After Breaking Up With the Scheming Bad Woman 83

Chapter 83: Can You Not Push Your Luck?

This small building was composed of several reception rooms, and the doors were not locked.

Chu Wantang hooked her arm around Huai Xing’s waist and came to another small, undisturbed reception room. Outside the window, you could see the fresh scenery of the manor, which looked very much like a scene from a manga. The guests were chatting on the lounge chairs, basking in the sun, and a burst of laughter was aroused by the clinking of champagne glasses. Lu Zhenyue and Lu Xianyue were busy shuttling in the middle.

She looked up. The wind was light and the clouds were clear today, but Chu Wantang knew that Huai Xing’s heart was in a downpour like the day in front of the grave eleven years ago.

She did not answer whether it was okay or not, because she knew that Huai Xing knew what the answer was. And in such a situation, hearing Huai Xing call her by the long-awaited form of address, she was not happy at all. Her chest was filled with only heartache and regret.

Heartache for Huai Xing learning such a cruel truth, and regret for what she had done in the past.

All her emotions were stuck in her throat, making her unable to say any comforting words. She could only hold the person very tightly, and she could even ignore the lingering cramps in her own body.

Huai Xing wrapped her arms around Chu Wantang’s waist, her face pressed against Chu Wantang’s shoulder, and she stared at the painting hanging on the white wall in a daze. But she couldn’t see it very clearly, because tears were always welling up in her eyes, blurring everything.

She stubbornly did not let them fall, but the force of her hug on Chu Wantang tightened and tightened. Some memories were churning in her mind—

When she was in kindergarten, a classmate of the same age had laughed at her, saying that she had no father when the teachers were not around. For this, she had been dejected for a while, especially when she saw that those children all had two parents to pick them up. But she had not mentioned this to Huai Zhao. At that time, she had thought of herself as a little adult and did not want to tell her mother everything.

Later, it was the teachers who had discovered this. After repeated corrections had no effect, they had told Huai Zhao.

The next day, Huai Zhao had put down her work and had gone to the school to give a righteous lesson. She was a lawyer, and her identity was there. After a lesson, all those children had tearfully apologized to Huai Xing.

It was also from then on that Huai Xing, looking at her mother who was showing her a victorious smile, had let go of this matter and was no longer consumed by it.

She and her mother lived very well, and she had not seen those classmates with fathers be much happier than her. After she grew up, she felt even more that this idea was not wrong. Many of her classmates were so affected by their parents’ divorce that they had no heart to study. Many of them were fathers who had cheated, and she did not have to worry about this problem at all.

But today, she knew everything.

She had never heard her mother talk about her having an uncle and an aunt, let alone that her uncle and aunt were her father and mother.

Why? Why had she been kept in the dark? In her mother’s eyes, was she a child who could not bear these things?

Huai Xing’s breathing was irregular, and her long lashes finally could not bear the weight of her tears. Two fell from the corners of her eyes, and the crystal-clear water droplets landed on Chu Wantang’s shoulder, soaking the comfortable and high-quality fabric.

Chu Wantang’s long lashes drooped. She smelled the clear fragrance of Huai Xing’s hair and asked in a low voice, “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Huai Xing said, coming back to her senses and wanting to slowly release her arms.

Chu Wantang did not let her go and pressed her back, her tone infinitely gentle. “Not so fast, Xingxing,” she said. “Let’s hug for a while longer.”

“Thank you, Sister Wantang, but I don’t need it anymore.”

Huai Xing insisted on her own opinion and broke free from her embrace without any effort.

The air once again filled the space in front of her, flowing coldly. Chu Wantang stared at the person in front of her, only feeling that the degree of her cramps was still deepening.

The form of address had returned, and the “Jiejie” that had appeared countless times in the past was like a dream she had had.

Huai Xing’s long lashes were a little wet, and her eyes were shimmering with moisture, but it also made her almond eyes look even clearer and brighter. She looked back at Chu Wantang, and the fragile appearance she had had when she had learned the truth had disappeared. Now she looked no different from usual.

She had very smoothly hidden her emotions, not revealing too much. In the past five years, she had long since learned not to rely on anyone, and she had also long since learned to hide and deal with her own negative feelings.

To be that bright Huai Xing.

A bitter taste spread from Chu Wantang’s throat. The tears on her shoulder had evaporated very quickly, unlike the day in front of the grave five years ago, when she had let the girl drench her.

“…You’re welcome,” she said, the three words extremely difficult.

Huai Xing nodded and said politely, “Then I’ll continue to talk to Grandpa Chu.”

With that, she was about to turn around, but the woman in the qipao grabbed her wrist, and then a moist female voice sounded at her side. “Can we be a family again? Not just friends. I want to be your family…”

But she asked with no confidence.

The Huai Xing in front of her was about to be 27, not the 16-year-old she had been. Besides, there was so much of the past between them.

So much of her wrong past.

The two words “family” touched a nerve in Huai Xing.

She raised an eyebrow, pressed her other hand on the back of Chu Wantang’s hand, and then gently took the person’s hand away. And in this process, she always stared at Chu Wantang’s eyes and said, word by word, “Anyone has this right, but you don’t.”

The pulse she had felt in her palm disappeared. Chu Wantang’s chest was suffocated and bitter, and then she heard Huai Xing say, “Being friends for the sake of our mothers is already the limit, Chu Wantang.”

Huai Xing asked softly, “Can you not push your luck?”

Chu Wantang could not answer, and she did not answer.

Her temples were aching, and she asked back with great difficulty, “If it were Lu Zhenyue standing by your side just now, would you have borrowed these few minutes from her?”

“If it were Sister Suisui, the word ‘borrow’ would not have appeared.”

“…”

Huai Xing looked at her frozen expression, composed herself, pushed open the door of the room, and quickly disappeared.

Chu Wantang raised her hand and looked at the palm that had just really felt Huai Xing’s body temperature.

And at this moment, the reception room seemed to have become a refrigerator. Her whole body was covered in a cold air of minus eighteen degrees, freezing her limbs and heart. The answer to the question finally fell from her lips slowly—

“No.”

How could a person who had touched the sun get used to the cold of the night?

How could she, who had felt Huai Xing’s warmth, be content with just being friends?

But the calm words that Huai Xing had just spoken seemed to have locked her in the refrigerator forever.

…

The birthday banquet ended at night. Although Huai Xing had been “classified” as a member of the Lu family, she was not used to living at the Lu family’s house and had booked a room at the Junling Hotel instead.

Considering that Lu Zhenyue and Lu Xianyue were much more tired than her today, she had told them on her phone after she had changed out of her gown.

But as soon as she got in the car, Lu Zhenyue had run out and opened the back seat door, sitting down next to her. “I’m not at ease with you going back alone.” She then smiled. “Alright, I want to get some fresh air. It’s not bad to see the night view of Jingcheng.”

The Lu family’s driver was driving steadily in the front, and they drove out of the manor.

Huai Xing pressed her lips together and smiled, not taking this reason seriously. She turned her head to look out the car window and said softly, “I met Chu Wantang when I was 16, because my mother and her father were preparing to remarry. But both parents died in a car accident. Later, I came to Jingcheng for university and lived with her.”

“So, do you like her?”

“I did,” Huai Xing said, her long lashes fluttering, her voice a little low. “Now we’re just friends.”

At this point, she suddenly laughed. She looked at Lu Zhenyue through the light and shadow, her tone deliberately light. “When we were having dinner today, I was still thinking to myself, how come our table has such a high lesbian content? President Tan, Miss Fang, President Shen, and Xianyue…”

Lu Zhenyue met her gaze. “And you and Chu Wantang.”

“…Mm.”

“I knew about this a little late, but it’s not to the point of being unforgivable. Especially since it also involves sexual orientation, it’s no problem to be a little more cautious…” Lu Zhenyue said, crossing her legs and speaking slowly. “But Xiao Xing…”

“Please speak, Sister Suisui. Please instruct me,” Huai Xing said, her posture very proper.

Lu Zhenyue couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you really just treat her as a friend?”

“I do.”

“Then what about me? Am I also a friend?”

“Sister Suisui and I will always be good friends.”

“…” Hearing this, Lu Zhenyue chuckled lightly, the corners of her fox eyes lifting slightly. “Alright, I know.”

Huai Xing smiled faintly and did not continue on this topic, but started to talk about the birthday banquet today again.

At nine-thirty, after saying goodbye to Lu Zhenyue, Huai Xing turned around and returned to the hotel.

The smile on her face was gone, and her face looked very tired. She returned to her room, insisted on taking off her makeup and taking a shower, and then lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling without moving.

She hoped that Lu Zhenyue really knew what she meant.

And she couldn’t help but think of the moment she had subconsciously looked at Chu Wantang in front of Chu Yiming and had blurted out “Jiejie.” This matter quickly occupied her mind, covering up any other event.

It had been a full five years, and at such a critical moment, she had actually still retained such a habit. This made her a little annoyed and uneasy.

Was her feeling for Chu Wantang so hard to wash away?

She didn’t believe it.

After an unknown amount of time, Huai Xing took out her phone from the side and opened her photo album.

In the time she had been chatting with Chu Yiming later, she had taken many photos of the Huai family and saved them. Originally, Chu Yiming had wanted her to take the photo album back, but she had not agreed, especially since this photo album had been treasured by Chu Yiming for so many years.

Now, she was flipping through these photos, her lips pressed together tightly, not letting her tears fall. After a long while, she held her phone and fell into a deep sleep.

…

The next day of the birthday banquet, Lu Xianyue was busy going back to Haicheng to see her lover, and Lu Zhenyue’s schedule in Haicheng could not be missed either, so the two sisters went back to Haicheng together.

Huai Xing’s work for the time being did not require her to stay in Haicheng to handle it, so this time she gave herself a three-day holiday and would go back on the 18th. And her schedule for these three days was also very full. She had to see Su Qiao, have a business afternoon tea with Tan Yunshu and the others, and also have a meal with Tu Zhaoyu and the others after they got off work.

Actually, the Chu family had also invited her to their home. She was the granddaughter of a late friend, so it was right for her to see them again. But she had politely refused, saying that she would see them next time. She knew the reason behind her refusal—

The person she didn’t want to see was Chu Wantang.

Chu Wantang had still sent her a check-in water photo, but her face was not in the shot, and it had returned to the previous mode.

Huai Xing had not canceled her do not disturb, and she would still reply when she remembered.

But looking at the full screen of robot-like conversations, she couldn’t describe what she was feeling. So she stopped thinking and exited.

On the afternoon of the 17th, Huai Xing came to Su Cheng’s fashion design studio.

She knew that the “price” Su Cheng had paid for giving birth to Su Qiao was to take five million from her family. Now, Su Cheng’s studio looked even more high-end than before, and the mannequins in the display window were displaying all kinds of excellent works.

Seeing her appear, Su Qiao came over with her short legs.

Huai Xing bent down and picked her up.

The little girl was like a professional tour guide, introducing the works in the display window to Huai Xing all the way. When she met the other few staff in the studio, she would also smile and introduce her good friend, Auntie Xingxing, to everyone.

Yes, a good friend. This was Su Qiao’s positioning of Huai Xing.

There was actually such an understanding adult in the world. What was that if not a good friend?

It took a full ten minutes for Huai Xing to carry the little girl to Su Cheng’s office and sit down on the sofa.

Su Cheng had just finished talking to a designer. After the person had left, she came over to pour water for Huai Xing and at the same time reminded, “Qiaoqiao, get off Auntie Xingxing. Why are you like a gecko?”

Huai Xing smiled. “It’s okay, Sister Su Cheng. She’s not heavy.”

“I took her for a physical examination a while ago, and the doctor said she should control her weight. When we went to the dentist, the dentist also told her to eat less sugar,” Su Cheng said, sighing with her hands on her hips. “Raising a child is so hard. How did we grow up to this age?”

Su Qiao was playing with Huai Xing’s hair. Hearing this, she said, “I’m also very puzzled. I don’t remember how I grew up from a child.”

Huai Xing gently patted her on the back and couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s very normal that you don’t remember, Qiaoqiao.”

She was still so small now. She could cover the little girl’s entire face with her open hand.

Su Cheng took a sip of water herself and then said that she would take Huai Xing to the airport tomorrow. Before long, she received a call from the piano teacher, asking when Qiaoqiao was going to class.

After hanging up, Su Cheng asked, “Does Xingxing still play the violin now?”

“I do,” Huai Xing nodded. “I’ve been playing since I was a child. I don’t want to give it up.”

“So Auntie Xingxing also plays the violin?”

“What? You do too?”

“No, Mommy said that Tangtang Mommy’s mommy did, but I’ve never seen her…” Su Qiao still got off Huai Xing and gestured at the side. “There’s a violin. Mommy said it’s very expensive, tens of thousands…”

Su Cheng rubbed her brow, not knowing for a moment if it was a good or bad thing that her daughter had such a memory.

The next second, Su Qiao slapped her forehead and remembered to say, “Mommy, let’s go see Tangtang Mommy tonight?”

She wrinkled her little face. “She’s sick. She’s so pitiful.”

…How did Chu Wantang get sick again? Was it on purpose?