Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 4

Liu Chengxu was hearing this sound for the first time, coming from her sister-in-law’s throat, from her body. She froze on the spot.

The room was dark. Su Zhiluo’s legs were bent, her knees pointed toward the ceiling. She held her head up, her thin lips tightly pursed.

Her slender fingers stirred the spring water of the night.

Su Zhiluo’s joined legs were long and fair.

Liu Chengxu had once touched them when helping her apply medicine. At that time, with no other thoughts, it was a pure act of assistance. Her sister-in-law’s calves were smooth and soft, like holding a piece of warm, moist jade, which she held onto reluctantly.

Now, that section of skin was slightly taut; even her toes were nervously curled, flushed with a faint pink. Liu Chengxu averted her gaze, her ears drawn in by the sound…

Her beautiful thin lips slightly parted, Su Zhiluo softly uttered: “Jinhuan…”

Liu Chengxu could have looked away, but she didn’t manage to in time, and so, the accidental encounter turned into a knowing act of voyeurism.

Su Zhiluo’s movements were light, her humming intermittent, like a spider’s silk that could scatter in the wind at any moment. Liu Chengxu had never seen her sister-in-law like this, shedding all pretense of composure, vulnerable enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Liu Chengxu had moved in at the age of 14, and Su Zhiluo was only 20 then. Even if she had such desires, she would never have shown them to her sister-in-law.

Su Zhiluo knew where this desire came from. After drinking with some people from her team last time, that mesmerizing dream felt like prying open Pandora’s box. She was always self-conscious and had resisted touching herself.

But recently, Liu Chengxu had returned. Liu Chengxu always brushed against her body inadvertently, and those eyebrows and eyes, so similar to her loved ones, kept appearing before her. The sensation crept up her body, and she couldn’t control it.

She held her arm close, moaning softly, her upper body breaking out in a thin sweat. It was a painful yet joyful moment. The more she tried to recall Liu Jinhuan, the more her mind was filled with Liu Chengxu’s image.

The two sisters were too similar.

Like a bottomless pit.

The thought made her feel profoundly depleted, yearning to be full.

She longed for her lover’s fingers to touch her.

She had only inserted a short finger-length, not much at all.

“…Jinhuan, I miss you.” Su Zhiluo called her deceased wife’s name again, trying to dispel the outline of Liu Chengxu in her mind.

“Mmm…”

She couldn’t think this way… it felt like she was doing something with her younger sister.

The low, muffled voice carried a tremble, and a hint of wet saltiness in Liu Chengxu’s ears.

Did she cry?

Su Zhiluo stopped, resting her hand on the edge of the bed, her fingers wet. She let out a heavy sigh, and her bent legs slowly dropped.

Su Zhiluo’s fingers picked up the fallen strap. The curve of her pale back was like a shaft of moonlight, dazzling Liu Chengxu and leaving her immobile.

Liu Chengxu dared not look, unable to handle it. She took a few steps back. She was still young. Su Zhiluo had just finished hooking up the strap when she heard a clattering sound. Her hand movements ceased, and she retracted that finger-length. “Who?”

Liu Chengxu’s leg had struck the corner of a table. She was about to leave, but when she lifted her leg, a piercing pain shot through it, and she couldn’t help but let out a painful “Hiss.”

Su Zhiluo heard the sound and was startled. “Chengxu?”

“Yes, Sister-in-law.”

Su Zhiluo trembled all over, the residual numbness crawling up from her damp core. She stared intently at the door panel, her heart pounding with panic.

Liu Chengxu semi-squatted, panting from the pain in her leg. The person in the room didn’t relax her guard. Su Zhiluo frowned, turning her head to look at the nearby cabinet, wanting to grab a tissue to wipe her hand, but there was only a cup of water on the table. She quickly grabbed the small garment next to her, quickly pulled it up and fastened it around her waist.

It was all a flurry of panic. The unspent heat was burning her entire body. Su Zhiluo put her foot down and reached for the lamp nearby.

The moment the light in the room came on, it stung both their eyes.

Su Zhiluo stood at the doorway. Her eyes fell on Liu Chengxu, who was frowning and clutching her leg. Then she saw Liu Chengxu’s flushed ears. Su Zhiluo dared not dwell on it. She held her breath and asked, “Why are you back?”

Su Zhiluo was wearing a thin nightgown. She hadn’t had time to cover up completely. The protruding point was visible, a faint pink showing through the thin fabric.

Before Liu Chengxu could answer, Su Zhiluo spotted the flowers beside Liu Chengxu’s leg and asked, “Who sent you those?”

“I…”

Su Zhiluo helped her to a chair, then went to pick up the bouquet of pink roses. Su Zhiluo didn’t think Liu Chengxu would have bought them herself, as Liu Chengxu was too thrifty. Liu Chengxu felt uncomfortable hearing this.

Rubbing her leg, she asked, “Why do you ask that?”

Su Zhiluo said, “Didn’t you always bring home bouquets on Valentine’s Day before?”

Liu Chengxu was tall, 173 cm, and her personality was aloof, making her seem like a high-mountain flower. Many students pursued her. Since she moved into the small, shabby apartment and grew up, the items she received on Valentine’s Day and Christmas never stopped.

She seemed unable to refuse people. She would bring back whatever anyone gave her. Su Zhiluo was initially curious and watched her for a day or two. After seeing that she wasn’t dating, she didn’t ask further.

Liu Chengxu pursed her lips, unable to explain. She accepted them because she wanted to bring them back to Su Zhiluo. The first time, someone had cornered her and forced them into her hands. She brought them back and hadn’t had time to throw them away when she saw Su Zhiluo, wearing a black slip dress, putting the roses into a vase. That image was stunning to her. Later, when others gave her flowers and she couldn’t refuse, she would bring them back for Su Zhiluo.

Liu Chengxu bit her lip hard. Su Zhiluo asked worriedly, “Does it still hurt?”

“Much better,” Liu Chengxu replied. Her unbound hair fell down, obscuring half her face.

Su Zhiluo said softly, “Your eyes are all red.”

Su Zhiluo’s slender fingers gently massaged the bruise on her leg. Her eyelashes were lowered, the skin beneath her eyes still faintly pink. She kneaded the painful spot seriously, and the sensation of pain beneath the bruise intensified. Liu Chengxu curled her toes. It didn’t alleviate the pain; it only made it more unbearable.

Liu Chengxu asked with a shaky voice, “Why haven’t you slept yet?”

Su Zhiluo hadn’t cleaned up, and her hair was messy.

Her gaze fell on Su Zhiluo’s long fingers again. On closer inspection, her fingers were clean, but when she squeezed her calf, they seemed to have a layer of moisture. Her sister-in-law was rubbing her with the fingers that had stirred the “spring water.” Liu Chengxu wanted to place her own fingers over them.

Su Zhiluo concealed it well. After rubbing her a few times, she withdrew her hand and went to pick up the flowers nearby, presenting her back and buttocks to Liu Chengxu.

“Should I put the flowers in a vase, or leave them like this?”

“There’s floral foam underneath.”

Su Zhiluo carried the flowers into the bedroom. Liu Chengxu followed her in, walking with a limp.

Su Zhiluo said, “Aren’t you going to shower?”

“I am.”

Liu Chengxu was in the bathroom. She paused, waiting quietly for a moment. Then the sound of water started in the kitchen. Su Zhiluo was vigorously scrubbing her fingers in the kitchen, letting out a sigh in the process.

Liu Chengxu couldn’t find a hair tie, so she used one of Su Zhiluo’s claw clips to tie up her hair. As the hot water rinsed over her shoulders, that image reappeared before her eyes: her sister-in-law’s damp eyelashes and tense foot arch.

It rained that night.

The sound grew denser, rattling the window ledge.

The cardboard boxes piled on the balcony were almost touching the window sill, soaked with deep brown water stains.

Liu Chengxu lay down beside her sister-in-law.

Both were kept awake by the sound of the rain outside. After a while, Su Zhiluo turned over, pulling away some of the blanket. In the middle of the night, Liu Chengxu was cold. She turned on her side and put her hand on Su Zhiluo’s waist to pull the blanket back.

Su Zhiluo didn’t say anything. That area of her body still felt numb. She had only just tasted a bit of sweetness, and it hadn’t fully subsided.

The sense of hunger was still rampant.

Liu Chengxu was severely thirsty. She hadn’t drunk any water running back, and her throat felt like it was on fire. But compared to the physical thirst, the fire in her heart was the truly searing one.

Su Zhiluo beside her was also sleepless.

The unmasked embarrassment enveloped her.

Around four or five o’clock, Liu Chengxu sat up and drank some water. Gulp, gulp, she drank urgently. Su Zhiluo got out of bed, finding the sound uncomfortable to her ears, and left the bedroom first.

By this time, everyone in the tenement building was awake, busy with their small businesses, and the noise followed suit. Su Zhiluo turned on the light to make breakfast, cracked two eggs into a bowl, and stirred the egg liquid with chopsticks, a faint headache throbbing.

It was cold in autumn, and the first fog had set in. Liu Chengxu had to rush to school early.

Su Zhiluo walked her out but didn’t follow her into the subway passage. As Liu Chengxu stood on the escalator, Su Zhiluo quickly became a blurry silhouette in her line of sight. The fog blew over, and her eyes grew moist.

It took Liu Chengxu several days to recover after returning to school, and she was absent-minded all the time.

After that rain, the weather grew colder, and white frost started to form.

At school, she mostly ate with Meng Zhengyue. Cha Baomei had club activities, so she would wolf down her food and leave with her camera.

Meng Zhengyue keenly noticed that she was out of sorts these days and asked her, “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange lately.”

Liu Chengxu couldn’t swallow her food. She put a piece of tofu in her mouth, unable to taste anything. She asked, “Meng Zhengyue, if you fall for someone you feel you shouldn’t love, what would you do?”

Meng Zhengyue asked, “For example, what kind of ‘shouldn’t love’?”

Liu Chengxu bit her chopsticks, thinking how to answer, “Your friend’s girlfriend.”

“Hmm…” Meng Zhengyue frowned, saying confusedly, “That’s strange. Liking a friend’s girlfriend—can you even like them? It feels like incest.”

“Incest?” This word made her feel guilty.

Meng Zhengyue nodded, “I don’t know about others. I can’t like a friend’s partner. I prefer a normal relationship. Which friend’s girlfriend have you fallen for?”

Meng Zhengyue observed her carefully. Liu Chengxu usually only socialized closely with her and Cha Baomei. A few days ago, she had met a couple, Xue Qiuri and Shi He. She couldn’t possibly like Xue Qiuri, could she?

Liu Chengxu didn’t know what Meng Zhengyue was guessing. The word “incest” pierced her heart, and her desire to confide instantly vanished. She poked at the dishes in her bowl, still having no appetite. “It’s not me. I was just talking nonsense.”

Meng Zhengyue wasn’t entirely convinced and asked, “Did they break up?”

“…Not exactly broke up.”

“Well… you need to control yourself.” Meng Zhengyue was worried about hurting her. “I’m just putting myself and Baomei in the situation; personally, I can’t like her partner.”

Liu Chengxu’s mood did not improve.

After the two of them finished eating, they walked toward the dormitory. She looked down and scrolled through her phone. Su Zhiluo hadn’t sent her a message. She wanted to message Su Zhiluo but didn’t know what to say.

Su Zhiluo was the one who did that thing, but she was the one who felt awkward and didn’t know what to do.

Occasionally, a possibility would flash through her mind: What if she had pushed the door open and walked in back then? What would Su Zhiluo have done?

Hastily clean herself up, then forbid her from sleeping together, and put up a curtain between their beds, forbidding her from crossing the line?

Liu Chengxu naturally didn’t like such a barrier and could only pretend not to know.

What if she were willing to help Su Zhiluo?

Would she accept?

The two of them didn’t resume chatting until the third day. During this time, Liu Chengxu kept scrolling through the chat history, waiting for Su Zhiluo to contact her.

Su Zhiluo’s message was simple: Been busy for three days. The temperature dropped, wear more clothes.

With just a few short sentences, she explained why she hadn’t contacted her. Liu Chengxu felt a pang of sadness and almost cried. She replied: Sister-in-law, don’t overwork yourself. I’m wearing clothes; you should wear more, too.

She knew she shouldn’t add more, but couldn’t help herself: I miss you a little.

Su Zhiluo replied: You silly girl.

Liu Chengxu: Can I come home this weekend? I’ll take the subway back after work.

This time, Su Zhiluo was slow to reply. Three minutes later, she responded: Chengxu, running back and forth is too tiring. Don’t come back on Saturday and Sunday. Just stay at school.