nods before saying the same thing to Suyin. Tingfeng steps forward as Meixiu sighs and looks at him.
"Tingfeng."
She briefly introduced. The guy glares at her before smiling widely at Luli, offering his hands for her to accept.
"I didn't know a beautiful lady was living in this town."
Luli glances at his hands before looking back at his face, getting greeted with Tingfeng's charming smile as he winks at her.
Luli smiles and bows down, causing Xiaohui to snicker a little as Tingfeng's face blushes in embarrassment.
Meixiu looks at Xiaohui, her mouth lifting into a wide smile as she offers her hand.
Luli saw the interaction between them, her face falling blank as their hands touched each other.
"Luli, this is Xiaohui, my wife."
Luli tried to hide her disappointment and smiled widely at the smaller girl. Her hand reached out for a handshake.
"Hi, nice to meet you."
Suyin couldn't help but feel a little upset over Meixiu's introduction to Xiaohui; she didn't even get the recognition of being Meixiu's friend as Luli cut Meixiu off.
"Nice to meet you too."
"Is Meixiu taking good care of you? I remember her getting upset whenever I don't prepare milk-"
"Hey! That's another story in another chapter!"
Meixiu quickly cut Luli off, her eyes glaring at the woman as Luli smiled widely, her hand reaching towards Meixiu's hair to ruffle it.
"Same old Meixiu."
"Anyways, I'll let you four go home; it's getting a little darker."
Luli said, pushing Meixiu away as she stepped back a little. Meixiu huffs and smiles widely at Luli, her hand waving as she puts her other hand on Xiaohui's waist.
"You didn't have to introduce me like that."
"Why? What I said is true."
"I know, but-"
"Hey, don't feel guilty if Luli got hurt by what I said; it's the truth anyway."
Meixiu shrugs her shoulders and walks away first to get to the car. Xiaohui stops in her tracks, her eyes looking at Meixiu, as the girl grabs the keys from her pocket.
"Come on! Let's go home together."
Meixiu said it with a smile. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she stopped waving at Xiaohui before grabbing it in her pocket.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw an unknown number on her notification bar.
"Hi."
The number texted, along with a photo of Xiaohui walking towards the car while Meixiu was smiling widely and waving her hands.
She quickly looked up and around Xiaohui, her hand closing the car door, before approaching her wife, confusing the smaller woman.
"Is there something wrong?"
Meixiu's eyes scan the area, not seeing anyone suspicious, before looking back at Xiaohui and smiling at the creeped-out girl.
"You're creeping me out."
"It's nothing; Tingfeng and Suyin are probably on the road, so let's go."
Meixiu quickly dragged Xiaohui towards the car, opening the door as Xiaohui sat down.
Meixiu quickly made a trip around, still looking at the environment, before she finally entered the car.
"Are you ok?"
"Huh? Yeah, of course."
Meixiu said, starting the car as they finally drove out of the area.