“Good… kid?”
She repeated the words in a low voice.
Something flashed in the woman’s eyes, but it was extinguished just as quickly.
“Mhm!”
Extremely pleased by the woman’s response, Youyou moved even closer, her voice as soft and sweet as cotton candy. “Bai Qu says that since Youyou corrects her mistakes, she’s a good kid.”
At this, Youyou’s eyes crinkled into a joyful squint. She leaned the weight of her upper body against the woman, her palm-sized, exquisite little face completely harmless. “You don’t know, but when I was little, I was really dumb. I didn’t know how to do anything and always made a huge mess of things. If it weren’t for Bai Qu, Youyou definitely wouldn’t be here today.”
“Is that… so.”
Unable to describe the feeling in her heart, the woman reached out and touched the little girl’s face, speaking in a tone that was nearly despairing. “Just to be a ‘good kid,’ you had the heart to leave me, to abandon me, to let yourself grow weak and die, refusing to devour those good intentions?”
A trace of mockery flashed in her scarlet eyes. The woman lightly tapped the corner of Youyou’s eye and said, “Bai… You… You, is it? What am I supposed to say to you? Naive and useless. So much time has passed, and you haven’t improved in the slightest. I suppose you truly live up to your name as that hypocritical creature, pure and true, who lives by absorbing the good intentions of all things.”
Bai Qu and Su Ling, who had been observing all along, were utterly dumbfounded and shocked by her words. They looked at each other, and in the depths of their eyes, they could both see the turbulent undercurrents.
Youyou didn’t quite understand what the woman was saying, but she could tell that the woman had become extremely dangerous. Unable to stop herself, she got up and moved away from her, pattering over to hide behind Bai Qu. She draped her hands over the back of the sofa, peeking out at the woman.
She looked just like a mischievous little pixie.
“Youyou.”
Helplessly, Bai Qu glanced back at her before turning his gaze to the woman. “Youyou is still young,” he said gently. “If she has offended you in any way, please forgive her.”
Still skeptical of the woman’s words, Bai Qu gave a light smile and passed the book on his lap behind him. As expected, Youyou immediately took it from him.
Their tacit understanding was completely natural, as if they had practiced it a thousand times. Squatting behind the sofa, Youyou flipped through two pages of the book before her eyes went swirly, and she balanced it on her head. Then, stealthily, she peeked over the back of the sofa again.
Seeing this, the woman laughed—a twisted, ferocious laugh. She was constantly, desperately, suppressing herself to prevent a tragedy from unfolding. But what about her? She’d foolishly come over to provoke her, and then couldn’t even handle a few harsh words? And her bond with her brother was that deep?
Then where did that leave her?
Her emotions roiled violently. The woman stared coldly at Youyou and Bai Qu, and for a moment, it seemed as if her blood-red cloak was about to melt.
“I’m stepping out for a bit.”
Knowing that if she stayed any longer, everyone in Asura City would die, the woman took one last, long look at Youyou, then got up and left. Her blood-red figure cut a strangely desolate silhouette.
“Bai… Qu.”
Her eyes grew a little moist. Youyou fiddled with Bai Qu’s earlobe and said in a low voice, “Is she angry? I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. Youyou was just scared, so you hid, right?” His slender eyes glanced at Su Ling, signaling for him to come and sit. There was a smile in Bai Qu’s eyes. “So, it was her fault, not yours. After all, who told her to look so fierce and act so nasty? She’s the one who scared you.”
Regardless of whether the woman’s words were true or false, Bai Qu was unconditionally on Youyou’s side. He took the framed puzzle from Su Ling and studied it intently. His eyes narrowed slightly as his fingertip tapped the cherry blossom on the lady’s head.
“Youyou has taken a liking to this kind of pattern recently, hasn’t she?” He remembered that she used to assemble pictures of anime characters and landscapes.
“Mhm, because it’s pretty.”
Easily distracted by Bai Qu’s words, Youyou leaned over to gaze at the lady in red in the frame, and her eyes curved into a smile without her realizing it.
“You little lecher. I never realized you were into this type of woman,” Su Ling teased with a wicked smile, burying his shock and astonishment deep down. “Red clothes, long hair, a pretty face, and a great figure… The little fool has good taste, huh?”
He had always known Youyou was a sucker for a pretty face, but Su Ling had never imagined this trait of hers carried over from a past life. The thought of that woman just now made him shiver, and he didn’t dare to dwell on it.
“Su… Ling.”
Puffing out her cheeks, she glared angrily at him. Emboldened by Bai Qu’s presence, she reached out and pinched Su Ling’s face without a shred of courtesy.
“You’re the lecher! I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to sleep. Hmph.”
After making her pronouncement, she stalked off toward the bedroom. Her reaction made Su Ling raise an eyebrow, but Bai Qu’s reaction was even more direct.
He gave Su Ling a sharp jab with his elbow. After Youyou had closed the door, he asked, “What are you doing? It’s not like you don’t know what she’s like. Why do you always have to bully her? Just because you know more than she does?”
“When did I bully her? She’s the one who’s always bullying me!” Su Ling whined pitifully, rubbing his cheek with one hand and clutching his side with the other. “Hmph, go on, keep spoiling her. I’m just a poor, unloved little cabbage[mfn]This is a line from a well-known folk song, “The Ballad of the Little Cabbage,” about a pitiful, unloved child. It’s now used to describe oneself as being pitiful and neglected.[/mfn].”
The tall, handsome man with short hair was now putting on the act of an aggrieved little wife. An amused smile played on Bai Qu’s lips. “Are you calling me a pig[mfn]This is a reference to a popular Chinese saying, “A good cabbage gets eaten by a pig”. It’s a lament used when a beautiful or desirable woman ends up with a man deemed unworthy of her.[/mfn]?” he asked.
Su Ling: …
At first, Su Ling didn’t understand what he meant and was completely baffled, but when it dawned on him, his face suddenly turned red.
Bai Qu watched him with amusement, then followed the handprint Youyou had left behind and gave his cheek a squeeze. Su Ling’s skin was a healthy, wheat-colored tan that made him look very masculine, but it was also the type that bruised easily. So, in no time, a faint purple mark appeared on his face.
The smile on his lips deepened. Bai Qu recalled the woman’s earlier words and relayed them to Su Ling, one by one, wanting to get his opinion.
However, that walking disaster Su Ling focused his attention on something else entirely. He glanced at the tightly shut bedroom door, his tone a mix of envy and wistfulness. “With someone like that in love with her, the little fool should be content. Of course…”
Catching the sight of Bai Qu’s face turning cold from the corner of his eye, Su Ling immediately straightened up his attitude. “That woman is too dangerous, and her identity is unknown. Who knows if what she said is true or false? So, I do not approve of her and the little fool being together.”
“As if you could stop it.”
His expression softening slightly, Bai Qu looked at the beauty in the picture, his brow furrowed. “I just have a feeling that Youyou might not have forgotten her. After all, it’s true she has a weakness for pretty faces, but she’s seen plenty of beautiful people at the Bai Residence growing up.”
And yet, besides Su Ling, not even the art teachers had left a mark on her. No, it would be more accurate to say that even her interest in Su Ling was only because of him, her brother.
“About that…” Upon reflection, that was true.
In the past, to get the little fool to open her heart, Bai Qu had done countless bizarre and expensive things, like hosting costume parties at home and hiring actors to perform plays. All sorts of things. But all those actors had been explicitly told upon entering the Bai Residence: do not approach Youyou, ignore her.
Because by then, the servants and bodyguards of the Bai family had already been replaced by his own people, Youyou had always been very well protected. Those beautiful actors would perform their boisterous plays according to the script, but Youyou, as if completely unaware, wouldn’t even spare them a glance.
Thinking of this, Su Ling touched his own face and said with a good deal of narcissism, “It seems I’m just handsome enough to break through the heavens.”
Bai Qu: …
Idiot.
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