Give Me Another Smile

Yin Zhao-an hung up the phone in a huff. However, when she looked up and saw her mother looking her way, she quickly swallowed her anger, leaned back against the bed, and closed her eyes.

Moist and messy hair, flushed cheeks, a loose bathrobe that revealed the collarbones, moist and gleaming eyes that looked around at a loss...

"Dammit..." Yin Zhao-an cursed under her breath and raised her eyes to cover her ears which were starting to heat up. Then, she opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling, the images in her mind lingering and continuously appearing in front of her eyes.

There was an answer within her heart, ready to come out. However, it was smothered by an unknown resistance before it could do so.

Turning to stare at the bright lights outside the window, Yin Zhao-an started to have a vague idea of what she truly desired…

…

Tang Yu wore a black baseball cap and a light gray shirt to the hospital, the hem of the shirt neatly tucked into her black pleated skirt. She carried two plastic bags in her hands, one holding two freshly baked custard buns and the other holding a bowl of lotus seed congee.

Tang Yu appeared in Yin Zhao-an's ward without warning, startling Yin Zhao-an, who had yet to brush her teeth and tidy up her appearance.

When Wang Zhen saw her daughter hiding under her quilt, she shook her head in exasperation.

"Good morning, Auntie," Tang Yu said, smiling sweetly as she handed the bag holding the custard buns to Wang Zhen.

"What brings you here so early, Little Yu? Have you had breakfast yet?" Wang Zhen asked as she accepted the breakfast and pulled Tang Yu over to sit on the sofa, her face full of affection.

"I've had my breakfast already," Tang Yu answered. Then, when she noticed through the corner of her eyes that Yin Zhao-an was still hiding under the quilt, she placed the congee on the coffee table and deliberately turned up her volume as she said, "I bought this for An-An, but I don't know if she'll like it or not."

Upon hearing herself being mentioned, Yin Zhao-an poked her head out from under the quilt. When she looked at the harmonious interaction happening over at the coffee table, her stomach growled, to her dismay. To make matters worse, the sweet scent of lotus seed congee permeated the ward, constantly tempting her.

While Yin Zhao-an was debating whether she should disregard her image and come out from hiding, Tang Yu brought the congee over and sat next to the bed, her mouth curling into a mischievous smile.

"The congee is going to get cold if you don't get up soon," Tang Yu softly said, her voice as crisp and clear as a flowing mountain stream.

Subsequently, before Yin Zhao-an could offer any response, a voice filled with sadness entered her ears, the voice saying:

"I understand. You don't like me. I'll put the congee here, so drink it later..."

After saying so, Tang Yu put the congee on the bedside table. She also made sure she dropped it with a thud so that a certain someone could hear it.

Then, as Tang Yu anticipated, the person under the quilt immediately stretched out a hand and grabbed her by the wrist. Even so, the other party refused to show her head, and Tang Yu could only hear a muffled voice coming through the quilt:

"Don't go."

"You don't like me, so I don't want to upset you by staying," Tang Yu said, looking disheartened. Inwardly, though, she was already grinning widely.

The person under the quilt was momentarily stunned. Then, she gradually pulled the quilt away, revealing a head covered in short stubbles.

"...I never said I didn't like you," Yin Zhao-an said while avoiding Tang Yu's gaze.

After a month, Yin Zhao-an had already regrown some of her hair. However, as the doctors who shaved her head weren't barbers, they didn't do a very good job shaving her.

By the looks of things, the doctors probably only did a single pass through Yin Zhao-an's hair with the shaver before focusing only on the parts they needed to operate on. As a result, Yin Zhao-an's regrown hair was very uneven. If someone with a severe case of myopia were to look at her from afar, they'd probably think they were looking at a strange football.

Tang Yu personally found Yin Zhao-an's current look quite funny. It was ugly but funny. This remained true even after factoring in Yin Zhao-an's beautiful facial features.

However, Tang Yu couldn't bring herself to laugh, especially not when a certain someone was doing her best to avoid her gaze. She'd be evil if she were to laugh and joke about Yin Zhao-an's current appearance.

Suddenly, Yin Zhao-an felt a gentle touch on her head. When she looked up, she saw Tang Yu looking at her with a gentle expression.

"It's cute, but it's a little prickly."

Yin Zhao-an knew Tang yu was trying to comfort her, so she silently accepted this favor and said with a grin, "I'll grow my hair long so that it won't prick you anymore, then."

".........Okay."

Wang Zhen had only left the ward to fetch some hot water for a short moment. When she returned and saw the two young girls practically flirting with each other, she couldn't help but sigh at how difficult it was to understand young people nowadays.

Originally, Yin Zhao-an had planned to wear a hat to cover her ugly hair should Tang Yu come to visit, something she never considered doing in front of Wen Tao and Zhao Yu. However, after this small interaction, she no longer felt the need to do so.

Meanwhile, with her mother's help, Yin Zhao-an finally washed up and prepared herself for breakfast. When the warm lotus seed congee entered her stomach, she promptly felt her limbs warming up.

"Has Auntie gone on a business trip again, Tang-Tang?" Tentatively, Yin Zhao-an asked, "Have you been cooking meals yourself?"

Tang Yu was in the middle of peeling an orange for Yin Zhao-an when she heard the latter's question. After a slight pause, the corners of her mouth inadvertently curled up as she said, "Yes."

"Oh, that's good, then." Yin Zhao-an nodded while stirring the congee with the spoon. "You must eat well, and you mustn't skip meals."

This again... Tang Yu had already heard this same reminder from Yin Zhao-an many times, and she couldn't help but feel puzzled. Why would Yin Zhao-an be so concerned about her diet?