To Covet (GL) - Chapter 43

Facing us was a large black glass wall. In the reflection, I clearly saw that when Yu Zhouwan touched my face, her gaze was fixed on Gao Rui. I couldn’t help but wonder if this small action was deliberate, as if she were openly demonstrating the intimacy of our relationship.

“Let’s go, we should head back.”

Yu Zhouwan stood behind me, and the hand covering my face quickly warmed up.

I tilted my head back to meet her eyes.

“Mom’s flight was delayed. She’ll be home later.”

Yu Zhouwan didn’t care whether Gao Rui responded to her greeting or not. She linked her arm through mine. Although she wasn’t quite dragging me away without explanation, I secretly struggled to break free, but she held on tight.

“Then you can go wait for her early,” I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair. “I’m going out with Gao Rui later.”

Yu Zhouwan stood still, oblivious to the growing awkwardness.

“Want to join us?” I tried to smooth things over. “Wait for me, I’ll pack up.”

After that night where we left things unresolved, besides seeing each other at breakfast, Yu Zhouwan and I hadn’t had any other interaction.

The sentences we’d just spoken were the first complete ones we’d exchanged in days, aside from a WeChat message she sent me this morning:

“Where did you go?”

“Library,” I replied.

After that, there was no further communication.

Although there hadn’t been an argument, I knew that some things couldn’t be resolved unless she brought them up, and I had my own things to focus on. Yu Zhouwan and I had reached a tacit agreement on the ‘cold shoulder’ approach without needing to say a word.

Gao Rui’s expression remained unchanged the entire time. Noticing my gaze was fixed on her, she tilted her head, adjusted her glasses, and walked back to the study room.

“I want to go home at noon,” Gao Rui raised her hand to show me a string of text she’d typed on her phone memo.

“I’m treating. Come on,” I packed up my paper and pen, took her phone, and added a line of text. “Didn’t we talk about watching a movie yesterday? Besides, I asked you out. It wouldn’t be right to leave you alone.”

Gao Rui followed me with her bag. No refusal meant implicit agreement.

“What have you decided about the training class?” She looked down, texting, but her walking pace was so fast she didn’t need to look ahead. She pulled a book from a shelf, swiped her library card, all in one smooth motion. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go. I don’t plan to look for anyone else. It’s too much hassle to fill out all the registration information.”

“Of course I’m going,” I immediately agreed without thinking. “Are there other people?”

“They’re all from other schools. From Qizhong, it’s just me, you, and three others. I know their names but don’t recognize the people.” Gao Rui gestured between herself and me with her hand. “Teacher Jiang has organized other training, but I don’t think his tutor is as professional as this one, and the schedule is more flexible. You can ask questions online anytime after class.”

I adjusted my baseball cap that was blocking my view. I didn’t see Yu Zhouwan, so I tried calling her. In the elevator, the signal bars were all empty, and the connection was lost.

“Do you know Yu Zhouwan?”

“Sort of,” Gao Rui crushed her Coke can and tossed it into the trash. “I met her once when we were very young. I have a slight recollection.”

That explained why she and Yu Zhouwan acted like strangers.

“That’s why I almost mistook you for her the first time I saw you. I only realized you weren’t her when I saw your name,” she gave me a gentle push, signaling me to exit through the door opening behind me. “You two are… two years apart? Are you biological sisters?”

“Yes.”

“Same mother and father?”

“Huh?” I didn’t react to why Gao Rui was asking so bluntly. “What?”

“Nothing.”

I thought I had misheard. Would someone with Gao Rui’s reserved personality ask such a direct question?

Yu Zhouwan walked toward me. Gao Rui stopped the conversation and used the opportunity of passing through the doorway to take a small step back, maintaining distance and avoiding a line of three people walking side-by-side.

I hoped I was overreacting. Maybe it was just a casual comment, like the art teacher made, after all, “sisters” could also include cousins.

Though even I didn’t believe that far-fetched reason.

Gao Rui and Yu Zhouwan were clearly ignoring each other the entire way—my instinct told me that Yu Zhouwan’s aversion was stronger. When Gao Rui beckoned me to pick a movie, Yu Zhouwan suddenly grabbed my arm. I turned to look at her, and she quickly let go.

Yu Zhouwan was wearing a mask. Her bright, shining eyes were expressionless. I asked her what she wanted to watch. She acted like a disinterested bystander, saying she had to go back to review this afternoon and had no time for entertainment.

Gao Rui put the list of potential movies in front of me and commented on each one. “Don’t consider this one, online reviews are bad. We can watch the others, or do you have a preferred genre? This suspense movie that just came out yesterday is good.”

“Do you have any comedies?” I massaged my temples. “Let’s relax a bit on the weekend.”

“Sorry, I have to take a call.”

Gao Rui quickly covered the incoming call screen on her phone and jogged off into the landscaped path.

“Yu Keyi,” Yu Zhouwan said, her hands in her pockets. “How do you know her?”

“Just a classmate,” I leaned against a long bench on the side of the road, ensuring Gao Rui could see me but wouldn’t hear what she was saying on the phone. “Did you two meet before?”

“Are you close?”

“We’re okay. She’s really good at physics competitions, so I often ask her questions about it. We talk quite a bit.”

I rubbed my hands together and covered my frozen ears.

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Yes, I know her,” Yu Zhouwan took off my hat and put her own knit cap on my head. “I met her a few years ago, maybe when I was in fourth or fifth grade. Her parents and my mom had a project collaboration and had dinner together.”

“That’s all?”

I wished I had a magnifying glass to examine Yu Zhouwan’s eyes, and I hated that I couldn’t read her mind. Once she decided to hide something, there was no way I could pry it out of her.

“I think there’s more to it. I feel like you really dislike her?”

“It’s not dislike, it’s just…”

“Sorry, I have to go now. I can’t watch the movie today,” Gao Rui hurried over, jogging. “Something urgent came up at home, let’s reschedule.”

Before I could agree, she had already dashed across the crosswalk. A car with its hazard lights on was waiting by the curb. She pulled open the door and slipped in.

“Just what?”

Yu Zhouwan put her hand out to block me. An electric scooter zoomed past my toes, raising a gust of wind.

“I just don’t have a good impression of her. I feel like she’s very good at reading people’s minds.”

Noticing I was staring at her messy hair after taking off her hat, she immediately bent down and pulled the hood of her down jacket over her head, only taking it off once we got inside the house.

“Her family members are all very intelligent. Not just high IQ, but… hmm… I don’t know if you can understand, they’re shrewd and worldly.”

“So you’re trying to tell me to beware of being exploited by her?” I made an exaggerated motion of reaching into my pocket. “I won’t be. I’m dirt poor, no money, no power. What value do I have?”

“That’s not what I mean,” Yu Zhouwan laughed at me. “Gao Rui’s father is from the planning bureau. Her mom once took over a project to upgrade electronic surveillance cameras. It was a done deal, but then it was suddenly halted and given to another company.”

“And then? Keep going.”

I listened intently. I still couldn’t directly link the grievances of the older generation to Gao Rui’s personality.

“The company that took over at the time, its biggest shareholder was her son, Gao Rui’s older brother,” Yu Zhouwan handed me a peeled pear. “She hasn’t told you, has she? She has a brother who is… twelve years older than her.”

“So Auntie Zhou went directly to report him for abusing his power for personal gain. Of course, it was useless in the end, but she’s just that straightforward. No one can stop her,” Yu Zhouwan chuckled. “Auntie Zhou is the friend I told you about, my mom’s friend who started the company that almost went bankrupt.”

I bit into the pear, my teeth hitting the core, making me wince at the sourness.

“So after all that, you still haven’t clearly explained why you dislike Gao Rui.” I got up to wash my hands in the kitchen.

I had thought Yu Zhouwan was a lady who lived in an ivory tower and didn’t concern herself with such matters, but it turned out she knew a lot of old gossip.

“What I mean is, Gao Rui is so smart, and since Mom has a history with her parents, she must know that you and I aren’t full sisters…”

“I’m not worried about that. I’m not an illegitimate child.”

The fruit knife in Yu Zhouwan’s hand paused.

“But usually, the younger one is assumed to be.”

I tried to temper my blunt words, silently cursing Yu Hanyang eight hundred times. Thinking this way, I felt even sorrier for Yang Chun. She was the one who had the marriage certificate, yet even after her death, she was suspected by a group of people who didn’t even know her name of being the mistress.

This made me, the victim, feel much more at ease. If Shi Yunya’s reputation was affected because of this, it wasn’t my fault.

“Alright, is that clear now? Unless Gao Rui points her finger at me and asks if I’m an illegitimate child, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with me,” I forced a smile. “Shi Yunya is your mother. She has nothing to do with me, Yu Zhouwan. My real mother is dead, have you forgotten?”

Yu Zhouwan froze in place.

“I’m going to ask Gao Rui to go to the movies tomorrow.” I dusted off my clothes.

“Wait a minute, Yu Keyi, don’t you have class tomorrow?”

“I’ll go after class. What’s wrong?”

Yu Zhouwan was speechless. I rose from the sofa, and she grabbed me again.

“You dragged me through all this useless small talk. Is it just because you’re jealous? Because I chose to go with her today instead of coming back with you?”

“That’s not what I meant… I just wanted to advise you to be careful when interacting with her, don’t say too much… Mmm…”

I embraced Yu Zhouwan, pushed her onto the sofa, and kissed her.

“Why do you like beating around the bush so much?”

Her mouth was slightly open when she gasped, making me want to continue to nibble.

“Yu Zhouwan, you haven’t spoken to me for days,” I rested my head on her chest, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing. “Sister, don’t you want me? I practiced rope bondage diligently this week.”

“Yu Keyi, wait a second, I’m a little scared…”

Footsteps approached, and the electronic door lock beeped. Fingerprint verification successful.

“Scared of what?” I stroked her smooth wrist. “Scared of being discovered? Even if I kiss you in front of other people, it doesn’t matter. A younger sister likes her older sister, is that forbidden?”