She Became The Black Lotus’s Pure, Untouchable Love - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Huo Xingyu narrowed her eyes, sizing up Chi Jing, whose expression was shifting through a kaleidoscope of colors.

Chi Jing’s face wasn’t just complex; her lecherous peach-blossom eyes were fixated on Ning Xiangxiang. Huo Xingyu frowned. Chi Jing’s messy romantic history and ambiguous relationships with women were notorious. It wasn’t just industry insiders who knew; gossip magazines spelled it out clearly. From eighty-year-old grandmothers to seven-year-old children, everyone had something to say about Chi Jing’s scandals.

She was the textbook definition of a lecher.

Chi Jing’s obsession with beautiful girls wasn’t new. If a woman who fit her taste entered her field of vision, she would hunt her down. Moreover, she particularly favored the “pure white flower” type. In Chi Jing’s own words, she loved seeing the contrast between how they acted in public versus in bed; plus, these “white flowers” usually had ordinary backgrounds—easy to play with and discard without anyone daring to come knocking for trouble.

It was all about being quick, easy, and convenient.

Ning Xiangxiang, from her looks to her family background, stepped precisely into Chi Jing’s hunting grounds.

Seeing the greedy scrutiny in Chi Jing’s smiling eyes, Huo Xingyu moved. Her long legs took a few swift steps, and she positioned herself sideways in front of Ning Xiangxiang, shielding her from Chi Jing’s line of sight. Her wavy, dark hair billowed like an ocean wave behind her as she moved.

Watching Huo Xingyu’s swaying waist and the slight movement of her hair from behind, Ning Xiangxiang felt an inexplicable heat flare up in her face. She had always known Huo Xingyu had a great body. During their ten years together, Huo Xingyu had never been shy about showing it off. Even after all this time, those curves remained vivid in Ning Xiangxiang’s mind: the fullness hugged by silk nightgowns, the white mermaid dresses, the black professional suits.

And… and the way Huo Xingyu had looked, blurred and intoxicated, while hovering over her.

Suddenly, Ning Xiangxiang felt her face burning. A surge of heat rushed upward, making her cheeks scorch. She tried to shift her gaze and move back, but her hand was gripped so tightly by Huo Xingyu that she couldn’t break free. She could only allow herself to be fiercely protected.

In front of her, a cold, clear voice rang out: “Do you really think you have the ability to snatch someone from my hands?”

“Right, I can’t win a snatch-and-grab. But Huo Xingyu, look at yourself. You’re such a freak. I suggest you don’t be too confident. Who could possibly stand you? Can anyone actually live with you?” Chi Jing stood up, her eyes burning as she stared at Huo, a cold sneer on her lips. “This exceeds my expectations. I always thought you were a rational, sober person. I didn’t expect you to be stupid enough to think someone would actually like you.

What do people like? They like your money, your power, and the fact that your last name is Huo. Even if a dog that couldn’t speak sat in your chair, people would still rush forward to lick its paws. Surely you know that?”

Silence fell. Chi Jing looked at her triumphantly. In the small arcade area, only the upbeat electronic music echoed as digital characters bounced and jumped on the screens.

Hearing these words, Ning Xiangxiang felt a sudden, inexplicable tightness in her chest. Huo Xingyu’s slender fingers were still tightly clutching her hand. The alternating red and blue neon lights of the arcade reflected off their intertwined white hands, fracturing into cold and warm tones.

Aren’t you going to say something? Ning Xiangxiang thought, looking at the silent woman. Chi Jing had gone this far—was she not going to strike back?

She looked up at Huo Xingyu’s back. From this angle, she couldn’t see her face, only the tip of her perky nose and her tensed lower lip. She heard only the jingle of the game machines and saw only Chi Jing’s mocking gaze.

Huo Xingyu’s hand was still squeezing her fingers. A wave of distress washed over Ning Xiangxiang. In her mind, the Huo Xingyu she knew should always be arrogant. She should always look down on her opponents, invincible. She should be cold-faced, sharp-tongued, and watching Chi Jing’s breakdown with a raised eyebrow—not standing here in silence, letting someone… say these things to her.

It felt like biting into an unripe orange—sour and bitter. In an instant, only one thought remained in Ning Xiangxiang’s head.

She gently squeezed Huo Xingyu’s cold fingertips and said to Chi Jing with a sweet smile: “Does ‘not having seen it’ mean it doesn’t exist? Miss Chi, you seem a bit narrow-minded. It’s like how I’ve never seen a mullet’s brain—does that mean a mullet doesn’t have a brain?”

Why was she sticking up for Huo Xingyu? Ning Xiangxiang couldn’t quite figure it out. Looking at Chi Jing’s stunned expression, she just felt she couldn’t bear to see Huo Xingyu biting her lip in silence. That gloomy aura made it seem as if Huo Xingyu actually agreed with Chi Jing’s words—as if she believed she was unwanted and unlovable.

Even though they hadn’t gotten along well in her past life, it was essentially just a personality clash. Huo Xingyu just didn’t love her; she hadn’t truly wronged her. What had imprisoned her was the title of “Mrs. Huo,” not the person Huo Xingyu. Seeing her habitually overbearing and arrogant “ex-wife” being spoken to this way made her inexplicably angry.

She just wanted to roast this defeated “Mullet-Head”! She wanted her to know that the King of Fighters ex-wife—who was a former national youth darts record holder at age twelve—was not to be trifled with!

Hearing the hidden barb in Ning Xiangxiang’s words, Chi Jing’s face darkened. Since losing her last argument with Huo Xingyu, she had been losing sleep. She had replayed the scene in her head countless times and, after extensive online research, summarized this “unloved theory”…

According to forum users, people like Huo Xingyu—who are cold, unapproachable, sharp-tongued, and deathly proud—usually had dark, tragic, unloved childhoods.

Though Chi Jing couldn’t see how Huo Xingyu’s childhood was tragic. They had known each other for twenty years. From kindergarten to studying abroad, Huo Xingyu got more red flowers, bigger certificates, and higher scholarships. If Huo Xingyu wanted to be president, Chi Jing could only be vice-president; if Huo Xingyu wanted first place, Chi Jing was relegated to second. And even though Chi Jing hated to admit it subjectively, objectively, the Huo family was indeed a little bit richer than hers.

With all that, Huo Xingyu’s childhood couldn’t have been tragic if it tried! Her arrogance and disdain came entirely from looking down on everyone else!

Chi Jing had expected a rebuttal, but when she successfully delivered the “unloved” insult she’d been rehearsing for three days, the habitually arrogant Huo Xingyu actually stayed silent. She just stared at her with that gloomy intensity.

It made Chi Jing’s skin crawl. Just as she was wondering if she’d gone too far, Ning Xiangxiang struck back with fierce bravery.

What’s this? Is tag-team roasting the new trend?

She looked at Ning Xiangxiang, who was trying to poke her head out from behind Huo Xingyu with a “united against the enemy” look, struggling as if she were protecting the CEO. Chi Jing became even more convinced that these two had some sort of underground romance. After all, that specific brand of mockery and arrogance wasn’t something one learned in a day.

However, against a mere starlet, as long as Huo Xingyu didn’t speak, no one could stop Chi Jing from winning today.

But just as Chi Jing opened her mouth to snap back, she saw the corners of Huo Xingyu’s lips tilt upward. The gloom from a moment ago vanished. She looked like a favored cat, wagging its tail triumphantly.

Chi Jing fell silent, dazed. She thought she knew Huo Xingyu well, but when this childish, slightly smug, and uncontrollably boastful expression appeared on Huo’s face, Chi Jing was rendered speechless.

Just as she began to wonder if Huo Xingyu had been body-swapped, the woman spoke again with her signature arrogance: “Chi Jing, that mullet haircut is a total failure.”

A failure?

Ning Xiangxiang peeked out from behind Huo Xingyu, puzzled. She looked at the delicate-featured Chi Jing. Although Chi Jing was obnoxious, she had to admit the hairstyle actually suited her, giving her a thin, Japanese-style aesthetic.

She watched Chi Jing’s smug expression slowly stiffen the moment Huo Xingyu spoke, eventually freezing into stifled rage. Chi Jing’s teeth were gritted, and veins popped on her forehead as she glared at Huo Xingyu, unable to find words for a long time.

Ning Xiangxiang was confused. This light remark from Huo Xingyu wasn’t nearly as harsh as what she’d said earlier, right? Why was Chi Jing this angry??

Huo Xingyu surveyed Chi Jing with calm composure, acting as though she had already won the conflict.

Chi Jing’s hands shook with rage. This Huo freak still knew exactly how to hit where it hurt. To Chi Jing, her hairstyle was more important than a girlfriend. If she ever left the house without styling her hair, it would mean World War III had started.

After her last “precision strike” on her hair from Huo Xingyu, she had specifically flown to Japan to get this mullet. Since returning, she’d had four girlfriends, and every single one praised it. She flew out every month to keep it perfect. Even her exes were secretly asking which Tony in Japan had done it. Her mullet was the best!

A cold sneer curled Chi Jing’s lips. After countless sleepless nights following arguments with Huo Xingyu, and after three ex-girlfriends who weren’t afraid to curse her out for cheating, she had finally summarized a phrase that could hurt a person from their personality to their spirit to their body.

Namely: bringing up old embarrassments in front of the person they like. She would drag out every humiliating thing Huo Xingyu had ever done. No one knew Huo Xingyu better than she did; as long as Huo Xingyu was sufficiently embarrassed, Chi Jing won!

Thinking this, Chi Jing looked at Ning Xiangxiang in the wheelchair and said, “Xiangxiang, this woman with the last name Huo is a freak. No one wanted to play with her when we were kids.”

“You guys isolated her?” Ning Xiangxiang felt a pang of discomfort.

“Huh?” Chi Jing blinked. It wasn’t so much that everyone isolated her, but rather that Huo Xingyu unilaterally isolated everyone. She paused, then charged again: “When she was little, she went to a farm and got chased by a dog, crying the whole time she ran.”

“Actually, I’ve had that experience too. It’s quite painful,” Ning Xiangxiang said, looking at Huo Xingyu with sympathy.

“Uh…” Why isn’t she following the script??

Chi Jing continued indignantly: “In first grade, she had a tooth pulled and her speech was airy. She couldn’t speak Mandarin well and when she was late to class, she shouted ‘Bao Giao!’ (Reporting) instead of ‘Bao Gao’!”

Watching Ning Xiangxiang look at Huo Xingyu with a beaming smile, Chi Jing fell silent.

Fine.

A match made in heaven!

They don’t even find this embarrassing!

Chi Jing gritted her teeth in a state of powerless rage. She grabbed her denim jacket and glared at Huo Xingyu. “Don’t you get cocky!”

As Chi Jing stormed off, Ning Xiangxiang couldn’t hold back her laughter. She glanced at the expressionless Huo Xingyu beside her and said with a grin: “Bao Giao, President Huo, your arch-nemesis has been driven away in a huff!”

Under her radiant gaze, Ning Xiangxiang saw the habitually expressionless, arrogant Huo Xingyu’s lips tilt upward. Those cold eyes were full of mirth. Her beautiful, icy face, reflected in the multicolored neon lights of the arcade, didn’t lose a fraction of its beauty.

She’s smiling at me, Ning Xiangxiang realized.

This smile was different from the schadenfreude or mockery of the past. Suddenly, for reasons she couldn’t explain, Ning Xiangxiang felt bewitched by this stunning face. Just being looked at made her feel light-headed. The noisy music around them felt faint and distant, and a mysterious heat surged from her chest to her cheeks.

She saw Huo Xingyu reach out and touch her face. Cold fingertips brushed against her burning cheek. Her other hand was still intertwined with Huo Xingyu’s.

The whole world seemed to be heating up. She felt that Huo Xingyu was different—no longer that high-and-mighty, unapproachable existence she viewed from afar.

Looking at this Huo Xingyu, who was so different from before and was holding her hand tightly, Ning Xiangxiang sighed softly. Even though she was right in front of her, she was still very, very far away. What kind of person Huo Xingyu was and what kind of place the Huo family was—she’d had ten years to learn. Rules, constraints, cages—all were shadows beneath that prestigious name.

In her past life, she had no choice but to be pushed through those heavy gates. Now that she had a second chance, was she going to be bewitched into walking in herself?

The romantic heat seemed to cool instantly. She looked at the smiling Huo Xingyu and asked:

“Fourth Miss, you don’t… you don’t actually like me, do you?”