Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 15.2

Liu Chengxu opened her bag. Her sister-in-law didn’t leave her anything, but she still brought a lot of food for her sister-in-law. Her sister-in-law’s favorite matcha cake, the newly popular mochi… She lay on the empty bed and checked her phone again, which was also empty.

At three in the afternoon, she opened the refrigerator to boil eggs for herself. By now, she understood why Su Zhiluo had initially forced her to learn to cook. Su Zhiluo had never intended to spend her life with her from the beginning.

Aunt Zhang knocked several times, calling her to eat, but she didn’t respond. After eating the eggs, she replied to Meng Zhengyue’s message, saying she would take a part-time job during the May Day holiday.

In the evening, Liu Chengxu bit her lip and messaged Su Zhiluo. She didn’t dare to stab the knife directly into her chest, asking indirectly: Are you still working during May Day? Are you being squeezed this hard? It wasn’t like this at home.

Su Zhiluo: No, I’m going to the market to find sources of goods. I posted a link last time, and two people placed orders.

Liu Chengxu read every word.

Su Zhiluo didn’t ask her to come over.

By this point, Liu Chengxu had to give up, even if she was unwilling. At night, Liu Chengxu dragged her bed over and combined it with Su Zhiluo’s.

She hated from beginning to end, and in the end, she decided not to hate anymore.

It wasn’t about love or not.

She was afraid of completely losing the bond.

Su Zhiluo thought that not meeting would make her calm down and reduce her love. Unfortunately, Liu Chengxu was disappointing; in this separation, she increasingly yearned for her scent and her aura. Like a spell, she deepened her past love into another realm.

She locked herself in the closet, bathing herself in Su Zhiluo’s last scent. She slept curled up in this small closet, almost suffering from heatstroke, yet she couldn’t bear to climb out.

During the day, she went to comic conventions and scenic spots for photography with Meng Zhengyue and the others.

The first three days were so busy she couldn’t even eat. In the evening, when she went back and saw passersby celebrating the holiday, the few of them felt hungry. Each person pitched in 50 yuan to eat crayfish and barbecue on the street.

Liu Chengxu ordered beer, poured herself a glass, and drank it.

Meng Zhengyue, who was with her day and night, saw her emotions clearly. At first, she didn’t ask much, thinking Liu Chengxu could get over it. It was obvious, however, that Liu Chengxu was walking into a dead end.

She sighed lightly and patted Liu Chengxu’s shoulder.

Liu Chengxu’s eyes instantly turned red, and she cried terribly. She bit her lip tightly. Meng Zhengyue pried her lower lip open, releasing her lips. But even so, she didn’t say who she liked.

Everyone felt sorry for her, so they thought of the person closest to her, her sister-in-law, and comforted her by saying her sister-in-law would come to pick her up. Liu Chengxu smiled wryly, “My sister-in-law went to Guangzhou.”

Meng Zhengyue and Cha Baomei were both stunned. Liu Chengxu said, “She’s been gone for a long time.”

Then, she added, “I want to change jobs, earn more money. She said I could take a postgraduate exam.”

These were indeed things Su Zhiluo had said. During this time, all their conversations revolved around working hard and studying hard.

They had actually thought at first that Liu Chengxu liked Xue Qiuri, one of the couples they knew. Xue Qiuri’s appearance was the type many people liked, with a cold but gentle look.

Meng Zhengyue doesn’t interact with strangers. People who don’t know her assume she comes from a good family and is arrogant in her bones. Cha Baomei has a lively personality and loves photography, and she has many suitors. But she’s like a child who hasn’t matured, giving everyone a ‘nice person’ card.

But looking back on their few years in college, Cha Baomei was the first to realize that Liu Chengxu liked her sister-in-law. On this very night, Cha Baomei felt that Liu Chengxu’s love was abnormal; she cried very intensely whenever her sister-in-law was mentioned.

Liu Chengxu drank too much and collapsed on Meng Zhengyue’s shoulder. Cha Baomei took out a tissue to wipe her face. The two of them took her back very late and stayed overnight at her house.

The next day was the longest phone call between Liu Chengxu and Su Zhiluo ever. Su Zhiluo told her to treat her friends well, to buy groceries, and cook hotpot at home.

Liu Chengxu was very good at adjusting herself. She started blindly believing that her sister-in-law didn’t not love her, nor did she abandon her, but that her sister-in-law’s family had found her, and she had no choice but to leave.

She first killed herself with hate, and then used this strange “touching” formula to reignite her love.

After May Day, the scattered holidays that followed became less important. Su Zhiluo seemed very busy every day, her busyness revolving around one main theme: “e-commerce.” She definitely hadn’t forgotten her promise to Liu Chengxu.

Of course, Liu Chengxu wouldn’t tell her that the first few buyers were online friends she found, asking them to place orders. She paid the money, and the clothes were sent for free.

No matter what kind of clothes, Su Zhiluo would always send a set to Liu Chengxu first. Liu Chengxu would wear them, ask Cha Baomei to take pictures, and then send them to Su Zhiluo to upload to the page. She was pretty and had a good figure, coupled with Cha Baomei’s photography skills. In June, the store had a surge of orders, selling 600 units.

Su Zhiluo earned seven thousand yuan. She routinely transferred living expenses to Liu Chengxu every month. In the past, Liu Chengxu wouldn’t accept it because she had her own money, but now she did. She was afraid that if she didn’t accept it, the two of them would truly drift apart in the vast crowd.

Before, Su Zhiluo gave her 1300 yuan for living expenses a month; now she gave her 1600. When the store business was good, she would give more, sometimes approaching 2000 yuan.

Summer vacation was coming. Su Zhiluo sent Liu Chengxu many dresses, and would also send a set to Meng Zhengyue and Cha Baomei, claiming they were new products to be sold. All three of them took a few sets of photos for Su Zhiluo to use as display images. Later, they realized Su Zhiluo didn’t list this style, giving the reason that the price was too high and it wouldn’t sell well.

Their three-way relationship was close, and sometimes the other two could sense something. Su Zhiluo wanted to buy them for Liu Chengxu but couldn’t find a reason, so she sent sets to all three of them.

Meng Zhengyue thought it was because Liu Chengxu was too frugal, and Su Zhiluo was afraid she wouldn’t wear them. Cha Baomei always felt something was off whenever she thought about it deeply, but she didn’t dare to delve further.

As summer vacation approached, Meng Zhengyue and Cha Baomei started discussing where to find summer jobs. They spent a whole morning in their group chat deciding that working at a comic convention would be better, as it would be cool. Working at a bar was actually the most stable, but Cha Baomei was too proud and couldn’t stand people bossing her around. If Liu Chengxu didn’t join, they might do some odd jobs.

They tagged Liu Chengxu together.

Liu Chengxu replied: I need to think about it.

Cha Baomei: Thinking about your sister-in-law? I have a strange feeling, that is, you treat your sister-in-law as a mother.

Liu Chengxu: No.

Meng Zhengyue: Cha Baomei, her sister-in-law is very young, only 25. No one would be a mother to someone else at 25. She should be seen as an older sister.

Cha Baomei: Oh.

On the first day of the holiday, Liu Chengxu carried her suitcase downstairs. She sat on the flower bed. Meng Zhengyue came over to use the washing machine and said, “Is your sister-in-law coming to pick you up?”

Meng Zhengyue put her sheets and duvet covers into the washing machine and came out to find her, but when she turned back, Liu Chengxu had disappeared. Meng Zhengyue saw her running so fast and thought her sister-in-law had arrived.

Su Zhiluo didn’t come to pick her up, and she wouldn’t, not from day to night.

For the first week, Liu Chengxu stayed at home, working as customer service for Su Zhiluo’s store, helping her reply to messages.

The two of them only communicated about the store. The store’s orders were increasing; one product link alone could have hundreds of orders, and they had several styles listed, adding up to a considerable number.

E-commerce was just starting, and the quality online was uneven. Su Zhiluo wasn’t greedy; for the same style, she looked for good quality and fit, earning whatever she could after deducting costs, aiming to build up repeat customers.

In the evening, the two talked on the phone.

Su Zhiluo was squatting on the floor packing express deliveries.

She replied slowly, but every sentence had a response.

Liu Chengxu was tired and collapsed on the bed.

Su Zhiluo said, “Why don’t you go out and relax with your friends.” Knowing that her friends all had other part-time jobs, she said, “Just go play, take a rest.”

Liu Chengxu didn’t reply to her.

After Su Zhiluo’s online store started making money, she bought a second-hand tablet at a mobile phone repair shop. She looked back at Liu Chengxu.

Liu Chengxu was using her computer for the video call, and the camera was blurry, so she couldn’t be clearly seen. Liu Chengxu kept her voice very low, “I’m very scared being alone at home. I face the wall every day. Actually, I don’t really like it here, only because you lived here. The first time I came here, I thought it would collapse. After you left, I feel miserable every day. I forced you out of the home you shared with your sister. I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry.”

Did Liu Chengxu really not notice anything?

Su Zhiluo didn’t take away a single item related to her, but she took away the photo of her and her sister.

Liu Chengxu felt even more miserable, “Su Zhiluo, I’m still very sad. We lived together for six years, and you don’t miss me at all. You didn’t even have many of your sister’s belongings. Why… why couldn’t you take me as a memento too?”

Liu Chengxu couldn’t hold it in anymore. She constantly wiped her tears with her arm, saying, “I’ve been trying hard to stop liking you. You said once-a-week phone calls, and I only call once a week. I didn’t go looking for you after you left, but… sister-in-law. Please, have pity on me, okay? Let me change slowly, okay? I’m trying not to like you.”

“Even just giving me an address so I can secretly come and see you would be fine. I can’t bear it anymore… Don’t be so cruel to me, okay…”

Liu Chengxu was wearing a white T-shirt with a Doraemon printed on it, the special price T-shirt Su Zhiluo used for lead generation. How could Su Zhiluo not feel distressed? Liu Chengxu’s crying made her tremble, her voice choked. She wasn’t accusing, but saying she would change. Su Zhiluo’s heart was clenching in pain. Her breathing became difficult, and she felt as if she was suffering from respiratory poisoning.

It turned out to be this painful.

Su Zhiluo’s lips moved, her voice very hoarse. “Let me think.”

She was truly thinking seriously. Then she moved her phone away and bit her own arm, tears streaming out.

Did she really not miss Liu Chengxu?

How could that be? When she first arrived, she couldn’t sleep at night, constantly wondering if she was doing well, wondering if she was crying. Then, what made her feel even more distressed was that she really liked the seemingly unattainable future that Liu Chengxu planned with her every day.

The tears ran dry.

Her voice was very hoarse, and Su Zhiluo didn’t want Liu Chengxu to hear the difference. She really wanted to be soft-hearted, but she didn’t dare to give in. Biting her arm, the only thing she could say was, “Chengxu, I don’t know.”