Chapter 132: The Affair Part 1

Ji Yan had already walked up to her, her sharp, unrestrained features appearing even more piercing and inquisitive in the shadows.

The girl’s panic was written all over her face. Her hands were instinctively clamped behind her back, clearly hiding something.

Ji Yan’s mind flashed back to the last time—that moment when Xu Yinian had leaned out, fragile and weak, letting her bind her wrists. Back then, she had kept quiet, playing her part better than anyone.

Ji Yan gritted her teeth.

…Betrayed again.

A dark fire ignited in her eyes as her gaze swept across the terrace.

The places to hide a person here were limited. Aside from her own room behind Xu Yinian, there was no sign of that woman named Shen. No matter how much she wanted to barge in and catch them in the act, she had to consider that a sudden intrusion might terrify Xu Yinian.

So, they like playing hide-and-seek for excitement?

The girl was already in her hands; did Shen Ruoshuang really think she could get her back?

When Ji Yan’s gaze refocused, it seemed to pierce through Xu Yinian, landing on the secret she was trying so hard to conceal behind her back.

A playful, mocking glint flickered in her eyes. She spoke slowly, her lazy tone like a lingering execution.

“How many times have I caught you now? Are you still this scared?”

She… she already found out…?

Hearing that certain, interrogating tone, Xu Yinian froze. she barely managed to restrain herself from looking back to confirm.

Ji Yan’s shadow loomed over her. As she leaned closer to her ear, the atmosphere shifted into the intimacy of two people excluding a third party. She whispered with a flirtatious, overstepping lilt:

“When she was toying with you from behind during your little affair, didn’t you have the courage to hook your finger into mine?”

The stinging itch of blood rushing to the tips of her ears left Xu Yinian’s mind and hearing blank for a moment.

It wasn’t until the blood receded that she realized—she had mistaken her for Shen Ruoshuang.

Xu Yinian breathed a silent sigh of relief, but under those suggestive words, a thin layer of crimson had already bloomed on her cheeks. She quickly shook her head.

She didn’t realize this was merely a distraction. The moment a bony, porcelain-cool fingertip silently brushed against her wrist, she flinched, her grip on the hidden object trembling.

Ji Yan’s target had always been the hands hidden behind her back.

“What are you hiding? Is there any need? It’s just something that woman named Shen sent—”

Her arrogant voice cut off abruptly the moment she touched something damp and warm.

Though she had her suspicions, her eyes dropped to confirm. She saw the garment that Xu Yinian’s small hands couldn’t fully cover, and how her own fingertip had accidentally landed right on a specific spot.

It had just been washed. Even thirty minutes ago, it would have carried Xu Yinian’s body heat, much like the undeniable, scorching warmth radiating from her now.

Touching the fabric, which wasn’t quite soft enough, Ji Yan could almost imagine how it would chafe the skin until it was faint red.

Xu Yinian couldn’t care less about Qin Jiashu anymore; she spun around in a hurry.

When she realized how her attempt to be clever had backfired, she felt as if she were drowning in shame.

She was thin-skinned. Just like when she changed clothes, she only hung those two particular items out to dry in the dorm when she was alone.

Now, not only had Ji Yan seen them, but… for the first time in her life, someone other than her mother had…

Ji Yan’s expression was subtle. She maintained her forceful, dignified facade, but the way her fingertip retracted like it had been electrocuted after a brief freeze betrayed her internal stiffness.

Ji Yan didn’t speak, and Xu Yinian couldn’t possibly find the words. Both fell into a long, awkward, and bizarre silence.

The air between them seemed to be sucked away, becoming thin and scalding.

However, they weren’t the only two present. Separated by only a half-wall, Qin Jiashu—the one Xu Yinian was actually having a “secret affair” with—was taking everything in.

She had already guessed that the three of them had moved in together, likely due to the series of events triggered by her own tip-off about the hickey.

The sudden shift in the atmosphere made her frown slightly.

At the very least, Qin Jiashu wanted to keep the fact that she lived right next door a secret for now. She could only suppress her thoughts and watch the situation unfold.

“…Are you out here hanging laundry?”

Ji Yan’s voice was a bit hoarse, but it wasn’t the awkwardness Xu Yinian expected.

Clearly, everything was now plain to her. Xu Yinian’s late-night trip to the terrace, her secrecy, and her panic all had an explanation.

Which meant—she hadn’t seen Shen Ruoshuang.

Ji Yan hadn’t realized she could be satisfied so easily.

Xu Yinian gave a vague mumble of agreement, using her usual submissive demeanor to hide the guilt flickering in her eyes.

“Just now…”

“Don’t… don’t say it…!”

She had planned to act as if nothing happened, but at those two words, Xu Yinian’s brain, which was trying so hard to stay calm, exploded. She blurted out the words to stop Ji Yan.

She hadn’t forgotten that Qin Jiashu was right there.

In Ji Yan’s eyes, the girl was both shy and anxious, the rims of her eyes flushed red, looking exactly like a rabbit driven to the point of biting.

Only in moments like these did a trace of unforgettable, charming defiance peak through her facade of mundane restraint.

The desire to tease her grew stronger. Ji Yan’s voice trailed off with a deliberate lilt, asking something she already knew the answer to:

“I was going to say I heard a noise on the terrace and guessed it was you. What am I ‘not allowed’ to say? Hmm?”

After being “cuckolded” right in front of her face that night, Ji Yan’s paranoia had reached a fever pitch. The calmer her “virtuous” love rival appeared, the more she felt something was wrong.