Act Wantonly Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Maiden’s Thoughts

Tan Xingwei first met Su Xu at her eighteenth birthday party. It was during the summer vacation after the college entrance exams, and she had been reading several romance novels compulsively. Her maidenly feelings were stirred, so she made her third birthday wish about romance.

In the quiet, dark atmosphere, Tan Xingwei’s cheeks were flushed by the candlelight. She silently wished in her heart that she wanted to date a super beautiful older sister!

The next second she opened her eyes, and the next second she blew out the candles.

The second after that, as the ceiling light turned on, a person appeared before her eyes.

It was Su Xu.

That day, Su Xu was wearing a lotus-root pink shirt, with long, dark hair draped over her chest, sitting next to Tan Yinqing and smiling faintly at Tan Xingwei.

She said, “Happy birthday, Sister Xingxing.”

The memory was a bit distant. Tan Xingwei had been drinking that day and didn’t remember exactly what happened, only that Su Xu was late because of traffic, and she came because of Tan Yinqing’s enthusiastic invitation and the fact that her workplace happened to be nearby.

This incident didn’t have such a strong sense of scene back then because it was her eighteenth birthday, during the summer after the exams, and she had been accepted into her ideal university. Her parents had invited some close relatives and friends. Tan Xingwei had also invited many classmates, so the venue was extremely lively, and there was a throng of people when she blew out the candles.

Tan Xingwei remembered Su Xu because she was indeed the person who appeared before her eyes right after she blew out the candles, and also because Su Xu was truly too beautiful.

But this very ordinary scene couldn’t compete with Tan Xingwei’s later embellishment. For a long time after this birthday, Tan Xingwei mentioned Su Xu’s appearance many times, to friends, classmates, online acquaintances, and roommates.

On the field after losing a game in college, in her mind before sleep, when ordering at a coffee shop.

She blurred everyone except Su Xu, made the scene cramped, transformed the hotel fluorescent light into a soft, faint warm light, and changed Su Xu’s blessing amidst the crowd to Su Xu smiling faintly at her, saying happy birthday, unconcerned with anyone else.

Tan Xingwei knew the power of a first impression and wanted to be clear that her feelings for Su Xu might be entirely due to her overthinking, but what annoyed her was that in the days that followed, every time she saw Su Xu, she added another thing to admire about her.

Su Xu was gentle, Su Xu was generous, Su Xu was interesting, Su Xu was steady, Su Xu…

Su Xu was very beautiful, Su Xu had good fashion sense, Su Xu was smart, Su Xu was well-liked by many, Su Xu…

Su Xu, Su Xu, A’Xu, A’Xu…

She wanted to marry Sister A’Xu!

“Expressway?” the driver asked Tan Xingwei.

Tan Xingwei said, “Oh,” pulling her gaze back from outside the window, “Take the expressway.”

Driver: “You’ll pay the toll.”

Tan Xingwei: “Okay.”

Yes, she was going to the airport.

On this road, Tan Xingwei wanted to give up a hundred times, but she persuaded herself to go, go, go a hundred and one times.

So, an hour later, she was at the airport.

It was so far.

It was fine in the car, but getting out and approaching the exit, Tan Xingwei felt extremely nervous, unable to tell if the uneasy feeling was due to tension or something else.

Her palms were so sweaty she crumpled a piece of paper. The flight real-time app was constantly refreshing.

She watched helplessly as the plane status changed from “Estimated arrival in 30 minutes,” to “Estimated arrival in 20 minutes,” to “Arrived.”

At this moment, the only way she could ease her emotions was by taking deep breaths. Her mind seemed to think of many things at once, and then felt numb and empty, telling herself it was still not too late to leave.

But in reality, she remained standing there motionless.

People kept coming out. Some walked out lightly with just a backpack, some were alone with lots of luggage, there were elderly people and children.

The police officers preventing chaos at the exit were on the left when Tan Xingwei arrived, but now they were on the right.

A sweeping auntie accidentally bumped into someone and apologized a couple of times.

Tan Xingwei tried to clear her mind, focusing her attention on meaningless things happening around her.

Her phone vibrated suddenly. Tan Xingwei numbly took out her phone and opened the message.

It was a message from Tan Yinqing, a screenshot from the small group chat of the four of them.

Three minutes ago, Su Xu said: “I’m here.”

Immediately following, Su Xu quoted Chen Jing’s sentence: “Xingxing is going to pick up A’Xu?”

Su Xu: “Really?”

The next line was Tan Yinqing’s reply, she said: “Hard to say, not at home, don’t know where she went. A’Xu, when you come out, look carefully.”

Tan Xingwei was already nervous, and seeing this screenshot felt like the sky was falling.

She knew Tan Yinqing was joking, and Tan Yinqing probably didn’t expect her younger sister to actually be at the airport right now.

Tan Xingwei, you can still leave now.

Tan Xingwei wanted to snap back at Tan Yinqing, but she was afraid of missing the person if she replied, so she put her phone away and continued staring at the exit.

As the arrival time neared, more and more people gathered at the exit. People waiting stood outside the railing, some empty-handed, some holding signboards, some with milk tea, and some with flowers.

So, once again, Tan Xingwei extinguished the thought of leaving.

It’s just picking someone up, what’s different about you and these people?

Tan Xingwei wasn’t at the front. After waiting for so long, she no longer had the initial feeling. Whether her current calm was because her tense emotions had reached their limit or because she had come to terms with it, she didn’t know.

The longer she stayed, the more agonizing it became. Behind that wall with the strong Haicheng-style pictures, every girl who walked out made Tan Xingwei’s heart skip a beat.

Finally, after waiting for who knows how long, a girl pushed a luggage cart and walked out from inside.

Tan Xingwei’s gaze was immediately drawn, and her nervous system alarm blared.

The person wore white sneakers, jeans, a glimpse of a white camisole under a loose dark gray sweater, black-rimmed glasses, and slightly curly long hair.

First, she was beautiful, and second…

It was her.

The familiar face appeared just like that, and all Tan Xingwei felt was her heart beating violently. Without thinking, she took a step back, hiding deeper in the crowd.

Su Xu walked with long strides, glancing at her phone while walking, then looking up.

Her gaze drifted over the crowd, settling on the sign above the airport.

Tan Xingwei gripped the bouquet tightly, her legs feeling like they were filled with lead. At this moment, all she could do was stare at Su Xu, not knowing what else to do.

Four years had passed, and she seemed to have changed a lot, yet not much had changed. Previously, Tan Xingwei had only seen Su Xu with straight hair; today’s big curls made her look much more mature.

But she was still her. When confused, she would slightly purse her lower lip. Even the glasses couldn’t hide her beautiful eyes. Her high nose bridge looked good from any angle. When she lowered her head, hidden by her hair, you could still see a small sharp chin, and when she pursed her lips, there were faint, almost imperceptible dimples.

The familiar feeling struck Tan Xingwei, and unknowingly, she became even calmer.

She thought, it counts as picking her up, right? She brought flowers and watched her walk out from inside.

Maybe this is fine.

Tan Xingwei watched Su Xu silently, watching her walk around the railing, away from the crowd, spotting the sign, and striding forward.

The area around Tan Xingwei was still bustling. She stood with her back to the crowd, watching Su Xu brush past her.

Today’s task was about to end here. Tan Xingwei suddenly felt an unprecedented relaxation, even having waves of thought in her heart saying, let’s just leave it at this, this is good enough.

Just as she was about to watch Su Xu leave, the person she was looking at suddenly stopped.

Su Xu ahead pulled her cart and also stopped in place.

After two seconds of no movement, Su Xu turned around with a clear purpose.

Her toes pointed towards Tan Xingwei, the direction perfectly aligned.

In the crowd, Su Xu met Tan Xingwei’s gaze.