Chapter 18
The surrounding noise seemed to be completely muted. This small patch of space formed a strange barrier of its own.
He Mu stared at Mu Qingran, her gaze like thorns, not shifting for even an instant.
Mu Qingran’s gaze briefly fell on the beret-wearing woman.
The woman met Mu Qingran’s eyes, lifted her index finger to her red lips, and curved the corners of her mouth slightly. Her eyes rippled with laughter, incomparably alluring.
Mu Qingran withdrew her gaze. Without saying a word, she turned and left.
He Mu’s fingertips trembled. She stood and chased after her, roughly grabbing Mu Qingran’s wrist and dragging her out with quick strides.
Qin Xin watched her friend’s retreating back and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Although Nancheng was not a top-tier city, it was not so small that you could run into acquaintances the moment you stepped outside. These two must have had a black thread of ill-fated destiny tied between them by the Matchmaker God.
“Your friend doesn’t seem to need my comfort.” The beret-wearing woman waved the card in her hand at Qin Xin. “But I won’t be refunding this money.”
Qin Xin’s brow twitched.
Truly shameless.
But then she studied the woman carefully for a while and suddenly felt that she looked somewhat familiar.
“Have I seen you somewhere before?” Qin Xin frowned.
The beret-wearing woman lifted her brows lightly. “Miss, isn’t your way of trying to get close a little too old-fashioned?”
“I’ve definitely seen you somewhere before,” Qin Xin muttered, trying hard to remember.
Ah! She was the one Qin Xin had hit on at the bar counter a few days ago, the one who had worn earphones and blocked her out.
That day, the woman seemed to have been wearing very light makeup, the pure fairy type. Today, although she was not exactly heavily made up, with the help of cool-toned European-style eye makeup, her eyes carried both the flirtatiousness of peach blossoms and a hint of wildness. Looking closely, there was even a tiny red mole at the corner of her lips.
It was practically face-changing opera.
“So, what did you mean by acting so aloof toward me that day?” Qin Xin suddenly questioned her.
She ignored Qin Xin, yet was blazing with passion and touching He Mu all over.
Dog woman!
The beret-wearing woman’s thick black lashes swept lightly up and down, as though she were sizing her up.
Qin Xin did not know whether the other woman had recognized her. She only saw the woman lift her backside and stand, as though preparing to leave.
What was that supposed to mean?
Qin Xin was furious. She stepped forward and blocked her.
“Hands, mouth, or toys, which is the most expensive?” she asked with her chin raised. “Am I not worthy of being your bed partner?”
The beret-wearing woman stopped. She glanced sideways at Qin Xin, thought briefly, then raised her hand. Her knuckles lightly brushed across Qin Xin’s cheek.
“You would probably cost extra.”
Was that something a human should say?
Qin Xin was so angry that her upper and lower lips trembled uncontrollably. No, they were practically twitching.
“Heh.” She gave a cold laugh. “I’ll prove to you that you’re blind!” She wrapped an arm around the beret-wearing woman’s waist, pulling her toward herself. Their waists and stomachs pressed tightly together.
The beret-wearing woman showed not the slightest panic because of this sudden intimate contact. Instead, she leaned in openly, her lips touching Qin Xin’s earlobe.
“I’m very expensive.”
The woman’s lips were slightly cool. That unexpected touch made Qin Xin shudder. In the next moment, warm breath climbed over her ear. As the words fell, a soft tongue slid wetly over the shell of her ear.
Qin Xin immediately felt hot. A dense chain of tingling numbness rushed up her spine.
Her hand moved a few inches down from the woman’s waist and tightened slightly. Returning courtesy for courtesy, her lips and tongue found the other woman’s earlobe, and she exhaled softly.
“Then I hope you’re worth your price.”
…
At night, neon lights flashed, traffic streamed endlessly, countless homes glowed with lamplight, and light and shadow flickered between brightness and darkness.
High up in an apartment building, a new window lit. Gradually, white curtains blocked the warm yellow light.
From the entryway to the bedroom bed, a trench coat, inner shirt, bra, long pants… clothing lay scattered all along the way.
He Mu pressed Mu Qingran onto the bed, using brute force to pin her wrists.
Several blue veins surfaced on Mu Qingran’s fair wrists. Her joints were slender, as though they might snap at any moment.
Compared to the situation she was currently in, however, the expression on her face was truly far too calm.
He Mu buried her face in Mu Qingran’s neck. Biting turned into licking, and from complete lack of technique, she moved to kisses and teasing. Yet the person beneath her remained unmoved from beginning to end, not even willing to pretend.
The emotions that had been constantly piling up since the bar finally erupted completely.
“I’m very curious.” He Mu’s eyelashes trembled. “The first time, what were you thinking?” The suppressed growl was like that of a small beast whose wound had been torn open. “Why didn’t you reject me back then? Why did you give me hope? Why…”
Why, after giving me hope, did you make me despair?
Back then, standing at the tail end of eighteen, she had gathered all the courage she possessed before daring to take that probing step. The wild joy she felt after receiving tacit permission remained crystal clear even now.
She had thought Mu Qingran at least liked her a little.
But as time passed and she grew older, she became more and more uncertain.
Not the slightest emotion showed in Mu Qingran’s eyes. They were cold and hard, like a block of ice that could not melt.
“I can’t answer something I don’t remember,” she said.
The force in He Mu’s hands kept increasing, and anger burst from her eyes. “Since you don’t remember every day I loved you, then from now on, you’d better properly remember every day I hate you. If only torment can leave a trace, then I will make sure to leave a heavy mark in your life.”
A scoffing breath sounded from Mu Qingran’s nose. “I don’t want to understand what the past you was like. I only know that the present you is disgusting.”
The final two words slammed into He Mu’s ears and wrapped around her heart, like years and years of accumulated snow collapsing from the mountaintop and burying her. Before she could cry out, her breath had already been stolen. Cold seeped through her limbs and bones, freezing her entire body numb.
“Is it only the present me you find disgusting? Or have you hidden this disgust in your heart all along, from childhood until now?” He Mu smiled bitterly and shook her head. “Maybe you never hid it at all. Maybe I was just too blind to see.”
Those occasional moments of gentleness might have only been charity born from pity because Mu Qingran saw how pathetic she was.
Or perhaps it was only because of her mother that Mu Qingran had unwillingly tolerated her.
No matter which it was, He Mu found it both laughable and pathetic.
“Why make yourself sound so pitiful? You can do whatever you want and take everything you desire for yourself. You’re losing your mind now only because I’ve made you feel like you failed and suffered a setback.” The curve of Mu Qingran’s lips was mocking. “When you’re looking for a new toy, the old toy should obediently stay in its box. What childish possessiveness.”
The last bit of light in He Mu’s eyes went out. She got up, picked up the clothes on the floor, and threw them at Mu Qingran.
The meaning was self-evident.
Mu Qingran put on her clothes one by one. Every frame of her movements was so elegant.
He Mu suddenly really wanted to burst into laughter. At this moment, Mu Qingran was clearly the one who should feel humiliated, yet why was He Mu still the one in such a wretched state?
If she could return to the past, she would definitely tell the six-year-old He Mu not to accept that milk candy from Mu Qingran. In the days ahead as she grew up, she should not be bewitched, should not stubbornly crave Mu Qingran’s gaze.
She should stay far, far away from Mu Qingran.
The office window was open, and the autumn wind came visiting with a chill.
The pothos leaves on the desk trembled faintly.
Mu Qingran sat perfectly upright. The computer screen remained on the code-editing page, with only one short line on it.
The fingertips resting on the keyboard were slightly red, probably because the cool wind had carried away their warmth.
Several minutes later, nothing on the screen had increased.
“President Mu.” Receptionist Xiao Fa knocked and came in.
The person at the desk seemed not to hear.
“President Mu?” Xiao Fa called again.
Mu Qingran’s eyelashes trembled. She lifted her head. “Hm?”
Xiao Fa said, “President Mu, President Sun Xiang is blocking the entrance and insisting on seeing you. Should we ask building security to throw him out?”
There had been some rumors in the company about President Mu being made things difficult for by Sun Xiang a few days ago, and most people were quite indignant.
Mu Qingran shook her head. “Please bring him here.”
Xiao Fa was a little worried. “Then should I call President He too…”
The story of He Mu rescuing the beauty had also spread through KM.
“No need.” Mu Qingran could not help raising her voice, and her chest rose and fell rapidly a few times, almost imperceptibly.
“All right, President Mu. Then if anything happens, call me anytime. I’ll wait outside.” Xiao Fa left the office to bring the person over.
Mu Qingran looked at the flashing cursor on the screen, and a trace of irritation surfaced in her eyes. Her fingertip pressed down on the Delete key on the laptop keyboard, clearing the screen before she shut the computer heavily.
Author’s Note:
I also want to ask why. Why does this scummy Xiao write slower and slower? Who would believe that even such a short chapter now takes four or five hours to grind out? Next week it goes VIP, so I’ll work hard to become an author who writes six thousand words a day. I can’t smile anymore.jpg
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!