After Faking My Death, My Iceberg Ex-Wife Went Crazy for Me - Chapter 7

Ye Ling was awakened by a beam of light.

The curtains hadn’t been fully drawn, and the morning sun fell squarely on her eyelids, disturbing her peaceful slumber.

She raised a hand to shield her eyes, the movement triggering a sharp pain in her shoulder.

Like the first drop of spring rain, it was followed by an unrelenting cascade of throbbing.

Shoulder, back, waist—her most vulnerable spots—and the tender flesh of her inner thighs prickled with discomfort.

The pain wasn’t unbearable, but Ye Ling loathed the sensation; it reminded her of losing control.

She despised the feeling of losing control.

Ye Ling pushed herself up to sit, her face darkening as she noticed the mottled marks on her body.

“…Sister?” The person beside her stirred, awakened by her movements. Their eyes fluttered open, then closed again as they burrowed deeper into the pillow, still drowsy.

“Good morning,” Ye Ling said.

The words were “good morning,” but the gesture was “good night.”

The fluffy head persistently nuzzled against her hips until it found a comfortable angle, then settled back into sleep.

Ye Ling watched in silence, her judgment: Like a little dog.

And wasn’t she? When happy, she called her “Sister”; when displeased, “Ye Ling”; and when angry, she sarcastically addressed her as “President Ye.”

Her thoughts were written all over her face, refusing to be concealed.

Ye Ling lowered her head, tugged on the dog’s ear, and whispered a warning.

“I have a gala to attend the day after tomorrow. You’d better pray these marks fade by then, or else…”

Geng Xiaoxiao slept until late morning. It was nearly noon when she finally rolled out of bed, still half-asleep, and crawled up to wash her face.

She had been up so late the night before, tossing and turning for ages before finally drifting off. She couldn’t even remember when she’d fallen asleep.

Thank goodness it was Saturday, and she didn’t have to go to work.

But… hadn’t Ye Ling said something to her this morning? She couldn’t recall a single word.

Never mind, she thought. Whatever was said at a time like that couldn’t have been too important anyway.

Rinsing the dense foam from her face, she pressed down on her lower eyelids and scrutinized her reflection in the mirror.

After two full nights of restful sleep, the dark circles under her eyes—a result of recent overtime—had almost completely faded, leaving only a few tiny red bl00d vessels visible in the whites of her eyes.

Wiping her hands and face dry, Geng Xiaoxiao opened the cabinet and retrieved a box of colored contact lenses.

Most were deep black, with only a few pairs in other colors. After a moment’s deliberation, she selected an unconventional pair in gray-purple.

That’s the advantage of having light-colored eyes, she mused. Any color looks natural.

Stretching her eyelids open before the mirror, Geng Xiaoxiao expertly inserted the lenses. Still, the contact solution stung her eyes, triggering reflexive tears.

Wearing colored contact lenses was proving difficult to get used to.

Wiping away her tears, Geng Xiaoxiao turned on the faucet and slowly washed her hands. Suddenly, she heard faint voices outside, barely audible over the running water.

She turned off the faucet, dried her hands, and cautiously cracked open the bedroom door.

Several workers emerged from Ye Ling’s room, followed by Aunt Zhang, who clutched a handful of red envelopes. “Thank you for your hard work,” Aunt Zhang said, pressing the envelopes into their hands. “Please accept these as a token of our appreciation.”

“No need, no need,” the foreman replied with a smile, pushing the envelopes back. “The installation fee is already included in the mattress price. We couldn’t possibly accept more.”

“It’s just a small token—enough for the kids to buy some candy.”

Aunt Zhang’s brow furrowed as she firmly pressed the envelopes into their hands. “It’s our custom. Whenever we have earthwork done or a new bed installed, the homeowner provides meals and red envelopes for the workers. Otherwise, we wouldn’t feel at peace living here. Please, just take them.”

With Aunt Zhang’s insistence, the workers finally relented, accepting the envelopes with polite thanks. Before leaving, they even offered to take out the household trash for disposal.

Geng Xiaoxiao had overheard the entire conversation. After the workers left, she opened the door and asked, “Auntie, what do they do?”

“They’re mattress installers. Xiao Ye accidentally spilled coffee on her bed this morning and had a new one delivered.”

Aunt Zhang sighed, “What a waste of a perfectly good mattress! I heard it cost tens of thousands of yuan. Just a little coffee stain—couldn’t she have just washed it?”

“…” Geng Xiaoxiao’s face flushed slightly. “My sister’s used to the finer things,” she murmured, “she’s bound to be a bit picky.”

“True,” Aunt Zhang sighed again, dropping the subject. “I’ll go tidy up Xiao Ye’s room. Xiaoxiao, what do you want for lunch?”

Geng Xiaoxiao glanced around. “Is my sister out?”

“She said she had work to do and left early this morning.”

“Oh, I see…” Geng Xiaoxiao nodded. “Then Aunt Zhang, you should go rest after you’re done here. I’m going out with a friend anyway.”

With that, she hurried back to her room, grabbed her phone, and texted Chen Qiao:

Free for lunch? Come over for hotpot—BYOB (Bring Your Own Broth).

Chen Qiao replied instantly:

Currently serving time. Do not disturb.

“Oh dear, this child! She made plans with her friend without a word. I’m so sorry you had to come pick her up.”

The round-faced woman, Chen Qiushuang, held Geng Xiaoxiao’s hand, squeezing it repeatedly with a warm smile.

Chen Qiao set down her embroidery needle and subtly nudged her mother aside. “Mom, stop touching everyone’s hands like some kind of pervert.”

Chen Qiushuang snorted through her nose. “I’d love to touch yours, but you should at least protect them! They’re like Velcro—one slip across the fabric and they snag threads.”

“That’s such an exaggeration! It’s just a couple of calluses!”

“And how many more do you want? Do you even realize that our hands are a needlewoman’s most precious tool? This family craft will die with you!”

“Then let it die! I’ve told you a hundred times, I don’t even…”

“Enough, enough, enough!”

Geng Xiaoxiao rushed over in a panic and clamped her hand over Chen Qiao’s mouth.

She’d only spaced out for a moment, and already this mother-daughter pair was nearly tearing the roof off!

While restraining the furious Chen Qiao, Geng Xiaoxiao racked her brains for a way to calm her down. “Auntie, Chen Qiao didn’t mean anything by it. She’s just frustrated because her startup failed. You know how young people are…”

What exactly do I know? Geng Xiaoxiao wondered, but strangely enough, after a few deep breaths, Chen Qiushuang actually calmed down.

“Alright, alright,” Chen Qiushuang waved her hand. “Xiaoxiao, you two were supposed to be going out, right? Take her away and stop bothering me.”

“Got it!” Geng Xiaoxiao replied, dragging Chen Qiao away immediately.

In the car, Chen Qiao’s eyes were still red with anger. “Bothering her? If she hadn’t barged into my apartment this morning, yelling about my drinking and ‘degradation,’ and forcing me to come to the embroidery studio, would I even be bothering her?!”

“Enough, enough. Calm down. Drink some lemonade to cool off.”

Geng Xiaoxiao handed her the lemonade. Chen Qiao gulped down half the glass in an instant.

She was truly furious.

She started the car and asked, “Why did Auntie suddenly go to your place?”

Chen Qiao grumbled, “How would I know? She goes there every ten days or so, then complains about how dirty and messy the house is, saying I don’t act like a proper girl. But if I tell her not to come, she gets upset.”

Geng Xiaoxiao nodded knowingly. “She just misses you.”

“Miss me? Her?” Chen Qiao scoffed. “You have no idea. From childhood until now, the thing she’s said to me most often is, ‘Just looking at you annoys me.'”

“Even if she’s annoyed, she’s been seeing you every day for over twenty years,” Geng Xiaoxiao pointed out. “If you have time, you should really have a proper talk with her.”

Chen Qiao frowned and muttered, “Fine, fine. Why are you nagging more than my mom lately? Can we stop talking about her?”

“Let’s talk about you then,” she said, her expression shifting instantly as she asked excitedly, “What’s going on today? Finally introducing your wife to your best friend?”

Geng Xiaoxiao chuckled as the car merged onto the elevated highway. She pressed down on the accelerator, her voice scattering in the wind.

“No wife, just a kid. Want to meet them?”

“This isn’t very appropriate,” Chen Qiao muttered, fidgeting as they neared their destination. After rummaging through her pockets, she produced a zodiac ceramic pendant and exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I didn’t have time to prepare a proper gift!”

“What’s the point of preparing anything?” Geng Xiaoxiao glanced back at her and tucked the pendant away. “Keep it safe yourself. It’s too small—you might accidentally swallow it.”

“I get it, I get it—a little one still in the oral fixation stage,” Chen Qiao said hurriedly, stashing the pendant. She looked around, her face a mix of excitement and barely concealed nervousness.

How can she be so easily fooled? Geng Xiaoxiao thought, growing even more certain that even ten Chen Qiaos wouldn’t be a match for Xue Jiqing’s little finger.

She unlocked the courtyard gate and called back, “Come on in.”

Chen Qiao followed, asking, “This house looks pretty old, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, probably not much younger than us,” Geng Xiaoxiao replied, bending down to scoop up Huazai. “Come here, Huazai, meet your godmother.”

She dangled the kitten by one paw, making it wave.

Chen Qiao stared in stunned silence.

The hotpot was bubbling away as Chen Qiao speared a beef ball with her chopsticks, muttering, “I really fell for your nonsense about a ‘baby’! I was all ready to be a cool aunt, and you pull out a cat?”

“What’s wrong with cats? Looking down on them? If you’re so tough, try ignoring a stray kitten next time you see one.”

“That’s completely different!”

After a few more jabs, the first batch of ingredients was nearly cooked. The two fell silent, their eyes fixed on the simmering food.

Food always tastes best when you’re fighting over it. Only when their stomachs were stuffed to bursting did they finally set down their chopsticks, their casual chatter fading into the background.

Chen Qiao asked, “Where’s your grandma? Is it okay for us to be having hotpot here?”

Geng Xiaoxiao rubbed her belly and replied, “She’s on a trip with some friends from her senior university. They’ll be gone for three days.”

“Senior university,” Chen Qiao repeated. “That’s nice. When my mom gets older, I’ll make her go too. It’ll keep her from nagging me all day.”

Geng Xiaoxiao chuckled. “You two are something else. You clearly care about each other, but you can’t go three sentences without arguing.”

“That’s different,” Chen Qiao retorted.

“Looks the same to me.”

Geng Xiaoxiao stood up and pulled a stack of documents from her bag. “Here’s what you wanted—Xue Jiqing’s file.”

“Woo-hoo!” Chen Qiao jumped up excitedly, nearly burping from being too full. She patted her chest and exclaimed without pausing, “Xiaoxiao, I absolutely adore you!”

“Wait until you’ve read it before deciding whether to adore me. I’m going to grab some digestive pills.”

She really did seem stuffed.

Geng Xiaoxiao deliberately stayed away longer than necessary. When she returned, Chen Qiao was sitting on the sofa, her eyes red, though it was unclear if she had been crying.

“Xiaoxiao,” Chen Qiao sniffled, “if I said I still wanted to try, would I sound incredibly foolish?”

“Yes.”

Geng Xiaoxiao didn’t offer any hollow platitudes to comfort her. The file she had given Chen Qiao was meticulously detailed, including not only basic family relationships and personal preferences but also a chronological list of Xue Jiqing’s romantic history.

The pattern was remarkably consistent: each relationship lasted between one and three months, followed by a similar period of being single.

Every romance of Xue Jiqing’s had been accompanied by chaos within the Xue Family, making the information relatively easy to gather.

“Absolutely, utterly foolish,” Geng Xiaoxiao added.

“But I just… I really like her…” Chen Qiao’s voice trembled with tears as she continued, “What am I supposed to do? This is the first time I’ve ever felt this way about someone, even if it’s just one-sided. Nothing’s even started yet, and she might not even remember me next time we meet…”

“But… but she invited me to try the new items at her shop! It was probably just a casual remark, but I took it to heart. I really took it to heart.”

Her words tumbled out in a jumbled mess, much like her tears, scattered like droplets across her face.

“Nothing has even started yet. I haven’t even made her remember me. I really, really don’t want to give up.”

“At least for now, I want to try harder. At least make her remember me, leave some kind of mark on her life, even if it’s just a tiny thread!”

Chen Qiao burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I know this sounds cheesy, but I think I really, really like her. Like, really, really like her.”

“That day at the bar when she shook my hand, Xiaoxiao, do you know? I felt like I was about to fly.”

“I’ve never felt like this before, not even once. I can’t accept it, I really can’t.”

“…What should I do, Xiaoxiao? What’s the right thing to do?”

Geng Xiaoxiao muttered something under her breath.

“Huh?” Chen Qiao didn’t catch it, her face streaked with tears and snot, looking utterly foolish.

“I said…”

Geng Xiaoxiao stood up, snatched the tear-soaked document from Chen Qiao’s hand, and tore it to shreds with a few sharp rips.

The fragments fluttered down like a blizzard of goose feathers.

She declared with conviction, “So what if you fell for someone you shouldn’t have? Screw it!”

Sometimes, you have to smash your head against the wall yourself to learn to avoid it.