Chapter 25
Su Yi had never had any deep understanding of the word “splitting.”
Wasn’t it just a training movement? Something she could do effortlessly. There was nothing to understand.
But now, she understood.
Because she was so angry that even the nerve endings in her body felt like they were about to split apart!
Of all the restaurants Cen Qingke could have booked, why did she have to choose one so difficult to reserve? Su Yi had been forced to pull a few strings before successfully getting a seat.
The seat was in a corner, diagonally behind Cen Qingke, with a Roman column blocking the view. It would not be easy for Cen Qingke to see her, but it would be very easy for Su Yi to keep watch on them.
To think that she, Su Yi, had fallen to the point of fighting paparazzi for a meal.
She was angry. She was dissatisfied. She had deliberately made Bian Lu arrive early and take the seat facing Cen Qingke, to stop Cen Qingke from sitting face-to-face with her. Even with the Roman column blocking the way, Su Yi was still afraid she would lose her appetite.
Bian Lu’s meal had been ordered by Cen Qingke, but Su Yi’s had been ordered by Bian Lu.
At first, Su Yi had still been worried that Bian Lu would not understand French dining etiquette and would embarrass “Su Yi” in public. Seeing how skillfully Bian Lu ordered, she relaxed a little.
She actually did not care about other people’s gazes, but dining etiquette was the most basic form of upbringing. If word spread that Su Yi did not even know how to eat properly, the one disgraced would not be her, but the mother who had taught her.
But why was Bian Lu so familiar with French cuisine?
Su Yi was familiar with it because her mother liked French food, and she often accompanied her mother to eat it. Many people thought Su Yi liked it too.
In truth, she found it only average. She could not say she liked it, but she could not say she disliked it either.
Or more accurately, she had no particular preference when it came to food. Everything was average. The one thing she perhaps favored slightly was coffee. Because it was bitter, and because of the caffeine. Both in taste and composition, it kept her from getting sleepy.
She was like this because of her mother.
Then who was Bian Lu like this because of?
Su Yi ate her exquisite French meal while keeping watch on Bian Lu and Cen Qingke. Cen Qingke was fairly well-behaved, and Su Yi also felt that perhaps she was being too sensitive. No matter how bold Cen Qingke was, she could not possibly do anything in public. In truth, Su Yi might not have needed to follow them.
Who knew that she really should not have underestimated the shamelessness of any alpha!!!
She was seated somewhat far away, so she could not hear what Cen Qingke said, but she saw the unsealed vacuum bottle in Cen Qingke’s hand.
This meal had been arranged under the pretext of delivering pheromones. If Cen Qingke had not prepared the pheromones, what exactly was she planning to do?
No matter how perfect Cen Qingke’s reason was, it was still an excuse.
Su Yi had seen plenty of shameless, bottomless things in their circle—even things that challenged the bottom line of the law. Even if she was not familiar with Cen Qingke, the moment Cen Qingke took out an empty bottle, Su Yi knew she did not have good intentions.
Cen Qingke went to the restroom and came out not long after. Sure enough, the vacuum bottle was still empty.
Who knew what flowery words Cen Qingke used to deceive Bian Lu, but Bian Lu actually left with Cen Qingke after paying the bill without asking a single question???
No, seriously. She could not see such an obvious trap? Was Bian Lu born missing a nerve in her brain? Or was her love brain in the late, terminal, final stage?
If Bian Lu had truly never taken Cen Qingke’s money, then it really was possible she had a love brain.
Uneasy, Su Yi followed them out. Cen Qingke appeared dignified, generous, and well-mannered. From beginning to end, she kept an appropriate distance from Bian Lu, just as she had once done in front of Su Yi before the soul swap.
But from a different perspective, what one saw was completely different.
Following behind them, Su Yi saw Cen Qingke’s index finger and thumb rub together meaningfully. She saw that Cen Qingke could clearly have walked straight to the car door, yet when she took a step, her foot twisted awkwardly to the side, silently angling toward Bian Lu.
Su Yi hid behind the column and reached out to pull Bian Lu back, but before she could grab her, Bian Lu leaned back slightly. It was probably unintentional, but she just happened to dodge Cen Qingke’s attempt to take advantage of her.
Hmph. Count Bian Lu lucky. If Cen Qingke had really touched her, Su Yi would not spare Cen Qingke, nor would she spare Bian Lu!
Su Yi did not care about unintentional brushes from passersby. But Cen Qingke’s kind of brush, carrying such obvious sleazy intent, disgusted her.
Cen Qingke wanted to go into Su Yi’s car to collect pheromones. Her intentions could not have been more obvious. Yet Bian Lu did not stop her. She even took the initiative to unlock the car remotely and let Cen Qingke get in???
Had she really not seen through Cen Qingke’s filthy thoughts? Or had she seen through them and pretended not to?
Holding in her anger, Su Yi wanted to see whether Bian Lu really dared let Cen Qingke get into the car.
Unexpectedly, she really dared!
Cen Qingke had already opened the car door, yet Bian Lu still stood beside it as if nothing had happened.
Deep breath. Exhale. Inhale.
This was something her mother had taught her since childhood. When emotions were difficult to control, she had to breathe deeply. She had to stay calm. No matter when, she could not let anyone else control her emotions.
She looked coldly at Cen Qingke bending down to get into the car, then lifted her leg and kicked.
Bang!
The car door slammed shut.
She did not allow any alpha to release pheromones in her car.
No, not just that.
She did not allow any alpha except her uncle to get into her car!
Bian Lu, you’re done for. You clearly knew I was watching from the side, yet you still dared so arrogantly bring an alpha into my car. Do you really think I don’t dare do anything to you?
Suppressing her anger, Su Yi kicked the door shut three times in a row, kicking away Cen Qingke’s restless thoughts. Then she grabbed the idiot standing there like a fool and shoved her into the car, before getting in herself.
The most frustrating part was that it was clearly her own car, and the one with a driver’s license was clearly her, yet she could only curl up in the passenger seat.
Whose ancestral grave had she dug up in her previous life for karma to take revenge on her like this?
Her mental state was already severely imbalanced, and yet Cen Qingke actually said Bian Lu was being too much?
Heh.
She was not angry.
What was there to be angry about over such a tiny sesame-seed, mung-bean-sized thing? She was not angry at all.
But why was she the one spending money, why was she the one suffering anger, and in the end, why was she also the one being called unreasonable?
She was furious inside, but did not show it on her face. Cen Qingke was not worth her showing it.
“It seems I need to explain. First, this isn’t her car. This is my car. Second, it isn’t that she’s nice. It’s that I’m too kind. Third, everything currently under her name belongs to me. Even she is mine.”
Those words were not actually meant for Cen Qingke. They were meant for Bian Lu.
She was reminding Bian Lu to have some self-awareness and think clearly about who her current “patron” was. Although Su Yi was a forced “patron,” she was the one truly providing money, effort, and even the body she least wanted to share with anyone. As long as Bian Lu was still human, she should know whose side she ought to stand on right now.
Su Yi had deliberately made Bian Lu block Cen Qingke’s number in front of Cen Qingke as a test of whether Bian Lu understood her position. As for accidentally angering Cen Qingke until she vomited blood, that was Cen Qingke’s own fault. She could not blame anyone else.
“When did you become like this?!”
“I’m asking whether you’re going to the hospital.”
Seeing Cen Qingke so angry her face turned red and she could not speak, Su Yi felt refreshed.
She had once thought Cen Qingke looked all right. Looking at her now, Su Yi really suspected her past self had been blind.
After collecting the pheromones, Su Yi followed Bian Lu to deliver them to her mother’s hospital. Bian Lu did not go to the ward to visit her mother. She only put down the pheromones and turned to leave.
That rather surprised Su Yi.
“Although it’s a little late, didn’t the doctor say your mother hasn’t gone to sleep yet? You’re not going in to see her?”
Bian Lu shook her head. She was clearly smiling, yet for some reason, she looked a little sad.
But what did that have to do with Su Yi?
After leaving the hospital, Su Yi wanted to send her back to the hospital.
She laughed from anger.
“What? I accompanied you to two hospitals tonight, and now that your business is done, you plan to kick me away? Burning bridges after crossing them isn’t done like this.”
Bian Lu even looked rather wronged.
“I was obedient enough tonight, wasn’t I?”
It would have been fine if she had not mentioned it. The moment she did, Su Yi became even angrier.
“You really were obedient enough. Whatever Cen Qingke told you to do, you did. Did you truly not see what she was planning?”
“I did.”
Bian Lu actually had the nerve to nod?!
“You saw it and still let her into my car? You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You were hoping something would happen, weren’t you?!”
Su Yi was so furious that her expression management nearly collapsed. Bian Lu was driving, and from the corner of her eye, she glanced at Su Yi. Then she actually pressed her lips together and smiled?
She still had the face to smile?!
Fine. Let everything be destroyed. Let them all die together.
Bian Lu cleared her throat with a smile and said, “I knew you would definitely come out.”
Heh. Heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh.
“That’s strange. Didn’t you previously say you were afraid Cen Qingke would overthink things and didn’t want me to show myself? Why aren’t you afraid now?”
“I was never afraid she’d overthink it. I only wanted to preserve the last bit of my dignity.”
She made it sound so pitiful.
“So you don’t need dignity now?”
“My dignity isn’t as important as yours.”
Su Yi: “?????”
For a moment, she suddenly did not know what to say.
Su Yi said, “Don’t say pretty words. If you really cared about my dignity, you should have exposed her in public.”
“How would I expose her? What did she do? She merely wanted to borrow my car to help me collect the pheromones I needed.”
On the surface, it really seemed impossible to say anything.
“Even without an obvious handle, you could have refused to let her into my car.”
“If I refused, she would find another excuse. Rather than going in circles and wasting time, it was better for you to appear. The one offending her would be ‘Bian Lu.’ The one being misunderstood would also be ‘Bian Lu.’ It has nothing to do with you.”
Su Yi: “…”
For the second time, she did not know what to say.
“Don’t think I’ll trust you just because you say that.”
“But at least you won’t think of me as being that bad anymore.”
“When you put it that way…”
It did seem to make some sense.
She leaned back against the passenger seat and reached out to pat Bian Lu.
“Bian Lu.”
“Mm?”
“I won’t apologize.”
“Mm?”
“No matter whether I misunderstood you before, I won’t apologize. And before we switch back, I won’t stop guarding against you either.”
There was a red light ahead. Bian Lu stepped on the brakes, held the steering wheel, and turned her eyes to Su Yi. It was clearly Su Yi’s own face, yet Bian Lu smiled with a completely different feeling.
Su Yi was cold and impersonal. Bian Lu, however, had curved brows and eyes, starlight glowing in her gaze. She was gentle like the first ray of warm morning sun.
“You being willing to tell me this is already the greatest trust you could give me. It’s something I wouldn’t dare dream of.”
Thump.
Su Yi’s heart seemed to stop strangely for an instant.
She looked at that smile and unnaturally turned her gaze away. For the first time in her life, she did not know how to control her facial expression. She wanted to smile, but the smile felt fake. If she did not smile, it felt like she was smiling anyway. The air suddenly seemed to become sticky, making her somewhat unable to control her breathing.
The light turned green. Bian Lu started the car again and followed the flow of traffic through the intersection.
Using Su Yi’s voice, Bian Lu spoke in a soft, warm tone Su Yi herself found unfamiliar. It was like sinking into a warm bath when exhausted; even her eardrums felt comfortable.
“You are the Su family’s only heir. Who knows how many people are eyeing you like tigers watching prey? If this weren’t Jing City, where public security is the best, and if you didn’t have the Su family as your backing, as well as the self-defense gun specially approved by the National Omega Association, and…”
Bian Lu paused strangely.
“And what?”
“…And the martial force of a taekwondo black belt, you probably would have been kidnapped long ago.”
Su Yi narrowed her eyes.
“How do you know I’m a taekwondo black belt?”
“Everyone in the circle knows.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Su Yi tilted her head and looked at Bian Lu, who was driving seriously. Light and shadow alternated over Bian Lu’s face, making her look calm and natural, but Su Yi still felt that Bian Lu had lied.
“Then why did you pause just now?”
I was just recalling which year the rumors about your taekwondo black belt began, afraid I’d say it wrong.
Bian Lu smiled with a harmless expression. “I just thought it was only a rumor and might not be true, so I paused.”
Of course it’s true. Later, you put Lu Yaxuan in the ICU and were even going to ruin the Lu family. I was the one who begged you for mercy.
Even now, I still don’t understand. Why did so many people beg you and fail to make you relent, yet you alone agreed to my request?
Surely it wasn’t just so you could have one more thing to mock me with.
Bian Lu continued, “With your identity, relying on force would only cause endless trouble. The best method would be to gain your trust and obtain your love.”
“So it’s normal for you to be more guarded. Easily trusting me, a person who is ninety percent stranger, would be what’s wrong.”
“I understand all of that.”
She understood all of that…
No. Su Yi did not understand.
“It’s ten o’clock. Where are your ten methods to switch back?”
Bian Lu blinked. Then blinked again.
“I… I made a post. I’ll check it now.”
She knew Bian Lu had not thought of them at all!
Su Yi pressed down on the hand Bian Lu was reaching toward her phone with.
“What were you doing all afternoon? Did you not have time to think of methods, or did you never think about it at all?”
“I was busy… receiving packages, checking packages, assembling packages.”
There were so many things to criticize that Su Yi had no words.
Leaning back against the passenger seat, Su Yi sighed speechlessly.
“Fine. I knew you were unreliable. I’ll spare you today. Now, immediately, turn left at the intersection ahead and go to Paradise on Earth.”
Bian Lu asked in surprise, “Why are we going there?”
“I’ll give you the most reliable method for free.”
“What?”
“The right time, the right place, and the right people.”
“Huh?”
“What are you ‘huh’-ing for? I already told you what real flag-setting is.”
Su Yi told Bian Lu her idea. Bian Lu listened and nodded along.
“This method does sound reliable.”
“Then cooperate properly.”
“I will.”
Su Yi immediately shifted the burden. “Then start.”
“Mm? Start what?”
“Think about how we’re going to fool my friends into helping us recreate the ‘crime scene.’”
Bian Lu looked at her innocently. “But they’re your friends. You understand them better. Shouldn’t you be the one thinking of a reason?”
Su Yi smiled without warmth. “But right now, you’re the one who is Su Yi.”
“But…”
“No buts. Hurry and think!”
Would she need to force Bian Lu if she could think of it herself?
She could not!
Her childhood friends were all easy to talk to. In truth, if she casually made up an excuse, they would not ask much. But Shen Li was different. Among those childhood friends, Shen Li had the closest relationship with Su Yi. If Su Yi hid something from her, Shen Li perhaps would not ask further, but she would definitely get angry, feeling that Su Yi did not treat her as a true friend.
But Su Yi did not want to tell anyone about the soul swap. Not even Shen Li.
It was not that she did not trust Shen Li, but because of her own issues.
Her body was currently being controlled by another person. That in itself was extremely humiliating. Perhaps to others, the marvelous nature of a soul swap mattered more, but to Su Yi, the most terrifying thing was that she could not control her own privacy.
Telling a third person about this would only deepen that insecurity.
She would not say it.
Perhaps because she was too familiar with Shen Li, Su Yi instead did not know how to lie in front of her. She did not know how to smooth over this matter.
She was already prepared to anger Shen Li.
Bian Lu did not speak again the whole way. Su Yi did not expect an outsider to actually think of any good excuse anyway, so she simply closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, at least conserving energy to face Shen Li’s deadly gaze later.
She thought that because they had detoured and lost a little time, Shen Li and the others would already have arrived by the time they reached the club.
Just as she was about to remind Bian Lu of the excuse she had thought of, Bian Lu unexpectedly pushed open the private room door one step ahead of her.
Su Yi was still racking her brain over how to remind Bian Lu, but Bian Lu had already introduced her. Under Shen Li’s strange gaze, Bian Lu began speaking smoothly and confidently.
“These past two days, I’ve kept having nightmares. Every time, I dream of kissing Bian Lu on the night of the dare, and then I can’t wake up. When I do wake up, it’s already night. You all know I don’t believe in this supernatural stuff, but guess what happened?”
Shen Li asked curiously, “What happened?”
Bian Lu described it vividly. “The morning after I kissed Bian Lu, I was driving when I suddenly fainted. And coincidentally, Bian Lu was walking past the front of my car.”
“And then?”
“Then Bian Lu didn’t know how to drive. She didn’t know what came over her either, but somehow, as if possessed, she moved me into the passenger seat and drove me to the hospital. After that, she was caught by traffic police and detained for half a month.”
Shen Li looked at Su Yi and said skeptically, “Someone detained for half a month can run around?”
Bian Lu looked serious. “That’s where the strange part comes in. Bian Lu was confused too. She said she didn’t know how to drive at all and didn’t know why she suddenly could. On the day she arrived at the detention center, her stomach suddenly hurt so badly she was rolling on the floor. Then she was sent to the hospital. Isn’t that how she slipped out?”
Shen Li still did not believe her.
“You called us all here just so we could listen to you tell a ghost story?”
“I know you don’t believe me. Don’t you know people at the traffic police department? You can check whether I’m lying. Actually, I myself hope it’s fake too, because these nightmares have been too terrifying.”
Shen Li reached out and tapped Bian Lu’s forehead.
“You wait. I’m checking right now. If you dared lie to us, see all the alcohol on this table? We’ll pour every drop down your throat~!”
Bian Lu sighed. “I’d rather drink all of it. Even three days straight would be fine.”
Su Yi stood to the side watching Bian Lu act. If she had not been one of the people involved, she might almost have believed Bian Lu’s nonsense!
Shen Li very quickly finished checking and came back. It was not difficult anyway; the records were all in the system.
“There really is such a thing. Then why did you call us here today?”
Bian Lu said, “Haven’t I kept dreaming about kissing Bian Lu? I’m possessed, and Bian Lu is possessed too. I suspect it has something to do with that kiss, so I wanted to ask you all to help recreate that night. Maybe then everything will be fine.”
What?
Su Yi looked at Bian Lu in disbelief. This reason was so absurd. Shen Li was sharp as a monkey. How could she possibly believe it?
Even if Shen Li believed it, everyone else here was not stupid. They would not believe it either!
But unexpectedly, Shen Li punched her palm with a look of sudden understanding. “I get it. In psychology, this is called post-traumatic stress disorder! You already have cleanliness issues, and that day, you got drunk. If you’d kissed one of us, it would have been one thing, but you ended up kissing Bian Lu, whose reputation is that bad. That’s why you developed PTSD.”
The others all agreed one after another.
“No wonder you didn’t come to class these past two days. So you were psychologically traumatized.”
“It’s all our fault for egging you on. We clearly knew you have cleanliness issues, but while you were drinking, we still encouraged you. Sorry.”
“Sorry, Su Yi.”
“We’ll definitely help cure you.”
“Yes, yes. It’s all our fault.”
“Didn’t you want to recreate the scene? Fine, we’ll help you now. This is called fighting poison with poison. Once you feel that kissing Bian Lu is nothing special, the psychological shadow will naturally disappear.”
“That makes sense. Come on, then. We’ll recreate it as many times as needed!”
“If we don’t cure you tonight, we’re staying here. We won’t leave until you’re cured!”
“Right! That’s settled!”
Su Yi: “??????”
That worked?
These idiots were not her childhood friends. She refused to acknowledge them!
Amid their noisy fussing, Su Yi dizzily “recreated” the scene with Bian Lu several times. Every time, it failed, and every time, they added a new detail.
“Bian Lu needs to wear the uniform.”
“Bian Lu needs to carry the tray. Otherwise, it isn’t accurate.”
“Maybe it didn’t work just now because there was no orange juice on the tray.”
After going back and forth several times, Su Yi’s face was red from kissing. Her heart seemed to have ideas of its own, completely beyond her control.
When exactly would this count as finished?
She did not want to keep trying!
During the final recreation, Cen Qingke ran into them. Su Yi did not know why, but looking at Cen Qingke standing at the door, an image of Bian Lu holding Cen Qingke and kissing her surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.
Why would she think of that?
She had no interest in other people’s passionate bed scenes at all!
Besides, Bian Lu was Cen Qingke’s lover in the first place. Whether money had been involved or not, the two of them had that kind of relationship.
Su Yi, whose heartbeat had been uncontrollable a moment ago, looked at Cen Qingke and felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head. Cold and freezing, followed by a wave of nausea she could not suppress.
Cen Qingke was disgusting.
Bian Lu, who slept with Cen Qingke, was disgusting too.
Su Yi knew this was not a fair equation. But in that instant, she could not stop herself from thinking it.
She also did not know what exactly was wrong with her.
After Cen Qingke left, Su Yi casually gave a perfunctory explanation. Ignoring the fact that Bian Lu was being held up by Shen Li and the others and could not get away, she left the club alone.
Bian Lu chased after her, saying she would send her back, but unfortunately, she did not catch up. Su Yi hailed a taxi and, between returning to the hospital and going home, chose to go home.
She was very tired. At a time like this, she did not want to smell hospital disinfectant. She only wanted to return to her own nest.
On the way, she sent Bian Lu a message telling her not to go upstairs after returning home. Su Yi did not want to see her. She was annoyed.
Bian Lu quickly replied.
[Okay.]
When Su Yi got home, she skillfully entered the password, unlocked the door, and turned on the entryway light.
She had just reached back to close the door when a hand suddenly reached out from behind and fiercely covered her mouth.
“Mm!!”
Bang!
The door shut.
By instinct, she tried to throw the person behind her over her shoulder, but Bian Lu’s body had never undergone any training at all. She could not pull the person behind her!
She was just about to step backward and to the side when she suddenly smelled intense alpha pheromones.
This was… datura!
Cen Qingke’s pheromones!
Cen Qingke covered her mouth and wrapped an arm around her waist. Her teeth approached the blocker patch at the back of Su Yi’s neck. Biting one corner, she tore it off little by little.
“Lulu, don’t you love me? What you want… I can give you all of it…”
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