Why Suffer for This Distress (GL) - Chapter 5

He Jingmo was in a great mood seeing Su Xiyan’s dazed and defeated expression. She raised her hand, pinched Su Xiyan’s cheek, and said with a smile, “Come, let Jiejie (older sister) see this little ‘cheap bottom’ face. Not bad, quite tender and pink.” That smooth feeling made He Jingmo’s heart flutter. The texture seemed quite nice.

“…” Su Xiyan was still a bit stunned. She felt her head buzzing with the words “cheap bottom” until the flesh on her face was being pinched into various shapes. Only then did she regain her senses. Su Xiyan grabbed He Jingmo’s hand and glared at her fiercely, “How do you know such a professional term?!”

“Huh?”

Su Xiyan’s intimidating, condescending demeanor made He Jingmo a little stunned. She had thought Su Xiyan’s focus would be on why she was called a weak bottom, so why had it suddenly shifted to her being too professional?

Su Xiyan held He Jingmo’s hand tightly, frowning and staring into her eyes, her expression frighteningly serious. He Jingmo had never seen her like this and was slightly flustered for a moment, explaining incoherently, “What doesn’t a university have? I’ve heard a little about everything. Why are you so serious…”

Her hand was being squeezed painfully. He Jingmo couldn’t help but frown, looking at Su Xiyan with slight pain. Hearing her explanation, Su Xiyan slowly released her hand, letting out a long sigh of relief. But her expression was still serious. Su Xiyan continued to look at He Jingmo, the doubt in her eyes making He Jingmo very uncomfortable. He Jingmo did not back down, meeting her gaze without blinking.

The two stared at each other for a full minute. Su Xiyan shook her head, letting out a relieved sigh, “Sigh, you only heard about it. You scared me by joking around, making me think—”

“Think what?” He Jingmo glared at her, gently rubbing her wrist. It hurt so much. This person, how could she be so heavy-handed?

“I thought you liked women too. You scared me to death.” Su Xiyan looked at He Jingmo somewhat apologetically, taking her wrist, looking at the scratch marks, blowing on them, and gently rubbing them.

“Does it hurt?”

In her haste just now, she couldn’t control the strength in her hand. Su Xiyan was a little remorseful. He Jingmo looked at her, the warm breath making her tremble slightly. Suppressing the stir in her heart, she shook her head and asked faintly, “Why can’t I like women?”

Su Xiyan focused on rubbing the wrist, saying without raising her head, “I said it, you’re my best friend. If you were like me, I’d always feel strange.”

“How strange?” He Jingmo’s expression improved. She stared intently at Su Xiyan. As if sensing her gaze, Su Xiyan looked up and smiled at her, “Then how could I possibly feel comfortable asking you to scrub my back if we showered together? And I wouldn’t feel comfortable comparing who has bigger br3asts with you anymore. If that happened, how much fun would be lost in life?”

“…”

He Jingmo suddenly pulled her hand back. She glared fiercely at Su Xiyan, raising her hand to hit her. Just then, a shirtless boy running past stopped when he saw He Jingmo and called out very cheerfully, “Director He, hello.”

“Ah… hello~”

He Jingmo’s movement to hit Su Xiyan instantly transformed into a lady-like smoothing of her long hair beside her ear. Her voice carried the gentleness of an elder, and her expression was poised and graceful. She instantly changed from a demoness to a refined mentor, making Su Xiyan on the side stare in shock.

When the shirtless boy ran past, He Jingmo turned around, gnashing her teeth at Su Xiyan with a dark face, “You wait, we’re not done yet.”

Su Xiyan pouted. Did the differential treatment have to be so stark? She thought this to herself, but her mouth didn’t back down, “Oh, I didn’t realize. Turns out you like young men. Tsk tsk, look at your taste. He has no chest at all, how dare he go shirtless.”

“Heh, you’re right. I only like people who are fit, sunny, cheerful, speak their mind, never hide or beat around the bush, and don’t pretend to be deep.”

Su Xiyan’s comment was met with a machine-gun-like retort from He Jingmo. Now she was depressed. Su Xiyan secretly glanced at He Jingmo. She had behaved quite well today, so where did she offend her? Why was she so upset again?

“Let’s go. I don’t feel like wandering anymore.”

He Jingmo said gloomily. Su Xiyan didn’t dare to defy her expression and nodded, cautiously asking, “Why are you unhappy? Your face looks like someone stepped on it.”

“…” Although the words weren’t very pleasant, at least she wasn’t completely clueless and finally understood. He Jingmo stopped looking grim. Just as she was about to say something, Su Xiyan chimed in, “Could it be… could it be that you’re angry because I interrupted your flirting with that shirtless guy just now?”

This time, He Jingmo was truly enraged. She gritted her teeth, staring at Su Xiyan without a word. Her feet moved like they were on fire wheels, stirring up a wind. Su Xiyan swallowed and trotted silently behind her, not saying another word.

When they reached the academic building, the two got into the car. Su Xiyan looked at He Jingmo, who was holding the steering wheel and seemed hesitant, and asked tentatively, “How long has it been since you drove?”

“Not long.” He Jingmo deflected, looking down at the gear shift and asking, “What was reverse again?”

“…Let me drive.” Su Xiyan instantly sobered up. She dared not joke with her life. He Jingmo rolled her eyes at her, “You drive? Jiejie (Sister), driving after drinking now results in an immediate license suspension.”

“Sister, that’s still better than instant death.” Su Xiyan was very clear about the trade-off between her life and her driver’s license. He Jingmo ignored her, fastened her seatbelt, and confidently stepped on the gas pedal with a confident smile, “It’s only been a year since I drove. For someone as smart as me, is that even an issue?”

The car, however, did not live up to her confidence and charged straight for the trash can opposite them. With a loud “bang” that echoed across the campus, Su Xiyan and He Jingmo were invited out of the car by Grandpa Zhang.

Grandpa Zhang looked at the mangled trash can on the ground, sweat dripping from his forehead.

“Grandpa Zhang, I’m so sorry. Next time I come, I’ll definitely bring you two big bags of candy.” Su Xiyan quickly tried to appease him, aggressively nudging He Jingmo with her eyes. Dead person, say something! How can you be so leisurely after causing trouble! Grandpa Zhang frowned at her, “Girl, why do you always cause trouble as soon as you come back? Have you forgotten the time you climbed the main gate late at night, couldn’t get down, and the police came thinking you were attempting suicide?”

“…Why bring that up?” Su Xiyan felt a little helpless, glancing at the woman beside her. Hah, she was laughing so hard her body was shaking.

“It’s not about the money.” Grandpa Zhang shook his head, his old face extremely distressed. Su Xiyan quickly comforted him, “Don’t worry, we have enough money for a trash can.”

“I’m talking about your car!” Grandpa Zhang’s beard bristled. Su Xiyan chuckled sheepishly, “Sigh, it’s nothing. I’ll go through the insurance. I’ll just say I came downstairs and found the car was rammed by a pig.”

He Jingmo glared at Su Xiyan. Su Xiyan glared back at her. What, was she in the right?

“Go, go, you two. One is a mentor, and the other is a… promising young woman. Why are you still causing trouble for me like you did in college?”

Grandpa Zhang shook his head and returned to his post. Su Xiyan rolled her eyes at He Jingmo, took out her phone, and called her secretary to come and drive the car away.

“Oh, such a leader’s style.”

He Jingmo listened to the cool, low female voice with a cold sarcasm. Su Xiyan put her phone in her pocket and glared at her, “Let’s go.”

Without the car, the two had no choice but to walk. He Jingmo had a phobia of germs and definitely wouldn’t take a taxi. Su Xiyan knew this. This was fine, too. They walked home slowly, hand in hand. Walking on the familiar streets, feeling the youthful atmosphere, both felt an unspeakable sense of ease.

“This is nice. It’s been a long time since we’ve done this.”

Su Xiyan said softly, enjoying the warm breeze. Since graduation, she rarely had such leisure time; even when she did, she mostly used it to catch up on sleep. He Jingmo turned her head to look at her, saying softly, “Don’t push yourself too hard. You’re not short on money, why work so hard?”

“What do you mean I’m not short on money?” Su Xiyan pretended to put on a stern face, looking at He Jingmo, “With you totaling a BMW like that, won’t I have to starve?”

“The future?” He Jingmo smiled and looked at Su Xiyan. Su Xiyan nodded, “Yes. I’ve thought it all out, Jingmo. When the time is right, I’ll buy two apartments in Shihao. We’ll live right across from each other. That way, my darling and I can still go over to you and your husband’s place for free meals. Ha, it makes me happy just thinking about it!”