After Being Targeted By A Sweet Girl With Big Eyes - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Chit-Chat

“Do you hate me?”

Fu Tian was still stubbornly pressing for the answer. This was too important to her. Perhaps, every word Jiang Ruyi spoke weighed a thousand pounds.

“I don’t hate you.”

The muffled voice came from Fu Tian’s chest. The feeling was strange. They were as intimate as true lovers. The moment that thought surfaced, Jiang Ruyi’s heart immediately clenched.

Fu Tian sniffled, then continued to ask, “Then why could you say that to me? Just because I like you? Just because you don’t like me?”

The stone of guilt in Jiang Ruyi’s heart seemed to sink heavily, pressing down so hard she could barely breathe. She feared nothing more than a woman crying, especially in front of her.

“I’m sorry…” she spoke with difficulty. “I’m sorry. It’s just that my ex-girlfriends used to say I couldn’t maintain a long-term relationship. Also, it’s weird. I have some issues. I summarized it, and I think I’m a bit obsessive. They couldn’t consistently meet the expectations in my heart, so they found it exhausting. They said I wasn’t suitable, that I was only good for being friends-with-benefits—stuff like that…”

Fu Tian suddenly burst into a loud sob, her crying spreading through the bedroom. “Others plant trees for their successors to enjoy the shade, but why did they only dig holes and not plant trees? That’s too much!”

“Right, right, right! We are too much! I think a person should stick to their moral integrity, especially a woman with money and looks like us. We shouldn’t degrade ourselves! It’s truly too much!”

“You know it, you know it’s not right!” Fu Tian smacked Jiang Ruyi’s butt a few times to vent her anger. She shifted positions, flipped Jiang Ruyi onto her back, pinned her hands, and pressed her for an answer. “Now, do you still want to be friends-with-benefits with me?”

Jiang Ruyi shook her head obediently. “I was wrong. I won’t dare to again.”

“Do you still want to sleep with other people?”

“I don’t!”

“Will you still be seduced by a honey trap in the future?”

“That… is hard to say.” Jiang Ruyi’s eyes darted around. Even in the dark, she didn’t dare look directly into Fu Tian’s eyes, afraid of being skinned and having her tendons pulled out.

“Ha~” The things coming out of that little mouth really weren’t human.

Fu Tian let out an ambiguous scoff, which made Jiang Ruyi’s little heart clench again.

The expected slaps didn’t arrive. Instead, Fu Tian moved off her and lay beside her on the bed, her tone as calm as if discussing the weather. “Tell me about your ex-girlfriends.”

“Why should I? Each person is responsible for their own actions. They’re ex-girlfriends now; they have nothing to do with this. This was my own decision,” Jiang Ruyi thought for a moment, then added, “a stupid decision.”

A long silence fell in the room. Fu Tian was quiet for a while, and then again. When the silence once more made Jiang Ruyi awkward and unsure of what to do, Fu Tian finally spoke, her voice timid and light, like a sigh. “You’re right. I’m just a random cat or dog you wanted to sleep with. What am I, anyway?”

“Hey, Fu Tian, don’t say that. It makes it sound like I actually did something to you.”

“Weren’t you trying to do something to me?”

“Hey, how can you say that!” Jiang Ruyi was indignant. She flipped over and straddled Fu Tian again, looking down and pounding her chest. “People say to judge by actions, not thoughts! I had the intention, but I didn’t have the guts!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Ruyi yelped. Fu Tian, with lightning speed, clamped her legs, reached out to support her butt, and started walking toward the door. Her movements were quick and steady.

“What are you doing?!” Jiang Ruyi froze, terrified. Given their height and weight, she was afraid she’d get seriously hurt if she struggled.

“I’m going to tattle. I’m going to tell your grandma you’re lying on me, bullying me, and still won’t give me a title.”

“Hey, hey, hey! Stop it, stop it!” Jiang Ruyi was frantic. “Young people’s squabbles brought to the elders? I’ll lose all my face! You’re a sore loser, aren’t you? I don’t believe you have the nerve to say that!”

“Do you dare me?”

Fu Tian carried her step-by-step to the door. When Jiang Ruyi felt her butt was about to hit the doorknob, she quickly relented. “Fine, fine, you really are… you’re something else. I told you they were ex-girlfriends. Don’t you feel bad enough that you have to make me feel bad, too? Fine, fine, put me down, and I’ll tell you, alright? You are such a stubborn mule, saying you’re pursuing me, but all you’re doing is reminiscing about my ex-girlfriends. You’re crazy.”

“I have a temper, too! I’ll only tell you about two relationships.” Jiang Ruyi lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, rummaging through her mind to summarize her first and last relationships.

Fu Tian propped her head up with one hand, humming a slightly off-key tune, sounding quite pleased.

A clap of thunder suddenly rolled outside, and lightning momentarily illuminated the bedroom. Their eyes met in the alternating light and dark. Jiang Ruyi began slowly, “The first one… I met her in a bar. I was heartbroken in love, and she hadn’t achieved anything in her career. We talked and ended up drinking too much. What happened after that? She had fair skin, beautiful looks, and long legs—she completely fit my aesthetic. She was like a light in my life at that time, you know?”

“But… good times don’t last. You know about that incident. I looked fine, but I was actually going crazy with stress, so I indulged in hedonism. I was emotionally needy; she needed money. I spent lavishly on her. I accidentally spent too much, which caught my sister’s attention. She flew from Beijing and gave me a good beating, forcing her to break up with me. I was taken back to Beijing and locked up at my sister’s place for a while. Except for official public appearances, I was sent right back. That’s how the first relationship ended.”

“You should have been locked up! If your sister hadn’t managed you, you would have gone astray, you know that?” Fu Tian gritted her teeth. So this person wasn’t a first-time offender? This was truly infuriating.

“She wasn’t that bad,” Jiang Ruyi immediately defended her ex. “It was truly a free love. She was just a little money-grubbing. How cute is that? With that ascetic face, she looked at people like they were ants, yet she had such worldly desires.”

“I really liked her back then, and I’m very grateful to her. Thank her for encouraging me during that time. Honestly, without her, I wouldn’t have gotten over it so quickly. You know, during that incident, the whole internet was cyberbullying me. I didn’t even dare to go online…”

She paused, her voice quieter. “I really doubted myself. We agreed she could try pursuing me, but why was she under so much pressure? If she didn’t like me, she could have rejected me directly… I really… Forget it. Anyway, don’t you dare speak ill of her in your mind.”

“Okay. Your first girlfriend was a good person. The fault lies with others.”

Fu Tian understood perfectly. She thought that perhaps Xia Lin’s hesitation was due to a tiny bit of genuine affection deep down.

It was just that Xia Lin didn’t have the confidence Jiang Ruyi had. Everything was defeated by worldly pressure. She wasn’t a rich young lady dabbling in the entertainment industry; she had to be extra cautious, struggling in the industry and daring not to make a single mistake.

When that audio recording was leaked online, the overwhelming public opinion had already pushed the two to opposite sides. There was no room for reconciliation.

Therefore, Xia Lin was truly foolish. Realizing that she liked Jiang Ruyi only now was far, far too late.

There was no future for them.

Broken mirrors couldn’t be made whole again.

“That’s more like it,” Jiang Ruyi was satisfied.

Fu Tian then asked, “And this one? The one you cried and begged to get back together with? Tell me your story with her.”

Jiang Ruyi kicked her legs, complaining unhappily, “I didn’t cry and beg to get back together! Okay, I did cry and beg to get back together? But it’s all Fan Ling’s fault!”

Fan Ling? What does Fan Ling have to do with this? Let her hear what mischief her good childhood friend has been up to behind her back.

“Oh? The 10CP?”

“You even know that?” Jiang Ruyi was surprised. “That was just a small circle thing. Now I really believe you’re my fan.”

She propped up her head and faced Fu Tian. “Fan Ling said if I swallowed my pride and cried, I might have a chance. Don’t let my appearance fool you; I actually really cherished that relationship. I acted on impulse and really went… Otherwise, I wouldn’t be entangled so deeply with you.”

“Oh, I see. Fan Ling is quite a good person then,” Fu Tian said, one word at a time. A thousand miles away, Fan Ling suddenly let out a loud sneeze.

“Of course! She’s a great person. She didn’t look down on me because of that incident. Our relationship got even better afterward. If it weren’t for her, I’d even suspect she liked me.”

Fu Tian smiled brightly. “That’s good. It’s nice to have her by your side.”

“Absolutely. Anyone who can be friends with me isn’t an ordinary person!” Jiang Ruyi was smug.

Fu Tian suddenly sat up, swinging her legs on the edge of the bed, her tone light and airy. “Done talking? Go back to your room when you’re done.”

Huh?

Jiang Ruyi was confused. How could she change so quickly? She wasn’t angry when she applied to be her friend-with-benefits, but now, talking politely, she suddenly sounded distant. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Fu Tian’s voice was cold as ice.

“Then your tone…”

“I’m tired and want to rest,” Fu Tian said, reaching out and unlocking the door. The hallway light streamed in through the gap, casting a thin band of light on the floor.

Jiang Ruyi looked back, catching Fu Tian’s eyes with the faint light. She opened her mouth to say something more but ultimately pressed her lips together and stayed silent. She simply wasn’t equipped to handle this kind of situation.

She grudgingly got up. “Fine. Get some rest.”

Jiang Ruyi thought, Fu Tian likes her so much; she should get over her anger soon enough.

Returning to her bedroom, Jiang Ruyi turned on the showerhead, and hot water poured down. The sound of water flowed from upstairs and downstairs. As their fingers traced over their skin, the person they were thinking of was each other.

One had no experience being pursued, and the other had no experience pursuing someone.

Jiang Ruyi enjoyed the feeling of conquering someone. She found pleasure in pursuing others, like passing a level in a game, a different kind of conquest. This person was excellent, so she wanted to possess them, but if they disagreed, there was nothing she could do.

She could only be grateful for her compulsory education and her family’s careful upbringing, which kept her from taking a path of no return.

Fu Tian, conversely, had never pursued anyone herself. Of course, while she had been pursued, none had succeeded in truly winning her over. It was only because Jiang Ruyi was occasionally foolish, even turning around to comfort her, that her pursuit was so unusual. No one pursuing someone acts like this.

Furthermore, without that one experience, Fu Tian also believed that she would either meet a man in the future or, like Fan Ling, be asexual and content with her own company.