That “Bad” Woman Next Door – Chapter 41

Don’t You Dare Turn Your Head. Don’t Move. Wait for Me.

Yuan Yue couldn’t lie still any longer. With a whoosh, she sprang up from the bed and ran barefoot into the living room. “Honey, you’re headlining the news!”

Yu Xi was just about to take some fruit out of the refrigerator when she whipped around, looking at the suddenly appearing Yuan Yue with a blank expression. “What do you mean?”

Yuan Yue ran up to her, holding up her phone, and showed her the Weibo¹ post. “Something’s happened to Jie Ran! Quick, look and see if the person in this photo is you.”

Yu Xi carefully read the Weibo post from beginning to end. Her eyes were glued to the accompanying pictures as she frowned. “This looks like it was secretly taken at the hot spring hotel. It happened this morning, when I was seeing Jie Ran off. She gave me a hug before she left.”

Yuan Yue took a closer look at the background of the pictures and slowly recognized the hot spring hotel as well.

Something that had just happened this morning was already spreading like wildfire online. It was a testament to how astonishingly fast information travels on the internet.

Although Jie Ran had achieved fame at a young age, she hadn’t produced many works in the past decade. She mainly filmed movies and commercials and had always kept a low profile, with extremely few scandals over the years. Today, the sudden news of her coming out broke, and this shocking revelation instantly sent her to the number one spot on the hot search list².

Seriously, these puppies³ were ridiculous. It was clearly just a hug, yet they had caught the wind and grasped the shadow⁴, calling it a secret rendezvous with a mysterious lover.

“These people are too much, spouting nonsense eight ways⁵ without any basis whatsoever,” Yuan Yue said, her anger can’t be stopped.

Yu Xi’s expression was grim, but she still comforted her, “Don’t worry.”

After a moment of thought, Yu Xi took out her phone and called Jie Ran.

The call connected quickly. Before Yu Xi could speak, the person on the other end said, “I was just about to call you.”

Yu Xi composed herself and asked, “What on earth is going on?”

“It’s my fault for being careless. I had just finished a press conference that day, and some puppies might have been deliberately staking me out. I didn’t notice at all.” Jie Ran sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to drag you into this.”

Yu Xi’s frown deepened. With something this major happening, she couldn’t remain calm. She couldn’t help but ask with concern, “I’m not in the entertainment industry, so it doesn’t affect me anyway. But what about you? What are your plans?”

As soon as Jie Ran got to her hotel, she received a call from her manager saying there was trouble. Now, she’d been ordered to stay in her room and not move about, lest she be followed by the puppies again.

Jie Ran was happy to take it easy. Lying on a rattan chair, enjoying the cool breeze and the view outside, she said leisurely, “You don’t have to worry about me. The company will handle it.”

Yu Xi scoffed, “You’re certainly calm.”

Jie Ran said lightly, “What else can I do? I’ve always liked women; I just never went public with it.”

Yu Xi also felt she had been worrying for nothing. The fact that Jie Ran had crawled, climbed, rolled, and fought⁶ in the entertainment industry for so many years yet was rarely entangled in scandals showed that her management company’s PR capabilities were very strong.

Before hanging up, Jie Ran added, full of apology, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t expect this to happen either. I’ll have the company sort things out as soon as possible.”

“Mm.”

There was no need for pleasantries between friends. Yu Xi didn’t say much more and ended the call quickly.

After hanging up, Yu Xi relayed what Jie Ran had just said to Yuan Yue to put her at ease.

Yu Xi had calmed down, but Yuan Yue was still furious about the matter. For her, food couldn’t go down her throat⁷. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Yu Xi, with quick eyes and deft hands, stuffed a cherry tomato⁸ into her mouth. “Alright, it’s not worth getting angry over such messy things. Let’s fill our stomachs first.”

Yuan Yue puffed out her cheeks and swallowed the thing in her mouth whole.

“Here, have another one.” Seeing that she had finished, Yu Xi quickly stuffed something else into her mouth, making it impossible for Yuan Yue to speak.

Later that evening, Yuan Yue was lying in the bathtub scrolling through Weibo when she was surprised to find that the previous news about Jie Ran coming out was gone! Her joy surpassing all hope, she couldn’t help but shout out loud.

Hearing the commotion, Yu Xi pushed the door open and walked straight over, asking, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

Yuan Yue waved the phone in her hand and shrieked, “The Weibo posts were deleted!”

Yu Xi immediately understood what she meant. Letting out a sigh of relief, she said with a laugh, “I told you it would be fine, but you kept worrying.”

“Jie Ran’s company is amazing,” Yuan Yue said gleefully, lowering her head to continue scrolling through Weibo.

Yu Xi took the opportunity to take her phone away, chiding her in a manner as serious as a book⁹, “How many times have I told you not to play on your phone while taking a bath?”

Yuan Yue was suddenly in a great mood and didn’t mind that her phone had been taken. She turned over, lay comfortably on her back, and sighed, “It would be perfect if I could get a massage right now.”

Yu Xi understood her sound outside the picture¹⁰. She put the phone down and began to undress as she walked over.

Yuan Yue tilted her head, her gaze fixed without a single blink on the approaching Yu Xi. When Yu Xi shed the last of her restraints, Yuan Yue couldn’t help but exclaim, “You’re so beautiful…”

Yu Xi smiled calmly and stepped in barefoot.

Some water spilled out of the tub. Yu Xi gently placed her hands on Yuan Yue’s shoulders, but before she could do anything, Yuan Yue pressed down on her hands and said with an infatuated look, “Not like that.”

A half-smile played on Yu Xi’s lips as she looked at her. “Then how?”

Gazing at Yu Xi’s beautiful body, Yuan Yue swallowed and said, “Let me serve you today.”

Yuan Yue’s so-called “serving” was nothing more than scrubbing Yu Xi’s back with her clumsiest technique. If that had been all, it would have been fine, but she also started moving hands and moving feet¹¹.

One moment, Yuan Yue was stroking Yu Xi’s long hair, saying, “I never see you do much to maintain it. How is the texture so good?”

The next, she was pinching Yu Xi’s neck, muttering, “So slender. If I used a little more force, it would snap.”

□*□¹²

At this point, Yu Xi could no longer tolerate it. She slapped away her mischievous hands and turned to face her with a face without expression¹³. “You didn’t eat enough earlier, did you? You’re hungry?”

Yuan Yue tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said cooperatively, “Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good meal of meat. Why don’t we go to the restaurant for hot pot tomorrow!”

Yu Xi raised an eyebrow but said, “But I don’t want to eat hot pot.”

Yuan Yue paused, then naturally asked her, “Then what do you want to eat?”

Yu Xi pulled her over, planted a kiss on her pink lips, and said without any pretense, “I want to eat you.”

They messed around in the bathroom for a while. By the time they had washed up and tumbled into bed, Yuan Yue, who was full of energy from having napped all afternoon, got up again and pestered Yu Xi for a bit longer. When they both finally collapsed, Yuan Yue still wasn’t sleepy, but Yu Xi, for the first time, had been completely worn out by her.

The next day, Yuan Yue was the first to wake up, full of vigor. She had originally planned to sneak out of bed and try to make a loving breakfast for Yu Xi, but the moment she moved, she woke Yu Xi up.

Yu Xi’s eyes were heavy with sleep. She grabbed onto her and said weakly, “You’re awake this early?”

“It’s not early anymore. You should get up and get ready for work.”

“Oh.”

Yu Xi tried to get up, but she couldn’t muster any strength in her body.

Seeing that she was not herself today, Yuan Yue quickly asked with concern, “Honey, are you sick?”

As she spoke, Yuan Yue used her hand to check the temperature of Yu Xi’s forehead. It didn’t feel hot. She muttered to herself, “No fever.”

Afraid of worrying her, Yu Xi forced herself to sit up and said with a wry smile, “I’m not sick. It’s all your fault for being too wild last night.”

Speaking of last night, Yuan Yue had to admit she had been a bit crazy. Logically, her stamina was no match for Yu Xi’s, but last night her body had been like an electric motor that simply couldn’t be turned off.

Yuan Yue’s face quietly turned red as she said unnaturally, “I’m sorry.”

Yu Xi smiled nonchalantly. “Silly girl. It was a mutual and willing act that we both enjoy. What is there to apologize for?”

Seeing Yu Xi so weak for the first time, Yuan Yue couldn’t stop feeling guilty. Yu Xi’s words didn’t comfort her. She said, her heart aching, “Why don’t you take the day off work today?”

Yu Xi pretended to be relaxed. “It’s fine. I’ll feel better after I eat something.”

There wasn’t much to eat at home, and Yuan Yue had no confidence in her own cooking skills to risk it. Besides, she couldn’t bear to make Yu Xi cook right now. After they both washed up, they left hand-in-hand to get breakfast.

Even as they got downstairs to the residential complex¹⁴ below, Yu Xi was still nagging her, “You really could have kept sleeping. You don’t have to come with me to work.”

Yuan Yue hugged her arm tightly and said, “If I sleep any more, I’ll turn into a pig! Besides, I need to eat breakfast too. Skipping breakfast makes you age faster. And we agreed last night to go to the restaurant for hot pot. If I don’t go out with you, how am I supposed to eat later?”

She rattled off a pile of excuses, but the truth was, Yuan Yue just couldn’t rest easy about Yu Xi. Even though Yu Xi didn’t have a fever or a cold, her energy level was much lower than usual. She felt she had to stick by her side.

Yu Xi knew what she was thinking and said with a faint smile, “I don’t usually hear you spouting so much wisdom.”

Yu Xi’s complexion was truly awful today. One look was enough to make Yuan Yue’s heart ache. She couldn’t bring herself to smile at all. She stood on her tiptoes slightly and gave Yu Xi a kiss on the cheek.

Yu Xi stopped walking, cupped her face, and gave her a firm peck on the lips.

As they were about to leave, Yu Xi was about to say something comforting when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a ghostly and sneaky¹⁵ figure up ahead. The person was hiding behind a car, seemingly holding a camera.

When the person noticed Yu Xi looking at him, he acted even more as if he had something to rely on and had no fear¹⁶, continuing to press the shutter button.

Yu Xi suddenly realized something. Her expression changed drastically, and she yelled at the person, “HEY, STOP TAKING PICTURES!”

Yuan Yue jumped in fright and instinctively tried to turn her head to look, but Yu Xi held her shoulder firmly and said in a stern voice, “Don’t you dare turn your head. Don’t move. Wait for me.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Yu Xi let go of her and ran toward the person.

The person didn’t dare to linger. While quickly retreating, he frequently looked back, aiming the camera at Yu Xi’s face and snapping away. Enraged, Yu Xi quickened her pace in pursuit.

The person, likely underestimating Yu Xi because she was a woman, sneered, unhurriedly put away his camera, turned, and took off running.

Yu Xi shouted, “GET BACK HERE!”

But that only made the person run faster.

Although Yu Xi had long arms and legs, she was low on energy today and had no strength. After running just a short distance, she was already out of breath. Seeing that the person was about to escape the residential complex, Yu Xi grew anxious, pulled her phone from her pocket, and hurled it hard at the back of his head.

“Ah—”

The person let out a pained cry, clutching the back of his head as he continued to run for his life.

The person was very thin. Ignoring the pain, his only thought was that to slip away was the best luck¹⁷. In the time it took to turn, he had left Yu Xi far behind.

There was a fork in the road ahead. Just when Yu Xi felt that no plan could be used¹⁸, she suddenly heard a more tragic cry from up ahead and saw the person from before collapse with a thud.

Yu Xi was wondering what had happened when she saw a black car brake abruptly. The car’s owner hurriedly got out to check on the person’s injuries.

Yu Xi summoned her last bit of strength and rushed forward. She saw the person lying there motionless, clutching his thigh with both hands, his face contorted in pain.

The car owner was squatting on the ground, his hands tied and with no plan of action¹⁹, but Yu Xi couldn’t be bothered with that. She walked straight over and picked up the camera that had been knocked away in the collision.

With the camera finally in her hands, Yu Xi walked back, relieved. She glanced at the person on the ground, who might be dead or alive, and was suddenly moved by a heart of compassion and pity. She said to the car owner who was frightened and flustered, losing his bearing²⁰, “Don’t just stand there dazed. Call an ambulance first.”

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