Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 16.2

The moment that familiar scent rushed into her nostrils; an indescribable yearning awakened within her. She instinctively deepened her breath, her legs unconsciously clamping together, her knees sinking deep into the mattress. A subtle shiver ran down her spine. Finally, she collapsed weakly onto the bed, her chest rising and falling violently, letting out a suppressed and prolonged gasp.

Su Zhiluo finished the orders from yesterday in the living room.

When she returned to the room, Liu Chengxu was sleeping on her stomach. Su Zhiluo went over and gently pulled out the ends of her hair that were not dry.

Su Zhiluo spread a mat and slept on the floor. After a while, she lay on her side, watching Liu Chengxu on the bed.

Su Zhiluo also slept for an hour. When she woke up, Liu Chengxu was still asleep. Su Zhiluo replied to customer messages in the room. There were only two orders in the afternoon, and sometimes customers would cancel their orders themselves, so there was no rush to print the slips.

With nothing urgent to do, she went to the kitchen to stew soup.

This was a great thing about Guangzhou: no matter what ingredients she bought for stewing, the soup was exceptionally fragrant and rich, unlike in Beishi, where she had to get up early to the market to pick out good ingredients.

Liu Chengxu seemed to have been awake all night; she woke up at half-past four in the afternoon. She helped reply to two customer messages, then began helping her sister-in-law package the express deliveries and fill out the slips.

Su Zhiluo: “Let’s go out tonight, and tomorrow I’ll take you sightseeing here.”

Liu Chengxu said, “I’m not going back.”

Listening carefully, it was evident that her anxiety was related to the possibility of Su Zhiluo asking her to leave.

Su Zhiluo: “If you don’t go back… this place isn’t exactly…”

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Liu Chengxu quickly interjected.

Su Zhiluo pretended to be busy with the task at hand.

If she were truly asked, she wouldn’t know how to answer. If Liu Chengxu didn’t leave, she wouldn’t urge her to go. Liu Chengxu knew this, yet she insisted on an answer.

While claiming to slowly change, Liu Chengxu still displayed a certain compulsive need.

Su Zhiluo didn’t reply.

Liu Chengxu gazed silently at her profile. She hadn’t seen Su Zhiluo for some time. Now, looking closely, her sister-in-law was still fair and delicate, her eyes and eyebrows just as before. She said in a very low, aggrieved voice, “Please don’t make me leave… This trip was not easy for me.”

Su Zhiluo felt uneasy under her gaze. She turned her head slightly, letting her loose hair partially shield her face.

A bitterness welled up in Su Zhiluo’s heart. She said, “If you want to stay, then stay. It’s up to you.”

In the evening, Su Zhiluo served the stewed soup, which was infused with Cordyceps flower and smelled fragrant, along with a plate of steamed spare ribs. After dinner, Su Zhiluo still took her out. First, they rode the scooter to the subway entrance, then took the subway for half an hour to see the Pearl River.

Su Zhiluo had been here for three months and hadn’t made any close friends. She just commuted between the wholesale market and home, and she hadn’t been sightseeing.

The lights of the buildings on both banks reflected in the river. The summer water rippled slowly, and tourist boats could be seen on the surface. Most people who came here to visit were primarily focused on one place: the Canton Tower, also known as the “Little Waist.”

Crowds gathered on the bank, all circling one spot to take photos. They had intended to take a walk, but they had clearly chosen the wrong location.

Su Zhiluo wanted to wait for the crowd to disperse to take pictures of her, but Liu Chengxu stood for a while and then started walking forward. Every spot along the Pearl River at night was beautiful; there was no need to stay stuck there.

Su Zhiluo still managed to snap one photo of her.

Liu Chengxu said, “Send it to me.”

Su Zhiluo sent it.

Liu Chengxu didn’t look at the photo. She found a passerby, a young woman, handed her the phone, and asked her to take a joint photo of them.

The young woman was very enthusiastic, and her mother was even coaching from the side.

“Girls, move closer! Don’t be shy or awkward, you’re out here having fun.”

Su Zhiluo moved closer to her.

The auntie continued, “Make a heart shape with your hands. Little sister, hold up your hand, yes, big sister, you too.”

Su Zhiluo slowly raised her hand, feeling very awkward. The auntie said, “Oh, little sister is smiling, big sister, you smile too.”

Is Chengxu smiling? Su Zhiluo instinctively looked up at her.

“Aha! This is good.” The auntie took many photos of them, confidently praising her own technique. She said, “Little sister, hug your sister, put your arm around her shoulder.”

This action felt too intimate for Su Zhiluo; she instinctively resisted, but Liu Chengxu’s hand was already around her first. The auntie kept finding angles to shoot, and her daughter was pointing out which scenic background to capture.

“So lovely. You’re both good-looking; any photo turns out well.”

The young woman, Chen Mo, said, “Mom, your shots are still a bit cliché.”

Chen Mo went over to direct. She had Su Zhiluo stand sideways, the river breeze lightly lifting her hair, and then instructed Liu Chengxu to reach out and touch that wisp of hair. The light from the building’s opposite, crossing the Pearl River, fell on their profiles. No matter what expression they wore, it looked intimate and romantic.

Su Zhiluo keenly noticed the change in Liu Chengxu’s eyes. That gaze was too ardent, making her heart flutter with unease.

Chen Mo suggested, “There’s a bench over there. Do you want to take photos there? My mom and I have nothing else to do, we can take them for you.”

“Sure,” Liu Chengxu gently held Su Zhiluo and took a step forward, her eyes filled with anticipation, much like a pair of wet, puppy dog eyes. Su Zhiluo couldn’t harden her heart against such a look. After following Liu Chengxu for the first step, she couldn’t pull back for the second.

They sat down on the long bench. Even without striking any pose, the light began to blur the boundaries.

It was as if.

It turned two non-lovers into a couple.

Later, Liu Chengxu also helped the auntie and Chen Mo take photos.

The young woman, Chen Mo, had already graduated from university and worked near the Pearl River. Her mother had specifically come to visit during her summer vacation.

They exchanged contact information and chatted for half an hour. Su Zhiluo and Liu Chengxu continued walking forward. This time, Liu Chengxu was constantly looking at her phone, flipping through the photos. She felt a few of them were very romantic, like they were dating. She wanted to show Su Zhiluo, but knowing it would make her uncomfortable, she only posted them in her friend group.

They walked until 10 PM before taking the subway back to the rented apartment.

They were already sweaty and hot from the journey.

Upon returning, Su Zhiluo went to shower first.

Liu Chengxu replied to her friends’ messages. They didn’t know she was in Guangzhou. Liu Chengxu also just found out that Meng Zhengyue and Cha Baomei had studied here. Cha Baomei recommended several places and local foods to her.

Su Zhiluo came out, wiping her hair. “You wait a bit; it’s a little hot in there.”

Liu Chengxu put her phone away, looked at her sister-in-law, and then lowered her gaze.

Su Zhiluo was wearing a simple nightgown from her shop—a loose, long T-shirt that just covered her upper thighs, revealing two straight, long legs. Perhaps bitten by a local insect, there was a visible red dot on her inner thigh, slightly swollen. On her fair skin, it was particularly noticeable, looking ambiguously like a hickey.

Liu Chengxu dared not look openly, fearing that if she was noticed, her sister-in-law would immediately pull down her hem to cover it.

“After you shower, spray some bug spray. There are a lot of insects here, don’t get bitten.”

“Okay.” Liu Chengxu quickly went into the bathroom.

She was very afraid of making a mistake.

She clipped her hair up with a claw clip and used a refreshing Liu Shen shower gel.

It was cheap and smelled very nice.

After showering and walking into the bedroom, she saw that Su Zhiluo had placed the sunflower in the glass vase by the window.

Unlike other flowers, the sunflower stood tall with its plump head even in the slightly dim room. Its bright yellow petals were spread out, and after all these days, there was no sign of wilting, as if it were stubbornly following some invisible source of light.

Liu Chengxu asked, “Do you like it?”

She hadn’t planned to give it away when she bought it, but now that Su Zhiluo had displayed it, she still wanted to hear her say she liked it.

She waited and waited.

Su Zhiluo heard her but was trying to formulate a reply.

The bedroom light suddenly went out. Su Zhiluo instinctively looked in her direction, reaching out to feel for her phone to turn on the light.

But Liu Chengxu had already moved closer, leaning down to trap her against the desk. Her hands were braced on the desktop, and her knees gently nudged Su Zhiluo’s legs. After her shower, her body was still very hot. Su Zhiluo, feeling the heat, moved backward, her waist hitting the edge of the desk. She couldn’t help but whisper, “Chengxu…”

“Say you like it, say you like it.” Her voice was aggrieved and suppressed. Liu Chengxu was very restrained. She repeated in a low voice, no longer just asking about the flower. “Will you just say you like it, just this once.”

Su Zhiluo’s hand had touched her phone, and she was about to light up the screen, but Liu Chengxu gently pressed her hand down. A warm forehead pressed against her shoulder, a muffled plea reaching her: “Sister-in-law, don’t turn on the light. I won’t be able to stop.”