Chapter 33: The Untamed Her Part 2

Night had fully fallen, and the courtyard’s lamps cast a warm, amber glow. Xi Xi snatched up the other three hair ribbons Qiu Chao had embroidered and let out an impressed “Oh! Your handiwork is actually this good.”

Xi Xi wasn’t usually into crafts, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the charm of something stitched together needle by needle.

Especially that wave-pattern one—the first glimpse was enough to spark joy in anyone’s heart.

【Even in this dim light, they somehow look even better up close.】

【Is Qiu Chao playing favorites?】

【Yan Muyu is basically her ex-sister-in-law, so what’s wrong with that?】

【Come to think of it, most female celebs seem to have their circle of friends, but Qiu Chao always stands alone.】

【She had some back in the day, but now they’re all just colleagues…】

【Friendships in this industry are so unequal—they fall apart easily. Wasn’t she stepped on before?】

【Wahhh, our Sister Qiu, she’s got such a heavy air of loneliness.】

【She and Yan Muyu must be close, right? Not like that, more like family… Anyway, from the look on her face while embroidering this morning, it’s hard not to…】

【Actually, we think the wave-pattern one’s the best because it reflects Qiu Chao’s own emotions…】

Qiu Chao smiled but said nothing.

A pot simmering with dark plums, hawthorn, tangerine peel, mulberries, licorice, and roselle flowers began to release a tantalizing aroma.

The steam dispersed into the air as Qiu Chao tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and covered the pot again.

Pei Wan emerged from inside. “Dinner’s ready.”

Liu Song said, “Yingxue’s still in the bath.”

Pei Wan chuckled. “She could use an extra scrub—she reeks.”

【Not holding back, as expected from the big sis.】

【Feels like Xi Xi has her eye on the one Qiu Chao made for Yan Muyu.】

【Anyone who doesn’t want theirs can auction it off to me—hand-embroidered by Sister Qiu, priceless!】

Perhaps because Qiu Chao hadn’t budged, Pei Wan called out to her, “Qiu Chao, come eat too. Don’t worry about that.”

Qiu Chao shook her head. “In a bit. I need to watch it come to a boil.”

Her back was to the gate when Yan Muyu passed by after washing her hands. She glanced at Qiu Chao but said nothing.

Pei Wan offered, “Let me watch it. I’ll wait for Yingxue and eat with her.”

She came over as she spoke. Qiu Chao started to refuse, but Pei Wan pulled her up and nudged her away.

Xi Xi chimed in, “Yeah, come on.”

She spotted Yan Muyu and called out, “Yan Muyu, check this out!”

Qiu Chao’s heart skipped a beat, but Xi Xi was quick with her mouth. “Qiu Chao made it for you.”

【Xi Xi, you legend.】

【I think Qiu Chao was trying to avoid Yan Muyu.】

【I wanna know what they talked about.】

【We know you can head straight from the kitchen to the dining area—why did Yan Muyu detour over here? Is it…?】

Qiu Chao hurriedly reached for the hair ribbon, but Yan Muyu was faster and took it first.

She was standing right on the threshold, her already tall frame seeming to nearly brush the doorframe.

The couplet on the wooden door had been battered by half a year’s weather, torn to tatters by Yan Muyu the day before—but not completely.

Now the evening breeze rustled the scraps of paper, stirring waves in Yan Muyu’s heart.

The embroidered waves seemed to come alive, crashing over her until her head spun.

Suddenly, she recalled that vacation years ago when Qiu Chao had also taken time off. They had gone to the sea together.

The private restaurant had been Lin Chi’s recommendation, and Shen Tianqing swore the flavors were top-notch—especially the pineapple fried rice.

Yan Muyu had scoffed, figuring Shen Tianqing’s “top-notch” was just delusion born of drooling over her sister’s girlfriend.

Still, Yan Muyu ordered the pineapple fried rice and watched Qiu Chao prop her chin on her hand, gazing out at the ocean.

It was much like this evening, with the lighthouse beaming and waves pounding the shore.

Qiu Chao at twenty had soft, curved eyes. That innate allure seemed smoothed away by the wind, replaced by a hint of greenness that Yan Muyu still sometimes wondered if she’d imagined.

Qiu Chao had said, “Little Yan, you’re a bit like the sea waves.”

Yan Muyu had grinned. “You can just call me wild without the fancy wording.”

She hadn’t felt offended at all—in fact, she’d taken it as a badge of honor. When she laughed, the corners of her eyes lifted, outshining every light in Qiu Chao’s eyes.

Qiu Chao clarified, “That’s not what I meant.”

She had just finished shooting an ad campaign that morning and rushed to the island, her makeup still a touch over-the-top.

Her lashes were dusted with silver powder, each blink like a falling meteor—so exaggerated that Yan Muyu worried for her eyesight.

Qiu Chao clinked her full red wine glass against Yan Muyu’s. “I just mean no one could ever tame you.”

Yan Muyu raised a brow. “High praise.”

That year, Yan Muyu had a girlfriend, and Qiu Chao knew it.

A girl from her school—Qiu Chao had seen their couple photos on Instagram.

The girl was beautiful, and Yan Muyu was unfairly pale. They must have done some cosplay thing; her makeup gave her a striking mixed-race look. They did seem like a match.

Later, Qiu Chao simply blocked Yan Muyu’s account.

But people were masochists at heart. She didn’t want to see Yan Muyu with someone else, yet she obsessively unblocked and reblocked, checking daily.

She pitied herself for it.

Yan Muyu accepted the compliment gladly. She downed her glass of red wine in one go, seeming like quite the drinker.

In truth, Qiu Chao—with her tiny sips—was the real lightweight.

In these rare moments, she tested Yan Muyu’s tolerance, plotting a grand claim years down the line.

Yan Muyu was oblivious and rather pleased. “I don’t want to be tamed anyway.”

Her smile was radiant. The look she gave Qiu Chao wasn’t the deep passion of lovers dancing downstairs, but it was tender enough—treating her like family.

“I really hope you and my big brother can be happy. But for me? Nah.”

Yan Muyu took a bite of pineapple fried rice and thought Shen Tianqing’s rave was overrated. Top-notch? Clearly emotional bias.

Pairing it with red wine would just get you laughed at.

“I’ll just take it day by day. Turning a crush into a lifetime thing is way too hard.”

Her voice carried a premature calm, at odds with the reckless energy on her face. “Every relationship needs work, but you, Qiu Chao—you’ll nail it.”

“I couldn’t.”

Qiu Chao blinked, her gaze on Yan Muyu always so intent.

Even Yan Kai had sensed something off and asked Qiu Chao if they knew each other from before.

Qiu Chao hadn’t been honest. She’d said Yan Muyu was really pretty.

Yan Kai was sharp but not certain. He just said oh and told them to get along.

Qiu Chao was indeed trying to get along with Yan Muyu.

Probing her tastes, preferences, drinking limits—anything quantifiable.

Yan Muyu was the type who never weighed nicknames or affections.

Qiu Chao asked, “Why? Don’t you like your girlfriend a lot right now?”

Same-sex relationships couldn’t be shouted from the rooftops, but everyone in the circle had seen plenty.

Marriage was often just a shackle—binding women far more than men.

Yet it was romanticized as love’s endpoint, a grand milestone.

Men brushed it off, while most girls dreamed of it.

Qiu Chao didn’t dream of marriage, but she dreamed of Yan Muyu’s homecoming.

It was the button torn off at seventeen, Qiu Chao’s first kiss—her first deliberate surrender.

Sadly, the woman before her knew nothing of it.

Yan Muyu said, “I do like her. But I know my own flaws. I can’t sustain it.”

She spoke with utter sincerity, her lock screen even a photo of them together.

So cruel.

Yet it made Qiu Chao’s lips curve. “Then she just isn’t captivating enough.”

Yan Muyu shook her head. “She’s plenty charming.”

She glanced down at the photo on her phone, able to hear her girlfriend’s voice in her mind.

“It’s just me…”

She paused. “I hate promises.”

Like wedding vows or the inevitable “I love you”s that came with dating.

Yan Muyu could say the words, of course. But she was the type who meant them without intending to.

Her parents’ childhood promise had never come true. Yan Kai treated her well, but even her big brother wasn’t invincible.

Yan Muyu knew life wasn’t easy for him either, so she never demanded anything.

But romance was different. Yan Muyu could truly like someone, but she would never truly love.

What even was love?

Was it that madwoman Shen Tianqing kowtowing in temples, begging for a next life together?

Yan Muyu thought that was far too ethereal.

She didn’t believe in religion or in eternal vows. People just loved drawing boundaries, only to trap themselves inside.

That was why she always watched from across the river, safely detached while the flames of passion burned bright without ever scorching her.

Pity was just human nature—it never reached the point of aching with someone else’s pain.

Qiu Chao said, “So you haven’t met…”

That year, at twenty, Qiu Chao’s career was steadily climbing. She knew opportunities like this were rare and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the relationship.

She put it delicately: “The one who can tame you.”

Yan Muyu replied, “You just said I was untamed.”

The twenty-year-old starlet, embracing her sultry image, cupped her face and laughed. Her crimson eyeliner extended like the red thread of fate from the matchmaker god. “You are untamed. Isn’t it the most thrilling thing, watching someone untamed get tamed?”

Yan Muyu let out a “Whoa.” “Should I start looking forward to it, then?”

They were sitting on the second floor.

Downstairs, people danced along the coastline, while far in the distance, waves crashed against the shore.

The lighthouse beam spilled across the sea, blending with the moonlight’s silver glow. Yan Muyu thought then that none of it was as beautiful as this little sister-in-law.

She truly hoped Qiu Chao would soon become real family. Then she’d want to come home.

One day, she’d rise to aunt status, and taking the kids out to play wouldn’t be half bad.

~~~

But nothing ever went quite as planned. Those waves from back then had taken solid form, landing right in Yan Muyu’s hands.

Qiu Chao seemed a bit panicked—not embarrassed, exactly, but her plan had been thrown into disarray.

She’d meant to give it to Yan Muyu alone that evening. Who could’ve guessed Xi Xi would have such a personality?

Yan Muyu froze for a split second.

Qiu Chao tried to snatch it back, but Yan Muyu was already taller, not to mention perched on the doorstep.

Qiu Chao stood on tiptoe. Xi Xi, having enjoyed the show, headed inside to eat and accidentally bumped her.

Qiu Chao wasn’t the type to bounce around like Liu Song, and her outfit threw off her balance. Falling backward would mean landing hard; leaning forward would send her tumbling into Yan Muyu’s arms.

Her instincts pulled her only one way: toward Yan Muyu.

Lost in the memory, Yan Muyu subconsciously caught her.

And so Qiu Chao tumbled straight into Yan Muyu’s embrace.

Yan Muyu’s arms wrapped instinctively around Qiu Chao’s slender waist.

Who was the wave and who was the shore—or who was the lighthouse anymore? It was impossible to say.

At the very least, in that moment, Qiu Chao’s heart raced uncontrollably. She didn’t even realize she was gulping down air in heavy breaths.

The hand Yan Muyu had clamped around her waist felt like a branding iron, leaving her skin prickling with itchiness. She wanted to press even closer.

She wanted to sleep with her, brazen and unrestrained, just like that wild desire she’d harbored at twenty-two.

【No idea why, but they look so good together.】

【I’m a die-hard bg shipper for Sister Qiu, but now… this actually works.】

【As expected of… the Yan Muyu who won’t fall in love. Yeah, she’s got it.】

【She’s so captivating.】

【Thank goodness for the door cam. I can see that shoujo manga-style heart-flutter on Qiu Chao’s face.】

【These two… they really don’t have… any other intentions…?】