Chapter 26: MAMA-26 Part 2

This time was still early for Jian Wanji or this city; only this particular area turned in early. As she walked out of the pharmacy, she glanced at the distant city landmarks, still illuminated.

She usually walked at a brisk pace. When leading teams on business trips, partner companies said Jian Wanji exuded a killer aura. In truth, she’d been like this since childhood. Everything had to be fast: finish homework quickly, hand in exams early, eat quickly…

It all stemmed from coming home too late that year, opening the door only to find her father hanging.

If she hadn’t lingered after school, hadn’t bought a card at the school gate, maybe she would have been in time to talk her father out of it. Maybe she wouldn’t have had to go live with Grandmother.

From the entrance of the alley to deep inside it, Jian Wanji walked very slowly. Her mind was filled with the excessive openness Mi Shanxin showed towards her.

Too defenseless. With her sexual orientation clearly defined, Mi Shanxin was still so uninhibited with her.

Was it fine with anyone else?

Or was her type simply any married woman, all considered ideal?

Little Mother’s keyring had an ugly, squishy doll attached to it. Jian Wanji squeezed it as she walked, opened the door, and heard the sound of running water.

Perhaps because the water heater was on, steam was also escaping through the crack.

No, the door wasn’t even properly closed.

Jian Wanji stood at the doorway and, amidst the water, heard shallow panting and a buzzing vibration.

Politeness be damned, she pushed the door open and said, “What are you doing?”

Mi Shanxin was startled by her. The vibrating thing rolled to Jian Wanji’s feet.

The woman was still wearing her slightly formal trench coat. The hems of her trousers hung over the sides of her square-hemmed boots, making her look even taller and longer-legged.

The atmosphere was awkward. Everything in this home was old, including the showerhead. Its edges were cracked, and it even spurted water sideways.

Jian Wanji stared at the still-whirring object and said helplessly, “Are you really not afraid of playing yourself into passing out?”

“I just wanted to pass out.” Mi Shanxin turned off the water. Amid the white mist, neither of them appeared very clearly. “Thank you for helping me yesterday. I slept very well.”

Draped in a bath towel and stepping into her slippers, she picked up the toy. Her height barely reached Jian Wanji’s collarbone. The smell of hot sulfur soap wafted off her, reminding Jian Wanji of the scent she smelled the first time she visited a hot spring.

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.” After saying this, Jian Wanji laughed ruefully. Clearly, she was the one who commissioned Mi Shanxin to play her mother. How had the tables turned and Mi Shanxin become the client?

“You don’t like this?” Mi Shanxin turned off the vibration, looked up at Jian Wanji, who was still holding the reusable bag steamed by the hot air. “You never use it?”

“Not interested.” Jian Wanji answered truthfully. “It’s too much trouble.”

“It’s just that one thing, no need to make a special effort for it.”

“You’re laughing at me.” Mi Shanxin walked past Jian Wanji. Her hair had been washed once, and now the towel wrap came loose, the ends of her hair falling onto her thin shoulders, even more like octopus tentacles.

“No, you’re still young, it’s perfectly normal.”

“Not this. Doing it directly with a person, have you?” Mi Shanxin didn’t avoid the topic even in front of Jian Wanji, proceeding to put on her pajamas. It wasn’t as cold inside as outside, but she still shivered slightly. The woman pushed her into the room. “Is this so important to you?”

It was clearly a signal not to pry further. Mi Shanxin was very tactful at this moment, knowing that if she insisted on getting to the bottom of it, maybe Jian Wanji really wouldn’t help anymore.

Anyway, she deduced that Jian Wanji hadn’t. The age was just too awkward; admitting she hadn’t seemed beneath a mature adult, and claiming she had, felt against her conscience.

Doesn’t that mean she only has me? Thinking of this, Mi Shanxin’s lips curled slightly, a hint of smugness seeping through the steam. Jian Wanji didn’t notice.

“Then you help me sleep. This thing isn’t as good as you.” Mi Shanxin collapsed back onto the bed. Steamed by the hot air, her complexion looked much better.

“Am I a tool?” Jian Wanji realized it was a pointless question the moment she asked.

What damn sleep assistance? She was the human sex toy Mi Shanxin had found. If someone had told Jian Wanji a month ago, “You will soon become the sex slave of a twenty-year-old college girl,” Jian Wanji would definitely have called the police. “Forget it, let’s apply your medicine first.”

Anyway, Mi Shanxin had her whipped. Resigned, Jian Wanji sat at the foot of the bed, remembering the bathroom door Mi Shanxin hadn’t closed. “Is the door broken?”

Mi Shanxin gave an affirmative hum. “It’s just me living here anyway.”

Jian Wanji: “I’ll fix it for you later.”

Mi Shanxin struggled to sit up but was pushed back down by Jian Wanji. She could only look at Jian Wanji and ask in surprise, “How do you know how?”

“Do I look like I don’t know anything?” Jian Wanji had also bought gloves. The medicine was cool and chilly. Mi Shanxin kept shrinking back, but with her ankle held, she could hardly move. All she could say was, “You’re very rich.”

“My money isn’t inherited.” Jian Wanji’s technique was gentle. The tactile feel of disposable gloves wasn’t as good as finger cots, rustling softly. She tsked several times, “Take better care of yourself. Don’t be so rough.”

“I thought you weren’t coming, so you wanted me to use this as a substitute for you.” Mi Shanxin fussed for a while, then got a smack on her bottom. She froze for a few seconds, noticing Jian Wanji seemed completely unconcerned, as if she hadn’t even registered what she’d done.

“It wasn’t me, it was my…” Jian Wanji paused, not knowing how to introduce Sui Yuqian. “My friend who stuffed it in.”

“For me?” Mi Shanxin found it strange. “She knows about me?”

Jian Wanji made an affirmative sound. “She, Zeng Baian, and I are friends.”

“A threesome.” Mi Shanxin suddenly said.

Jian Wanji’s finger nearly plunged into the softest spot. She hissed, “What kind of weird thing are you saying?”

“A friendship of three.” Mi Shanxin added nonchalantly. “Why are you so jumpy?”

A sharp breath escaped Jian Wanji, as if she saw right through Mi Shanxin’s deliberate provocation.

Looks so delicate and quiet, but a closet pervert.

At least, even in Jian Wanji’s most fiery, passionate years, she couldn’t handle doing that to herself so composedly.

“Purely platonic friendship, don’t overthink it.”

The medicine was icy cold. Mi Shanxin felt increasingly awake. “It can’t be like this.”

“What?” Jian Wanji tossed the gloves, turned around to put the medicine back, and Mi Shanxin nudged her with her foot. “I’m not sleepy at all now.”

“What time is it even? Old folks these days scroll through TikTok and stay up all night.” Jian Wanji didn’t know what she was laughing about. “You, though, are acting all old and stodgy.”

Little Mother muttered, “Can’t sleep without doing it.”

Jian Wanji exhaled. Perhaps the space heater was set too high; she was starting to sweat again. “Didn’t we already do it?”

Mi Shanxin kicked her again. Jian Wanji had no choice but to turn around and grasp her ankle. “Stop, stop, stop. If you keep kicking, my back will hurt.”

“You’re older than me.”

“Well, what else? Do you think I lived those twenty extra years for nothing?”

Jian Wanji wasn’t sensitive about her age. She always smiled and spoke, “Have some consideration for my old waist, older person that I am.”

The girl made an “oh” sound. “Then take off your clothes and lie down.”

She was still unhappy about the disparity in their amount of fabric—she was barely dressed, while Jian Wanji could walk away anytime.

Jian Wanji really wanted to get this over with quickly, but she was discovering she had underestimated the terrifying nature of this Additional Contract.

The duration wasn’t up to her; it all depended on Mi Shanxin.

“Why should I take my clothes off?” Jian Wanji once again lamented how narrow Mi Shanxin’s bed was. “If I lie down, your bed will collapse.”

Mi Shanxin rolled over, presenting her backside to Jian Wanji. On her bed, besides a pillow whose case was washed so much the color had faded, there was also a Rilakkuma plushie, very conspicuous.

Jian Wanji guessed it was a gift from that friend of hers.

“It won’t. There are lots of cardboard boxes under the bed.” Mi Shanxin refuted weakly. “Hurry up.”

“Even electric gadgets can’t tame you. I’m manual, I’m afraid…” Jian Wanji sighed. “You should just go fall in love.”

“That wouldn’t be fair to that person.”

“Can’t you find someone you like?”

Jian Wanji made it sound so easy. The girl buried her face in the pillow. Although she wasn’t tall, her proportions were quite good. Her neck was slender, too. If she dressed up a little, she would perfectly match the image of a calligrapher or seal engraver, which Jian Wanji, as a layperson, had in mind.

Mi Shanxin’s voice was muffled: “No one likes me.”

“How is that possible?” Perhaps because Mi Shanxin sounded so pitiful, Jian Wanji’s voice softened considerably. “You’re very pretty.”

“I have no energy.”

“That’s from not sleeping well.”

“My dark circles are very heavy.”

“Well, when I was your age, I already had crow’s feet.”

“I can’t grow taller.”

“Just find someone tall, won’t that do?”

Mi Shanxin realized that no matter what she said, Jian Wanji could answer. A bit tired, she closed her eyes.

Jian Wanji felt like a student in a blow-off class, with the teacher still watching from the sidelines. She desperately wished Mi Shanxin would just fall asleep chatting, rather than for her to sweat through this bodily exploration. Suppressing a secret delight, she whispered, “Teacher Shanxin, sleepy?”

Eyes closed, Mi Shanxin shook her head. “No.”

Jian Wanji had only taken off her outer coat. A faint fragrance drifted from her. Mi Shanxin remembered the photos Jian Wanji posted to her Moments—whether snorkeling or skiing, or in ethnic garb by a grassland bonfire. Every face, every body concealing or revealing its curves, made Mi Shanxin itch with heat.

What was overflowing should be drowsiness, not some other kind of feeling.

As Jian Wanji hesitated, Mi Shanxin, who had rolled over, grabbed her hand and placed it on her own chest. “Changchang, start from here.”