Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 5.1

Liu Chengxu replied: You’re not coming back during the winter break either?

Su Zhiluo: That’s fine. You can return during the winter break.

Su Zhiluo’s refusal to let her return must be to avoid suspicion, afraid they might run into each other again, but… is Su Zhiluo’s desire that intense?

Liu Chengxu replied: Okay.

Su Zhiluo: I’ll come to see you.

Back in the dorm, Liu Chengxu wasn’t sleepy. She flipped through her phone and opened a newly created folder, which contained all the files she’d transferred from Su Zhiluo’s old phone the last time.

Liu Chengxu tapped a video. Due to the pixel quality, the image was blurry. First, she heard her sister’s voice, “Zhiluo, don’t be shy, come here.”

Eighteen-year-old Su Zhiluo sat on the edge of the bed, looking a bit awkward. Liu Jinhuan’s phone moved closer. Su Zhiluo hid from the camera, tucking the lower half of her face into a soft scarf, revealing only a pair of moist, perplexed eyes. Her fair skin, reflected by the scarf’s red color, made her look shy and charming.

“Are you done?” Su Zhiluo asked her.

“Almost.”

Dong dong dong.

A bouquet of roses appeared in the frame, and Su Zhiluo’s eyes lit up.

“Do you like them? They’re for you,” Liu Jinhuan said. “Our first-week anniversary.”

Su Zhiluo held the flowers and lowered her head to smell them. “We celebrate the first week, too?”

“…Every week I’m with you is worth celebrating.” Liu Jinhuan smiled and sat beside her. Then, she lifted the phone, and both of them appeared in the frame.

The twenty-three-year-old sister was in her prime, having inherited her parents’ superior looks, with open brows, an elegant bone structure, and a naturally bright and composed demeanor. Liu Jinhuan gently draped her hand over Su Zhiluo’s shoulder, her voice gentle yet certain: “Su Zhiluo, this will be our home from now on.”

Su Zhiluo’s eyes slowly became moist, but she was stubborn with her words. “Who has a home after dating for one week?”

Her sister turned her head and gently touched her forehead to Su Zhiluo’s. “Su Zhiluo, didn’t you want a home? I’ll give it to you.”

Su Zhiluo was silent for a long time, then nodded. “Thank you.”

The gentle Su Zhiluo of today was once willful and could be coaxed. Her sister doted on her, stroking her cheek with long, slender fingers, causing a shy blush to appear on her face.

Liu Chengxu placed her own finger on the screen, pressing over her sister’s finger, as if she were the one caressing Su Zhiluo. Then her sister’s lips came down and pressed against Su Zhiluo’s cheek…

Liu Chengxu held the phone and closed her eyes, her heart aching and stifled, as if she was choked and about to explode. She couldn’t tell if it was jealousy or sorrow.

She grieved her sister’s death and also grieved that she had become an outsider, unable to walk into Su Zhiluo’s heart.

Liu Chengxu hid under the covers, watching Su Zhiluo and her sister’s kiss repeatedly. Her sister had recorded it beautifully; there was a visible, understandable longing in Su Zhiluo’s eyes. That shy gaze, aimed at the camera, was also aimed at Liu Chengxu. In the darkness, she covered the phone, and a desperate desire ignited in her heart and on her lips. She imagined herself as her sister, with Su Zhiluo climbing onto her shoulder and actively kissing her. She and her sister-in-law were kissing deeply. The thought made her feverish and short of breath. She wanted to do more than her sister—everything her sister hadn’t done or couldn’t do, she would learn…

Liu Chengxu’s body changed, a faint, tiny throbbing that brought a feeling of moisture. Peeking at her sister and sister-in-law was a painful thing, yet it unexpectedly aroused a strange desire. How perverse…

Her heart twisted with a dull ache. She thought that if she could go back in time, she would definitely make her sister leave one hour later, ensuring she stayed alive.

But… what about Liu Chengxu herself?

Would she still fall in love with Su Zhiluo?

Liu Chengxu couldn’t say.

She had no confidence in her own moral boundaries, because she also loved her sister-in-law and wanted to possess her.

What she thought about during the day, she dreamed about at night.

In the dream, she went back to the past, desperately trying to stop her sister from going to the Bureau of Civil Affairs. She cried and made a scene, and her sister, in her softness, finally rescheduled the trip for the next day. Consequently, the accident never happened, and her sister lived.

In the icy snow, her sister tightly held Su Zhiluo’s hand to get their marriage certificate. Su Zhiluo looked at her sister; her eyes sparkled, and her whole person was illuminated by light. Only Liu Chengxu was curled up on the ground in pain, unable to move.

Su Zhiluo half-squatted and reached out a hand to her. Just as she strained with all her might to take Su Zhiluo’s hand, her sister returned.

In the end, she painfully woke up from the dream.

There were no holidays after October, so when Liu Chengxu was free, she and Meng Zhengyue would go to their part-time job together.

Service industry jobs have the most trouble, and they encountered customers who caused problems every day. Especially drunk men, who couldn’t control themselves and loved to make a drunken fuss.

Liu Chengxu had just served two rounds of dishes when she was cornered by a table of people. The man leading the group forcefully grabbed her, demanding she fetch a few chairs.

The restaurant was full, so there were no extra chairs. Moreover, Liu Chengxu was only a server, and this wasn’t her job. She kindly explained, but the man held her shoulder. “I said, we few people need to sit together! Is it that hard to get a chair? Doesn’t your place keep extra chairs?”

Liu Chengxu couldn’t communicate with him and tried to leave, but he held her tightly. “Damn it, you won’t even talk! What kind of service attitude is this? Call your manager!”

Meng Zhengyue quickly rushed over to stand in front of Liu Chengxu. “Sir, there are surveillance cameras here. Please don’t use your hands, and be polite.”

The mention of physical contact greatly agitated the man, and he yelled even louder, “Oh, oh, you’re trying to bully people now, huh!”

When Meng Zhengyue came over, people started to criticize the man, who then backed down, gritted his teeth, and sat back down, glaring fiercely at Liu Chengxu. “You just wait.”

The manager heard the commotion and told Liu Chengxu to leave. The man was clearly drunk and spoiling for a fight, so the manager went to find two chairs.

Afterward, Liu Chengxu deliberately avoided them. The man drank half a bottle more, then seized an opportunity to corner her again, falsely claiming that Liu Chengxu had brushed against him.

“Did you get the chairs I asked for? And now you’re coming to retaliate against me? You’re so malicious!”

Liu Chengxu resisted the urge to curse back. She broke free and hurried to the back kitchen, pulled out her phone, and sent a voice message to Su Zhiluo, calling out “Sister-in-law.”

A crying sound escaped, and she immediately retracted the message.

Su Zhiluo replied quickly: What’s wrong?

Liu Chengxu felt deeply wronged, but worried Su Zhiluo would find out, she replied: [Nothing.]

During her break, Meng Zhengyue came over and patted her shoulder. “If it’s too much, let’s find another place.”

“I’m fine,” Liu Chengxu rubbed her face and continued working. “I’m used to it.”

During lunch, Su Zhiluo sent her a few texts and called her in a voice chat, all asking what was wrong.

Su Zhiluo: I’m downstairs at your restaurant.

Liu Chengxu immediately rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window. Su Zhiluo was downstairs, her hair blowing in the wind. She was looking up towards Liu Chengxu’s location. Their eyes met, and Su Zhiluo waved, signaling her to come down.

Liu Chengxu sneaked downstairs and asked, “Sister-in-law, why are you here?”

Su Zhiluo had a shift that evening but felt something was wrong when she received the message, so she took leave and rushed over. Su Zhiluo walked up to her and asked, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Liu Chengxu sniffled, her aching eyes turning red.

Su Zhiluo asked her, “Were you wronged?”

Liu Chengxu’s cheeks felt hot, as if all her grievances were boiling up, making her eyes sting. She lowered her head and pressed it against Su Zhiluo’s shoulder, saying, “Someone was drunk and deliberately causing trouble today.”

Su Zhiluo patted her shoulder, saying, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

In her distress, Liu Chengxu told her everything that had happened that day. In the moment of the scuffle, Liu Chengxu hadn’t remembered, but the man had actually flirted with her before.

When her mood improved, Su Zhiluo pulled her hand and led her back up, her voice cold. “I want to see who it is.”

“Never mind, I’m okay.”