After Trying To Pursue The Cold, Elegant Beauty. I Ended Up Being Flirted With Instead - Chapter 11

It’s this wicked woman!

“Mom, I’m home!”

The sound of pitter-patter footsteps rushed into the guesthouse. When the proprietress saw Qiaoqiao return, she immediately smiled at Wen Zhu: “You’ve worked hard, little girl! My kid is a bit mischievous. Qiaoqiao, quickly pour the auntie a glass of water!”

Having said that, she returned to her focus on the mahjong tiles in her hand.

Qiaoqiao seemed accustomed to his mother only having eyes for mahjong, and he didn’t pay her any mind. He obediently poured Wen Zhu a glass of water, then blinked, asking quite sincerely, “Auntie, you were so amazing just now. Did you learn Go?”

As soon as he spoke, urgent footsteps sounded from the small courtyard outside the guesthouse, accompanied by a little girl’s clear shout: “Stinky Qiaoqiao, come out, let’s play one more round!”

“How is Li Jiaojiao so fast!” Upon hearing this, little Qiaoqiao’s expression changed. He didn’t even care about asking his question anymore, immediately scampering up the stairs on his short legs. “Sister, if Li Jiaojiao comes in with her little aunt later, you have to tell her I’m not here!”

Wen Zhu watched Qiaoqiao’s rapid movements in succession and couldn’t help but become curious.

What kind of formidable person was this ‘little aunt’ to scare a child like this?

She pushed the door open and walked out.

The sound of the wooden door opening with a “creak” rang out. Wen Zhu looked up and was immediately greeted by the sight of the orange-yellow residual light of the setting sun pouring in like a tide.

The somewhat blinding light made her raise a hand to shield her eyes as she watched the two people walking toward her.

A slender, tall figure slowly emerged, the woman’s outline fully framed, dreamlike and illusory. The setting sun shone upon her, coating her in a layer of soft gold.

As the person approached step by step, Wen Zhu finally saw her face

“Miss Li…?” For a moment, Wen Zhu thought she was dreaming. “What are you doing here?”

In this hazy atmosphere, Li Zhiyun’s fair skin was tinged with a faint blush by the afterglow of the sunset, breathtakingly beautiful.

She also seemed surprised to see Wen Zhu here, initially pausing slightly. Just as she was about to say something, Jiaojiao spoke first: “Little Aunt! It’s her!”

Jiaojiao’s large, black grape-like eyes were watery, and her clear voice was full of accusation: “It’s this wicked woman! Don’t be fooled by how pretty she is or how gentle and easygoing she looks. Her heart is dark! She was the one who helped Qiaoqiao cheat just now, that’s why he won against me!”

“It was you?” Although Li Zhiyun asked the question, her expression didn’t show much surprise.

Wen Zhu also hadn’t expected that a simple move she showed Qiaoqiao would involve Li Zhiyun’s niece. Jiaojiao must be the daughter of Li Zhiyun’s sister.

She knelt down, smiled, and her voice was soft and gentle, “I’m sorry, Jiaojiao, I was wrong just now. I apologize to you now, tell Auntie, what do you need so you can forgive me?”

Jiaojiao ignored Wen Zhu and instead looked at Li Zhiyun, whining affectionately, “Dearest Little Aunt! Quickly play a game with this wicked woman! Help me defeat her!”

Hearing this, Li Zhiyun looked at Wen Zhu somewhat helplessly, her clear, bright eyes slightly drooped at the corners, as if silently asking Wen Zhu for “a favor.”

Wen Zhu couldn’t help but stare at Li Zhiyun for a couple more seconds, wondering how such a beautiful person could look so lovely even with that expression.

She smiled and said, “I don’t mind.”

It was clear that even Li Zhiyun indulged Li Jiaojiao so much, so Li Jiaojiao must be a little princess who was doted on while growing up.

It was only another game of chess she was most skilled at conceding. Not to mention that today’s matter was partly her fault.

Hearing Wen Zhu agree, Li Jiaojiao swiftly took out the chess pieces she had brought, clearly having prepared them beforehand.

They also borrowed a board from Qiaoqiao’s house. The proprietress knew Jiaojiao and readily agreed without a second thought.

She also shouted up the stairs: “Qiaoqiao! You little brat, what are you doing! Didn’t you see Jiaojiao is here? Shrinking up there, is that how I taught you?!”

Seeing half a fuzzy head poke out from the stairwell, Wen Zhu didn’t say much and sat down across from Li Zhiyun.

Wen Zhu took the black pieces and moved first. After a few moves, a strange thought floated into her mind.

Li Zhiyun was letting her win.

This thought was truly strange, because Li Zhiyun was playing normally, and both were restraining each other.

Yet, she still felt that every step she took seemed to be following a route Li Zhiyun had planned long ago.

With a “click,” the proprietress took a break from her mahjong game and turned on the light in the living room.

It was an old fashioned tungsten bulb that illuminated this small corner. A slightly cold breeze blew in from the wooden window, carrying a few tiny pear blossoms that spun and landed on the chessboard.

The illusory shadows on the floor also began to sway.

Li Zhiyun glanced at the few petals and reached out to brush them away.

Her body leaned slightly forward, and a strand of long hair, carried by the wind, brushed against Wen Zhu’s wrist.

Li Zhiyun looked cold, but her hair was fine and soft, and the ends carried a mildly irritating itch.

A faint scent of pear blossoms drifted over, making Wen Zhu momentarily unable to distinguish whether it was the fragrance of the petals or the scent of Li Zhiyun herself.

She couldn’t help but lean closer to smell it, her other fingertip wanting to touch that strand of hair.

“What are you doing?” A slightly puzzled voice sounded.

Wen Zhu snapped back to attention, her fingertip frozen in mid-air. After two seconds of stunned realization, she suddenly understood how much her recent behavior resembled that of a pervert.

Her face flushed instantly, and she lowered her head unnaturally: “N-nothing. Let’s continue playing.”

Li Zhiyun’s gaze swept over her reddened ear tips. She raised one eyebrow, also pretending that nothing had happened. Her fair fingertip picked up a chess piece and, without any deliberation, placed it directly in front of Wen Zhu’s black piece.

Perhaps people always become extremely busy when they are embarrassed.

After Li Zhiyun made her move, Wen Zhu held her piece, her eyes scanning the board with palpable confusion.

If she had only felt strange at first, now, after repeatedly sweeping her gaze across the entire game, Wen Zhu finally realized what was wrong.

Li Zhiyun seemed to have set a trap from the very first move.

And she, like a compliant prey, had unconditionally walked into the trap.

Conceiving the entire game from the first piece was this something a normal person could do?

Realizing the inevitable loss, the heat on Wen Zhu’s face slowly subsided.

She placed the piece in her hand back into the bowl and curved her lips: “I surrender, I lost.”

Wen Zhu smiled openly and calmly, without any trace of frustration from losing the match.

Seeing this, Li Zhiyun also put her piece back.

Jiaojiao seemed to have already anticipated Wen Zhu losing. She immediately jumped up and shouted toward the stairs to the second floor: “Stinky Qiaoqiao! The helper you found lost! Come down quickly, I’m not mad at you anymore!”

Qiaoqiao had been hiding at the stairwell, watching the game.

Upon hearing this, he poked his head out and gave Wen Zhu a somewhat timid and apologetic look.

He had just abandoned Wen Zhu and run away. If he hadn’t run, maybe Wen Zhu wouldn’t have been forced into a match with Li Jiaojiao’s terrifying little aunt.

Would Auntie Wen be mad at him now?

“It’s nothing,” Wen Zhu took the initiative to step forward and lead Qiaoqiao down, holding his hand. She squatted down to meet Qiaoqiao’s eye level, “Auntie isn’t mad at Qiaoqiao. Now you and Jiaojiao are even, and you can continue to be friends.”

“Really?” Qiaoqiao asked. Seeing Wen Zhu nod, he looked at Jiaojiao and puffed out his chest, “I just learned a new move, I’ll definitely defeat you this time. Do you want to come upstairs and play another round with me?”

Children’s emotions come and go quickly. Jiaojiao also seemed to have forgotten the earlier unpleasantness. She raised her chin and haughtily snorted, “Impossible! You won’t beat me even if you practice for ten more years!”

With that, the two held hands and went upstairs to play chess.

In the corner, the atmosphere suddenly became eerily silent.

The already small corner, for some reason, became even more cramped after Jiaojiao left.

Wen Zhu glanced at Li Zhiyun and opened her mouth: “Since the game is over, I’ll be going first”

“Have you eaten dinner?”

Interrupted by Li Zhiyun, Wen Zhu thought she had misheard: “W-what?”

Li Zhiyun didn’t seem as aloof as rumored.

Noticing Wen Zhu’s bewildered look, she showed no sign of impatience. Instead, she slowed her speech and repeated, “What I mean is, if you haven’t had dinner, would you like to go out and have dinner with me?”