Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 25.1

I have to say, the Internet has developed incredibly fast. Two years ago, the internet was like a barren land, but now it’s a hundred flowers blooming, with everything imaginable. If it had been this advanced years ago, she would have done whatever she could to save enough money and continue her studies.

Su Zhiluo’s grades used to be quite good; she always stayed in the top ten. However, at that time, her family believed that no matter how much a girl studied, she would eventually marry, so no one supported her. Living in a small mountain village with no source of income, she was sometimes beaten and scolded by adults for forgetting to tend to the cattle or cut pig feed because of her studies.

Now she has the motivation to learn, and coupled with her own enthusiasm, she asks Liu Chengxu whenever she doesn’t understand something. Her studies are not very difficult.

Chang Ruyin knocked on the door and asked, “Am I interrupting your study?”

Su Zhiluo tidied up her things. “No interruption. Come in. How was your day?”

Chang Ruyin came in and sat on her bed. Su Zhiluo moved over and said gently, “Come on, tell me about it. I’m listening.”

Su Zhiluo has a gentle nature. Chang Ruyin hugged her and sighed, feeling quite lost and dejected. “I gave her flowers, and she seemed happy, but there’s been no progress since… I thought we’d at least hold hands.”

Chang Ruyin added in a low voice, “She didn’t specifically come for me. Her aunt’s baby had its full moon celebration, and she just came by on her way. I thought it was for me.”

That’s probably what love is like, Su Zhiluo thought. There are always discrepancies in a relationship, and if you can’t accept that gap, things will become terrible.

She gently patted Chang Ruyin’s shoulder. She had always been the one being pursued, whether by Liu Jinhuan or Liu Chengxu. She was perpetually in a different situation, only needing to consider whether or not to accept the love.

In love, she was never brave enough, yet she always met people who charged forward relentlessly.

After listening to Chang Ruyin analyze her feelings, she saw the mindset of a pursuer for the first time. It wasn’t always sweet, but full of ups and downs, sadness, confusion, and too many complex, unspeakable emotions.

Chang Ruyin said, “Did this make you think of Liu Jinhuan… I’m sorry.”

Su Zhiluo was too embarrassed to say that the person she was currently worried about was Liu Chengxu.

She asked, “So how can you ease this feeling?”

Chang Ruyin said seriously, “Maybe getting her will make it better.”

“Getting her?”

“Yeah, it’s the fact that you can’t get her that feels like torment. It’s like you’ve been in Guangzhou for half a year and desperately crave spicy food—it’s a constant itch.”

An itch?

Su Zhiluo only felt fear.

Su Zhiluo gently comforted her, “You have to take romance slowly. Many loves that come fast also leave fast. Didn’t you want to build a serious life with her?”

This advice made sense, and Chang Ruyin was always willing to listen to her, the ‘experienced one.’

Chang Ruyin asked softly, “What does it actually feel like to fall in love with someone?”

Su Zhiluo really wanted to answer, but she opened her mouth to speak and was blocked.

Her thoughts suddenly became a mess. She couldn’t tell which person’s love to use to answer; one moment it was Liu Jinhuan, the next it was Liu Chengxu. These sisters had completely turned her heart upside down.

What exactly is love?

It is a myriad of twists and turns, the traces of another person melted into every breath, and a mind filled with their future together in every given moment. It’s like the soul signing a death pact, yearning for life after life, never to be separated.

The next day, Chang Ruyin invited Su Zhiluo to eat with her. She was treating, and Yang Jie was also present.

Su Zhiluo didn’t want to go, but Chang Ruyin said that if she didn’t come, it would just be her and Yang Jie, which would be truly awkward.

Just as Su Zhiluo had predicted, distance inevitably leads to awkwardness, and there was no immediate passion sparking between them.

Chang Ruyin wore her usual clothes and didn’t dress up, saying that yesterday’s outfit made her feel uncomfortable.

They went to the nearby “Pin Tang Ju” (Soup Tasting House), a long-established restaurant with reasonable prices, specializing in Shunde and Cantonese cuisine.

Chang Ruyin did most of the talking at the table. Su Zhiluo occasionally glanced at Yang Jie and noticed that her gaze towards Chang Ruyin was clearly different. It was no longer as aloof as before, but held a hidden spark. Most of the time, she looked at Chang Ruyin and smiled.

When a person unconsciously smiles while looking at another, affection has already sprouted and cannot be hidden.

Since Chang Ruyin was treating, she went to pay the bill.

The two sat facing each other. The initial ambiguity was gone. Yang Jie asked, “How are things with her? Did you make up?”

Su Zhiluo said, “It’s alright.”

The two smiled faintly at each other, like friends.

Su Zhiluo originally wanted to ask how far things had progressed between her and Chang Ruyin. But when Chang Ruyin returned, Su Zhiluo was too embarrassed to say she was going back first, telling them to go shopping in Zhuhai and that she wouldn’t be a third wheel.

On her way back, Su Zhiluo sent Chang Ruyin a message: She’s interested in you.

She also wanted to send a message to Yang Jie, but after deep thought, she concluded that Yang Jie was probably more experienced, and her interference would be unnecessary.

Liu Chengxu sent her a message.

Liu Chengxu: Something very strange happened today.

Su Zhiluo: What is it?

Liu Chengxu: I met Cha Baomei’s sister.

Su Zhiluo was familiar with Meng Zhengyue, but she hadn’t really met Cha Baomei and didn’t understand what Liu Chengxu was talking about.

Liu Chengxu said the matter was complicated and typed two characters.

Orthopedics.

Su Zhiluo: Is she sick? What happened? Did she break her leg?

Liu Chengxu retracted the message and said: Never mind if you don’t understand.

Su Zhiluo pondered for a moment, Could it be the kind of ‘orthopedics’ you read about in novels?

Here is how the event unfolded.

On Saturday and Sunday, they go to take model photos for businesses; this is their current side job for earning money.

While they were shooting, a girl was watching from the side with a grim expression. Liu Chengxu thought someone was looking for trouble and was about to go over and ask, but Meng Zhengyue pulled her back.

Then they heard the girl say, “What’s the meaning of transferring money to me?”

Cha Baomei said, “Congratulations on going abroad.”

The girl silently replied, “I don’t need it.”

Cha Baomei frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I just don’t need it.”

Liu Chengxu, shocked by what she heard, immediately asked Meng Zhengyue when Cha Baomei started dating.

Meng Zhengyue said, “That’s her sister.”

Liu Chengxu had always known Cha Baomei had a sister but had never met her.

She examined her closely. Cha Baomei’s sister was very tall, with more defined features, and truly didn’t look much like Cha Baomei.

Cha Baomei’s sister left immediately after speaking. Cha Baomei felt upset, quickly put away her camera, and went after her, asking, “What does that mean? Everyone else can congratulate you, but you refuse mine. Am I that inferior to you? I also got into this school through an exam. Do we, as sisters, need to be this competitive?”

Cha Baomei’s sister did not respond.

Zha Baomei felt like her good intentions were being completely rejected, and she was deeply frustrated. She said, “Do you know how long I saved that money? I took photos and edited them. Didn’t I save money so you could study abroad? Even with a scholarship, you still need living expenses. What, you want to go over there and live on scraps? Haha, who knows if they even have scraps for you abroad, haha.”

Her heart was terribly chilled, and she kept sneering.

Liu Chengxu and Meng Zhengyue were about to go and mediate. They had only taken two steps when they ran into a pair of deep, dark eyes.

Cha Baomei said, “Take it or leave it.”

Her sister asked, “You saved money just so I could go abroad?”

Cha Baomei didn’t answer and walked away.

Cha Baomei was quite depressed. She couldn’t understand why her sister, who was going abroad, wouldn’t accept the help. Their family wasn’t wealthy, so she worked hard to save money to help, yet her sister refused it and looked like she hated her.

Liu Chengxu couldn’t help but ask, “Is she really your biological sister?”

Cha Baomei nodded.

Although they were at the same school, there was a slight difference—her sister was in the engineering department. When they were freshmen, they had gone to watch Cha Baomei’s sister’s debate competition. It was too far to see clearly, and Cha Baomei didn’t go over to greet her, so she thought the sisters had a bad relationship.

The official website of their department even had Cha Baomei’s sister’s personal profile posted.

Cha Baomei countered, “Do we not look alike?”

Liu Chengxu shook her head.

“Fine, we really don’t. My mom says she looks like my dad.”

“…Oh.”

Liu Chengxu said, “The way your sister looked at you is a look I know very well.”

Why familiar?

Liu Chengxu felt that her sister’s gaze towards her was especially similar to how she looked at her sister-in-law.

Liu Chengxu couldn’t carelessly speculate about her good friend’s feelings; she could only conclude that her own mind was impure.

But deep down, she just felt that something was wrong, so she came to talk to her sister-in-law. Since Su Zhiluo definitely wouldn’t understand the ‘orthopedics’ term, she didn’t elaborate.

As April passed, Guangzhou became hot, as if it had gone mad.

Su Zhiluo often couldn’t sleep.

Being at this age, Su Zhiluo naturally wasn’t intentionally abstinent and would have desires that were difficult to suppress. However, when she touched herself, the faces of both Liu Jinhuan and Liu Chengxu would unexpectedly flood into her mind.

Her breathing caught, and her fingertips trembled.

A heavy sense of guilt instantly crushed the body’s restlessness. She didn’t dare to continue, squeezing her legs tightly together and burying the side of her face deep into the pillow.

So she could only continue to suppress it, no longer revealing the slightest bit to herself.

She had wanted to take a shower but then thought of Chang Ruyin, who lived next door, and was afraid of waking her up.

Her heart was both annoyed and depressed.

The rain outside the window was pounding violently, much like her current, restless desires.

Suppressed for too long, but unable to find an outlet.

Liu Chengxu didn’t go over for the May Day holiday, and she didn’t mention it either. She just kept staring at the ticket purchase information, afraid her sister-in-law would forget, but she didn’t want to bring it up. If she did, it would feel like she was asking Su Zhiluo for it.