Chapter 44

Leaning into Qin Yao's embrace, Xu Chun stared wide-eyed, her scalp prickling. She could almost picture exactly what kind of unspeakable, beastly things would happen to her tonight if she failed to escape.

Her smile vanished at once. She struggled on reflex, only to find Qin Yao's arm impossibly strong.

It was like iron. A wave of helplessness rose from the soles of her feet.

After those words, Qin Yao had pressed her lips shut and simply watched her in silence. Xu Chun's heart lurched with panic under that stare; there was nowhere to run. At this critical moment, with her very kidneys on the line, her attention somehow drifted, and she found herself mulling it over: Qin Yao was so strong, her fingers so long and elegant; the sight of them trailing over a woman’s delicate, fair skin would surely be a fine one.

Though perhaps too erotic.

Her poor little heart sped up beyond her control. Xu Chun's cheeks warmed, and she looked away unnaturally, forcing herself to stay calm as she stared at the floor. “What accounts?”

She wasn't playing dumb. She genuinely had no idea.

Xu Chun thought it over carefully. Lately she had been keeping her nose clean and her hands to herself; she hadn't provoked Qin Yao in any way. If anything counted, it was only at the very beginning, when she'd run her mouth and taken a small liberty with Jiang Zhaolie.

Beyond that, she'd done nothing at all.

She could swear to heaven above. She was innocent!

“What accounts?” Qin Yao echoed her. Her voice was usually gentle and lovely, but now, deliberately lowered, it made Xu Chun's legs go weak and her heart flutter; she was utterly defenseless.

Qin Yao fixed her with a deep stare. “You don't know yourself?”

Xu Chun panicked. Her shimmering peach-blossom eyes turned to Qin Yao, bewildered, blank, terrified. “...Could you give me a hint?” She swallowed, looking the picture of caution.

Qin Yao was silent for a moment, then said her name. “Xu Chun.”

That husky, magnetic voice was like a hooked scimitar; Xu Chun's breath caught involuntarily, and her mind spun at record speed. Qin Yao had suddenly called her by her full name; every hair on her body was about to stand on end.

Unlike Xu Chun's unease, Qin Yao was unhurried and utterly at ease. “My patience isn't as good as you imagine.”

Just then, Qin Yao was every inch the hunter, deep and terrifying, and the prey she had chosen had no chance of escape. Under that onslaught of words, Xu Chun stared at her blankly, frozen in place.

Several seconds passed before Qin Yao suddenly frowned. “Breathe.”

Xu Chun: “?” Her mind was hazy, a little dizzy; for a moment she didn't grasp what Qin Yao meant.

Until Qin Yao suddenly raised a hand. Her slender, beautiful fingers caught Xu Chun's chin, her fingertips gently parting her neat white teeth, and fresh air rushed eagerly down her throat. Only then did Xu Chun understand.

Good heavens! She'd nearly departed this beautiful world on the spot!

She had been holding her breath, and her face was bright red, as if about to drip blood; the sight of her shyly panting in small breaths made her all the more delicate and lovely, stirring tenderness.

Qin Yao's deep eyes shifted slightly, and her low voice came slowly. “We haven't even kissed, and you're already this nervous?”

Something in Xu Chun's head exploded! The little fresh air she'd just gotten vanished without a trace. Her charming, passionate eyes widened involuntarily; the forced smile on her face had long since disappeared completely. Had she just... misheard?

Had she just heard Qin Yao say something about... kissing?

As if to confirm her guess, Qin Yao leaned in slightly, her faint, familiar fragrance drifting closer. Her tall figure enclosed Xu Chun completely; the distance closed before Xu Chun could react. Under the heat of their breath, something ambiguous and tangled fermented in an instant.

As the dark figure pressed flush against her, Xu Chun's whole body was held in Qin Yao's grip. She shut her eyes by instinct, and the next second the temperature on her lips rose sharply.

The unfamiliar scent, uniquely a woman's, left her dizzy and unable to think. Xu Chun's heart raced, as if struggling to break through her ribs.

The taste of their kiss was scalding and sweet. At first Qin Yao was very gentle, like a patient hunter, unhurriedly soothing her, coaxing her, until she had lured Xu Chun into slowly sinking; then she turned abruptly forceful and domineering, utterly unlike the gentle, kindly elder she had been before.

Never before had Xu Chun been forced into a kiss like this. At first she was shocked, her mind running through all sorts of idle thoughts; gradually, thoroughly bewitched by Qin Yao, her mind went blank.

A person like Qin Yao, so cold and unapproachable on the outside—when it came to carnal pleasure, her body and her breath were equally scalding, as if to sear a person to the very soul.

Xu Chun felt her lips ground over and over until they went numb and tingly, tinged with warmth, before she belatedly realized they had been holding this position for a long time.

Her body had changed without her noticing: soft and strengthless, a fire burning endlessly at the bottom of her heart. Just when she could not bear to stop, Qin Yao's movements halted abruptly; she held her tightly, saying nothing.

Only slightly ragged breathing sounded by her ear, exceptionally clear.

Xu Chun didn't dare look at Qin Yao, much less ask anything. The way things had developed, even a fool would understand Qin Yao's intentions now.

She had already been deeply drawn to Qin Yao, captivated by her; now she was utterly enchanted and subdued, her whole heart full of her, with room for no one else.

Still... Xu Chun secretly bit the soft flesh inside her lip, mortified beyond words.

She had really disgraced the heroines of romance novels. So easily, she'd been won over by the mother of the yuri novel's female lead... oh no, not mother—now she was practically the second parent of the yuri novel's female lead.

Her cheeks burned. Xu Chun unconsciously raised a hand to her face; as expected, it was frighteningly hot.

No need for a mirror. She knew exactly how much she resembled a boiled crawfish right now, a feast for the eyes. Wait, no. Xu Chun's eyes went blank. Had she not looked good enough today? Why had Qin Yao stopped kissing her partway?

That made no sense. If she weren't good-looking enough, Qin Yao wouldn't have kissed her at all.

Or else...

Before Xu Chun could figure it out, Qin Yao had already caught her breath and explained simply, “This is the meeting room.” Her husky voice dropped even lower. “There are cameras.”

Hearing that, Xu Chun couldn't help but protest inwardly: Then why did you just—

“Let's go back to the room,” Qin Yao said suddenly.

Xu Chun's legs went weak at once. The little deer in her heart went wild, battering her until she could barely breathe. She instinctively clutched at Qin Yao's clothes, her tone a little desperate. “You don't have work tonight?”

“I pushed it all aside,” Qin Yao said, a hint of laughter in her voice.

“Actually, there's no need,” Xu Chun struggled to say. “Work comes first. I—I can wait.”

She stammered, and then suddenly, as if some acupoint in her meridians had opened, her words became crisp and clever. “No matter how late you work, Sister, I'll wait for you.”

“How could my own affairs compare to the whole company's? Sister, please don't push aside work for my sake; compared to those projects worth hundreds of billions, I'm not worth it.” Xu Chun spoke faster and faster. “And I don't want Sister to delay the whole project, the whole company's progress because of me alone. I hope you can always put the company first.”

“I don't mind if Sister sacrifices her personal love for the greater love.”

Qin Yao's eyes were very dark. She looked at her for a long while, until Xu Chun's scalp tingled, before she slowly said, “I lied.”

“Actually, I don't have any work tonight.”

She said it unhurriedly, as if remarking that the weather was fine today or that the flowers in the garden were blooming especially beautifully, entirely unaware of the psychological trauma and damage those two short sentences could inflict on another person.

Xu Chun's faintly reddened lips twitched uncontrollably. “...?”

So it meant she really was going to die on Qin Yao's bed tonight.

Qin Yao thoroughly enjoyed seeing that expression on Xu Chun's face—loving her and fearing her at once—but now was clearly not the right time. She gently held the slender yet beautifully curved body in her arms. “Will you walk yourself, or shall I carry you?”

Xu Chun's scalp prickled again. “...I can walk myself.”

Carry her? Who knew what sparks would fly, what unbearable friction would flare up, over those few short steps.

At her answer, Qin Yao slowly released her, then laced her fingers tightly through Xu Chun's. Qin Yao's hand was slightly warm; held by her, Xu Chun could feel the faint calluses that came from years of gripping a pen, and for an instant it seemed a scent of ink and paper clung to the tip of her nose.

The meeting room door slowly pushed open, and two intimately linked figures came into view, one tall, one short, their appearances somewhat familiar. Jiang Zhaolie's unfocused eyes slowly focused; when she saw their interlocked fingers, her heart gave a vicious pang.

She couldn't describe what she felt just then, perhaps regret, perhaps fear, perhaps alarm and unease, and a deep confusion.

Her gaze fixed tightly on Qin Yao and Xu Chun, and she couldn't stop herself from thinking: if she hadn't been bewitched by Yu Sui'an back then, if she hadn't forced her engagement with Xu Chun to be broken... would none of this have happened?

Qin Yao would still be her unsmiling, exceptionally strict mother; Xu Chun would still be her fiancée, so eager and forward with her, so genuine, so attentive and considerate?

If Yu Sui'an hadn't suddenly cut in, would their family—if not joyous and harmonious—at least have respected one another and been reasonably happy?

But because of Yu Sui'an, everything had changed.

From the moment she proposed breaking the engagement, everything had spun out of control, derailed one thing after another. She had broken the engagement for Yu Sui'an, and in the end Yu Sui'an had dumped her; Xu Chun, because of that undeserved disaster, had won Qin Yao's pity, and their relationship had grown ever closer; and Qin Yao, to set Xu Chun completely at ease, had told her of her own origins.

All of it struck Jiang Zhaolie as absurd beyond belief.

She even wished she hadn't come looking for Qin Yao on a whim after seeing Xu Chun end the livestream. If she hadn't come, she wouldn't have overheard that conversation between them, wouldn't have learned her own origins.

She would rather have been kept in the dark her whole life.

Xu Chun becoming her stepmother was far preferable to her suddenly becoming an orphan with no parents at all.

A bitter taste gradually seeped from the tip of her tongue. A sour ache welled in Jiang Zhaolie's eyes, nose, and throat, spreading through every part of her. She stared without blinking at the two figures before the meeting room door, and her vision suddenly blurred.

Even so, she could vaguely see the two ahead turn and lean together, murmuring in low voices, as if about to walk this way.

Jiang Zhaolie was startled. Instinctively she turned around, pretending not to have seen them, and fled swiftly, her back carrying the bedraggled air of a panic-stricken retreat.

She didn't know how to face Qin Yao, didn't know how to face Xu Chun, and least of all knew how to face the fact that Xu Chun was now, in name, her stepmother. Weary in body and mind, she only wanted to find a quiet corner and shut herself away, to think about nothing at all.

She was so tired, too tired to say a word, too tired to see anyone. She only wanted to quietly let herself fade, even if no one cared.

To Xu Chun, Jiang Zhaolie was a savior. She pointed at Jiang Zhaolie's retreating back, her tone deliberately puzzled. “Didn't she see us? Why did she leave without even saying hello?” She feigned indignation. “That's just rude. I'll go give her a proper talking-to right now!”

With that, she made to drag Qin Yao toward where Jiang Zhaolie had fled.

Qin Yao let herself be pulled along, a faint smile at her lips, and spoke unhurriedly. “Even if we go see her now, you're still coming back with me tonight.”

Xu Chun's steps halted, and she nearly dropped dead on the spot.

Her little scheme exposed by Qin Yao, she mustered a dry smile. “Of course, as if I could hide from you, Sister?” She tilted her head with great solemnity and forced out, “But it's really suspicious that Jiang Zhaolie would run off the moment she saw us.”

“I suspect she just overheard her own origins,” Xu Chun offered as a reasonable guess.

At that, Qin Yao finally stopped dwelling on that other matter. Her expression didn't change, however. “She'd learn her origins sooner or later; it's only a question of when.”

“It's fine that she knows now.” Qin Yao turned to gaze at her, her tone rather dangerous. “It saves her from having unclear intentions toward you.”

Xu Chun: “?!”

“Sister, you're overthinking it.” Xu Chun swallowed and did her utmost to distance herself from Jiang Zhaolie. “What intentions could she have toward me? She's probably still wallowing in her love-hate saga with Yu Sui'an; she has no time for me.”

Seeing that Qin Yao wasn't quite convinced, Xu Chun added, “Even if she did have some unclear intentions toward me, it wouldn't matter. My whole heart, my whole body and soul, including all my fine qualities, belong to you, Sister! I would never be seduced by her—after all, Sister, you're so outstanding, so strong...”

Under Qin Yao's meaningful gaze, an ambiguous air once again spread through the room, and Xu Chun unconsciously trailed off. Don't misunderstand! That's not what I meant! I wasn't deliberately driving!

Ignoring her uneasy expression, Qin Yao's gentle voice held a smile again. “I'm glad you can say that.”

Seeing that she'd been misunderstood, Xu Chun's face fell. She could only forcibly change the subject, and with all the force of a mountain river, she raised her voice to call after the distant Jiang Zhaolie: “Jiang Zhaolie, stop right there!”

Jiang Zhaolie halted on reflex. After hastily schooling her expression, she turned around pretending to be surprised and spoke with feigned ease. “Mom.” She glanced at Qin Yao, then at Xu Chun; the other “Mom” was truly too hard to say, so she simply ignored Xu Chun. “It's so late—what are you two still doing here?”

“Out for a walk,” Xu Chun answered, then looked at her. “And what are you doing here?”

Her question came out of nowhere, and Jiang Zhaolie was inexplicably speechless. That seemed to be none of her business, didn't it? If anything, that was the question she ought to be asking—why was Xu Chun, instead of livestreaming to promote Qin Group, shutting off the stream and sneaking around here with Qin Yao?

As Jiang Zhaolie stewed in speechlessness, her gaze sharpened and suddenly caught the blurred edges of Xu Chun's lips. Her eyes froze.

Though she had already guessed, seeing the truth so plainly with her own eyes was still hard to accept. Mom... President Qin had actually fallen for Xu Chun, of all people?

Hadn't Qin Yao always been indifferent to women, without the slightest thought or desire for such worldly matters of love?

Or else... had Qin Yao actually always been fond of Xu Chun, only previously, constrained by Xu Chun's engagement to herself, quietly buried that feeling deep in her heart where no one knew? Then, once Xu Chun had nothing to do with her anymore, she had pursued Xu Chun, warmly and openly in some ways, secretly and stealthily in others, until now, when she and Xu Chun had formally become a couple.

In an instant, Jiang Zhaolie's mind was in chaos, and she didn't even register Xu Chun's question. Her expression was grim, impossible to conceal; it was hard to ignore.

The long silence made the air gradually awkward and suffocating.

Xu Chun couldn't quite bear the atmosphere. She waved a hand in front of Jiang Zhaolie's eyes. “Have you gone dumb?” When Jiang Zhaolie snapped back to her senses, Xu Chun stared at her intently. “What were you spacing out about just now? Why were you ignoring me?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Zhaolie said, doing her best to suppress the strange emotions on her face. She reined in her expression and said, as if nothing had happened, “I just suddenly remembered I left something here and forgot to take it.”

It was an excuse, naturally, but Qin Yao didn't call her out. “Get your things and go home early to rest.”

The moment Xu Chun heard “early” and “rest,” her legs started trembling. It was still early; if she went back now like this... even ten kidneys wouldn't be enough.

So she threw herself into playing the kind, considerate, gentle, thoughtful, beautiful stepmother for Jiang Zhaolie, gazing at her with utmost concern. “Are your eyes uncomfortable? Why are they so red? How about I go buy you some eye drops?”

Instantly sensing Qin Yao's sharp, dangerous gaze land on her, Jiang Zhaolie: “...”

She couldn't tell for a moment whether Xu Chun was doing this on purpose or not. But under Qin Yao's silent threat, Jiang Zhaolie declined. “No need. I've just been sitting at the computer too long; my eyes are a little dry.”

Jiang Zhaolie's refusal was already obvious, yet Xu Chun wore a look of “I understand, I understand it all, you don't need to put on a brave face for me,” utterly warmhearted. “It's fine, Zhaolie. If you're unhappy about anything, don't keep it bottled up; it's bad for your health.”

“When I see you unhappy and upset, it makes me feel bad too.”

Jiang Zhaolie fell silent, a myriad of complicated feelings surging up in her heart. She hadn't even formally entered the family, and already she was playing the gentle, virtuous, understanding stepmother...

“Really, no need.” Jiang Zhaolie took half a step back and forced herself to say, “I still have some work left unfinished, so I'll go get my things first.”

With that, she gave Xu Chun no chance to hold her back, and as if terrified Xu Chun would chase after her, she turned and strode off, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

The moment Jiang Zhaolie left, Qin Yao's attention snapped back to Xu Chun alone. Xu Chun broke out in cold sweat; just as she was about to throw caution to the wind, Director Guo's call came through again. “Little Xu, why did your livestream cut off again?” he asked, deliberately. “Is the signal bad again?”

Xu Chun felt as if she'd seen a savior; her eyes lit up at once. “I'll start streaming right away—there's just been a little mishap—” Qin Yao's voice cut in right on the heels of the word “stream”: “We probably can't stream tonight.”

She mercilessly hung up on Director Guo with a flick of her fingers, leaving him holding his phone in utter bewilderment, racking his brains but unable to figure out how Xu Chun's phone had ended up in Qin Yao's hands, and why Qin Yao would hang up on him.

Hope dashed, Xu Chun's smile was uglier than a crying face.

Qin Yao watched her porcelain-white little face closely, her gaze passing over her picture-perfect brows and eyes, her thick lashes, her full lips, and the faint, soft down on her cheeks.

Under Qin Yao's gaze for too long, Xu Chun's heart pounded. Unable to bear it, she lifted her chin and gave her a look that seemed questioning but was in truth utterly feeble.

She was just afraid Qin Yao would look and look and then start again.

Though she was enjoying it too.

Fortunately, Qin Yao still had some conscience and didn't make endless demands. Qin Yao drew her close, their bodies pressed together again, the faint fragrances mingling, and that feeling of losing control was stirred up once more.

“Do you not like me?” Qin Yao asked bluntly.

Xu Chun nodded reflexively. “I like you. Who wouldn't like you, Sister?” There were far too many of Qin Yao's virtues to list. “Sister, you're tall, beautiful, rich, and you have status and position, a resounding reputation, riches to rival a nation...”

Before she could finish, Qin Yao had already leaned in without warning, her ink-black eyes fixed deeply on her. “You know that's not what I mean.”