On the Wedding Night, I Transmigrated to After the Divorce – Chapter 36
by Little PandaTaking Her Home
Reluctance
From inside the restaurant, separated by a thick pane of glass, they had only seen pitch-black storm clouds and the oppressive weight of an impending storm. It wasn’t until they went downstairs that they realized the outside world was already howling with fierce winds and torrential rain.
A gust of frigid wind swept in, carrying droplets of rain that made Yu Yan shrink her neck back and take a step back. She hadn’t dressed for warmth today in order to look sexy, and now she was shivering from the cold.
Ran-jiejie and Yu-jiejie had a driver, who had long since parked the car by the curb and was waiting with an open umbrella. Needless to say, Fu Yunqing was definitely either driving herself or had a driver.
Every single one of them was a super rich lady1. Only Yu Yan was left all alone with nothing to her name. It was truly a sad state of affairs. Standing behind them, she said, “jiejie, you guys go ahead. I’ll wait for a car here.”
Ran Ling looked back, her voice soft. “Let us take you back.”
“No need, no need, please don’t trouble yourselves. I can just catch a cab myself,” Yu Yan hurriedly refused. At the same time, she winked and shot Ran Ling a pointed look. Ran Ling naturally understood. Glancing at Yunqing, who had come to a stop behind Yu Yan, she curled her lips into a smile and didn’t insist. “Alright then, you can just catch a cab back yourself. We really aren’t heading in the same direction anyway.”
Utterly ruthless. It was as if her earlier gentleness had been mere politeness, leaving Yu Yan as nothing but a pitiful little thing she had played with.
The key point was that she still replied obediently, “Mhm. Take care on your way back, jiejie~”
Ran Ling linked arms with Yu Ting and waved at her. “Bye-bye. Thanks for the treat, see you next time.” Her gaze lingered on Fu Yunqing for two seconds before she said mildly, “Yunqing, we’ll be taking our leave then.”
Yu Ting also looked at her. “See you next time.”
The two of them stepped out from under the eaves, and the chauffeur immediately came over with an umbrella to receive them. Opening the car door, the two ducked into the backseat. As the vehicle drove off into the rainy twilight, Yu Yan blinked, involuntarily turning around to look at the woman standing behind her.
Fu Yunqing was beautiful. Standing alone in the misty rain, she looked even more moving. This was the exact moment Yu Yan had been waiting for—when no one else could interrupt them.
She swallowed hard, tentatively testing the waters. “Fu-jiejie… are you waiting for your driver?”
She gazed at her. Her eyes held not only nervousness but also a trace of anticipation she didn’t dare show too obviously. She couldn’t hide these expectations well; her little thoughts were completely exposed.
Gripping her phone tightly, she swallowed back the rest of the words on the tip of her tongue.
She could definitely tell that she wanted to leave with her.
Right?
But for the entire night, Fu-jiejie had hardly paid her any attention. Even though she had tried so hard and been so enthusiastic, she hadn’t managed to move her in the slightest. Instead, she had only managed to annoy her, right?
Inviting her out to eat like this under “deceptive” pretenses had surely caused her trouble and made her sick of her, right?
In this silent standoff, Yu Yan’s fragile resolve shattered, and she admitted defeat. Knowing she was in the wrong, a look of sadness surfaced in her eyes. Trying to mask her awkwardness, she lowered her head and resumed tapping on the ride-hailing app. She entered Lu Yu’s address, confirmed the pickup location, and hesitated for a moment, just about to press the button to confirm the car type.
Suddenly, the woman in front of her moved, walking toward her. Yu Yan kept her head bowed, not lifting her eyes, but her hand froze in midair, her heart racing.
As Fu Yunqing brushed past her, Yu Yan heard her say, “I’ll take you back.”
Fu Yunqing’s body passed her, walking ahead into the drizzle. Yu Yan stared at her in a daze. A moment later, the corners of her lips curled up. Her eyes curved into crescents as she jogged to catch up.
Fu-jiejie’s car was parked by the curb—a highly low-profile Cayenne SUV.
The car drove up to Yu Yan, and she bent over, quickly ducking inside. The AC was running in the car. After getting in, Fu Yunqing took off her windbreaker and placed it in the backseat, revealing the solid black, form-fitting turtleneck sweater she wore underneath. The sweater’s material was exceptionally good, accentuating both her elegant temperament and her figure. Paired with her long black hair, slightly dampened by the mist, and her pale, refined face, every frame of her movement was indescribably beautiful. Yu Yan stared at her blankly, completely forgetting to fasten her seatbelt.
Fu Yunqing shot her a glance. “Fasten your seatbelt.”
“Oh, oh…” Yu Yan hastily turned her head to pull the seatbelt. Realizing her face was burning hot, she patted her cheeks, trying to bring down the red temperature2. What should she do? It wasn’t going down. She was actually blushing.
At this moment, Yu Yan was quite thankful for her constitution—how easily she blushed whenever she saw a beautiful woman. It made it that much easier for Fu-jiejie to see her tender and genuine affection for her.
Fu Yunqing asked her, “Where do you live?”
Yu Yan gave her Lu Yu’s address. Soon, only the voice of the GPS navigation filled the cabin. Yu Yan peeked at the screen: seventeen kilometers, just a thirty-minute drive.
Thirty minutes. What could happen in that time?
This seemed to be the first time since her amnesia that Yu Yan had been alone with her in such an enclosed space, facing her while she was calm and even-tempered.
She could tell that Fu-jiejie wasn’t angry with her. Most likely, she had taken pity on her and felt a heartache that compelled her to drive her home. At the thought of this, Yu Yan couldn’t help but feel smugly triumphant.
But for a moment, she didn’t know what to say or how to begin.
She stole several glances at her, struck every time by her beauty. She couldn’t help but sigh in awe—this was the charm of a jie3. Even in the past, back when she was a second-generation heir4, she had always preferred sitting in a rich lady jiejie’s car, being taken for a spin by a rich lady jiejie, rather than driving a multimillion-yuan sports car to show off. The bliss of being chauffeured by a wealthy older woman was something she could never experience while driving herself—this had been one of her biggest excuses for being too lazy to get her driver’s license.
She thought about how she seemed to already have a driver’s license now, but had forgotten how to drive. What was she supposed to do?
Of course, these matters were entirely trivial compared to the precious time she had right now.
Outside, the rain continued to fall. The windshield would grow foggy, only to be swiftly wiped away by the wipers, leaving it pristine again. It was hard to tell if the wind had picked up. Not only did Fu Yunqing look beautiful while driving, but her driving was also incredibly smooth. She was focused and steady, radiating a deeply reassuring aura.
There weren’t many cars around. As they cruised through the rainy night, the silence had already wasted a lot of time. Yu Yan didn’t want this to continue.
She wanted to break Fu Yunqing’s steady calm.
“Fu-jiejie…” Yu Yan called softly.
Fu Yunqing didn’t respond, but Yu Yan could sense that she was waiting for her to continue.
Yu Yan was momentarily at a loss for words. “Thank you for taking me home. It definitely would have been hard to hail a cab in this rain.”
Gripping the steering wheel and looking straight ahead, Fu Yunqing felt her politeness. At the thought of their lost intimacy, her eyes dimmed slightly, and she said, “You’re welcome.”
“…”
So stiff!
Yu Yan pursed her lips. She decided to pretend to be pitiful first: “Are you really not angry? What I did… tricking you into coming out like that, it was really bad of me…”
Fu Yunqing replied crisply, “I’m not.”
Oh, it looked like she really wasn’t.
She already felt heartache for her; how could she still be angry? Even if she had been upset at first, that anger had surely been eclipsed by her heartache by now.
Ahead of them was a ninety-second red light. Yu Yan decided to press her advantage. Lowering her stance, she confessed, “And about last time… I shouldn’t have gone out and drank so much by myself just because I wanted to get your attention.”
Hearing this, Fu Yunqing indeed turned her head to look at her.
Meeting her gaze, Yu Yan’s eyelashes fluttered as she lowered her head slightly. Though she was admitting her faults, there was an inexplicable trace of grievance mixed into her obedience. “I shouldn’t have crouched by the side of the road and made you worry, and I shouldn’t have deliberately hung up on your calls to make you anxious. I was wrong.”
In truth, she had already sent these words to Fu Yunqing via WeChat, only to be left on read with no reply for days. Saying them in person naturally carried far more sincerity and depth. It was even more candid—she had even confessed that going out to drink was just to catch jiejie’s attention. Truly, her sincerity was clear for all to see.
Yu Yan lifted her eyes, pleading, “I was wrong. Don’t be mad anymore. Forgive me, okay?”
“…” The woman in front of her pressed her lips slightly together, gazing complexly at Yu Yan. Yu Yan couldn’t decipher the restraint hidden within those eyes, but she could clearly tell that she was moved. Keenly sensing this, and recalling how Fu Yunqing had asked if her wound hurt that night, Yu Yan grew so bold as to tug at her sleeve. Her fingertips brushed against the back of Fu Yunqing’s hand as if they were there and not there, as she murmured softly, “I know I was wrong…”
Fu Yunqing turned her face back toward the road and gripped the steering wheel tightly. It was a long moment before she finally said in a low, resigned voice, “Don’t do things like that next time.”
“Mhm!” This meant she was completely forgiven. Yu Yan instantly beamed with joy. “I promise!”
The ninety seconds passed in the blink of an eye. When the car started moving again, the atmosphere inside had completely shifted. For someone as prone to pushing her luck as Yu Yan, successfully taking such a massive step forward made her feel like she was floating to the heavens. Her previously reserved demeanor vanished, joy radiating from her brow. “Then… the Tangerine Pear Tea from last time, did you like it?”
As soon as she finished asking, Yu Yan immediately realized she seemed to have gone too far all at once. Wasn’t this making Fu Yunqing choose between “like” and “dislike”? Fu Yunqing definitely wouldn’t say she liked it, so was she supposed to force her to say she didn’t like it?
Absolutely not.
So she quickly amended, “Was it a little too sweet?”
Sure enough, phrasing the question to avoid intimate words made it much easier for the other party to answer. Fu Yunqing didn’t cruelly refuse to reply; instead, she said with reserved dignity, “No.”
She didn’t think it was too sweet.
Yu Yan immediately followed up, “Then, did Fu-jiejie think it was helpful? Did your throat feel a bit better?”
She still responded with dignity, “Mhm.”
“Okay~ Then I’ll bring you more next time, all right? Teacher Fu works so hard teaching class, your throat must be properly protected.”
Fu Yunqing didn’t respond to this remark. Perhaps she didn’t want her to get too smug. Yu Yan took it as tacit consent. She knew that while Fu Yunqing could afford to be silent, she couldn’t. Even if jiejie didn’t respond, she still needed to talk to her more.
Yu Yan naturally possessed some chatterbox attributes; once she started talking, it was a bit hard to stop. She told Fu Yunqing that she was currently staying at Lu Yu’s place, then couldn’t resist complaining about how tiny Lu Yu’s place really was. The single bedroom wasn’t even as big as her old bathroom. Plus, the soundproofing was terrible—she couldn’t sleep at night because of the noise, and she was always getting woken up in the mornings. On top of that, the hallway light was broken and absolutely no one was going to fix it.
Fu Yunqing listened quietly. It wasn’t until Yu Yan had exhausted everything she had to say that she realized her own noisiness and complaining. Spreading negative energy wasn’t very good; it felt like she was deliberately playing the victim5 in front of Fu-jiejie—even though she had been playing the victim this whole time…
Yu Yan simply shut her mouth, spending the final stretch of the journey quietly admiring the beautiful woman driving the car.
The car soon stopped at the entrance of the residential complex, so quickly that it made her feel her time spent with Fu Yunqing was simply fleeting.
But today had been enough. Her progress today had already exceeded her expectations. Yu Yan believed that her coquettishness, her pleas, her promises, and the things she shared would definitely be enough for Fu-jiejie to savor after they parted.
Parting at precisely the right moment made savoring and longing the best; this was the reason why the ambiguous stage of romance was the most intoxicating.
“Thank you for bringing me home, Fu-jiejie.” Unfastening her seatbelt, Yu Yan grabbed her bag and opened the door. Looking at Fu Yunqing with reluctance, she said, “Then… I’ll head in now. Goodbye, Fu-jiejie.”
After saying goodbye, she still didn’t get up immediately. Obviously, she was waiting for Fu Yunqing to say something to her too.
Fu Yunqing looked at her and gave a soft “Mhm,” and her eyes and brows instantly lit up with joy as she said, “See you next time~”
She made zero effort to hide her emotions, or what she cared about and what she wanted. She simply craved jiejie’s response. Only after being satisfied was she willing to open the car door and get out. Before she could take two steps, she felt so reluctant to part that she turned around and bent down in front of the car window, gazing at her eagerly, twisting and saying nothing.
Like a pitiful kitten. In the past, whenever Fu Yunqing had to go on a business trip, she would lean against the car window exactly like this—her mood utterly deflated, her brows drooping. Sometimes, when it was early in the morning and she wasn’t even fully awake, she would still insist on seeing her off, rubbing her eyes until the rims were completely red.
Whenever asked what was wrong, she would just sulk in silence, making one’s heart ache. Fu Yunqing would always be unable to resist opening the car door again to step out and hug her. She would stroke her head, coaxing her and telling jokes to make her smile.
Later on she rarely went on business trips, because she couldn’t bear to part, and because she always felt she owed her.
Fu Yunqing parted her lips, wanting to say something.
“You… be careful on the road.” Yu Yan took a step back, raising a hand to wave at her, planning to watch her leave.
Her sensibleness caused a pang of sourness in Fu Yunqing’s heart. She thought, She won’t act spoiled for ages like she used to anymore.
Her brows furrowed tightly. The hollow, empty feeling in her heart made Fu Yunqing realize her own loss of composure and reluctance to leave. Flustered, she lowered her head to adjust herself, turned the steering wheel, and drove the car away. Yu Yan stood in place to watch her leave. But the moment the car drove far enough away, where could her lingering reluctance still be seen? She proudly curled up the corners of her lips.
Hmph~
Yu Yan bet 200 RMB that there was no way she would have the heart to leave her messages on read tonight.
Footnotes
- 'Fùpó' (rich lady) is Chinese internet slang for a wealthy woman, often used in the context of lesbian relationships to refer to a financially successful partner who might 'keep' or support someone.
- 'Hóng wēn' (red temperature) is internet slang from gaming culture for when someone gets visibly flushed from embarrassment, anger, or stress.
- In modern Chinese internet slang, 'jie' (big sister) is used to describe a woman who is cool, mature, capable, and charismatic.
- 'Èrdài' (second generation) usually refers to 'fù'èrdài' (the second-generation rich) — children of wealthy entrepreneurs who inherit immense wealth and privilege.
- 'Mài cǎn' (selling misery) is slang for intentionally acting pitiful or emphasizing one's hardships to gain sympathy.
0 Comments