Two Faced Lover - Chapter 46

46: The Kitten

“Manman.” Lu Yo, like a wise older sister, spoke to her with heartfelt sincerity. “If we don’t have money, we can earn it. You have the ability, and now that your job is stable, you can make a lot of money. But with love, if you miss it once, it might be gone for a lifetime. If you hesitate because of material things, Little Meng might be swept away by someone else in the meantime.”

“What if the person who sweeps her away is outstanding…” Bo Mingyan thought she could say it magnanimously, but when the words reached her lips, she realized she didn’t want to say them.

The emotion of love inevitably comes with possessiveness.

“Then what if the person who sweeps her away is no good?” Lu Yo scoffed. “Such a wonderful girl—could you really bear to let someone else have her?”

“It’s not a matter of whether I can bear it or not. It’s about her own choice.” Bo Mingyan said softly. “Maybe she doesn’t like women at all. If I want to be with her, I’d have to ‘turn’ her first, and that would be forcing her into a choice.”

Lu Yo tossed their finished takeout boxes into the trash and said leisurely, “She’s already into women. No need for you to ‘turn’ her.”

“…” Bo Mingyan’s lips parted slightly, the second half of her sentence suddenly stuck in her throat. She looked at Lu Yo with an expression that said, How do you know?

“Chen Feifei told me. Before Little Meng deleted her, she probed a bit and asked if she could accept dating a woman. And then Little Meng said…” Lu Yo took a leisurely sip of water.

Bo Mingyan waited quietly for her to continue. After a while, when Lu Yo poured herself another glass of water, Bo Mingyan couldn’t hold back any longer: “She said she could?”

Lu Yo chuckled. “She said it depends on looks.”

Bo Mingyan: “…”

After a moment of silence, Bo Mingyan glanced at the water in Lu Yo’s glass and asked, “Do you have any alcohol?”

Lu Yo studied her for a moment, then turned and pulled a bottle of whiskey and a glass from the liquor cabinet. She poured a glass and slid it toward Bo Mingyan. “You’re in luck. A guest gifted me two bottles. Drink up—no need to pay me.”

The pale amber liquor rippled in the glass, like a cup of bitter herbal water.

“Thanks.”

Bo Mingyan downed three glasses in a row, then paused to rub the glass, her fingers pale from gripping it too tightly.

Under the influence of the alcohol, she finally opened up.

“After my dad passed, for a long time, I was terrified of losing my mom too. I didn’t want her to remarry.”

Even though her relationship with Lin Huixin had always been distant, they were still bound by bl00d. They were each other’s only family in this world.

Bo Mingyan blinked. “When I found out He Ying was pursuing her, I panicked. I told her not to betray Dad—that I could earn a lot of money, that I could support her for the rest of her life, that I could take care of her and stay by her side without ever dating anyone. Do you know what she said to me?”

“What?” Lu Yo asked.

“She very rationally analyzed how long it would take for me to earn ‘a lot of money’ and how much hardship she’d have to endure waiting for me to grow up.” Bo Mingyan took a sip of whiskey, her fingers tightening around the glass until they turned white. “She said I was incredibly selfish, that I was only thinking about filling my own emotional void without considering her feelings. She said that without me, she could have found happiness much sooner.”

Lu Yo frowned, indignant. “Your mom’s the selfish one! How old were you then?”

Bo Mingyan’s tone was calm. “Honestly, at the time, I didn’t feel much.”

When Bo Weize was alive, he often told her that her arrival had brought him immense happiness. Bo Mingyan had been confident and proud—she never imagined she’d one day hear such words from her own mother.

So at the time, she was stunned. Later, she told herself it was just Lin Huixin venting under stress, just angry words. She didn’t take it to heart.

“But later, when she was preparing to marry He Ying, when He Chencheng and I kept clashing and nearly ruined her wedding plans, when she sent me abroad and I saw how happy their family of three was even without bl00d ties… I started constantly recalling her words. I started feeling like my existence was…” Bo Mingyan closed her eyes, searching for the right words. After a long pause, she suppressed the ache in her heart and stated the fact she didn’t want to admit: “An obstacle to happiness.”

Lu Yo was at a loss for words, overwhelmed by sadness.

Compared to the past, Bo Mingyan was still stunningly beautiful and ethereal, her presence as captivating as ever. With age, she had gained a mature, gentle charm.

She still seemed like that vibrant, dazzling rose.

But her thorns had dulled, and her proud spirit had been broken.

Bo Mingyan finished her drink and poured another. “If I can’t be sure I can fulfill someone’s emotional and material needs, what right do I have to drag her down a rough, barren path with me? Besides, how could her parents feel at ease handing their beloved daughter to someone who has nothing?”

If Bo Weize were still alive, he’d never have felt comfortable entrusting her to someone as unaccomplished as she was now.

“Also, I’ve always believed that love must be built on a foundation of financial equality. Otherwise, I’d be trapped by my own insignificant pride, and she’d have to tiptoe around my fragile ego.”

Bo Mingyan swirled her glass lightly and added quietly, “Just like my parents.”

Lu Yo opened her mouth but said nothing.

In the early days, the gossipy women of Wutong Court loved to whisper about the Bo family. Nearly everyone knew Bo Weize was a foreigner, a businessman with money, but he’d married Lin Huixin, who had nothing. Rumor had it Lin Huixin was even in debt when she married him. Though she was beautiful and educated, marrying Bo Weize was considered “marrying up.”

“My dad was always overly cautious with my mom. It was like he was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing, afraid of upsetting her. His tone, his word choice—it was almost pathetic.” Bo Mingyan paused, her voice tinged with melancholy. “Whatever love they had was probably eroded long ago by the gap between them.”

“I’m afraid… I’ll end up like my mom was to my dad.” Bo Mingyan tapped the glass lightly, then cupped it with both hands, her shadow enveloping the entire glass.

“And slowly wear Meng Xuran down.”

The thought of the radiant, sun-like Meng Xuran dimming over time in the grind of a relationship was unbearable to Bo Mingyan. More unbearable than having her pride broken.

“Manman, don’t think like that. You’re not like your mom, and Little Meng isn’t like your dad.”

When it came to matters of the heart, no amount of advice from others could truly help—sometimes it even backfired.

Lu Yo knew when to stop. She didn’t push further, only saying, “If you need money, you can borrow from me. Take your time paying it back. And if you want to move, I can help you find a new place.”

Bo Mingyan shook her head. “No need.”

“No need for financial help, or no need to move?” Lu Yo asked.

“Neither.” Bo Mingyan rested her head on her arm, her gaze drifting over the whiskey in her glass. “I’ll still try… to catch up to her.”

Lu Yo watched her silently.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Bo Mingyan spoke with more warmth than usual. She leaned against her bent arm, her face as pale as always, her eyes half-lidded as she stared blankly at the glass, lost in thought.

Maybe it was her posture, or maybe the dim yellow light of the bar, but her sharp features seemed softer, gentler—a tenderness that concealed her sorrow.

Lu Yo refilled her glass. As the whiskey splashed into the glass, Bo Mingyan’s whisper blended into the sound.

“Before someone… more outstanding sweeps her away.”

Bo Mingyan had once read a quote about Zhang Ailing and Hu Lancheng:

When she saw him, she became very, very low—so low she sank into the dust.

But her heart was joyful, and from the dust, a flower bloomed.

That was how she felt about Meng Xuran. Her humility was woven into her love. Because she loved, she felt inferior. Because she loved, she wanted to bloom fiercely, to offer her best self to the sun…

Since Bo Mingyan had been drinking, Lu Yo didn’t feel comfortable letting her go home alone. After the bar staff arrived, Lu Yo gave them a few instructions and personally escorted Bo Mingyan back.

Bo Mingyan handed her the keys and let Lu Yo open the door. “Want to come in?”

Her words were clear, her face unflushed.

Lu Yo glanced at her, then turned the key. “There was some trouble at the bar recently—I should head back to keep an eye on things. Will you be okay alone?”

“Then go back.” Bo Mingyan waved. “I’ll be fine.”

Watching Bo Mingyan sit on the shoe bench to change, Lu Yo closed the door and took the elevator downstairs. After some thought, she still felt uneasy and asked Chen Feifei for Meng Xuran’s contact info.

After adding her as a friend, Lu Yo told Meng Xuran about Bo Mingyan’s drinking: She had a bottle and a half of whiskey today. Not sure if she’s drunk. I heard Manman say you have a pet cam at home—could you check on her? If anything happens, just call me.

Meng Xuran replied quickly: Got it.

Thanks, Sister Lu.

Lu Yo frowned slightly.

As Bo Mingyan’s friend, she should be the one thanking Meng Xuran.

After replying to Lu Yo, Meng Xuran pulled up the living room and entryway cameras on her computer.

Bo Mingyan had been sitting on the shoe bench since entering, her back against the cushion.

It was a long-ingrained habit—no matter how much she drank, she could stay composed in public. But once she entered what she considered a safe space, her guard dropped completely, and the alcohol took over.

Her mind felt stuffed with cotton, messy and chaotic.

Bo Mingyan closed her eyes and zoned out for a while before finally taking off her shoes. She opened the shoe cabinet, her gaze skipping over her everyday pair and landing on the ugly slippers Meng Xuran had given her.

She slipped them on and looked down. Xiao Man meowed at her feet and swatted at the slippers.

Bo Mingyan crouched and scratched Xiao Man’s chin. “Are they that ugly? Blame your mom—she bought them.”

Just then, her phone rang. She turned in a circle, following the sound, before realizing it was in her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw Meng Xuran’s video call request. She answered, meeting Meng Xuran’s eyes on the screen.

Meng Xuran demanded, “What’s so ugly about the slippers I bought?”

Bo Mingyan stared at her for a few seconds. “Using surveillance is cheating, Schrödinger.”

The nickname threw Meng Xuran off. “Schrödinger? Who—me?” She pointed at herself.

Bo Mingyan nodded. “You’re Schrödinger.”

On screen, Bo Mingyan showed no signs of being drunk. But her gem-like eyes were darker than usual, like a misty forest.

“Why am I Schrödinger?” Meng Xuran asked.

Bo Mingyan stared into the camera, making Meng Xuran hold her breath.

After three or four minutes, just as Meng Xuran was about to speak—

Bo Mingyan moved. She raised her hands to her cheeks, fingers splaying and curling. “Rawr.”

“Because I’m a cat.”

She lowered her hands, her face blank again, as if the clawing gesture had never happened.

Meng Xuran froze, then suddenly understood. She pulled up Bo Mingyan’s profile—at some point, Bo Mingyan had changed her nickname to a cat emoji.

You’re Schrödinger.

Because I’m a cat.

I’m your Schrödinger’s cat. I’m your cat.

“Being cute while drunk is also cheating,” Meng Xuran said, her voice low and rough, her usual clarity ground down by desire. “Kitty.”

Bo Mingyan, oblivious, raised a brow. “So?”

“So…”

If only I didn’t have so much to do tomorrow. She wanted to touch Bo Mingyan’s head, to hold her, to… take advantage of her.

Meng Xuran closed her eyes, her hand on the table curling into a fist. With every ounce of self-control, she restrained the urge to rush back and bottled up all her impulses.

“Kitty, say it again.”

Author’s Note:

“You are Schrödinger, I am your cat” — This signifies that in this love story, one party willingly takes the passive role, yet wholeheartedly commits to giving everything.

Manman changed Jiaojiao’s contact name to “Schrödinger” and set her own nickname to [Cat].