Just A Mistake

Another rainy season had arrived.

Raindrops pattered against the window, turning into droplets that left transparent trails on the glass. Just then, a handprint appeared on the glass—a pale, delicate hand pressed against it, as if trying to catch the raindrops in its palm.

"It's raining," Bai Yuyou said softly, her gaze piercing through the glass to look outside. The towering buildings were shrouded in rain, hazy, indistinct, a blur of chaos and mist.

"What are you looking at, Yuyou?" Tang Keke walked over, stretching lazily. "Ugh, it’s been raining all weekend. Guess we’ll just have to stay indoors."

Bai Yuyou murmured, "It’s been raining a lot lately."

Then, as if suddenly reminded of something, she asked Keke, "Keke, the flowers on the rooftop—will they be okay?"

"Oh, right. With such heavy rain, the soil might get washed out of the pots." Keke scratched her head. Ye Shuang wasn’t home right now; she was busy at the office, unable to take even a single day off on the weekend.

"I’ll go take a look," Bai Yuyou said.

"Alright, I’ll cook then."

Since Ye Shuang wasn’t around, only she, Yezi, and Bai Yuyou were left at home.

"Yezi, what do you want to eat?" Tang Keke asked as she opened the fridge.

"I’m not picky," Yezi replied.

"Not being picky is a good habit." Keke tilted her head, examining the ingredients in the fridge before pulling out a large lobster from the freezer.

"Lobster should be simple, right?"

"Yeah."

Keke and Yezi busied themselves in the kitchen, preparing lunch. Half an hour later, Keke still hadn’t seen Bai Yuyou come downstairs. Setting the dishes on the table, she looked up at the second floor in confusion.

"Is Yuyou still not done? Did she go back to her room?"

"Where’s Mom?" Yezi asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I’ll go check."

Keke went up to the second floor and finally spotted a white umbrella on the rooftop. Someone was crouched beside it, doing who knows what. She walked over. "Yuyou, what are you doing? Are the flower pots all set?"

The white umbrella wobbled like a mushroom.

Bai Yuyou turned around slowly. "There are snails."

"Snails…" Tang Keke grabbed her umbrella and stepped onto the rooftop, now damp from the rain. As she approached, she indeed saw two snails in front of Bai Yuyou, stacked together, crawling slowly.

"Yuyou, you don’t mean you’ve been watching these snails this whole time, do you?" Keke scratched her head.

"Has it been that long?" Bai Yuyou stood up and glanced at the time. "Oh…"

"What’s so interesting about snails?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"They were pretty far apart earlier. Even though they crawl so slowly, they still wound up together." Bai Yuyou’s voice was soft. "I got lost watching them."

Keke wasn’t all that interested. "They always come out when it rains, don’t they?"

"What happens after the rain?"

"Hmm… I don’t know. I guess they find a place to sleep."

Bai Yuyou suddenly said, "When it rains, they get to be together. That’s nice."

"I miss Ye Shuang."

"Huh? Didn’t bro leave just two hours ago?"

"Oh."

"We can video call after lunch, right? Go see her then. Let’s head downstairs and eat."

"Okay."

……

……

At the company office, the floor-to-ceiling windows were similarly washed by the rain, but the room remained quiet, with only the faint sound of raindrops.

"It’s really pouring today," An Shiyu remarked, glancing at the window before turning her attention to the figure behind the desk. "I’m hungry."

"Go downstairs and eat first," the figure replied.

Ye Shuang was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, typing on her computer. Dressed in formal work attire, she gave off an indescribably homely vibe.

"Why are you wearing glasses?"

"I’m a bit nearsighted. I need them for long hours of work," Ye Shuang said.

"Presbyopia?"

"Do I look that old?"

Only Ye Shuang and An Shiyu were in the office today. Anshi Yi hadn’t shown up—apparently, she was working elsewhere. Probably out there doing odd jobs somewhere.

"I’m hungry." An Shiyu rested her face on the desk, showing her round eyes, and made a fish-like call: "Ahh—"

"Didn’t you eat breakfast?" Ye Shuang took off her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and looked at An Shiyu. "Go eat first, you can start without me."

"I have a disease where I starve to death if I don’t have company for meals." An Shiyu turned her head and let out another groan.

"You’ve eaten alone plenty of times before."

Despite saying that, Ye Shuang still stood up and stretched her waist. "Alright, let’s go eat together."

"Let’s eat out."

"Don’t run around in the rain."

They chatted idly as they headed to the cafeteria. Chen Qin wasn’t there today—her mother had grounded her at home. Since she was pregnant, Mrs. Chen wanted her to rest more and take care of herself.

"I want sashimi." Standing at the cafeteria window, the girl looked inside with little enthusiasm.

"You’re such a patriot, and yet you crave those little Japanese things," Ye Shuang said.

"Oh, I meant raw fish."

"It’s got parasites."

"Tsk."

In the end, Ye Shuang ordered a bowl of soup rice noodles, while An Shiyu grabbed a fried pork cutlet rice bowl with curry sauce.

Once seated, An Shiyu unceremoniously plopped down next to Ye Shuang and stretched her legs over Ye Shuang’s thighs.

"Don’t do that."

"You want me to put both feet up?" An Shiyu asked.

"There are too many people here." Though Ye Shuang said that, An Shiyu didn’t care at all, instead kicking Ye Shuang’s calf with her shoe.

Since it was the weekend, there weren’t many people in the cafeteria. Ye Shuang looked at the playful fish beside her and figured if she said another word, An Shiyu might just lie down across her lap to eat.

"Forget it, let’s just eat."

As An Shiyu ate her pork cutlet rice, she suddenly asked, "Has the paternity test come back yet?"

"Still a few days. It’s coming soon," Ye Shuang replied instinctively, then paused. "Wait, how do you know about that?"

"Why wouldn’t I know?"

"I never mentioned this to you, did I? Did Koukou tell you?"

"No. That guy just happened to run a test at our private hospital. I found out by accident." An Shiyu shrugged, though she didn’t know whose two samples they were.

Odds were, one of them was Yezi’s, since there was no one else left to test.

Ye Shuang fell silent for a moment before choosing not to hide it anymore. "It’s probably just a misunderstanding."