That “Bad” Woman Next Door – Chapter 23

I Just Like Small Ones.

Hanging up the phone, Yuan Yue felt her mouth was a bit dry. She said to Xiao Min, who was brewing tea behind the counter, “Can you pour me a cup of tea?”

“Oh, okay.” Xiao Min handed the tea to her. “Be carefu—”

“Pu——” Before Xiao Min could finish the word “hot”, Yuan Yue suffered disaster. She hurriedly spat the tea out, sticking out her tongue and furrowing her brows. “Why is it this hot?”

Xiao Min: “I just wanted to remind you, who knew you were in such a rush. Just how thirsty are you?”

Yuan Yue used her hand to fan wind onto her tongue. She also blamed herself; she had been distracted just now and didn’t pay attention. She didn’t want to drink the tea anymore, so she returned the cup to Xiao Min. “Take it away, thanks.”

Xiao Min took the cup and poured the tea out. When she turned around, seeing Yuan Yue looking like her soul was not guarding its residence¹, she asked, “Yueyue, why does your complexion look not quite right?”

Yuan Yue subconsciously touched her own face. “…Is it?”

Xiao Min looked seriously again and said, “It is! It’s tragically white. Is it because you didn’t put on makeup today? I just feel your complexion isn’t very good.”

Before going out, Yuan Yue had been glowing with health and radiating vigor. If not for this Zhuang Xiaochen who had popped out from who knows where, she wouldn’t have been scared into a pale face.

Seeing her lower her eyes in contemplation, Xiao Min said again, “Do you want to go inside and touch up your makeup?”

Yuan Yue was usually accustomed to being stinky with beauty²; she liked high heels and wished she could wear makeup twenty-four hours a day. Today, fearing she would delay Yu Xi’s work time, she hadn’t dressed up beautifully. Hearing Xiao Min’s suggestion, she said with a lack of interest, “Forget it. If I put it on, I still have to take it off. Too troublesome.”

Xiao Min: “Oh.”

“I won’t disturb you anymore, you get busy.” Yuan Yue turned to leave the counter, unable to resist glancing at the strange woman over there who was lowering her head and playing on her phone. She felt inexplicably flustered.

Actually, when Zhuang Xiaochen said she seemed to have seen her somewhere, Yuan Yue had completely remembered.

Yesterday on the highway, she and Yu Xi had kissed without scruples. At that time, her heart was like a bright mirror³, so when she detected she was being peeped at by someone, she had still acted very dashingly because she thought that person was just a passerby. She never expected it to be this dog blood⁴; she bumped into her again today.

Realizing that Zhuang Xiaochen was that heavy-makeup woman who peeped at her and Yu Xi’s hot kiss that day, Yuan Yue began to feel a guilty conscience. The other party’s eyes were too sharp, as if wanting to pry something out from her body. She feared her acting skills weren’t up to par, so she randomly found an excuse to leave.

Although Zhuang Xiaochen didn’t say much more, a strong sixth sense told her that this woman did not look like a good stubble⁵.

Yuan Yue leaned her back against the counter to calm the waves in the bottom of her heart. Suddenly, she felt a scorching gaze shoot straight toward her. She abruptly looked up and, unexpectedly, her vision collided with Zhuang Xiaochen’s: “……”

Zhuang Xiaochen looked as if she had seen her unintentionally; across the long distance, she gave her a shallow smile.

Yuan Yue wasn’t clear on the meaning behind this smile. Politely, she also returned a smile to the other party, then twisted her body around, feigning calmness.

Composing herself, she waved to Xiao Min and whispered, “That woman, you watch her. If anything happens, call my brother’s phone.”

She didn’t want to stay any longer. After finishing her instructions, she grabbed her bag to leave.

Unexpectedly, she bumped into Yuan Xi right as she went out the door.

Seeing her looking hurried, Yuan Xi asked, “Hurrying and scurrying, where are you going?”

Yuan Yue paused. “How are you this fast?”

Yuan Xi shook the car keys in his hand. “When you called me, I was already on the road.”

“Oh.” It was good that Yuan Xi arrived. Yuan Yue pointed at Zhuang Xiaochen inside the shop and said with flying speech speed, “The person looking for you is right inside. You go in quickly.”

Seeing that she wanted to pull her legs and run after speaking, Yuan Xi, with eyes sharp and hands quick, pulled her back. “Why do you want to leave just as I arrive? Where are you going?”

Yuan Yue spread her hands. “There’s nothing for me to do anyway. If I don’t leave, what would I stay here for?”

“Who said there’s nothing?” Yuan Xi glanced in Zhuang Xiaochen’s direction and said, “She came to find us to discuss franchising matters. You count as half a boss too; how can such an important matter lack you?”

“Franchising?” Yuan Yue was astonished.

This was actually a rare, big event.

However, it wasn’t strange. Their hotpot⁶ restaurant’s business had been explosive in recent years. Although the taste wasn’t the most unique, it won by being excellent goods at low prices; the customer return rate was very high. In the past, quite a few people had come to find Yuan Yue to discuss franchising, but none had been settled. Today, another one came.

Although Zhuang Xiaochen made her very uncomfortable, when it came to money, Yuan Yue’s heart moved. Moreover, what Yuan Xi said wasn’t without reason. No matter what, she counted as half a boss. Throwing all matters, big and small, to Yuan Xi alone to bear was indeed too irresponsible.

After weighing things in her heart, Yuan Yue decided to accompany Yuan Xi to meet that Zhuang Xiaochen.

Yuan Xi invited Zhuang Xiaochen into a private room. Although the space was small, it was VIP-level treatment. The three took their seats one after another. Yuan Xi laughed loudly and said, “Has Miss Zhuang eaten breakfast? Since you’re here, do you want to taste the things in our shop?”

“Okay.” Zhuang Xiaochen gave a lot of face⁷. “I got up late today, so indeed I haven’t eaten breakfast yet. I have drooled over Boss Yuan’s hotpot for a long time. Coming this time, I must eat to my heart’s content.”

Yuan Xi busily ordered people to bring the hotpot up.

Zhuang Xiaochen looked at the rich ingredients on the table and said with a smile, “Not to hide it from you two, originally I just ate your family’s hotpot and felt the taste was quite good, so that’s why I came to find you to discuss franchising matters.”

Mentioning his own hotpot, Yuan Xi got energized, introducing it to Zhuang Xiaochen in a torrent of ceaseless words⁸.

This side was chatting with fiery heat and cheerful enthusiasm; looking conversely at Yuan Yue, she was dumb as a wooden chicken⁹, her soul flown to who knows where.

The soup base boiled, the fragrance rich and strong. Yuan Xi temporarily stopped the franchising matter and said attentively to Zhuang Xiaochen, “Let’s eat something to pad our stomachs first. We can chat while eating.”

“Okay.” Zhuang Xiaochen gave a captivating smile.

Yuan Yue also picked up her chopsticks. She wasn’t hungry at all; it was just that not eating would appear out of place and impolite. She ate vegetables intermittently, absent-mindedly listening to Yuan Xi speak with fervor and assurance¹⁰.

When leaving the house, she forgot to ask Yu Xi: does the gym cover lunch? If not, she could call Yu Xi over to eat together at noon.

Yuan Yue was thinking about other things in her heart when, out of the blue, she heard someone call her name. She suddenly snapped back to reality, looking blankly at the person opposite her. “Hmm?”

Zhuang Xiaochen looked at her with a smile and said, “Miss Yuan is so refined; you don’t even chat a few sentences with us.”

Yuan Yue: “……”

“Miss Zhuang, you don’t understand her. She is a bit afraid of strangers. After getting familiar, she becomes people-come-crazy¹¹,” Yuan Xi said, dismantling her stage¹².

This time, Yuan Yue rarely didn’t choke back at Yuan Xi. Eating a mouthful of green vegetables, she said in a faint tone, “I have been listening to you guys talk the whole time. You guys chat yours, no need to mind me.”

But Zhuang Xiaochen seemed not to plan on letting her off easily, always wanting to lead the topic onto her body. “I don’t know why, but seeing Miss Yuan, I feel especially intimate.”

Yuan Yue’s heart gave a ge-deng jump; she almost bit her own tongue. She looked at the opposite Zhuang Xiaochen without changing expression, always feeling the other party had words within words¹³.

Yuan Xi didn’t feel anything wrong at all. He chimed in again, “This meimei¹⁴ of mine has no other merits, just that she looks likeable.”

Where is there anyone who praises their own younger sister like this? Yuan Yue glared at Yuan Xi. Yuan Xi laughed haha.

Zhuang Xiaochen deeply agreed. Yuan Yue’s facial features couldn’t be counted as extremely exquisite, but her skin was very tender and very white. Her brows and eyes were sparse and indifferent, giving people a very comfortable feeling. She unconsciously looked a few more times and said leisurely, “If Miss Yuan does not disdain it, how about we become friends in the future?”

Luckily Yuan Yue wasn’t eating right at this moment, otherwise she really would have choked to death! She was already guarded against this Zhuang Xiaochen. Once Zhuang Xiaochen said these words, she pondered for a long time, not knowing how she should answer.

Yuan Xi wasn’t clear on the tricky business within. Hearing Zhuang Xiaochen’s words, he felt this cooperation had hope, so he busily spoke up to mediate. “Where is there any disdain or not disdain? Miss Zhuang is too polite. This meimei of mine is usually too much of a shut-in and doesn’t have any friends either. If Miss Zhuang has time, you can take her out to play together.”

Yuan Yue turned her gaze to Yuan Xi, silently accusing him.

How could Yuan Xi understand what her eyes meant? He even cheerfully drank a mouthful of beverage.

“Then, how about we leave each other a contact method?” Zhuang Xiaochen said to Yuan Yue.

“Good, good!” Before Yuan Yue could answer, Yuan Xi pulled out his phone first and exchanged contact methods with Zhuang Xiaochen.

When it was Yuan Yue’s turn, Zhuang Xiaochen looked at her with a smile. “Miss Yuan, yours?”

Yuan Yue unwillingly reported her phone number to her. Pausing, she said, “Having the phone number is enough, right? I generally don’t use WeChat¹⁵ to communicate.”

Zhuang Xiaochen didn’t expect she would publicly refuse. She froze for a moment.

Yuan Xi busily smoothed things over. “This point I can prove. Her WeChat is just a decoration; adding it is useless.”

Only then did Zhuang Xiaochen drop it.

It wasn’t that Yuan Yue was stingy. The reason she didn’t give her WeChat was simply that her intuition said this Zhuang Xiaochen was very strange. Before figuring out the other party’s details, she didn’t want to let Zhuang Xiaochen know more things.

Truly unable to eat anymore, Yuan Yue used the excuse of going to the toilet to distance herself from the private room. Hiding inside the toilet, she called Yu Xi.

She thought Yu Xi was busy, but unexpectedly, Yu Xi picked up very quickly. Yuan Yue felt slightly more at ease. Leaning on the wall, she asked lazily, “Are you not busy today?”

Yu Xi’s voice carried a clear smile. “No matter how busy, I still have to pick up your call at the first moment.”

These words sounded pleasing to the ear. The corners of Yuan Yue’s mouth unconsciously rose. Feigning coquettish anger, she asked, “Then are you actually busy or not busy?”

Yu Xi pondered slightly, lowered her voice, and said, “Busy. Always busy thinking of you.”

Sure enough, there is no woman who doesn’t like hearing love talk. Even with such an earthy sentence, Yuan Yue listened until her heart bloomed with flowers. The ear touching the phone became slightly hot. She said with a soft voice, “Why are you like this? Not focused at work, be careful of being caught by the boss.”

Yu Xi said indifferently, “It’s fine. My work time is completely free; no one dares to catch me.”

“So formidable?!” Yuan Yue screamed in surprise, very cooperatively.

Yu Xi was amused by her. She laughed for a while before stopping, then said, “I see you are quite idle though.”

Yuan Yue immediately drooped her face and said, “Am not. I’m very busy.”

“Oh? Then what are you busy with?” Yu Xi’s tone added a few degrees of teasing.

Yuan Yue wasn’t thick-skinned like her to say she was busy thinking of her. Curling her lips, she roasted¹⁶, “This morning I was busy socializing with a difficult, strange woman. Annoyed to death.”

Yu Xi heard her tone wasn’t right. Putting away her joking thoughts, she asked, “What difficult, strange woman?”

“Do you still remember the traffic jam on the highway yesterday? At that time we were…” Speaking to here, Yuan Yue’s small face reddened and her voice became smaller. “…kissing, there was a woman next to us peeping. Do you still remember?”

Yu Xi recalled briefly and immediately remembered. “Remember. What about it?”

Sitting on the toilet lid, Yuan Yue told her the matter of seeing Zhuang Xiaochen today, one five one ten¹⁷.

After listening, Yu Xi was silent for an instant. Knowing what Yuan Yue was worried about, she urged, “You stay far away from her. Don’t pay attention to her.”

Yuan Yue thought so too. Since seeing Zhuang Xiaochen, her heart had been anxious and fearful; now it suddenly opened up to light. She stood up with a ceng and said, “I plan to slip away and go find you immediately!”

Yu Xi smiled. “Then you come. Just so happens I want to find you too.”

After ending the call with Yu Xi, Yuan Yue returned to the private room. Pushing open the door, a strong smell of smoke assaulted her nose. She scrunched her nose. Through the curling smoke, she saw Zhuang Xiaochen’s face that made people unable to figure out or predict; her expression stagnated.

This woman actually smoked.

“Why were you gone for so long?” Seeing her enter but stand still by the door, Yuan Xi complained.

Yuan Yue turned her line of sight to Yuan Xi, walked straight over, and whispered in his ear, “Ge, I have something to do, I have to go first.”

Yuan Xi also asked her in a small voice, “What matter?”

“Yu Xi just looked for me, saying there is an urgent matter requiring me to go over for a trip,” Yuan Yue lied with eyes open¹⁸.

After all, Yu Xi was someone who had been to his home and met his parents; her status and position were naturally somewhat special. Seeing Yuan Yue speak as if it were very urgent, Yuan Xi didn’t keep her either. “Then you hurry and go.”

Yuan Yue let out a breath of relief in her heart. Turning her head, she said politely to Zhuang Xiaochen, “Miss Zhuang, please take your time eating. I have something to do and will leave a step first.”

Zhuang Xiaochen flicked the cigarette ash in her hand, smiling with deep meaning. “Miss Yuan, walk slowly.”

Yuan Yue always felt that pair of eyes was too sharp. She hurriedly turned her head away, left the private room, exited the hotpot restaurant, and went to find Yu Xi without stopping the horse’s hooves¹⁹.

They met in the unmanned underground parking lot. As soon as they met, Yuan Yue charged up and gave Yu Xi a bear hug, kissing and gnawing on her.

Yu Xi was made itchy all over by her. She had to push her away, pinching her small face that was slightly red from running. She said jokingly, “Are you a puppy?”

Yuan Yue was pushed away but stuck back on again, two hands hooking around her neck to act coquettishly. Suddenly thinking of something, she worried, “You running out during work time, is there really no problem?”

Yu Xi shook her head to indicate it was nothing. She said, “I knew you were bored. Where do you want to go play? I’ll accompany you all day today.”

So she specifically ran out to accompany her. Yuan Yue’s heart felt warm. She thought for a bit and said, “How about we go window shopping!”

“Okay.” Yu Xi touched her head, compliant in a hundred ways.

Nearby was a business district. At this hour, quite a few shops along the street had just opened. Yuan Yue linked arms with Yu Xi and walked all the way over, occasionally drilling into shops to touch and look. Unknowingly, they walked to the biggest mall in the vicinity.

There weren’t many people in the mall yet. Yuan Yue and Yu Xi went up to the second floor of the mall hand in hand.

When passing a shop with unique decoration, Yuan Yue couldn’t help but look a few more times. That shop’s sales guide immediately ran out enthusiastically to greet them. “Excuse me, Miss, do you want to buy underwear? We are doing an activity recently: 10% off for one set, and if you buy two sets, you can get 20% off!”

Yuan Yue didn’t lack underwear temporarily and hadn’t planned to buy any. It was just that she subconsciously associated it with the scene of helping Yu Xi take off her underwear with a heated brain that night back in her hometown during the festival. Her heart heated up, and ghosts urged and gods commissioned²⁰—she pulled Yu Xi and walked in.

That sales guide hurriedly followed over and said, “Excuse me, Miss, what size do you usually wear? I can recommend a few styles in our shop that are very not bad for you.”

Yuan Yue didn’t even think and reported her bust size: “36B.”

A light laugh sounded by her ear.

Yuan Yue turned her head to look. She saw Yu Xi’s eyes staring right at her chest, smiling with unclear meaning. Her face heated up. She bumped Yu Xi with her elbow and asked at a volume only the two of them could hear, “What are you laughing at?”

Yu Xi’s line of sight moved from the slightly raised small hill on her chest to her face. Leaning to her ear, she said with an equally low volume, “Where is there a B? Clearly it’s an A.”

“!” Yuan Yue was not happy about this. She retorted loudly, “I am a B!”

“It’s not like I haven’t touched it.”

“……”

The sales guide didn’t know what riddles they were playing. With one heart thinking of sales performance, she found a chance to cut in and ask, “Is it 36B?”

Yuan Yue wanted to say that’s right. She glanced at Yu Xi, her face reddening, and changed her words awkwardly. “I’ll look at the A cups first.”

“36A, right?” The sales guide walked to a shelf, picked out a few pieces of underwear with different styles but consistent size, and displayed them for Yuan Yue to see. “These are all our shop’s newest styles. You can come over and choose to see if there are any you like.”

Yuan Yue felt the styles were all about the same. She picked a black lace one and said, “Just this one.”

“Do you need to try it on?” the sales guide asked.

Yuan Yue usually bought underwear by just choosing and buying; she felt trying it on was too troublesome. She subconsciously wanted to refuse, but unexpectedly, Yu Xi answered for her: “Need to try.”

Yuan Yue looked at her in surprise.

Yu Xi’s finger touched that lace underwear. Not knowing if she thought of something, the corners of her lips hooked slightly. She said, “If you don’t try it on, what if it doesn’t fit when you buy it back?”

What she said seemed to have a bit of reason…

Before, Yuan Yue always wore 36B. This time she took a 36A, one size smaller. What if she couldn’t put it on?

Right, she must try it on. She wanted to prove herself—she was a B, not an A!

Yuan Yue was encouraged. She turned her head and asked the sales guide, “Excuse me, where is the changing room?”

Sales guide: “The changing room is at the innermost left-hand side. Let me take you over.”

Yu Xi, however, blocked the sales guide and said, “No need to trouble you, we can go over ourselves.”

Sales guide: “Okay.”

Although she didn’t need to follow, the sales guide was still uneasy. Her gaze pursued the two of them. Seeing them enter the fitting room one after another, she muttered to herself somewhat incomprehensibly, “The space is so small, do they not mind the crowding?”

Inside the fitting room.

As soon as Yuan Yue turned her head, she crashed into Yu Xi’s embrace. She was startled. “What did you come in for?”

The look in Yu Xi’s eyes when looking at her had a bit more unusual temperature, yet she said without face reddening or heart jumping, “Helping you.”

Yuan Yue had felt she harbored evil intentions from the moment she suggested trying it on; she didn’t expect she had indeed guessed correctly. Fitting room play—just thinking about it was so stimulating… But once she thought about how there were still people outside, Yuan Yue felt her whole person was about to burn up. Biting her lip, she said in a small voice, “I can wear it myself. It’s too crowded, you hurry and go out.”

Yu Xi remained motionless like a mountain. With an expression like a smile yet not a smile, she said, “Alright, I was wrong. Wasn’t it just saying you are an A just now? This was originally the fact, is it worth throwing a face at me?”

It would have been fine not to mention this. Yuan Yue deliberately stiffened her face, her voice pitch rising high. “I was already a B from when I started wearing underwear!”

Yu Xi tried hard to hold back her laughter. She said, “When you started wearing underwear, you were only ten or so years old, right? How could it be that the more you grow, the more you shrink?”

“You are the one shrinking!” Yuan Yue punched her annoyedly. Her eyes uncontrolledly glanced at her chest, which was obviously one size bigger than her own—envious and jealous.

Yu Xi was about to die of laughter. Grabbing her hand, she said, “If it’s A then it’s A. This isn’t some shameful thing.” She leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I just like small ones. Any bigger and I wouldn’t be able to grab hold of them.”

With a pa sound, the black lace underwear, along with the hanger, fell onto the ground.

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