Cloudside Café

Xia Zhi came back at eight o’clock. She held a thick stack of papers in her arms, still had the composure of a teacher.

She went past Yun Xian on the sofa and asked Jiang Ying, “What did you have for dinner?”

“Beef noodle soup.”

Xia Zhi glared at Yun Xian. “You don’t know how to take a person to eat something good.”

Jiang Ying quickly explained, “Oh no, I said I wanted to eat noodles. I really wanted to eat it.”

Xia Zhi immediately smiled and took Jiang Ying’s hand. “Have you been to Beijing before?”

Jiang Ying replied obediently, “I came with my friend a few years ago, but I only stayed for three days.”

Xia Zhi said, “There are many interesting places in Beijing. You can ask Yun Xian to take you to some places to visit in the future. He has nothing else to do anyway.”

Yun Xian opened his mouth. He wanted to argue that a café owner was not a person who had nothing to do, but after thinking about it, he gave up and continued to watch his game.

Yun Xian saw that Xia Zhi was about to go to Yun Qian’s room, he immediately got up to stop her, “I’ve already talked to him. Don’t upset him any more.”

Xia Zhi turned around and shook the folder in her hand. “Oh, so I can’t give this quiz to your baby brother this evening? What kind of evil villain am I in your hearts?”

Jiang Yin thought the atmosphere was not right. She looked at him, then her. She was caught in the middle and didn’t know what to do.

Fortunately, they were both tired after today, and didn’t really have the strength to give the other a hard time.

It looked like Xia Zhi really just went in to deliver the quiz and quickly came out of the room.

Jiang Ying knew that Xia Zhi and Yun Xian had something to say, so she made an excuse to go back to Yun Xian’s room to take a bath.

When it was only the two of them left in the living room, Yun Xian and Xia Zhi realized that they had never really sat down and talked. In this type of ordinary situation, both sides did not know how to begin. They were unfamiliar with each other, like they were strangers.

The commentator on the sports channel was pumping his arms in the air excitedly. At a decisive moment, the ball flew in the air, and the entire audience was focused on it.

Yun Xian realized that he had seen the live broadcast earlier. He reached for the remote control and wanted to change the station.

Xia Zhi sat on the sofa and asked softly, “Do you always think I don’t understand you?”

Yun Xian pressed the button.

“No one knows better than me what shoe size you wear, what you like to eat, what you don’t like to eat, and what your personality is like.”

“Are you certain?” Yun Xian’s voice was calm and affirmative. “What I like, what I am happy about, and what I am unhappy about. Are you really certain?”

He turned to Xia Zhi and said, “I don’t know if Yun Qian has the same feelings, but sometimes I really feel like I’m just your student.”

After a pause, he said, “Actually, I’m not even as good as one of your students.”

He didn’t know which sentence was a direct hit to Xia Zhi. She frowned and raised her voice to question, “What are you talking about? Aren’t the things I do for your own good? Which student do I worry more about than you? In order to give you a life, don’t you know how much I have suffered for you?”

“Of course I know! How many times do you think you have said that in front of us over the years? What you have sacrificed, what have you had to give up, what you have paid for this family? I’m tired of hearing you talk about it all the time.”

Yun Xian tried his best to control his emotions and lowered his voice, “You think my resignation is nonsense. You think Yun Xian’s truancy today is nonsense, but do you know?”

He suddenly stopped and looked away. Tears formed at the bottom of his eyes. “How fucking depressing it is to be at home.”

Xia Zhi put a hand to her heart and gasped a few times. She was so choked up that she could not say anything.

She looked at Yun Xian. They were physically very close but felt very distant.

She remembered when Yun Xian had just learned to walk, she stood there and let her hand go. The little child staggered forward a few steps before he turned his head to look for her. Then, he waddled into her arms.

He was so attached to her when he was young. Why did he want to run away from her and his family the more he grew up?

Xia Zhi doesn’t want to argue with Yun Xian. He rarely went home. She doesn’t want them to leave on bad terms like last time. Yun Xian didn’t even come back for New Years.

Okay. That’s it, Xia Zhi thought. She always said that Yun Chengfan was a failure as a father. Now, it seems like she didn’t score as well either.

There was a long silence in the living room. When the movie channel’s evening programming was about to start, Xia Zhi pushed her glasses up and asked Yun Xian, “When will you leave tomorrow?”

The tone was the usual one, as if the hostility just now had not happened.

Yun Xian answered in a hoarse voice, “Eight o’clock in the morning.”

“Go to bed early. You and Xiao Jiang are tired.” After that, she took the stack of papers and went back to her room.

Jiang Ying hid behind the door and listened for a long time. Finally, when Xia Zhi returned to her room, she opened the door softly.

Seeing her coming out, Yun Xian asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that I’ve taken a bath. Go and take one.” Then, she yawned.

Yun Xian took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. They were bloodshot. “If you’re sleepy, go to sleep first.”

Jiang Ying nodded and went back to the room.

Yun Xian’s bed sheets were dark blue. There was no other furniture in the bedroom except a black desk and a dresser. Jiang Ying lied down under the blanket. She closed her eyes, and vaguely heard someone enter the bathroom. The dresser opened and closed. Just before her mind was about to go blank, she suddenly remembered that her mobile phone was still in her bag in the living room. Also, she forgot to set an alarm.

She could only use all her will power to get up.  She squinted and saw Yun Xian laying on the sofa with a blanket.

“Are you going to sleep here?” Jiang Ying asked.

“Yeah, Yun Qian’s small bed can’t fit both of us. He has to get up early to go to school tomorrow.”

“The sofa is too small.”

“It’s all right, it’s just one night. Go to bed.”

Jiang Ying touched the back of her neck and contemplated for a while. She decided to not let her boyfriend, who went through so much today, be mistreated. “Don’t sleep on the sofa. So, um, remember to turn off the light when you come in.”

With that, she took her bag and quickly shuffled back to the room. She left the door open.

Behind her, Yun Xian held the blanket and thought about it for a long time before he came to a decision. He smiled helplessly. He folded the blanket, turned off the light in the living room and went into the bedroom.

The switch clicked and the room fell into darkness.

A corner of the bed was left uncovered. Jiang Ying felt someone lay down beside her. She turned around and put her arms around Yun Xian’s waist and buried herself into his arms.

Yun Xian held her and she adjusted her position to make it more comfortable.

“If you can’t sleep, then I can talk with you.” Jiang Ying’s voice was tired and softer than usual.

“Do you remember the wish you made on your birthday?”

Jiang Ying thought for a while and realized that she did not remember. Perhaps she was too sleepy, or perhaps she really forgot. “What did I wish for?”

“You said that the wish you made last time did not come true, so you wished that all those who suffer from insomnia would have a good sleep tonight.” Yun Xian kissed Jiang Ying on the forehead. “Your wish came true. I slept well that day.”

Before falling asleep, Jiang Ying said her last words drowsily, “Then in the future I will make all my wishes about you.”