That “Bad” Woman Next Door – Chapter 27

Fighting a Water War Is Not Fun; Rolling the Sheets Is Fun.

It was just getting dark when they arrived home. Much like the previous time, Yuan Yue did not settle down at all after getting drunk. Her mouth was full of nonsense, and she proceeded to harass Yu Xi. She made a ruckus all the way from downstairs into the house, mouthing drunken words: “Who are you? You look so familiar.”

Yu Xi scrambled to support her properly, momentarily having no mind to play along with her.

Yuan Yue narrowed her eyes slightly, giggling foolishly as she asked and answered herself, “Oh, it turns out it is my dear Xiao Xixi.”

Yu Xi laid her down on the sofa, bent over, and patted her flushed face, asking worriedly, “Do you feel unwell?”

Yuan Yue shook her head in a trance. One hand hooked around Yu Xi’s neck, using the momentum to pull her down, saying indistinctly, “Come on! Let’s go roll the sheets together.”

Yu Xi, however, pried her hand away. She straightened her body slightly, left not knowing whether to laugh or cry by her antics. “It’s still early, how can we sleep?”

Dissatisfied with her departure, Yuan Yue sprang up with her upper body, wanting to entangle with Yu Xi again. Yu Xi took the chance to hold her hand, asking softly, “Do you want to drink water?”

Yuan Yue shook her head violently. This time, perhaps because the movement was too large, she felt a wave of dizziness.

Seeing this, Yu Xi hurriedly helped her lie flat, her body covering her again. She gazed at Yuan Yue’s hazy eyes and asked cautiously, “Did someone force you to drink alcohol?”

Yuan Yue was a bit more sober than last time. She completely understood what Yu Xi said. She thought for a moment and said, “No.”

Yu Xi frowned. “No one forced you, yet you drank until you became like this?”

Yu Xi’s hair brushed past her neck. Yuan Yue scratched at it and giggled, “Not much, just three cups.”

“Toppled after three cups?!” Yu Xi was shocked and suspicious.

Yuan Yue nodded with a foolish smile.

Yu Xi was defeated. She pulled her hair out of the other’s hand, stared tightly at her, and said with a face full of seriousness, “In the future, you cannot drink alcohol without me present. Did you hear me?”

Yuan Yue immediately composed her expression and nodded earnestly.

Only then was Yu Xi reassured. She kissed her forehead and said, “Be good, lie there properly. I will go run water for you to take a bath.”

After finishing the bath, Yuan Yue still refused to let it go. Tugging at Yu Xi’s clothes, she said with seemingly innocent intent, “Your clothes are all wet, take them off quickly.”

Yu Xi knew what she wanted to do. Clutching the front lapel of her clothes tightly, she said grumpily, “Isn’t it all caused by you? Taking a bath was like fighting a water war.”

“Fighting a water war is not fun; rolling the sheets is fun,” Yuan Yue mumbled.

After the drunken nonsense last time, Yuan Yue had caught a cold, so Yu Xi did not dare to mess around again this time. Risking her life to protect her clothes, Yu Xi successfully laid Yuan Yue down on the bed, pinned down her restless body, and said half-threateningly, “If you don’t sleep now, don’t think about sleeping tonight.”

These words lacked persuasive power, but seeing Yu Xi’s face turn cold, Yuan Yue still felt some apprehension. However, she refused to give up and said, “You haven’t kissed me today.”

Actually, she had just kissed her forehead. Yu Xi held back a laugh, aimed at her lips, and pecked fiercely. “Can you sleep now?”

Yuan Yue finally closed her eyes, satisfied.

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When she woke up the next day, Yuan Yue was incomparably regretful. Her head hurt. She turned her body and couldn’t help but wail.

Yu Xi happened to push the door open and enter. Hearing the movement on the bed, she hurriedly walked over to check. “Is it very uncomfortable?”

Yuan Yue snapped her eyes open and saw Yu Xi’s concerned face. Her voice was hoarse as she grabbed Yu Xi’s hand and asked instead of answering, “What time is it? Why haven’t you gone to work yet?”

Yu Xi gently brushed the bangs blocking her eyes to the side. “No rush, it is still early.” Seeing Yuan Yue’s face was pale, she hurriedly added, “Do you want to lie down a bit longer?”

Lying down longer would probably make her dizzier. Yuan Yue looked at her and said incoherently, “I’m hungry.”

Yu Xi smiled, her face unfolding, and said softly, “Then get up and eat something. I cooked congee.”

With Yu Xi’s help, Yuan Yue got up to wash. After washing up and coming out, the two sat at the dining table to eat breakfast together. Yuan Yue looked at the steaming rice congee on the table and said in shock, “Did you get up very early today?”

“En.” Yu Xi filled a bowl of congee for her and lifted her eyelids to look at her. “Last night at midnight, you vomited all over the floor. I cleaned up for a long time.”

Looking at the dark circles under Yu Xi’s eyes, Yuan Yue felt infinite guilt in her heart. “I’m sorry.”

Taking advantage of her clarity now, Yu Xi confirmed with her once again, “Do you dare to drink indiscriminately in the future?”

“I don’t dare anymore.” Yuan Yue bit her spoon and looked at her innocently, then suddenly raised her voice to defend herself, “But yesterday I didn’t drink indiscriminately. We were discussing business. Social engagements, you know, it’s unavoidable to drink a little.”

Yu Xi said expressionlessly, “Social engagements won’t do either. Your alcohol tolerance is too terrible.”

After these last two drunken incidents, Yuan Yue finally realized that her alcohol tolerance was indeed poor, and every time she got drunk, she tormented Yu Xi. How could she dare to retort even half a sentence?

Yuan Yue drank a mouthful of congee and smiled ingratiatingly. “This is really delicious.”

Yu Xi, however, did not plan to end the topic just like that. Turning a deaf ear to her praise, she warned, “That person surnamed Zhuang—you still have to maintain distance from her in the future.”

Yuan Yue swallowed the thing in her mouth and said a beat slower, “Oh.”

Yu Xi, seeing her calm reaction, was somewhat confused. “Why don’t you ask me the reason?”

Yuan Yue ate happily and said with a face full of bliss, “Whatever you say goes. I know you are doing it for my own good, so I don’t need to know the reason at all.”

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After finishing breakfast, Yuan Yue saw Yu Xi off to work. She rested for a while herself. When her spirit recovered a bit, she remembered the unfinished business from yesterday. She took the key and went next door.

Yuan Yue spent a whole morning cleaning Yu Xi’s home without distraction. She went home to change clothes and put on light makeup before going out.

As soon as Yuan Yue stepped into the shop door, Guo Xiangyuan welcomed her, asking impatiently, “Yueyue, are you okay?”

The makeup covered Yuan Yue’s bleak complexion. She raised her brows. “I’m very good.” As she spoke, she walked inside and said nonchalantly, “Has my brother arrived?”

“The boss hasn’t come yet today.” Guo Xiangyuan followed her, staring at her side profile again and again, then said, “Yesterday you got drunk. I originally wanted to send you back.”

Yuan Yue had always known Guo Xiangyuan’s feelings for her. Seeing the other party speak sincerely, she felt embarrassed to show him a cold face. She smiled and said, “Thanks for the concern.”

Guo Xiangyuan was already used to Yuan Yue’s coldness toward him. Suddenly seeing Yuan Yue smile at him, he was instantly stunned. His face turned slightly red as he stammered, “Yueyue, I…”

“Miss Yuan.”

Guo Xiangyuan’s words were suddenly cut off by a voice.

Yuan Yue turned her head and saw a woman with a graceful figure and simple dress walking toward her. She felt this person looked somewhat familiar. After scrutinizing for a long time, she said in surprise, “It’s you?”

Zhuang Xiaochen stood still in front of her and smiled politely. “It’s me. What, Miss Yuan can’t recognize me without makeup today?”

Accustomed to seeing the mature woman Zhuang Xiaochen with heavy makeup and bold, exaggerated clothing, seeing her standing so refreshingly in front of her today, Yuan Yue was dazed and took a few extra looks.

Although Yuan Yue never had much good feeling toward Zhuang Xiaochen, she had to admit that Zhuang Xiaochen without makeup or excessive dressing looked much more pleasing to the eye, and her face appeared younger.

Perhaps Yuan Yue was too surprised; Zhuang Xiaochen couldn’t help but look down at herself and joke, “Could it be that I am too ugly when bare-faced, scaring Miss Yuan?”

Without waiting for Yuan Yue’s response, Zhuang Xiaochen added, “However, to tell the truth, Miss Yuan is very beautiful whether bare-faced or with light makeup.”

Yuan Yue snapped back to reality, momentarily awkward. “Thanks for the compliment.” She turned her head and quickly said to Guo Xiangyuan beside her, “Take Miss Zhuang to a private room first.”

Zhuang Xiaochen hurriedly spoke to stop it. “No need, I came to find you today, Miss Yuan.”

Hearing this, Guo Xiangyuan tactfully left first.

Yuan Yue turned her head back, looking at her in confusion. “You’re looking for me?”

Zhuang Xiaochen smiled calmly. “Correct. I want to treat Miss Yuan to a cup of coffee. I wonder if Miss Yuan is willing to show face?”

Their relationship didn’t seem to be this close, right? Yuan Yue couldn’t figure out what Zhuang Xiaochen wanted to do with her. Suddenly, she remembered Yu Xi’s advice before leaving the house.

Zhuang Xiaochen saw her hesitation and added more fuel to the fire. “Incidentally, to discuss the matter of franchise cooperation.”

No matter how willful Yuan Yue was, she couldn’t possibly shut a client out. Since it was discussing cooperation, there were no worries. She said strictly, “Where does Miss Zhuang want to go to talk?”

“Not far. Turn left out the door, there is a decent coffee shop. Let’s go there.”

Sitting in the coffee shop, Yuan Yue was still quite puzzled. She couldn’t figure out, since it was a matter of cooperation, why Zhuang Xiaochen didn’t directly find Yuan Xi this time.

Of course, Yuan Yue wasn’t trying to slack off and shirk responsibility, otherwise she wouldn’t have agreed to come out with Zhuang Xiaochen.

They picked a seat by the window. During the interval waiting for coffee, Zhuang Xiaochen broke the silence and said, “I originally wanted to wait for you to come yesterday to discuss the cooperation plan together, but I got happy and couldn’t help but drink a few more cups with your brother. Drinking and drinking, I actually ended up drunk in the end.”

So yesterday the cooperation wasn’t successfully discussed, Yuan Yue thought. Since that was the case, what was there to be happy about? Yuan Yue finished criticizing internally but did not make a sound.

Zhuang Xiaochen and Yuan Yue’s personalities were diametrically opposite. Even if the other party didn’t respond, she didn’t feel awkward, finding a topic on her own. “Miss Yuan also got drunk yesterday, right? If I knew your alcohol tolerance wasn’t good, I wouldn’t have let you drink those three cups.”

Speaking of yesterday’s drunken incident, it was simply baffling. Getting drunk to that extent was truly shameful. Yuan Yue didn’t want to mention yesterday’s matters again, so she went straight to the main theme. “Didn’t you say you wanted to discuss the cooperation matter?”

Zhuang Xiaochen had to stop those dispensable pleasantries. Changing the subject, she said, “Then I won’t beat around the bush either. Miss Yuan, I sincerely want to cooperate with you all, otherwise I wouldn’t have come to disturb you for several days in a row.”

Yuan Yue had never been good at dealing with strangers, and psychological tactics were something she couldn’t play at all, so she simply waited quietly for her to finish speaking in one go.

At this moment, the waiter brought up the brewed coffee, and the conversation was temporarily interrupted.

Zhuang Xiaochen watched Yuan Yue unhurriedly add sugar to the coffee, then spoke again. “Bright people do not speak dark words¹. Your family’s hotpot’s only unique feature is that spicy sauce. What I have my eye on is only this point. I chatted a lot with your brother yesterday. I actually wanted to purchase the spicy sauce directly from his hands for independent operation, but he refused to agree, dead or alive. I feel some problems appeared in my communication with him, so I had no choice but to come find you.”

Yuan Yue’s heart gave a thump. She hadn’t expected Zhuang Xiaochen to have such intentions. No wonder the cooperation hadn’t been successfully discussed.

Yuan Xi had once said the secret recipe for the spicy sauce could not be revealed to the outside, so Wang Shasha had always been responsible for supervising the production. If this unique selling point was gone, then their family’s hotpot restaurant would no longer have any special characteristics. What would they use to compete with others then?

Yuan Yue stopped the stirring motion in her hand and lifted her eyes to look at the person opposite. “My brother’s meaning is my meaning. If my brother isn’t willing to nod, it’s useless even if Miss Zhuang breaks her mouth talking to me.”

Zhuang Xiaochen was not discouraged. “You all might feel the request I raised is excessive. If there are worries, we can completely sign an agreement. I also mentioned to your brother yesterday that your current business model is too conservative. If this cooperation succeeds, I am willing to produce a plan to advertise your family’s hotpot restaurant for free as remuneration.”

Zhuang Xiaochen spoke more and more excitedly, but Yuan Yue remained indifferent. “Miss Zhuang, I advise you not to waste your breath. Regarding the secret recipe for the spicy sauce, we will not sell it, dead or alive.” The coffee hadn’t even been drunk yet, but Yuan Yue had already stood up. “Thank you for the coffee, Miss Zhuang. Goodbye.”

“Wait, don’t go!” Zhuang Xiaochen stood up with a whoosh, suddenly grabbing her hand. Her face sank as she said, “Does Miss Yuan have some misunderstanding about me?”

Yuan Yue looked at the place grabbed by her, pursing her lips without speaking.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat embarrassing. Zhuang Xiaochen released her and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I was a bit agitated just now.”

Yuan Yue continued to look at her without speaking.

Zhuang Xiaochen did not mind her cold attitude in the slightest. Her expression quickly recovered its natural state, and she gazed straight at her, saying, “If Miss Yuan is harboring wariness toward me because of the matter on the highway that day, I feel there is completely no necessity.”

“What do you want to say?” Yuan Yue’s heart gave a sudden jump.

“Some words I already said to that Miss Yu yesterday. Now what I want to say to Miss Yuan is, I have no discrimination against you two, so I also hope Miss Yuan won’t harbor hostility toward me.” Zhuang Xiaochen walked closer to her, deliberately lowering her voice. “I guarantee with my character that regarding the content I saw on the highway that day, I will absolutely not reveal half a sentence to a second person.”

This happened to be the problem Yuan Yue had been worried about all along, which was why she had been hiding from Zhuang Xiaochen these past few days. She wasn’t familiar with this woman in front of her at all, but seeing Zhuang Xiaochen speak sincerely, she ultimately chose to believe her for the time being.

What should be said and what shouldn’t be said had already been said. Yuan Yue said calmly, “Can I go now?”

Zhuang Xiaochen did not slacken in the slightest. Grabbing the last shred of opportunity, she said, “I will keep the secret for you. I hope Miss Yuan can also help persuade your brother. I am very sincere about the matter of cooperation.”

Yuan Yue froze. So you circled such a big loop just to wait for me here, she thought. She couldn’t help but sneer, “Are you threatening me?”

“How can this count as a threat?” Zhuang Xiaochen smiled harmlessly to humans and animals². She said unhurriedly, “Who you like is your freedom, but cooperation is a matter between the three of us. Miss Yuan, don’t confuse the two.”

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