After Being Bent by Reader

Chapter 64: Pt.1

Fang Qin was responsible for choosing their dinner venue. As soon as Murong Shi and Xu Chuanchuan entered the restaurant, they heard someone shouting at them, "Over here! Over here!"

Following the voice, Xu Chuanchuan found Little Yan looking in their direction, smiling like a flower. So, the two of them walked over hand in hand.

"Hi, Chuanchuan, long time no see," Fang Qin greeted.

"Long time no see," Xu Chuanchuan replied. Then, she and Murong Shi took their seats.

Resting her cheeks on her hands, Fang Qin looked at the two people across her with interest. Then, she said, "What an enviable pair."

Xu Chuanchuan lowered her head in embarrassment when she heard this comment.

Then, Fang Qin continued, "Chuanchuan, how can you be so blind as to fall for her?"

"What did you say?" Xu Chuanchuan hurriedly raised her head.

Putting on a sympathetic look, Fang Qin said, "She's neither considerate nor gentle. She also has a strong desire for control. How can you stand her?"

Xu Chuanchuan: "Uh..."

"Fang Qin, mind your words," Murong Shi said in a chilly voice.

However, Fang Qin turned a deaf ear to Murong Shi's warning. She even gave Murong Shi a provocative look before grabbing Xu Chuanchuan's hand, which was resting on the table, and said, "Rather than her, you might as well be with me."

Xu Chuanchuan: "..." Can someone tell me what's going on?

Their hands remained in contact for less than a second as Murong Shi quickly snatched back Xu Chuanchuan's hand and held onto it tightly.

Fang Qin clicked her tongue. Then, she continued adding fuel to the fire, saying, "See? She is such a domineering person."

"..." Afraid of causing a war, Xu Chuanchuan hurriedly said, "Let's order the food first."

Little Yan accepted the menu Xu Chuanchuan offered her. However, after flipping through it for a moment, she said, "I don't know what you all like."

"Just order whatever's the most expensive. Your cousin isn't short of money, in any case," Fang Qin instigated.

"I guess you're right," Little Yan said with a joyful smile.

Murong Shi did not make any comments about this. However, her complexion didn't look particularly good. Of course, it wasn't because of Fang Qin.

"I need to use the washroom," Xu Chuanchuan said as she carefully tried to remove her hand from Murong Shi's hold.

"Let's go together," Murong Shi said, tightening her grip over Xu Chuanchuan's hand. Then, she stood up and started making her way to the washroom with Xu Chuanchuan in tow.

Meanwhile, Xu Chuanchuan had no choice but to keep up with Murong Shi.

By the time they came out of the washroom, the appetizers had already been served. Seeing that there was pickled radish on the table, Xu Chuanchuan quickly picked up a piece with her chopsticks and took a bite out of it.

The radish was crunchy, sour, and refreshing. It also tasted good.

While Xu Chuanchuan enjoyed the radish, she noticed Murong Shi staring at her out of the corner of her eyes. So, she habitually passed the remaining half of her radish to Murong Shi.

"This one tastes good."

Murong Shi enveloped the pickled radish with her mouth and slowly chewed through it. After swallowing, she said, "Not bad."

Fang Qin just so happened to have caught this scene. Snorting with laughter, she teasingly said, "I say, Chuanchuan, Murong has her own hands and feet. She isn't disabled, so why are you feeding her?"

Xu Chuanchuan, who was ready to feed Murong Shi another piece of pickled radish, stopped her actions when she heard Fang Qin's comment.

"Ignore her. She's just jealous," Murong Shi nonchalantly said.

After saying so, Murong Shi leaned forward and snatched away the pickled radish in Xu Chuanchuan's chopsticks with her mouth.

After her attempts to poke fun at Murong Shi were met with consecutive failures, Fang Qin retracted her playful mood and said, "Alright, then. It turns out that you two share a really good relationship."

After playing the role of spectator for some time, Little Yan covered her mouth and smiled, saying, "It's more than just good. The two of them would stick to each other whenever they had free time."

"According to your cousin's personality, she is already holding back if she hasn't tied Chuanchuan to her waist yet," Fang Qin quipped.

Xu Chuanchuan turned as red as a tomato as she listened to the back and forth between Fang Qin and Little Yan.

In contrast, Murong Shi didn't show too much of a reaction. She neither got angry or annoyed. Instead, she flatly said, "I suddenly think it'll be better if we split the bill for this meal."

"I don't have money!" Little Yan was the first to protest.

Meanwhile, Fang Qin patted Little Yan's shoulder and confidently said, "No problem. We'll just run away once we're done eating."

Giving Fang Qin a high-five, Little Yan said, "Okay!"

Murong Shi was momentarily rendered speechless by the two across the table. Subsequently, she and Xu Chuanchuan finished the plate of pickled radish on the table.

"It's delicious," Xu Chuanchuan said with a longing look.

Noticing Xu Chuanchuan's expression, Murong Shi called for the waiter and ordered two more portions of pickled radishes; one to eat now and one to take home.

A hint of jealousy flashed in Fang Qin's eyes when she saw this scene. Then, she asked the person sitting next to her, "Are we extras here?"

Little Yan nodded.

"They're pretending as if we don't exist. What do you think we should do?" Fang Qin asked.

Puffing up her cheeks, Little Yan pitifully said, "They've been acting like this every day in front of me. I'm already used to the torture by now."

Then, Fang Qin let out a long sigh and said, "I shouldn't have greeded for this meal if I knew this was going to happen."

"It's okay, I'm here with you. We'll focus on eating while they focus on flirting," Little Yan said with a sweet smile.

In the meantime, Xu Chuanchuan had blushed up to her ears because of Fang Qin and Little Yan's conversation. Then, she gently jabbed Murong Shi with her elbow, signaling her to hold back on the flirting.

However, Murong Shi simply pushed down Xu Chuanchuan's elbow and continued serving food into Xu Chuanchuan's mouth. Then, she offhandedly said, "Find one for yourself if you can't take it."

These words were meant for Fang Qin.

After casually taking a bite of food, Fang Qin responded, "You make it sound so easy. Introduce someone to me, then."

"Looks like you've already gotten over it?"

Although Murong Shi's words sounded confusing and incomprehensible to others, Fang Qin understood what she meant. Then, revealing a bitter smile, Fang Qin said, "It's been so long already. What else can I do but get over it?"

Murong Shi took a long look at Fang Qin when she heard her friend's words. Then, she put on a serious expression and said, "If you meant what you said, you could have Chuanchuan introduce you to someone."

Me?" Xu Chuanchuan was surprised at having her name mentioned out of the blue.

Meanwhile, Fang Qin's eyes lit up as she asked, "Chuanchuan, are you going to introduce a girlfriend to me?"

"But most of the people I know are already married," Xu Chuanchuan said with a puzzled look. She failed to understand what Murong Shi was getting at. Then, she suddenly widened her eyes and exclaimed, "Y-Y-You're not talking about my little sister, right?!"

The corners of Murong Shi's lips twitched. Then, she clarified, "I'm talking about Tang Xin."

"Huh?" Xu Chuanchuan gaped in shock.

Murong Shi stuffed some food into Xu Chuanchuan while the latter had her mouth open. Then, she said, "She should be single right now, right?"

It was indeed true that Ange was a lesbian and that she was currently single. However, Xu Chuanchuan never thought Murong Shi would want to introduce Ange to Fang Qin.

Xu Chuanchuan hardly chewed the food before sending it down her gullet. Then, she lowered her voice and asked, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

Raising an eyebrow, Murong Shi responded with a question, "How is it inappropriate?"

"Ange never asked for me to introduce her to someone! It'll be awkward if I arbitrarily decide to do so!"

Suddenly, Murong Shi stabbed her chopsticks onto a piece of pickled radish, breaking it. Then, she said, "Rather than awkward, aren't you just reluctant to let someone else take her?"

"..." Xu Chuanchuan suddenly felt that "Little Jealous Bug" should be changed to "Big Jealous Bug" in the future.

Without receiving Ange's approval, Xu Chuanchuan felt that it would be inappropriate to make any promises. So, the matter of introducing Fang Qin to a new girlfriend faded out of their conversation quickly.

When they were leaving the restaurant, Murong Shi deliberately fell behind and secretly pulled Murong Shi aside. Then, she said, "Ange and I are best friends. Can you stop targeting her all the time in the future?"

In response, Murong Shi righteously said, "Since when have I targeted her? If I am trying to do so, why would I introduce Fang Qin to her?"

"..." Xu Chuanchuan was silenced.

"Frankly speaking, I don't hate her. At the very least, I think she is quite good in one aspect."

This was the first time Xu Chuanchuan had heard Murong Shi praising Ange. Unable to help her joy, she hurriedly asked, "Which aspect is it?"

She writes erotica quite well.

Murong Shi quietly looked at Xu Chuanchuan for a moment but said nothing in the end.

After returning home, Xu Chuanchuan messaged Ange for a joint writing session.

Ange: "Strange. Before you came to find me, my writing speed hit a record low. I didn't manage to write even a thousand words in an hour. I was also constantly sneezing. I wonder who is missing me so much?"

Xu Chuanchuan dared not reply because of her guilty conscience. When she recalled Murong Shi's suggestion during dinner, she said: "Didn't you say you want to fall in love before? It's like this: Murong has a girlfriend with a good personality. I think you two would be a good match."

Ange: "Are you kidding me, Tang'er? Are you switching careers and becoming a matchmaker now?"

Xu Chuanchuan: "I'm worried about you. o()o"

Ange: "I'm in the Outward Appearance Association. I won't bite if she doesn't look good."

Xu Chuanchuan: "She is gorgeous! Would you like to see some photos? But I don't have any with me right now. Hold on a second; I'll go ask Murong for some."

Ange: "Come back, come back."

Xu Chuanchuan: "What's wrong?"

Ange: "Forget it. Long-distance relationships are unreliable. I'll continue to be single."

Xu Chuanchuan: "Don't you want to give it a try?"

Ange: "I don't have the spare time. Anyways, let's start writing!"

Xu Chuanchuan didn't think Ange would react so coldly. However, forced love would not last, so she decided not to persist on the matter.

By the time Xu Chuanchuan finished her daily writing, more than two hours had gone by already.

Because Murong Shi had some questions she needed to consult with her father, Sun An, they had separated after dinner. After ending her writing session, Xu Chuanchuan felt as if her body had been hollowed out. Grabbing her phone, she called Murong Shi and talked through the phone for a while. Before she knew it, half an hour had gone by already.

"It's getting late. Go wash up and rest," Murong Shi said.

"Okay, I'll go now."

Xu Chuanchuan moved her stiff neck around after ending the call. When she left her room, she saw Little Yan lying on the sofa. Currently, the girl was eating a piece of cake while fiddling with her phone.

"Are you watching Xiangxiang's stream?" Xu Chuanchuan casually asked.

When Little Yan saw Xu Chuanchuan walking over, she said, "Are you done with work? Also, I'm not watching the stream. Something happened on Xiangxiang's side, and she and her senior might not be able to continue streaming anymore. I'm currently consoling her over this."

"What happened?" Xu Chuanchuan asked, a look of worry appearing on her face.

Sitting up, Little Yan said, "Xiangxiang herself is fine. It's her streaming channel that has encountered a problem."

Confused, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't understand it very well, either. Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Then, Xu Chuanchuan took Little Yan's phone, tapped on Xu Xiangxiang's WeChat avatar, and sent her little sister a video call request.