Chương 227: A Different Kind of Liking

After ending his warm and sweet late-night conversation with Su Yuqing and saying goodnight to each other, Ji Ying breathed a sigh of relief.

She slowly closed her eyes, feeling the steady and shallow breathing of the girl beside her, preparing to drift into a peaceful dream and relax her nerves that had been tense all day.

However, just as her eyelids closed and her vision went dark, a violent dizziness, as if her soul were being pulled away by an invisible vortex, struck her without warning.

"No way—" Ji Ying's heart sank suddenly, and an extremely ominous feeling arose spontaneously.

But before she could react, the familiar and singular sensation around her suddenly underwent an extremely abrupt change.

The sensation that was originally only on one side of the body suddenly came from both sides. The back no longer felt the cool and comfortable texture of the sheet, but a more wonderful sensation.

She felt as if several slender arms were tightly encircling her neck and waist, and she could even clearly feel steady breathing, carrying the unique fragrance of young girls, blowing against her neck and cheeks again and again.

This—this is— Ji Ying suddenly opened her eyes, and the scene before her eyes completely confirmed her ominous premonition.

What came into view was Luo Bingli's delicate and pretty face so close to his own. Her eyes were closed peacefully, and her hands were tightly wrapped around his neck, her posture intimate and dependent.

As for the strong, almost undeniable presence of the touch behind her, it undoubtedly came from those things on Ye Zixuan's body—things that made Yuqing feel a lifelong grudge against them.

"1 Jiying wasn't too surprised that his clone would receive such "preferential treatment".

The problem is, she is absolutely certain that she never intended to eavesdrop on the two girls' private conversation, much less take advantage of them in this way.

—Shouldn't I be sleeping in the next room with Yuqing? Why did my consciousness suddenly shift here?!

What bothered and confused Ji Ying even more was that she could see that Ye Zixuan's hands behind her were not simply holding her, but had reached over her petite body and embraced Luo Bingli in front of her as well.

In other words, at this moment, she was completely sandwiched between the two girls like a giant pillow, making it even difficult for her to breathe.

This situation was clearly more exaggerated and intimate than the "one person hugging one side" scenario she had previously envisioned.

Why is this happening?!

When did their relationship become so good?!

A silent lament escaped the lonely shadow's heart.

Time rewinds to a dozen minutes earlier, when Ji Ying and Su Yuqing had just left the room.

The room returned to silence, leaving only Luo Bingli and Ye Zixuan. The warm yellow nightlight cast a soft glow, illuminating the two girls' faces in a hazy and beautiful way.

However, the atmosphere was not as warm as expected; instead, it felt somewhat awkward and stagnant for some subtle reason.

The two exchanged a glance, but almost simultaneously avoided each other's gaze somewhat awkwardly, and did not immediately begin to communicate.

Ye Zixuan lowered her head somewhat guiltily, subconsciously tucking a strand of hair that had fallen beside her ear behind her ear, and a faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

Just as Su Yuqing had guessed, her family had always been very strict, and this was indeed the first time in her life that she had spent the night at a friend's house.

Although she felt angry and resentful about Xiaoying's situation when talking to Su Yuqing, she didn't feel restrained at all. Instead, she felt relaxed like never before.

She couldn't explain why. Perhaps it was because the other person's straightforward, lively, and even slightly rascally personality, in an unreasonable way, forcibly shattered the shell she usually used to disguise herself, allowing her to fully reveal her unknown side.

But now, only she and Luo Bingli, whom she hadn't really spoken to alone since they met, were left in the room. The thought of sleeping in the same bed with her tonight made Ye Zixuan feel shy and awkward.

She sat somewhat awkwardly to the side, her hands nervously gripping the edge of her nightgown, unsure of what to say to break the silence.

Looking at Ye Zixuan's somewhat shy appearance, Luo Bingli felt a little confused.

This behavior was completely opposite to his previous confrontational attitude with Yuqing when he was fighting for Xiaoying, and to his assertive and composed demeanor as the patrol officer Xingxian.

Why is it that she's not afraid of Yuqing at all, but seems a little afraid of me?

Driven by confusion and in order to break the slightly awkward silence, Luo Bingli, who is not good at initiating conversations, mustered up her courage this time.

She moved closer to Ye Zixuan and asked softly, "Zixuan—what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Huh?!" Ye Zixuan was startled by the sudden question, her body tensing instinctively. She then shook her head somewhat flusteredly, "N-nothing! I'm fine!"

She certainly didn't want to tell Xiaoli about her embarrassing situation, but she also knew that Xiaoli was concerned about her, and it would be even more impolite to use lies or excuses to appease a friend with whom she had just established a friendship.

Adding to this, when Xiao Li brought him a change of clothes earlier, she seemed to want to talk to him about this, so he obviously guessed what it was back then.

And also— Ye Zixuan recalled the scene of her crying loudly in Ji Ying's arms. It seemed that her most vulnerable and unbearable side had already been seen by them.

Since such an embarrassing thing has already been seen, exposing one more "weakness" now seems like—no big deal.

After a brief internal struggle, she finally chose to confess, somewhat resignedly, and stammered, "I—I am—this is—my first time—."

"Huh?" Luo Bingli didn't quite hear her, and subconsciously leaned closer, asking in confusion, "What?"

"I'll say it!"

Ye Zixuan suddenly raised her head as if she had finally made up her mind. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she said in an almost shouting voice, "This is the first time I've spent the night at a friend's house, and it's also the first time—I'm going to sleep in the same bed with another girl!"

Luo Bingli was startled by the sudden loud voice and paused for a moment before belatedly realizing the meaning behind the other person's words.

After a brief moment of surprise, she immediately recalled the other person's reserved and almost rigid behavior in front of Yuqing's family earlier, and she instantly understood.

"Then what you said when you came in, and your behavior at the dinner table, it really was—"

"" Ye Zixuan's cheeks flushed even more, and she nodded somewhat shyly, her voice becoming as soft as a mosquito's buzz again: "My upbringing is very strict. My parents have always paid great attention to my manners and have never let me stay out overnight—this time, however, is a special case—" Luo Bingli instantly understood the root cause of all the other party's abnormal behavior and gained a deeper understanding of this unknown side of her.

Seeing Ye Zixuan's embarrassed expression, who was almost burying her head in her knees, she suddenly burst out laughing.

"What a coincidence," she said softly with a calm and gentle smile, "This is my first time too, and I'm suddenly feeling—a little nervous."

"Eh?"

This time, it was Ye Zixuan's turn to raise her head in surprise, looking at Luo Bingli with disbelief.

"Hmm—" The answer was completely unexpected.

Luo Bingli looked directly at Ye Zixuan's astonished expression, her smile softening as she continued softly, "This is also the first time I've spent the night at Yuqing's house with another friend."

"It's normal to feel nervous," she said, mimicking Lin Che's comforting tone from before, before adding a small complaint.

"It's all Yuqing's fault! She was only focused on getting close to Xiaoying and completely forgot about the two of us. We'll have to punish her together later!" she said.

"But now that we've become partners, there will be many more opportunities like this in the future, so—" —There's absolutely no need to be this nervous.

As she spoke, she reached out her hand to Ye Zixuan, who was still standing there somewhat at a loss.

Ye Zixuan stared blankly at Luo Bingli's calm smile and the hand suspended in mid-air, a warm feeling welling up in her heart.

—Even though Xiao Li is just as bad at dealing with these kinds of situations as I am, or even worse, she took the initiative to do so in order to comfort me.

She suddenly felt all her previous shyness and nervousness vanish in the face of the other person's gentle words and sincere smile.

Ye Zixuan smiled from the bottom of her heart. Without further hesitation, she took Luo Bingli's outstretched hand and sat down on the bed.

"Yes, you're right."

The two smiled at each other, and all the previous barriers and awkwardness completely melted away at that moment.

"Um," Luo Bingli asked again after settling Ye Zixuan, "how about placing Xiaoying's clone between the two of us tonight?"

"Xiao Li, you—" Ye Zixuan immediately recalled the time when she and Yuqing were fiercely fighting for the real Xiaoying, and the other party was quietly holding this clone, clearly showing an extremely strong dependence and affection for it.

But now, Xiao Li has taken the initiative to offer to share with me.

A warm feeling welled up inside her again. Looking into the other person's smiling eyes, she nodded firmly and replied, "I think it's perfect! After all, we both fought for this together!"

"Mm." Luo Bingli nodded gently.

The two hit it off immediately and acted in perfect unison. They lifted up the cute black-haired, red-eyed clone from the left and right, and then carefully placed it in the middle of the bed.

After doing all this, the two girls turned off the bedside lamps with satisfaction, each lay down on one side of the other, and covered themselves with soft blankets.

Since there were actually "three people" lying there, the space was nowhere near as spacious as the large bed in Ye Zixuan's own room, so it inevitably felt a bit crowded.

However, with her body pressed tightly against that clone, which was indistinguishable from the real Xiaoying in terms of touch, temperature, and breath, she felt an unprecedented sense of security and satisfaction.

She couldn't help but turn to the side, stretch out her hands and tightly hug one of the clone's arms, gazing almost greedily at the other's adorable, almost unfair, profile.

On the other side, Luo Bingli made the exact same move almost simultaneously.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, simply enjoying this hard-won happiness.

After a long while, Ye Zixuan took the initiative to break the silence.

"Xiao Li—" she asked softly, "Have you and Xiao Ying—slept together more than once?"

As she asked the question, her left hand, hidden under the blanket, clenched into a fist uncontrollably, and even her voice trembled slightly as a result.

Although—she had already obtained that invaluable video recording, and Xiaoying's clone was now lying peacefully beside her.

But the thought of Yuqing lying next door with the real Xiaoying, talking about something, or doing something, still gave her a strong feeling of "losing".

"You knew this from what I just let slip, didn't you?" Luo Bingli asked softly.

"Hmm," Ye Zixuan nodded slightly, not denying it, "but even if you didn't say it, I already had a very strong premonition."

"If given such an opportunity, neither you nor Yuqing would easily give it up, would you?"

"—You're right." Luo Bingli was silent for a moment, but finally admitted it frankly.

She gently rubbed her cheek against his soft arm, her voice filled with deep affection: "We—we both like Xiaoying very much—and we depend on her a lot."

"So—me too."

Ye Zixuan's expression also became complicated. She looked at "Silent Shadow" beside her and said softly, "The thought that I have never actually slept in the same bed with Xiaoying makes me feel a little flustered. I feel like I will lose to you."

"Losing to me—?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Bingli's expression suddenly became even more complicated.

Yes, in Zixuan's view, both she and Yuqing are opponents she needs to defeat in this "war of love".

But—Xiaoying's true identity is Lin Che, and Lin Che is the person her best friend Yuqing likes.

Luo Bingli was well aware of this cruel truth.

But she couldn't, and couldn't bear to, tell the truth to the girl in front of her who also harbored sincere feelings for Xiaoying. She didn't want to see the girl's expression of disappointment and pain after learning the truth, which might be even more pronounced than her own.

However, she also didn't want to see the other person running headlong down a road that was destined to hit a wall, only to end up battered and bruised.

So, at least—we need to give her a little reminder.

Thinking of this, Luo Bingli took a deep breath and made a decision.

She gently shook her head, looked at Ye Zixuan, and said softly in an extremely serious tone, "Zixuan—you don't need to worry about losing to me."

"Because I don't intend to strive to become the most special person in Xiaoying's heart."

"So, your opponent—from the very beginning, has only been Yuqing."

"What did you say?!" Ye Zixuan looked at her in great surprise.

"You clearly like Xiaoying that much too. Before, when Yuqing and I were arguing, you were holding her clone tightly—"

"And now you're telling me—you don't intend to fight for it? Why is that?"

Judging from the fact that the other party was willing to endure the shame of using her own clone to demonstrate her abilities in order to continue holding onto Xiaoying's clone, this girl in front of us may appear aloof and reserved on the surface, but her inner emotions are extremely passionate.

But now, the other party suddenly tells her that she doesn't intend to fight for that most important position.

Ye Zixuan simply couldn't believe that the other party really didn't have this intention.

Luo Bingli did not answer Ye Zixuan's question directly, but subconsciously avoided the other party's probing gaze and looked back at the clone of Jiying beside her.

She reached out, her hand filled with longing, and gently traced the contours of the other person's face with her fingertips. Her voice was so soft it seemed it might dissipate into the air at any moment: "Because for me, just being able to feel a little warmth occasionally by his (her) side, like this, is already—enough."

"Are you satisfied just by holding a clone?" Ye Zixuan still couldn't understand.

"Don't you want—the real Xiaoying to do those tender things to you? Don't you want—to have her embrace all to yourself?"

Luo Bingli suddenly turned her head and looked at Ye Zixuan with utmost seriousness again, and slowly said, "Zixuan, you may have misunderstood something."

"Yuqing and I do indeed like Xiaoying very much, you're not wrong about that, but—"

"Yuqing's affection for Xiaoying," "my affection for Xiaoying," and "your affection for Xiaoying" may not be entirely the same thing.

She paused, a faint smile of relief tinged with sadness appearing on her face, and said softly, "At least for me, this is enough."