Sitting on the coffee table, Lu Weizhu cried silently.
Tears flowed for a long time.
In the deep quiet of the night, she gently wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
Ning Wan, lying on the sofa, didn’t move at all, as if she had already fallen asleep.
Lu Weizhu carefully climbed down from the coffee table.
After being knocked down several times, her right hand ached faintly, and the splint seemed a bit loose.
“…Bastard.”
She muttered softly, then walked into the Bedroom.
Lying on her side on the bed, she wrapped herself up with the quilt.
“She’s obviously just looking for trouble on purpose…”
Curling her body up, Lu Weizhu closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down.
She told herself, just sleep, it’ll be fine after a nap. When she woke up, Ning Wan would be gone.
Downstairs of the Old Residential Building, Bai Lu was leaning against the steering wheel, taking a brief nap.
When she woke, there wasn’t a soul to be seen on the roadside.
Figuring that Ning Wan’s anger should have mostly faded, Bai Lu took off the Shouxing Hat from her head and pushed open the car door.
“Hoo…”
Getting out of the car, Bai Lu rubbed her hands together.
It was late summer, but the deep night was already chilly. She was a little afraid of the cold.
Looking around for a while and seeing neither Ning Wan nor any passersby, Bai Lu slowly walked toward the dark entrance of the stairs.
“…Hope Ah Wan went easy on her.”
Supporting herself on the old Metal Railing, the palm of her hand picked up a coating of orange-red rust, carrying a strong, unpleasant metallic odor.
Bai Lu was a bit repulsed and stopped touching the railing.
“Why does this City still have such old places? Yawn~”
She complained, a wave of drowsiness suddenly sweeping over her, and she let out a yawn.
She didn’t check the exact time; she didn’t know precisely what time it was now.
How many times had she been here? Bai Lu couldn’t remember.
Climbing the stairs slowly, a faint light started to appear in the pitch-black corridor.
The light grew brighter, and she saw that one apartment’s door was left wide open.
Standing at the doorway and looking inside, she recognized Lu Weizhu’s home through the Round Dining Table in the Living Room.
“Ah Wan? Ah Wan!”
She called out twice from the entrance, waited a moment, but got no response.
Bai Lu felt a bit uneasy.
Although she trusted Ning Wan’s fighting skills, Ning Wan was, after all, drunk.
Bai Lu was a bit worried that Lu Weizhu might retaliate against Ning Wan, that Ning Wan might be in danger—even though, in over a year of knowing her, she had never seen Lu Weizhu resist.
In the past, Lu Weizhu had always been the same: gentle, courteous, and gracious. It wasn’t until Ning Wan returned that Bai Lu saw Lu Weizhu show fear.
Rationally, she believed Lu Weizhu was unlikely to hurt anyone, but people have their own attachments, and reason eventually gives way to emotion.
“Ah Wan? Are you okay?”
Bai Lu stepped into the apartment.
In the Living Room, she saw Ning Wan lying on the sofa.
“…!”
Her heart clenched; Bai Lu instinctively thought something had happened to Ning Wan.
“Hoo… Turns out she’s just sleeping…”
She approached the sofa. The faint sound of snoring reached her ears, and Bai Lu finally let out a breath of relief.
Standing beside the sofa, she quietly looked at the sleeping Ning Wan.
Her hair and clothes were messy, and her chest rose and fell rhythmically with her breathing.
Bai Lu smoothed Ning Wan’s hair.
When she was young, Bai Lu wasn’t confident. Her parents’ indifference left her both envious of her classmates and self-conscious. In school, people who lacked confidence always became easy targets.
She had been insulted more than once, slandered by rumors, and it was Ning Wan who protected her.
From elementary school, to middle school, then high school, Ning Wan always played the big sister, while Bai Lu followed behind, clutching the hem of her clothes and stumbling along. Naturally, the two of them fell in love.
Over those years, Bai Lu began to grow, to gain confidence and toughness. However, Ning Wan always seemed to see her as the little tag-along she could handle at will. In front of Ning Wan, Bai Lu could never seem to toughen up, and so she could only play the submissive role.
“Sigh…”
She sighed softly, and seeing that Ning Wan was safe, Bai Lu began to think about other things.
“Where’s Lu Weizhu… Where is she?”
Muttering to herself, Bai Lu turned around.
She noticed the entrance to the Bedroom directly facing the sofa.
The Bedroom door, like the front door, was wide open. There were no lights on inside, but with the Living Room lights, Bai Lu could make out an oval outline on the bed.
“…”
Pressing her lips together, Bai Lu walked into the Bedroom.
Her footsteps made the lump on the bed tremble slightly. Bai Lu thought, that must be Lu Weizhu?
Bai Lu turned on the light in the Bedroom, and the bright light swept away the darkness.
The thing on the bed was a bundle of quilt.
“Lu Weizhu.”
Uncertain if Ning Wan in the Living Room would suddenly wake, Bai Lu tried to use a serious tone and a less intimate form of address.
The quilt on the bed trembled again.
Just as Bai Lu was about to speak again, the quilt slipped down, and Lu Weizhu sat up.
Her right hand was hidden under the quilt, her left hand supporting her on the bed. Her legs faced the edge, with her feet already off the mattress.
Bai Lu caught a glimpse of the girl’s snow-white, delicate feet and hurriedly looked away.
Moving her gaze up, she saw Lu Weizhu’s disheveled shirt, her thin shoulders, and the glaring finger marks on her neck.
Looking further, Bai Lu saw her messy white hair, reddened eye corners, and those panic-filled pale blue eyes.
With the Bandage wrapped around the girl’s arm, she looked truly pitiful.
Compared to Ning Wan sleeping soundly outside, it was obvious who the real victim was.
“……”
Bai Lu’s heart was in chaos, and she was suddenly overwhelmed by guilt.
Not only had she driven Ning Wan here, but on her way up, she had even imagined the possibility of Lu Weizhu harming Ning Wan.
The desire that always accompanied her disappeared without a trace. Bai Lu didn’t know what to say.
“I… I didn’t mean to run into you both. I didn’t come on purpose.”
Before Bai Lu could speak, Lu Weizhu spoke first.
Her voice was hoarse and trembling, and Bai Lu heard the grievance in her tone.
“……”
Her vision blurry, Lu Weizhu stared at Bai Lu in front of her.
First Ning Wan had inexplicably come knocking, and now Bai Lu was here too. Was she here to demand answers as well? Was she going to torment her with those absurd accusations?
Bai Lu’s serious tone upon entering made her feel as if Bai Lu had come to denounce her.
Lu Weizhu’s nose tingled, and she tightly clenched the sheet beneath her.
“I don’t know why Miss Ning is here…”
She shook her head, already at a loss for words.
What else could she say?
Her body trembled slightly, the thin quilt slipping off her shoulder, revealing the splint on her right hand.
Bai Lu remembered the misunderstanding she’d had about the girl in front of her and understood the meaning behind her words.
“I haven’t coveted anything that doesn’t belong to me, really. Please, don’t keep bullying me for no reason… okay…”
Lu Weizhu thought, begging probably wouldn’t help. In the eyes of the two patrons, she didn’t count as a person. She closed her eyes.
“…”
Looking at the soft, pitiful figure before her, Bai Lu’s breath caught.
She was so cute, so alluring, but even more so, she made one feel sorry for her.
Bai Lu’s guilt deepened.
Her understanding of Lu Weizhu seemed to shift ever so slightly.
“…Sorry…”
She did something Lu Weizhu hadn’t expected.
She apologized to Lu Weizhu.
“I can’t get Ah Wan downstairs by myself, so I might have to stay here tonight. I’ll send you the accommodation fee in a couple of days.”
With her hands stuffed in her pockets, Bai Lu turned her head, a bit uncomfortable.
She didn’t tell Lu Weizhu that she was the one who brought Ning Wan here.
After standing there for a while, Bai Lu left the Bedroom and closed the door behind her.
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