Ning Wan led Lu Weizhu out of the Café.
Outside the Café, the sky was pitch-black.
Strong winds whipped the raindrops against their bodies, and Lu Weizhu shrank back.
“Customer? This is…?”
She was a bit confused.
“I’m not some customer.”
Ning Wan opened up her umbrella.
“Stand closer, or don’t blame me if you get soaked.”
Her tone wasn’t exactly gentle, and she headed toward the car by the roadside.
“…Huh?”
Lu Weizhu tilted her head blankly.
She took a few steps back.
“I, still have to work.”
“…Heh…so annoying, really turned into an idiot.”
This silly look made Ning Wan a bit impatient.
Pausing for a moment, she stopped and wrapped her arm around Lu Weizhu’s waist, pulling her into the car.
She fastened the seatbelt and closed the car door.
“Mm…”
The confusion on Lu Weizhu’s face deepened.
“Don’t move around. You’re done with work. I’m taking you home.”
Ning Wan shot a glance at the dazed Lu Weizhu, who was still in the Maid Uniform from the shop, her white knee socks splattered with dark spots from the rain.
“And another thing, stop calling me ‘customer.’ I’m Ning Wan.”
“Ah!”
The moment Ning Wan’s name was mentioned, Lu Weizhu’s mind cleared for an instant.
She sat up straight, but the clarity faded just as quickly, leaving only her fear of Ning Wan etched in her heart.
She quieted down, not saying a word, just sitting there obediently.
Ning Wan didn’t say anything either.
She switched on the windshield wipers and started the car. Â
The roads were empty in the rain, the car rolling over puddles with a constant splashing sound.
It was a bit stuffy inside the car, and Ning Wan felt hot and irritable.
Her mood grew more and more frustrated.
Why did she agree to that shop owner and bring this girl away?
If it was just to repay a favor, she could have simply given her a sum of money next time and be done with it, right?
And this girl, is she really that greedy?
Even when sick, she insists on working.
Wasn’t the money she gave her enough?
Her thoughts were a tangled mess.
If her hands weren’t busy driving, she really wanted to give this girl a good slap.
“N-Ning Wan.”
Maybe sensing Ning Wan’s displeasure, or perhaps just thinking of something, Lu Weizhu spoke up cautiously.
Her voice was low and a little hoarse, weak, as if tempting someone to bully her.
Ning Wan gritted her teeth.
“Speak.”
She spat the word out, feeling inexplicably annoyed.
“I’m sorry…”
Lu Weizhu apologized weakly.
Her mind was already muddled, her body fearful of Ning Wan, but deep down, she still felt she owed her.
Even though it was Bai Lu who approached her first, in the end, for various reasons, she still became the other woman.
“Sorry for what? What are you apologizing for?”
Ning Wan couldn’t make sense of it at all.
She just thought this girl was really feverish to the point of nonsense.
Lu Weizhu didn’t say anything more.
She leaned back in the seat.
The car jolted a bit, and her already hazy mind grew even more tired.
Before long, she had fallen asleep.
Ning Wan’s question was left unanswered.
In the end, she could only assume the girl was feverish and talking nonsense.
She never imagined that even in her muddled state, Lu Weizhu was still troubled by what had happened before.
With Lu Weizhu asleep, the car grew quiet.
Ning Wan’s home was far from the City Center, and she gradually grew bored.
“…Forget it, I’ll settle things with you when we get back.”
She had originally planned to turn on some music, but after glancing at the sleeping Lu Weizhu, Ning Wan gave up on the idea.
Bored, she kept driving.
The sky grew darker, and in the car’s headlights, Ning Wan could see tiny droplets of water flying past.
She passed the time watching the raindrops, and after a long while, they finally arrived at their destination.
“Wake up, time to get out.”
With a dissatisfied push, Ning Wan unfastened her seatbelt.
“Mm…ah, huh?”
Unable to form a coherent sentence, Lu Weizhu opened her eyes in a daze.
Unable to see clearly, she reached out and touched Ning Wan’s face, only to find something soft and smooth, with a wonderful texture.
Ning Wan’s expression darkened.
She slapped Lu Weizhu’s hand away.
“Ow, that hurts…”
The girl withdrew her hand, a patch of pink appearing on the back of her fair hand.
“Get out.”
In a bad mood and not caring if Lu Weizhu heard her or not, Ning Wan got out of the car.
She opened her umbrella.
Lu Weizhu didn’t reply.
She fumbled around on the seat for a while before finally managing to get up.
Her limbs were weak, but she could still stand.
She managed to get out of the car.
Ning Wan held the umbrella over Lu Weizhu, leading her into the Villa.
“Whew…”
Back home, Ning Wan let out a long breath and flopped onto the sofa.
Lu Weizhu stood silently in the middle of the living room, looking lost.
“Such a dummy.”
Muttering to herself, Ning Wan pulled Lu Weizhu over and sat her down on the sofa as well.
She got up and fetched Antipyretic Medicine and an Antipyretic Patch from the Medical Kit she kept at home.
“Take your medicine.”
Ning Wan shoved a glass of water and a few capsules into Lu Weizhu’s hands.
“Forget it…”
Glancing at the girl’s vacant expression, Ning Wan snatched the items back again.
Pinching a capsule, she made Lu Weizhu open her mouth, then used two fingers to place the capsule inside.
“…”
With something foreign in her mouth, Lu Weizhu felt uncomfortable.
She used her tongue to push against Ning Wan’s fingers.
The girl’s tongue was undeniably soft.
Ning Wan’s fingertips were dampened by her saliva, and her feelings grew complicated.
She remembered the humiliation and deep bitterness on Lu Weizhu’s face that day in front of the mirror, so different from how she was now.
“…?”
The girl tilted her head slightly, confusion on her blushing cheeks, and a hint of flattery in her pale blue eyes.
She licked Ning Wan’s fingertips.
With the Cat Ear Hair Clip on her head, she really did look like a kitten in human form.
“Ahem.”
Ning Wan coughed a few times, pulled her fingers out, and gave Lu Weizhu some water to help her swallow the Antipyretic Medicine.
Then she sat down at the coffee table, looking down at Lu Weizhu from above.
“Hey, tell me, what did you mean by apologizing in the car just now?”
Ning Wan wiped her hands.
“Mm…mm?”
Lu Weizhu was lost in confusion, taking a long while to return to her senses.
The words “Ning Wan” floated up in her mind.
“Ning Wan, I’m sorry.”
She apologized again, lowering her head.
“I, I didn’t mean to ruin your relationship, I’m sorry…”
She lifted her head, peeking at Ning Wan with caution.
“I know, what I did was wrong…”
She wanted to say something to please Ning Wan, to make her stop bullying her.
But all those words were swallowed back.
What right did she have to beg for mercy?
Ning Wan had already given her so much money—what right did she have to ask for kindness?
Compared to what she’d been given, the pain Ning Wan caused her wasn’t so much, was it?
In the end, it was all just ridiculous pride.
Lu Weizhu clenched her fingers.
She looked at Ning Wan with those pale blue eyes, wanting to speak but holding back.
Ning Wan saw all kinds of emotions in those eyes. Â
There was flattery, and there was contradiction.
“You’re really strange, you know that?”
She couldn’t understand the Lu Weizhu in front of her, but in her mind, those old thoughts surfaced again—the desire to control this girl, to make her unable to escape, to always be able to see her shattered, tempting appearance.
Her eyes darkened.
Ning Wan fetched the Temperature Meter and began to take Lu Weizhu’s temperature.