After Being Bent by Reader

Chapter 71: Pt.1

When Xu Chuanchuan arrived at the Murong household, Aunt Lian was the person to open the door for her. "Little Xu, you've come?"

"Good evening, Aunt Lian."

"Evening, evening!" Aunt Lian stepped aside and made way for Xu Chuanchuan to enter the house. When she noticed that the younger woman was holding a big bag in her hands, she said, "Oh, you should've just come empty-handed. No need to be so polite."

"I used to feel very embarrassed when coming here empty-handed," Xu Chuanchuan said with a smile.

"You bought so many things. It must be heavy, right? Look, even your hands have turned red. Give it to me, quickly. I'll hold it for you."

Xu Chuanchuan wanted to say that she could handle the weight, but Aunt Lian had already snatched the bag out of her hands before she could open her mouth. Then, while massaging her reddened palms, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "Is Auntie Mingshu alright?"

"Oh, she nearly scared me to death when she fainted! Thankfully, I got her to the hospital in time, so she's alright now. She's currently resting inside her room."

"Is it alright if I go see her now?"

Before Aunt Lian could answer, another voice interjected, "Why didn't you tell me you were visiting?"

Xu Chuanchuan turned toward the source of this other voice. Then, she saw Murong Shi rushing down the stairs in her sandals and arriving in front of her in no time at all.

No matter how hard Murong Shi tried, she utterly failed to hide the joy and love in her passionate eyes.

However, Xu Chuanchuan couldn't help but feel a sense of foreignness when she looked at the person before her. She even felt that Murong Shi's current smile looked somewhat fake. In an attempt to hide her disgust, Xu Chuanchuan turned her head away and indifferently said, "I just wanted to see how Auntie is doing."

Murong Shi didn't notice Xu Chuanchuan's strange behavior as she said, "She's resting in the room. I'll take you to her."

After Murong Shi finished speaking, she reached out to hold Xu Chuanchuan's hand naturally.

Xu Chuanchuan initially thought to struggle free from Murong Shi's hold but held back the urge to do so when she remembered Aunt Lian was still nearby.

However, Murong Shi immediately noticed something was amiss when she held onto her lover's hand. Then, she asked, "Does it hurt?"

A deep groove had formed in the palm of Xu Chuanchuan's hand because of the heavy plastic bag. While it indeed hurt when Murong Shi touched it, Xu Chuanchuan stubbornly said, "It's fine."

In response, Murong Shi released Xu Chuanchuan's hand and began giving it a gentle massage.

Whenever Murong Shi treated her so warmly, Xu Chuanchuan would feel as if she were on cloud nine. However, she couldn't help but have complicated feelings this time.

Xu Chuanchuan silently retracted her hand. Then, she lowered her head to hide the emotions in her eyes before saying, "We shouldn't be doing this at your home."

They were already used to avoiding suspicion whenever they weren't alone, so Murong Shi simply treated Xu Chuanchuan's reaction as the latter being shy.

Murong Mingshu's room was on the second floor. After opening the door, Xu Chuanchuan saw a sturdy figure sitting by the bed and feeding Murong Mingshu a slice of apple. When Xu Chuanchuan realized that this person was Murong Shi's father, Sun An, her footsteps paused.

"Dad, Mom, Chuanchuan is here," Murong Shi said to the people inside.

"Chuanchuan's here?" A friendly smile immediately surfaced on Murong Mingshu's pale face, though her voice when she spoke sounded a little weak. "Come in, quickly."

Xu Chuanchuan entered the room together with Murong Shi.

Meanwhile, Sun An offered another slice of apple to his wife. When Murong Mingshu shook her head and expressed that she did not wish to eat anymore, Sun An returned the slice to the plate and slowly stood up. Then, his sharp eyes scrutinized Xu Chuanchuan for a moment before asking Murong Shi, "And this person is?"

This was the first time Xu Chuanchuan had met Sun An despite having visited the Murong household many times. According to Murong Shi's description, Xu Chuanchuan had imagined Sun An to be a very strict person. After meeting the person himself today, she found that her imagination was accurate. Feeling a little nervous, Xu Chuanchuan put on a decent smile and said, "Hello, Present Sun. I'm Xu Chuanchuan."

"She's my girlfriend," Murong Shi added.

The word 'girlfriend' had multiple meanings, so Sun An didn't think too deeply into the matter. Then, he smiled and said, "I think I remember. You're the one who came to stay over last time, right? Welcome to our house."

Xu Chuanchuan felt a little strange. For an instant, she thought that Murong Shi was planning to come out of the closet at this moment.

Then, Murong Shi faintly said, "She's been here many times already. It's just that you were so busy that you hadn't met her even once before."

It was only a normal sentence. However, for some reason, Xu Chuanchuan could feel the atmosphere in the room freezing as soon as Murong Shi finished speaking.

Sun An's stern expression faltered momentarily but quickly recovered. Instead of answering Murong Shi, he said, "You three have a good chat. I still have another business meeting tonight."

"Take care," Murong Shi said in a respectful tone. However, the expression she wore was frigid.

Sun An took a long look at his daughter, then looked toward his wife, who was leaning against the bed's headboard.

"Of course. I don't need you to tell me that."

Provocation filled these words, and even Xu Chuanchuan felt uncomfortable listening to them, let alone Sun An.

However, Sun An surprisingly didn't explode into rage. Instead, he was seemingly doing his best to control his emotions and eventually left without saying anything.

Murong Shi went and closed the door.

Meanwhile, Murong Mingshu let out a heavy sigh and said, "It's rare for you father and daughter to meet, so why can't you two converse properly?"

Murong Shi did not respond.

Did I come at a bad time? Xu Chuanchuan was at a loss on what to do in this awkward situation. "That I"

Noticing Xu Chuanchuan's awkwardness, Murong Mingshu beamed her warm smile before saying, "See? Even Chuanchuan doesn't know what to say anymore."

Xu Chuanchuan dryly laughed.

Then, Murong Mingshu held onto Xu Chuanchuan's hand affectionately and said, "You came to visit me, right? That's thoughtful of you, but don't worry. I'm fine."

Immediately afterward, Murong Shi said in an upset tone, "You call fainting in the middle of the day, 'fine'? Do you know how dangerous it is for someone of your age to get heatstroke? You're not young anymore, yet you still dare to go out into the open in such hot weather? Even teenage girls aren't as crazy as you. Is it not better to stay at home where there's air conditioning?"

Murong Shi did not stop once she started voicing out her worries and annoyance. However, Murong Mingshu was seemingly used to such situations already as she simply listened in silence. Then, once Murong Shi was done ranting, Murong Mingshu said, "A girl shouldn't be so aggressive."

"You won't keep it in your mind if I'm not aggressive. How many times have I told you to stop doing tiring work yourself already? Yet, you refuse to listen. Last time, you even went out to catch chickens and got your hand injured. How can someone as old as you be so wilful? How am I supposed to work with peace of mind if you keep behaving like this?"

Holding onto her forehead, Murong Mingshu said, "Yes, yes, yes, everything you said is correct. I'll be sure to listen to you next time. Why have you become so naggy? Your temper is bad as well. What if no one wants you in the future?"

In response, Murong Shi wrapped an arm around Xu Chuanchuan's shoulders and meaningfully said, "You don't have to worry about this."

The mother-daughter duo was so busy with their conversation that neither of them noticed the stiff smile on Xu Chuanchuan's face.

Meanwhile, Xu Chuanchuan finally felt relieved after seeing that Murong Mingshu was alright. However, there was still one thing on her mind.

To avoid disturbing Murong Mingshu's rest, Murong Shi and Xu Chuanchuan retreated from the room shortly afterward. Immediately after closing the door, Murong Shi leaned into Xu Chuanchuan's ear and said, "You don't have work tomorrow, so just stay for the night."

Xu Chuanchuan felt her body turning numb when Murong Shi's hot breath penetrated her ear. Then, she pushed Murong Shi away out of reflex and said, "I have something to say to you."

With a big smile on her face, Murong Shi asked, "What is it?"

Murong Mingshu's room was behind them, and Aunt Lian was busy working in the kitchen downstairs. After blinking her eyes, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Let's go to your room."

Murong Shi's eyes lit up at Xu Chuanchuan's words, and she eagerly dragged the shorter woman back to her room. Then, after closing the door, Murong Shi promptly turned around and pressed Xu Chuanchuan against the door.

Xu Chuanchuan gasped and exclaimed, "Hey!"

"Does it hurt?" Murong Shi utterly misunderstood Xu Chuanchuan's reaction. When she tried to insert her hand between the door and Xu Chuanchuan's back to pick the latter up, something stopped her hand.

Xu Chuanchuan put up a weak struggle.

"What's this?" Murong Shi looked down and found that it was a handbag. So, she promptly tried to remove it for Xu Chuanchuan.

Xu Chuanchuan quickly held down Murong Shi's hands and said, "I have something to say."

"Kiss me first; then we'll talk. We haven't seen each other for the entire day already," Murong Shi said before leaning forward with her scorching lips.

However, how could Xu Chuanchuan possibly be in the mood to be affectionate with Murong Shi right now? So, she turned her head and let Murong Shi's lips fall on her cheek.

Although the hands holding her arms were weak, Murong Shi noticed that the resistance they put up was unexpectedly apparent. So, her eager kiss gradually grew hesitant.

Only at this moment did Murong Shi realize that Xu Chuanchuan was behaving strangely. So, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Chuanchuan moved aside and tightly pressed her back against the door. Then, she looked up at Murong Shi and got straight to the point, asking, "Have you ever lied to me?"

Murong Shi couldn't help herself from laughing. Then, she hooked Xu Chuanchuan's chin with her forefinger and said, "What an abrupt question. Of course not. Why would I ever lie to you?"

"No?" Holding down Murong Shi's misbehaving hands, Xu Chuanchuan said with a gloomy look, "I'll give you one more chance."

This was the first time Xu Chuanchuan had spoken to her in such a harsh tone, so Murong Shi couldn't help but be slightly taken aback. Then, after retracting her joking thoughts, she stared at Xu Chuanchuan and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Xu Chuanchuan stared straight into Murong Shi's eyes and monotonously asked, "Did you forget? Or are you putting on an act?"

Murong Shi looked down and frowned unhappily. "I don't like your expression and the way you speak."

Xu Chuanchuan felt like she was talking to Murong Shi through different frequencies as the latter was utterly failing to understand her words. After taking a deep breath, Xu Chuanchuan said, "Okay, let me remind you, then."

"Remind me what? I don't understand a single thing you're saying," Murong Shi said. Then, when she saw Xu Chuanchuan trying to open her handbag, she asked, "What are you looking for?"

For some reason, her handbag's zipper had gotten stuck, and Xu Chuanchuan struggled for some time before managing to open it. Then, she took out the parcel Linda had previously given her.

"What's this?" Murong Shi asked again. However, when she saw the courier slip on the parcel, she promptly kept her mouth shut.

"Did you see it?" Xu Chuanchuan did not miss the change in Murong Shi's expression. Then, she pointed at the sender's section and said, "'Xu XX.' This is me. Inside this parcel is a book, and it is something I sent. Now, do you mind telling me who this 'Passerby Shi' is?"

"......"

"You've long since known about my pen name, haven't you?"

"..." Murong Shi gradually started remembering what she had forgotten.

Because quite some time had passed already and many things had happened along the way, Murong Shi had forgotten entirely about this parcel. She also couldn't help but be confused about why this parcel was in Xu Chuanchuan's hands rather than in Linda's house.

Murong Shi's expression changed time and again as she tried to wrap her mind around this matter.

Xu Chuanchuan grew impatient after not receiving a reply for some time. So, she took a deep breath and continued, "Are you refusing to admit it? Linda already told me that you used her address on purpose. Aside from this book, I also sent the last six books to her place. You're clearly Passerby Shi! Why have you been toying with me all this time?!"

"..." Murong Shi never thought that she would slip up at this juncture. However, now that Xu Chuanchuan had brought conclusive evidence, what else could she say? So, she raised her hands in submission and said, "Yes, that's me. But I'm not toying with you."

"You dare deny it still?!" Blood rushing to her head, Xu Chuanchuan subconsciously raised her voice and said, "You used this nickname to read my novels and spy on my Weibo. You had me write that bootlicking essay and read it out for you! You even made a record of it! You also messed with me on QQ on the basis that you've donated a lot of money to me! If this doesn't constitute messing with me, what is it?!"

"I"

"I still have our conversation history saved on my phone. Are you still trying to lie?"