After Dad took the call, he rushed out without even finishing breakfast, leaving me clueless about what he was so busy with.
With my phone and laptop confiscated, I had no choice but to sit on the sofa, watching TV while waiting for Lu Yiyi to arrive.
My younger sister lay on the other side of the sofa, playing on her phone. Her left leg was crossed over her right, and her fair, delicate little feet swayed back and forth in a carefree rhythm.
I figured that when Yiyi arrived, having my sister around would only complicate things, so I decided to try and coax her out of the house.
"Hey… Ghost Foot Seven."
"What? You weirdo."
A few years ago, she sprained her ankle and walked with a limp. Around that time, I had just watched Once Upon a Time in China and ended up giving her the nickname "Ghost Foot Seven."
At first, she really hated the nickname, but no matter how much she protested, I kept using it. Eventually, she gave up and accepted it, even returning the favor by dubbing me "Weirdo."
To be honest, I kind of like the nickname—it feels like it suits my personality.
"You finally have two days off. Why aren't you out having fun with your friends?"
"Exactly because I finally have two days off, I want to stay home."
"Why don't you go out for a bit?"
"No~pe," she drawled, still focused on her phone.
I reached over and gently shook her plump, cute big toe, trying to persuade her. "Come on, go out and play for a while."
She didn't resist as I shook her toe, just replied impatiently, "You're so annoying. Why do you keep trying to get rid of me?"
"I need to study and do homework later," I continued, still shaking her foot.
"You do your thing. What's it got to do with me?" She yanked her foot back forcefully.
"You being here distracts me from studying."
"Oh, really? Do I emit electromagnetic waves that interfere with your brain or something?"
"It's mostly because you're so annoying. Just knowing you're at home makes me restless and unable to focus."
"Get lost." She gave me a hard kick.
I shifted to the side and quietly hummed a little improvised rhyme:
"Ghost Foot Seven, so full of glee,
Lazing at home, refusing to flee,
Driving me up the wall, you see."
Unfazed, she kept swaying her feet and playing on her phone, humming back:
"A weirdo with a head so hard,
Gets slapped three times, no holds barred,
Sometimes even bare-bottomed, off guard."
Just as I was about to retort, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it and found Lu Yiyi standing outside with a cheerful smile.
She was dressed casually today—a sea-blue jacket, white cropped pants, light pink sneakers, and a backpack slung over one shoulder. Her hair was styled in a braid with wispy bangs, and her oval face wore light makeup, giving off an innocent, girl-next-door vibe.
She was much taller than most girls our age, almost as tall as me, but her figure was well-proportioned and her posture graceful, with no signs of slouching.
Her silhouette even reminded me a bit of my mom. In the past, when she visited, I'd secretly let her try on my mom's clothes. They fit perfectly, but she never quite carried them with the same presence—maybe it was a matter of aura.
Lu Yiyi's mother and my mom have been close friends for nearly a decade. Yiyi has been coming over to play since we were little, so you could say we grew up together. She's also very familiar with my sister.
"Oh, so that's why you've been trying so hard to shoo me out—you've got a special guest coming." My sister waved at Lu Yiyi. "Hey there, sis! Long time no see."
Lu Yiyi was used to her teasing and no longer got flustered. She smiled and said, "Beibei, you're home. Is school on break?"
"Yep." My sister nodded, then pouted with a look of grievance. "I finally get two days off, and he keeps trying to kick me out. Who knows what he's plotting."
"Alright, alright, enough with the chatter." I nudged Lu Yiyi toward the bedroom by her back. As she slid her backpack off her shoulder, she said, "Hold on, I need to use the bathroom."
While she was in the restroom, I leaned close to my sister and whispered, "How about I treat you to a movie? Wanna go?"
"Not interested." She paused, her eyes darting mischievously. "Just give me two hundred yuan instead."
"Where would I get that kind of money?"
"Don't give me that. Just pull out your stamp collection—any one of those is worth at least eighty or a hundred."
"Fifty."
"Two hundred."
"Seventy."
"Two hundred."
"Forget it then." I thought to myself, if I'm giving you two hundred, I might as well just book a hotel room.
"One fifty." Seeing I wasn't budging, she started lowering her price herself.
"One hundred. Take it or leave it."
"Throw in a movie ticket too."
"Deal!"
"And a children's game set."
"Huh? Are you extorting me now? A hundred yuan plus a movie ticket plus a stamp—that's already over two hundred."
"Well, you could just give me two hundred straight up."
I was in a hurry and didn't have time to haggle. Gritting my teeth, I said, "Fine! A children's game set too, I'll get it for you later. Now hurry up and leave."
My sister slowly got up, muttering under her breath, "So eager to get rid of me—something's definitely up."
Just as Lu Yiyi came out, my sister closed the front door behind her.
"Huh? Beibei went out?"
"Yeah, she went to catch a movie."
"Oh, I was hoping to catch up with her since it's been a while." Lu Yiyi looked a little disappointed.
Impatiently, I said, "Ah, what's there to talk about with her? She's such a nuisance." With that, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and guided her toward my bedroom.
Lu Yiyi picked up her backpack and frowned. "What's the rush? You're acting all flustered."
I pushed her into the room, closed the door with my heel, then rubbed my hands together, grinning at her.
She seemed to guess what I was thinking, her cheeks flushing as she scolded, "I knew you were up to no good, talking about studying together."
"We'll take care of business first, then study."
I moved closer, wrapped my arms around her, and gently pushed her down onto the bed, leaning in toward her cherry-blossom-petal-like lips.
She pressed her hands against my face, pushing me away as she struggled to sit up, her expression serious. "Listen, we can't keep doing this."
I clung to her like a koala from behind, my arms slipping under hers to hold her gently. I planted soft kisses on her swan-like, slender, snow-white neck and mumbled, "Can't keep doing what? What are you talking about?"
"Ugh! You're so annoying. I'm trying to have a serious talk with you." Lu Yiyi struggled to push me away again.
"The most important thing right now is to get into bed and fuck," I said urgently, leaning in again.
Lu Yiyi dodged away, grabbed her backpack, and hit me on the head twice. "Can you just behave?" she snapped angrily.
Rubbing my head, I put on a pitiful expression. "I am behaving! Look, I'm not even touching you." Seeing her displeasure, I dropped the playful grin, straightened up, and asked, "Alright, what's the matter? Tell me."
Lu Yiyi sat on the edge of the bed. "My mom scolded me really hard yesterday."
"Huh? Why? I thought she didn't mind us dating."
She lowered her head, hesitating for a moment. "My mom asked if we've... done it."
"Done what?"
Knowing I was playing dumb, she grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and threw it in my face. I quickly laughed it off. "Okay, okay, I get it. That. But... how did your mom know? Did you tell her?"
She glared at me. "Your mom told mine on WeChat. I was about to ask you—how did your mom find out?"
I scratched my head nervously. "Yeah, how did she know? That shouldn't be possible..."
Suddenly, I pointed at her. "It must be you! You must've given something away."
"What could I have given away?" She looked at me suspiciously. "You didn't tell her?"
"I'm not an idiot. Why would I tell my mom about that?"
"Then how did you explain it to your mom yesterday?"
"I said... um..." I paused, then turned the question back on her. "How did you explain it to your mom?"
"My mom asked what we were doing in the storage room. I said you tried to kiss me, and I didn't let you."
"Hey! Don't pin this on me. You were the one who kissed me!"
"You told me to kiss you!"
Lu Yiyi got worked up, her eyes widening as she reached out and tugged my ear. I yelped in pain, quickly saying, "Okay, okay, it was me. My fault, my fault. Let go, it hurts!"
She released my ear. "So, what exactly did you tell your mom?"
"I said... we were playing hide-and-seek."
"You idiot, what high school senior plays hide-and-seek? Your mom would never believe that." Lu Yiyi picked up the pillow again and smacked me in the face.
"What else could I say? I couldn't exactly tell her you tried to kiss me. That'd make you sound like some kind of delinquent."
"You're the delinquent. No, you're just a pervert."
"Then what? What else did your mom say?" I asked.
"She just scolded me. Didn't say much else."
I clapped my hands, laughing. "See? That's exactly it. They're the ones who kept pushing us together and teasing us as a little couple. What couple doesn't end up in bed? At our age, in ancient times, we'd already be parents. I bet they've been mentally prepared for this all along. It was bound to happen sooner or later."
Lu Yiyi frowned, looking disgusted. "Can you not use such crude language?"
"You're one to talk. Just the other day, you were saying 'fuck my mom.'"
Lu Yiyi bristled, hands on her hips. "You said it first!"
"Don't go making things up. When did I ever say that?"
Her face flushed bright red as she grabbed a cushion and pummeled my head a dozen times in a row. I raised my arms to block while saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Isn't it enough that I admit I'm wrong?"
Lu Yiyi stopped, her perky chest heaving up and down as she glared at me fiercely, panting. "If you do that again, I... I'll tell your mom."
"You're not even married into the family yet, and you already want to tattle to your mother-in-law. Be careful, after we get married, I might make things difficult for you."
She rolled her eyes at me. "Don't flatter yourself. Whether I'll marry you or not is still up in the air."
I smiled faintly. "Even better if we don't. The sky is vast for birds to fly, the sea is wide for fish to leap. I don't want to be tied down by you anyway."
"What did you say?" Lu Yiyi glared at me, her cheeks puffed with anger.
"Wasn't it you who said whether we'll get married or not is still uncertain?"
Lu Yiyi's eyes suddenly reddened. She picked up her backpack, turned, and walked away.
I quickly stepped forward and grabbed her small hand, apologizing profusely. "I was just joking, I was just joking. Of course we'll get married, how could we not? We're like two lovebirds in the sky, inseparable branches on the ground, a match made in heaven. If we don't get married, even the matchmaker would get so angry he'd have a stroke."
Lu Yiyi held back for a moment before she couldn't help but let out a laugh, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. She scolded, "Can't you be serious for once? You're always so slick-tongued, like some street punk."
I muttered, "You're starting to sound more and more like my mom."
Lu Yiyi smiled and said, "Then why don't you call me 'Mom'?"
Without hesitation, I blurted out, "Mom."
She actually felt a bit embarrassed, walking toward the desk with her backpack and murmuring softly, "You really have no shame."
I was so pent up by then, it felt like my head was about to explode. Like a little dog, I followed closely behind her, shamelessly saying, "Mom, let's do it first and then study."
"You..." Lu Yiyi turned her head and glared at me, angrily demanding, "Are you going to study or not? If you're not, I'm leaving."
"I'll study, I'll study, I'll study right now." Seeing her about to leave, I quickly grabbed her. If she left, what would I do? I absolutely couldn't let her go now—I had to keep her here first.
Lu Yiyi shot me a sidelong glare, sat down at the desk, pulled out her study materials, and urged, "Hurry up."
Reluctantly, I sat down to study with her, but my mind felt like it was being scratched by a cat, restless and uncomfortable all over.
And being so close to her, feeling her warmth and the faint scent of shampoo from her hair, made it even harder for me to control myself. It felt like there was a fire burning inside me, and the bulge in my pants was stiff and hot.
Although Lu Yiyi always forced me to study, my grades were actually better than hers. Every time we did homework together, she still had to ask me for help.
Our heads leaned close together as I explained the problems to her, while my right hand mischievously slid to her waist, feeling the delicate and elastic texture of her skin through her clothes. In my mind, I imagined stripping her naked, throwing her onto the bed, and burying myself in her.
Lu Yiyi didn't stop me, acting as if nothing had happened, listening attentively to my explanations.
After a while, feeling unsatisfied, I let my hand slide lower, slipping under the hem of her shirt. It was warm and smooth to the touch, and I couldn't resist giving it a gentle squeeze.
Unfortunately, before I could fully enjoy the moment, she said nothing and forcefully jabbed the pen tip into my other hand. I yelped in pain and quickly withdrew my wandering hand from her clothes.
I looked at Lu Yiyi pitifully. She glared at me for a moment, and for some reason, suddenly burst into laughter. But just then, with a soft "pfft," she couldn't hold back and let out a fart.
The atmosphere turned awkward instantly. Lu Yiyi's face flushed crimson, and I chuckled, asking her, "What did you just say?"
"I... what did I say?"
"Just now," I said with a straight face. "What did you say?"
"Pfft?"
Only then did Lu Yiyi realize I was teasing her. Her cheeks turned even redder, and she said angrily, "I said I love you."
"Huh?" I feigned surprise and laughed. "You love me like you just farted?"
Furious and embarrassed, she jabbed the pen into my hand several times. I yelped in pain, dodging repeatedly.
"I can't study properly with you around. I'm going home," Lu Yiyi said, packing her bag to leave.
After all this fooling around, I still hadn't taken care of my real business. I couldn't just let her leave so easily.