After Stealing a Kiss from My Sponsor Sister - Chapter 34
In the end, Jiang Ya still let Yu Shuang take her bath.
But she strictly controlled the time.
No lingering allowed.
After filling the tub, she even checked the water temperature with an ear thermometer, adjusting it to what she deemed suitable before calling Yu Shuang in.
What a little stickler.
Soaking in the bathtub, Yu Shuang complained on her phone.
The recipient, naturally, was Tan Xiao.
Yu Shuang: When did she even become like this? Feels like I brought home a personal manager.
Managing this, controlling that—restricting her at every turn.
It wasn’t exactly a lack of freedom, just… relatively speaking, not as carefree as before…
Tan Xiao: Did she scold you?
…
No.
It’s not like I caught a cold on purpose.
Tan Xiao: Did she lecture you, then?
Yu Shuang took a deep breath and sank a little deeper into the hot water. … The ellipses she sent were like bubbles rising to the surface—bloop bloop bloop—she didn’t feel like talking.
She regretted it immediately after sending.
Her gut told her Tan Xiao would definitely laugh.
Too late to recall the message, she received a laughing emoji in response.
Yu Shuang: “…”
Tan Xiao: Hate it?
Not to that extent.
Got it. You just don’t like being controlled. I used to be the same.
Yu Shuang felt her friend’s past experiences couldn’t really compare to her current situation.
Tan Xiao’s were all messy exes, completely different from her relationship with Jiang Ya.
Tan Xiao: If you don’t like it, just kick her out. Didn’t she already pay you back? Your sponsorship’s pretty much over at this point, right?
Yu Shuang: …
Tan Xiao: Can’t bear to?
Yu Shuang quoted her previous message: You can’t really put it that way.
Then how should I put it? It’s not like you two are related or anything.
We’re not.
So it’s just a sponsorship. She’s already gone above and beyond. What more do you want to help her with?
Yu Shuang tapped her nails against her phone—tap tap tap—then sighed in resignation.
You’re right. She’s earning money now, about to enter society.
The two of them didn’t have any other ties binding them together. Slowly but surely, they’d drift apart one day.
Once Jiang Ya got busy with work, once she found a partner, once she graduated…
It wasn’t like Yu Shuang could remain the center of her attention forever.
That was the logical way to see it.
But the thought still left her feeling inexplicably hollow.
Like watching a little chick suddenly grow up overnight.
Yu Shuang: You’re right. Maybe it’s just her student mentality—still seeing me as her guardian. In a few years, once she’s busy with her own life, things will get better.
Tan Xiao raised an eyebrow and laughed. You’re the one complaining, yet you’re still defending her. I get it now—I shouldn’t have bothered giving you advice.
Was that even advice?
Weren’t you the one complaining first?
“…” This was never going to end.
Tan Xiao: Maybe you should just endure it. After all, she’s doing it for your own good. If you were really in the right, would you even be complaining to me? You’d have already snapped back at Jiang Ya, hahaha.
What terrible friends.
Yu Shuang exited the chat with an expressionless face.
As soon as she did, she noticed two unexpected red notification dots on other contacts’ avatars.
He Minqian: Back in the country today? You got an invite to the He Family’s art exhibition too, right? Will you be coming?
I’ll be there.
Su Shu: Image
See you back home. Treat me to a meal then, yeah? Fill me in on the domestic scene too.
The image was a flight ticket.
Yu Shuang checked the date—landing in three days.
So soon.
She vaguely remembered the He Family’s exhibition wasn’t until the end of the month. With such a big gap in between, Su Shu was probably preparing for it.
But still, that was way too early.
Was she coming back to play for a while?
Possibly.
Su Shu hasn’t returned to the country in seven or eight years—or was it nine or ten?
As the vague memory resurfaced, Yu Shuang was surprised to realize she had never actually seen Su Shu go back.
For international students like them, it was customary to return home around the Lunar New Year.
But during the years when the two of them were close, Su Shu had always stayed abroad.
Thoughts of her family brought a flurry of messy speculations to mind, but Yu Shuang shook her head to dismiss them.
A patient shouldn’t dwell on such complicated things.
Lost in her thoughts, she soaked in a daze until the punctual little housekeeper knocked on the door.
“I know.”
“I’m getting up.”
Despite saying so, it wasn’t until Jiang Ya called her twice that Yu Shuang finally dragged herself out of the bathtub.
After a full meal, playing with Xiao Huang, and a long soak, her energy was completely drained.
By the time Jiang Ya finished checking Yu Shuang’s medication, she had already slumped onto the sofa, eyes half-closed.
“Miss Yu, you can’t sleep with your hair still wet.”
“Oh…”
Her response was muddled, far from lucid.
“…”
The whirring of the hairdryer filled the air—in the end, it was Jiang Ya who dried her hair.
Long fingers combed through the curls with gentle strokes, and Yu Shuang found the touch soothing.
Her eyelids grew heavier.
“Done.”
At some point, the words reached her ears.
Yu Shuang’s voice was barely audible, requiring Jiang Ya to lean in to hear her clearly. She murmured, “Do you think of me as your grandma, Xiao Ya?”
“…No.”
It was unclear whether she heard.
Most likely not.
Because Yu Shuang was still mumbling.
“I’m not that fragile. I’m still young. I won’t die so easily.”
“No need… to worry so much…”
The last words faded into silence.
Yu Shuang slept lightly.
Her freshly washed face was bare, but her lips were flushed from the steam. Jiang Ya wanted to kiss them.
She leaned in.
Stopped just two fingers’ width away.
Jiang Ya whispered, “Miss Yu.”
No response. Her eyelids were shut, long lashes slightly curled.
Her breath brushed Jiang Ya’s face, carrying the soft scent of shampoo and body wash—warm and delicate.
“I just want you to be healthier.”
“That’s all.”
The breathing beside her steadied into a slow rhythm, offering no reply.
Jiang Ya nuzzled her cheek against the curls.
And hid a kiss in their ends.
–
That night, she dreamed.
She dreamed of the scene in the car, when she unbuckled Yu Shuang’s seatbelt with barely a palm’s distance between them—and Yu Shuang woke up.
Eyes glistening like water, shimmering.
Her face was expressive—sometimes frowning, sometimes scrunching her nose—vivid and alive.
She should have pulled back, created some polite distance, but she didn’t want to.
As Yu Shuang babbled excuses, Jiang Ya closed the gap.
Just as she had wanted to do in the car.
Lips met, tangled.
Chaotic, uncontrollable.
The Miss Yu in real life wasn’t so stern. When she was in the wrong, she’d playfully evade, and once familiar enough, she’d even act a little spoiled.
The dream ended with a coquettish lilt.
A sigh.
Then she pushed in.
A swan let out a mournful cry.
Jiang Ya woke up.
“Fvck.”
Her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth as she buried her face in her knees, shaking her head with a bitter laugh.
She didn’t know if she was cursing herself or the dream that ended too soon.
–
Jiang Ya felt she couldn’t hide it much longer.
Whether it was her swelling need for control or the possessive urges quietly taking root—the moment she got close to Yu Shuang, they spiraled.
Worse still, Miss Yu could sense it.