Bullying The Sister-In-Law - Chapter 6.1

Su Zhiluo’s hands were very warm in the cold winter. Liu Chengxu’s mind was reeling, and she could only manage “mm” and “okay,” completely missing what Su Zhiluo was saying.

“Did you hit your head?” Su Zhiluo noticed her eyes were wandering.

“I’ll be fine after I sit for a bit, it’s nothing.” Worried about being seen through, Liu Chengxu rambled on about random things, which momentarily confused Su Zhiluo, who forgot to withdraw her hand.

Su Zhiluo found a secluded spot and squatted down to check Liu Chengxu’s leg. Liu Chengxu, worried that the injury wasn’t serious, feigned shyness and refused to let her look. Later that night, when she took off her pants, her entire knee was bruised and the skin was scraped.

The pain came belatedly, and Liu Chengxu grinned, wincing.

This semester felt incredibly long for Liu Chengxu; she thought about going home every day.

Other majors had already been on holiday for a week, but they were just starting their exams.

To cope with the finals, Liu Chengxu immersed herself in the library every night, and she started packing her luggage three days before the exams.

As soon as the last exam ended, Liu Chengxu rushed back to the dorm, dragged her suitcase, and made it downstairs in one breath.

Su Zhiluo was standing by the flowerbed. Her black stand-up collar was pulled up to her nose, exposing only her eyes. Just as Liu Chengxu was about to rush out of sight, Su Zhiluo called out to her.

Liu Chengxu turned back, froze, and then pulled out her phone to take a picture of her. At that moment, Su Zhiluo looked very much like a model in one of Zha Baomei’s photographs.

Su Zhiluo wasn’t confident in Liu Chengxu’s skills and didn’t expect the photos to be particularly good. To her surprise, they were quite nice and had a real photographer’s style.

“How are you so good at taking photos? Did you take a course?” Su Zhiluo smoothed down the hair that the wind had messed up and leaned over to take Liu Chengxu’s suitcase. “Send them to me later.”

Liu Chengxu hadn’t taken any courses; she simply liked Su Zhiluo, watched her closely, and could always find her most beautiful angle.

The entire campus was filled with the sound of rolling suitcases. Most people were walking alone, but Liu Chengxu had someone to pick her up. She leaned against Su Zhiluo, saying, “Sister-in-law, let me take it.”

Su Zhiluo didn’t let go: “It’s not heavy. You worked hard on your exams. I’ll make you something to nourish yourself when we get back. You’ve been using your brain too much lately; is your head feeling, okay?”

Liu Chengxu shook her head, overwhelmed by Su Zhiluo’s indulgence.

The returning bus was packed with students. There was only one empty seat when they boarded, which Liu Chengxu gave to Su Zhiluo. The bus swayed, and the suitcase of the female student next to her blocked her feet. With every jolt of the bus, Liu Chengxu had to grip the handrail tightly, or she would crash into the suitcase.

Su Zhiluo patted her lap. Liu Chengxu saw it, hesitated, and wasn’t sure. Su Zhiluo patted her leg again and called out, “Come and sit on my lap.”

The bus stopped just then, entering a brief state of stability. Liu Chengxu squeezed over and carefully sat on Su Zhiluo’s lap. The bus door hissed open, and the carriage started swaying again. Su Zhiluo put her arm around Liu Chengxu’s waist to steady her.

Liu Chengxu slowly tightened her hands, feeling nervous, her heart beating erratically. The bus rocked harder, and Su Zhiluo hugged her waist tighter.

Liu Chengxu lowered her head, secretly delighted. She looked up and met the gaze of the swaying girl opposite her, who instantly read her unspoken crush. Liu Chengxu reined in her smile, not daring to flaunt her feelings.

“All right, Chengxu, we’re here,” Su Zhiluo called out to her.

“So fast?” Liu Chengxu blurted out.

Su Zhiluo let go: “It’s been half an hour.”

Their destination wasn’t the bus station; they got off directly at the subway stop near their apartment building. Liu Chengxu pulled her suitcase and squeezed off the bus. Su Zhiluo got off and took the suitcase from her.

A cold wind blew over, and Liu Chengxu exhaled a puff of white air. Su Zhiluo said, “I forgot to remind you to wear a scarf. Come walk next to me; it’ll be warmer.”

An hour later, they arrived home, both their noses feeling uncomfortable from the cold.

The floor inside was damp and cold, like stepping on frozen iron with bare feet—no better than the outside.

Su Zhiluo said, “That’s how it is living alone. It will be better when you go back home.”

Liu Chengxu loved that sentence and wanted to write it down.

The entire room was filled with the aroma of chicken soup. Liu Chengxu took a deep breath. Su Zhiluo walked into the kitchen, “You’re hungry, aren’t you? Do you want fish soup or fish hotpot tomorrow?”

Liu Chengxu squatted on the floor, unpacking her suitcase. She decided on fish hotpot.

Liu Chengxu first placed the things she had brought for her sister-in-law on the table, then carried her clothes into the bedroom. Su Zhiluo called out, “It might be a bit damp under the bed; put your clothes in my cabinet.”

There was only one small cabinet in the room. Liu Chengxu’s clothes used to be stuffed into the storage box under the bedboard. Liu Chengxu opened the cabinet and glanced at the nightstand, where she saw a dried pink rose in an album.

Liu Chengxu held the album, stood at the door, and called out to Su Zhiluo, “That pink rose…”

“I originally wanted to dry the whole bouquet, but you know how damp it gets in the house in autumn and winter; they wilted quickly. Only that one was saved. I put a packet of dehumidifying powder behind it, or it would have rotted in the past few days, too.”

“Then you knew I bought it?” Liu Chengxu asked.

Su Zhiluo said, “I didn’t think of it at first. But then I thought about it carefully. You earn your own money and you’re generous to me, so it must have been you.”

She added, “The whole house smelled of roses for those few days. I even took a bunch to my workstation, and everyone said it smelled lovely. I really like it, thank you.”

Su Zhiluo placed the clay pot on the table. It was a bit hot, and Su Zhiluo pinched her ear. She had specifically bought a free-range chicken, and without too many complicated seasonings, the stewed meat, combined with mushrooms, tasted wonderful. She also stir-fried a plate of Shanghai bok choy to cut through the richness.

Su Zhiluo first ladled out a bowl of chicken meat, then put a chicken leg in Liu Chengxu’s bowl. “Here you go.”

Liu Chengxu reached out with both hands to take it. Su Zhiluo softly said, “Careful, it’s hot.”

“Mhm, thank you, Sister-in-law.”

Su Zhiluo sat down, looked at the hand holding the bowl, and asked, “Didn’t you use the face cream I bought for you?”

“I did.”

“Then your hands look so rough.”

Her hands were dry and lacked moisture. Liu Chengxu guessed it was from being a waitress, constantly carrying dishes and getting chilled. She hid her hands behind her back, not wanting Su Zhiluo to see them.

After dinner, Su Zhiluo brought over her face cream. She sat cross-legged on the sofa. Liu Chengxu went to the bathroom to soak her hands for a while before coming over. Su Zhiluo rubbed the face cream onto the back of her hands until it melted, and her hands quickly became moisturized.

Liu Chengxu happily sniffed her hands and went to the bedroom. The school dormitory was much better than this cramped little house: a four-person dorm with beds on top and cabinets below, a balcony where the sun could shine in, and air conditioning for the cold nights.

Liu Chengxu threw herself onto the bed and smelled the scent of sunshine. She burrowed in. The underside was warm, and when she tucked her hands in, it felt soft and fluffy like new cotton.