After the Bankrupt Heiress Married into a Rich Family - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: After the Wine

“Rongrong, I can’t sleep. Shall we go again?”

Mingzhu woke up—and the timing was perfect.

She had actually just dreamed of Lu Zi. It was likely because Rong Zhao’s cousin had mentioned her today, causing her to slip into Mingzhu’s subconscious.

Lu Zi was a very gentle girl. Thinking back now, her personality truly complemented Rong Zhao’s.

In the dream, Lu Zi had come to find Mingzhu at her classroom door after class. She brought her sweet white chocolate. Mingzhu remembered only mentioning once that she didn’t like bitter dark chocolate (and that it made her teeth look black), yet Lu Zi had remembered.

Because Lu Zi was always so soft and gentle—unlike Rong Zhao, He Chan, or Jiang Jiang—Mingzhu had especially enjoyed chatting with her. Every time they walked around the running track, Mingzhu felt refreshed and lighthearted. It was nothing like meeting Rong Zhao in the school corridor, where a single look from Rong Zhao could make her blood boil.

Mingzhu hadn’t been in contact with Lu Zi for years. Dreaming of her so suddenly was strange; it made it seem like she actually cared about what the cousin had said. Luckily, she was awake now.

But there was a crucial question: almost no one knew about that flicker of “something” between Rong Zhao and Lu Zi. Mingzhu had only discovered it by accident when visiting Lu Zi’s house. Since that was back in their distant student days, how did the cousin know? And why did she intentionally wait to bring it up to provoke her?

Could it be that after all these years, Rong Zhao was still thinking of Lu Zi? Had the cousin found evidence at the Rong house that Rong Zhao still harbored a secret crush?

That simply won’t do.

If the cousin started blabbing to everyone that the person Rong Zhao truly loved was Lu Zi, what if Lu Zi actually came back from abroad? What would happen to Mingzhu then?

Divorce was absolutely out of the question!

She needed to find a time to go shopping with the cousin and fish for information—how did she know, and how much did she know? Meanwhile, she had to keep the cousin steady. She couldn’t let anyone ruin her three-year marriage agreement. She had to maintain Rong Zhao’s reputation and their “loving” marriage from every angle; she had to make everyone believe they were a devoted, inseparable couple.

Besides, she was actually quite curious to hear the cousin’s version of what happened between Rong Zhao and Lu Zi.

Lost in these worried thoughts, Mingzhu’s fingers twitched, and she unconsciously applied a bit of pressure. She suddenly heard a sharp, caught breath from Rong Zhao. Mingzhu finally snapped back to reality.

There was faint light from electronics in the room; it wasn’t pitch black. Mingzhu opened her eyes to see Rong Zhao’s brow slightly furrowed in a soft, vulnerable expression.

The post-alcohol Rong Zhao had a completely different aura. Her body was soft, her voice was tender, and even her frown lacked its usual chill. She looked… incredibly easy to bully.

Mingzhu should have just quietly enjoyed the excitement and satisfaction of “conquering” Rong Zhao, but she couldn’t hold back her emotions tonight. She wanted to wake her up.

“Are you awake?” Mingzhu whispered.

After five or six seconds, Rong Zhao responded: “Mhm.”

“Who am I?” Mingzhu pressed.

Another five or six seconds passed before Rong Zhao answered clearly: “Mingzhu.”

A smile instantly bloomed on Mingzhu’s face. She pulled her hand back and turned to switch on the light with her left hand.

The dim room was suddenly flooded with light. This caused Rong Zhao, who had snuck into Mingzhu’s side of the bed, to immediately turn away and try to scramble back to her own side.

“Don’t go, don’t go!” Mingzhu laughed and lunged at her, hugging Rong Zhao through the blankets. “Look at you! If you have ‘needs,’ just tell me directly. I’m no good at silent understandings; we’ll just end up going in opposite directions.”

Rong Zhao kept her eyes tightly shut, half her face buried in the pillow. Her ears were red and hot. Usually, she liked Mingzhu’s chatter, but right now, she just wanted her to be quiet.

Mingzhu tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and propped herself up behind Rong Zhao. Looking down, she saw Rong Zhao’s face was flushed and looked exceptionally delicate under the light. She couldn’t tell if it was the wine or the embarrassment of being caught.

It was so rare—the usually icy CEO Rong was now blushing so vividly.

“I spent the whole day meeting your parents. Rongrong, open your eyes and look at me,” Mingzhu said, using her “merit” from earlier as an excuse to act spoiled.

Rong Zhao was silent for a few moments before opening her eyes. She saw Mingzhu’s dark, sparkling eyes and her deep smile. When their eyes met, Mingzhu quickly shifted her smug grin into a flattering one.

Mingzhu said intentionally, “Rongrong, you’re really beautiful.”

Rong Zhao immediately closed her eyes again.

She wanted to push Mingzhu away, but Mingzhu had worked hard meeting the parents today. So, Rong Zhao kept her body relaxed and soft. “Turn off the light.”

“No. I want to look at you.”

“…”

“Bai Mingzhu. Turn off the light.”

“…Fine.”

Mingzhu turned off the light with her left hand, then slipped her right hand back under the covers. She propped herself up over Rong Zhao again to chat, her gaze fixed on Rong Zhao’s face. “Rongrong, today the elders asked about the wedding. Are you really planning to leave it all to me?”

“Don’t you…” Rong Zhao’s breathing hitched as she spoke quickly, “…just happen to love spending money?”

Her voice trembled slightly at the end. She paused before finishing: “You… do it however you like.”

Mingzhu: “Then what do you like? Tell me.”

Rong Zhao didn’t want to say anything right now; every word felt like it was being squeezed out of her while she held her breath. “Up… to you.”

“Can I go wild with it?”

“Mhm.”

Encouraged, Mingzhu truly began to “go wild”. Rong Zhao’s ankles locked tightly around Mingzhu’s.

“Do you want an indoor wedding or an outdoor one?”

“…Outdoor.”

Mingzhu probably liked the outdoors.

Sure enough, Mingzhu cheered. “Same as me! I love the outdoors. I’m actually pretty good at flying drones; I’ll fly one at the wedding.”

Rong Zhao was surprised she could even focus on Mingzhu’s requests at a time like this. “Want to buy a drone?”

Mingzhu hadn’t actually meant that, but since Rong Zhao mentioned it, she took the bait. “Can I? For the wedding, I want an 8K full-frame one. It’s about 100,000 yuan. I can even do aerial photography for your company’s new car test drives. It’ll save you the cost of hiring a pro firm. I can do the post-production editing too. What do you think?”

The more Mingzhu talked, the more excited she got—her speed increasing both in speech and in her actions.

Rong Zhao lost her breath for a few seconds. It took a long moment before she let out a soft, long, trembling “Mhm.”

“Rongrong, you’re the best!”

After the first round ended, Rong Zhao was thirsty. She put on her long silk robe and went to the water dispenser. Mingzhu followed her.

Rong Zhao had only taken two sips when her robe was lifted. Her legs went weak, and the cup in her hand wobbled violently. The ends of her long hair swayed in a sharp arc.

Mingzhu chuckled. “Don’t put the cup down. How much medicinal wine did you drink? Was it 100ml?”

Rong Zhao leaned forward, bracing her left hand on the table. She looked back at the mischievous Mingzhu. Under the dim light, Mingzhu’s eyes were as bright as stars, her movements urging her for an answer.

“A bit more than 50ml,” Rong Zhao answered.

As soon as she spoke, she couldn’t help but gasp, her breath hitching for a few seconds. Looking back at the cup, the water was shaking rapidly, like leaves in the wind.

Rong Zhao panted with her lips slightly parted. She saw Mingzhu tilting her head to watch her. Her legs and hands were weak; she set the cup down and braced both hands on the table, lowering her head.

“Don’t look down. Lift your head so I can see,” Mingzhu gathered Rong Zhao’s long hair to one side, holding it loosely in her left hand.

Rong Zhao’s cheeks and ears were completely flushed; even her neck was red. “What is there to see?”

“It’s just pretty. I’ve never seen you like this.”

“…Shut up.”

Mingzhu laughed softly. She didn’t have a plan; she just followed her own rhythm “going wild,” staring at Rong Zhao’s pale-to-red ears and the side of her neck. She really wanted to take a couple of bites—bite those earlobes, bite that delicate neck.

But Rong Zhao certainly wouldn’t be willing. If she bit her out of nowhere, Rong Zhao would definitely feel offended.

My personality really is worlds apart from Lu Zi’s, Mingzhu thought. No wonder Rong Zhao doesn’t like me like this.

The more she thought about how different she was from Lu Zi, the more reckless her movements became.

Rong Zhao felt electric shocks of numbness coursing through her body. Her legs grew weaker and her waist curved further, creating a beautiful line. Mingzhu let go of her hair, and the strands fell down, veiling Rong Zhao’s face, but it only made Rong Zhao’s sounds heavier and her hair sway faster.

After the second round, they lay in bed under their respective covers. Mingzhu was still riding a high of excitement. She looked at her phone for a bit and realized the Qingming Festival was coming up.

Wondering if Rong Zhao was asleep, Mingzhu looked at her back and whispered, “Rongrong, do I need to go with you to worship the ancestors for Qingming?”

Rong Zhao lay on her side, suffering her usual insomnia. “Do you want to?”

Mingzhu rested her leg over Rong Zhao’s. “To be honest, not really. I’m afraid of lying in front of your ancestors.”

Rong Zhao gently kicked Mingzhu’s leg back. In dealing with Mingzhu, she couldn’t just give in all the time, or Mingzhu would suspect her motives. Occasionally pushing her away made Mingzhu more comfortable.

Sure enough, as soon as Rong Zhao kicked her back, Mingzhu put her leg back on, pressing down even harder as if to intentionally make things difficult for her.

Rong Zhao didn’t bother kicking her back again. She said calmly, “Then stay home. I’ll make an excuse to the elders. My ancestral home isn’t local; it’s a long flight, and the signal on the mountain might be bad. If you need anything while I’m gone, find Auntie Guan or Sister Xiang.”

“Got it. I’ll be a good girl at home and wait for you to come back.”

Rong Zhao knew this was just talk. Mingzhu would never “honestly” wait for her. Staying home for half a day would make Mingzhu miserable—and whenever Mingzhu went out, even if she didn’t look for trouble, trouble always found her.

It felt a bit like a honeymoon period, and now Rong Zhao had to go on a business trip. Mingzhu shimmed forward, slipping into Rong Zhao’s blanket and hugging her waist from behind.

Rong Zhao threw Mingzhu’s hand off. Mingzhu put it right back. Rong Zhao’s lips curled into a faint smile, and this time, she didn’t throw it off again.

Mingzhu fumbled around. “Rongrong, I can’t sleep. Shall we go again? If you’re tired, you’ll be able to sleep properly and won’t have insomnia anymore. What do you say?”