Chapter 94
—Now, do you still feel like you’re in a dream?
Chu Xinrou leaned over and stared at Qiao Xiaoxiao. Her long hair cascaded down like a stream of water, gently brushing against her neck. A cool sensation seeped into her skin, then turned into a slightly itchy touch, winding its way to the bottom of her heart.
Her sister’s eyes were full of her, her gaze focused and gentle, as if she were the only person in the world worth cherishing.
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s eyes grew hot, and her heart ached from a certain burning emotion. She had never been looked at like this before, and she didn’t even dare to think that she was worthy of such a deep affection.
Her fingertips trembled slightly. She raised her hand and held Chu Xinrou’s slender waist. With a little force, she pulled the person completely into her embrace.
They had hugged countless times, but this time was different from all the others. The feeling of their skin touching was so real, and in the space between their breaths, even their heartbeats were clearly audible. Qiao Xiaoxiao buried her face in Chu Xinrou’s shoulder and took a deep breath, letting that familiar scent envelop her.
“Jiejie, thank you…” she murmured, her voice slightly hoarse.
Her sister.
She was clearly also a person who was forbearing, restrained, and not good with words. But to give her a sufficient sense of security, she had broken the bottom line again and again.
What had she done to deserve this?
Chu Xinrou let Qiao Xiaoxiao hold her tightly, the force so great it almost made her unable to breathe. She felt like a crumpled cloth doll, collapsing limply in Xiaoxiao’s embrace.
Her nose brushed against Qiao Xiaoxiao’s collarbone, and a familiar light fragrance wafted over—it was the scent of the body wash they both used, mixed with the unique warmth of a young girl.
Chu Xinrou suddenly felt her throat go dry, her heart beating uncontrollably. Her fingertips unconsciously clutched the fabric of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s back.
“Xiaoxiao…” she called out softly, the end of her voice trembling almost imperceptibly.
Qiao Xiaoxiao was completely immersed in her emotions and answered her with a choke, “Yes.”
Chu Xinrou felt the change in her emotions and told herself in her heart, slower… even slower… don’t scare Xiaoxiao.
As the night deepened, Qiao Xiaoxiao completely relaxed in her sister’s warm embrace. Her tense back gradually relaxed, and her breathing became long and even. In the latter half of the night, she even let out a faint snore like a little cat, her cheek rubbing a faint red mark on Chu Xinrou’s shoulder.
Chu Xinrou’s eyes were wide as she looked at the person in her arms helplessly. She raised her hand and poked her nose.
She imitated what Yang Feitang had said today and muttered to herself in her heart.
—Qiao Xiaoxiao, are you not good enough?
Chu Xinrou’s flight was at six in the morning the next day. No matter how much Qiao Xiaoxiao pestered her, she refused to let Xiaoxiao see her off.
“The airport is too far, and you still have to go to school,” Chu Xinrou ruffled the ends of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s hair, which were sticking up from sleep. Her fingertips twirled a strand of hair and then let it go. “The final exams are coming up. You have to be good.”
The three words “you have to be good” were like a supreme command, leaving Qiao Xiaoxiao with no choice. She suddenly had a flash of inspiration and turned to knock on the door next door. When Yang Feitang was dragged out of Xue Youyou’s embrace with a head of messy hair, she was completely bewildered.
“Qiao Xiaoxiao, you’re heartless!” Yang Feitang pointed at the dark circles under her eyes. “I only went to bed at four in the morning!”
The faint red mark under the collar of her pajamas made Qiao Xiaoxiao take a tactical step back.
Xiaoxiao was good in this aspect now. After being tempered by society, she was no longer the stubborn person she was at the beginning. As long as Yang Feitang could help her send her sister to the airport, she would take any scolding. She smiled and flattered, “Sister Yang, you’re really as good as ever, and a capable person can do more work.”
Yang Feitang almost cursed out loud. “I was the one who was done all night, okay?!”
Qiao Xiaoxiao was choked for a moment, then smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Then my Sister Yang is even more amazing. She can bend and stretch, a professional 0.”
Yang Feitang: …!!!
On the way to the airport, Yang Feitang was still sulking in the back seat. Looking at Qiao Xiaoxiao, who was standing there waving, in the rearview mirror, she couldn’t help but complain, “Look at that brat’s thick skin now. It’s all because you spoiled her.”
Chu Xinrou’s gaze was still glued to the shrinking figure in the rearview mirror, her heart full of reluctance. “Do you have an opinion?”
Yang Feitang: …
Oh.
Look, look. Now she’s so protective that the former CEO Chu has possessed her.
Yang Feitang was humming and hawing, unhappy. Chu Xinrou handed her a bun. “Here, your favorite carrot and beef filling.”
Yang Feitang was stunned for a moment. “You even bought buns so early in the morning?”
The corners of Chu Xinrou’s lips lifted slightly. “Xiaoxiao got up early to make them.”
Yang Feitang: …
She suddenly felt a little choked.
Chu Xinrou: “She made my favorite zucchini filling and made yours on the side.”
“Chu Xinrou,” she gritted her teeth and took a bite of the bun. “You can still get out of the car now.”
…
At the crack of dawn, the flowing morning clouds outside the car window cast fine shadows in Chu Xinrou’s eyes. She tilted her head up slightly, letting that faint golden morning light brush past her eyelashes, like Qiao Xiaoxiao’s gentle kiss last night.
Yang Feitang would look at her expression from time to time and couldn’t help but chatter, “It’s really different. In the past, every time I sent you home, weren’t you always with a dark face?”
She would be on edge for several days. After Chu Xinrou returned, she would also be silent for a long time, and Yang Feitang would still be worried.
Chu Xinrou lowered her head and chuckled, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the phone screen. In the lock screen photo, Qiao Xiaoxiao was hugging her pillow and sleeping soundly, a tuft of hair still sticking up.
“It’s different now,” her voice was very soft, but very certain. “Someone is waiting for me at home.”
Yang Feitang suddenly swerved into a service area. In Chu Xinrou’s confused gaze, she gritted her teeth and took out a bag of bread. “Have some first! I’m afraid I’ll be choked to death by the dog food on the airport expressway later!”
…
The moment Chu Xinrou walked out of the airport, she saw Chu Fengyi standing at the arrival gate. The usually exquisite and proper Second Miss’s eyes were red, and her hair was a little messy. The moment she saw her sister, she rushed up as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw.
“Jie…”
Chu Fengyi buried her whole being in Chu Xinrou’s embrace, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. This sudden intimacy made Chu Xinrou’s whole body stiffen, her heart clenching. “Daddy, he…” her voice trembled. “Is he not going to make it?”
Chu Fengyi’s body clearly stiffened. She slowly looked up, a trace of hurt in her eyes. “Jie, do you dislike me that much?”
She just hugged her sister, and it made Chu Xinrou think that her father was dead?
“…He’s not dead yet,” the Second Miss added with a cold face.
Chu Xinrou let out a long sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
Ah Sen, who was standing on the side, silently wiped his sweat—if the old master had heard this, he would have been so angry he would have died on the spot, even if he wasn’t already dying.
On the way back to the Chu family’s house, the pressure in the car was terrifyingly low. The moment they entered the main gate, Xu Keqing rushed up in a panic. “Xinrou, your father is not well.”
Chu Xinrou quickly walked into the living room and saw Chu Yunji leaning against the sofa in a nightgown. Although his face was pale, he didn’t look like he was in critical condition at all.
“What’s going on?” She frowned and stepped forward.
The moment Chu Yunji saw his eldest daughter, he immediately propped himself up with his cane, his aura also recovering a little. Xu Keqing quickly went to support him but was fiercely pushed away, her eyes full of disgust.
Chu Xinrou keenly sensed the abnormality, her gaze darting back and forth between the three of them. Finally, it settled on Chu Fengyi. The Second Miss had her arms crossed, her face full of disdain.
This strange atmosphere made Chu Xinrou secretly surprised. With her understanding of her father, it should have been a drama of him making her investigate on her own. But this time, the old man was clearly very angry. Even the hand holding the cane was trembling. He directly called her into the study.
“Don’t open that art studio of yours anymore,” the moment the door was closed, Chu Yunji said directly. “Pack your things and come home as soon as possible.”
Chu Xinrou quietly watched his trembling beard and said slowly, “Dad, are you… sick and confused?”
Chu Yunji glared at her.
Chu Xinrou tilted her head, her gaze very light. “Why should I come back?”
Home? Her home was no longer here.
Chu Yunji was almost angered to death on the spot by his eldest daughter.
…
Xu Keqing had been listening to the commotion outside the door with a worried heart. After a few minutes, she heard Chu Yunji’s furious voice from inside. Chu Xinrou, on the other hand, was very calm.
When Chu Xinrou pushed the door and came out, Xu Keqing was eavesdropping against the door panel and almost stumbled into her embrace. Chu Xinrou nonchalantly supported her, and the trembling from her fingertips made her frown slightly.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Her voice was very soft, but it carried an undeniable authority. Although she had been away from the company for many years, the years had, on the contrary, tempered her with an even more intimidating aura. Her brows were filled with an inviolable sharpness.
Xu Keqing lowered her head in a panic, her eyelashes casting a trembling shadow on her pale face. Her knuckles, clutching the hem of her clothes, were white, and her lips were moving but she couldn’t make a sound. This secret was like a red-hot branding iron. No one in the Chu family dared to touch it with their bare hands.
She knew she couldn’t hide it from Chu Xinrou, and now she was so scared she was about to die.
Years of careful planning had all been in vain.
It was all her fault.
If she had just endured it a little longer.
In the end, it was the Second Miss who took her sister’s hand and went into the bedroom, telling her everything.
Even though Chu Xinrou had seen all sorts of storms in her life, after hearing what her sister had said, she was still frozen on the spot, her eyes full of disbelief.
For so many years, Chu Yunji had been the absolute authority at home. His word was law, and he did not allow anyone in the family to breathe.
Chu Xinrou had just been struggling to survive in his shadow. The Second Miss was a little better, but not by much. The most difficult was his wife, Xu Keqing, who lived in fear every day, having to watch his expression.
At the beginning, Chu Yunji was not like this. At the very least, as long as the company was not busy, he would come home for dinner.
But later, after he had gradually started to argue with Xu Keqing, he had even been too lazy to come home. He had basically treated this place as a transit station and would occasionally come back to take a look.
After Chu Fengyi had grown up, she had had a serious talk with her mother several times. “If you can’t get along with my dad, then you should divorce him.”
What was the difference between her living like this and a servant who had to watch other people’s expressions?
Every time, Xu Keqing would lower her head, her voice very soft. “I… am not willing.”
Before she had married Chu Yunji, he had clearly told her that he was single and had only married her because he truly loved her.
But after she had come, the still-swaddled Chu Xinrou had been handed over. Chu Yunji hadn’t even given an explanation, just saying lightly, “If you love me, then treat her as your own daughter.”
Xu Keqing had held Chu Xinrou, and at that time, it was as if she had been struck by lightning.
They had just gotten their marriage certificate yesterday.
She herself was still a girl full of fantasies about love. In the blink of an eye, she had inexplicably become someone else’s stepmother.
During this process, Chu Yunji had hinted to Xu Keqing more than once that if she let Chu Xinrou know that she was not her biological mother, then Xu Keqing could be replaced at any time. What kind of woman did he not want? If she wanted to stay by his side, the most important thing was to be obedient.
The long-term suppression and pain had gradually twisted Xu Keqing’s heart.
Chu Xinrou had been born as beautiful as a porcelain doll. She was the kind of baby that could be held directly for a milk powder commercial. Everyone who saw her liked her.
Xu Keqing also had a woman’s natural maternal love, but she had hardened her heart and had made herself not like her. She had even projected all of Chu Yunji’s verbal pressure and fake kindness onto Chu Xinrou.
Conscience and hatred would pull her apart every night.
Gradually, Xu Keqing was no longer the innocent and romantic little girl who could give everything for love.
She herself knew that she had become hideous.
Xu Keqing had endured and survived in the Chu family like this just to let her daughter get everything that belonged to her.
She was waiting for her daughter’s tomorrow.
But just as she had made Chu Yunji happy and he had decided to hand over the company to his second daughter, Xu Keqing had made a big move.
She had been fooling around with a little man twenty years younger than her in a hotel and had been caught by Chu Yunji’s subordinate, who had even considerately taken a picture for the boss.
It was said that at that time, Chu Yunji had personally gone to catch the adulterers. The scene was so intense and fiery that the boy had been so scared his voice had turned into a squeak.
For a time, it had caused a huge storm.
After hearing this, Chu Xinrou was so shocked that she couldn’t come back to her senses for a long time.
The Second Miss, on the other hand, was very open-minded. She looked at her sister. “From the looks of Dad, he’s going to kick us, mother and daughter, out. Jie, this is also good. Everything I have now originally belonged to you.”
She also finally didn’t have to blame herself and be sad day and night.
She could return everything that belonged to her sister.
Although her mother was not young anymore, it was not too late. As long as she was divorced and free, Xu Keqing could do whatever she wanted. She would not interfere. Even if she found another boyfriend younger than her, the Second Miss could agree.
Chu Fengyi had been tempered these past few years and was no longer that simple and naive little girl. After she had established herself in the group, a large part of her energy was spent on investigating why her mother was so cruel and ruthless to her sister.
Although she had not found out the whole picture, what the Second Miss had learned was eighty or ninety percent of it, which made her even more pained and sad.
Hearing her sister’s words, Chu Xinrou glanced at her. “I’ve been away from the group for many years. I won’t go back.”
Chu Fengyi thought her sister was still worried about her and said, “Jiejie, this was originally yours.”
The Chu Group was not some street-side shop.
This business empire, which spanned finance, real estate, and technology, every decision of the board of directors could shake the stock market, controlled the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of employees, and held the lifeblood of upstream and downstream enterprises. How many powerful people in the political and business circles would vie to hand over their name cards, just to get a seat at the Chu family’s banquet, and how many people would fight to get a piece of the pie?
How could Chu Yunji be so fearless? Wasn’t it because he was sure that Xu Keqing would endure everything for the sake of the group?
Chu Xinrou frowned and glanced at Chu Fengyi. “I won’t go back.”
The Second Miss looked at her so-determined sister in surprise. “Why?”
Chu Xinrou said lightly, “I have a lover.”
She still had to travel all over the world with Xiaoxiao and live the life of a carefree immortal. How could she take on this mess?
Chu Fengyi: ???
What???
【Author’s Note】
Chu Xinrou: Showing off to the sky, showing off to the earth, showing off everything.
