Chapter 78: Staying Over
Later that night, An Yuan’s mother came back alone.
Seeing that she was by herself, Chen Cheng finally let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t have to go home and face her parents’ arguments.
There was a time when just hearing them fight would send her into a panic. After graduating college, she suffered from years of anxiety, struggling with insomnia and a racing heart at the slightest noise. It had taken her a long time to recover by living alone, but now, she was helplessly back in her senior year of high school.
Thankfully, this time, An Yuan’s mother was here to protect her, and An Yuan was around to comfort her.
“Auntie…”
Her tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed as An Yuan’s mother walked over with a warm smile. “You’re really planning to sleep on the couch? Do you have enough blankets?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s pretty cold at night. You might freeze.”
The temperature had dropped to around ten degrees Celsius. Although it was warmer indoors, it was still easy to catch a cold.
Chen Cheng was curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket like a burrito. She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I’m pretty resistant to the cold.”
“Nonsense, your feet are already freezing.” An Yuan’s mother gently touched her foot, which was sticking out from the blanket. It was as cold as ice, her toes slightly purple. "Your hands and feet have always been cold since you were little, you have a cold constitution, you need to be more careful."
Feeling a little awkward, Chen Cheng quickly pulled her feet back under the blanket.
Even though An Yuan’s mother had watched her grow up, she wasn’t used to being physically close to others, not even with her own parents.
The only exception was An Yuan. When hormones kicked in, her senses became hazy, her thoughts slowed down, and that nervous discomfort faded away.
“Why don’t you stay at Auntie’s place for the next couple of days? I’ll make you some delicious food.”
“Okay~”
“I also brought some clean clothes for you. Do you want to take a bath later?”
Chen Cheng hesitated. “Did Auntie go to my house?”
“Mhm~ I tried talking to your parents. They’ve been married for so many years, yet they argue over every little thing.”
“They’d be better off getting a divorce…”
“Oh, come on~ Who goes around telling people to split up?” An Yuan’s mother playfully tapped her forehead. “Go take a bath later. I’ll turn on the water heater for you. It should be ready in about half an hour.”
Chen Cheng nodded. Her eyes always carried a hint of watery mist, and her lowered gaze made her look even more fragile, tugging at people’s hearts.
An Yuan’s mother gave her a gentle head rub before heading to the bathroom to turn on the heater. Then, she walked into her son’s room.
“An Yuan! You brat! You seriously made Chen Cheng sleep on the couch?!”
“Get out, get out! You go sleep on the couch!”
An Yuan was pushed out of his room, looking back at his mother in disbelief. “Wait, what?!”
“What do you mean ‘what’? You really have the nerve to let Chen Cheng sleep on the couch? What if she catches a cold? Get lost!”
Seeing An Yuan get scolded, Chen Cheng, who had been feeling down, suddenly lowered her head and let out a quiet laugh.
An Yuan turned his head to glance at the girl before trying to argue back. “Mom! You’re so biased!”
“So what if I am? You’re a tall, strong guy over 1.8 meters, why are you fighting with a girl over a room?” An Yuan’s mother suddenly lowered her voice and scolded him in frustration. “Are you stupid? Don’t you want Chen Cheng to be your wife? What’s wrong with letting her have the room?”
He was just messing around to make Chen Cheng laugh…
And who said he wanted her as his wife?!
An Yuan didn’t argue back. Instead, he put on an exaggerated sulking act and plopped onto the couch, glaring at Chen Cheng.
“See how my mom plays favorites? She doesn’t even care if I freeze. You might as well be her daughter instead.”
“Pfft!”
“You’re still laughing?”
Chen Cheng scooted closer, leaning in near An Yuan’s ear and teasing him in a hushed voice, “Back in our last life, when you stayed at my house, wasn’t my mom just as biased? Serves you right!”
“Yes, yes, I totally deserve it.”
An Yuan rubbed his earlobe, feeling ticklish from her breath. “Alright, just go sleep in my room. As long as you don’t complain about my blanket.”
“Ugh, I totally hate it~ I’ll just go lie down in your room for a bit! Call me when the water heater’s ready.”
He watched as Chen Cheng walked toward the bedroom, rubbing his nose thoughtfully. The blanket under him still carried her warmth, with a faint, familiar scent lingering on it.
Marry Chen Cheng?
To be honest, compared to other girls, this childhood friend, who shared his interests and knew him inside and out, actually seemed like the perfect wife.
He had thought about it more than once…
Now, Chen Cheng no longer stubbornly insisted on calling herself a guy like before. Their relationship had also become increasingly ambiguous.
But the problem was, they knew each other too well. They had grown up together, played together since they were kids!
That made liking her feel embarrassing, almost unspeakable. Even though he had used her as a reference for some exercise more than once, he still couldn’t quite picture himself actually getting married and having kids with her in real life.
He also wasn’t sure if her affectionate teasing was just her way of messing with him, maybe she still hadn’t fully adjusted to her identity and subconsciously saw herself as a guy.
Or maybe… she just enjoyed making him flustered on purpose.
Inside the Room.
Chen Cheng yawned as she slipped under An Yuan’s blanket.
There was a faint, warm scent inside. Hard to describe, but comforting. It made her tense nerves relax, and she instinctively buried her face into the soft covers.
She took a deep breath. She could pick out the lingering scent of An Yuan. His body wash, the smell of sunlight…
And something else that made her heart race. A familiar scent, yet she couldn’t quite recall where she had smelled it before.
“Chengcheng, do you want me to bring you a fresh blanket?”
An Yuan’s mother poked her head in and saw the girl lying on her back, eyes half-closed, already looking drowsy.
Seeing that, An Yuan’s mother gave up on the idea and asked instead, “Are you still going to take a bath?”
“I’ll go in a bit.”
Chen Cheng stretched lazily under the blanket, arching her back slightly. She felt so comfortable that she didn’t want to move.
Honestly, this blanket was way cozier than the one at home~
“Well, I’m heading to bed then,” An Yuan’s mother said with a yawn. “Don’t stay up too late, you have class tomorrow.”
“Mmm, got it~”
After lazing around in bed for another ten minutes, Chen Cheng finally rolled over and sat up. She grabbed a set of pajamas from the bag, hugged them against her chest, and made her way to the bathroom.
Holding her clothes in one arm and fiddling with her phone in the other, she absentmindedly pushed the bathroom door open, only to walk straight into a solid, broad back.
An Yuan stumbled forward, bracing himself against the wall. Startled, he turned around while hurriedly pulling up his pants. “I’m using the bathroom! Why are you barging in—”
Chen Cheng hadn’t expected anyone to be inside. She took two steps back to steady herself, then instinctively glanced up. Her eyes flickered for a moment before she quickly turned her head away, her cheeks slightly flushed. She casually hung her clean clothes on the wall and muttered, “What? It’s not like I’ve never seen it before.”
Seeing how calm she was, An Yuan relaxed a little too, though he still hurried her out. “Just go wait outside, I’m almost done.”
“What’s there to be shy about? It’s nothing new.”
“Get out!”
Chen Cheng kept a straight face as she turned and walked out, leaning against the cool tile wall outside the bathroom.
But in her mind, she couldn’t stop replaying that brief glimpse…
At first, her face was only faintly pink. But as her thoughts spiraled out of control, the heat spread rapidly, turning her cheeks bright red. Even her neck was flushed.
She pressed both hands against her burning face, feeling utterly embarrassed and flustered.
It's even more exaggerated than she remembered! After all, An Yuan was only a little over ten years old back then.