I Helped My Best Friend with Her Romance—and Fell for the Enemy’s Strategist - Chapter 73

Fu Yanxi took out a set of unworn but pre-washed underwear from her wardrobe.

Lin Ruocheng was showering in the bathroom attached to her room.

The shirt had already been taken inside.

After tidying the clothes and placing them on the bed, she surveyed her spacious room.

It comprised three sections.

One served as a computer room, while another was a simple guest room.

Sometimes, when she had late-night voice recording sessions, she would end up falling asleep here.

She never chose to go back.

Because she disliked the atmosphere waiting for her at home.

Since childhood, her life had been meticulously scheduled.

Every hour dictated what she should do.

She wasn’t allowed to have overly intimate interactions with peers of the same gender.

Even when Yu Qiuli came over to play as a child, it required her mother’s approval.

It felt as if her mother wished to implant a tracking device on her.

Every outing was met with thorough interrogation.

A loving family nurtures a homebound bird, while a loveless one breeds a free-flying one.

She knew her mother was also a victim.

She had no right to blame a mother who had been deceived.

Her mother cared deeply about appearances.

From a young age, she was pressured to excel academically. If her grades slipped, her mother would use her father, a gay man who had entered a fraudulent marriage as a comparison, saying she was just as hopeless as him.

She struggled with depression, but seeing Lin Ruocheng always seemed to lift her spirits.

More than once, she had envied Lin Ruocheng’s family.

Back in middle school, no matter how busy they were, Lin Ruocheng’s two mothers would always pick her up.

Even during parent-teacher meetings.

Regardless of her grades, Lin Ruocheng would receive hugs and kisses from her mothers.

Meanwhile, she felt like a sewer rat, secretly peeking at the standards of a happy family.

Her mother had to support the family and raise her alone.

It was exhausting, and her mother was strict, all to ensure she wouldn’t repeat past mistakes.

Many people remarked that her personality was aloof.

She seemed indifferent to everything.

Cold and detached, as if nothing concerned her.

Even in the face of major events, her expression remained placid.

In truth, it was classic emotional apathy.

Yet many saw it as a virtue, praising her for her emotional stability.

Only when facing Lin Ruocheng.

Would her emotions ever show any fluctuation.

One reason she liked Lin Ruocheng was because she had grown fond of her family’s atmosphere.

If she were a child in the Lin family, wouldn’t she be happy too?

She had wondered this countless times in her heart.

Every time she saw Lin Ruocheng joking around with her mother and younger sister, that sense of ease and fearless boldness was something she could never experience. It felt as if, no matter what, someone would always have her back, allowing her to do whatever she wanted.

Without having to consider the consequences.

Even the way Lin Ruocheng would call her mother in public to act coy.

Made her feel intensely embarrassed.

Along with a tinge of envy and jealousy.

After all, in her own conversations with her mother, hardly any sentence exceeded ten words.

They rarely even exchanged texts or calls.

Unless it was something urgent, their interactions were even more distant than with strangers.

“Fu Yanxi, do you have a bath towel? Which towel can I use?”

Lin Ruocheng’s voice sounded muffled.

The sound of the shower in the bathroom had stopped, and Fu Yanxi heard her.

Snapping back to reality, she quickly fetched a brand-new white bath towel from the drawer.

“You can use the blue one over there, and the bath towel, I’ve placed it on the rack outside the bathroom. Just grab it yourself.”

“Xiao Xixi, I can’t reach it right now. Could you bring it in for me? I can’t exactly walk out stark naked, can I? How embarrassing would that be? Right? What do you think? Of course, if you don’t mind, I could just walk out like this…”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Fu Yanxi heard the sound of the doorknob turning.

She hurriedly clutched the towel in her arms and shoved it haphazardly into the other person’s embrace.

With her eyes closed, her fingertips accidentally brushed against a certain spot.

Hearing the other person’s unrestrained laughter, Fu Yanxi wished she could vanish into a crack in the floor right then and there.

She quickly shut the door, her face flushed beyond recognition.

Oh no, it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to sleep again tonight.

The other person’s laughter was still crystal clear in her ears.

The more she heard it, the more embarrassed she felt.

Especially since she had just declared that she wouldn’t do anything to her and would respect all her wishes.

But now she had done something like this.

It made her earlier words feel somewhat insincere.

She glanced at her left hand, the culprit of the incident, and lightly slapped it a few times with her other hand as a form of punishment.

How could she do such a thing?

For some reason, she cautiously brought her fingertips close to her nose and gently sniffed the lingering scent.

When she realized what she was doing, she felt as though her actions were a bit… perverted.

“Xiao Xixi, I’m done showering. You can go ahead now.”

“Mm.”

As Fu Yanxi passed by Lin Ruocheng, she seemed to recall her own inappropriate actions, and her face flushed even more intensely.

Her footsteps quickened noticeably.

A smile played on Lin Ruocheng’s lips. Who would have thought Fu Yanxi could be so innocent?

She had assumed she was more experienced.

After all, aside from her, no one else could maintain such a serious demeanor while driving outside.

So adorable.

After tidying up a bit, Lin Ruocheng slipped into her bed.

The bedding was filled with a cool, refreshing fragrance, mingled with the scent of jasmine.

It was the aroma of her shower gel.

Even her own body now carried the same scent.

It was intense, and she loved it.

She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, letting the fragrance envelop her for a while longer.

If she stayed like this long enough, her entire body would carry her scent, wasn’t that a form of possessiveness in itself?

She took out the hairdryer in advance and placed it nearby.

Though drying hair might seem like a trivial, everyday task, it could also be considered quite intimate.

Not everyone got to see CV Xiao Xi right after her shower, soft and gentle, completely different from her usual sharp-edged self.

Like a little kitten retracting its claws, utterly harmless.

When she was young, her mother would always comb and dry her hair for her.

She would sit quietly without fussing until her hair was dry, and then she’d receive a kiss as a reward.

Even though she and her younger sister were fraternal twins, their mothers never showed the slightest favoritism.

Everything was bought in identical pairs.

Even snacks were carefully matched in portion, size, and flavor.

Even when they were mischievous, the punishment was meted out with equal severity.

It was absolute fairness in every sense.

…

By the time Fu Yanxi finished her shower, it was almost one in the morning.

Lin Ruocheng was yawning, her eyes half-closed, but she wanted to wait for Fu Yanxi.

So, she forced herself to stay awake.

She beckoned to her and said, “Come here, let me dry your hair for you, okay?”

Fu Yanxi watched the little hamster yawning repeatedly and tenderly ruffled its head.

Seeing her eyes glistening with moisture, she couldn’t resist leaning down to gently press her lips against hers, taking it as a small advance on what was to come.

She had thought Lin Ruocheng was already asleep.

There was no need to leave a light on for her.

She could have gone to sleep first; she never wanted to cause anyone any trouble.

Even if that person was Lin Ruocheng.

It still wouldn’t do.