That “Bad” Woman Next Door – Chapter 9

This is Your First Time.

When Yu Xi turned from guest to host¹ and captured her lips, Yuan Yue froze for a second. Her eyes didn’t even have time to close, and her panic threw her breathing into disarray.

Then she realized she didn’t seem to know how to do… anything.

Yu Xi, however, seemed very skilled. With her eyes closed, she patiently suckled on Yuan Yue’s lips. When she tried to part them and failed, she had to stop. She opened her eyes and met Yuan Yue’s wide-eyed stare. “…”

Barely managing to stifle a laugh, Yu Xi cupped Yuan Yue’s head, took a breath, and asked her, “Why aren’t your eyes closed?”

Yuan Yue’s lips were numb from the kiss. Her face was already beet red before she even tried to speak. Standing there with glistening eyes, she stammered, “I… I don’t know.”

Little did she know that when she was drunk last night, clinging to Yu Xi, kissing and gnawing on her, she was nowhere near as clumsy or shy as she was now.

Yu Xi was so exasperated she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The hand on Yuan Yue’s waist moved upward, gently caressing the spot on her back opposite her heart, helping her relax. Her low, breathy voice was laced with a spoken temptation as she coaxed softly, “Be good. Close them.”

Yuan Yue’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and she obediently closed her eyes.

Yu Xi’s breath mingled with hers once again. The tip of her tongue delved deep, guiding, tangling, tirelessly, again and again.

Yuan Yue, whose nose had been slightly cleared by the spicy food she’d just eaten, gradually found it hard to breathe. She pulled back abruptly, her face flushed as she pleaded for mercy, “I can’t, I’m so dizzy.”

Though her words said she couldn’t, her hands were still wrapped tightly around Yu Xi’s neck. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed her mouth said one thing, but her heart another².

Both of them were breathing erratically.

Yu Xi wasn’t much better off. She steadied her breath, lowered her gaze to look at her, and said softly, “This is your first time.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement of absolute certainty.

Yuan Yue blinked, completely baffled. “My first time for what?”

Yu Xi stared at her lips, which were slightly swollen from the kiss, and enunciated each word clearly. “Last night, and right now. You don’t know how to do anything, you don’t understand anything.”

Last night…

Yuan Yue’s mind buzzed. Although Yu Xi hadn’t spelled it out, she understood.

Yuan Yue had originally planned to feign ignorance about everything that happened last night, but she never expected Yu Xi would be the one to poke through this layer of window paper³.

Drunken debauchery… it was truly embarrassing to talk about.

Although Yuan Yue couldn’t remember all the details of that night, she vaguely knew that she was the one who had started it…

But why did Yu Xi tell her nothing had happened when she went looking for her that day?

Was she trying to avoid it, just like her, or did she not think it was a big deal?

Yuan Yue’s head was full of question marks, but in that moment, she couldn’t sort anything out. Because she didn’t know how to breathe properly during the kiss, her brain was too deprived of oxygen to think.

Being watched by Yu Xi like this, she felt she had no place to hide her face. Overcome with shame, she lowered her head and frantically tried to pull her hands from Yu Xi’s neck.

But Yu Xi held her tighter, pressing closer, silently increasing the pressure.

Yuan Yue had no choice but to raise her head again. She looked at Yu Xi’s face with a guilty conscience, bit her lip, and said, “Are you making fun of me?”

“No,” Yu Xi said, her expression serious. “I’m just very surprised.”

“S-Surprised about what?” Yuan Yue asked nervously.

“How old are you?” Yu Xi suddenly blurted out.

“Twenty-eight this year.”

Twenty-eight? She didn’t look it at all. And based on certain physiological responses, Yu Xi would have basically classified her as a minor. She had been in a relationship before but didn’t even know how to kiss properly. This truly did surprise Yu Xi.

How could someone be so innocent? Yu Xi’s thumb brushed across her slightly parted red lips as she asked quietly, “You and your ex-girlfriend…”

“Nothing happened between us!” Yuan Yue rushed to interrupt. Realizing she had gotten a bit too emotional, she lowered her voice. “We were very innocent back in college. At most, we just held hands.”

“Mm, that is pretty innocent,” Yu Xi said, suppressing a laugh.

Yuan Yue wasn’t pleased. Stiffening her neck, she said, “You’re making fun of me.”

Yu Xi wiped the smile from her face. “I’m really not, I promise.”

Yuan Yue’s fragile self-esteem was somewhat soothed.

On such a hot day, with the hot pot on the table bubbling away, their bodies were pressed together without a single gap, their legs intertwined… From head to toe, the air was thick with an ambiguous scent. The little interlude seemed to have broken the heated atmosphere. Yuan Yue shifted uncomfortably and slowly moved her hands from Yu Xi’s neck.

“That thing on your neck,” Yu Xi began slowly, “will probably take a few more days to fade.”

Yuan Yue’s heart skipped a beat. She subconsciously touched her neck. Feeling Yu Xi’s gaze on her, she lifted her eyelids and saw that Yu Xi’s own slender neck was fair and completely free of any suspicious marks. She suddenly felt a sense of injustice. Forgetting her shame, she demanded loudly, “Why don’t you have any?”

Seeing her indignant look, which was actually quite cute, Yu Xi held back a laugh and said in a teasing tone, “You don’t know how to do anything, so how could I have any?” She paused, then leaned in closer to Yuan Yue’s ear and whispered, “You were so drunk last night, it could only have been me doing you.”

Yuan Yue felt a wave of heat spread from her ear to the rest of her body. The warmth of Yu Xi’s breath left her tingling all over, mortified, yet curious to know more. Her gaze shifted downward, landing on the top button of Yu Xi’s collar. Pouting with discontent, Yuan Yue said, “I don’t believe you. I need to check.”

Having been teased twice about her inexperience, Yuan Yue’s pride was a little hurt. Without waiting for Yu Xi’s permission, she impatiently undid the first button of Yu Xi’s shirt like a hooligan. Seeing that Yu Xi wasn’t stopping her, she felt emboldened and proceeded to undo the second, and then the third…

She couldn’t be stopped.

Yu Xi stood with her arms at her sides, letting her do as she pleased. Seeing Yuan Yue staring blankly at her, she felt a mix of amusement and arousal, her heart becoming an ape and her mind a horse⁴. In a husky voice, she asked, “Are you done checking?”

There really were no marks under her clothes.

Yuan Yue felt a sense of defeat, which was quickly followed by shame. She belatedly realized she was acting like a pervert and couldn’t even bring herself to look Yu Xi in the eye. She silently began to button Yu Xi’s shirt back up.

Yu Xi watched her the entire time. Though she said nothing, the intense heat in her gaze was hard for Yuan Yue to bear. The more flustered she got, the more her hands trembled, and sweat beaded on her forehead.

Yu Xi was also getting worked up by all this fidgeting. She sighed and placed a hand over Yuan Yue’s, intending to say she’d do it herself.

Before Yu Xi could speak, there was a loud noise from the entrance. In a flash of lightning and a spark from flint⁵, someone burst in, followed by a gruff voice. “What are you two… doing?”

Yuan Yue jumped. She quickly snatched her hand away from Yu Xi’s collar and turned around to see Yuan Xi dangling a set of keys, craning his neck to peer at them curiously. Yuan Yue was so scared she started stammering, “Wh-wh-why are you back again?!”

“I forgot my wallet,” Yuan Xi said, seemingly not noticing anything amiss as he walked straight to the dining table to look for it.

Yuan Yue nervously glanced at Yu Xi and saw that her clothes were in order, her buttons all done, and her expression was perfectly calm and unaffected. She stared for a moment, unable to help but marvel, “That was fast…”

“What was fast?” Yuan Xi asked, having found his wallet. He thought Yuan Yue was talking to him.

Yuan Yue’s gaze shifted to Yuan Xi, her expression changing instantly. In a flat tone, she said, “Nothing.”

Yuan Xi looked at her face suspiciously. “Why is your face as red as a monkey’s butt? And your neck, too. You didn’t have an allergic reaction to something you ate, did you?”

Without needing a mirror, Yuan Yue knew exactly how red her face was. Fearing Yuan Xi would press the issue, she feigned composure and said, “I’m not allergic to anything. I just ate too many chili peppers.”

“Then you should eat less of them,” Yuan Xi said, not suspecting a thing.

“Alright, stop nagging. You should hurry back, the shop is waiting for you,” Yuan Yue said, eager to get him to leave.

Before leaving, Yuan Xi didn’t forget to say goodbye to Yu Xi again. “I’m really going now, Miss Yu, goodbye!”

Yu Xi replied without a change in expression, “Take care.”

Yuan Xi turned to leave.

“Ge, wait,” Yuan Yue suddenly called out to him.

“What is it now?” Yuan Xi stopped.

Yuan Yue was in front of him in an instant, holding out her hand. “Give me back the key.”

“What?” Yuan Xi was confused.

“Give me back the key to my apartment,” Yuan Yue said with a serious expression. “Ge, I’m a girl, after all. There are a lot of inconvenient moments. From now on, you have to tell me before you come over, and you have to knock first. I’ll let you in. Got it?”

Yuan Xi looked surprised. When Yuan Yue first bought the apartment, she had been the one to give him a spare key, saying it would be more convenient. Not even half a year had passed, so how did it suddenly become inconvenient?

But what Yuan Yue said made sense. Girls needed to be more mindful of their privacy, unlike a rough guy like him.

Of course, Yuan Xi wasn’t going to hold onto the key. He took it off his keychain and gave it back to Yuan Yue, reminding her, “Now that you have it back, keep it safe. Don’t lose it.”

“I know, I know. Just go,” Yuan Yue said, pushing him out the door and locking it with a thud.

Yuan Xi’s sudden intrusion had made the atmosphere in the room even more delicate. When Yuan Yue walked back, she found Yu Xi propping up her chin and watching her quietly. She shifted her neck, feeling a bit awkward.

“Do you still want to eat?” Yu Xi asked, pointing to the boiling hot pot broth to break the awkward silence.

They had barely touched the food on the table. Yuan Yue tossed the key onto the table and said listlessly, “I’m not eating.”

Yu Xi figured she wasn’t in the mood anymore. “Let’s clean up, then.”

“Okay.”

Yu Xi helped her tidy up.

Yuan Yue felt a little bad. She had promised to treat her, but Yu Xi had eaten so little. She thought that if she got another chance to treat her, she definitely wouldn’t choose to do it at night. But then she remembered how she could never find Yu Xi, and an idea struck her. She tugged on the hem of Yu Xi’s shirt and said, “Since we’re neighbors now, can I get your contact information?”

It really had nothing to do with being neighbors; Yuan Yue just wanted to use it as an excuse to ask for her contact info. The heart of Sima Zhao⁶ was completely exposed. Yu Xi saw right through her but didn’t point it out. She just smiled and readily agreed, “Sure.”

Yuan Yue took out her phone, and they exchanged numbers.

While Yu Xi was saving the number, Yuan Yue sneakily searched for her on WeChat but found no results. She pushed her luck, asking, “Can I add you on WeChat?”

Yu Xi paused. “I don’t have WeChat.”

“You don’t usually use WeChat?”

“I never used it when I was abroad.” Seeing how much Yuan Yue seemed to want it, Yu Xi thought for a moment and said, “How about this? When I register for an account one of these days, I’ll give you my ID.”

“Okay, okay, one word and it’s settled⁷!” Yuan Yue said, a triumphant smile spreading across her face.

Yuan Yue was ecstatic to have finally gotten Yu Xi’s contact information.

But her happiness didn’t last long. She started to worry about what excuse she could use to message her without seeming too abrupt.

Forget it, she thought. I should be more reserved and wait for Yu Xi to contact me first.

Yuan Yue waited quietly for Yu Xi to register for WeChat and give her the ID. But she waited and waited, and Yu Xi never contacted her. In the end, she couldn’t hold back any longer and sent Yu Xi a text message.

And then…

There was no then.

Yuan Yue felt she was becoming more and more thick-skinned. She went to knock on Yu Xi’s door, but after knocking for a long time with no answer, she returned home disappointed.

This neighbor, who was like a divine dragon that shows its head but not its tail⁸, seemed to have “disappeared” again.

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