After Escaping Marriage - Extra 9
Chapter 152: Extra 3 - Parallel World
Wei Tingyu drove to the Cheng residence with an indescribably complex feeling in his heart.
Yu Qingtang helped Cheng Zhanxi out of the car, then turned back to Wei Tingyu, who seemed to be lost in thought in the driver's seat. Her gaze was puzzled. “Dad?”
Wasn’t he getting out?
Wei Tingyu’s hands loosened on the steering wheel. He responded a little slowly with a couple of “ohs” before pushing the door open and getting out.
He would… observe a little more.
Song Qingrou was home. Seeing the three of them enter, she asked in surprise, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Qingtang explained, “Xixi isn’t feeling well.”
Ms. Song immediately hurried over, took her from Yu Qingtang’s arms, and asked nervously, “Where does it feel uncomfortable? Does it hurt?”
Cheng Zhanxi looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Yu Qingtang knew Wei Tingyu was there and that she was too embarrassed to say anything. So, she tactfully tugged on her father’s shirt cuff and said her goodbyes. “Auntie Song, Dad and I will be leaving now.”
Unaware of the full situation with Cheng Zhanxi, Song Qingrou didn’t have the presence of mind to ask them to stay for dinner. She offered a word of thanks and had the housekeeper see them out.
The moment the father and daughter’s figures disappeared from view, Cheng Zhanxi, who had been weakly leaning against her mother, straightened up. The corners of her mouth turned down in an unknowing pout.
Song Qingrou: “???”
Song Qingrou decided not to question her strange behavior for the time being and asked, “Where are you uncomfortable?”
Cheng Zhanxi shifted her hips and said quietly and awkwardly, “It’s nothing, I just got my period. Yu Qingtang already helped me take care of it.”
Song Qingrou said, “How can you call your sister by her full name?”
Cheng Zhanxi paused. Thinking back, it seemed she hadn’t called Yu Qingtang “sister” for a while now, and was calling her by her full name instead. Had she suddenly become impolite?
Cheng Zhanxi couldn’t figure it out and subconsciously retorted, “She’s only a few months older than me.”
Song Qingrou flicked her forehead lightly with a finger. “She’s still your sister.”
Cheng Zhanxi pouted.
Song Qingrou didn’t dwell on the topic. She took Cheng Zhanxi’s hand and started walking toward the bathroom. “Let Mom take a look for you. Did you get your underwear dirty?”
Cheng Zhanxi stopped her mother’s advance, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. “I can do it myself. I can wash my own underwear, too.”
“Feeling shy?”
“Mom~”
“You weren’t shy when your sister was helping you, but when it’s Mom…”
Song Qingrou teased her. Before she could finish, a blushing Cheng Zhanxi pushed her back onto the sofa, then scampered up the stairs and vanished in the blink of an eye.
When she came back down after taking care of things, Song Qingrou explained the precautions to take during her period and the normal symptoms, like a heavy feeling in her lower abdomen, an aching back… and sometimes cramps. As Cheng Zhanxi listened, she wondered if Yu Qingtang went through this too. Why had she been so careless that she never even noticed her sister was uncomfortable for a few days every month?
Song Qingrou cleared her throat and asked, “Is there a boy you like at school? Or are any boys pursuing you?”
Cheng Zhanxi: “?” She said, “Why are you suddenly so gossipy?”
Ms. Song: “…”
Song Qingrou cupped Cheng Zhanxi’s face in her hands, examining the perfectly round, pretty head from all angles. It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered if this child was truly hers. How could she be so dense when it came to matters of the heart?
Under Ms. Song’s dangerous gaze, Cheng Zhanxi obediently replied, “No. I don’t know.”
The answer to the first question was what Song Qingrou expected, but the second one surprised her. She said, displeased, “What do you mean you don’t know? You’re so pretty, and no boys are pursuing you?” Were all those male classmates blind?
Cheng Zhanxi said, perplexed, “What does it have to do with me whether they pursue me or not? I don’t like any of them anyway.”
Song Qingrou looked at her with a mix of complex emotions.
Cheng Zhanxi keenly sensed a hint of sadness in it. She hugged Song Qingrou, nestled against her shoulder, and wheedled, “What’s wrong?”
Song Qingrou patted her head and sighed. “Mom doesn’t want you to start a family so soon, but I feel like that day is getting closer and closer.”
“…Mom, I just started junior high. Aren’t you thinking a little too far ahead?”
Ms. Song continued as if talking to herself, “If there’s someone you like, let Mom have a look and vet them for you. But whatever you do, don’t tell your dad. He definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it right now.”
“…”
“You’re still young, so absolutely no sexual activity. It’s very harmful to your body. If any boy dares to trick you into bed, just beat him up, and Mom will take care of it for you.”
“…”
Wei Tingyu watched his daughter, who had just walked in, wanting to speak but holding back.
Yu Qingtang frowned. “Dad?”
Wei Tingyu forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Are you going back to school this afternoon?”
Yu Qingtang said, “No, I’m going to see Xixi this afternoon and help her with her homework. I won’t be back for dinner.”
Yu Qingtang wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt her father’s smile seemed even more strained.
Wei Tingyu rubbed his hands on his well-tailored shirt, looking helpless. Then, as if waking from a dream, he headed for the kitchen. “I’ll go cook. What do you want to eat?”
Yu Qingtang was suspicious, but she showed no sign of it. “I’d like some boiled fish in chili oil.”
Wei Tingyu let out an “ah.” “We don’t have any fish at home. I’ll go to the supermarket and buy some now.”
Yu Qingtang said, “You don’t have to. We can eat something else.”
Wei Tingyu had already grabbed his car keys and was changing his shoes in the entryway. “Dad will be back soon.”
The black sedan that had just been parked in the garage drove out again. Yu Qingtang opened the refrigerator, took out some ingredients, went to the kitchen to wash and chop them, arranged them on a plate, and then washed her hands before going out.
That evening.
Yu Ci was applying skincare products to her face in front of the vanity mirror, while Wei Tingyu sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
Yu Ci glanced back at him. “What are you doing? You’ve been out of it all day.”
Wei Tingyu looked at her and sighed.
Yu Ci: “Tsk.”
She said, “Come here.”
Wei Tingyu stood up, went over obediently, and sat down at the vanity where Yu Ci had made room for him.
Yu Ci went through the same skincare routine on her husband’s face, playfully manhandling it as if taking personal revenge while she applied the products. “Tell me, why is it that you, a man, have skin more delicate than a woman’s? Is heaven really so unfair?”
Good-naturedly, Wei Tingyu let her ravage his handsome face and chuckled. “If I weren’t a little better looking, how could I have seduced you?”
“So you admit you were seducing me?” Yu Ci pinched his chin. “You little siren.”
The male siren smiled.
After finishing with his face and hands, Yu Ci pushed Wei Tingyu against the vanity and kissed him before pulling him up. In a tone that demanded a confession, she said, “Alright, spill it. What’s on your mind?”
Wei Tingyu said, “I suspect Tangtang likes the Cheng family’s younger daughter.”
Yu Ci laughed out loud. “Is that even a suspicion? Of course she likes Xixi. They’re inseparable every day. They get jealous if they don’t see each other for one evening. I wonder if, when one of them gets married someday, the other will get into a fight with her husband.”
Wei Tingyu looked at her seriously.
“I mean the kind of like where you want to marry someone.”
“…”
Wei Tingyu recounted what had happened in the back seat of the car that day.
Yu Ci’s expression gradually changed. She bit her lip and let out a soft hiss.
Wei Tingyu looked nervous. “You think something’s not right with them too, don’t you?”
Yu Ci mused, “Well, in that case, shouldn’t we discuss with the Cheng family about switching the marriage engagement to Xixi?”
Wei Tingyu: “???”
What???
The next day.
The bell had just rung, ending the morning reading session. Cheng Zhanxi was resting at her desk, head down, due to period discomfort when she suddenly heard a classmate say someone was outside looking for her.
Many people usually came looking for her, so Cheng Zhanxi didn’t have anyone in mind before she went out. That’s why, when she saw Yu Qingtang’s cool yet gentle face, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
Before she even realized it, a smile had already spread across Cheng Zhanxi’s face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked joyfully, half-running, half-skipping the few steps to reach Yu Qingtang.
Nearby classmates looked over in surprise. Why was the usually poised and confident Cheng Zhanxi suddenly acting like a little girl with a budding crush?
Yu Qingtang brought a hand out from behind her back, holding out a white thermos.
“What’s this?”
“Something good for you,” Yu Qingtang said. “Drink it while it’s hot.”
Cheng Zhanxi immediately moved to open it, but Yu Qingtang stopped her. “Drink it back in your classroom.”
Cheng Zhanxi put her hand down and looked at her. “Okay.”
Yu Qingtang met her gaze quietly for a few seconds. There seemed to be something in the air, a tempting factor that urged one to lose control, making her swallow involuntarily. Yu Qingtang gulped down the saliva that had pooled in her mouth, looked to the side of the hallway, and said, “Well, I’ll just…”
Cheng Zhanxi blurted out, “You’re leaving already?”
Yu Qingtang found she could no longer say the words of departure.
Cheng Zhanxi: “Why don’t you come sit in my classroom for a bit? My back hurts from standing.”
Yu Qingtang: “…”
It was Yu Qingtang’s first time in Cheng Zhanxi’s classroom, and she was stared at like a monkey in a zoo. She had been the representative speaker for new students at the start of the school year, and with her eye-catching scores and rankings on the posted grade reports, more than half the students knew who she was. Those who didn’t know her couldn’t tear their eyes away from her face alone.
Yu Qingtang felt she had done something incredibly foolish, but seeing the brilliant smile on Cheng Zhanxi’s face, she thought being gawked at like a monkey wasn’t so bad.
After all, no one else mattered to her.
Cheng Zhanxi twisted open the thermos lid, lowered her head to sniff it, and said, “Is this brown sugar water?”
Yu Qingtang nodded.
Cheng Zhanxi picked up another thermos from her desk. “My mom prepared some for me too.”
Yu Qingtang: “…”
Yu Qingtang bit her lower lip almost imperceptibly. “If you don’t want it, give it back.”
“Who said I don’t want it?” Cheng Zhanxi took a big gulp right in front of her. Prioritizing her crush over her mother, she said, “Mmm, this tastes better than the one my mom made.”
Yu Qingtang bit her lip and smiled.
“I dare you to say that in front of your mom.”
“I wouldn’t dare, hahaha.”
Happy moments are always fleeting. As soon as the class bell rang, Yu Qingtang left. Cheng Zhanxi twisted the lid open and took another sip.
When she got home from school that afternoon, Song Qingrou took the thermos out of the side pocket of Cheng Zhanxi’s backpack. Feeling its weight, she said, “Why is there so much left? Didn’t I tell you to finish it?”
Cheng Zhanxi turned around and showed her the other side of her backpack.
Song Qingrou took the empty white thermos in her hand. “Who gave you this?”
“Yu…” Cheng Zhanxi had been about to say her full name but changed her mind at the last second. “Tangtang.”
Song Qingrou handed the two thermoses to a housekeeper and chided her lightly, “So you finish what your sister gives you, but bring home what your mother gives you, is that it? Maybe you should just go live at your sister’s house.”
Cheng Zhanxi’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“…” Song Qingrou flicked her forehead. “Stop making trouble for your sister. She has to study painting.”
“I study painting too.”
“Are the two of you learning the same kind of painting?”
“The fundamentals are pretty much the same.”
As Yu Ci’s daughter, it was normal for Yu Qingtang to have a talent for painting. But unlike Yu Ci, who studied Western painting, she loved traditional Chinese painting. At a young age, through Yu Ci’s introduction, she had been accepted as the final disciple of a certain master of the art. Cheng Zhanxi, for some reason, also loved to paint. It was as if she were Yu Ci’s biological daughter, with a special fondness for oil painting, which she practiced every day after her studies.
Song Qingrou took her backpack. “Anyway, bother your sister less. Don’t get in the way of her important work.”
Song Qingrou knew her daughter well. She was restless and playful. Painting was one of the very few activities she could settle down for. Once she was with Yu Qingtang, she probably wouldn’t even be able to paint. It was one thing for her to be distracted, but another to affect Yu Qingtang as well.
Cheng Zhanxi muttered, “I’m not bothering her. Sister likes me a lot.”
She went to the washroom to wash her hands, then announced, “I’m going to the art studio.”
Song Qingrou called out to her, “Have something to eat first.”
Without turning back, Cheng Zhanxi said, “I’m not eating. The teacher handed out a few test papers, so I have to call Yu… Tangtang tonight to ask some questions, which means I won’t have time to paint later. Oh, and tell Auntie Xiao Yun to make dinner later. I’ll come out after I’m finished painting.”
…
“Mom.” Cheng Zhanxi washed the paint from her hands, a faint scent of turpentine clinging to her.
The young woman’s voice was clear and pleasant, having lost some of its soft, childish quality from three years ago and gained a crisper edge.
Song Qingrou looked up, a little dazed by the face before her. At sixteen, the girl was like a flower bud, fair-skinned and delicate. The Cheng family’s tall genes had been well inherited; her height had easily surpassed 170 centimeters. Her sleeves were casually rolled up, revealing fair, smooth forearms, with beautiful, strong lines extending to her well-defined fingers.
Song Qingrou sighed wistfully in her heart.
It seemed like only yesterday she was a soft little bundle in swaddling clothes, and in the blink of an eye, she was all grown up.
“I’m going to find Yu Qingtang. I’ll call home if I’m eating out for dinner.” Cheng Zhanxi bent down and planted a loud kiss on her cheek. “Bye, Mom.”
“…”
Song Qingrou watched her back as she quickly disappeared behind the front door, shaking her head with a helpless smile. The melancholy in her heart was inexplicably swept away.
Her clinginess to her sister was one thing that hadn’t changed at all, no matter how old she got.
As soon as Cheng Zhanxi got in the car, she couldn’t resist calling Yu Qingtang.
“Hello.” Yu Qingtang’s voice was as cool as ever, betraying no obvious emotion.
But in that instant, Cheng Zhanxi’s steady heartbeat fell into disarray.
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