Can't Possibly Fall for My Wife Again After Rebirth, Right? - Chapter 76

Since Yao Jin had slipped away so quickly, Xu Yingran had no other reservations. She grabbed Fu Qiao’s hand and led her through several twists and turns until they ducked into a deserted, narrow alleyway.

Having grown up playing in the Old Street, the two of them knew exactly where every path led.

“Xu Yingran…”

Fu Qiao was dragged along until they finally stopped in a dim corner.

“Are you a mouse or something? Why do you always like bringing me into these dark, dingy little alleys?” Fu Qiao stared at the person in front of her. Seeing Xu Yingran’s dark expression, her heart skipped a beat, and she averted her gaze, refusing to look her in the eye.

“Why are you so good to that He Qiao?” Xu Yingran asked, clutching Fu Qiao’s hand. “Is it like this at school too?”

Fu Qiao shot her a glance and gave a muffled huff. “Even if it is, so what? It’s none of your business.”

Xu Yingran didn’t say anything.

Fu Qiao continued, “We aren’t even at the same school anymore. What’s wrong with me making a friend or two? What right do you have to interrogate me?”

Xu Yingran remained silent.

Fu Qiao looked down at their joined hands and said gloomily, “Didn’t you say back then that you wanted to find a curvy, hot beauty? Now that I’m not by your side, I haven’t seen you making any moves. You like ‘hot beauties,’ and I like people with He Qiao’s personality. Is there a problem with that?”

Xu Yingran still didn’t utter a word.

Fu Qiao felt something was wrong. Given Xu Yingran’s personality, she should have talked back after such a long speech, but why was she so quiet?

When Fu Qiao lifted her head, she was startled by the expression on Xu Yingran’s face.

Xu Yingran’s lips were pressed tight, and her eyes, usually clear and bright, were swimming with tears. As Fu Qiao looked up, Xu Yingran blinked, and a “little gold bean” (tear) fell silently.

Fu Qiao: “…Hey, I only said a few words. You don’t have to cry, do you?”

Xu Yingran’s “worthless” tears began to fall rapidly. She wiped her eyes with one hand while her other hand held Fu Qiao’s grip tightly. “Waaaaah…”

Startled by the crying, Fu Qiao hurriedly stepped forward to comfort her. “What are you crying for all of a sudden?”

Xu Yingran sobbed, “Waaaah… You went to a new school and started being nice to someone else. You glared at me 17 times today, rolled your eyes 6 times, and only smiled at me twice this morning… waaaaah…”

Fu Qiao frowned. “You’re crying over that? Xu Yingran, you’re 18, not 8. Even an 8-year-old is in second grade; little kids don’t even cry that hard.”

“Waaaah… second graders don’t have a wife…”

“…What kind of nonsense are you talking?”

Fu Qiao fished a tissue from her pocket—one of the two she’d grabbed from the wonton shop. It was just enough to wipe the tears from the “cheap” Xu Yingran.

“Alright, alright.” Fu Qiao tilted her head slightly to help wipe Xu Yingran’s tears, though she said with mock disgust, “Who’s your wife? Stop calling me that randomly, okay?”

“Waaaah… Wifey…”

Forget it. As long as it stopped this idiot from crying, she could call her whatever she wanted.

Fu Qiao wiped the tears from Xu Yingran’s face and let out a helpless sigh, explaining, “Qiaoqiao was feeling down today because she did poorly on an exam and got scolded by her mother. I thought it would be lively with us here, so I brought her along to cheer her up. I wasn’t intentionally ignoring you.”

Xu Yingran stared at Fu Qiao with red eyes and sniffled. “Really?”

“Of course it’s true.” Fu Qiao looked at her, amused. “What benefit would I get from lying to you?”

Lying to Xu Yingran wouldn’t get her anything except the chore of wiping away more tears. What would be the point?

Upon hearing this, Xu Yingran’s mood improved significantly. She reached out, circled Fu Qiao’s waist, and pulled her close. “But you rolled your eyes so many times today, and you didn’t smile at me. You even gave the meat burger I specially ordered with 5 dollars of extra meat to someone else. Fu Qiao, your heart is so cruel…”

Seeing Xu Yingran’s aggrieved look, Fu Qiao wanted to laugh and be angry at the same time. She felt Xu Yingran was a magical person; she herself had been unhappy, but once this person cried a bit and dropped a few tears, all her own anger vanished.

With them so close, Fu Qiao could see Xu Yingran’s bloodshot eyes and the tears clinging to her long lashes, making her face look flushed and vivid.

“I think your heart is smaller than the eye of a needle,” Fu Qiao teased. “Crying like this over something as small as a sesame seed. If we go out now, Jin will definitely make fun of you.”

“She wouldn’t dare…”

Xu Yingran was feeling much better. Holding Fu Qiao by the waist, she wanted to do something else.

“Fu Qiao, I want to kiss you,” Xu Yingran whispered, leaning her forehead against Fu Qiao’s.

Fu Qiao’s face turned bright red. She tried to pull away, but Xu Yingran’s grip was firm, refusing to let her run.

“You!” Fu Qiao blushed. “You ask me but won’t let me refuse, so why do you even ask?”

“I have to ask,” Xu Yingran said, breaking into a smile. She leaned in and captured Fu Qiao’s lips. “What if you got angry again?”

The moment Xu Yingran kissed her, Fu Qiao closed her eyes. She didn’t even know how many times they had kissed now; the awkwardness of the first few times was gone, replaced by a sense of “practice makes perfect.”

Xu Yingran’s arm stayed around Fu Qiao’s waist while her other hand cupped her jaw, tilting her head up slightly to allow for a deeper kiss.

“Mmph…”

Their tongues tangled. Fu Qiao was kissed until her head spun. She proactively reached up to hook her arms around Xu Yingran’s shoulders. As they staggered back a few steps, Xu Yingran pinned her against the wall.

No one usually came through this dim alley. The concrete wall was a bit hard against her back, but the more they kissed, the more Fu Qiao felt something was wrong—it felt as if a fire was burning in her lower abdomen.

“Xu… Xu Yingran…”

Fu Qiao’s face was completely flushed. Kissed into disorientation, she clutched the other girl’s jacket, her throat feeling dry and parched.

Xu Yingran’s face was also red, but her mind was much clearer than Fu Qiao’s. Looking down at her “wife,” whose lips were swollen from her biting, she really wanted to do something “adult.”

Her hand slipped under Fu Qiao’s short down jacket. Fu Qiao shuddered instantly, her whole body trembling as she closed her eyes.

“Nnh… don’t touch randomly…”

Fu Qiao struggled slightly, only to be pinned against the wall and kissed again. This time, hearing Fu Qiao’s whimpering sobs, Xu Yingran held her even tighter.

Aside from her lips, Xu Yingran paid attention to her earlobes, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, and her neck. If they weren’t wearing such thick clothes and if it weren’t so cold outside, Xu Yingran would have wanted to kiss even more private places…

Fu Qiao gripped Xu Yingran’s shoulders, drained of all strength by the attention. With a soft whimper, her legs went weak, and she nearly slumped to the ground. Xu Yingran was quick, catching her and pulling her into her arms.

Knowing Fu Qiao was someone who valued cleanliness, Xu Yingran knew she would be angry if she sat directly on the ground. So, she held her against the wall and leaned down to kiss Fu Qiao’s pink earlobe.

Fu Qiao seemed dazed. She hadn’t expected to do something so “outrageous” with Xu Yingran in a dark alley. She stared blankly at Xu Yingran, her lips slightly parted.

Xu Yingran let out a soft chuckle and leaned in to kiss her again. Fu Qiao seemed to have given up entirely; she leaned limply against Xu Yingran, tiredly returning the kiss.

After Xu Yingran had cleaned her hand, she took Fu Qiao’s hand and said, “Let’s head out first.”

Fu Qiao straightened her clothes, shot her a shy, awkward look, and followed Xu Yingran out in silence.

Yao Jin had wandered around outside for a while, buying a large pile of snacks. When she saw the two emerge, she walked over and asked with a smile, “Have you two made up?”

Fu Qiao, blushing, hid behind Xu Yingran and said in a muffled voice, “I want to go home.”

“Why go back so early?” Xu Yingran was in high spirits. Holding Fu Qiao’s hand, she said to Yao Jin, “Come to my place for a bit. It’s not like we have anything to do this afternoon.”

Yao Jin was “cracking” sunflower seeds. She looked at their expressions and at Fu Qiao’s swollen lips, having a vague idea of what they had just been doing.

Ridiculous. Though Yao Jin was a “third wheel,” she wasn’t fond of being one. Even an idiot would know to have the vision to bow out and give the two of them some private time.

“I have class this afternoon,” Yao Jin said, stuffing the sunflower seeds, peanuts, and dried fruit she’d bought into Xu Yingran’s arms. “The roasted goods from that shop are really good. Consider these my treat for the two of you. Thanks for the wontons today.”

Yao Jin waved and vanished in an instant. Xu Yingran looked at the snacks in her arms, then at Fu Qiao. “Come back with me then. My mom hasn’t seen you in a long time; she was just nagging the other day about missing you.”

Fu Qiao wanted to refuse, but Xu Yingran didn’t let her leave. She practically dragged her home, and Fu Qiao ended up staying for dinner.

Days passed one by one, and soon it was time for the monthly exams.

Xu Yingran’s scores were decent—at least she had returned to her previous state. Her results weren’t exceptionally high or low, but enough to barely make it into a Tier 2 university.

Yao Jin, as usual, ranked among the top. However, lately, she had developed some “maidenly troubles.” She was often found propping up her head and staring into space, her mind clearly elsewhere.

“…Jin!”

Xu Yingran called her several times before she finally snapped out of it. Yao Jin shot her a look of disgust. “Why are you shouting? I’m not deaf.”

“If you keep spacing out like that, you won’t be far from deaf,” Xu Yingran said, sitting in the empty seat next to her. “What’s on your mind? Are things not going well with the ‘older sister’?”

Ever since learning Yao Jin was interested in Xie Qing, Xu Yingran used “older sister” as a code name. Yao Jin had essentially accepted it; she used to bristle at it, but now she didn’t seem to care.

Older sister… The title wasn’t wrong, after all.

“Aren’t my parents coming back from abroad soon?” Yao Jin propped her head up with a troubled face. “Once they’re back, she’s going to leave.”

“I see…” Xu Yingran thought for a moment and said, “You two lived together for so long. Was there really no chance to advance the relationship? Doesn’t she pick you up and drop you off every day?”

Yao Jin said with a bitter face, “She does, and I see her every day, but the relationship doesn’t seem to have progressed at all…”

She turned to look at Xu Yingran. “Tell me… do you think she doesn’t like girls?”

Xu Yingran blinked. “Since you want to know, why don’t you just ask her directly?”