Ji Zhenshi’s smile was far too heartrending. A dull ache throbbed in Li Yunli’s heart. She drew Ji Zhenshi’s hand to her own and laced their fingers together. “Back then, I was just too impulsive, so the words slipped out. If it hadn’t been such a rash moment, I might still be stuck behind that barrier even now.”
Warmth passed between their palms. Li Yunli leaned proactively into Ji Zhenshi’s arms. “Good Child, I can sort this out. Your mother was cornered with no other choice—that’s why she brought up my dad. I’ve already figured out a plan, so just focus on preparing for the show with Teacher Tang. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you: Teacher Tang sent over your work badge. The TV station invited her to perform at the Lantern Festival gala, and she’s bringing you along to play together. So practice hard, Good Child—this stage means a lot for you.”
Perhaps because she’d spoken so much, Li Yunli’s voice grew steadily clearer, like a gentle trickle of spring water caressing the heart.
Ji Zhenshi’s brows knitted tightly. Though somewhat soothed, the constant rise and fall of her chest betrayed her turbulent emotions.
“No way. My mom went too far this time. How could she lay hands on you over and over? Does she think she can get away with it because she knows you’re too refined to hit back? Why should you just take the beating? Doesn’t it hurt?” Ji Zhenshi burned with rage. Every glance at Li Yunli’s disheveled face stabbed her heart anew.
A crack had marred the flawless porcelain jade of her beauty, leaving an eternal blemish.
Worse still, this hard-won love of hers had been casually insulted by her own birth mother. How absurd.
“Does it hurt or not?” Ji Zhenshi yanked her hand free and demanded coldly.
In truth, she was kicking herself. No matter if she was there or not, she hadn’t managed to protect Li Yunli properly.
Was it because she was still too young, too weak to even shield the one person she loved?
The sharp, frantic questions struck Li Yunli across the face. Li Yunli’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. “Xiao Zhen…”
Her temper had flared up again. She was spiraling into that stubborn rut once more.
Of course it hurt.
How could Ji Zhenshi possibly understand the helplessness Li Yunli had felt, huddled alone in the corner with no solutions in sight? For so long, she hadn’t been able to calm the storm inside her—and the stinging pain on her cheek was a stark reminder of their current predicament.
Perhaps Ji Zhenshi would never know that, during that stretch of time, Li Yunli had even considered breaking things off.
She couldn’t drag Ji Zhenshi down with her. She couldn’t let Xiao Zhen end up estranged from everyone. She refused to become a burden on Xiao Zhen.
Yet right at that critical juncture, her voice had returned—leaving her torn between contradictions.
In the end, the moment she laid eyes on Ji Zhenshi, everything became crystal clear. Ji Zhenshi was the sole ray of warmth in her life.
Let her be selfish just this once and hold onto Xiao Zhen. She had chosen Xiao Zhen. She couldn’t bear to let her go.
But in doing so, she had given Ji Zhenshi every reason to walk away.
That was why she’d said it earlier: she respected every decision Xiao Zhen made. Xiao Zhen would always be free.
Li Yunli had surrendered all the power, ensuring Ji Zhenshi always had an out—simply because she loved her that much.
“Your eyes give it away—you’re in pain, Li Yunli.” As she spoke, Ji Zhenshi rolled up her sleeves. “Didn’t she used to ignore me completely? Weren’t her eyes always fixed on Ji Tingjun, the one who could carry on the family line? Now she decides to butt in? Is the woman out of her fucking mind? Do we look that easy to push around? I’m dating out in the open—who the hell loses face here? She’s pissing me off.”
Ji Zhenshi stormed past Li Yunli’s side, clearly hell-bent on confronting Yang Ying in the heat of the moment.
When someone young and hot-blooded had their crossed, rationality often took a backseat. Veins bulged at the base of her neck.
She couldn’t stomach her lover being humiliated like this—not even by her own mother.
They had made it this far thanks to Li Yunli’s quiet support. Ji Zhenshi wouldn’t let her keep suffering grievances, even if Li Yunli accepted them willingly.
“Ji Zhenshi, listen to me.” Li Yunli blocked her path with her body. Facing the raging Ji Zhenshi, Li Yunli coaxed her patiently. “She’s still your mother, after all. You go storm over there and deck her—sure, you’ll vent your anger. Then what? What’s your next move? Trading one slap for our relationship? I think it’s a fair deal.”
“I don’t care—she has to apologize to you.”
“I don’t need her apology.”
“I do!” For the first time, Ji Zhenshi screamed at her in utter hysterics.
Li Yunli froze, stunned for several long seconds. She could scarcely believe this was the same person who had held her close just moments ago, filling her with a sense of safety.
At her core, she was still just a young woman in her early twenties—too inexperienced. Impulse stripped away all reason, consequences be damned.
Ji Zhenshi’s breath caught at the sight of Li Yunli’s dazed expression. Irritated, she raked a hand through her hair. “Uh… sorry, Sister A-Yun. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just…”
With her fiery temper raging unchecked, Ji Zhenshi had nowhere to unleash it. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth before finally squatting down in utter dejection.
She was so frustrated, a breath of fury bottled up inside her, desperate for release.
But she had already scared Li Yunli once. She couldn’t do it again.
Li Yunli stood before her. That huddled lump on the floor immediately scooted closer, its forehead bumping gently against her thigh.
A muffled apology followed. “Sorry, Sister A-Yun. I didn’t mean to snap.”
Li Yunli stayed still, letting Ji Zhenshi lean on her during the awkward amends.
She could sense the lingering anger pent up in Ji Zhenshi’s heart. Gently, she rubbed the top of her head. “Be good for me, okay?”
Ji Zhenshi fell silent, as if anticipating what came next. Li Yunli took her hand, offering that reassuring touch.
But the instant Li Yunli bent down, Ji Zhenshi planted a foot on the counter and vaulted right over.
“…”
Li Yunli knew her all too well.
This girl was bolting for it— a master at playing innocent.
“If you go charging off to see her like this, doesn’t it make me look like a total failure at raising you? Is this what I taught you, Xiao Zhen? Storming in now won’t accomplish a thing. It solves nothing and just makes everything worse. If you have to talk to your mom, at least do it once you’ve cooled off.”
“Ji Zhenshi, if you walk out that door today, I’ll really get mad.” Li Yunli’s expression darkened as she watched Ji Zhenshi bolt.
The benefits of having her voice back were immediate and undeniable.
No more standing helplessly in place, watching her leave.
Ji Zhenshi’s outstretched foot halted mid-stride. She stopped dead but stubbornly refused to turn around.
Li Yunli remained rooted to the spot, eyeing Ji Zhenshi’s mulish standoff. The two lingered in heavy silence.
She didn’t dare go against Li Yunli’s wishes. Yang Ying had been right—Li Yunli was the only one who could coax any scrap of reason back into an unhinged Ji Zhenshi.
After a long moment, Li Yunli beckoned to her with a soft, coaxing whisper. “Xiao Zhen, come here.”
Ji Zhenshi’s toes pivoted slowly. In the end, she took the out Li Yunli offered.
She turned around sulkily, avoiding direct eye contact with Li Yunli’s gaze as she shuffled obediently forward. “Sorry, Sister A-Yun.”
Li Yunli shot her a mildly reproachful look. “Can’t you just listen to me for once? I’ve already calmed down—you need to do the same if we’re going to fix this. Did you forget what you promised me? You said you’d grow up, that you’d shoulder our future together. What happens to that if you keep acting on impulse like this?”
Even in rebuke, Li Yunli couldn’t bear to make her words too harsh.
She had processed all her own emotions in solitude, offering only the steady calm of an elder to Ji Zhenshi.
She permitted the outbursts but always steered Xiao Zhen toward the right path.
“But I hate seeing you hurt. It just makes me feel so useless. Why is my mom like this? I’m her own daughter, but she always feels so distant—like we’re never on the same wavelength.” Ji Zhenshi gazed up at Li Yunli, her expression brimming with grievance.
From childhood onward, she and Yang Ying had been like natural adversaries, perpetually out of sync. When Ji Zhenshi couldn’t fight back, Yang Ying praised her as obedient and sensible. But the moment she started standing up for herself, she became the rebellious child.
Yang Ying had never once backed her decisions.
Li Yunli patted her chest lightly, up and down. “You’ve already done more than enough, Xiao Zhen. I know it might not be the right thing to say given our situation, but even without your family’s blessing, we’ll still love each other, won’t we?”
“Oh.”
“Good. Now head upstairs and freshen up. I’ll make dinner. Let’s turn in early tonight, okay?” Li Yunli gave Ji Zhenshi a gentle nudge toward the stairs.
A bristling Ji Zhenshi was tough to soothe, and Li Yunli wasn’t giving her another chance to act out.
Ji Zhenshi glanced back over her shoulder and nodded. She didn’t want to fight with Li Yunli over this anymore, so she headed upstairs without protest.
“Wait.” Li Yunli patted her head, then offered a smile as soft as flowing water.
In the moment Ji Zhenshi stood dazed, Li Yunli deftly slipped the phone from her bag with a faint smile.
Xiao Zhen was a pro at feigning compliance, but Li Yunli was on her guard now.
“…”
Ji Zhenshi opened her mouth as if to protest, then closed it. Under Li Yunli’s steady gaze, she turned and climbed the stairs.
Nightfall brought a cozy hush, the pitch-black sky adorned with a scatter of twinkling stars.
Tonight featured not just stars, but a luminous full moon as well.
Sly moonlight slipped through the curtain’s gap, tracing the silhouettes of the two figures entwined on the bed as they slept.
They clung tightly to each other in slumber—or so it appeared, pressed close in peaceful repose. But their erratic breathing rhythms told each the truth: neither had drifted off.
How could they sleep? The moment their eyes closed, that humiliating slap replayed, along with the coffee dashed without a second thought. Those words echoed relentlessly in their minds: “I beg you,” “Don’t make this hard on us.” So humble, yet they couldn’t even earn a shred of respect.
Li Yunli claimed to have a plan, but Ji Zhenshi still lay wide awake.
The sleeping face of Li Yunli in her arms looked serene, but her faintly quivering lashes gave her away.
Li Yunli couldn’t sleep either, could she? They lay there depending on one another, calm waters concealing turbulent undercurrents.
After what felt like forever, Ji Zhenshi hesitantly withdrew the arm wrapped around Li Yunli’s waist. She had just sat up when a pair of slender, pale hands draped across her legs.
A beat later, Li Yunli shifted from her habitual sign language to words. “Xiao Zhen, where are you going?”
Surely this girl wasn’t about to bolt again?
Ji Zhenshi flexed her arm. It was always stiff and numb from holding the same position all night, but she loved embracing Li Yunli like this—it made her feel secure.
Regaining her composure, she mustered a casual smile. “Nothing. Just want a drink of water.”
Li Yunli propped herself up and retrieved the cute little Pink Pig Insulated Cup from the nightstand. “The temperature’s just right.”
Ji Zhenshi arched a brow, paused, then took the cup and sipped. “Gonna hit the bathroom.”
Tension hung stiffly between them for an instant. Li Yunli caught Ji Zhenshi’s hand. “Xiao Zhen, I know you’re too upset to sleep. So… want to do something else instead?”
Ji Zhenshi’s pupils contracted. “Huh?”
Li Yunli guided her hand downward from her waist, nestling closer into Ji Zhenshi’s embrace. “Hug me.”
They weren’t sleeping anyway. Might as well stay awake.
Ji Zhenshi felt like she was dreaming while wide awake. Stiffly, she pulled Li Yunli into her arms.
“I want to cheer Good Child up.” After a brief embrace, a voice laced with allure accompanied Li Yunli’s soft lips as they pressed forward.
Her big sister’s way of comforting was utterly unique.
Let them melt into one another. Tonight’s union was meant to make each other’s racing hearts feel all the clearer.
Li Yunli was especially forward this evening. Amid the feverish tangle, Ji Zhenshi heard Li Yunli’s moans for the first time.
They were soft yet seductive, a stark contrast to her usual gentle warmth.
Perhaps it was the novelty of hearing Li Yunli’s voice tonight—or maybe her unusual initiative, clearly aimed at soothing her—that made Ji Zhenshi lose all restraint. She wrapped herself around those long, slender legs again and again.
In the end, a sheen of sweat beaded Li Yunli’s forehead. Her body was drenched through, even wetter than that afternoon in the bathroom corner.
Ji Zhenshi, swept up in the passion, lost all sense of restraint. Li Yunli’s delicate brows furrowed as wave after unceasing aftershock rippled through her. She had lost count.
Was she about to break?
It felt like every drop of moisture in her body had been wrung out and given to her eager partner. Li Yunli’s mouth and throat burned with thirst.
Ji Zhenshi poked her head out from under the covers and, eyeing the woman’s ragged breaths, kissed her wickedly.
She passed a mouthful of sweet water over. Li Yunli swallowed it down without thinking.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted the cup on the nightstand, untouched since she’d set it down herself. It dawned on her—Ji Zhenshi hadn’t been thoughtfully quenching her thirst earlier. No, while she was…
Shame flooded her in a tidal wave. All her prior anxieties forgotten, Li Yunli’s face burned crimson. She dug her fingers viciously into Ji Zhenshi’s shoulders as a trembling hiss escaped through gritted teeth. “Ji Zhenshi!”
She had no limits whatsoever in bed.
“Sweet water—tasty, right? It’s all yours.” Ji Zhenshi’s lips still glistened. She flashed a devilish grin.
“Not tasty.” Li Yunli couldn’t bear to dwell on the flavor.
It was mortifying. Who did something like that?
“Tch, you say one thing and mean another.” Ji Zhenshi reached for the nightstand drawer, only to discover the box inside was empty.
Their eyes met. Relief washed over Li Yunli. “That’s enough, Good Child. Tonight’s over. Carry me to the bathroom to clean up.”
She had torn open that box’s plastic seal herself. She knew it had been fresh.
Time to call it—pure comfort had left them both exhausted, minds blank to everything else.
“But there’s still another box?” Ji Zhenshi licked her lips, a touch reluctant.
Sister A-Yun’s voice was too intoxicating. She could never get enough.
Certain sounds were pure aphrodisiacs.
Li Yunli shot her a flushed glare. “Enough already. If you break me, you’ll just have to entertain yourself from now on.”
It was meant as a threat, but her voice trailed off smaller and smaller until it vanished altogether.
From here on, she’d need new ways to soothe her—even if Ji Zhenshi couldn’t sleep, slipping her a couple sleeping pills beat provoking her like this.
Ji Zhenshi paused for two beats. Surveying the disarray on the bed and Li Yunli’s body, she realized they’d truly gone overboard tonight.
Hadn’t her inner fire been extinguished? No—most of it had scorched right into Li Yunli instead.
“Fine. You go wash up first. I’ll straighten up the room.”
“My legs are jelly… Carry me there.”
“…Okay.”
