After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 24

Chapter 24: How Have I Bullied You…

In the kitchen, the small pot was steaming, and the sound of the range hood drowned out the rain outside the window.

Huai Xing, dressed in loungewear, stood in front of the stove, carefully watching the ginger shreds turning over and over in the pot. Her thoughts gradually drifted, and she couldn’t help but think of her late mother.

As a child, she had been very mischievous. Several times, she had deliberately played in the rain when Huai Zhao wasn’t looking, even stomping in puddles. Her mother would pretend to be angry, but in reality, she would quickly grab a towel to dry her hair and body, and also make her ginger soup. She would complain that the ginger soup didn’t taste good and she didn’t want to drink it.

Huai Zhao wouldn’t let her get away with it. She would only smile after watching her finish it, and then give her a delicious candy.

Over time, she got used to the taste of ginger soup.

But in the years after her mother’s death, she knew that no one would make her ginger soup anymore. She hadn’t played in the rain since, and when she felt unwell, she would just take a packet of cold medicine.

But tonight, Chu Wantang had been caught in the rain, which had awakened her memories.

Ginger soup shouldn’t be boiled for too long, otherwise, too many of its components would evaporate, affecting its efficacy. Before long, she came out of the kitchen with a bowl of ginger soup and let it cool on the coffee table.

Chu Wantang was taking a shower in the bathroom, the sound of water trickling.

She sat on the sofa for a moment, feeling a little awkward, not knowing where to look.

They hadn’t had any contact for over a week. Before that, they had been inseparable in bed, their breaths hot, feeling each other’s same body temperature and the softness of their bodies.

Now, their relationship was not as simple as just family.

Huai Xing tried her best to ignore her nervousness at the moment, but it was difficult.

She would occasionally look up at the bedroom, confirming that the person in the bathroom was indeed the Chu Wantang she had lived with for several years.

Chu Wantang…

She chewed on the name.

The person she had been missing all these days was now in front of her, and she felt a sense of unreality. But the sensation of the hug half an hour ago could not be faked.

She took a few deep breaths. The sound of a hairdryer came from the bathroom.

When the ginger soup was just the right temperature, Chu Wantang came out of the bathroom with her hair down.

The thunder came in waves, and now it had stopped. She had also shed her disheveled appearance from the return trip, looking as elegant as ever.

From a distance, their eyes met.

Huai Xing picked at her knees. She watched the woman walk towards her, slowly lowered her eyes to avoid her gaze, and pointed at the ginger soup on the coffee table, breaking the silence that had enveloped them. “Jiejie, have some ginger soup to prevent a cold.”

“Does it taste good?” Chu Wantang sat down on the other sofa, maintaining a distance, and asked softly.

Huai Xing’s eyelashes fluttered. “It’s not bad.”

“So it doesn’t taste good.”

Chu Wantang laughed knowingly, bent down, picked it up, tilted her head back slightly, and quietly drank the bowl of ginger soup.

Huai Xing lifted her eyelids and saw her sexy throat as she swallowed.

She silently retracted her gaze and didn’t look anymore.

But after Chu Wantang finished drinking, she handed over the candy she had prepared in advance. “Have a candy. It’ll make you feel better.”

“Thanks.” Chu Wantang took it without touching her hand.

It couldn’t be denied that the atmosphere was a little tense. The air seemed to have frozen. Huai Xing’s heartbeat lost its original rhythm, chaotic and disorderly, like the fallen leaves in the strong wind she had seen on her way home today, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, unable to land.

The sweet taste of the candy spread in Chu Wantang’s mouth. She glanced at Huai Xing’s face, then at the rain curtain outside the floor-to-ceiling window, and finally, her gaze landed on their distant silhouettes on the windowpane.

Only then did she slowly answer Huai Xing’s question at the door. “After the plane made an emergency landing, I contacted a car. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far. I was just in time to get back on the highway. Otherwise, who knows when the flight would have taken off.” The candy rolled around on her tongue, and the words she spoke also carried a hint of sweetness. “When I said I’d see you tomorrow, I meant tomorrow. Not a day later.”

Listening, Huai Xing felt her heart clench again. If only Chu Wantang really liked her, instead of making her heart flutter with such words and actions, only to end in a tragic outcome.

She knew this well and would not misunderstand in the slightest.

Therefore, facing Chu Wantang’s usual gentle words, she only said, “Safety is the most important thing.”

Chu Wantang’s candy-eating motion paused, and she turned to look at her.

A few seconds later, she chuckled softly. “Mm, you’re right, Xiao Xing.” She then asked, “What else?”

“What?”

“I’m in front of you now. I told you about my grievances last night. So what can you do now?” Chu Wantang asked directly and frankly.

How did she handle such a situation last time? Night, car, hug.

Huai Xing met the woman’s direct gaze and stood up to walk over.

She would keep her promises. Besides, they weren’t in bed now. They would have hugged anyway, right?

With this thought in mind, Huai Xing sat down beside Chu Wantang.

Closer, she could almost smell the sweet scent of the candy. She pressed her lips together, reached out her arms, hooked them around Chu Wantang’s shoulder, and hugged her, muttering, “Those who bully you will be punished.”

“Including you?”

Chu Wantang asked, her forehead pressed against Huai Xing’s. She closed her eyes gently, her free arm wrapping around Huai Xing’s waist, holding her tighter.

“How have I bullied you…” Huai Xing’s eyelashes trembled. Their breaths seemed to be intertwined again, and she found it difficult to say those few words.

“You have.”

Chu Wantang’s tone was serious. “You stayed at Wen Shiwei’s without a word and didn’t come home, and you didn’t send me a message.” She sounded aggrieved, her voice already tinged with a light nasal tone. “Isn’t this your home? Why didn’t you come back? I waited for you for so long… I watch the surveillance every day. I can only see Auntie Chen coming to clean, but I can’t see you.”

“But if everyone who bullies me is to be punished, then you are excluded. How could I bear to let you be punished?”

Huai Xing was speechless.

Chu Wantang seemed to have no doubt about her thoughts, so she didn’t know what kind of greed she possessed.

So in Chu Wantang’s eyes, her response to going to bed that night was a tacit agreement. Chu Wantang thought they had reached a consensus, but she had disappeared the next day and hadn’t come home.

There was a cognitive gap between them that Huai Xing couldn’t explain.

The gentle movement on her stomach pulled Huai Xing’s wandering thoughts back. Chu Wantang, who had been holding her waist, was now rubbing her lower abdomen.

She was still muttering, “Don’t give me the cold shoulder like this again.” She then asked, “You didn’t secretly drink anything cold behind my back this time, did you?”

“…No,” Huai Xing answered in a low voice. Only then did she realize that she had wrapped her arms around Chu Wantang’s neck at some point. She could still smell the familiar scent of shampoo, and within her field of vision was Chu Wantang’s profile, like a natural ink painting.

She didn’t stop Chu Wantang’s actions.

Suddenly, she recalled that night, Chu Wantang had rubbed almost every part of her body, and she also remembered that their first kiss had been on this sofa.

Her eyelashes trembled at the thought.

Chu Wantang’s eyes were lowered. She and Huai Xing seemed to be sharing brainwaves, her mind also on that night.

Then, she touched Huai Xing’s nose with her own and asked softly, “Can I, Xingxing?”

Huai Xing looked up and met her obvious gaze.

Hearing the name that was clearly used in bed, she wanted to turn her head away as a refusal, wanted to open her mouth and say “no,” but in the end, she only lowered her eyelashes.

Everything was a tacit agreement.

The rain outside lessened. Their lips were like two petals in the rain, accidentally touching, gently pressing together, with a hint of caution, gentle and slow, without a trace of urgency.

They fell into a vortex together, spiraling down.

The other was their only support.

The candy in Chu Wantang’s mouth was long gone, but a lingering sweetness remained.

Huai Xing parted her lips and let Chu Wantang’s tongue enter. She tasted the sweetness, her throat swallowing one after another, her breath filled with the same fragrance.

The hand on her lower abdomen gradually loosened, slipped under her clothes, and held her waist, her fingertips caressing it. She then used her other hand to hold her even tighter.

On the floor-to-ceiling window, their figures were stacked together without a gap. All their emotions and longings were soothed, relieved, and released in this kiss.

It couldn’t end quickly.

Only when the sweetness had faded did Chu Wantang peck the girl’s lips lightly, as a temporary end.

Huai Xing still had her arms around Chu Wantang’s neck. She buried her face in Chu Wantang’s shoulder, her breathing slightly chaotic.

She thought in a daze—

This was the most she could get. Chu Wantang was the person she liked, and her kissing and bed skills were superb. No matter how you looked at it, she had won.

She should be content. She shouldn’t make things difficult for Chu Wantang, who was so good to her.

Just as she thought of this, her chin was lifted by Chu Wantang again.

A soft kiss was resumed, interrupting her thoughts.

…

That night, Huai Xing stayed in Chu Wantang’s master bedroom. The reason was that Chu Wantang was worried about thunder again, and if they slept together, Huai Xing wouldn’t be so scared.

To maintain this persona, Huai Xing didn’t refuse. Besides, she was on her period, and Chu Wantang was exhausted from a long day of travel.

They both only had the strength to kiss.

There was no thunder before they went to sleep, but Chu Wantang still held Huai Xing’s hand.

The raindrops tapped lightly on the glass. In the darkness, Huai Xing licked her lips, which were moist from kissing.

She had to admit that, apart from the added layer of being bed partners, their relationship was no different from before. Because on such a thunderstormy day, they would have hugged and held hands in the past.

Everything transitioned very naturally.

In the white noise of nature, Huai Xing didn’t let go of her hand and gradually fell asleep.

A rare good night’s sleep.

After she started working, Huai Xing’s biological clock had become somewhat fixed. When the first alarm went off, she quickly opened her eyes. After turning off the alarm, she turned her head and saw that the spot beside her was not empty this time.

But Chu Wantang was not in a good condition. Her usually fair cheeks were now flushed with an abnormal fever, and fine beads of sweat were on her forehead and neck, soaking a few strands of her hair. Her lips were also a little chapped.

Huai Xing sat up in a panic.

She reached out to feel Chu Wantang’s forehead. It was frighteningly hot. She quickly got up and went to the medicine cabinet in the living room to get a thermometer, and then sent a message to Auntie Chen, asking her to buy a bowl of congee from the breakfast shop at the entrance of the complex. Fever medicine could not be taken on an empty stomach.

While waiting for Auntie Chen, she wiped the sweat from Chu Wantang’s forehead.

But Chu Wantang showed no sign of waking up. Huai Xing’s eyes were red. How could the ginger soup be so useless?

After a while, she saw a crystal-clear teardrop fall from the corner of Chu Wantang’s eye, and her lips moved slightly, uttering a faint whisper.

Huai Xing leaned closer, trying to hear what Chu Wantang was saying, but she could only hear a rough idea—

“Mom…”

“Why… why don’t you love me… but… but you love her child…”