Weakness Trap - Chapter 53

About a week had passed since then, and Yu Lingxue hadn’t spoken to Yu Yueheng again.

She hadn’t even sent any messages to Li Ran.

Every day, she bundled herself up like a zongzi, layering her clothes until she was unrecognizable, and chose different times to slip into Yu Qingluan’s shop.

Sometimes, she’d encounter several customers browsing the store. Yu Qingluan would briefly attend to them before returning to her spot behind the counter, focusing on her own tasks.

Fortunately, the shop’s location wasn’t ideal, so foot traffic was minimal. Yu Qingluan’s laid-back approach to business didn’t seem to matter much.

After all, not many items were sold in a day.

Yu Lingxue had come to realize that Yu Qingluan hadn’t rented the shop to sell goods but to establish a studio.

Once her brand expanded, this would serve as her base.

Occasionally, the shop would be empty except for the two of them. With a racing heart, Yu Lingxue would cautiously shift her gaze from the merchandise to Yu Qingluan.

When Yu Qingluan had time, she would introduce the items Yu Lingxue was looking at.

Her explanations were concise and precise, with not a single wasted word.

Unfortunately, Yu Lingxue was too distracted to pay attention. Her eyes, fixed straight ahead, traced Yu Qingluan’s features through her peripheral vision, listening to the tone Yu Qingluan now reserved for strangers.

After leaving the shop, Yu Lingxue would break down in tears.

Now, they were truly worse than strangers.

To strangers, Yu Qingluan offered a professional smile, occasionally softened her tone, and maintained a polite yet approachable distance.

But toward Yu Lingxue, she showed no warmth cold and unyielding as stone, always quick to shoo her out of sight.

So Yu Lingxue grew even more cautious, careful not to reveal any flaws, afraid that the method she’d painstakingly found would fail once again.

She just wanted to look at Yu Qingluan.

That was enough to watch her as a stranger, separated by a mask.

Returning to the present.

Yu Lingxue heard the words “so annoying” and shrank back, her hand trembling slightly as she tugged at her collar.

Was she really that detestable to Yu Qingluan?

Yu Lingxue felt that “so annoying” was actually a rather polite way to put it.

Though she knew how badly things had ended between them, and that Yu Qingluan had despised her enough to escape through death, hearing those words face to face still made her heart ache and tremble.

“Are you okay?” Yu Qingluan paused her explanation, noticing the daily customer clutching her chest, and asked out of concern for her well-being.

Yu Lingxue shook her head, then nodded.

Over two years had passed, and Yu Qingluan had learned to speak Cantonese.

There was a time when Yu Qingluan had wanted to learn it asking her about pronunciation and how it differed from Mandarin.

What had she done back then?

She remembered telling Yu Qingluan that since she spoke Mandarin, there was no need to learn Cantonese.

Yu Lingxue bit her lip hard, gesturing with her hands to indicate she couldn’t speak.

Beneath her mask, her lips quivered uncontrollably, filled with regret for her past indifference, aching as if bleeding.

Back then, she hadn’t taught Yu Qingluan.

Now, she had no right to ask who had taught her.

Yu Qingluan simply fell silent for a moment.

So she couldn’t speak. Perhaps this person came from a difficult background?

She didn’t recognize the visitor. It had been nearly three years since they last met, and she had once harbored such hatred for Yu Lingxue that she had stopped familiarizing herself with her face and figure, allowing all past memories to fade.

She treated Yu Lingxue as she would any ordinary customer, only slowing her tone slightly.

Yu Lingxue “listened” intently, her hands clenched so tightly in her pockets they nearly cracked.

A few more days passed this way.

Yu Lingxue bought her first item and, at the same time, gave Yu Qingluan a box of scented balm.

“What’s this?” Yu Qingluan seemed pleasantly surprised. After finishing the transaction, she turned the balm over in her hands.

To avoid being recognized, Yu Lingxue had deliberately commissioned a different manufacturer to produce the balm. She even avoided her favorite floral scent, opting instead for a tea fragrance to match Yu Qingluan’s current preferences.

Judging by Yu Qingluan’s reaction, she seemed to like it very much.

Yu Lingxue took out her phone and typed.

A calming balm. Apply it to your temples before bed to help you sleep well.

“Isn’t this too extravagant? Buying something from me and giving me a gift you’re too kind.” Yu Qingluan accepted it earnestly and flashed Yu Lingxue a smile.

The smile was like melting ice sincere and dazzling.

For a moment, Yu Lingxue felt dazed, as if they had returned to a time long, long ago.

Back when Yu Qingluan didn’t know her, and she hadn’t yet fallen in love with Yu Qingluan.

They were just two strangers who happened to meet, fell in love at first sight, and slowly drew closer, tentatively giving each other gifts.

I take up your time every day, and you never chase me away. You’re kind too.

Yu Lingxue restrained herself again and again, stopping herself from typing the word “love.”

Yu Qingluan smiled again not that annoying smile, but one that was somewhat endearing.

“You’re a customer. It’s only right.”

After seeing off this “peculiar” customer, Yu Qingluan dabbed a bit of the balm on the back of her hand.

At first, it felt cool, like mint. Even the scent wasn’t overly rich light, like a snowy mountain stream.

After a quarter of an hour, the spot where she had applied the balm began to warm slightly, comforting her cool autumn-chilled hand and releasing waves of serene oolong tea fragrance.

After confirming the balm was harmless, Yu Qingluan carefully stored it away.

It had been a month since she rented this shop in Hong Kong. During that time, she had encountered all sorts of people and gathered all kinds of inspiration.

For instance, the couple who had visited a few days ago, refusing to admit they were together. Watching their interactions, Yu Qingluan felt inspired to embroider butterflies under the moonlight.

Butterflies fluttering toward the moon, yet never quite reaching it. The moon, cold and aloft in the heights, always casting its light upon the butterflies.

Only this “peculiar” customer stirred a jumble of chaotic thoughts within her. None took shape, yet she found the sensation uniquely compelling.

Perhaps,

Next time she visits, I could ask for her contact information.

The next day, Yu Lingxue did return.

But her timing was unfortunate there was another customer in the shop.

Yu Lingxue observed the customer’s nervous yet faintly expectant expression and felt a stir of surprise.

If she wasn’t mistaken, the seemingly innocent and naive woman before her should be her old friend Qu Mingyuan.

Although her hair color was different.

Especially her demeanor it was a far cry from the restrained yet spirited figure she once knew.

Back then, she and Qu Mingyuan had met by chance, both harboring a shared discontent, which had led to their friendship.

Qu Mingyuan had far more freedom than she did, thanks to her better family background, and would often visit her at home to hang out.

This was the only friend who knew about Yu Lingxue’s plan to fight for her “freedom.”

Later, as planned, she successfully went to Chu City for university, but Qu Mingyuan, for some unknown reason, disappeared in a fire and was later declared dead.

According to Yu Lingxue’s intelligence network, that fire was closely linked to the Yan family.

Yu Lingxue stared at Qu Mingyuan for a long while, finding it utterly bizarre.

How could the Qu family fail to find her when she was right here in Harbor City, perfectly fine?

For as long as Yu Lingxue stared, Qu Mingyuan remained visibly uneasy.

The amnesiac Qu Mingyuan cautiously shifted to the side, then took out her phone to message her beloved and financial supporter, seeking a sense of security.

Yu Lingxue withdrew her gaze.

Perhaps it wasn’t so strange that they couldn’t find her. As long as someone was secretly interfering, it wouldn’t be difficult.

She had searched for Yu Qingluan for over two years hadn’t she also failed to discover that Yu Qingluan had gone abroad?

If she hadn’t stumbled upon her by chance, she would still be in the dark to this day.

As for her old friend.

Why did she seem a little less sharp now?

She must have her own plans, right?

Yu Lingxue decided to pretend not to recognize her and casually picked up a new item in the shop to examine.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Yu Qingluan emerged from behind the curtain, glanced at Qu Mingyuan, and handed her a piece of fabric.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll teach her first?” Only then did she turn her gaze to Yu Lingxue.

Yu Lingxue felt a slight pang of discomfort. She shot Qu Mingyuan a glance but still took out her phone to type, demonstrating her magnanimity.

For the next half hour, Yu Lingxue stood by a nearby cabinet, staring blankly at a handkerchief.

Her thoughts drifted along with the gentle, unhurried voice to Yu Qingluan, who was teaching Qu Mingyuan embroidery.

How had Qu Mingyuan ended up in Yu Qingluan’s shop?

Were they both considered Yu Qingluan’s customers?

Or was Yu Qingluan planning to take her long-lost friend as a student?

Was Qu Mingyuan getting closer to Yu Qingluan before she could?

Countless questions sprouted and took root in Yu Lingxue’s heart.

Even as she despised herself for these baseless suspicions and irrational jealousy, she couldn’t suppress the bitterness welling up inside her.

Yu Lingxue dug her nails into her palm, reopening a wound that had barely healed.

She felt a damp warmth, lifted her hand to look, and casually wiped away the conspicuous red.

Her gaze drifted downward, passing over the wrist where she had carved words. The scars were still pale, and an itchy, stinging sensation, like the tang of vinegar, made her want to scratch.

As she raised her hand, her peripheral vision caught the mirror beside the cabinet, reflecting Qu Mingyuan standing close to Yu Qingluan, being taught hand in hand.

In a daze, Yu Lingxue heard a sharp crack.

She found herself sitting on the floor, her heart aching with an indescribable sourness.

“Are you okay?” Yu Qingluan interrupted the lesson and hurried over to help Yu Lingxue up.

Qu Mingyuan shrank back, watching as Yu Lingxue gazed at Yu Qingluan with hidden affection, then continued typing messages to her beloved, venting her thoughts.

Yu Lingxue didn’t dare look at Yu Qingluan for too long, afraid that if their eyes met, she would give herself away.

The eyes are the organs least capable of hiding love.

Yu Lingxue averted her gaze, made a few gestures, and then noticed what she had broken.

It was the mirror.

The mirror had shattered into countless pieces, some reflecting light into her eyes, others capturing her face.

Yu Lingxue saw her own wretched, ugly state her eyes tinged with an inexplicable redness, her carefully applied makeup smudged.

She was fractured into a thousand pieces, each one just as unsightly as the last.

“I’m sorry! Let me pay for the mirror!”

That scene churned her stomach, yet she had to suppress her breath and emotions, pulling out her phone to continue playing her role.

“No need, it’s just a mirror.” Yu Qingluan helped Yu Lingxue up, but the moment their hands touched, she instinctively recoiled before steadying herself and wrapping an arm around Yu Lingxue’s waist.

Such a familiar sensation.

Yu Qingluan frowned slightly and looked at Yu Lingxue again.

Still unable to discern anything, she treated the person before her as nothing more than a lovely guest.

“You noticed I haven’t been resting well lately and even gave me such a wonderful balm. It’s just a mirror.”

Yu Qingluan picked up a shard of the mirror, the smile in her eyes fading slightly without her realizing.

“After all, it’s broken and can’t be fixed. It wasn’t expensive, I’ll just buy a new one. As long as you’re unharmed, that’s all that matters.”

It’s broken and can’t be fixed.

Yu Lingxue didn’t hear the rest of the words.