I’m A Scumbag Woman—I Flirt, But Never Marry [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 13

Bang!

The instant the apartment door closed, the tension holding Xu Tinglan’s body upright completely collapsed.

She dropped the cleaning cloth and quietly approached the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw that the corridor outside was empty. She could faintly hear footsteps gradually receding into the distance.

Ding!

Rumble—

The elevator doors opened.

Rumble—

Then they closed again.

After waiting a while without hearing anything else, the motion-activated corridor light went out, and everything beyond the peephole fell into darkness.

Wang Jianfei had truly left.

Xu Tinglan’s legs weakened, and she nearly collapsed. She hurriedly grabbed the door handle, locked both bolts with two clicks, and then reached up to turn off the light.

The apartment instantly sank into darkness.

Only faint, hazy moonlight filtered in through the balcony. It was no more than the slightest glimmer—not even enough to outline the roughest shapes of the furniture. The room was only one step away from complete, impenetrable darkness.

Xu Tinglan leaned against the door and gazed at the weak moonlight obstructed outside the window.

Her eyes grew hot and swollen. She slowly slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor.

An indescribable sorrow suddenly broke through its restraints, surging forth with such force that she couldn’t resist it.

Six years.

Six entire years!

The love she had believed so beautiful had turned out to be nothing more than a cheap and worthless absurdity!

Wang Jianfei had claimed that an emergency meeting required him to leave in the middle of the night.

What kind of meeting took place at such an hour?

Did he truly believe she hadn’t heard him speaking in a lowered voice on the phone?

There had been only one thin door between them. Was he stupid enough to think it could conceal all his ugliness?!

In truth, he wasn’t stupid.

He simply believed he had nothing to fear.

He had already abandoned all restraint and no longer cared how much more she discovered. Closing the door and lowering his voice had probably exhausted what little morality and conscience he had left.

She knew perfectly well that he had gone to meet that woman, yet she didn’t want to stop him.

Nor did she want to follow him and take photographs as evidence of his affair. Such evidence would merely allow her to receive a larger share of their property during the divorce.

The person she had loved… was already gone.

So what did money matter?

She even hoped he would leave and never return.

Xu Tinglan had never felt as frightened and uneasy as she did now. She feared this husband who was simultaneously familiar and strange.

More than anything, she feared that what happened inside the elevator would happen again.

Xu Tinglan stared blankly at the moonlight for a long time. Then she suddenly covered her face.

Even though Wang Jianfei was already gone, she still didn’t dare cry aloud.

She curled into a ball against the door and sobbed quietly. Her slender shoulders trembled, and tears slipped between her fingers, dripping onto the torn dress she hadn’t yet had time to change.

Tick. Tick.

The wall clock dutifully continued marking the time.

Somewhere upstairs, an unknown neighbor flushed the toilet, sending water rushing through the pipes.

The night was dark and somber.

Her weeping was mournful and desolate.

Ding-dong—

The doorbell suddenly rang.

It was like pouring cold water into a pan of boiling oil. Xu Tinglan’s tears abruptly stopped from the shock.

Who could it be at such a late hour?

Wang Jianfei?

Had he returned?

How could he be back so quickly?!!

Xu Tinglan scrambled to her feet in a panic.

Instinctively afraid that Wang Jianfei would discover her secretly crying, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and smoothed the hair at her temples. She even remembered to tug her wrinkled dress into place.

She drew a deep breath and barely managed to steady her emotions.

Although she desperately didn’t want to open the door, she still had to do it.

She didn’t want to fall out with Wang Jianfei completely at such a sensitive moment. Everything could wait until she consulted a lawyer tomorrow.

She reached out and turned on the light.

With her heart pounding violently, she opened the door without expression.

Afraid that Wang Jianfei would see her red, swollen eyes, she kept her gaze lowered. She didn’t even glance at the person outside before turning and walking back toward the sofa.

She picked up the cleaning cloth from the floor and tossed it onto a small stool. Then she began removing the sofa cover.

Rip. Rip.

Even after pulling the cover free, she still didn’t look back. She gathered it in her arms and carried it toward the bathroom.

Left standing alone in the doorway, Gu Shuofeng blinked her long eyelashes twice.

She suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Based on the original plot, she knew Xu Tinglan was elegant and well-mannered, innocent and entirely without guile. Even if Wang Jianfei had deceived her, it was merely because she lacked experience with society.

Never had Gu Shuofeng imagined that Xu Tinglan lacked even the most basic awareness of personal safety!

Nowadays, even three-year-old children knew they shouldn’t open the door for strangers. At the very least, she should have asked who was outside.

Especially in the middle of the night!

Yet she had opened the door wide without even looking, then turned her back on the visitor. It was practically as though she were welcoming someone to come inside and bully her.

Even if she believed Wang Jianfei had returned and couldn’t bear to look at that scumbag, couldn’t she at least have checked the peephole before opening the door?

Tsk, tsk.

Fortunately, it was Gu Shuofeng.

If some violent criminal intending to rob and assault her had truly appeared, Xu Tinglan would probably spend the rest of her life regretting it.

Forget it.

Since Xu Tinglan was so pleasing to her eyes, Gu Shuofeng would give her a proper lesson later—one she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Gu Shuofeng stepped inside and locked the door behind her.

She walked directly to the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching Xu Tinglan’s slender back as she stuffed the sofa cover into the washing machine.

Unhurriedly, Gu Shuofeng remarked, “Why are you washing a sofa cover in the middle of the night? Aren’t you afraid of disturbing the neighbors?”

Xu Tinglan’s narrow shoulders abruptly contracted.

She slowly turned around. Her loose hair was disheveled, and her clear, luminous eyes reflected the cold white light from the living room, shining like frozen stars.

“You!”

Xu Tinglan’s eyes widened slightly.

After a brief moment of panic, she looked behind Gu Shuofeng and then swept her gaze across the living room.

When she saw no sign of Wang Jianfei, she hesitated before silently turning back toward the washing machine.

She pressed the soak button, and water began rushing into the drum.

Xu Tinglan bent down and lifted a large 4.5-kilogram jug of laundry detergent from the corner. She set it heavily on the washing machine, unscrewed the cap, and began pouring without bothering to measure it.

Traveling from here to Chen Xiyao’s apartment required at least forty minutes each way without traffic.

After adding the walk from the parking garage to the residential complex, going upstairs, pounding on the door, and finally returning empty-handed, Wang Jianfei couldn’t possibly make it home in less than three hours.

They had plenty of time.

Gu Shuofeng wasn’t in a hurry.

She walked over, grasped the detergent jug in Xu Tinglan’s hands, and tugged it backward.

“That’s enough. If you keep pouring, the entire jug will end up inside.”

Xu Tinglan pushed her hand away and continued pouring as though the detergent cost nothing.

“Even if I poured all of it inside, it still wouldn’t wash away the stains.”

Gu Shuofeng arched an eyebrow.

“If the stains can’t be removed, why waste the detergent?”

“I’m not pouring it in to clean the sofa cover. I’m doing it so the machine will have to wash it longer.

“The more detergent I use, the more times it will need to be rinsed. That means I can take it out later, and it will dry later. Perhaps the machine will simply tear it apart, and then I can throw it away.”

Xu Tinglan’s voice was indifferent.

If not for the bloodshot redness left by crying, no one would have detected the slightest trace of vulnerability.

Gu Shuofeng understood her unspoken meaning.

At the hotel, Gu Shuofeng had said that Wang Jianfei was dirty and she no longer wanted him.

Now Xu Tinglan was returning those words in kind.

Wang Jianfei was dirty.

She didn’t want him either.

She spoke so decisively, yet her nose was still red from crying.

Xu Tinglan continued pouring the detergent without asking why Gu Shuofeng had appeared here, as though she already knew the answer.

Gu Shuofeng was in no hurry to explain.

While both of Xu Tinglan’s hands were occupied, she reached out and untied her loose, disheveled bun.

Black hair cascaded downward like clouds, smooth and silky as it slipped between Gu Shuofeng’s fingers, stirring the imagination.

Gu Shuofeng instinctively rubbed her fingertips together, still savoring the sensation.

Xu Tinglan’s composure had only been forcibly maintained. Unprepared for Gu Shuofeng’s sudden action, her hand jerked in fright.

The jug of detergent dropped into the washing machine with a splash.

She didn’t bother retrieving it. Instead, she immediately touched her hair.

“What are you doing?!”

Gu Shuofeng extended her arm and helped retrieve the dripping plastic jug. She tossed it into the sink with a clatter, splashing foam across the basin.

Then she turned toward Xu Tinglan.

“Is it worth making yourself look this miserable over a scumbag?”

Xu Tinglan lowered her eyes.

No matter how panicked she felt, she refused to reveal it in front of this woman.

Relying on the pride inherent to an artist, she faltered for only a moment. When she raised her head again, she was as calm as still water, as though even the greatest storm couldn’t disturb her surface.

“If the two of you have some ulterior motive, why don’t you state it directly?”

“The two of us?”

Gu Shuofeng smiled faintly and leaned her head closer.

“You’re right. There are indeed two of us—you and me.”

Xu Tinglan frowned and instinctively retreated.

“I don’t like speaking in circles.”

“Neither do I. So I’ll say it directly.”

Gu Shuofeng looked into her eyes.

“Pack your things immediately and leave with me.”

Author’s Note:

Xu Tinglan now: Are you sick? Turn left after going outside. The Second Psychiatric Hospital welcomes you. Thank you.

Xu Tinglan in the future: There’s no need to pack. Let’s leave right now! You’re not allowed to take it back!