When Liu Xinyu woke up from the nap, it was already past sunset. She didn't get up immediately but looked in a trance as if she hadn't woken up completely yet. She kept staring at the ceiling above in the darkness. She didn't turn on the light but slowly sat up. Rubbing her eyes, she rubbed her temples.
I'm still here.
That was all on Liu Xinyu's mind as she sat there waiting for this fact to sink in once again. Sighing heavily, she got up to turn on the light and looked at the bedroom carefully.
It wasn't exactly a small bedroom but it wasn't comparable to Liu Xinyu's bedroom either. It had a single bed, a wooden cupboard in the corner with a table, and a chair in front of the window. There were no extra things in the bedroom which proved that Yi Qin really didn't live here.
"Ghostie! You're gone or still staying to haunt me?" She called out once she came out of the bedroom but didn't see the ghost. It actually gave her an uncomfortable feeling. No matter how much she argued and bickered with Yiyi, it was an undeniable fact that she only had Yiyi as her emotional support right now.
Who knew one day, the famous Liu Xinyu would have only one companion and it'd be a ghost!
"Took you long enough to wake up," commented Yiyi looking bored. "I thought you were gonna sleep like a log until tomorrow! How can you sleep so much?"
Liu Xinyu gave her a look and shrugged, "So, you're still here."
"I know you are glad to see me."
Liu Xinyu didn't care about her comment but decided to answer her earlier question, "I usually don't sleep so much. I never had time for sleep. It's only in the past couple of months that I am able to sleep even for 24 hours straight."
"What happened a couple of months ago that brought this change?" asked Yiyi.
Just as the memory of what happened a couple of months ago flashed through her mind, Liu Xinyu instantly stopped herself from even recalling it. "Nothing special. I guess, the sleep is just catching up to me now."
"Or maybe you're using sleep to protect yourself from something."
Liu Xinyu glanced at Yiyi, "Can you stop reading too much into whatever I say?"
Yiyi gave her a small smile as she replied, "If you speak clearly, I won't have to read too much into anything. But you seem to not want to share. It's alright. I guess we have plenty of time to make you open up."
"Who said we have plenty of time?"
"Did you find the way to go back?" asked Yiyi.
"No," Liu Xinyu's voice was low and resentful when she answered. "But that's because I haven't started looking yet."
"Your personality is a lot more tenacious than I thought. Good for you!"
Liu Xinyu went to the kitchen to look for something to drink. Seeing how desolate it looked, she had a headache. Thankfully, there was an old model of the refrigerator there but it had no power maybe because it was empty. She looked inside the cabinet and found a water bottle.
She took it to the living room and sat down to drink water. After drinking the water, she started whistling an unknown tune while looking around her surroundings.
*Knock! Knock!*
Suddenly, the knock on the door stopped her movements and she looked at Yiyi.
"Who is here?"
"How would I know?" asked Yiyi in return.
"Then check!" was Liu Xinyu's response.
"I'm a ghost, remember? What am I doing checking who is on the door?"
"If you won't check, how would I know if it's worth it to open the door or not? I have difficulty walking. Don't wanna go and open the door for some random person."
Yiyi gaped at her in disbelief, "I did not see you having any difficulty walking earlier." She was feeling a little frustrated right now. But she still passed through the wall to see who was outside. Seeing the person out, she told Liu Xinyu, "It's your father."
Liu Xinyu instantly shot from the sofa and ran to open the door making Yiyi want to beat this human who just told her that she had difficulty walking. Where was the difficulty? Where?!
Opening the door, Liu Xinyu looked at Yi Qin and smiled at him brightly, "You're here."
Yi Qin looked at her smile and the irritation he was feeling inside seemed to be soothed. He smiled back at her but how could Liu Xinyu not see that his smile was forced right now? Firstly, Yi Qin wasn't good at hiding, and second, Liu Xinyu was his own daughter. And Liu Xinyu was a daughter who was very clingy to her father.
"I brought you dinner and some other things," replied Yi Qin. "Can I come inside?"
Liu Xinyu raised her brows at him, "Why not? This is your house. Why are you asking for my permission? And where are your keys?"
Yi Qin only stepped inside after she gave her permission. Placing the lunchbox on the dining table he replied to her, "The keys are all there hanging on the wall. This is my house but I'm renting it to you right now. It doesn't make sense for me to keep the keys or come inside without permission. Especially since you are a female. I should be more mindful."
Liu Xinyu smiled to herself when she realized how much of a gentleman her father was.
"Come here and eat something. I also bought water. I only realized how much was missing after I went home. So, I picked up a few more things for you." He started placing the things that he brought with him like water bottles, cutlery,
Liu Xinyu took a seat at the small dining table and opened the lunch box. She looked at the stir-fried vegetables with mushroom, chicken with green peppers, egg and tomato soup, Chinese garlic green beans, and steamed jasmine rice in front of her and fell into thought, "Is this for me?"
Yi Qin also looked at the dishes and frowned, "I asked Auntie Zhang to pack the light dishes. Why did she pack these?"
"Maybe because this isn't for me," said Liu Xinyu as she opened the second lunch box, and her guess was confirmed. This one contained the meal curated for a patient like her as it consisted of steamed fish with ginger and scallions, steamed vegetables with oyster sauce, steamed plain rice, egg drop soup and there was a complementary fruit platter too. How thoughtful!
Just looking at this meal, Liu Xinyu felt like she was back to the days of her competitions when she had to be on a strict diet.
"How thoughtful of you to bring your own meal! I won't have to eat alone anymore," said Liu Xinyu as she could tell that if someone packed an extra meal that contained some of Yi Qin's favorite dishes, then it only meant that he didn't have dinner. Even though he left earlier for the family dinner, he came back hungry, this was thought-provoking but Liu Xinyu decided to not focus on this right now as she felt it wasn't important right now.
Yi Qin opened his mouth to say something but stopped. Since she put it that way, he really couldn't refute it. Anyway, he felt like he'd be able to eat better with her.
They both washed their hands and sat down to eat.
"You must be really bored here," said Yi Qin. "There isn't a TV here and not even a radio for you to spend your time with. How did you manage?"
"I slept until now," answered Liu Xinyu honestly.
Yi Qin grew worried when heard that answer, "You slept while I was gone? So long? Is it because of your head injury? Does it hurt? Shall we go back to the hospital?"
Liu Xinyu stopped him and said, "Dage(elder brother)! You fret a lot. I'm fine. Maybe I'm sleeping more than usual but it isn't that bad either. Let's just eat now. I don't wanna see the face of the hospital right now."
Note: Dage means elder brother. But Liu Xinyu isn't really calling him a brother either. It's more like when you jokingly call someone, bro, just chill! I don't know if that makes sense.
"Oh," was the only answer Yi Qin gave and continued to eat.
But seeing the way he ate, Liu Xinyu could see that he was sulking. Something must have happened over the family dinner to make him look like he was aggrieved and sullen. Even food couldn't bring him comfort, just what could it be?
Even though the portion of the meal wasn't big, they both didn't manage to finish because they had something on their minds that affected their appetite. Looking at the leftovers, Yi Qin was distressed. "I should put it in the fridge. It's not good to waste food."
He packed the leftovers and took them to the refrigerator. He plugged in the refrigerator, but it didn't turn on. "What happened to it? Did I again get scammed?"
"What happened?" asked Liu Xinyu.
"This refrigerator, I bought it from an old auntie I met. It was second hand, she said she needed the money urgently and that's why she was selling it cheaply. I actually believed her and bought it. It's broken! She sold me broken goods! Why does this keep happening to me?"
He looked so upset about being scammed that Liu Xinyu didn't know how to comfort him. She already realized that his pure and clean heart made him an easy target. Anyone could deceive him because he wasn't a guarded person and was keen on lending a helping hand to others in need. Sadly, the world wasn't a pure and clean place. He was more like a rabbit in the field of wolves.
"I feel bad for him right now," commented Yiyi for the first time since Yi Qin came. She was truly feeling pity for the nice guy in front of her. How could someone be so adorable?
Liu Xinyu ignored her remarked and turned to Yi Qin instead as she asked, "Do you have a toolbox at home?"