After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 74

Chapter 74:

The last day of May happened to be the Dragon Boat Festival. Yuncheng had already entered early summer. The weather was good, and there were many tourists.

The subway station gates were spitting out a dense crowd of people, and pedestrians were shoulder to shoulder. The electronic screens at the entrances of major scenic spots were constantly refreshing the real-time passenger flow, and every number was staggering.

The hustle and bustle drowned out the entire city, but Huai Xing didn’t feel it at the moment, because after she had returned to Yuncheng in the early hours of last night, she had slept until noon before waking up.

She was in a daze for a few seconds, staring at the somewhat unfamiliar light fixtures, before she remembered that she was now in the guest room of the Wen family.

In the past few years, she had not refused Wen Ruyu’s invitation when she returned to Yuncheng and had stayed in this guest room every time.

But she had refused before because of Chu Wantang.

Thinking of Chu Wantang, she took out her phone and unlocked it. As expected, Chu Wantang had sent her another message.

In the past half a month, the two companies had been discussing more details online because they were going to continue to cooperate, and she and Chu Wantang had also had some simple work exchanges.

In addition, Chu Wantang would also send a few pictures of the water she was drinking every day, and would tell her that she was drinking warm water.

It was like checking in.

She ignored and did not reply to all of them. Her casual chat had long since been paused at the sentence that she was still short by two yuan.

And now, in the water photo that Chu Wantang had sent, the glass was clearly a hotel glass, and the background also had the familiar furnishings of a Junling Hotel room.

All the information was on the surface.

Huai Xing still didn’t reply. She exited the chat box, put on her slippers, and opened the door. The smell of food floating in the living room went straight into her nostrils.

Wen Ruyu was busy in the kitchen, and the sound of the range hood could be heard.

“Xiao Xing,” Lu Xianyue said, eating the lychees that Wen Shiwei had peeled on the sofa, her eyes curving. “You’re finally awake.”

Wen Shiwei also looked at Huai Xing and smiled. “You’re just in time, Xingxing. It’s almost time for dinner.”

With that, she handed another peeled, crystal-clear lychee to Lu Xianyue. The young lady Lu did not reach out to take it, but opened her mouth and bit it in this position, staring at her.

Wen Shiwei raised an eyebrow and did not back down, watching her bite off a piece of lychee and swallow it.

Huai Xing: “…”

She couldn’t bear to look at this scene and replied, “Okay.”

She still didn’t know what the progress was between Lu Xianyue and Wen Shiwei, but she felt that the answer was already out. Lu Xianyue was reluctant to part with Wen Shiwei for the three-day holiday and even followed her home.

After Wen Shiwei’s work was transferred to Haicheng, Wen Ruyu had also been there a few times. She and Lu Xuerong were old acquaintances because of Huai Zhao, and Lu Xianyue was Lu Xuerong’s niece, and she was also good at talking. She also liked Lu Xianyue from the bottom of her heart.

She was very welcoming of Lu Xianyue’s coming, but she didn’t know if she knew what the relationship between Wen Shiwei and Lu Xianyue was now…

By the time Huai Xing had finished washing up, lunch was also all on the table.

Wen Ruyu was now living a relatively carefree retired life. For her, the joy of the festival was mainly to cook a meal for the children. Seeing everyone happy would make her feel very good.

Under Wen Ruyu’s watchful eye, Lu Xianyue was not as unrestrained as she had been on the sofa just now. She sat next to Huai Xing, and Wen Shiwei was opposite her.

Wen Ruyu sat at the head of the table, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes piling up, her voice becoming more and more steady. She raised her drink glass. “Eat hard. Try to finish everything on the table.”

Huai Xing looked at the few dishes and zongzi on the table and called out, “Auntie Wen.” She took one of the zongzi and compared it to her fist. “Just this one zongzi, can we still eat anything else after we eat it?”

Wen Shiwei: “Mom, you’re really exaggerating. You know best what our appetites are like. It might be better if Ah Yi were here.”

Lu Xianyue raised her hand and promised, becoming a traitor. “Auntie, don’t worry. I definitely won’t be the one who eats the least.”

“Eat slowly, eat slowly,” Wen Ruyu said with a smile. “Let’s start, Xiao Huai and Xiao Lu. Don’t be so reserved with me, or I’ll get angry.”

“We won’t,” the two of them said in unison.

The atmosphere of this meal was very harmonious. They chatted about work for a while, about the progress of Xia Yi and his girlfriend, and about food, and it was almost over.

At the end, Wen Ruyu asked Huai Xing, “Xiao Huai, when are you going to the cemetery?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“You can take Auntie’s new car then.”

Huai Xing nodded. “Okay.”

In these years, she had often gone to see Huai Zhao alone, and Wen Ruyu would not follow.

“Then are we going out to play today?” Lu Xianyue asked, wiping her hands with a wet wipe. She had been eating hard just now to leave a better impression on Wen Ruyu, and she was a little full at the moment. “But there are also a lot of people in Yuncheng, and there are tourists everywhere.”

Wen Shiwei was clearing the dishes and said very naturally, “I have an appointment to meet my high school classmates.” She looked at Lu Xianyue opposite her and asked slowly, “Do you want to come with me, Xiao Xian?”

“Okay, okay…”

Hearing this conversation, Huai Xing glanced at Wen Ruyu.

She saw that Wen Ruyu’s gaze was also on the two of them, without any worry, but with a bit more curiosity. Sensing Huai Xing’s gaze, she winked at Huai Xing, as if asking: Are they together?

Huai Xing nodded, then shook her head.

She mouthed back in a daze: I didn’t ask.

Wen Ruyu immediately said that she was not good enough, and then said, deliberately asking, “Does Xiao Huai want to go with them too?”

Huai Xing’s eyes widened. What kind of trap was Wen Ruyu digging for her!

She immediately stood up and followed to clear the dishes, quickly saying, “I won’t be going with you.” Her smile spread across her face. “I’m going to stay at home. I’m too tired from work. I’ll rest more during the holiday.”

With that, she took the dishes and fled to the kitchen, leaving the three of them at the dining table laughing.

When the dining table was back to its usual clean state, Wen Ruyu took a basket of lychees and went out to find her mahjong friends, leaving only the three young people at home.

Huai Xing sat down on the single sofa, peeled a lychee for herself, and asked, “When are you guys leaving?”

“Two-thirty,” it was Lu Xianyue who answered. As soon as her elder left, she returned to her usual style, a little bolder, and leaned against Wen Shiwei to play on her phone.

Wen Shiwei sat up straight and said, “You’ve met all those friends of mine before, Xingxing. They even asked me about you before, saying they missed you.”

The two of them had grown up together, and Huai Xing had played with Wen Shiwei before, so it was only normal for her to know Wen Shiwei’s friends from middle school.

But now, hearing her say this, Huai Xing’s lychee-peeling motion couldn’t help but pause.

Please! Sister Shiwei! Can you just say such things now? The person next to you is a big jealous person!

Although she and Lu Xianyue were very good friends, Lu Xianyue would still be jealous. Otherwise, in the past, Lu Xianyue would not have angered Wen Shiwei every few days. She had always known that Lu Xianyue’s purpose in doing this was to shift Wen Shiwei’s attention from her to herself.

Then what Wen Shiwei had just said was a big taboo.

As expected, Lu Xianyue was no longer leaning against her. She fell to the side, pretending to be fine and continuing to scroll through her phone.

Huai Xing took a few lychees and fled the battlefield without stopping. It was better to leave it to Wen Shiwei to solve.

In the living room—

Wen Shiwei propped herself up with one hand, lowered her eyes to look at Lu Xianyue’s profile, and the atmosphere remained stiff for about ten seconds before she stood up and knelt down in front of Lu Xianyue, her hand on Lu Xianyue’s stomach, rubbing it through her clothes. “You don’t have to put on a show in front of my mom. Are you feeling very full?”

“…” Lu Xianyue turned over, leaving her a back, her fingertips still tapping the screen, and she said, “I’m not uncomfortable at all.”

Wen Shiwei moved closer again, bent down, and said in her ear, “They asked me when I would bring you to meet them. I said today.”

“Don’t be angry with me, Xiao Xian.”

Lu Xianyue felt her ears itch, hummed lightly, and still did not turn around.

But she held up her phone and showed the screen to the woman behind her. On it was a new message she had just sent to Wen Shiwei: [Hurry up and coax me! wsw!]

“I’m coaxing you,” Wen Shiwei said very gently, taking the phone and planting a kiss on her cheek.

The first time she was kissed by the person she liked, Lu Xianyue was stunned on the spot. Her long lashes trembled, and she turned over to face Wen Shiwei, pointing to her other cheek, her cheeks flushed red, her voice very light. “And this side.”

Huai Xing in the guest room knew nothing and silently ate the few lychees she had taken.

She was so full. She didn’t know if it was from eating “dog food” or from eating.

Just as she threw the disposable gloves into the trash can, her phone rang on the cabinet.

She took the phone, glanced at the caller ID, and swiped to answer. “Sister Suisui.” She smiled. “Did you see the flowers?”

The performance of “Mist” in Haicheng was scheduled for the Dragon Boat Festival, which was also in time for the May schedule, but the schedule was more compact. Taking advantage of the large holiday traffic, Lu Zhenyue had to perform consecutively at two-thirty in the afternoon and six in the evening.

Huai Xing and Lu Xianyue had both come to Yuncheng, and Lu Zhenyue was in Haicheng by herself.

Because it was the premiere of “Mist” in Haicheng, under such circumstances, after discussing with Huai Xing, Lu Xianyue had asked a flower shop to send two rows of envelope bouquets that Lu Xianyue thought were effective to the venue. The greeting card would have words like “successful performance” and would also be signed with their respective nicknames.

Lu Zhenyue chuckled lightly. “Hmm? Did you send me flowers? I didn’t know.”

“Oops, then did I spoil the surprise?” Huai Xing also laughed.

“I did receive them, but I’m calling you for something else.”

“What is it?”

“Seeing that you’re so busy, I wanted to ask if you’ve prepared a formal dress. The old lady’s birthday banquet is in half a month. If you haven’t, I’ll make an appointment for a custom-made one.” Lu Zhenyue said, “It’s the same for Xianyue.”

Huai Xing pondered for a few seconds and replied, “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Sister Suisui.”

“No trouble, Xiao Xing. Just send me your measurements later.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, the flowers are beautiful. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

After the call, Huai Xing sat down in her chair.

She held her phone and pulled up her chat with Chu Wantang, and then opened the water photo from this morning again, as if she were confirming something.

On the other end, Chu Wantang had already arrived at the cemetery. She had often come here in the past few years, with a little hope of meeting Huai Xing here. But if Huai Xing was intentionally avoiding her, she would definitely not get her wish.

Today, she had not brought flowers, but mugwort.

She placed the mugwort to the side and knelt down to skillfully clean Huai Zhao’s tombstone until it was spotless.

“I saw Xingxing, Auntie Huai,” Chu Wantang said, looking at Huai Zhao’s photo, a rare smile on her face. “I know she must have told you about her current life, happy, joyful, and beautiful. I can prove for her that what she said is true.”

“She’s very capable in her work now, has a strong presence in the business world, and is also taking good care of herself. She even tells her friends not to eat cold things, and she’s getting more and more beautiful… It’s just that she doesn’t need me anymore.”

The weather was fine, and there were many people at the cemetery for the Dragon Boat Festival.

At this point, Chu Wantang paused, closed her eyes, and recalled the fragments of her time with Huai Xing recently. She was happy for Huai Xing’s current life, but she was also sad that she had been excluded from Huai Xing’s world.

After a while, she took a deep breath and then continued to chat with Huai Zhao, waiting as she chatted. But after a long time, she still hadn’t seen Huai Xing. She wasn’t in a hurry to send a message to Huai Xing, because since Huai Xing had had Ding Rong pass on the message to her, Huai Xing would definitely appear. Especially since their relationship had clearly softened, the situation in Nancheng where she had come but Huai Xing had stood her up would not happen again. This was a kind of trust.

And even if Huai Xing used the same old trick, she would not have any problem. If this could make Huai Xing feel better, so what if she had made a trip for nothing?

Whatever Huai Xing did to her, she should bear it. She hadn’t even had this opportunity in the past five years. She should cherish it now.

She stayed at the cemetery until the sun was setting and the dusk filled the sky. Only then did Chu Wantang stand up and bow to Huai Zhao again, and walked back.

She hailed a taxi on the side of the road and looked at the unanswered message, not feeling disappointed.

The return trip was a bit congested. She took the opportunity to open Weibo, and Weibo tactfully pushed Lu Zhenyue’s post to the top.

She knew that Lu Zhenyue would be performing in Haicheng today and was even glad that Huai Xing had returned to Yuncheng. But looking at the two rows of envelope bouquets, and the “lucky” English on the greeting card, her fingertips were once again frozen.

Although Huai Xing was not in Haicheng, she had still sent flowers to Lu Zhenyue.

The colorful clouds were shattered in Chu Wantang’s brown pupils, forming an orange halo. She exited Weibo, opened the pinned WeChat chat, and her fingertips hovered over the input method. The question she had wanted to ask at the hotel door on the rainy night in Haicheng appeared in front of her eyes again.

Actually, the answer was already very obvious, right?

Huai Xing and Lu Zhenyue would hug when they met, and they would also hug when they parted.

When Lu Zhenyue came to Haicheng for a promotion, Huai Xing would send flowers. Now that they were in different places and couldn’t see each other, there would still be flowers to express her feelings. Oh, and that unremarkable crocheted small ornament was actually worth a separate Moments post from Huai Xing.

“Ma’am, we’re here,” the taxi driver’s voice sounded in the car.

Chu Wantang paid the bill and got out of the car numbly.

Perhaps the air conditioning in the hotel lobby was a little low, otherwise, why would she be freezing all over again?

Several results that she was unwilling to believe turned in her mind. Her breathing became more and more difficult, and her heart seemed to have become a shattered porcelain vase, in pieces.

When she returned to her hotel room, she sat down on the sofa. Unconsciously, the night had enveloped the city.

After a long while, Chu Wantang came back to her senses and unlocked her phone again. She pressed her lips together tightly, her face grim as she dialed Wan Yi’s number.

Wan Yi was having dinner and answered the phone, asking, “What’s up, Wantang?”

“I have a question.”

“Go on.”

“Do you have any experience being a third party?” Chu Wantang said, looking at her own reflection on the windowpane, and said calmly, “Teach me a little.”