Chapter 35: Don’t Let Her Touch You Part 2

“So Xingran’s back, and you want to draw a clear line with me?” Mu Shanyi slowed the car and changed lanes to pull over.

This was twisting right and wrong. Miao Zhu’s eyes immediately reddened. “Do you care that much about my engagement with Xingran? Why keep asking about it?”

“Can’t I care?” Mu Shanyi didn’t back down. “Or are you afraid Xingran will figure out our relationship?”

“Mu Shanyi!” Miao Zhu whipped around to face her, clear eyes brimming with tears. “How can you sleep with me on one hand and then act like an outsider discussing the details of my engagement with Xingran? Have you ever considered my feelings?”

Hadn’t Miao Zhu done the exact same—sleeping with her while wholeheartedly pushing forward her wedding plans with Xingran?

“I’ve confirmed it with you.” Mu Shanyi parked the car in a roadside spot. “I asked if the engagement with Xingran was what you wanted. Do you remember how you answered me back then?”

“You said ‘yes,’ Miao Zhu. The engagement was your choice.”

“Yeah, I do want to get engaged to her!” Miao Zhu didn’t want to cry at all, but Mu Shanyi’s attitude was too unyielding, every word stabbing at her painfully. She spoke without thinking. “You said yourself that as long as I’m happy, that’s fine. So why make me unhappy today?”

Mu Shanyi’s lips tightened, emotions surging in her eyes.

Tears fell from Miao Zhu’s eyes in large drops.

Mu Shanyi had told her to express her true thoughts, to be willful—it was because Mu Shanyi spoiled her so much usually that she couldn’t even tolerate this bit of grievance.

But no amount of spoiling changed the fact that Mu Shanyi didn’t truly care about her. Besides Xiao Hui, Mu Shanyi still went on blind dates and met new people.

In the end, she was just a bedmate. What were those sweet nothings in bed worth?

Miao Zhu’s heart twisted tightly. This quarrel shouldn’t have happened between her and Mu Shanyi. While she still had some rationality left, she wiped away her tears, unbuckled her seatbelt, and reached for the door. But Mu Shanyi locked it first.

“Then tell me, what do you want me to do to make you happy?” Mu Shanyi’s tone was suppressed as she gave Miao Zhu options. “Ignore your engagement completely and pretend I don’t know? Or cut off all contact, acting like nothing ever happened in front of others and behind closed doors?”

How little did she care to so casually suggest cutting off contact?

Was there not a shred of sincerity from Mu Shanyi in their relationship?

Tears surged out uncontrollably. Miao Zhu tried to push the door again, but it was futile—the door didn’t budge.

“Don’t treat me like this…” She surrendered. No one wanted a lover who deliberately made trouble for them. She still had to placate Mu Shanyi, even if tonight’s Mu Shanyi hurt her again and again.

With that thought, Miao Zhu covered her face and cried even harder.

Oncoming headlights flashed into the car, illuminating the crystalline teardrops slipping through Miao Zhu’s fingers.

Her soft sobs weighed like a thousand pounds, leaving Mu Shanyi defenseless.

What principles?

The moment she chose the affair, principles went out the window.

Mu Shanyi tugged her lips in self-mockery. She unbuckled her seatbelt too, leaned over sideways, grabbed Miao Zhu’s wrist, and pulled her closer. “Come here, baby.”

Dizzy from crying, Miao Zhu saw Mu Shanyi offering a way out because of her submission. In a daze, she knelt on the seat. Mu Shanyi adjusted the driver’s seat back and scooped her over from the passenger side.

“…Don’t leave me.” As soon as she got close to Mu Shanyi, Miao Zhu wrapped around her tightly like vines, clamping her waist and pressing her face into her neck. Hot tears soaked her collar.

Mu Shanyi tilted her head back and took a deep breath.

“I won’t leave you.” She threaded her fingers into Miao Zhu’s hair and gently patted her back. “Did my words make you uncomfortable? Want me to apologize?”

Miao Zhu pulled back slightly, looking at Mu Shanyi through tear-blurred eyes.

Mu Shanyi said, “Tonight’s over, okay?”

Miao Zhu said insincerely through sobs, “Okay.”

Under cover of night, Mu Shanyi’s car entered Moon Reflection Villa and quietly parked at the Miao family villa.

No one else was home.

It was Mu Shanyi’s first time there, so she wasn’t familiar with the layout and followed Miao Zhu slowly.

Miao Zhu wasn’t in the mood to give her a tour. She took the elevator straight to her room.

The room had been restored to its original state, except for the shattered floor lamp by the bed. That spot remained empty—Miao Zhu had no intention of replacing it.

It was too late, so Miao Zhu went to shower first.

The discarded pad still had some red on it.

After her shower, dressed in a nightgown, Mu Shanyi pulled her to sit on the bed’s edge.

On the nightstand sat a glass of milk, a small plate of ice cubes, and a clean small towel.

“Put this on your eyes.” Mu Shanyi wrapped a few ice cubes in the towel and handed it to Miao Zhu. “I checked the fridge—hope you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.” Miao Zhu obediently applied the ice. She’d seen in the mirror earlier—her eyes were swollen from crying.

After a while, Mu Shanyi gave her the milk. The glass was warm to the touch—Mu Shanyi had heated it.

“Hot during your period, right?”

Hearing this, Miao Zhu’s tears welled up again unbidden.

Why was someone so considerate yet so cruel?

She didn’t understand.

“Baby, still unhappy?” Mu Shanyi knelt between Miao Zhu’s legs, lifted a hand, and wiped away her tears with her fingertips. Her gaze lingered on Miao Zhu’s ripe, flushed red lips.

The remaining milk sloshed in the glass. Mu Shanyi gently pried open Miao Zhu’s hand from the ice pack and removed it.

…

All was silent. Miao Zhu lay on her side, listening to Sheng Xingran’s call.

Sheng Xingran asked, “Ready to sleep?”

Miao Zhu: “Mm…”

Sheng Xingran: “I’ve got time tomorrow. Want me to go with you to Emma’s?”

Miao Zhu: “I’ll be with Emma all day… You’d get bored. How about dinner together when I get back?”

No sooner had she spoken than Miao Zhu was pressed face-down into the pillow, the person behind her covering her and kissing her shoulder blade.

Miao Zhu hurriedly covered her mouth and nose to stifle the gasp threatening to escape, so Sheng Xingran wouldn’t notice.

Her ear wasn’t aligned properly with the phone, so Sheng Xingran’s voice came distant then near, somewhat distorted. “Sounds good. I’ll pick a nice restaurant.”

“They’re still playing mahjong. Do middle-aged people nowadays have this much energy? Are they really going all night?”

“…”

“Tell her you’re going to sleep.” Mu Shanyi whispered into Miao Zhu’s ear.

“Xingran, I’m so sleepy…” She had just said goodnight when Mu Shanyi immediately hung up the phone.

Miao Zhu shrugged her shoulders. Her earlobe had been nibbled by the tips of Mu Shanyi’s teeth until it went numb, and she couldn’t help clutching the pillow tightly. “Don’t…”

Mu Shanyi flipped her over and gazed into those magnificent eyes beneath her, eyes like serene lakes.

She leaned down to kiss her. “Don’t let her touch you.”