Chapter 22

Luo Qingmeng didn’t overturn her understanding of her—Qiu Shuxue was a very bad person, so bad that she made one happy one moment and utterly heartbroken the next.

Back in high school, Luo Qingmeng had met a teacher she greatly admired. She had served as the language class representative for a year, and the teacher had once said something she particularly liked: “At the beginning of life, human nature is stupid and evil.”

People cried as soon as they opened their mouths—crying when dissatisfied, crying when unhappy, crying for no reason at all. It was just stupid and evil.

The role of parents was to guide the infant out of that state.

Luo Qingmeng pressed her forehead against Qiu Shuxue’s. Qiu Shuxue said, “Kiss me.”

Luo Qingmeng kissed her while crying.

Why was the mom the one being educated by the baby?

Maybe she was just a useless mom.

It wasn’t until eleven thirty that Luo Qingmeng could finally rest. She lay on her side, her arms cradling the back of Qiu Shuxue’s head, her eyes drowsily fluttering shut.

Her eyes were swollen. She wanted to watch TV and reached for the remote, but she had no strength left in her body. Her fingers lay limply on Qiu Shuxue’s head.

Her eyes closed, and she soon drifted into a light sleep.

Qiu Shuxue, however, was full of energy. Her lips enveloped Luo Qingmeng’s breasts, her teeth nibbling gently.

Luo Qingmeng slept in a hazy daze. She thought to herself that Qiu Shuxue was being so naughty, but she gently patted her head twice anyway, as if coaxing her: “Good girl, stop fussing and go to sleep.”

It made her feel like she had truly become a mother—even in her dreams, she had the illusion of having just given birth.

Her hair clung sweatily to her cheeks, her throat was parched, and the sofa cover was damp.

And just like that, the next day arrived. Luo Qingmeng was roused by her alarm. She couldn’t quite remember what time she had fallen asleep the night before, but it was the first time she hadn’t slept until she woke up naturally.

She usually got up early and made her own breakfast, but today she wouldn’t have time for that. Luo Qingmeng got dressed and then patted Qiu Shuxue. “Get up. You have to go to work.”

“Mm, okay.” Qiu Shuxue woke up groggily as well.

Luo Qingmeng felt terribly uncomfortable, so she went to the bathroom for a quick rinse. Qiu Shuxue was still dawdling on the sofa, her feet planted on the floor, her eyelids drooping heavily. Luo Qingmeng backed up while brushing her teeth and said to Qiu Shuxue, “Go home.”

Luo Qingmeng had meant to say it more sternly, but when she saw Qiu Shuxue’s silly, dazed expression, she almost laughed. Seeing that Qiu Shuxue still wasn’t moving after a long moment, she added, “Hey, you can’t wear my clothes anyway.”

Qiu Shuxue let out an “mm” and blinked her eyes. “I’m just sleepy.”

Luo Qingmeng urged her to hurry up and take a shower—it would wake her right up. In her mind, she grumbled that it served her right; last night, she had gone to sleep while Qiu Shuxue was still “eating.”

As she thought about it, her chest ached.

Qiu Shuxue went into the bathroom, and Luo Qingmeng called out for her to toss her clothes out. Qiu Shuxue draped them over the glass partition instead.

Luo Qingmeng took the clothes down and put them in the washing machine along with her own. She washed her face and combed her hair, then applied some fragrant face cream. She scooped a bit of lip oil onto her finger and smeared it across her lips with her nail.

She twisted her hair up, pushed it toward the back of her head, and secured it with the shark clip, casually leaving a loose strand at her forehead.

It gave off a mature, seductive vibe.

She finished getting ready before Qiu Shuxue emerged. She went to the closet to pick out clothes, locked the door behind her, and looked down at herself—utterly wrecked.

It didn’t hurt anymore, though.

Perhaps because she took such good care of her skin, there weren’t any visible marks on her body. She changed into a long skirt. Early April’s temperatures were starting to rise, perfect for wearing a skirt. The yellow one made her look gently smiling when she wore it.

She stepped out of the room just as Qiu Shuxue finished her shower. With no clothes to wear, Qiu Shuxue stood naked at the doorway. She winked playfully at Luo Qingmeng.

“…” Luo Qingmeng pursed her lips tightly. So shameless.

But her figure was stunning.

Luo Qingmeng went back to the room and grabbed a nightgown for her. Qiu Shuxue slipped it on, and Luo Qingmeng told her to hurry home and change so she wouldn’t be late for work.

Qiu Shuxue walked to the door dressed in the nightgown. Luo Qingmeng called out to her and stuffed the gift from the sofa—the one Qiu Shuxue had given her—into her hands. Qiu Shuxue nodded and said okay. Luo Qingmeng wondered why she still seemed so dazed.

She was just too stupid.

The washing machine had three minutes left on its cycle. Luo Qingmeng remembered there was some frozen food in the fridge, so she went into the kitchen and steamed some buns and small mantou.

By the time she hung up the clothes, it was about done. She packed two portions with chopsticks and went out to knock on the neighbor’s door. Qiu Shuxue had changed and come out.

It was morning rush hour, so Luo Qingmeng rode with Qiu Shuxue to the bookstore. The century egg tofu had been sitting in the car overnight and was now spoiled.

Luo Qingmeng thought it was such a shame and reminded herself to throw it out later. Qiu Shuxue said, “We can go eat dinner tonight. Maybe they’ll give us some again.”

Luo Qingmeng said, “Are you silly? Going to eat just for a freebie?”

“I just want to taste the difference between the dish you saved for me and takeout,” Qiu Shuxue said.

Luo Qingmeng had never met anyone as strange as Qiu Shuxue. She didn’t outright mock her but thought about it seriously. Qiu Shuxue probably didn’t want to eat leftovers; she wanted to experience the feeling of being cared for.

After pondering for a moment, she said, “Your company doesn’t provide breakfast, does it?”

Qiu Shuxue let out an “mm.”

Luo Qingmeng placed the breakfast she’d prepared on the center console. “Take it to the company and eat it.”

She also pulled some milk and biscuits from her bag. She usually prepared her own lunch the day before, or kept biscuits handy for midday if she didn’t have time to cook. She said, “Soak them in milk and eat.”

There was a slight jam during rush hour. Qiu Shuxue glanced sideways at her. “Mm?”

“Eat if you’re hungry.”

“Okay.”

Her company did prepare breakfast for employees who worked overtime—bland, watery noodles that were essentially tasteless.

Qiu Shuxue kept driving, but her voice took on a slightly altered tone. “Sister, you’re so good to me that I can’t help wanting to be bad.”

Luo Qingmeng looked out the car window. “You’re no good kid yourself.”

She didn’t like hearing Qiu Shuxue talk that way; it felt like Qiu Shuxue might pull away at any moment. But now, she realized she didn’t hate her as much. She was making excuses for her, thinking that being the mistress had been unavoidable, or perhaps that Qiu Shuxue already regretted it but was too embarrassed to say so.

Entanglements like this sometimes got mixed up with habits, making them complicated and hard to break free from. That single word “bad” felt like a hint telling her: “I won’t like you that much anymore.”

Luo Qingmeng rolled down the car window, and gusts of wind blew in, gently brushing across her face. She comfortably narrowed her eyes. As they neared the bookstore, Qiu Shuxue said, “I’ll like you more and more.”

Luo Qingmeng choked.

It was like she had swallowed several biscuits and a bun in one gulp.

Before, Luo Qingmeng had simply dismissed her words, letting them go in one ear and out the other. Now, her heart fluttered; it rose and fell with Qiu Shuxue’s words.

She wondered, did Qiu Shuxue like her?

Luo Qingmeng wanted to rub her face to snap herself out of it, but her makeup was so clean and pretty—she didn’t want to ruin it. Instead, she pressed the back of her hand against her cheek.

She sorted through her emotions. When they reached the mall, she got out of the car and waved to Qiu Shuxue, who drove on toward her company.

Luo Qingmeng walked slowly.

The books were right—when two people’s bodies harmonized too intensely, it could lead to one of two states: love born of prolonged intimacy, or weariness born of the same.

She worked through the morning. At noon, Qiu Shuxue ordered delivery for her: pork chops, pasta, and some desserts she couldn’t name.

Luo Qingmeng didn’t resist this time. As she ate, she thought she needed to stay clear-headed, sorting out their relationship as carefully as she would her future. She pulled out her phone and searched on the browser: 【Is liking to call someone “mommy” a psychological problem?】

The answers that popped up were bizarre, mostly claiming that people with such tendencies were perverts—classic psychological deviants.

She frowned and tried a different search: 【Is it sick to call a girl you’re close to “mommy”?】

Answer: It’s just an internet meme.

Still not right.

Chen Xin came over to hand her some tea. Luo Qingmeng’s search history had evolved to: 【When sleeping with your girlfriend, liking to call her “mommy”—is there a psychological issue, and how do you treat it?】【When the mistress sleeps with the wife, and the mistress keeps calling the wife “mommy” in bed, what’s wrong with her?】

Chen Xin knew it was rude to peek at someone’s search history, and she swore she hadn’t meant to see it. But this was too shocking, wasn’t it?

No novel would even write a plot like this.

The mistress sleeping with the wife, calling her “mommy.”

Holy crap.

What on earth had happened?

Luo Qingmeng was usually such a prim and shy person.

At four o’clock, the boss arrived and went straight to Luo Qingmeng. She talked to her about a bunch of work matters and pushed a client her way, telling Luo Qingmeng to proactively invite them to dinner.

The client said they were a bit busy and couldn’t make it today.

Luo Qingmeng felt a mix of fear and relief in her heart. She really wasn’t good at schmoozing. The store manager comforted her, saying to take it slow and prepare properly.

The store manager happened to have time, so she invited Luo Qingmeng to eat. Luo Qingmeng said, “I’m going to check out Star Continent Plaza today. How about we eat there?”

“That’s a bit far. I have to pick up my kid,” the store manager said. “Next time, then.”

Luo Qingmeng thought for a moment and said, “Eating here works too. I can head over by myself when the time comes.”

The store manager laughed. “You’re quite considerate.”

Luo Qingmeng laughed too. She fiddled with her phone, hesitating for a long while before tapping into the friend request chat and sending a message: 【Something came up today. I’m having dinner with the store manager.】

The Store Manager asked curiously, “Who’s that? Why report like that?”

“It’s not reporting. It’s my little sister.”

“You’re not friends yet?”

“. . . We had a fight.” Luo Qingmeng made up an excuse.

The Store Manager walked a lap around the store, checking every corner to make sure there were no issues. Then she came back over and said, “The fire inspectors will be coming soon—just a matter of these next few days. You need to check everything carefully too.”

There wasn’t even a water dispenser in the store, so there was no way there’d be any problems. At most, the chain coffee shop next door would need some attention.

The bookstore wasn’t large, and it was pretty boring for the Store Manager to hang around here all the time. She went to sit in the coffee shop for a bit, then headed out to read the recommendation blurbs Luo Qingmeng had written for the featured books of the day.

At first, Qiu Shuxue had thought the boss picked the Store Manager because she loved books. Later on, Luo Qingmeng realized the boss had simply chosen her for her strong work ethic—she actually didn’t know much about a lot of books.

~~~

Lunchtime rolled around at the company. Qiu Shuxue took a book up to the management floor above. Her secretary brewed a cup of tea for her. She sipped it while reading, sitting there for about ten minutes until a middle-aged man sat down beside her.

“What book is that?” The man tilted his head to glance at the title and said, “Why are you reading something like this? Your parents used to make you read books like . . . and you always refused.”

Qiu Shuxue replied, “I just didn’t want to read the ones they recommended.”

She closed the book and asked, “Are you interested in opening a bookstore?”

The man said, “Bookstores aren’t doing well these days. You could say physical retail only has room to grow in food and offline entertainment—everything else has been replaced by the internet. An online novel platform might be interesting, though, if you invest in the front end, back end, ads, traffic, and embedded promotions.”

Qiu Shuxue let out an “oh” but said nothing more. Before long, he added, “You want to mess around with physical retail?”

Qiu Shuxue kept sipping her coffee. The man went on, “If you really want to open a bookstore, that’s fine.”

When her coffee was gone, Qiu Shuxue clutched the empty cup and stood up. “I’m heading back downstairs to work.”

“Um.”

Qiu Shuxue went down to her office. Her colleagues were all slumped over their desks, napping. It was April, and as soon as the clock hit the usual time, springtime sleepiness struck everyone.

Qiu Shuxue had just sat down when Xiao Ninghe, seated next to her, knocked on her desk. “What’s up? Why’d you go see your uncle?”

“We just talked for a minute.”

“Oh. Li An stopped by to see you.”

Qiu Shuxue said, “He came to the company today?”

“Yeah. Everyone perked right up at first—nearly burst from holding it in, haha. They all stared at him, dying to know if he’d been crippled or not. The new interns kept giving him a wide berth. He even brought you a little gift. Wanna check it out?”

Qiu Shuxue glanced into the drawer at the bottom of her desk. There was a small paper box with a label that read something like an apology gift for her.

She didn’t even look at it before tossing it away.

Xiao Ninghe said, “Tsk. He’s scared of offending you.”

“Even if he offends me, what can they do? The company can’t just fire him outright—they’d have to pay him severance.”

“True. Labor laws and all.”

Qiu Shuxue pulled a pack of biscuits from her drawer. She tore it open, popped one into her mouth, and offered some to Xiao Ninghe. “Want to try one?”

“Nah, I’m sleeping.”

“Try one.” Qiu Shuxue pushed the pack toward her anyway.

Xiao Ninghe eyed her suspiciously—this was unusually enthusiastic—but she had no choice but to take one. Qiu Shuxue watched her expectantly with shining eyes. “Tasty, right?” Once Xiao Ninghe nodded, she added, “My big sis gave them to me.”

“Huh? Aren’t you an only child?”

Qiu Shuxue didn’t answer. She just smiled.

At four in the afternoon, Qiu Shuxue got a message from Luo Qingmeng. She’d just finished the last of the biscuits. She clutched her phone, frowning as she tapped out a reply. There was no response from the other side.

At five, Qiu Shuxue grabbed her bag and headed out after work. As she was leaving, Xiao Ninghe tugged at her sleeve and spotted her wrist. “What’s this thing on your wrist? A red thread bracelet? That’s not like you at all.”

Qiu Shuxue said, “My big sis gave it to me.”

It was the second time Xiao Ninghe had heard that word from her mouth. She grew curious, sensing a different vibe this time around.

When Qiu Shuxue arrived at the bookstore, she peered inside. No one was at the register. She waited outside for a good while until Chen Xin noticed her and whispered, “Meng-jie went out with the boss.”

Qiu Shuxue nodded. As she turned to leave, she asked, “Will she be back?”

“She’s off the clock. She doesn’t have any late shifts these next few days—the later slots are empty.” Chen Xin explained.

Qiu Shuxue left. While driving, she gripped the steering wheel and took her time getting home. Once there, she checked the surveillance footage. Luo Qingmeng hadn’t come back.

She ended up waiting just like that for six whole hours.

It wasn’t until eleven at night that Luo Qingmeng finally returned.

Luo Qingmeng deliberately lightened her footsteps. She waited until the hallway lights went out before carefully feeling her way to the door in the dark to punch in the code. She’d just pressed the first digit when the neighboring door swung open.

Qiu Shuxue stood in the doorway, arms crossed as she eyed her. In a resentful tone, she said, “You just left Baby all alone at home to sneak off for a secret rendezvous?”

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll starve and get all cranky?”

Luo Qingmeng’s eyes went wide. She shot her an incredulous glance. What was Qiu Shuxue saying? Baby? What baby? A 25-times-12-equals-300-months-old baby? Talk about shameless.

“Don’t spout nonsense. How old are you? Aren’t you embarrassed?” Luo Qingmeng’s cheeks heated up, and a faint ache bloomed in her chest. She wasn’t a mommy—though some so-called online experts always went on about how women her age were at the peak for childbearing and nursing, and that kids who drank healthy breast milk turned out smarter.

What was she even thinking . . .

Qiu Shuxue stepped forward from the doorway. The door behind her automatically clicked shut with an electronic chime announcing “door locked.” Luo Qingmeng hurriedly went to input her code. Qiu Shuxue stood right behind her, inhaling the scent on her body. It wasn’t as purely fresh as it had been that morning. She even tugged at her collar to sniff the hidden fragrance of her skin and said, “I only call myself Baby in front of you. You’re the only one who sees me that way. Saying stuff like this is so embarrassing—mortifying, really. But Mommy, I’m starving. Make me some dinner, please.”