The Subtle Seduction of My Ex-Girlfriend’s Aunt - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Then Do You Still Like Her?

Sincere words act like a gentle blade, slowly slicing through the tightly wound tension in Tang Ran’s heart. She thought: Song Zhixu is not Song Wuqi. Perhaps I can trust her.

Tang Ran lifted her head, her vision focusing on Song Zhixu’s face. She took a deep breath, her voice raspy. “Sister, do you think Song Wuqi likes me?”

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she changed them at the last second. She wasn’t close to Song Zhixu, and she didn’t truly know her. The outcome of being deceived in her previous life had been too tragic. Tang Ran didn’t dare. She would never easily trust anyone again. Outside her softening heart, a high wall was rebuilt.

Song Zhixu looked at her thoughtfully. Song Wuqi wasn’t close to her; she didn’t understand her, nor had she made a conscious effort to. She couldn’t give Tang Ran an answer, and she knew that wasn’t what Tang Ran really wanted to ask.

Tang Ran’s eyes flickered, and she tilted her head slightly to avoid the direct gaze. Those light brown eyes were gentle as always—not aggressive or unfathomable—yet Tang Ran felt as though her mind were being read clearly.

Song Zhixu slowly straightened up. She didn’t answer Tang Ran’s question, but instead asked softly, “Then do you still like her?”

Tang Ran froze for two seconds. Her expressionless face gradually became animated. When she asked that question, she hadn’t wanted an actual answer. What she wanted was for Song Zhixu to know that there was a problem between her and Song Wuqi, and that the fault lay with Song Wuqi. At the same time, she wanted to gauge Song Zhixu’s reaction. If Song Zhixu defended Song Wuqi, then there would be no need to try and win her over.

But the result exceeded her expectations. Song Zhixu was far smarter than she had imagined. She had guessed the answer Tang Ran truly wanted and gave her a response: the outcome between her and Song Wuqi depended on whether she still liked her.

Greed is human nature. Seeing a glimmer of hope, one wants to obtain more. The light reflecting in her eyes became clear again, and her dark pupils regained their original liveliness. Tang Ran curled the corners of her lips slightly, gazing at Song Zhixu. “When you said you’d help me just now… was it for real?”

Even if she didn’t fully trust Song Zhixu, it didn’t stop her from wanting a clear stance.

Song Zhixu didn’t answer directly. Tang Ran hadn’t mentioned a single detail of the situation, yet she was asking for a promise first. For a moment, Song Zhixu felt as if she were walking into a trap, voluntarily falling into someone’s scheme. She wanted to refuse, but she hesitated when she met those expectant eyes.

She had felt Tang Ran’s sadness and resistance more than once. Perhaps what Tang Ran couldn’t say was a scar she didn’t want to uncover. What she couldn’t guess, however, was what Song Wuqi could have possibly done to make Tang Ran this miserable. Song Zhixu thought of the little assistant at the Xia family villa, but felt it must be more than that. She hesitated for a moment, unable to ignore the hope in Tang Ran’s eyes.

She nodded and stated her own condition: “If she has done something wrong.”

The emergency room at 11:00 PM was no less busy than during the day, with many people moving through the waiting hall. When Tang Ran arrived, Song Wuqi was still having her wounds treated. Her face was flushed, and she looked like she had been drinking heavily. It made sense—without drinking, Song Wuqi wouldn’t have exposed her irritable nature and gotten into a fight in public.

The nurse used small tweezers to carefully remove glass shards from Song Wuqi’s wound. Beside her, Ye Xiaoyu watched with teary eyes, looking pained and nervous, occasionally reminding the nurse to be gentle.

The young nurse, annoyed by the constant chatter, said bluntly, “To the family member here—why don’t you wait outside for a bit? Your voice is distracting me.”

Ye Xiaoyu was stifled and uncomfortable, but she couldn’t lose her temper in front of Song Wuqi. She gritted her teeth, thinking she would definitely file a complaint about this nurse’s attitude later.

Tang Ran curled her lips into a cold smirk. She walked over with her arms crossed, eyeing Song Wuqi. “Song Wuqi, I didn’t know… since when did Assistant Ye become your ‘family member’?”

“Ranran.” Song Wuqi managed a smile when she saw her. “The nurse misunderstood. Don’t be angry.”

She knew Lu Shuyang had called Tang Ran, so she wasn’t surprised to see her here. She had gone out with Lu Shuyang and the others today; meeting Ye Xiaoyu was an “accident,” so Song Wuqi wasn’t afraid of Tang Ran seeing them together. Song Wuqi took Tang Ran’s questioning as a sign of jealousy. She reached out to grab Tang Ran’s hand, but stopped when she saw blood on her own fingers.

Although Tang Ran didn’t have a germaphobia, she hated dirty things. If she tried to grab her now, Tang Ran would surely shake her off in disgust. Song Wuqi didn’t want to lose face in public, so she withdrew her hand.

Tang Ran wasn’t angry; she was just disgusted.

Hearing their conversation, the nurse quickly picked out the last piece of glass and peeked up at them. From the interaction between Tang Ran and Song Wuqi, she realized she had indeed misidentified their relationship. She made a surprised face and glanced specifically at Ye Xiaoyu.

She had thought the relationship between those two felt weird—they weren’t quite intimate enough to be a couple, but the woman’s concern felt suspiciously ambiguous. After all that, it turned out to be an affair. However, was something wrong with the injured woman’s eyes? No matter how you looked at it, the girlfriend’s looks and aura were far superior to the “third wheel” behind her. Was it a case of “the forbidden fruit tastes sweeter”?

From the moment she walked over, Tang Ran hadn’t given Ye Xiaoyu a single glance. Ye Xiaoyu already felt humiliated, and the nurse’s blatant disdain made her even more resentful. She glared fiercely at the nurse. The nurse rolled her eyes, cursed “shameless” in her head, and continued her work.

“Assistant Ye, I’m fine now. You should head back first,” Song Wuqi turned and said to Ye Xiaoyu.

“Manager Song, I’ll be going then.” With the previous humiliation in the office fresh in her mind, Ye Xiaoyu didn’t dare act like a “white lotus” in front of Tang Ran. She nodded and turned to leave quickly.

“How did you get hurt like this?” Tang Ran ignored their hypocritical performance and looked at Song Wuqi’s injured hand, forcing a look of “heartbreak” onto her face.

“It’s fine, it just looks serious,” Song Wuqi smiled reassuringly. The wounds weren’t deep, but there were several scrapes of varying lengths that looked quite gruesome.

“I’ve known you for so long, and this is the first time I’ve known you to get into a fight,” Tang Ran said, frowning in confusion.

“Ran into a drunkard,” Song Wuqi said vaguely.

“What kind of person just starts hitting people because they’re drunk? Did you call the police?” Tang Ran was “furious.” “I’ll call Lawyer Chen. We must send him to jail.”

If she didn’t mess with Song Wuqi now, she’d feel sorry for the “mental anguish” fee of coming out in the middle of the night to watch this trashy performance. Tang Ran reached for her phone, and Song Wuqi hurriedly grabbed her.

Lawyer Chen was a friend of Tang Ran’s mother, Tang Wanru. Calling him was the same as telling Tang Wanru that Song Wuqi had been fighting in a bar. In her haste to stop Tang Ran, Song Wuqi forgot she was being treated and jerked her injured arm. The tweezers in the nurse’s hand sliced another bloody line across the wound.

“Sss!” Song Wuqi hissed in pain, instinctively wanting to snap at the nurse.

“Oh dear, sit back and don’t move!” Tang Ran quickly pressed Song Wuqi down and gave the nurse a sorry smile. “I’m so sorry for the trouble.”

Song Wuqi’s rationality returned slightly. She swallowed her anger; it was her own fault for moving, and the nurse truly wasn’t in the wrong. Besides, she had more important things to worry about than a nurse right now.

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