Chapter 21

“Go take a shower.”

“Huh?”

Bai Lu’s head was a tangled mess of paste. She bit the tip of her tongue and, after much difficulty, managed to decipher those three words amidst the chaos. Instantly, she was so flustered she couldn’t find her hands and feet.

What… what did that mean?

A shower for what?

Why take a shower?

Lu Zhi saw the wild thoughts racing through her mind and found it a bit funny. She reached out and lightly flicked Bai Lu’s forehead, relaxing her tone as she said, “Go take a shower and then sleep. After all that drinking, you reek of alcohol.”

Bai Lu flinched and reflexively sniffed herself, asking nervously, “Do I stink?”

Lu Zhi didn’t answer, just watched with a smile as she wrinkled her little nose to sniff her own arm.

Bai Lu quickly put her hand down, feeling like she was about to spontaneously combust under Lu Zhi’s gaze from the fire in her heart. Finally, she scrambled to her feet in a panic. “Then I… I’ll go now…”

But she stood up so abruptly she lost her balance, stumbling as she took a step.

Lu Zhi, sitting nearby, reached out to steady her by the waist.

Bai Lu bit her tongue, feigning composure as she ignored the hand on her waist that touched and then left. She almost walked with her arms and legs moving in sync on the way to the bathroom, only coming back to her senses halfway and turning her head.

Lu Zhi was still sitting on the sofa, leaning back against the cushions, one slender arm draped casually. It was a very lazy, comfortable posture. Perhaps because of tonight’s absurdity, her face wasn’t its usual pale white, but tinged with a faint blush. Her delicate brows raised slightly in a questioning look as she noticed Bai Lu stop.

Bai Lu had originally wanted to ask when she was going back to her own room, but meeting her gaze, she couldn’t say anything. She quickly turned and pushed open the bathroom door.

Lu Zhi withdrew her gaze, sat quietly for a while, then got up and went to the room’s built-in water bar. She took a glass, poured some purified water, and added a few ice cubes.

She looked out at the flickering night outside the window and took the glass out to the balcony.

Outside was the placid lake surface, drifting with many flower lanterns. Plenty of mosquito-repelling herbs must have been planted around, for in this slightly chilly night, even the hum of nature carried a tranquil quality.

She glanced at her watch; the slender hands pointed to ten-thirty.

But by eleven o’clock, Bai Lu still hadn’t come out of the bathroom.

Through the layer of frosted glass, the sound of trickling water was still clearly audible.

Lu Zhi was getting a headache. Was this girl planning to hide in there all night?

She reached out and knocked on the door. The water sound quickly stopped, but no one spoke.

Lu Zhi sighed internally, paused for a moment, then spoke: “Bai Lu, come out. I’m going back.”

There was a brief pause inside, followed by a somewhat flustered reply, echoing slightly in the enclosed space: “Okay, okay…”

The shadow behind the glass door lingered for a moment before moving away. Bai Lu pricked up her ears, not daring to breathe loudly. Only when she faintly heard the soft click of the door lock closing did she remember to breathe again.

After a long while, she opened the bathroom door and first poked her head out. The room was utterly silent. Realizing the other person had really left, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

For some inexplicable reason, Bai Lu crept stealthily, feeling like a little hedgehog that someone had just rubbed open—both comfortable and scared. She just wanted to quickly curl up her soft belly alone and hide back in a corner.

Wrapped in her bathrobe, she walked out in a daze, found the bed as if sleepwalking, and, ignoring her wet hair, threw herself heavily onto it.

The moment she closed her eyes, all she saw were Lu Zhi’s kisses.

Just thinking about it made Bai Lu’s legs go weak.

She clutched a soft pillow and screamed into it, muffling the sound, as if that could smother those unfamiliar emotions that made her heart flutter so uncontrollably.

Why did she kiss me?

Was she drunk too?

Could she possibly like me?

No matter how hard she tried to suppress it, thinking about this, Bai Lu still smiled. Her heart instantly felt like it was soaking in soft, viscous honey. She turned her head; on the nightstand was a black glazed stone slab. Its smooth surface reflected her image.

Who was that person in the reflection, face full of springtime desire?!

Bai Lu quickly patted her cheeks, forcing herself to regain some semblance of sanity.

But she still wanted to smile.

She probably does like me, right? Otherwise, why would she kiss me?

Even though I was the one who initiated it, but such a deep…

Ah! Ah! Ah! She’s so good at it!

…

So good at it?

???

!!!!

Bai Lu’s eyelid twitched.

Of course, she’s good at it…

She is…

As if struck by a giant hammer, Bai Lu’s head throbbed.

She and Big Brother…

The warmth slowly faded from Bai Lu’s face.

Even though Big Brother was gone, the fact remained. She still remembered the little tantrum she had thrown on their wedding day, just because everyone’s attention was on Shen Qing.

That was why she had thought she was crazy before. Lu Zhi was a woman, and she had such a connection to her. She did indeed like her, but she had never dared to hope for Lu Zhi’s response.

But now…

Why did she kiss me?

Doesn’t she love Big Brother very much?

Love him enough to marry him, to stay a widow for him…

Bai Lu shook her dizzy head. Her damp strands of hair were cold, sticking to her face.

Even though she hadn’t paid much attention before, she knew that with Shen Qing’s qualities, even having been married once, she was still pursued by many men. But in over two years, Shen Qing never seemed to respond to anyone. She even kept looking after the Bai family, cared about Father Bai, and later, focused her attention on her.

Bai Lu nervously clutched the bathrobe, her knuckles turning white from the force.

Why did she kiss me?

Because…

Because I’m Bai Hao’s little sister?

Bai Lu was startled by her own wild thoughts. She lifted her head, her gaze wandering meaninglessly around the room, but that absurd notion in her mind only grew clearer.

Is it?

Is it?

Because I’m Bai Hao’s little sister?

Just because I’m Bai Hao’s little sister?

Bai Lu felt like her head was about to explode from all these messy thoughts, and a wave of inexplicable anger even surged up.

She stood up and paced back and forth, her fingers at her mouth, biting them anxiously.

She should ask her!

When Lu Zhi was woken up, she first checked the clock by the bed. After three in the morning. It took her a moment to realize the sound was knocking, not the electronic doorbell.

Lu Zhi turned on the bedside lamp, the darkness in the room gently receding. She pushed the covers aside and got out of bed. As she opened the door, a hint of irritation at being disturbed from sleep unconsciously flickered in her features.

Standing outside, surprisingly, was Bai Lu in a thin nightgown, her hair a mess, her small face scrunched up. She looked at Lu Zhi as if about to cry, both aggrieved and pitiful.

“You…” Bai Lu opened her mouth, the accusation she had agonized over for half the night caught in her throat after just two words, faltering pathetically under the lingering gloom on Lu Zhi’s face.

Lu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat. A midnight visit, with that expression… had she only just processed it?

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhi’s expression softened as she looked at the pitiful little thing. Asking the question, she reached out and grabbed Bai Lu’s wrist, gently pulling her inside. The door lock clicked softly shut.

Bai Lu was pulled into the room before she could even react.

Lu Zhi’s room was decorated in an ancient Greek style. The walls were covered in textured wallpaper with complex patterns, and all sorts of richly colored paintings hung in every corner. As Bai Lu looked up, above the entrance hall hung a painting of a little boy with wings and a bare bottom, holding a small white bow and arrow pointed straight at her.

Bai Lu tore her gaze from the painting and focused on Lu Zhi standing before her, but she couldn’t open her mouth.

Who knew how long she had been outside. Bai Lu’s wrist was icy cold in Lu Zhi’s grip. Her slender fingers traced down the smooth, fair skin to the fingertips, gently rubbing them a couple of times.

“Why are your hands so cold?” Lu Zhi asked.

But Bai Lu seemed not to hear the question. She bit her lip, looking at her, her eyes full of misty moisture.

She asked Lu Zhi, “Do you like me?”

Lu Zhi raised an eyebrow without a moment’s hesitation. “Of course.”

She stopped rubbing Bai Lu’s cool, soft hand, and instead, her fingers slowly interlaced with Bai Lu’s, locking them perfectly together.

Lu Zhi leaned in slightly, looking into Bai Lu’s eyes, and said, “I like you.”

Such clear four words.

Bai Lu’s heart trembled. All those uncertainties and questions were effortlessly defeated by these four words. She looked at Lu Zhi, her thick, curled lashes fluttering slowly. The corners of her eyes gradually reddened, and then two streams of clear tears rolled unexpectedly down from her eye sockets.

Lu Zhi didn’t show surprise or panic. Her gaze rested softly on the face of this insecure young girl before her. After a long moment, she extended her free hand, her index finger curling slightly to catch a teardrop still hanging on Bai Lu’s cheek, then brought it to her lips and tasted it.

Bai Lu’s heart was both sour and soft. Looking at Lu Zhi, she felt light as air, wishing she could just turn into a feather and float away right there.

Lu Zhi touched her face. The living room lights were still off, the space dim. Only the bedroom door was open, a sliver of light leaking out. Lu Zhi simply pulled the person into the bedroom and sat her down on the sofa there, saying, “I’ll pour you a glass of warm water to warm up.”

Bai Lu nodded dully, watching as Lu Zhi took a glass from the nightstand and filled it, taking a sip first to test the temperature.

A very intimate gesture.

Bai Lu took the glass. Warmth slowly spread from her fingertips. She sipped gently, feeling all her curled-up nerves finally begin to relax. Then she heard Lu Zhi ask her.

“You came knocking at midnight just to ask me if I like you?”

Bai Lu nearly choked on her gentle tone. Her sluggish nerves suddenly snapped taut. It abruptly hit her that the person before her was someone with an even worse temper upon waking than her own. The last time she disturbed her sleep at night, she had simply been left outside the door.

Lu Zhi stretched out an arm, grabbing the alarm clock from the nightstand and flashing it before Bai Lu’s eyes. “It’s three-thirty in the morning. You…”

She looked Bai Lu up and down, taking in the thin nightgown, beneath which there clearly were no restrictive undergarments.

“You came to me like this just to get me to confess to you?”

Bai Lu was speechless and flustered. Lu Zhi had clearly been observing her for a while, only slowly speaking these ambiguously blaming words once the young girl’s brow smoothed and her expression relaxed.

Lu Zhi walked over, then bent slightly, placing both arms on either side of the single-person sofa, trapping the sitting Bai Lu within. Because she was leaning down, Lu Zhi’s loose hair fell, cascading onto Bai Lu’s face, neck, and shoulders.

Bai Lu’s heart stopped for a second. Then she saw Lu Zhi’s gaze land on the bare neck exposed by the loose neckline of her nightgown, a deep, meaningful look in her eyes.

Bai Lu never knew she could be so quick-witted. She understood the meaning in those eyes almost instantly. Alarm bells blared in her head. She hurriedly placed the glass on the coffee table beside her, spilling some on her knee in her haste. She paid it no mind, shooting up to her feet and stammering, “I… I’ll now… go… go back…”

Lu Zhi laughed, her fingers tightening around Bai Lu’s wrist. Then she pulled hard. This time, she didn’t pull her onto the sofa, but directly tossed her onto the bed.

Bai Lu felt the world spin, her body sinking into a cloud of softness. This spot had clearly been occupied by Lu Zhi. The moment she landed, her mouth and nose were filled with the cool fragrance of Lu Zhi’s scent.

Then Bai Lu sensed the room brighten momentarily. She tilted her head up slightly and realized Lu Zhi had turned the light up.

Lu Zhi was wearing a wine-red satin slip dress tonight. The thin straps hung on her pale, sharp shoulders, and her wavy, chestnut hair spread like seaweed around her face. Under the bright light, her skin seemed to glow white, but her eyes were fixed directly on her, almost tangible in their intensity, carrying a sharp edge of aggression.

“Don’t go back,” she said.