Chapter 41: The Schemed School Beauty (11)

The surroundings were too noisy for Bai Qian to make out what Fu Siwan was saying.

The young woman was clearly out of sorts, resembling a frightened little bird whose emotions refused to settle.

The description tugged at Bai Qian’s heart. She gripped the hand that was clutching hers, drew Fu Siwan to her side, and shielded her as they made their way toward the parking area.

Fu Siwan didn’t resist or pull away. Instead, she nestled against Bai Qian with an unprecedented docility.

Over at the beach, the fireworks continued to boom.

Now that they were farther away, the sounds reaching their ears had lost their terrifying edge.

Bai Qian guided the young woman into the back seat and casually shut the door.

Fu Siwan seemed utterly dazed by the fireworks. Ever since Bai Qian had brought her back from the beach, her expression had been frozen in place, showing no change whatsoever.

The car was chilly inside. Bai Qian leaned over to turn the key and switch on the heater before settling back beside the girl.

She turned her head and caught sight of Fu Siwan’s vacant, distant stare. Her heart aching, she reached out and once more covered the young woman’s cool ears with her hand.

The hand against her ear began to gently and slowly massage the outer edge in soothing circles.

Bai Qian had no idea what else to do, so she tried this method to dispel the lingering fear from Fu Siwan’s body.

A flicker of change finally stirred in Fu Siwan’s lifeless eyes. They looked as calm as ever, without so much as a ripple.

Yet somehow, Bai Qian sensed it wasn’t quite the same.

Before, they had been like a lifeless pool of spring water. Now, they resembled a dormant volcano—dead and still on the surface, but if it ever erupted, everything it had suppressed beneath would burst forth without restraint.

Bai Qian startled herself with the unfounded thought. She decided to say something to shatter the eerie atmosphere, which felt deceptively calm yet not truly so.

“Were you scared just now?”

As she spoke, she withdrew her hand.

Fu Siwan had remained silent, letting Bai Qian rub her ears. Now she finally moved, pressing down on the woman’s shoulder and pinning the unprepared Bai Qian against the car door behind her.

It all happened too suddenly for Bai Qian to react. The consequence of not pushing her away in time was that the girl, who had abandoned all struggle, leaned in and captured her lips.

Fu Siwan’s kiss was urgent and fervent. She gave in to her impulses, boldly leaving a faint mark on the one she loved.

This wasn’t their first kiss.

That early morning peck from long ago had left them both in a daze, hardly qualifying as a real kiss.

This time, Fu Siwan was giving her very first true kiss.

Bai Qian was so stunned by the sudden chain of events that she froze.

Fu Siwan had succeeded in kissing her. Logically, for two people who weren’t officially together, this should have been the point to stop.

But she didn’t want to. Her half-lidded almond eyes brimmed with an obstinacy and longing she couldn’t conceal.

She even wished for a magic called “time stop” to exist in this world. If not, then she would become the magician herself.

The sound of the car door being pulled open yanked Bai Qian back to reality. Before she could shove Fu Siwan away, the two parents standing outside had the good sense to close it again.

Bai Anjun’s excited shout, muffled though it was by the car’s excellent soundproofing, still rang clearly in their ears.

“Wifey!!! I told you!!! My judgment of people is never wrong!!!”

Bai Qian finally managed to push her away. Her cheeks were dotted with a blush of peach pink—she couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or anger.

The previous kiss at the corner of her lips had been as light as a dragonfly skimming water, and since neither had brought it up afterward, she’d brushed it off.

This time was different. She was certain Fu Siwan was fully aware… or was she? Just minutes ago, the girl had been terrified on the beach. Even after being brought back to the car, she hadn’t recovered. Could that be the reason?

Bai Qian feigned composure as she rubbed her kissed lips. “Did the fright get to you?”

Fu Siwan’s gaze locked intently on the slender finger trying to wipe away the lingering trace on the woman’s mouth. Her almond eyes narrowed once more as she countered softly, “Does that mean you dislike me, Sis?”

The word “Sis” sent goosebumps prickling across Bai Qian’s skin.

Humans really were gluttons for punishment, weren’t they?

She had longed for Fu Siwan to call her that before, but now that she had, the low, drawn-out, velvety tone made her profoundly uncomfortable.

Torn for three seconds between “keep letting the girl call her Auntie” and “endure the discomfort and accept ‘Sis,'” she had just settled on her choice when the silently approaching girl startled her anew.

Thanks to that earlier kiss, Bai Qian now didn’t dare let anyone get so close. She was just about to put on a stern face and make her sit properly when her chin was suddenly gripped.

Fu Siwan’s hawk-like gaze slowly roved over her lips.

Bai Qian panicked. Just being stared at like this made her lips feel like they were on fire.

The woman had a gut feeling that what came next would shatter her preconceived notions. Before she could even process it, the girl’s lean-in for another kiss confirmed it was more than just intuition.

Fu Siwan had never kissed anyone before, and Li Lanzhao had never taught her how.

The woman always said men knew this sort of thing instinctively—the more clueless you acted, the more it satisfied their egos.

Bai Qian wasn’t like those repulsive men. She didn’t want to be passive; in front of her, she wanted to take the lead.

With that in mind, the girl went for it.

She started by gently licking over the woman’s lips, then tentatively probed that enticing seam with the tip of her tongue.

The woman refused to yield and tried to break free of her hold.

But the girl, seizing the reins for the first time, wielded an irresistible power in that moment. She pinned the woman firmly in her arms, lifted her half-lidded eyes to meet the furious glare inches away, and declared boldly, “Sister, I’ve fallen for you.”

Her ink-black pupils shrank abruptly. Her tightly pursed lips parted slightly in her daze, and the tongue lurking outside pounced on the opening, plunging straight through the seam and deep inside.

With her final defenses breached, the woman who tried to rally and fight back ended up the helpless victim of the insolent girl’s onslaught—her cheeks flushed crimson, her eyes misty with haze, soft moans spilling from her lips in a relentless stream.

For the first time, Fu Siwan realized intuitively that she might not be hopeless at picking this up after all.

The sweet trail of saliva slipping from the corner of her lips was caught and savored. Her Little Rabbit, who usually fixed her with cold indifference or outright disdain, now stared back with wide, reddened eyes. In their depths burned a scorching passion and devotion that sent a shiver of apprehension through her.

Mimicking Bai Qian’s earlier gesture, she gently rubbed the woman’s ear.

But where the other woman had soothed the full outer ear with pure care, the girl’s fingers toyed only with the soft lobe, her touch dripping with innuendo.

“Sister, you’ve been too good to me. It’s my greed talking—I don’t want just the care and affection you’ve always shown me as an elder anymore.”

“What I want now is for you to draw close and cherish me like a woman. So, Sister, either toss me aside right this instant, or steel yourself for me to claim you for real.” Fu Siwan locked eyes with her, earnest and unflinching. “I’ll give you ten minutes. If you won’t answer, I’ll decide for you.”

Bai Qian caught her breath and shot back in disbelief, “Ten minutes? When I made you choose before, I didn’t set any time limit!”

Fu Siwan curved her lips. “If I had, Sister, you’d find excuses to drag it out forever.”

…

She had to admit, the girl had a sharp read on people.

“Twenty seconds gone already, Sister.”

“Fu Siwan! I didn’t bring you back here for you to catch feelings like this!”

The girl let out a soft laugh. “Sister’s such a good person. Since you’ve saved me once, why not see it through and save me for life?”

“That’s emotional blackmail!”

Fu Siwan: “One minute down, Sister.”

Bai Qian schooled her features into a stern mask. “Forget it. I’m never giving you that chance.”

The girl wasn’t fazed by the cold front in the slightest. Instead, she hooked a finger around the hand dangling at the woman’s side, toying with it idly as she asked, “So, does that mean you’re throwing me out?”

“Not exactly.”

The girl laced their fingers together. “But I only gave two choices. You can’t just add a third—I won’t allow it.”

Bai Qian snatched her hand back. “Allow it or not, Fu Siwan, I don’t know what’s gotten into you to make you think this way all of a sudden, but drop it now. Between us, it’ll always be elder and junior, got it? This ends here. I’ll pretend tonight never happened, and tomorrow, we go back to normal. Clear?”

There was a hint of elder authority in her tone now.

Fu Siwan knew full well that beneath that icy facade hid the softest heart. After a quiet moment, she smiled.

“If that’s what Sister wants, then I’ll follow your lead. But you’ve hurt me so deeply—you’ll have to give me a little gift to mend my broken heart, right?”

Given that the girl had pulled off that uninvited kiss just minutes earlier, Bai Qian’s words prompted her to instinctively clap a hand over her mouth.

Fu Siwan’s eyes curved in delight at the woman’s knee-jerk defensiveness—just as she’d anticipated—before her thin lips drew close once more.

Bai Qian’s gaze overflowed with resistance. She was on the verge of spitting out a curse from beneath her palm when the girl simply smiled and brushed a light kiss across her brow. “Sis, you’re so cute.”

Her words barely faded when those jade-like slender fingers hooked downward at the neat knot in the woman’s hair.

The black hair tie that had held her ponytail in place was now slipped onto the girl’s delicate wrist, handled like an absolute treasure.

“I really like this gift.”

Bai Qian knew the gesture dripped with intimacy, but as an adult, she simply couldn’t stoop to snatching a cheap hair tie from a high schooler.

Her expression shifted through a few shades before she finally regained some composure, issuing her command in a firm tone. “No more calling me ‘Sis.’ From now on, like before—just call me Auntie.”

Fu Siwan blinked with wide-eyed innocence. “But Sis, you’re so young and gorgeous. How could I possibly call you Auntie?”

“…” Hah, as if she hadn’t been the one harping on about “old woman” this and “old woman” that earlier. The hypocrisy was off the charts!