The Seductive Pretender: Sister-in-Law is Turning Gay - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: “I Won’t Like Him. I Like You.”

Lunatic.

Lin Yuqing instantly caught Zhong Manjing’s mischievous fingers, but she didn’t turn around. In her stiffened body, the contact at her fingertips felt exceptionally vivid.

Zhong Manjing said, “If you have more to say, say it all now. But let me tell you don’t deny yourself. You are not that kind of person.”

“A person of integrity, aren’t you?” Zhong Manjing laughed, touching Lin Yuqing’s ring once more with a lingering affection. “You never stand by when someone is in trouble. You were shy just because I asked you to swim with me. How could a person like you ever be capable of committing crimes?”

Lin Yuqing remained silent, but her heart did not accept Zhong Manjing’s words. A voice clamored from the depths of her soul: No, you are exactly that kind of person. In those memories you can’t recall you, a coward fleeing reality, are exactly that person.

“I can’t get up.” Zhong Manjing’s voice turned lazy, dropping the interrogation. “I swam too fast; my legs are weak now.”

Lin Yuqing turned around and saw Zhong Manjing sitting on the ground. Her hair was still dripping, and the water had soaked the collar of her T-shirt. Her long, straight legs were bent, and her shorts lay beside her.

Lin Yuqing crouched down. Though silent, her movements were decisive. She shook out the shorts and began to slide them over Zhong Manjing’s feet.

Zhong Manjing’s body felt soft, leaning against Lin Yuqing. Lin Yuqing had no choice but to support her waist with one hand while pulling up the shorts with the other.

“…Stand steady.” Lin Yuqing’s temples throbbed; this task was grueling. She had to bend over to pull the fabric up while keeping the woman balanced.

Leaning against Lin Yuqing’s shoulder, Zhong Manjing said, “I can’t stand. I was scared by those things you just said.” She touched Lin Yuqing’s ear and asked, “Lin Yuqing, why is your ear so hot?”

Lin Yuqing’s hand faltered. The waistband of the denim shorts grazed Zhong Manjing’s inner thigh. The latter let out a small “Ow,” whispering, “That hurts. Be gentle.”

The person who had been causing trouble all night actually had the nerve to make demands.

Lin Yuqing finally got the shorts up, but Zhong Manjing still didn’t stand. Lin Yuqing realized once again Zhong Manjing was playing with her. She simply grabbed both sides of the waistband and gave a firm upward tug.

Zhong Manjing was light, and Lin Yuqing was strong. She easily hoisted the woman up, her feet briefly leaving the ground, forcing her to stand properly. Under Zhong Manjing’s gaze, Lin Yuqing zipped and buttoned the shorts.

“I’m drunk.” Lin Yuqing lowered her eyes slightly, looking at Zhong Manjing’s upturned chin. “Stop messing around. Stop teasing me.”

Zhong Manjing stared at her. “You told me before we came here that you weren’t drunk.”

“I am now.” Once she was sure Zhong Manjing was steady, Lin Yuqing stepped back. She leaned over to pick up the long-awaited, still-warm roasted sweet potato. “Eat this to regain some strength. I’ll drive back.”

Lin Yuqing quickly packed the bag. Zhong Manjing sluggishly stepped into her slippers and followed her out. Sitting on the backseat, she naturally wrapped her arms around Lin Yuqing’s waist.

Zhong Manjing thought Lin Yuqing wouldn’t speak to her again.

“Don’t say those gloomy things anymore, okay?” Lin Yuqing said suddenly. “Don’t talk about going to hell. You won’t.”

“Understood.” Zhong Manjing laughed, leaning against Lin Yuqing’s back and feeling her warmth. “I thought you were going to tell me not to bite you anymore.”

Lin Yuqing replied, “That’s also not allowed.”

Zhong Manjing didn’t answer. Instead, her body trembled as she giggled behind her. She kept rubbing against Lin Yuqing’s back sometimes pressing close, sometimes pulling away. That softness was like springy dough or flowing water… ever-changing and free. Lin Yuqing felt it all clearly; her breathing tightened, and she gripped the handlebars until her knuckles were white, but in the end, she said nothing.

Back at the bee farm, as soon as she jumped off, Lin Yuqing placed the roasted sweet potato in her hand.

“Why haven’t you eaten it?”

“I need it peeled.” Zhong Manjing shook her hair. “Quick, peel it. We’ll go to sleep after eating.”

Lin Yuqing’s mind hadn’t fully recovered from the ride, but her hands moved on their own. As she broke the skin, a thick, sweet syrup stuck to her fingers. Zhong Manjing leaned in to look. “Ah, it’s a honey-yam. These are the best for roasting—syrupy, soft, and very sweet.”

“And once they’re roasted, there’s a little air inside, so they peel easily, like someone taking off a coat.” Zhong Manjing stared intently. “Touch it, it’s very soft. See?”

Lin Yuqing’s hand froze. Zhong Manjing looked at her curiously. “Why did you stop?”

“…” Lin Yuqing steadied her breathing and continued peeling; she didn’t touch it more than necessary. Once half-peeled, she instinctively held it to Zhong Manjing’s lips.

“So good. So full, soft, and sweet. My tongue is covered in roasted honey. You have beautiful fingers, and you peel well.” Zhong Manjing squinted in satisfaction and pointed to another, thinner yam. “Keep peeling. You eat this one.”

“I’m not eating.” Lin Yuqing gripped the bottom of the yam. Looking at it made her think of those descriptions; she had some difficult associations now. She wouldn’t be able to eat honey-yams for a long time.

The whole house was fast asleep. The two didn’t delay; they blow-dried their hair outside before lying down together.

Before them, the brilliant starry sky moved slowly, mesmerizing and dizzying. Lin Yuqing heard Zhong Manjing’s whisper: “Goodnight, Lin Yuqing.”

“Goodnight, Zhong Manjing,” Lin Yuqing responded and closed her eyes.

Unlike her usual exhaustion-induced dreamless sleep, this time, she dreamed.

The protagonists were her and Zhong Manjing. Or rather, it focused on Zhong Manjing.

It was a bright, opulent room with thick, lace curtains tied in bundles. She opened her eyes, lifted her head, and found herself sitting on a velvet chair. On the table sat a half-empty bottle of red wine, a pair of leather cuffs, several coils of rope, and a feather teaser.

The partially open door swung wide, and Zhong Manjing entered.

“Lin Yuqing, stop being crazy.” Zhong Manjing’s voice had a completely different tone confused and tinged with a faint disgust. “My brother told you to go, so just go. Why must you endure this? Aren’t you tired yet? I’m nearly fed up.”

She was delicate a different kind of delicacy than now. She tried to look fierce, but her voice remained soft.

She didn’t seem like the “Zhong Manjing” she knew…

She wore an elaborate, beautiful dress with many layers. Her pointed gold shoes were like works of art. She was a proud princess. Lin Yuqing wanted to speak but found she couldn’t utter a word.

The princess lowered her noble head, looking down at her on the chair.

In the next moment, the Lin Yuqing on the chair suddenly gripped the back of Zhong Manjing’s head and pulled her down forcefully. When their lips met, Lin Yuqing bit down hard. She bit Zhong Manjing’s lower lip; the metallic taste of blood filled their mouths, and crimson leaked from the corner of her lips.

“Lin Yuqing!” Zhong Manjing whimpered, teeth clenched, but she couldn’t break free. Her lips parted. She bit back hard when Lin Yuqing’s tongue flicked forward. As Lin Yuqing hissed in pain, Zhong Manjing shoved her back into the velvet chair, gathered her skirts, and grabbed the silk rope. She tied Lin Yuqing’s hands behind the chair.

One loop, two loops, three. Twisting, rotating, pulling tight.

It was a slipknot that grew tighter the more one struggled—a knot Lin Yuqing would never forget. When she had helped Zhong Manjing deal with Wang Dingchun, she had instinctively used this exact knot. Lin Yuqing didn’t know if she knew it because she had experienced it so many times it was etched into her soul, or if she simply knew how to do it.

Zhong Manjing picked up the leather cuffs, staring coldly at her while wiping the blood from her lip. Lin Yuqing finally looked up, her eyes terrifyingly bright, her lips swollen, her voice hoarse.

“Come here. I’ll help you.”

“How exactly do I get you to let go?” Zhong Manjing walked toward her step by step. She bit her lip in thought. The layers of her skirt obscured Lin Yuqing’s face, and then came that whispered phrase.

“I won’t like him. Never. I like you.”

And then Zhong Manjing’s low moan: “It hurts… be gentler.”

The two phrases caused reality and dreams to intertwine. Lin Yuqing could no longer distinguish between the Zhong Manjing swimming under the moonlight and the Zhong Manjing sitting on her in that room.

Lin Yuqing felt waves of heat and cold; her brain was numb and sluggish. The “her” in the dream, entangled with Zhong Manjing, was burning, filled entirely with desire. But the “her” observing as a bystander felt a mind-blanking shock and coldness.

That wasn’t her. She didn’t believe that was her.

But Lin Yuqing felt clearly that when she spoke those words in the dream, her heart held nothing but cold anger and shame. They were all lies.

At 5:00 AM, Lin Yuqing woke up in bed. Her bizarre dream ended.

She lay flat, her limbs motionless. She felt deathly thirsty. The events of the dream had affected her; she felt uncomfortable and damp. But she didn’t dare move. Zhong Manjing was sleeping beside her, her breathing steady and deep.

The women under the stars were completely different from the scene in the dream—clothed, in no scandalous positions yet Lin Yuqing couldn’t tell fact from fiction for a moment.

If the dream was real then Zhong Manjing knew her. She knew her past self. Zhong Manjing was hiding things from her.

How was that possible? It was too absurd. Lin Yuqing was certain that when the “her” in the dream said she liked her, there wasn’t a single ripple of emotion in her heart.

If the dream was true, then her recent despicable and malicious thoughts were explained. She hadn’t been drunk; she truly wanted to ravish her not out of wine or retaliation, but out of desire.

Just like Zhong Manjing, she was a lunatic.

Lin Yuqing prepared to slowly sit up, but at that moment, Zhong Manjing rolled over. She sprawled across Lin Yuqing, one restless leg pulled up almost to Lin Yuqing’s chest.

Zhong Manjing had changed into softer shorts for sleep, which had ridden up with her movement. Under the moonlight, Lin Yuqing saw a small mark on the inside of Zhong Manjing’s thigh.

It looked like a scratch from when she had helped her into her pants. Lin Yuqing closed her eyes, her breathing suddenly heavy. Only one sentence remained in her head:

“That hurts. Be gentle.”

She wished she were still dreaming.

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