Act Wantonly Chapter 1

Chapter 1 She is returning to Haicheng tomorrow

“She is returning to Haicheng tomorrow”

Tan Xingwei stared at the message her older sister sent and fell into deep thought.

It was already very late, and the chirping of insects could be heard outside the closed glass window. Tan Xingwei was momentarily lost in thought because of this message, as if recalling some past events.

But she quickly came back to her senses, because there didn’t seem to be much to recall.

A minute later, Tan Xingwei opened the itinerary software and typed “Haicheng” in the destination field.

So the question was, where was the departure location?

When she clicked on the departure location, the keyboard automatically popped up. Tan Xingwei only typed a “y” and stopped. Then, with a push of her finger, she closed the itinerary software from the background and returned to work.

However, after typing a passage, she realized there were three typos in ten characters, and she knew something was wrong.

Four years ago, Su Xu went abroad for further studies. The only known facts Tan Xingwei had were that she was studying Business Administration and going to the UK.

Tan Xingwei thought for a moment, then sent a message to her older sister: “Where is she returning from?”

Tan Yinqing: “The UK.”

Tan Xingwei: “…”

Tan Xingwei asked again: “Which city in the UK?”

Tan Yinqing: “I don’t know, probably the city where she works.”

Right, asking was pointless.

Tan Yinqing added: “She quit her job.”

Right, so it wasn’t entirely pointless.

Tan Xingwei placed her phone face down and continued writing her proposal. This time, it flowed smoothly, without the need to go back and delete every two characters after typing four.

After smoothly and fluently writing three lines, Tan Xingwei gritted her teeth and forcefully hit the Enter key, but still couldn’t resist picking up her phone.

She tapped WeChat, tapped on contacts, scrolled familiarly to the letter “O,” and tapped on someone named “Oh.”

The profile picture was no longer the one she had seen last time; the new one was a screenshot from a comic. Coincidentally, Tan Xingwei had also seen this comic; its second season had just finished updating last month, and the picture was from the final episode where the protagonist successfully escaped the island and got onto a small boat.

Minimizing the profile picture, Tan Xingwei clicked into Moments.

The background hadn’t changed; it was still a picture of fireworks in Haicheng one night. The signature hadn’t changed either, still “Equally Brilliant.” The Moments, just like the last time she checked, were visible for three days, showing nothing.

Tan Xingwei returned to the main page and clicked on Friend permissions.

She couldn’t quite remember the last time she had been here. It seemed funny now; she was always fiddling with the settings in an obscure corner, clicking back and forth between “Don’t let her see,” “Don’t look at her,” “Chat only,” and “Chat, Moments, WeChat Sports, etc.”

Who cared.

The setting displayed on the screen was “Chat only.” Tan Xingwei felt she had been too childish before, so she boldly tapped the screen again, switching it back to “Chat, Moments, WeChat Sports, etc.”

Then, with another bold tap, she changed the Remarks/Nickname back to the proper/formal name: Su Xu.

Exiting this screen, Tan Xingwei noticed that the Moments section for Su Xu suddenly had a new picture.

Tan Xingwei sat up straight immediately and clicked on it.

What a coincidence, Su Xu had just posted a Moment.

The picture was a Sunset glow at the edge of a city, with the caption “The last sunset glow here.”

Tan Xingwei looked at it for a long time, zooming in and out, then magnifying it again.

It wasn’t a waste of time; she liked this Moment.

She remembered watching a video by chance where the creator would analyze the topography, shadows, and vegetation in landscape photos provided by fans to pinpoint the exact location in China.

Tan Xingwei instantly thought, if she sent this picture of Su Xu’s to that creator, wouldn’t that be…

Wouldn’t that be perverted?

Tan Xingwei nervously ran a hand through her slightly messy bangs, then slammed her laptop shut.

Buzzing sound.

Just then, her phone on the desk vibrated.

Tan Xingwei’s heart tightened, and she quickly picked it up to look.

Oh, it was her older sister.

Tan Yinqing: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

It was almost two in the morning. Since her older sister asked, Tan Xingwei saved her file and closed the computer.

Tan Xingwei: “Working, going to sleep now.”

Tan Xingwei: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Her older sister sent a picture of a currently popular modern romance drama: “The last episode.”

Tan Xingwei: “You watch it, I’m going to sleep.”

Tan Xingwei placed the computer on the desk, and her phone vibrated twice more.

She thought her older sister had another instruction, but when she opened it, it was a different message.

The profile picture she had just seen suddenly jumped to the top of the list, with the name she had just changed but hadn’t seen in a long time next to it.

Tan Xingwei’s heart nearly stopped beating.

Su Xu: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Tan Xingwei took a shallow breath and exhaled slowly.

What was the difference between her older sister asking “Why aren’t you asleep yet” and Su Xu asking the same thing?

Of course, there was a difference. Tan Yinqing added one extra word, which made it sound stiff!

Tan Xingwei gently tapped her forehead as a form of self-punishment, then opened her phone’s keyboard.

She closed the keyboard again.

Opened it again, typed a line of text: “My older sister said you are returning tomorrow.”

Su Xu: “Mm.”

A line of text flashed in Tan Xingwei’s mind: “What does returning tomorrow mean? Tomorrow according to Beijing time or UK time? Departing tomorrow or landing tomorrow?”

So wordy, so many questions.

Tan Xingwei finally typed in the chat box: “Okay, it’s late, I’m going to sleep now.”

Su Xu: “Okay, good night.”

Tan Xingwei: “Good night.”

She hadn’t entered this chat interface in a long time and had almost forgotten. At this moment, right above Su Xu’s “Why aren’t you asleep yet,” lay their last two messages from four years ago, clearly visible.

Tan Xingwei: “Was it fun?”

Su Xu: “Not fun.”

Saying that made it sound like something had happened between them, haha, nothing of the sort had happened.

Su Xu was just her older sister’s classmate, someone she called “Sister A’Xu,” four years older, four grades ahead, 5 centimeters taller than her, and someone she would hardly have an excuse to see if it weren’t for her older sister.

Thinking too much affected her nerves, and before she knew it, it was 3:30 AM. Tan Xingwei still hadn’t fallen asleep. She was more sensitive and fragile at night, and tomorrow was the weekend, so her heart felt heavy.

After struggling with herself for a while, she finally turned on the bedside lamp.

Might as well check, I can do it too.

The UK wasn’t that big, there were only a few airports, and the destination was Haicheng, narrowing the scope even further. Considering Su Xu’s last mention of seeing the sunset glow, and the fact that returning from the UK would take at least ten hours, Tan Xingwei finally locked onto the flight from London to Haicheng that was leaving tonight and arriving tomorrow afternoon.

After a good search and analysis to confirm, Tan Xingwei wrote down this flight in her memo, feeling deeply that with this perseverance and ability, she could succeed in anything.

The next day, she and Tan Yinqing went home for their routine dinner. At noon, the two sisters met at the dining table. Seeing each other’s tired and sleep-deprived faces, they shared a knowing smile.

After dinner, the two sisters sat on the sofa watching TV. After flipping through a few channels, they settled on a rerun of a variety show featuring Tan Yinqing’s current favorite male celebrity.

Mom cut some fruit and went out. Tan Xingwei picked up a piece of cantaloupe with a small fork and put it in her mouth, crunching loudly while watching TV.

While crunching, she casually asked: “How did you know Sister A’Xu was coming back today?”

Tan Yinqing leaned closer to eat cantaloupe: “She said so in the group chat.”

Their four-person roommate group.

Tan Xingwei said “Oh,” just as a funny moment appeared on the variety show. Tan Yinqing laughed and leaned back on the sofa.

Tan Xingwei also leaned back: “Is she arriving in Haicheng today?”

Tan Yinqing crunched: “Probably, she said she was getting ready to go to the airport when we chatted yesterday.”

Tan Xingwei became even more certain about the flight in her memo.

“Is she coming back alone?” Tan Xingwei asked again.

Tan Yinqing: “I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”

Tan Xingwei chuckled lightly: “Are your relationships that bad now?”

Tan Yinqing disagreed, immediately turning her gaze to Tan Xingwei: “No way, we chat in the group every day.”

Tan Xingwei said “Oh,” opened her mouth, then closed it. The question in her mind, “Is she dating someone?” remained unspoken.

Instead, Tan Yinqing said: “She asked about you a couple of days ago.”

The cantaloupe Tan Xingwei had brought to her mouth fell to the floor.

Tan Yinqing didn’t notice and continued watching TV: “She asked if you’re about to graduate from university.”

Tan Xingwei grabbed a tissue, squatted down to clean up the mess: “Why would she ask about me?”

Tan Yinqing turned and patted the small charm on her bag: “I told the group that you’ve suddenly become very conscientious and actually helped me snag this, so she asked about you.”

Tan Xingwei scoffed: “Don’t joke with me, Tan Yinqing. Who helped you grab the tickets for your concert last month?”

Tan Yinqing’s expression immediately changed: “You, you, you,” she leaned over affectionately: “Little sister is the best.”

Tan Xingwei pushed Tan Yinqing away: “Get lost, you’re disgusting.”

Tan Yinqing happily picked up another piece of cantaloupe: “It’s been almost four years since we last saw each other. You weren’t even in university when she left.”

Tan Xingwei: “Almost.”

Tan Yinqing: “So you weren’t.”

Tan Xingwei didn’t dwell on that question: “So, are you going to pick her up later?”

Tan Yinqing looked like she hadn’t even considered it. Tan Xingwei immediately seized the opportunity: “See, I told you your relationship is just so-so.”

Tan Yinqing scoffed: “I already made plans to have dinner with her tomorrow.” She thought for a moment and added: “She probably has someone picking her up.”

Tan Xingwei crunched on another piece of cantaloupe: “Who?”

Tan Yinqing shot back: “You’re asking so much, are you going to pick her up?”

Tan Xingwei crunched: “Yeah, you just found out?”

Tan Yinqing laughed, as if she suddenly had an idea. She picked up her phone from the table, tapped a few times, and then pressed the voice message button: “Sister A’Xu, Xingxing says she’s coming to pick you up.”

Tan Xingwei sprang over and snatched Tan Yinqing’s phone.

She really sent a voice message! Tan Xingwei quickly tried to recall the message.

It was too late. In the four-person group chat, someone named Chen Jing replied: “Xingxing is going to pick up Sister A’Xu?”

Tan Xingwei’s scalp tingled: “Tan Yinqing!”

Tan Yinqing waved her hand: “Just kidding, no one would believe that.” She took the phone back from Tan Xingwei: “Why are you still like this? You get so nervous whenever it’s about Sister A’Xu.”

“It was clearly you…” Tan Xingwei started to say before sitting back down: “I can’t be bothered talking to you.”

The living room fell silent again. Tan Yinqing dismissed the incident as a joke, just like many times before, and didn’t give it a second thought.

The variety show continued to play. The two of them each occupied a corner of the sofa, still the loving sisters.

Time passed, and Tan Xingwei kept checking her phone. Finally, at three in the afternoon, she received a call from a same-city courier.

She whispered a few words, glanced at Tan Yinqing who was asleep on the sofa, and quietly left the house.

Five minutes later, Tan Xingwei received the bouquet from the same-city courier.

Cool Leather Rose, Phalaenopsis orchid, Gomphrena globosa—a bouquet with a strong Spring atmosphere. Xue Fu said it was very suitable for a girl, and even more so for picking someone up at the airport.

It was beautiful, suitable for today’s weather, and suitable for the white dress adorned with a red bow Tan Xingwei was wearing, but it felt a bit too big in her hands.

So big that Tan Xingwei wanted to give up.

The main door downstairs was a huge pane of glass, currently reflecting Tan Xingwei holding the bouquet.

Tan Xingwei looked at her reflection in the glass door and thought, wasn’t this a bit exaggerated?

Maybe I shouldn’t go. Who carries such a huge bouquet without telling them beforehand? You’ll scare people at the airport.

Maybe I shouldn’t go. Why am I even going to the airport? What if someone else is picking her up and I’m just being overly sentimental here?

Maybe I shouldn’t go. Who even remembers all that stuff anyway?

Tan Xingwei let out a long sigh and started to feel conflicted again.

Her thoughts drifted back to a night four years ago.

“Then when I come back in the future, you’ll come pick me up?”

“Okay, okay.”

Chapter 2 Maiden’s thoughts