I Got Together With My Mom's Nemesis - Chapter 5

“This is your reward for tonight,” Kong Lingyi said, pulling Ran Xi inside.

Ran Xi liked this woman’s approach. But the small part of her mind that hadn’t completely gone told her she was acting terribly.

“Did you eat something bad?” Kong Lingyi frowned, wiping a bit of cream from Ran Xi’s lips with her fingertip and then rubbing the cream between her fingers.

Ran Xi couldn’t help but open her mouth and suck Kong Lingyi’s finger, licking it with the tip of her tongue.

It tasted sweet too.

The woman let out a few scornful chuckles. “Don’t get into the habit of running to me whenever you get into trouble.”

Ran Xi couldn’t hear what she was saying. All she could see were those slightly moving red lips, whispering, Come to me. Find me.

Completely shaken, she leaned forward, even falling to the floor, and looked up at Kong Lingyi with pitiful eyes.

A warm palm cupped her face, and she rubbed her head against it, feeling it wasn’t enough.

Forget the money, she thought. Just help me with this little problem this time.

She couldn’t go out like this, let alone go home.

Now that they were so close, Ran Xi felt utterly lost.

Kong Lingyi tugged Ran Xi away by the ear, pulling her back. Ran Xi winced, her reason slowly returning.

She recognized the perfume’s scent, it was comforting, like a weight added to a cake, making her irresistibly want to taste it, to kiss it.

Kong Lingyi stepped back a few paces. Ran Xi couldn’t stand; she could only stare up at her weakly.

“Stay there. Don’t move,” Kong Lingyi warned from a meter away.

The woman settled onto the sofa, crossing her legs and narrowing her eyes as she studied Ran Xi.

All Ran Xi could see was Kong Lingyi’s relaxed posture and her condescending gaze.

Kneeling on the floor, Ran Xi’s mind and body were completely under her control.

Her fading reason dissolved into a haze. She lunged forward, but Kong Lingyi raised her foot, pressing it against Ran Xi’s shoulder to force her back.

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

The threat in her voice was clear. Ran Xi was terrified by Kong Lingyi’s oppressive aura, yet she couldn’t suppress the reactions surging through her body.

Ran Xi grabbed the woman’s calf, dragging herself forward. As she felt the warmth of her skin, she instinctively hooked her legs around Kong Lingyi’s calf and rubbed against it.

Kong Lingyi’s expression shifted slightly. She kicked Ran Xi away, stood up, and hurried back to the bedroom, returning moments later.

In her hand was an exquisitely packaged black box. She stared coldly down at Ran Xi on the floor.

Ran Xi looked up, her eyes glistening with a tearful blush, like spring blossoms after rain, their delicate petals trembling with dewy tenderness.

She was in genuine pain, utterly miserable, unable to bear looking at Kong Lingyi’s beautiful, captivating face any longer.

With a thud, the box landed on the carpet, its lid flying open to reveal its contents.

Kong Lingyi went to the high table, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and sat back down. “I’m not in the mood to help you,” she said coolly.

Ran Xi’s pride and reason waged a fierce battle within her. Overwhelmed, she couldn’t suppress a soft sob.

If only I’d gone to work at the shop, she thought. I could have earned a hundred yuan instead of being stuck here with Ran Xu’s enemy, dealing with the consequences of accidentally eating something I shouldn’t have, right in front of her.

Kong Lingyi leaned back on the sofa, studying Ran Xi’s dazed, unfocused gaze. Strands of her slightly disheveled hair clung to her sweat-dampened cheeks, framing her face.

She looked pure and pitiful, but her arrogant, self-centered nature didn’t match her pretty face.

Ran Xi gripped the chair leg, sensing the subtle movements around her.

Once her bottom line was crossed, she lost her instinctive self-control.

With her back to Kong Lingyi, she hung her head low, like an awkward ostrich.

Her body trembled, stretching and distorting her sobs, shaking her to the brink of collapse.

“Aren’t you going to look at me?” The woman rose and stepped in front of her, tilting Ran Xi’s chin up to meet her tear-filled eyes. “Maybe you’ll break faster this way.”

The moment their eyes met, Ran Xi crumbled, letting out an uncontrollable scream.

The impact of that face was overwhelming.

A wealthy, beautiful woman, the kind she wanted to rob, and the kind her mother had always clashed with.

A tangle of conflicting emotions plunged her into complete breakdown.

Ran Xi collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, completely oblivious to how pathetic she looked.

The woman didn’t even bother to bend down, standing straight as she gazed down at her. She nudged Ran Xi’s arm with her foot. “Three minutes. I overestimated you.”

The show was over before she’d even had a sip of her tea.

Ran Xi’s ears rang with a buzzing sound, mixed with the static of an old television.

The woman bent down, picked up a toy from the floor, and tossed it into the trash along with its box.

A large wet stain appeared on the carpet. She used her toe to hook Ran Xi’s clothes and tossed them into the trash as well.

Ran Xi lay there, completely naked, trying to calm herself. In her tear-filled eyes, she still saw the woman’s expressionless face, though upon closer inspection, there was a hint of mockery.

Her hands clutched at the carpet, and after the emptiness came a wave of despair.

The tears flowed even more freely now. Ran Xi couldn’t tell if it was shame or embarrassment.

“…Not even a blanket?” Ran Xi covered herself with her arms and scooted under the table, managing to partially conceal her bare legs.

Kong Lingyi glanced at her sideways and walked toward the bathroom. “Come here.”

Ran Xi stumbled to her feet, her legs still weak and aching from the earlier encounter.

The bathtub was empty, making it clear Kong Lingyi had no intention of helping her bathe.

The shower was turned on, and a stream of warm water hit Ran Xi directly in the face.

She ducked her head and retreated to the wall, only to be forced forward again by the icy water.

Kong Lingyi stood before her, rinsing Ran Xi’s face with the showerhead before letting it slide down her body, finally settling on a certain spot. Then she tossed the showerhead to Ran Xi.

The gesture was infuriating, a condescending act of charity from someone who acted like she was above it all.

Ran Xi hated this attitude. Combined with the awkwardness in the living room, her stubborn streak couldn’t be contained.

“I thought you were going to help me yourself.”

Kong Lingyi smirked. “I thought you’d thank me first.”

“Thank you,” Ran Xi said stubbornly, gripping the showerhead tightly, the rushing water masking her nervousness. “But I still thought you’d help me yourself.”

The woman stepped closer, and Ran Xi instinctively recoiled, her back hitting the icy wall again. She trembled but dared not move forward.

Kong Lingyi’s beautiful, jade-ringed hand brushed against Ran Xi’s lower abdomen. Ran Xi bit her lip and gently pushed her away.

“Rejecting me again? Didn’t you want my help?”

Ran Xi swung the showerhead at the woman, letting out a mortified squeal.

Kong Lingyi quickly sidestepped, but a large wet patch had already spread across her chest, water droplets sliding down her nightgown to the hem.

“Too much energy isn’t good for a child,” Kong Lingyi said without anger, her voice flat. After quelling Ran Xi’s defiance, she turned and walked away.

Ran Xi followed her and closed the door. In her last glimpse, she saw the woman’s back as she raised her arm and slipped off her spaghetti-strap nightgown.

Completely naked, the woman’s delicate butterfly bones were clearly visible. A thong was all that remained between her buttocks, swaying provocatively with each step.

As the woman’s fingers hooked onto the edge of the thong, Ran Xi slammed the door shut, unable to watch any longer.

Nearly an hour passed before Ran Xi finally emerged from the bathroom, having steeled herself mentally.

Kong Lingyi had changed into a different nightgown, the same V-neck, long-sleeved one she’d worn a few days earlier.

“Have some hot tea to avoid catching a cold,” the woman said, gesturing to the cup in front of Ran Xi and then to the nightgown on the sofa.

This nightgown looked more like something a younger person would wear, and Ran Xi suspected it was another one of her niece’s.

“Can I stay here tonight?” Ran Xi asked, a smile quickly fading into a serious expression.

“As you wish. I have many things to do tomorrow, so you can leave on your own afterward,” Kong Lingyi said, rubbing her temples, her face showing fatigue.

Ran Xi licked her lips, suddenly finding the woman surprisingly easy to talk to.

Ran Xi quickly changed into her pajamas and pulled up a chair to the high table.

The second cup of tea tasted much better than the first. As she thought back to the past few days, she couldn’t even remember what the tea had tasted like that day.

Since Kong Lingyi didn’t speak first, Ran Xi just stared at her.

Noticing a strand of Kong Lingyi’s hair had fallen into her teacup, Ran Xi smiled apologetically and pointed. “…Your hair.”

Kong Lingyi glanced down, curled her lips, and flicked her long hair back.

Their eyes met, but Ran Xi was the first to look away.

Kong Lingyi’s lips curved into a smile, showing a rare interest in Ran Xi’s affairs. “What were you doing out so late?”

Ran Xi was too embarrassed to answer.

“You didn’t buy that cake, did you?” Kong Lingyi asked. “Have you made some questionable friends?”

Ran Xi lowered her head even further.

“Being pretty isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes it’s not exactly a good thing either.”

Ran Xi twisted her fingers together. “I found it by the trash can at Building Seven.”

For once, Kong Lingyi was speechless, staring at her for a long moment without saying a word.

“Songsong is just like you, always spending money recklessly.”

Was this supposed to be comforting? You spend money without thinking, so you’re poor enough to scavenge for food.

Ran Xi felt insulted.

Kong Lingyi seemed to take Ran Xu’s scolding and beatings as mere jokes.

Some mothers only scolded their children when they were in a bad mood, but when they were in a good mood, they’d transfer money without a second thought.

Ran Xu, on the other hand, would scold Ran Xi when she was in a bad mood, and when she was in a good mood, she simply couldn’t be bothered with her.

“For lunch today, I had meatball soup and instant noodles made by the granny next door. For dinner, I had oden for ten yuan and ate half a cake I found near the trash can.”

Ran Xi didn’t know why she was telling Kong Lingyi all this.

It was as if, after Kong Lingyi had seen her naked and exposed during that shameful moment, everything else seemed trivial, and she could say anything without hesitation.

“Do you often eat such irregular meals? And these junk…” The woman paused, then rephrased, “…things kids eat?”

“I know it’s junk food,” Ran Xi said. “When I was little, instant noodles felt like a luxury. Now, it’s all I can afford.”

Kong Lingyi didn’t press further. The slight evasiveness in Ran Xi’s eyes told her that any more questions would expose her embarrassment.

Piercing a child’s pride just for gossip was a deeply hurtful thing to do.

“Would you say we’re friends now?”

Ran Xi looked up in surprise, the pain from the torn hangnail making her gasp.

Ran Xi thought for a moment and replied, “Of course we’re friends. Seeing someone twice makes them a friend.”

Except for those times when I was a child, she added silently. Back then, I was just Ran Xu’s daughter, not Ran Xi as a person.

“So, what can I give my friend?” Kong Lingyi coaxed her to speak up.

She won’t offer anything herself. She’s waiting for me to ask, so she can condescend to give it to me.

Ran Xi bit her lip. “I want your phone number.”

“You know, friends aren’t tools for solving your problems,” Kong Lingyi said, seeing through her.

“I… I’ll change your contact name to ‘Mom’ and let Ran Xu see it,” Ran Xi blurted out, making up a story. “You’d like that, right?”

The woman chuckled with satisfaction, stood up, and retrieved her wallet from her purse. She pulled out all the hundred-yuan bills inside.

She nodded toward the stack of money. “Count it.”

Ran Xi counted exactly two thousand yuan.

She pushed the money back. “I can only take this after my mom sees it and gets angry.”

Kong Lingyi hummed a dismissive tune. “No, this is your reward for tonight.”

She pushed the stack of money toward Ran Xi again. “I was very pleased with your performance just now.”

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