Helping My Ex-Wife Find Love Every Day - Chapter 44

Considering the previous two “fights,” Yao Xiang Yi clearly recognized her own shortcoming—poor physical stamina.

Learning from past mistakes, she changed her strategy and adopted a policy of appeasement.

The club head, coated with water, brought a unique, solid chill when it touched her cheek, making her shiver.

She dodged back an inch.

The club head closed in an inch toward her.

She dodged again.

The club head closed in again.

Water streamed down her smooth, flowing facial contours, slipping past her jaw, down her neck, and into her slightly open collar.

This scene was ambiguous and misty, full of sexual tension… if, of course, the atmosphere wasn’t so tense.

Yao Xiang Yi raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. Her long, bamboo-like fingers trembled almost imperceptibly.

“Darling, let’s talk this out calmly. Put the weapon down first.”

Qiu Qing Shi was not an unreasonable person; in all matters, she adhered to facts and logic. She brushed back her long hair, revealing her smooth forehead and clear eyes.

She asked, “Do you know what your mistake was?”

Yao Xiang Yi straightened her posture and replied, “I shouldn’t have lied.”

Qiu Qing Shi closed her eyelids, tightening her grip on the golf club. Veins faintly surfaced on her wrist, and she raised her voice: “Wrong!”

Qiu Qing Shi, mindful of the sentiment that a wife for one night is kind for a hundred days, decided to give her one more chance: “Answer again.”

Yao Xiang Yi felt overwhelmed. Besides lying, what else did I do?

Time was pressing. She had no leisure to think of anything else, so she quickly reviewed their conversation tonight, repeatedly pondered Qiu Qing Shi’s question, aiming to extract the key information and identify the main intent.

Anyone who has been in love understands that a girlfriend’s thought process is always bizarre, and with a woman’s mind being as deep as the bottom of the sea, the difficulty level was elevated.

Even as a woman herself, she could not fathom Qiu Qing Shi’s complex thoughts.

She hesitantly attempted: “I shouldn’t have made you wait for me in the office all afternoon…”

Qiu Qing Shi’s eyes darkened, like black clouds pressing down on a city about to be destroyed.

Yao Xiang Yi immediately slammed the brakes: “No, no, no, no, that’s not it!”

She changed her answer: “I shouldn’t have lied to you because of Bai Meng Zhao.”

“Wrong!”

A flash of inspiration struck Yao Xiang Yi: “I shouldn’t have gone to see Bai Meng Zhao behind your back!”

“Correct answer.”

Yao Xiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Unfortunately, you have used up your chances,” Qiu Qing Shi pronounced her death sentence.

The bathroom was inexplicably cold, like an ice cellar. There was not a single stray sound, and the silence bordered on heavy.

Yao Xiang Yi dared not breathe loudly.

The club head on her face slowly moved down, stopping at her fiercely pounding chest. She uncontrollably recalled the bloody scene in a certain movie where a fox spirit cut out a heart.

In a moment of urgency, she said, “Darling, no matter when or where, you mustn’t lose the composure of Haishi’s most distinguished socialite!”

Qiu Qing Shi paused, as expected.

She is doomed to be burdened by this false reputation her whole life!

She gave a self-mocking laugh, lamenting, “That’s right. How many wealthy families were fighting to have me as their daughter-in-law back then, yet I was blinded by love and married you!”

Yao Xiang Yi saw her distracted by sorrow, reached out, and held her claw-like hands gripping the club. In the instant their skin touched, their body temperatures transferred to each other.

“Darling, marrying you was my great blessing.”

“But you didn’t cherish it!”

“How did I not cherish it?” Yao Xiang Yi countered.

She turned sideways, bypassing the golf club, and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Though she changed her posture, her hand was still clasped around Qiu Qing Shi’s.

She could feel the stiffness in those hands and gently massaged them. Her movements were incredibly tender, almost a caress. Qiu Qing Shi’s five fingers tingled, and her limbs couldn’t help but relax.

Yao Xiang Yi glanced at her, secretly delighted that her mood had softened.

She possessed this special ability: if she wanted to, she could master the power dynamic and the rhythm of the situation in just a few sentences.

Crossing her left leg over her right knee, she flipped Qiu Qing Shi’s palm over and imprinted a kiss upon it: “Touch your conscience and tell me, when have I not followed your wishes?”

The golf club subsequently fell onto the wet floor.

Clang! The sound was slightly jarring.

Qiu Qing Shi withdrew her hands, clutching them to her chest, and muttered, “You didn’t comply with me about joining the reality show.”

Yao Xiang Yi wouldn’t be led around by her nose. She leaned in, pulling her into her embrace. She didn’t mind that her clothes were soaked a great deal, and her arms tightened, securing her in a firm grip.

Qiu Qing Shi’s anger hadn’t subsided, and she pushed her: “Let go.”

Yao Xiang Yi forcefully pinched her chin, compelling her to look up.

Qiu Qing Shi pinched her waist: “I hate you!”

Yao Xiang Yi lowered her head and kissed her.

Qiu Qing Shi refused to let her succeed and shook her head from side to side. Yao Xiang Yi pursued relentlessly, her other hand caressing the back of Qiu Qing Shi’s neck with considerable force, making evasion impossible.

This was the proper behavior of a CEO.

“You…” Qiu Qing Shi tried to bite her tongue, but when her teeth caught the tip of the tongue, she just couldn’t bring herself to be cruel.

She hated herself for being so weak.

After much hesitation, the kiss ended.

Qiu Qing Shi splashed water on Yao Xiang Yi, annoyed: “Forcing a kiss is shameless!”

Yao Xiang Yi raised her arm to block the water, licking her sweet lips, the upturned corners of her eyes shimmering with the satisfaction of getting what she wanted.

Qiu Qing Shi watched all this, the shame of losing both the wife and the army occupying every pore of her skin: “Yao Xiang Yi, I solemnly declare that your sex life for the next year is gone!”

Bai Meng Zhao had no appetite for dinner tonight. Her roommate, seeing that she had also skipped lunch and looked absent-minded, worried about her and asked a few questions.

Bai Meng Zhao was lying stiffly on the top bunk, staring blankly at the gray-white ceiling, and said perfunctorily, “I’m fine, just tired recently.”

The roommate had heard about her encounter at Zhi Xue Building that morning. She wanted to comfort her, but was afraid of hurting her again. After much deliberation, she decided against it, greeted her, and went to the cafeteria.

The door opened and closed, and there was no other sound in the dorm.

Bai Meng Zhao turned over and felt for the leaf Yao Xiang Yi had given her under her pillow.

Having left the branch, it had lost its nutrients and support, as if a layer of color had faded, looking dull and lackluster.

However, Bai Meng Zhao’s eyes became vivid and spirited at that moment; the events of the day suddenly felt like a dream.

Yao Xiang Yi turned out to be the older sister she had met once in childhood.

This was too unreal.

She often thought of Yao Xiang Yi, thinking of that midsummer, the old locust tree at the orphanage, and the white dress Yao Xiang Yi had worn.

She longed for a second meeting with her.

But she was adopted shortly after that and her adoptive parents would occasionally take her back to the orphanage to visit each month. The children there were all temporary guests, just like her, destined for a short stay.

Perhaps because the footsteps of temporary guests were too hurried, people and things she liked often didn’t stay, and because of this, she never saw Yao Xiang Yi again.

After many twists and turns and years passing, she unexpectedly reunited with Yao Xiang Yi during the most difficult time in her life.

Fate, simply marvelous.

Destiny, wonderfully inexplicable.

She couldn’t calm down for a long time, allowing her emotions to surge like a fierce torrent.

She climbed down the ladder, pulled open the zipper of the backpack hanging on the wardrobe door, and found Yao Xiang Yi’s business card in the inner layer.

She entered the phone number into her mobile phone and saved the contact.

She composed a text message and sent it.

Qiu Qing Shi was still soaking in the bathtub. Yao Xiang Yi was afraid she would catch a cold, so she replaced the water with a fresh batch of hot water. Like a good wife and loving mother, she rolled up her sleeves and reached in to test the water temperature.

Good, just right.

Yao Xiang Yi straightened up to take off her clothes.

Qiu Qing Shi asked, surprised, “What are you doing?”

“As you can see, my clothes are wet.”

“Take them off outside!”

“After taking them off, I’m going to take a bath, too.” Yao Xiang Yi did a few chest expansions, her voice carrying the fatigue of the day.

Qiu Qing Shi saw through her little trick and irritably repeated, “My word stands: you will not have a sex life for one year.”

Yao Xiang Yi said happily, “Then won’t you be punishing yourself!”

Qiu Qing Shi: “…………”

Qiu Qing Shi: I don’t want to be a socialite anymore. I want to teach Yao Xiang Yi a lesson.

Yao Xiang Yi took off her jacket, rummaged through her pockets, found a silk scarf and a handkerchief, and only then felt secure enough to toss her jacket into the wicker laundry basket.

Her phone beeped.

She received an unfamiliar text message.

Yao Xiang Yi frowned slightly, bringing her brows together, and tapped to view it.

[CEO Yao, thank you for rushing over to help me out during your busy day, and thank you for the surprise you sent me. Today is the happiest day of my twenty years.]

The message was signed, Bai Meng Zhao.

Qiu Qing Shi asked casually, “Who is it?”

Yao Xiang Yi reflexively said, “A client.”

The words reached her lips, and she stopped.

She had just angered Qiu Qing Shi by lying and had spent a great deal of effort to soothe her. She absolutely could not repeat the mistake.

Qiu Qing Shi had X-ray vision and clearly saw her thousandth-of-a-second hesitation. She even played it back in slow motion ten times, infinitely magnifying every slight tremor of her eyelashes.

Qiu Qing Shi’s gaze was deep: “Who?”

A wise man doesn’t suffer the consequences of immediate conflict. Yao Xiang Yi negotiated: “Promise not to get angry if I tell you.”

“Mmm, I promise not to be angry.”

“Bai Meng Zhao.”

Qiu Qing Shi glared at her: “You gave her your contact information behind my back!”

Yao Xiang Yi then patiently narrated the story of the gangster with the slicked-back hair coming to school to harass Bai Meng Zhao.

“Once a hooligan latches on, he’s hard to shake off. If something bad were to truly happen to a good girl, our consciences wouldn’t be clear, right? She has my phone number so she can contact me if anything happens. I should at least help her.”

The words were crude but made sense, and Qiu Qing Shi began to relent.

Yao Xiang Yi followed up: “Her agency has no morals and won’t stand up for her. The child is quite pitiful.”

Many people who frequent the entertainment industry are accustomed to being snobbish and judging people based on their status. Qiu Qing Shi debuted at the age of sixteen. She was young then and lacked fame, enduring a lot of bullying from seniors, and even had the bizarre experience of being temporarily replaced in a cast after arriving on set.

She sighed at the beastly hearts in the world.

Having experienced it, she empathized and accepted Yao Xiang Yi’s explanation.

“Then let me see the text message.”

Yao Xiang Yi’s emotions showed plainly on her face, her expression management quite inadequate. Her eyebrow twitched: “She just sent some words of thanks to me.”

“If that’s the case, let me see it then.” Qiu Qing Shi was persistent.

Having reached this point, not letting Qiu Qing Shi see it would indeed seem suspicious. Yao Xiang Yi was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It wasn’t that she was unwilling, but the text message from Bai Meng Zhao was somewhat ambiguous. If Qiu Qing Shi probed further, she would have to disclose the story of meeting Bai Meng Zhao in her childhood.

This would simply create more animosity toward Bai Meng Zhao.

How could the two of them have a loving and sweet interaction in the reality show later? The sweetness value would suffer a huge loss.

“Hurry up.” Qiu Qing Shi’s patience was exhausted.

Yao Xiang Yi thought to herself, If it’s a blessing, it cannot be avoided. If it’s a curse, it can’t be dodged. She slapped the phone into Qiu Qing Shi’s hand: “There, look.”

Qiu Qing Shi’s gaze fell upon the screen.

A nameless fire suddenly erupted: “You even prepared a surprise for her!?”

Yao Xiang Yi begged her to calm down, stepped out to drink a glass of warm water to soothe her throat, and returned to recount the one-time meeting with Bai Meng Zhao in her childhood.

After listening, Qiu Qing Shi completely lost her composure. She slapped the water surface, causing water to splash, and accused Yao Xiang Yi: “This is the real reason you are protecting her everywhere, isn’t it!”

“You’re wronging me.” Yao Xiang Yi was full of helplessness.

“Hmph!”

Yao Xiang Yi said solemnly, “Darling, I only see her as a sister.”

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Another sentence added to the Scumbag CEO’s Quotes.

Qiu Qing Shi gave her a thumbs-up.

Bai ‘Sister’ Meng Zhao sent a second text message.

[I have missed you very much over the years.]

Incredulity flickered across Qiu Qing Shi’s expression.

She was utterly enraged!

Splash! She lifted a rolling pin from the water!

“Grandma, where did you even get these things from!”