A Slap? Just for Fun

Xi Zhen knew Li Xingqing had misunderstood her. At first, she hadn’t intended to explain. But thinking of Jiang Xia standing beside Li Xingqing just now, Xi Zhen took a deep breath and said, “Li Xingqing, are you interrogating me?”

Li Xingqing: “......”

In the brief silence, there was a sudden knock at the private room door; a server had arrived.

Perhaps because there was an outsider present, the tension that had been on the verge of boiling over eased by a fraction. Shi Fengyu took the items and politely thanked the server.

Seeing how Xi Zhen was protecting Shi Fengyu, Li Xingqing became even more certain that her guess was absolutely right. Or rather, what Song Xunqing had told her back then hadn’t been fake at all; she really had been the substitute for Shi Fengyu in Xi Zhen’s eyes.

Everything suddenly made sense. Why had Xi Zhen chosen her, a complete novice with no experience at all, as the scriptwriter accompanying the production? Why had she shown such ambiguous interest in her from the very beginning? Even the things Li Xingqing had uncovered in her investigation now had an explanation: when the public backlash had erupted, Xi Zhen’s first choice had been to look for Shi Fengyu.

Li Xingqing felt as if her insides were burning to ash. Even after dealing with countless relatives who schemed for their own gain, she had never felt this humiliated or enraged. For so many years, she had played the fool, convinced Xi Zhen must still have lingering feelings for her. When she received the materials Xi Zhen handed her about Li Ji and the Li family, she had even felt secretly pleased, thinking she really hadn’t misread things.

Now Xi Zhen’s clear stance was like a vicious slap across her face, forcing her to face the blood-soaked truth.

By rights, Li Xingqing should have left in disgrace at this point; she should have stepped aside and let the reunited lovers enjoy their happiness, swallowing the bitter consequences alone. But the more she thought about it, the more unwilling she became. Since she and Shi Fengyu looked so similar, why should Xi Zhen love Shi Fengyu and not her?

Because of money? Li Xingqing had more than enough on hand to spend for several lifetimes.

Because of looks? Li Xingqing thought she was three points better than Shi Fengyu.

Because of personality? Li Xingqing believed she could play the perfect lover.

So Xi Zhen had better love her; she could only love her. As that clear, definite desire surfaced in her mind, Li Xingqing suddenly felt she ought to be generous and give Shi Fengyu a little more time alone with Xi Zhen. Then she would drag Xi Zhen back.

“Sis, I’ll wait for you outside.” Li Xingqing suddenly stood, turned, and left the private room, leaving Xi Zhen and Shi Fengyu staring at each other.

Xi Zhen’s expression remained unreadable. After a long while, Shi Fengyu beside her suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Shi Fengyu said, “I didn’t expect the person you like to be like this.”

Xi Zhen: “......”

Now that Li Xingqing was gone, Shi Fengyu stopped beating around the bush and asked directly why Xi Zhen had come looking for her today.

“I...” Xi Zhen suddenly didn’t know how to put into words the worry she had been carrying all afternoon, but in the end she still said it: “I saw the Li family has been gaining momentum lately, and I was worried about her.”

“Then why didn’t you say that just now?” Shi Fengyu seemed to have expected this and asked right back.

“......I don’t know.”

You can be blind when you’re in the middle of it; from the outside, everything looks clear. Shi Fengyu had long since seen that Xi Zhen and Li Xingqing probably both had things left unsaid between them, but this was a knot only the person who tied it could undo. She had better not interfere.

By the time Xi Zhen left Baiyujing, the sky was already completely dark. In summer, wherever there were trees, the cicadas never stopped shrilling. She walked all the way to the parking lot, only to find someone crouched by the car. When she got closer, she realized it was Li Xingqing, who should have left long ago.

That slender figure was tucked into the corner, both arms wrapped around her knees, chin resting there. The night wind brushed past, tugging lightly at her clothes, but Li Xingqing didn’t move. Her back stubbornly kept its curved shape; though her shoulder blades were hidden beneath her shirt, the outline still looked like folded wings, tightly sheltering the person inside.

Hearing Xi Zhen’s footsteps, Li Xingqing looked up on reflex. When she saw it really was the person she had been waiting for, her expression went blank for a moment. It was uncertainty; it was also the near-desperate joy of someone who had been disappointed too many times.

“Sis?” Her voice was very soft, but it reached Xi Zhen clearly. Unlike their previous encounters, this time Li Xingqing truly made Xi Zhen realize that this person was no different from the Li Xingqing of five years ago.

“What are you crouching here for?” Xi Zhen glanced around instinctively. There wasn’t even a single light; they could only just make each other out by moonlight.

“I said I’d wait for you, sis.” Li Xingqing stood up, but perhaps because she had crouched too long and her blood circulation was poor, she had barely steadied herself before she suddenly went weak, looking as if she might fall.

Xi Zhen reacted quickly, reaching out to support her and pulling her into her arms. “Are you dizzy? Is your blood sugar low?” Then, without allowing any argument, she took a candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into Li Xingqing’s mouth.

—Strawberry flavor. It was the taste Li Xingqing had tasted hundreds, thousands of times over the past five years.

In the end, Li Xingqing was still an adult; Xi Zhen naturally couldn’t keep holding her for long, so she had to help her into the car.

Li Xingqing accepted Xi Zhen’s care without reserve, seeming not to know what resistance meant at all.

Moonlight slowly climbed higher. Xi Zhen finally realized this woman was just playing dumb, and she pushed her into the back seat, intending to leave; but Li Xingqing grabbed her wrist and yanked her back.

The car door shut. In the cramped space, the positions of offense and defense reversed in an instant. Li Xingqing pressed Xi Zhen down, one hand holding her wrist, the other shielding the back of her head.

The sweet-tart taste of strawberries spread between them. Li Xingqing kissed Xi Zhen’s lips, passing the sweetness into her mouth. Their breaths tangled; the fresh fruit scent was like a thin red thread, binding them tightly together.

At first it was light, like testing the waters, like confirming something, like some belated answer.

Li Xingqing felt Xi Zhen’s lashes flutter against her cheek, but in the end she still didn’t pull away. That made her happy, and she no longer wanted to stop at a mere taste. Sucking, biting, greedy to the point of overreaching. What had been suppressed for too long finally broke through the surface; once it emerged, it was impossible to hold back.

Only their breaths remained in the car, tangled together and exchanged, impossible to tell which was whose.

Just as Li Xingqing’s hand slowly let go of Xi Zhen’s wrist and began to move elsewhere, Xi Zhen somehow found the strength to shove her away. Then, while Li Xingqing was still stunned, she slapped her.

*Smack—*

Li Xingqing’s face was knocked to the side. In that instant, the air inside the car seemed to freeze; even breathing disappeared.

Xi Zhen’s palm burned with pain. She hadn’t held back, like a silent executioner under the moonlight, judging Li Xingqing wordlessly.

The warmth left by that kiss had not yet faded, but now only the sting remained on her cheek. Li Xingqing slowly turned her face back. The corner of her mouth seemed to have split open, making her look a little disheveled.

Yet she wasn’t angry; she didn’t even look surprised. She just looked at Xi Zhen, her eyes carrying something impossible to read.

“Did you ever hit Shi Fengyu like that?” Li Xingqing asked at last. Her voice was a little hoarse, but unexpectedly calm; in those bottomless eyes was a flash of undisguised delight.

No answer was needed. It was as good as the best answer she could have gotten. Li Xingqing grew smug. Xi Zhen really did still love her more.

“Crazy,” Xi Zhen said, staring into Li Xingqing’s eyes.

But instead of angering Li Xingqing, it was as if Xi Zhen had hit the mark. Li Xingqing shot back, “Yeah, I am crazy. I’m so angry at you I’m almost going crazy.”

Xi Zhen: “......”

In the end, Xi Zhen still didn’t drive. Instead, Li Xingqing took her to the nearest hotel. Another night of chaos; only this time Li Xingqing didn’t give Xi Zhen a chance to run.

Xi Zhen hadn’t even opened her eyes when she felt an arm around her waist; when her mind finally cleared, she realized her whole body was being held in Li Xingqing’s arms.

It had been a long time since she’d accepted such closeness while fully awake, and Xi Zhen always found it a little awkward. She started to struggle, but Li Xingqing quickly noticed.

“Already this energetic first thing in the morning, sis? Are you blaming me for not taking good care of you last night?”

“......Let go.” Xi Zhen issued the warning.

But the person being warned ignored her completely, her hand sliding slowly upward from Xi Zhen’s waist, as nimble as a fish too slippery to catch.

Xi Zhen had no choice but to grab Li Xingqing’s roaming hand, though she tacitly allowed the embrace to continue. She really had been exhausted last night, and just like that, half-conscious, she closed her eyes again.

When she opened them once more, it was already close to noon. The meal Li Xingqing had ordered had already been delivered, and she was patiently setting the table before coming over to help her sister out of bed.

Seated at the dining table, Xi Zhen once again asked the doting Li Xingqing, “Li Xingqing, what exactly do you want?”

“Why won’t sis call me a good girl anymore?” Li Xingqing answered evasively; the very first thing out of her mouth was such an infuriating topic that Xi Zhen was left speechless.

“......” She had never expected that one day she’d truly understand what it meant to shoot herself in the foot. The only thing Xi Zhen could feel now was regret.

Seeing that Xi Zhen didn’t pay her any mind, Li Xingqing quickly came up with an excuse for herself. “Is it because sis thinks I’m not good anymore? But I think sis isn’t very good either.”

Xi Zhen: “......”

The meal went down with a clear line drawn between them.

Li Xingqing was in high spirits, not once setting down her chopsticks; her brows and eyes were full of an unhideable smile. Every now and then she even added a dish to the plate in front of Xi Zhen, attentive like a dog that hadn’t seen its owner in ages. There was no sign at all of the “hate” she had spoken of last night.

By contrast, Xi Zhen seemed shrouded in dark clouds. She only took two bites of rice before stopping. Lowering her eyes, she looked at the dish Li Xingqing had picked out for her; it was something she liked, but it tasted like wax.

After the meal, Xi Zhen prepared to leave.

She got up and walked to the door, her fingers resting on the handle. She pressed lightly—no opening.

She pressed again; still no opening. Refusing to believe it, she twisted it hard several more times. The metal clacked and rattled, but unfortunately, it remained completely useless.

Xi Zhen’s brows drew together. She turned around, her gaze crossing half the room and landing on the person sitting not far away on the sofa like an old monk in meditation.

Li Xingqing was looking down at her phone, lounging against the back of the sofa, long legs crossed with easy grace, as if the whole thing had nothing to do with her. She hadn’t even looked up; not even her eyelids had lifted.

But Xi Zhen knew perfectly well that the culprit was this very person. Beneath that nonchalant exterior was a brazen, I locked it—what are you going to do about it? attitude.

Xi Zhen took a deep breath and forced her voice to stay level. “Li Xingqing.”

Only then did the other woman slowly look up. Her eyes were innocent, but the corners of her mouth were faintly curved. “Mm?” She looked as though she genuinely didn’t know why Xi Zhen was calling her.

A pulse jumped at Xi Zhen’s temple. She should have realized long ago that Li Xingqing had never been docile. Five years ago, she had used that harmless face to fool everyone. Five years later, Li Xingqing didn’t even bother pretending anymore.