What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Afterglow

No one likes the feeling of being pried into or deceived, and Shu Qiong was no exception. She could understand Lin Mi’s motives, but she utterly disapproved of her methods.

Seeing Shu Qiong’s long silence, Lin Mi sent another message: “Sister, I’ll be coming to the Capital Star with Aunt Yuan in a few days. Shall we talk in person then?”

Shu Qiong sneered and replied: “Is this a notification or an inquiry?”

Since Lin Yuan was coming as well, she likely had official business. It seemed that whether Shu Qiong liked it or not, she would have to meet them.

Lin Mi’s side went silent for a long while before replying: “I’m sorry, Sister. I didn’t mean to lie to you. If you don’t want to get involved any further, I’ll help persuade Aunt Yuan.”

Shu Qiong replied coldly: “No need.”

At this point, she already had one foot in the mire; how could it be easy to pull back now? No one walks through a swamp and comes out clean. Moreover, Shu Xuanhe was already involved; if the matter wasn’t resolved, the Shu family would inevitably be dragged down. She could disregard the rest of the family, but she couldn’t ignore her grandmother, Zhang Mingzhi.

After sending the message, Shu Qiong closed the communication interface and ignored any further response. She stared at the pocket pistol in her palm for a full minute. Yan Xiangyu was also looking at it, her expression suggesting she wanted to incinerate it into ashes the next second.

Destroying it or leaving it idle were options, but it would be a waste. It was a good gun. Though its power was small, it was convenient to carry, and most importantly, it wasn’t on the Alliance’s list of prohibited items. It could be carried on the street—a rare and practical self-defense weapon.

Yan Xiangyu sensed her hesitation and suggested: “Show it to your cousin. She has many connections. Perhaps we can find a mechanical expert to inspect it and remove the extra ‘additions’.”

Shu Qiong let out a sigh; that was the only way. She frowned and stuffed the gun back into her pocket. Since the “listeners” had already heard everything they needed to hear, a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

As they walked out together, Yan Xiangyu suddenly asked: “If she really comes to the Capital Star, will you see her?”

“Of course I’ll see her. Why wouldn’t I?” Shu Qiong smiled nonchalantly. “I won’t be able to swallow this anger until I hit her in person.”

Yan Xiangyu’s expression softened, a hint of a smile appearing: “Good. If she dares to hit back, I’ll stop her.”

Shu Qiong imagined the scene, her hands itching: “Deal.”

The two then chatted about the specific details of how they would beat up Lin Mi. This talk vented half of Shu Qiong’s anger and finally improved her mood. As for whether Lin Mi heard this conversation… who knows? Shu Qiong didn’t care anyway.

They walked all the way to the winery entrance and saw Su Chen leading her subordinates to seal off the estate, gathering and screening the internal staff one by one. Su Chen had changed into a pair of new shoes that didn’t quite fit, and she immediately noticed the two individuals strolling out as if they were tourists.

Shu Qiong, thick-skinned and without a hint of guilt, waved: “Hi! Thanks for the hard work, Xiao Chen.”

Su Chen nearly bristled and demanded: “Hi my ass! You think I’ll just forget about you two dumping me and running off?”

Shu Qiong touched her earlobe in feigned surprise and turned to Yan Xiangyu: “Did that happen?”

Yan Xiangyu’s expression was natural, the picture of a perfect gentleman: “I don’t think so.”

Seeing Su Chen approaching for a further argument, Shu Qiong stopped joking and patted her shoulder: “Hey, from my observation, my cousin likes capable and practical people. We were giving you a chance to show off your abilities… an opportunity to shine, you understand?”

Shu Qiong winked desperately, making it sound quite convincing. If Su Chen hadn’t been tricked by this expression many times before, she might have believed it.

Su Chen mocked inwardly, crossing her arms coldly: “Then should I be thanking you?”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” Shu Qiong said like they were best friends. “We’re all one family! Anyway, I have high hopes for you!”

“One family,” “high hopes”—her tone was warm and affectionate. Su Chen actually felt a bit wavered. To be fair, when this girl wasn’t being annoying, she actually spoke quite pleasantly…

She brushed her hair back and cleared her throat: “What ‘one family’… don’t talk nonsense.”

“Such a young person, why so lack of confidence?” Shu Qiong held back a laugh and turned to Yan Xiangyu. “She’s simply belittling herself, right?”

Yan Xiangyu’s gaze was fixed on Shu Qiong’s hand resting on Su Chen’s shoulder. Hearing this, she looked up: “Your heroic posture of fighting many alone must be deeply remembered by my cousin.”

Su Chen immediately became bashful, saying awkwardly: “Oh, it was nothing. Cough, you guys were also impressive. If you hadn’t quickly dealt with that armed captain, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”

Shu Qiong clapped: “You really are a humble and good youth. Such talent is rare nowadays.”

Yan Xiangyu followed suit and raised her hand, but her expression stiffened slightly during the movement. Shu Qiong noticed immediately. She tossed aside the flattered Su Chen and leaned in: “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Yan Xiangyu’s brow furrowed slightly and then relaxed. She wanted to say it was nothing, but the words became: “My shoulder feels a bit uncomfortable.” As she spoke, she lifted her right hand, her knuckles slightly red. “…My hand hurts a bit too.”

Shu Qiong felt immediate distress: “From when you punched that ‘Black Captain’ earlier?”

Yan Xiangyu lowered her long lashes and nodded gently. In Shu Qiong’s eyes, this looked no different from a fragile white flower swaying in the wind, trying to stay strong—pitiful, lovely, and endearing.

Su Chen was full of question marks: “What kind of name is ‘Black Captain’?” A triad security captain? Can you even abbreviate it like that? And besides, isn’t it normal for your knuckles and shoulder muscles to feel the recoil when you punch someone?

Shu Qiong glanced distantly at the security captain, whose arms had been forced back into their sockets but who was still bruised and pale, handcuffed and facing the wall like a chick awaiting sentencing. She then looked back and touched Yan Xiangyu’s reddened knuckles.

“He’s too wicked, hurting your hand like this!” Shu Qiong said angrily.

“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt much anymore,” Yan Xiangyu said softly, looking at Shu Qiong’s fingertips resting on the back of her hand.

“…”

Su Chen couldn’t stand to watch anymore. With an expression as if she had accidentally swallowed a fly, she turned and left decisively.

However, after she finished a bout of work and looked back, those two were still hanging around the winery, looking as idle as ever. Su Chen said with a fake smile: “You two, I have a huge workload.”

Shu Qiong nodded: “I know, with great power comes great responsibility.”

Yan Xiangyu also looked over: “Impressive.”

Su Chen’s mouth twitched: “…My point is, if you two have nothing to do, can you stop staying here and getting in the way?”

Shu Qiong suddenly remembered something: “By the way, it’s been three or four days. Why hasn’t Cousin’s little villa been transferred to my name yet?”

A vein popped on Su Chen’s temple. She gritted out: “I. Don’t. Know.”

“You don’t even know that?” Shu Qiong pouted at her, looking disappointed. “Aren’t you Cousin’s number one general?”

Su Chen wanted to wave her arms to drive away these two human roadblocks: “I am not responsible for such trivial matters!”

Shu Qiong opened her mouth, about to say something even more infuriating, but Su Chen beat her to it: “I will help you urge them to speed up the process! Is that enough?”

Having her lines stolen, Shu Qiong shut her mouth.

Yan Xiangyu spoke up airily: “We saw Qi Yuan in the booth earlier; she seemed very traumatized. I didn’t expect Cousin to be so gentle when comforting her. Hmm, perhaps Cousin likes gentler women herself.”

Shu Qiong leaned against Yan Xiangyu with a look of reminiscence: “Yeah, I’ve never seen Cousin use that expression before.”

Yan Xiangyu asked, seemingly oblivious: “Where is Cousin?”

Shu Qiong yawned: “Probably still in the booth comforting Qi Yuan? The girl is quite pitiful; even I felt some sympathy. It’s normal to comfort and coax her a bit.”

“…Stay as long as you want, just don’t stop others from doing real work,” Su Chen tossed out a sentence and rushed toward the booth in a panic.

Watching her figure scurry away, Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu exchanged a glance. Shu Qiong was the first to laugh: “I didn’t realize you had so many wicked ideas.”

Yan Xiangyu’s expression was calm: “I only spoke the truth.” As she said before, she was just an ordinary and honest person.

The two continued to wander aimlessly around the winery. Actually, they weren’t entirely idle; they were waiting for someone. Shu Qiong had earlier mentioned to Shu Xuanmin that she needed a mechanical expert. Shu Xuanmin hadn’t refused or asked why. Since these two had been a huge help in storming the winery, she wouldn’t ignore their request.

However, the winery was far, and it would take time for the expert to arrive. Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu didn’t want to walk around with a bug on them—it felt like carrying a time bomb—so they chose to linger in the winery and wait.

Of course, Su “the victim” Chen knew none of this. She ran all the way into the booth, only to find it was not at all the scene of “lonely women developing feelings” she had imagined.

Qi Yuan was still a young girl after all. After experiencing such highs and lows, her spirit had relaxed, and she had unconsciously fallen asleep on the sofa. Lacking any sense of security, she frowned and curled up even in her sleep, like a small beast licking its wounds. A thin blanket covered her, her hands tightly clutching a corner of it.

The half-dead Shu Xuanhe on the floor had long been taken away to have his wounds treated. He couldn’t die yet; there was still useful information to be pried from his mouth. Nearby, two cleaning robots were diligently dealing with the glass shards and spilled wine. After clearing the trash, they began scanning the room, eventually pulling a heap of bizarre items from the corners—whips, candles, chains—things that clearly weren’t wholesome, some still stained with dried blood.

As for Shu Xuanmin, she wasn’t in the booth at all. She was standing alone in an empty hallway, smoking. Su Chen couldn’t help but soften her steps as she approached and stood beside her. Together, they looked out the window.

Outside, the sky was half-dark. Under the afterglow of the sunset, a warm orange-red outlined the calm, mature silhouette of the woman before her. The only discord was Shu Xuanmin’s tightly knit brows; she had experienced and carried too much lately.

A cigarette was held between her slender fingers. Shu Xuanmin took only one puff before losing interest. Sensing the movement beside her, she didn’t turn her head, instead staring at the sinking sunset. She spoke of work immediately: “Is the screening of the winery staff finished?”

“Not yet. There are many people to screen; it can’t be rushed.” Su Chen snatched the remaining half of the cigarette. “Didn’t you say you quit?”

Shu Xuanmin finally turned to look at her, her smile weary: “Yeah, I quit years ago. Now the smell of smoke actually makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“Then you…”

“I just suddenly felt my hands were empty. I wanted to hold something, so I lit one.”

Su Chen extinguished the cigarette. She didn’t like the smell, and an unprovoked irritation rose in her heart: “Sister Minmin, you should go get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Shu Xuanmin exhaled deeply, taking one last look at the setting sun. “The sun is down; there’s nothing much to see. Let’s go.”

“It’s indeed not much to look at, a bit dim,” Su Chen glanced out the window, her quick look unable to judge the scenery, only wanting to persuade the other to go back. She walked side-by-side with Shu Xuanmin and added, “Sister Minmin, if you’re tired, I can support you? Or I can carry you on my back…”

Shu Xuanmin declined helplessly: “It hasn’t come to that.” As she spoke, she felt another stab of pain in her head. Her vision went black, and she had to grab Su Chen’s arm to keep from falling.

Su Chen was startled: “Sister?”

Shu Xuanmin leaned against her for a while before saying slowly: “I really do need to rest.”

Su Chen stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly bit her lip. Boldly stepping forward, she slid her arm under Shu Xuanmin’s knees and lifted her up in a princess carry: “I… I’ll carry you back.”

She was too light—a bundle of thin bones. It was clear how little Shu Xuanmin had cared for her body over the years. Shu Xuanmin tried to dodge in surprise but couldn’t. As fatigue washed over her, she stopped resisting and closed her eyes.

Downstairs, Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu, who were wandering the winery like hoodlums, passed by and witnessed this scene from outside the window. Shu Qiong watched their receding backs and laughed: “See? We’re not just messing with Su Chen.” Her expression was soft and relieved, her bright eyes reflecting the warmth as if appreciating a beautiful painting.

“Mhm.”

Yan Xiangyu responded, but she wasn’t looking at the second-floor window at all. Her gaze was fixed on Shu Qiong, unable to look away for a long time.

She thought: the evening was not the point where the world lost its color; the color had simply shifted from the heavens and earth into the two amber eyes of the person beside her.

The scenery was like a painting, but the person was even more so. Yan Xiangyu felt that at this moment, she had fallen completely in love with the sunset. The afterglow of the setting sun was clearly beautiful.