Rose Lock - Chapter 54

Right upon returning to Fenghai, Xiaoxiao immediately pulled her hand, “Sister Manyi, it’s bad, Sister Fang’s ‘thing’ came, it hurts so much she can’t perform. She asked me to hurry and ask if you could substitute for her on stage. I’ve been looking for you for ages and only just found out you went out with Mom Gong!”

Hua Manyi glanced at the time. There was still an hour, so no need to rush. “Xiaoxiao, don’t worry. I’ll cover for her. Tell Sister Fang to rest well. I’ll go get ready now.”

The lead singer rotation at the Fenghai Dance Hall was arranged the week before, with a day or two off. When it was Fang Yu’s turn, it coincided with the other lead singers’ days off. They were all out and couldn’t rush back right away, leaving Hua Manyi as the earliest to return.

Xiaoxiao sighed in relief and turned to Fang Yu’s room to inform her.

Hua Manyi didn’t delay either, heading straight upstairs to do her makeup and change. But when she got back to her room, she found the person she had been ignoring sitting skillfully on her sofa, reading a newspaper on the coffee table. The front page featured the news of Song Shichang becoming the biggest opium magnate in Haicheng, looking spirited in a grey Zhongshan suit. It seemed he had resolved the Steven incident without making any headlines.

“Mom Gong… don’t you have anything else to attend to?” Hua Manyi opened her wardrobe, picked out an apricot-pink cheongsam, and was about to change. Noticing Mom Gong was still there, she suddenly stopped.

“No. Why? Do you not welcome me in your room?” Gong Yan looked up from the newspaper, her gaze first falling on Hua Manyi’s delicate face. Noticing her hand resting on the chest button, hesitant to move, her eyes slowly swept over the full curve, and her red lips parted, “Change if you want to change. I won’t look at you.”

Hua Manyi: “That’s not what I mean…”

Gong Yan: “Back then, when you came to my room to bathe, you just stripped off your clothes. I didn’t see you being shy.”

Hua Manyi: “…”

Today is different from the past, how can they be compared? Hua Manyi muttered to herself. Back then, she was just a girl and didn’t have these extra thoughts, but now… especially with those dreams lately.

After a while, Hua Manyi thought it over and finally chose to change clothes as she usually did, taking off her clothes in front of the wardrobe, but turning her back.

A rustling sound came. The woman crossed her legs, and a pair of smooth legs appeared at the edge of the newspaper, and further up was her graceful figure.

Gong Yan still maintained the posture of reading the newspaper, closed her eyes briefly, and opened them again, her thoughts complicated.

Hua Manyi finished changing, walked to the dressing table to reapply her makeup, and struggled to find suitable earrings when selecting them at the end.

“Choose this one.” A hand reached out over her shoulder, landed on her jewelry box, and took out a pair of palace-style teardrop earrings. Hua Manyi was stunned. Before she could react, a soft warmth pressed against her from behind. Her sensitive earlobe was touched. Hua Manyi looked up at the mirror. In the mirror, Mom Gong was standing behind her, lowering her head to pin the pair of earrings on her.

Hua Manyi felt a little awkward and wanted to take them, “Mom Gong, maybe I can do it myself…”

“Don’t move.” However, the woman frowned and refused her, pinning the right ear, and then the left.

Gong Yan looked at the woman’s half-flushed earlobes, raised an eyebrow, and the corner of her lips slightly curved.

“All done.”

Hua Manyi woke up as if from a dream, “Ah, done? Let me see.”

Pretending to check in the mirror, she secretly glanced at Mom Gong, who was standing behind her with her arms crossed, in the mirror. Their eyes met.

Hua Manyi was reminded of those dreams again. After stopping her fantasies, the scene of Mom Gong defending her in the perfume shop today resurfaced…

What is going on these past few days?!

She was briefly startled, quickly avoided eye contact, shook her head, and somewhat miserably got up and walked towards the door, “Mom Gong, I’m heading down now!”

A faint “Mhm” came from behind.

It was the sound Mom Gong made in those dreams, a sound like when she was completely immersed and kissed by Hua Manyi.

Hua Manyi stumbled, inwardly cursing that this was truly unsettling!

On the stage, the lights flickered softly, accompanied by gentle drum beats and an organ.

“I love the vastness of this night And I love the nightingale’s song I love even more the flower-like dream Embracing the Evening Primrose …”

Hua Manyi held the golden microphone, having just finished a passionate segment. She opened her eyes and saw Mom Gong sitting in the center of the dance floor.

That woman was unlike the other guests; just sitting there was enough to draw attention. Her back leaned against the chair back, one hand holding a cigarette, the chair pulled far back to accommodate her crossed long legs.

Her phoenix eyes were deep, her nose straight, and her lips thin. Hua Manyi heard old folks say that people with thin lips are generally cold-hearted, but apart from firing a Zhu Zhaodi when she first arrived, she hadn’t seen Mom Gong heavily exploit her employees. In fact, the benefits were better than those of outside jobs.

As Hua Manyi thought, she almost forgot she was still on stage, only snapping back when Xiaoxiao frantically signaled from the corner. After finishing the set and coming down from the stage, she initially wanted to go to other guests, but after only two steps, she saw Mom Gong beckoning to her in her peripheral vision, mouthing for her to come over.

Her body responded before her brain. Hua Manyi looked at the red wine she had just clinked glasses with Mom Gong. A flash of annoyance crossed her mind as she realized.

She clearly knew she must have been unwell these past few days, or she wouldn’t always be lost in wild thoughts. Reason told her to keep a distance from Mom Gong first, but her feet were disobedient, insisting on walking over, and even starting to drink with Mom Gong.

“Mom Gong, I think I might be sick…” Hua Manyi took a big gulp of the high-proof liquor, which made her uncomfortable yet pleasantly refreshed, allowing her to temporarily forget those ridiculous dreams.

“Where do you feel unwell? Tell me, or should I take you to see a doctor?” Gong Yan frowned, seeing her drinking more and more. She reached out to grab the glass, but Hua Manyi avoided her with the stemmed glass, chastising, “No! I want to drink.”

Gong Yan smiled, “Then where are you sick?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know…” Hua Manyi said twice, “I’m just sick.”

She could distinctly feel she was sick.

“Why… why are you so good to me?” The scene changed. Hua Manyi was lying on the sofa, her head resting on Gong Yan’s legs, looking up like an eager child, “Why? Are you my mummy… why else would you be so good to me…”

Gong Yan’s mouth twitched upon hearing the word “mummy.” She leaned down and pecked her incessant lips, “I’m not your mummy, I’m your…”

Gong Yan pondered, considering their relationship.

“I’m your what? Say it, hurry up and say it…” Hua Manyi tugged at the cheongsam around her waist, her drunken eyes genuinely gazing at Gong Yan.

“And you? What do you want me to be to you?” Gong Yan glanced at her small action, asking back.

Hua Manyi looked at the familiar furnishings in the room, confused, “How did I get back to my room? Wasn’t I singing, singing ‘Evening Primrose,’ watching the cool breeze blow from the south~”

“The performance is over. You were drunk, so I brought you back,” the woman explained.

“Oh, I see…” Hua Manyi hiccupped, struggling to get up from Gong Yan’s legs, “Then I need to go to bed. Good night, Mom Gong.”

“Yiyi.” Gong Yan pulled her hand back, “You haven’t answered me yet.”

Hua Manyi was pulled back by her strength. She sat back on her lap, tilting her head in confusion, “What question?”

“What do you want me to be to you?” Gong Yan repeated the question.

“Hmm…” Hua Manyi tried hard to think, but her body nearly tipped over due to the lack of clarity. Luckily, someone held and pulled her back mid-fall.

“Let me think…” Hua Manyi mumbled, while lowering her head and pulling up the slit of the apricot-pink cheongsam, high enough for her to straddle Gong Yan’s lap face-to-face, her knees slightly bent and resting on the sofa, nestled in Gong Yan’s arms.

“I want you to be my mummy… is that okay?” Hua Manyi listened to the heartbeat by her ear, which seemed a little faster. She didn’t know how her own heart was beating, but she felt this moment was very memorable.

Gong Yan’s expression immediately darkened, “No, we are not related by blood.”

“Then… be my stepmother, okay?” Hua Manyi hugged her neck and pecked her chin, “You must be the prettiest stepmother.”

“But a stepmother wouldn’t sleep with her daughter in bed, nor would she kiss her daughter’s mouth,” Gong Yan looked at the face close at hand, reminding her coldly, not buying into her beautiful fantasy.

“Why can’t we kiss?” Hua Manyi couldn’t stand being contradicted at this moment and whimpered softly, “Stepmother even gives her daughter milk to drink, why can’t we kiss?”

Hua Manyi cupped Gong Yan’s face, aiming for those red lips, and kissed her multiple times as if in a fit of pique.

When she drew back, the back of her head was tightened. Hua Manyi’s pink lips parted slightly, stunned, as she watched the woman draw closer and closer, being sucked in for a deep exchange.

“Today… you drove Song Yunrong away, and you watched me sing from the stage. Tell me, do you like me?” Hua Manyi let go of her mouth and asked seriously. If the shaky body was ignored, Gong Yan might have thought she was sober.

But this sentence and the previous one were such a huge leap, suddenly changing from stepmother to a beloved person. Gong Yan was almost caught off guard, but when she saw Hua Manyi’s hopeful eyes, she still wanted to answer her seriously. Her red lips pursed, “Yiyi, I think I’m poisoned by someone named Hua Manyi—”

The moment she finished speaking, Hua Manyi happened to call out, “I’m so thirsty…”

Gong Yan: “…”

“Wait here, I’ll pour you a glass of water.” Gong Yan rubbed her head, having no choice but to go and get water.

“No, you don’t need to get water, stepmother.” Hua Manyi pressed her back onto the sofa, her eyes lowered in desire, her hands repeatedly squeezing. “Stepmother… can I drink your milk?”

“Yiyi, you need to know that I can’t be your stepmother.” Gong Yan took a deep breath. “When will you remember, instead of doing this every day, secretly?”

The day before yesterday, when the affection was intense, this woman made her swear at a crucial moment that she must never tell anyone about what they had done.

At first, she thought it meant outsiders, besides themselves, but who knew it also included a sober Hua Manyi herself.

“When I’m sober, it will be very hard… my chest hurts badly, and you’ll continue to like that woman, continue to marry other men, and you won’t see me in your eyes…”

The later words were muffled under the quilt and couldn’t be heard clearly. Memories flooded back. Gong Yan rubbed her temples. She still couldn’t figure out who she liked or if she had married other men.

A chill spread across her chest. She looked down, only to see a head burrowed against her chest, her teeth gently biting. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard.

Gong Yan had gained a clear understanding of what it was like to be a “mother.”

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