One Pet Gets Married

Chapter 18

"Xici..."

"Don't just... without a word..." Song Xici sniffled.

Tang You'an paused briefly, then crouched down in front of Song Xici.

The snowfall intensified, flakes dancing like cottonwood fluff, sifting down under the streetlights like chaff, evoking winter's unique desolation.

Song Xici slowly raised her head, her snow-covered hood falling back to reveal a face with a frost-reddened nose tip.

Seeing her like this, Tang You'an felt a pang in her heart.

"You've been waiting here for me?" Tang You'an asked.

"Of course! Who knows where you went! Do you know how scared I was?! When you go out, you must always keep your phone with you, understand?!" Song Xici, after a moment of silence, suddenly launched into a lecture.

"I'm sorry, I haven't developed the habit of always carrying my phone..."

"Then develop that habit right now! Keep your phone on you at all times!" Song Xici continued, her eyes red. "Now! Immediately! This instant!"

"Alright, I'll remember." Tang You'an nodded.

Song Xici glanced at her again without replying, wiped her right eye with her palm, then hugged her knees, looking sideways at the ground.

"How long have you been waiting?" Tang You'an asked.

"Why do you care how long I've been waiting." Song Xici replied sullenly.

"Are you angry with me?" Tang You'an sat beside her, turning to ask.

Song Xici hesitated, finally glancing at her before looking away without speaking.

"Were you worried about me?" Tang You'an probed.

"Worried? What's there to worry about." Song Xici's eyes widened. "Even pets evoke emotions in humans, let alone actual people, right?!"

Hearing this, Tang You'an couldn't help but smile.

"It's far too cold out here, let's go inside." Tang You'an suggested.

Song Xici nodded vaguely, like a pecking chick. But as she tried to stand, her legs gave way and she stumbled.

Her legs felt like they were crawling with countless ants, making it impossible to stand straight.

"Let me carry you." Tang You'an offered.

"It's fine... I just need a moment to stand up..." Song Xici shook her head.

She pressed one hand on the step, trying again to stand, but moved excruciatingly slowly.

After watching her for a while, Tang You'an set aside the alcohol she'd bought and stepped forward to grasp Song Xici's wrist.

"Eh?" Before Song Xici could react, she felt herself lifted. Swaying, she hastily wrapped her arms around Tang You'an's neck.

"Don't be so stubborn." Tang You'an gazed at her, her tone tinged with firmness.

"No, I..."

"I'll take you inside." Tang You'an said softly, cradling her. A strand of hair fell loose, revealing her fair neck.

Song Xici fell silent, allowing herself to be carried inside. Her arms encircled Tang You'an's warm neck, tightening slightly as she tilted her face up to observe Tang You'an's smooth jawline.

After a few steps, Tang You'an paused, looking down at Song Xici in her arms.

In the lamplight, Song Xici's eyes sparkled, her lips a soft pink.

"What's wrong, am I too heavy for you to carry?" Song Xici asked, averting her gaze.

"No, I just wanted to tell you, I won't leave without saying goodbye." Tang You'an said.

Song Xici's head whipped back to face her.

"Unless one day, you tell me to go." Tang You'an exhaled softly.

Song Xici's lips quirked upward. "Sweet talk."

A week later.

The first episode of "Literati Gathering" featuring Tang You'an officially aired.

The broadcast was set for 8 PM. Before that, the show's official account had released some GIF teasers, though the comments were mostly people coming to criticize Tang You'an.

But the production team was quite pleased. It had been a while since they'd seen such a commotion. Let them criticize; it just proved how much attention the public was paying.

The show aired at 8 PM, but Tang You'an was filming, so she only had time to check her phone half an hour after the broadcast ended.

She found that discussions about the show on Weibo had exploded.

Especially the video of her playing the piece she'd composed for Song Xici. In a short time, the reposts, comments, and likes had skyrocketed.

People were stunned.

On the trending topics, "Tang You'an's Gift for You" was first, "Tang You'an's Adorable Cluelessness" second, and "Tang You'an's Erudition" fifth.

"My God! Is this the same Tang You'an I knew before?!"

"Damn, I had my snacks ready to start criticizing, but that one piece of music captured me, I..."

"Someone stop me from becoming a fan!!! If one ox can't hold me back, bring ten!!!"

"..."

Tang You'an smiled as she read. Finally, they weren't uniformly criticizing her.

However, many still harbored malicious speculations about Tang You'an. Among the comments under her Weibo post, three were particularly popular.

SteamedBunShop: "Tsk, look at their Weibos, Song Xici doesn't even want to acknowledge her, right? That opening piece must have been composed by someone else, just trying to use my Song for publicity. How disgusting, pretending when there's clearly no love!"

SoaringEagle: "Tang You'an, you must be tired from pretending to play the zither, right?!"

SmokeWisp: "Well, Tang You'an memorized her lines well this time. Starting on the path to image rehabilitation?"

After some thought, Tang You'an picked the comment about her zither playing and replied: "Friend, you're mistaken. I played the guzheng, not the guqin. The qin has seven strings, also called a seven-stringed qin, without bridges; the zheng has twenty-one strings, with bridges. The qin pleases oneself, the zheng pleases others."

Then, Tang You'an replied to SmokeWisp: "Becoming fair-skinned has been the desire of most young women throughout history. What's wrong with me having such an aspiration?"

Finally, after a moment's consideration, Tang You'an reposted and tagged SteamedBunShop, also tagging @ActressSongXici: "Xici, she's your fan, so by extension she's practically my friend and family. I dare not speak too strongly, so regarding whether I'm using you or not, why don't you explain the situation to her?"

Meanwhile, Song Xici had just gotten her phone. Seeing Tang You'an's tag, she smiled and walked aside, tilting her head as she began typing furiously.

A few minutes later, Tang You'an received a notification that Song Xici had reposted her Weibo.

Opening it, she saw Song Xici had written: "Indeed, she's been pretending not to love me for years, that stubborn tsundere! I was about to give up. So everyone, don't hold back! Join in! Don't be polite, hit her hard! Beat her to death!"

Netizen: "Wait! Is this what they call... those two words?!"

Netizen: "Yes, dog food!"

Netizen: "(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"