Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 31

Liu Chengxu refused to speak, and Meng Zhengyue didn’t force her. She took a step forward, lightly patted her shoulder, and asked, “Is it about a relationship?”

Liu Chengxu clenched her jaw and managed a strained smile. “I’m just… stressed.”

Meng Zhengyue patted her shoulder. “Just cry if you want to. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask further.”

Liu Chengxu’s smile was pitiful.

That’s not it.

You misunderstood.

I can’t cry.

“Your sister-in-law is very worried about you. Do you want to call her back?”

Liu Chengxu tried to force a bitter smile, but the tears hovering in her eyes instantly broke and streamed down.

The more intense the family affection given by Su Zhiluo, the more it highlighted the paleness of their love. That gap couldn’t be filled, and the rift in her heart was tearing wider and wider.

Liu Chengxu tried to adjust herself, as she had before: Su Zhiluo would give her a little sweetness, and she would continue to love her; if Su Zhiluo didn’t love her enough, she would accumulate it little by little, fill up the wishing bottle, and one day they would become lovers.

But that unequal love was torturing her to death.

Approaching graduation, the busyness of the internship interwove with the fear of the future, compounded by the pressure of the thesis defense, leaving her breathless.

Under high pressure, her heart seemed temporarily numb. This time, she didn’t foolishly wait when Su Zhiluo didn’t reply to her messages, nor did she cling to her like a dog.

In mid-May, the weather in Guangzhou was already muggy. Su Zhiluo was in the workshop, overseeing the aunties rushing to complete the new styles, when her phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from the landlord, notifying them to get ready; if the procedures went smoothly, they would have to move out next month.

Chang Ruyin came over and asked her what was wrong. Su Zhiluo shook her head, said she was fine, and didn’t mention the landlord’s message to her.

After finishing the day’s work, Su Zhiluo returned to her room.

Su Zhiluo knew clearly that this home was her delusion. Her shop had just started, and they didn’t have that much money. If she were willful and bought the house, she would first be letting Chang Ruyin down, and if any problems arose later, all their initial efforts would be wasted.

That sense of exhaustion weighed heavily on her.

Tears dropped onto the screen. She carefully wiped them away, leaving her fingers damp.

Should people not carry memories as they move forward?

In fact, if you looked closely, you would see she said she “wanted to buy,” not “I’m going to buy.”

She was being rational from the start.

She licked away the tears that reached her lips.

She had forgotten that tears were salty after a few days of good living.

Su Zhiluo couldn’t bring herself to risk all her capital and go all in.

She had died once before. After being rescued, she knew that life had to move forward.

She replied to the landlord: Got it. I’ll start packing this month.

Landlord: Don’t be sad.

People are emotional creatures. Su Zhiluo had lived here for eight years, and the landlord remembered that another girl had come to view the apartment initially. The girl was delicate and refined, very polite, clearly a highly educated person, and had even asked if the house would ever be for sale.

The landlady smiled and replied that it was only for rent, not sale—it was a memory for her and her husband.

Later, hearing that the girl had died in a car accident, the landlady was sad for a long time. She had once felt that the girl didn’t belong in their poor, ordinary neighborhood, but she hadn’t expected that the other person originally didn’t belong to this world.

Su Zhiluo bought a plane ticket to North City.

The boundless sea of clouds swept past her eyes. The initial wonder faded, leaving only exhaustion. She began to consider which things in the house she could take, and which she wanted to take. Things belonging to her, to Liu Jinhuan, and to Liu Chengxu.

Su Zhiluo was in repeated pain amidst the plane’s turbulence. She wanted to buy it, but then thought: Why? People must look forward. Everyone must live. What use is buying a dead memory? To move myself?

The landlady was bringing someone to view the apartment, so she had to go pack things up in advance, making sure her and Liu Chengxu’s relationship wasn’t obvious.

Upon landing, Su Zhiluo turned off airplane mode and immediately received a message: The two people you asked me to keep an eye on recently submitted their resignations. They’ve also been bragging to people that their daughter is graduating from A University.

Su Zhiluo’s heart plummeted.

A bad feeling uncontrollably surfaced.

After returning from Foshan last time, Su Zhiluo had spent some money to find people in the same factory to monitor Liu Chengxu’s parents, fearing they would cause trouble.

The reason those two had been hiding all these years wasn’t because they didn’t want Liu Chengxu; it was because they planned to come back and suck Liu Chengxu dry the moment she graduated from college.

A sudden wave of nausea surged up her throat. Su Zhiluo quickly pulled out a sick bag and leaned against the cold wall, barely managing to stand steady.

Fearing dizziness, Su Zhiluo took the subway back.

When she arrived home and pushed open the door, the apartment was tidy, without a hint of mold from the winter. She saw moisture-proof bags and mouse traps in the house. She had just started a simple tidying up when the landlord and a real estate agent arrived with prospective buyers.

The landlord was also stunned when she entered the room; it was neat and clean.

The buyers were a couple with an accent in their Mandarin. They were buying the house for their child; they couldn’t afford the better areas, so they were trying to secure a spot nearby. They were using all their savings.

Liu Chengxu had kept the home spotless. The buyer was initially hesitant, but seeing the cleanliness, he suddenly felt the tens of square meters were worth the price.

The man buying the house happened to be a carpenter and planned to turn Liu Chengxu’s wooden plank bed into a desk. He also said he would tear down the awards on the wall and re-paper it with math formulas.

In that moment, Su Zhiluo almost blurted out, “Don’t sell it, I’ll buy it.”

She bit her lip hard, retreated to the hallway, and turned her back. A sharp pang of sorrow welled up in her heart.

Chengxu, are you willing to completely cut off this whole part of your life?

The landlady brought Su Zhiluo some fruit and thanked her.

Su Zhiluo managed a stiff smile, saying it was nothing.

The landlady said that if the buyers signed the contract, they would be notified to move out next month. This family said they liked the things inside and could buy them at a second-hand price if they weren’t wanted.

Su Zhiluo listened numbly.

“Sister Zhiluo.”

Su Zhiluo looked up. It was Mingming. Mingming had grown much taller than before; she was now in junior high.

The landlady put down the fruit and left. Su Zhiluo was about to go fetch a gift box for her when Mingming said, “Oh, right, Sister Zhiluo, we might be going back to our hometown soon.”

“Why?”

Mingming explained, “My parents pay social security in Guangzhou. With the current policy, I can’t take the college entrance exam here. I have to go back to my place of domicile. My parents are worried I won’t be able to keep up or adapt to the college entrance exam style there, so they told me to transfer back first. I can get into a good high school there. I’ll try to get back here for college!”

Su Zhiluo felt a pang of sadness. She asked, “Is your grandma going back too?”

“My eldest aunt had a baby, and my grandma needs to go help take care of it. I’m going back to stay with my grandpa. My grandma already left today to help.”

Su Zhiluo saw her holding a scallion pancake and said, “I’ll make dinner later. Come over and eat.”

“Are you back for good?” Mingming asked.

Su Zhiluo invited her in, took out the ingredients from the fridge, and prepared Claypot Rice for her, a dish she had learned in Guangzhou.

At the end of the month, Liu Chengxu’s school held its graduation ceremony. Attendance wasn’t mandatory for everyone; some people were already away on internships and simply had their academic advisor mail their diplomas to them.

Liu Chengxu didn’t want to attend, but Cha Baomei felt it was an unmissable life opportunity, especially since the three of them might soon scatter across the country.

Liu Chengxu hadn’t told them that she hadn’t contacted Su Zhiluo for two months.

They put on their academic gowns and attended the ceremony. Cha Baomei held her camera and rushed to get a good spot.

After the graduation ceremony, the graduates went to the comprehensive sports arena, where the school leaders would individually turn the tassel and confer the degree.

Liu Chengxu looked back and saw Su Zhiluo.

In that moment, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

She had told Su Zhiluo long ago that she planned to have Cha Baomei and Meng Zhengyue help her secure guest tickets, and she had also hinted that Su Zhiluo should come to watch.

The leaves on both sides of the path gently rustled, and the wind blew a refreshing floral scent. Liu Chengxu was uncontrollably moved by her presence, and her feet instinctively wanted to take a step toward her.

She suppressed her emotions and asked, “Are you here to look at the house, or to see me?”

The simplest answer was “to see her”—it was the easiest point-scoring question.

Su Zhiluo answered honestly, “About the house, the landlord said…”

Liu Chengxu was completely struck by the disappointment. She said, “Couldn’t it just be for me?”

She had actually looked at the price the house was listed for, and it wasn’t the “suitable price” that Su Zhiluo had mentioned.

She took a deep breath, constantly reminding herself to be satisfied and not so greedy, but she couldn’t help it.

“Okay, I understand. I know what I am now. I’m just my sister’s relic, except my relic is very different, right? I mean, unlike those inanimate objects that you can keep in your pocket and hate to throw away, or set as your screensaver, or take with you everywhere you go, I’m a living person, and you can just ignore me.”

“That’s enough.” Su Zhiluo’s eyes were red. She said, “Can’t I come to see you? Don’t I want you to be happy and witness your most important moment? I wanted to buy that house, but did I say I wouldn’t buy a new house later?”

“What about love?”

Liu Chengxu wiped away her tears. “Su Zhiluo, I’m talking about love—the kind of love you have for me. Can you give me a fresh start, a new love, with me?”

Liu Chengxu knew better than anyone that she had no right to stop Su Zhiluo. The money was earned by Su Zhiluo, and even she was raised by Su Zhiluo. Su Zhiluo had the right to control and use it.

She was just unwilling. She was unwilling to just be her sister’s sister anymore. Just an unwanted relic.

“Why do I want a new house? Don’t you know? Is it because I can’t handle hardship? It’s because I feel like you don’t love me. I can feel it, that’s why I need it.”

Su Zhiluo couldn’t answer her and instinctively wanted to refute. She stammered, “I’m not…”

“Su Zhiluo, I know clearly. No matter how hard I try, it’ll be like this.” Liu Chengxu was incoherent. “That is, no matter how many years pass, even when I’m old… you still won’t love me very much.”

Su Zhiluo knew she couldn’t continue the conversation, or it would lead to mutual destruction. She said, “I’m going back first.”

She lowered her head and wiped her tears with her hand.

When she looked up again, Liu Chengxu gripped her neck and pressed a kiss onto her.

This kiss was completely different from before. It was no longer a tentative taste, but pure possession. She gnawed at Su Zhiluo’s lips with an invasive force, trying to steal all her oxygen.

Su Zhiluo felt suffocated. She had never experienced such a rough kiss before; this was almost a forcible robbery and occupation.

She pushed the other person away hard, her eyes wide as she glared at Liu Chengxu.

Liu Chengxu bit her lip, afraid that Su Zhiluo would get so angry she would abandon her completely.

She endured the soreness and softly coaxed Su Zhiluo, “What are you afraid of? Do you think anyone seeing us would immediately recognize that you are my sister-in-law? They’ll only think we’re some kind of feuding couple.”

People passed by, and many looked at them. Su Zhiluo’s sense of shame surged. She retreated, turned her head, and walked away. Liu Chengxu didn’t chase her. She turned and walked towards the gymnasium.

Before long, she looked back and saw Su Zhiluo walking back. She was wiping her tears and holding a bouquet of flowers in her arms. The two of them maintained a distance that was neither too far nor too close.

The sun was strong that day, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open.

Liu Chengxu stood beside the principal, bending slightly as the principal turned her tassel. In that moment, she was radiant and dazzling, receiving applause from the entire venue.

Su Zhiluo sat on a chair, holding the flowers, watching the ceremony. The glare was too intense. She silently clenched the bouquet in her hands. She couldn’t look directly, yet she couldn’t bear to turn her head away.