I Don't Want To Fall In Love With The Heroine [Quick Wear] - Chapter 35

Fu Siwan sat silently in the passenger seat.

Bai Qian buckled her seatbelt and was about to start the engine when she noticed her companion’s lack of passenger etiquette. “Seatbelt,” she reminded her softly.

The girl’s beautiful eyes were clouded, as if lost in a thick fog, staring blankly at the road ahead. At the sound of the woman’s voice, she blinked, and the ethereal mist vanished instantly.

“Put your seatbelt on,” Bai Qian repeated with good-natured patience, watching her out of the corner of her eye.

Instead of complying, Fu Siwan turned her head and pressed her lips together, searching Bai Qian’s face.

Bai Qian turned to meet her gaze. “What is it?”

“If you only wanted a temporary toy to play with as you please,” the girl whispered, “tell me now.”

A sharp, sour ache swelled in Bai Qian’s chest. She swallowed it down before speaking. “Fu Siwan, to me, you are simply my little one.”

The girl’s long lashes trembled, and her stiff voice took on a trace of moisture. “If you’re lying to me… I’ll gamble everything I have to make sure I never let you go.”

Bai Qian smiled. “Then you’ll never have that opportunity in this lifetime.”

Without another word, Bai Qian leaned over and buckled the seatbelt for her. “Any more questions? If not, we’re going home.”

The word “home” carried a warmth that made Fu Siwan’s eyes prickle. She turned away, watching the familiar scenery slowly recede through the window. “I’m hungry,” she said, her voice husky. “Take me to eat.”

“Alright.” Bai Qian heard the slight crack in her voice but was tactful enough not to press her.

The thorns on the little rabbit—the ones that never truly belonged to her—were finally losing their sting. All Bai Qian had to do now was pluck them out, one by one, until the day the girl would finally curl into her arms, belly up, asking for a rub.

They had shared their first meal the night before, and Bai Qian had noticed the girl had a bird-like appetite. With that in mind, Bai Qian only ordered a single set meal for them to share.

Even then, the burger—barely the size of a palm—was mostly left untouched.

Fu Siwan finished the last fry dipped in ketchup and took a sip of her remaining soda, standing up with a satisfied air. “I’m full. Let’s go.”

Bai Qian sighed. Quite naturally, she reached for the half-eaten burger on the tray. Under the girl’s astonished gaze, she took a bite without changing expression.

Some people were born with an innate grace; Fu Siwan thought that only the woman before her could make eating common fast food look like a fine dining experience.

Ignoring the picturesque scene of a beauty eating, she asked, “Did you go bankrupt?”

“…” Bai Qian shot her a mock glare, unable to respond with her mouth full.

Taking the hint from that look, the girl’s eyes lingered on the plastic straw—there was a faint, distinct smudge of peach-pink lipstick left by the woman.

“Or,” the girl added, “do you just want a taste of my saliva that badly?”

Bai Qian thanked her lucky stars she had already swallowed her last bite; otherwise, the shock would have sent her choking. She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

“From today on,” she said through gritted teeth, “you are finishing every scrap of food. And don’t you dare make jokes like that again.”

The girl gave a dismissive tch. “Old woman with skin thinner than paper.”

“…”

They had driven a few hundred meters when Fu Siwan suddenly spoke. “I left something at the house. I need to go back for it.”

“You don’t need your old things. I’ll buy you new ones tomorrow.” Bai Qian felt a deep disdain for anything from that “home.”

“No. I have to get it back.”

Seeing the girl’s rare persistence, Bai Qian relented and turned the car around. After waiting a few moments at the gate, Fu Siwan emerged. Her face was cold, and her hands were empty. She slammed the car door with a violence that tasted of suppressed rage.

Bai Qian could feel the girl’s resentment radiating through the air. “So,” she asked tentatively, “what did you go back for?”

Fu Siwan remained silent, shrouded in a low-pressure gloom. Before Bai Qian could remind her, she buckled her seatbelt voluntarily.

Bai Qian didn’t push. She tapped the steering wheel a couple of times unconsciously before pulling away. After five minutes of stifling silence, the girl spoke.

“The rabbit you gave me… she cut it to pieces with scissors. When I went back, all I found was a floor covered in cotton and rags.”

Fu Siwan’s eyes flickered with a flash of agony and internal struggle. “I hate her. I hate that she gave birth to me only to treat me like this. But I can’t hate her… she’s the one who birthed me. Without her, I wouldn’t have grown up at all.”

Plip.

Two tears splashed onto her lap. The girl raised a hand, calmly wiping the moisture from her face. “She told me. You bought me for a million. Without you, I could have worked myself to death and never earned that much for her. From now on, I truly owe her nothing.”

“I don’t know what I can give you,” she continued, her voice hollow. “All I have is this body. You don’t want it now, but if the day comes that you do, just tell me. I’ll be ready—”

The rest of her words were swallowed by the screech of tires as Bai Qian slammed on the brakes.

The cold sternness in Bai Qian’s expression shattered the moment she saw Fu Siwan’s face, which was already streaked with silent tears. She leaned over, pulled by a sharp pang of heartache, and gathered the girl into her arms—the girl who had finally dropped her mask to reveal the raw, bleeding truth underneath.

Bai Qian knew that words of comfort were unnecessary. In the warmth of a simple embrace, language was merely an encumbrance.

Bai Qian finally understood why Xie Chao had been so hesitant earlier.

She could ignore the other “couple” items in the house with a composed mind, but the “wedding bed” in the center of the bedroom—complete with a garish “Double Happiness” quilt and festive dolls—was impossible to overlook.

Faced with Fu Siwan’s questioning gaze, Bai Qian forced a calm expression. “I’ve never lived here. I usually rent it out. The previous tenant must have left in a hurry and forgotten to pack their things.”

Fu Siwan’s lips curled into a smirk, accepting the clumsy excuse.

“When I renovated this place, I didn’t expect a second person to move in,” Bai Qian explained. “Tomorrow, I’ll have someone convert the gym into a second bedroom. Just bear with me here for one night. I’ll go to the supermarket later to buy a new quilt, and we’ll throw this one out.”

Bai Qian leaned over to fold the quilt, but before she could, the girl caught her wrist. With a half-smile, Fu Siwan asked, “Auntie, are you feeling guilty?”

Bai Qian froze. “What?”

“This set doesn’t look cheap. Isn’t it a waste to throw it away before it’s even been used? You wouldn’t even let half a burger go to waste, so why is your conscience so clear when it comes to something more expensive? Or do you really think I’d get the wrong idea over this?”

Bai Qian made a last-ditch effort. “It really was left by the previous tenant. Someone else slept in it—do you really want to use it?”

Fu Siwan didn’t say a word. She just stared at her with a beaming, mischievous smile. That innocent face was suddenly tinged with a streak of cunning.

“…” Bai Qian gave up. “My assistant misunderstood and thought I was bringing a girlfriend home. That’s why he set the room up like this.”

“You could have just told me that, Auntie. Why use such flimsy excuses?” Fu Siwan played the innocent, peppering her speech with ‘Auntie’ at every turn. “Auntie doesn’t even want my body, so I know she wouldn’t fall for me. Don’t worry, I know our age gap is huge. Even if I wanted to date someone, it definitely wouldn’t be you.”

The words felt increasingly strange to Bai Qian, but having already survived the girl’s more terrifying outbursts, she let them blow past her like the wind.

Life with the “little rabbit” officially began.

Bai Qian was busy for the next two days, overseeing the renovations and handling Fu Siwan’s school transfer. She brought up the school issue during dinner on the first night.

“Auntie, are you crazy?” the girl snapped. “I’m a senior in high school, and the new semester started two months ago. You want me to transfer now?”

Bai Qian filtered out the attitude. “Tell me, then—what was your total score rank at the end of last semester?”

Fu Siwan coughed and looked away, pretending to be very busy picking up food with her chopsticks.

“Eight hundred and twenty-six seniors in the whole school, Fu Siwan. You’re quite impressive—ranked exactly eight hundredth.”

The girl’s face flushed red with genuine shame. Seeing the change in her expression, Bai Qian felt a flicker of relief. She’s still capable of feeling embarrassed; she’s not a lost cause.

“With grades like that, a transfer won’t really hurt your standing, will it, little Fu Siwan?”

“Old woman! Stop calling me that! It’s childish!”

Bai Qian countered immediately. “I’ll stop if you stop calling me ‘Auntie’.”

“No way.”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about. I’ll have the new school sorted in the next two days. Once the paperwork is done, you’ll start at Fenglin First High on Monday.”

Fu Siwan looked incredulous. “Fenglin First High? With my grades, they’d actually take me?”

Bai Qian couldn’t resist tapping the girl’s forehead. “Since you know their standards are high, you’d better drop your old attitude. Give it two hundred percent and make every day count, understood?”

“Don’t tap my head! I don’t like people touching me!”

Amused by the girl’s bared-teeth expression, Bai Qian leaned in and pinched her soft cheek. “I bought you for a million. Am I not even allowed to touch you?”

Fu Siwan’s face darkened instantly.

Before Bai Qian could enjoy her small victory, the girl grabbed her hand and guided it, pressing it firmly against her own chest.

“Auntie, if you want to touch me, have the guts to do it for real.” The girl’s eyes narrowed with a look of disdainful mockery. “Don’t tell me you’re going to chicken out again?”

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