After Being Targeted by the Gloomy and Obsessive Movie Queen - Chapter 20.1

Chapter 20.1: Outburst – I Hate Your Tears

Xu Yinyu hastily cooked four home-style dishes, sat down at the dining table, wiped her hands with a napkin, and tossed it into the trash can.

“Delete the photos,” Xu Yinyu said.

Qi Wei bit into a tomato from the scrambled eggs and tomatoes dish. Her mouth was filled with delicious juices. Hearing Xu Yinyu’s commanding tone, she smiled unhurriedly.

“Why should I delete them? Is she really Yu Shujin, the one who won an international award?”

“Whether she is or not, it’s no reason for you to take photos without permission,” Xu Yinyu looked at her calmly and indifferently.

“I don’t understand. Since you’re so worried about her and like her, wouldn’t it be better to spread these photos, thereby forcing her to publicly acknowledge your relationship and give you a legitimate status?” Qi Wei looked at her curiously.

Xu Yinyu didn’t even raise an eyelid. “I don’t need any of that. I don’t need any status. It’s enough for me to know that I belong to myself.”

“Since you don’t need her, what about me?” Qi Wei put down her chopsticks and reached out for Xu Yinyu’s hand. “She can’t give you what you want, I know. The moment I saw you, I knew that you and I belong in the same world.”

Xu Yinyu’s expression froze for a moment; she nearly rolled her eyes and played along. “You delete the photos, and I can consider your proposition.”

Qi Wei curved her eyebrows into a smile. “What if I delete them and you don’t consider it?”

Xu Yinyu’s eyes chilled.

Qi Wei continued, “Wouldn’t that be a total waste of my efforts?”

“Qi Wei, I’ll tell you directly. I don’t have any feelings for you,” Xu Yinyu withdrew her hand. “I’m not a lesbian. I’m not interested in men, women, old, or young people. I’m asexual.”

Qi Wei’s mouth twitched. “Are you crazy? What are you saying?”

“I’m serious,” Xu Yinyu looked at her earnestly. “Otherwise, you’re so sexy and alluring, if I had any desire, how could I be so heartless as to reject you repeatedly?”

Qi Wei was incredulous. “Then what about your girlfriend?”

“Us? We’re just married, an arrangement of mutual benefit. There’s no feeling involved, just living together to keep up appearances,” Xu Yinyu said casually.

“What a shame,” Qi Wei gently pressed her tongue piercing against her lower jaw. “If you could give me a chance for one kiss, I guarantee you’d become addicted to me.”

Xu Yinyu raised the corner of her eye and curved her lips into a meaningful smile. “Are you this thirsty for everyone?”

She pulled a voice recorder from her sleeve and placed it on the dining table. She tilted her head toward Qi Wei, indicating the device with her eyes.

Qi Wei’s face turned white and green with anger. “What are you trying to do?”

Xu Yinyu gestured toward Qi Wei’s phone with her eyes. “What I want is simple: delete all the photos on your phone right in front of me. Otherwise, I’ll immediately send this recording to the work group chat.”

“Harassing a same-sex colleague after work—I think once this recording is exposed, you’ll definitely become ‘instantly famous.’ Then, beautiful women will surely come looking for you.” Xu Yinyu bared her fangs at this moment, sniffing at the other person’s vulnerable neck.

Qi Wei was stunned. She gritted her teeth, took her phone, and deleted the blurry photos one by one. “Fine, I’m done deleting them. Do you want to check?”

Xu Yinyu stuffed the voice recorder back into her sleeve, snatched Qi Wei’s phone, and after checking it, put it back in her hand. “Let’s part ways amicably, Qi Wei.”

“You can’t leave,” Qi Wei’s eyes trembled slightly. This was the first time she had lost in their confrontation. If the recording were spread, how could she maintain her reputation as a ‘Sea Queen’?

“You can’t leave, delete my recording.”

Xu Yinyu sized up Qi Wei, her eyes carrying a challenge. “Qi Wei, I’m equally worried about whether you have backup copies of the photos. Don’t waste your time on me. This miniature voice recorder is synchronized with my Bluetooth.”

“We are both bearing the risk of mutual exposure. It’s fair, isn’t it?”

Xu Yinyu patted the stunned Qi Wei.

Her eyes looked like she was seeing a familiar stranger, as if she were seeing Xu Yinyu’s true face for the first time.

“I’ve always been like this. Blame yourself for provoking the wrong person.” Xu Yinyu scoffed. “Open the door. I need to go back.”

Xu Yinyu lifted her foot to leave but failed to notice the alarming heat in Qi Wei’s eyes behind her.

The audacious Qi Wei stepped forward, grabbed Xu Yinyu’s wrist, and immediately kissed the mole on her lower lip.

Xu Yinyu instinctively whipped her hand around and slapped her.

“Slap!”

Xu Yinyu’s breath rushed past her nose.

Qi Wei turned her head from the impact and smiled. Xu Yinyu watched her furiously, scrubbing the spot where Qi Wei had kissed her until her originally fair cheek was red and bruised.

Qi Wei responded with an even more defiant look. “I never regret anything I do. I said I would kiss you, and I must kiss you. Even if you ruin my reputation, I still had to kiss you.”

“Oh,” Xu Yinyu said, amused. “You got your kiss. Now it’s my turn, right?”

Qi Wei hadn’t expected Xu Yinyu to remain so calm after being forcibly kissed, and her inflated ego shattered a little.

Could it be that Xu Yinyu wasn’t lying to her, that she really was asexual?

Qi Wei covered her reddened face, saw Xu Yinyu approaching her with a cold expression, and instinctively took a step back. “Stop right there!”

Xu Yinyu didn’t stop. She walked up to Qi Wei and tilted her head slightly. “You’re quite pretty, so why is your brain full of garbage?”

Qi Wei’s eyes widened. Just as she was about to speak, the seemingly gentle and cool woman in front of her delivered a hard punch to her stomach.

Qi Wei bent over in pain. A long, strong hand then grabbed her hair and dragged her toward the code-locked door.

Qi Wei’s apartment had a key code lock. Xu Yinyu didn’t know the code and couldn’t open it.

Qi Wei was trembling with pain, her vision flickering white. “Damn you, Xu Yinyu, that was harsh.”

“I can be even harsher. Do you want to try?” Xu Yinyu smiled softly, but the force in her hand was terrifying. “Don’t make me say it a third time. Open the door.”

Qi Wei trembled. Xu Yinyu released her hand, her eyes masking her annoyance. Seeing Qi Wei open the door, she immediately walked out without mercy.

Qi Wei collapsed behind the door, panting heavily, her chest rising and falling erratically. She managed to gasp out a curse, “Psycho.”

When Xu Yinyu returned to the villa on her own, she found the house brightly lit. Bodyguards rushed about, and when they saw her, a look of ‘relief’ flashed across each face.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Yinyu asked the bodyguard next to her. “I told Master Li I was having dinner with a colleague. Why are you all so tense?”

Xu Yinyu was silently ushered into the living room by the bodyguard, and then he backed out, even closing the door thoughtfully.

Xu Yinyu was shocked by the chaos in the living room. The usual decorative vases, calligraphy, paintings, and the large-screen TV were all smashed on the floor, broken beyond recognition.

And sitting on the messiest part of the sofa was someone.

She was dressed in a black denim outfit, exuding a savage, carefree aura, with a pair of toned arms resting on her knees.

It was Yu Shujin.

Yu Shujin, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Xu Yinyu hadn’t yet figured out the fundamental reason for Yu Shujin’s outburst.

She assumed it was because she came home late and Yu Shujin was tired of waiting.

Xu Yinyu walked around behind Yu Shujin and gently patted her shoulder. “What’s wrong, Shujin? Have you calmed down? I really was just having dinner with a colleague.”

Yu Shujin fiercely grabbed her wrist, forcing her entire body to be exposed in front of Yu Shujin.

The moment Xu Yinyu’s eyes met Yu Shujin’s, she realized the other person had been crying.

Xu Yinyu was stunned, and her voice softened. “What’s wrong with you? Is your old wound still hurting?”

The remnants of tears from the violent outburst were still on Yu Shujin’s face. Hearing the voice of the person responsible, the anger that had subsided in her heart surged up again.

But Yu Shujin strained to suppress it.

“Why are you coming back so late?”

Xu Yinyu silently breathed a sigh of relief. “I worked overtime with a colleague for a while and didn’t manage the time well.”

“Which colleague?” Yu Shujin bit her lower lip, staring at her with cold eyes.

“Um, Team Leader Yang, who helped me before. You know she takes good care of me,” Xu Yinyu completely dared not tell Yu Shujin that she had met the person she hated while Yu Shujin was angry. She had to desperately make up lies.

“Oh, where did you two eat?” Yu Shujin’s eyes completely turned cold.

“The Hot Springs Restaurant downstairs from the company. It’s quite interesting. We can try it together next time,” Xu Yinyu tried to mention something to lighten the mood.

“Really?” Yu Shujin clenched her fist, looking at Xu Yinyu with gloomy eyes.

A dangerous premonition flashed through Xu Yinyu’s heart. She looked back at Yu Shujin, her eyes clear and clean, without a hint of impurity.

Yu Shujin stood up and threw a set of photos onto Xu Yinyu. “Then what are these?”

The sharp edge of the photos scraped Xu Yinyu’s cheek, but she didn’t feel it. All her attention was seized by the pictures in front of her.

It was her and Qi Wei.

Various intimate photos: in the office, on the way to the company, and even in the restroom.

Although the distance between her and Qi Wei was close at the time, it was definitely not as uninhibited and ambiguously intimate as depicted in the photos.

Yu Shujin looked at the panicked Xu Yinyu and sneered coldly. “Speak! Where exactly did you come back from!”

Xu Yinyu froze for a moment. When she processed the situation, her entire body was shaking with cold, and her voice trembled. “You’ve been having someone watch me all this time?”

“Yes,” Yu Shujin admitted openly. She leaned in and whispered in Xu Yinyu’s ear. “But do you know who gave me this set of photos?”

“It was none other than your reluctant little lover.”

Xu Yinyu’s heart felt like it was about to burst with the news. She stood there, slow to react.

Qi Wei gave them to Yu Shujin?

She didn’t know whether to be angry, furious, or afraid.

The powerless humiliation of having her lie exposed, the fear of being cornered step by step, and the anger of misjudging a person all flowed through her body.

Yu Shujin grabbed Xu Yinyu’s neck bone, positioning herself on Xu Yinyu’s waist, her expression sinister and frantic. “Shut up!”

“You kept secrets and lied to me repeatedly for her sake, even going to her home to eat! Hahahaha, Xu Yinyu, do you take me for dead?”

“Since you can’t control yourself and enjoy being ambiguous outside so much, then I’ll let you have your fill, Ah-Yu.” Yu Shujin laughed to herself. She was stunningly beautiful, and even with the most exaggerated expressions, she remained beautiful enough to make one’s heart tremble.

She was clearly laughing, but the madness in her eyes made one increasingly uneasy.

Xu Yinyu’s face slowly turned red. The air in her mouth gradually thinned, and her struggling strength leaked away like a balloon.

Only one person’s gasping breath remained in her ears.

Her numb heart beat violently at this moment. At the junction of life and death, she felt a turbulent emotion.

It came from Yu Shujin.

Just as Xu Yinyu was about to completely suffocate, she used all her strength to break free, finally gaining the right to gasp for air. Her mind was in chaos, but she didn’t forget to explain, her voice hoarse. “Yu Shujin, don’t be like this. Let’s both calm down. It was wrong of me to deceive you, and I will apologize properly. Please don’t do this.”

“Don’t do this?” Yu Shujin grabbed her hair, forcing her eyes to meet hers. “When you tore up the agreement, when you were held in Qi Wei’s arms, when you rode in her car, when you cooked dinner for her, did you ever think about me?”

“Did you ever think about what I was doing?”

“I was thinking about you. I was choosing a birthday gift for you. I was setting up a birthday surprise for you like a fool.” Yu Shujin’s voice became increasingly calm.

The complex and vague feelings buried in her heart had gradually become clear during their time together, but Xu Yinyu’s deception and betrayal turned her feelings into a joke.

She had already been ready to forgive Xu Yinyu.

But the person in front of her remained like a heartless rock. No matter how much passionate affection was offered, she would not melt.

She regretted letting Xu Yinyu go out to work.

This person belonged in the cage she prepared for her.

It was only then that Xu Yinyu remembered it was her birthday. The enormous emotion in her heart was melted by that last sentence.

She looked up into Yu Shujin’s dark, gloomy eyes, her mind captured by the complex emotion in that instant.

It was like Medusa’s gaze seizing the soul.

Xu Yinyu’s mouth seemed glued shut. After a moment of bewilderment, she felt like she was just a walking corpse.

Maybe I should just give up.

This thought had surfaced since she saw Yu Zhenmin appear near her, but she had suppressed it through self-deception.

But now, facing Yu Shujin’s eyes, feeling that the other person had become dark, fragile, frantic, and terrifying because of her, showing a completely different kind of degeneracy and gloom than when they first reunited, this thought erupted like a wildfire in Xu Yinyu’s accumulated cowardice, guilt, and awkward shame.

“I’m sorry. Just abandon me now,” Xu Yinyu suppressed the imminent flood of tears and sobs. “I make you so miserable. I can’t please you. I am absolutely not worth this much from you. There are so many people outside who love you. Please let me go.”

Yu Shujin’s face turned ashen. “You thought I would abandon you from the very beginning?”

Xu Yinyu nodded and then shook her head. The soreness in her nose prevented her from speaking.

“Xu Yinyu, do you have a heart?” Yu Shujin’s voice suddenly rose. She grabbed Xu Yinyu’s hair more roughly. “Have you ever seen a sugar daddy who actively helps a lover pay off debts? Have you ever heard of a sugar daddy arranging a private hospital for a lover’s sick parent?”

“Xu Yinyu, is your heart dead?”

Yu Shujin’s questions were like needles relentlessly piercing Xu Yinyu’s already scarred heart and lungs.

She knew this well, but the stipulations of that contract had long suppressed any emotion.

Love predicated on money—she feared overstepping the boundary, falling into another inescapable trap.

Xu Yinyu’s hair was suddenly released, but her wrist was tightly gripped by Yu Shujin. Without giving Xu Yinyu any time to react, she was unexpectedly dragged toward the master bedroom.

Yu Shujin opened the master bedroom door. Xu Yinyu’s eyes were momentarily blinded by a soft blue light inside. When she opened her eyes again, she found every corner of the room decorated beautifully and fantastically.

There was even a single leather armchair, which reminded her that she had inadvertently complained to Yu Shujin a while ago that her waist and shoulders ached from sitting for long hours at work.

At the time, Yu Shujin had mischievously advised her to resign and come home, which had made her angry for a long time.

She had always thought Yu Shujin brought her back to take revenge.

She had always indulged in self-pity, lamenting fate’s unfairness, but never once looked up to see the person who was willing to watch over her.

Yu Shujin fiercely threw Xu Yinyu onto the bed.

Xu Yinyu’s head was dazed from the impact. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Yu Shujin pinned her down.

She could only watch as Yu Shujin took out a pile of sex toys from a delicate gift box.

Xu Yinyu’s eyes were blank and helpless. She didn’t know what Yu Shujin intended to do with these things, but instinctively tried to break free from beneath her.

“A verbal apology is useless to me. Why don’t you use these to masturbate in front of me?”

Xu Yinyu’s face went white. There were many of these sex toys, some she had never even seen before. Just looking at them made it seem utterly impossible.

She shook her head, terrified. “Shujin, don’t be like this. Can we talk this out, please?”

Pinned beneath her, Xu Yinyu looked fragile, pale, and pitiful, a sight that usually softened one’s heart.

Yu Shujin suddenly tore off the silk scarf belt from Xu Yinyu’s waist and tightly bound Xu Yinyu’s struggling hands. Her eyes held an intense desire for punishment that brooked no refusal. “Starting today, I want a compliant sugar baby. You made me so angry today, so doing something to make me happy is only right, isn’t it?”

“Ah-Yu, for every tear you shed today, I’ll add one more thing.”

“Don’t cry in front of me.”

“Understood?”

“I hate your tears.”

In the end, Xu Yinyu’s wrists were numb and weak from the silk scarf, resting listlessly against Yu Shujin’s neck. Her entire body felt like stagnant water.

The tears gathered in her eyes streamed down the corners.

She felt like the damp air after a summer storm, surging into an even colder sky.

Between them, she was the one who fell in love first.

She was also the first one to retreat.

The first time she helped Yu Shujin chase away the school bully, the pounding of Xu Yinyu’s heart when she saw Yu Shujin made her realize her feelings.

However, the path of a relationship between two girls was one that even an adult would consider winding, difficult, and unlikely to last.

It was even seen as straying onto the wrong path.

She couldn’t give up her peaceful life, so she could only suppress this emotion in her heart, only daring to glance back at Yu Shujin secretly.

Perhaps it was fate that she was destined to be entangled with Yu Shujin.

In the period immediately following Yu Shujin’s transfer, all the boys in the school were excited, childishly breaking up with their girlfriends.

Suddenly, Yu Shujin became the target of all the girls in the school, and her personal information was quickly exposed online.

The fact that she was the Yu family’s illegitimate daughter who had been removed from the family register was posted everywhere in the school, known to all.

Upon learning this news, Xu Yinyu grabbed her school bag and went to find Yu Shujin.

That day, the sun was scorching hot. Wearing a washed-out school uniform T-shirt, she found Yu Shujin cornered in the school alley.

Seven or eight girls surrounded Yu Shujin. Leading them was Zhang Qian, the school bully’s ex-girlfriend. She held a wooden stick, pressing it against Yu Shujin’s chest.

Xu Yinyu sprinted over, running harder than in an 800-meter race. She used her school bag to knock Zhang Qian away and rushed to shield Yu Shujin. Even though she was already panting heavily, she instinctively spread her arms to protect her.

“Zhang Qian, what are you doing?”

Zhang Qian angrily snatched the wooden stick from the girl next to her. “Get out of the way! This is none of your business!”

Xu Yinyu’s eyes were bloodshot. Looking at the long wooden stick, her legs were trembling, but Yu Shujin lightly pulled Xu Yinyu from behind.

Xu Yinyu’s heart hardened. For the first time, she tore off her gentle facade. “I already called the dean on the way here, and I just took photos! If you don’t want to be publicly announced to the whole school, hurry up and leave!”

Zhang Qian was intimidated. Seeing Xu Yinyu protect Yu Shujin, that “vixen,” made her extremely unhappy. She gritted her teeth and said, “It’s amazing how powerful pretty whores are. Even our school’s number one student is so captivated by you that she’s willing to jump into this mess for you.”

Xu Yinyu’s teenage feelings were instantly struck. She rushed forward and slapped Zhang Qian.

“She has a name, it’s Yu Shujin, you illiterate,” Xu Yinyu gasped. She was hit hard on the back with a wooden stick, but thankfully it was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, and the force wasn’t great.

Zhang Qian was furious from the slap. Her eyes quickly swept the area and saw the principal and school leaders rushing toward them from the school perimeter. Her face went pale with fright. She immediately cursed and led her group away.

Xu Yinyu watched them run far away before turning to look at Yu Shujin.

Yu Shujin’s upper body was completely soaked. She was leaning against the wall, trying to stand, and there was blood running down her hair.

She forced a smile. “Thank you, Classmate Xu.”

Xu Yinyu was startled by Yu Shujin’s miserable state. She immediately crouched in front of Yu Shujin. “You’re seriously injured. I’ll carry you to the infirmary to get treated.”

Yu Shujin shook her head slightly. “They’re just scrapes and bruises. It’s nothing serious. I just want to go home and rest now.”

Xu Yinyu didn’t say anything more. She directly carried Yu Shujin onto her back. “I apologize, but I can’t let you go home like this.”

Yu Shujin was surprised for a moment. The moment Xu Yinyu carried her, her heart rate unknowingly exceeded its normal threshold.

“Then thank you, Classmate Xu,” Yu Shujin thanked her near Xu Yinyu’s ear.

Xu Yinyu’s ears and brain went completely numb. She was both excited and nervous, feeling as if she’d taken a stimulant. Her steps were shaky, and she nearly stumbled.

Xu Yinyu immediately stabilized her footing and headed toward the infirmary. She answered Yu Shujin’s questions in a dry, uninteresting manner throughout the walk.

Even Xu Yinyu felt she was doing poorly.

“Hahaha, we’re here,” Xu Yinyu said with a dry laugh to Yu Shujin, somewhat regretting taking such large strides just now and secretly complaining about why the school and the infirmary were so close.

In those short five minutes, Xu Yinyu’s heart fluttered countless times.

As Yu Shujin got off Xu Yinyu’s back, her finger unintentionally touched Xu Yinyu’s neck.

The slender, cold touch made Xu Yinyu involuntarily shrink her neck, looking at her with a blush.

The infirmary staff greeted Yu Shujin familiarly. “Here for medicine, or the usual?”

Xu Yinyu’s eyes trembled slightly. She answered for Yu Shujin. “No, she’s injured. She’s here for a bandage.”

Yu Shujin’s gaze fell upon the figure in front of her, which wasn’t broad at all.

She was actually used to being beaten and bullied.

Everywhere she went, because of the “illegitimate daughter” status she didn’t understand, she would immediately face fierce and prolonged school bullying, leaving countless scars on her body.

She and her mother lived off the Yu family’s monthly allowance.

They had long become accustomed to the world abandoning them.