After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 34

Chapter 34: How Am I Supposed to Forgive You?

The warm breath and familiar softness spread across her cheek, and the ambiguous form of address that they were both all too familiar with rang in her ears.

But Huai Xing’s mood did not lighten up—

In the past month and five days, she had looked forward to Chu Wantang treating her like this countless times, preferably followed by the reason for the cold war.

But every expectation had been in vain.

She had endured day after day like this, but what was Chu Wantang’s attitude now? Was she pretending that none of this had ever happened, that a simple “I missed you” could just gloss it over?

No.

She would not accept it.

She met Chu Wantang’s tender gaze, her eyes inevitably feeling a little sore.

This pair of beautiful eyes that looked at everyone with deep affection had, in the past period of time, hidden a faint coldness that she could not see through.

“Jiejie,” Huai Xing’s form of address for the person before her had not changed. She looked a little confused. “You’ve raised me for so long. Isn’t it right for me to protect you? If someone had come to mock me today, you would have protected me too.”

Chu Wantang’s gaze slowly swept down, passing over her beautiful features, all the way down to her constantly moving pink, moist lips.

Then, her throat moved slightly, and she looked back at Huai Xing’s eyes, a dimple appearing by her lips. “You’re right.”

Huai Xing pointed in the direction of her room. “I’m still a little sleepy. I’m going back to sleep.”

With that, she moved to the side a little and then stood up.

Before she could even take a breath, her wrist was grabbed by Chu Wantang.

Gradually, Chu Wantang’s hand slid down her wrist until it held her hand.

A gentle voice sounded by Huai Xing’s side. “I’m still a little sleepy too.”

Huai Xing lowered her eyes.

She and Chu Wantang were holding hands, their fingers intertwined, tightly connected.

She pressed her lips together lightly, then no longer hesitated to break free.

Her fingers withdrew one by one until her entire hand was free. She then put on a look of not knowing what this action meant, tilted her head at Chu Wantang, and smiled. “Then get some good sleep, Jiejie.”

After being rejected twice in a row, Chu Wantang no longer insisted and “mm”-ed with some dejection.

Huai Xing forced herself to ignore the low spirits in this response and walked towards the guest room.

As soon as the door closed, she lowered her head, clutched her chest, and took a deep breath.

In this game, as the one who was being given the cold shoulder, she would not compromise so easily.

But thinking of Chu Wantang getting angry because Xu Congyun had called her an outsider, her heart couldn’t help but soften. At this moment, she once again had the real feeling that she and Chu Wantang were indeed the closest people in the world.

However, she recalled what Xu Congyun had said. It was not hard to get some information about Chu Wantang’s past from those few words. So the Xu family had always thought she was an outsider because she had taken her mother’s surname? And combined with the dream talk Chu Wantang had had before…

Huai Xing returned to bed, at a loss for words for a moment.

She struggled for a while, took out her phone, and once again opened her chat with Chu Wantang.

Their chat history was still paused on the day she had returned from Yuncheng on April 5th.

Since then, they hadn’t even sent a single emoji.

She edited the conversation, her fingertips hesitating.

Her attitude just now had been so cold. If she showed concern now that she was back in her room, wouldn’t she seem too cheap?

Just as she was struggling, two new white bubbles suddenly appeared in the chat box.

Jiejie: [I can’t sleep.]

Jiejie: [It’s also Mother’s Day today, Xiao Xing.]

Huai Xing looked at the line of words below and didn’t check the calendar.

Working in the marketing department of “Lan Ling,” she was most sensitive to these holidays. Besides, the internet had already been flooded with promotions. This year, Sunday, May 10th was Mother’s Day. She had even sent a red envelope to Wen Ruyu this morning after she woke up.

But now, seeing Chu Wantang send such a message, she felt a little uneasy…

In the past few years, Chu Wantang had been busy with work, and she had also not had the thought of celebrating this holiday because Huai Zhao was no longer alive.

But did Chu Wantang also care about such a holiday?

Huai Xing took the jade comb and lay down on the bed.

After thinking it over, she didn’t reply with a text, but instead called Chu Wantang.

A voice was at least a little warmer than text.

No matter how tense their relationship was, it was hard for her to ignore this sentence at this moment.

The other end answered quickly, and she asked softly, “You can’t sleep either, Xiao Xing?”

This feeling was very strange. They were not far from each other, only separated by the living room and two doors, but they were talking on the phone in their respective rooms.

“Mm,” Huai Xing replied simply.

Chu Wantang knew her sleeping habits. “Where’s the jade comb?”

“In my hand.”

“I’ve always forgotten to ask. Is this jade comb from Auntie Huai?”

“Mm…” Huai Xing recalled for a moment. “My mom said it was a gift from an old friend of hers.”

Chu Wantang was silent for two seconds. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Huai Xing continued on this topic. “I looked it up later. There are several meanings to giving a comb.”

“For example?”

“For example, giving a comb to a friend is to hope that the friend’s life can be as orderly as combing hair, and that everything goes smoothly. An elder giving a comb to a junior is to hope that the junior can inherit the family spirit, regulate their own behavior, and grow up strong.” She paused here before continuing. “And in love, a comb has the meaning of ‘tying the knot,’ representing the desire to grow old with the other person, to be as closely connected as the teeth of a comb, and never to be separated.”

“There are many meanings. It all depends on how the two people understand it,” Chu Wantang commented.

“Yes,” Huai Xing said, turning over. After this topic ended, she didn’t know what to say for a moment.

The person on the other end was also silent, only the sound of breathing coming into her ears.

Huai Xing looked at the clouds moving with the wind outside the window. When the cloud she was looking at was replaced by the next one, Chu Wantang’s soft voice came through the receiver. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing. I’m looking at the clouds.”

“Are they pretty?”

“They are.”

“Then I’m pretty too,” Chu Wantang chuckled softly. “Why don’t you come and see me?”

Huai Xing replied, “I don’t see you coming to see me either.”

She would not fall for a beauty trap.

But now, hearing Chu Wantang laugh, she curled her lips, and those worries were temporarily put aside. She was not going to talk about heavy topics anymore.

There was no sound from the other end of the phone.

Huai Xing was stunned for a moment and looked at the call. The call hadn’t been disconnected, and the network was fine. Just as she was about to switch to WeChat to ask, there was a knock on the door.

“…” Only then did Huai Xing realize that she had fallen into a trap.

She covered herself with the comforter.

Chu Wantang’s voice sounded from outside the door and in the phone receiver at the same time, and the sound in the receiver was amplified under the comforter. She had nowhere to hide.

Chu Wantang’s voice held a smile as she asked, “I’m here to see you now. Aren’t you going to let me in?” She dragged out the sound. “Are you going to break your promise, Xiao Xing?”

Huai Xing played dead for two seconds, then replied with extreme resignation, “Come in.”

She didn’t get out from under the comforter. She could clearly hear the sound of the door opening, and a few seconds later, she felt the indentation of someone lying down beside her.

Chu Wantang pulled the comforter over herself and then pulled down the comforter that was covering the girl’s head.

Her clear, moist, and gentle voice reminded, “It’s hot. You’ll suffocate.”

Huai Xing turned her back to her, held the jade comb, and closed her eyes tightly, not paying any attention.

The phone call just now was her being soft-hearted.

But at this moment, her heart would be as hard as a diamond.

The tears she had shed, the soul she had lost, and the grievances she had suffered in the past month and five days, she remembered them all.

It couldn’t be denied that the atmosphere seemed to have softened a lot. Perhaps it was because of the familiar scent beside her that she really felt a lot of sleepiness.

Before she lost consciousness, she felt that she needed to seriously investigate the ingredients of the perfume Chu Wantang was wearing. Was there some kind of sleeping drug in it?

When she opened her eyes again, she was in Chu Wantang’s arms.

Chu Wantang was holding her as before, and not only that, but this time she was also holding her hand, holding the jade comb just like her.

Huai Xing stared at their clasped hands and did not show any resistance to such contact.

In fact, she even moved her knuckles slightly and watched as Chu Wantang’s fingers unconsciously followed her movements. A smile appeared on her lips without her realizing it.

At this moment, a soft female voice, still a little sleepy, sounded from behind her. “Is it fun?”

“…” Huai Xing immediately pretended to be asleep.

But it was useless.

The hand that was covering her right hand slowly tightened until their palms and the backs of their hands were pressed together even more tightly. The arm around her waist was also doing the same thing at the same time.

“You’ve lost weight,” Chu Wantang said with emotion again. “Eat more and gain it back.”

Huai Xing looked at their clasped hands, and the tip of her nose couldn’t help but feel a little sore again.

Why had she lost more weight? Chu Wantang must have known very well. So now, just talking about the result, was that a kind of evasion? Was she still trying to gloss it over?

This thought filled Huai Xing’s mind, and the thought of it made her extremely sad.

Coincidentally, Lu Xuerong’s call came through. She decisively got out of Chu Wantang’s arms, didn’t even look at Chu Wantang’s expression at the moment, and walked straight out the door with her phone, putting some distance between them.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, Huai Xing stood and talked to Lu Xuerong.

Last time, she had been in a hurry to get back to Jingcheng from Yuncheng. After sending a message to Lu Xuerong, Lu Xuerong had said that she would be coming to Jingcheng again in May, and it would be fine to meet then.

“Xiao Huai,” Lu Xuerong’s voice was very calm. “Are you free this Friday night? I’m coming to Jingcheng in two days.”

“Auntie Lu, it’s my friend’s birthday on Friday. I’ve already made plans with them,” Huai Xing offered a solution. “Is Saturday okay?”

“I also have other arrangements on Saturday.”

Lu Xuerong then asked, “Thursday night? If there’s no problem, let’s set it.”

“No problem. Then I’ll see you then, Auntie Lu.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Huai Xing sighed.

The sun was shining brightly outside, and the floor-to-ceiling window could still reflect a little of her figure. When she turned around, she saw that Chu Wantang had sat down on the single sofa at some point and was propping her head on her hand, looking at her.

Seeing that she was about to go back to her room, Chu Wantang’s expression panicked for a moment, and she called out to her, “Xiao Xing.”

“Is there anything else, Jiejie?”

“It won’t happen again,” Chu Wantang said, looking at her. “Work has been a headache recently, and the Xu family has been pressuring me to get married. I’m very annoyed and wanted to shut myself off… It won’t happen again. Can you forgive me this time?”

Hearing these words, Huai Xing took a breath and started to settle the score. “Two months ago in Yuncheng, Jiejie, you also said something similar. You said it was your fault for making me cry, and that it wouldn’t happen again.”

The tears shed in bed could still be considered a kind of playful intimacy. Chu Wantang didn’t know about the tears she had shed the morning after Women’s Day.

But last time in the elevator, her tears had once again soaked Chu Wantang’s shoulder. Chu Wantang couldn’t have not felt it.

“But obviously…”

“How am I supposed to forgive you? Now? I don’t think I can.”

Chu Wantang came to stand in front of her. Seeing that she was not resisting, she slowly reached out her arms, embraced her, and patted her on the back, saying very sincerely, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“You don’t have to forgive me right now. Give yourself some more time. I promise, it really won’t happen again.”

At the end, she kissed her ear and changed the form of address. “Xingxing, trust me one more time.”

Huai Xing didn’t hide, but she didn’t reach out to hug her back either.

Chu Wantang’s gaze moved forward, looking at their faint figures on the floor-to-ceiling window. She just felt as if Huai Xing would really disappear at this moment, and she unconsciously held the person tighter.

Huai Xing’s voice was muffled as she reminded, “You’re holding me too tight…”

“But I don’t want to let go.”

Huai Xing fell silent. She remained highly vigilant against Chu Wantang’s hot and cold, distant and close behavior.

But melting in Chu Wantang’s gentleness was not something she could control.

But although Chu Wantang said that, she still loosened her grip a little.

She then moved closer to her ear and parted her lips lightly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to hug me or forgive me right now, but don’t be angry with me anymore, okay?”