Why Suffer for This Distress (GL) - Chapter 8

He Jingmo waited for Su Xiyan all night at home. The table full of dishes was reheated after getting cold, and she made countless phone calls, none of which were answered. Worrying too much about someone often gives a person paranoia. He Jingmo gripped her phone, suffering from anxiety. She was worried that Su Xiyan, due to her bad temper, had gotten into a fight with someone and was beaten black and blue and sent to the hospital. She was also afraid that she had stomach pain and went to the hospital, or that her poor driving skills caused an accident, sending her to the hospital. After all these imaginings of her being in the hospital, He Jingmo couldn’t take it anymore. She put on a jacket, grabbed her phone, and hurried out.

He Jingmo took a taxi straight to Angran [the company name]. The company was silent, and the main gate was locked. The security guard at the entrance recognized her and quickly came out to greet her. The only person President Su, who feared nothing, was afraid of, he definitely couldn’t afford to offend.

“Miss He.” The security guard respectfully greeted her. He Jingmo didn’t exchange pleasantries and immediately asked, “Where is President Su?” Her brows were tightly furrowed. She was now both worried and angry. If she found Su Xiyan, she wouldn’t let her off easy. The security guard saw He Jingmo’s bad mood and felt oppressed by the powerful aura radiating from her. He didn’t dare to hide anything. After thinking, he said, “It seems… it seems her car hasn’t returned since she went to Shenghuang.”

Shenghuang? He Jingmo’s frown deepened. She had heard Su Xiyan mention it a few times unintentionally, and it seemed to involve a fierce woman. The situation was getting tricky. She had gone to Shenghuang and hadn’t returned all day… He Jingmo’s heart pounded violently, and her nerves tightened. A vision appeared in her mind: He Jingmo being trampled under the foot of a ferocious woman, crying and reaching out a hand to call her. He Jingmo’s heart leaped, and she quickly asked the security guard, “Where is Shenghuang?”

The security guard obediently gave the address. He Jingmo rushed to Shenghuang without looking back. When she arrived, the receptionist in a red qipao smiled at her. “You mean President Su? She and our President Xiao went to the bar street.” Seeming to notice He Jingmo’s anxiety, the young woman kindly added, “They seemed very happy. You don’t need to worry.”

A nameless fire instantly surged in her heart. He Jingmo bit her lower lip, her hands clenched into fists, her body slightly trembling with anger. Good, you good-for-nothing Su Xiyan!

When Su Xiyan returned home, it was already three in the morning. She carefully went upstairs and opened the door, not even daring to take a deep breath. That damned Xiao Moyan, claiming it was for business, when she clearly dragged her to the bar street to look at girls! A person of her age, shamelessly improper! Most importantly, Su Xiyan discovered that the overbearing President Xiao was actually henpecked. After looking at girls all night, she didn’t even dare to touch one, and after receiving a phone call, she turned pale and immediately dragged Su Xiyan away. Earlier, Su Xiyan had practically begged her, but Xiao Moyan wouldn’t leave. A single phone call had such power—the person on the other end must undoubtedly be her wife! She despised this kind of old woman who had the lust but lacked the courage! Damn it, Su Xiyan cursed inwardly. She had promised to eat with He Jingmo. Now she was dead meat. Su Xiyan figured He Jingmo must be asleep by now. She would go in, quickly wash up, and lie down. She needed to wake up early tomorrow, avoid her for a while, and then explain properly once He Jingmo had calmed down.

She opened the door, and the room was pitch black. Su Xiyan quietly bent down to change her shoes. Because the alcohol had somewhat gone to her head and there was no light, she directly hit her head on the shoe rack.

Ouch…

Su Xiyan grimaced in pain but forcibly kept silent. She endured the pain and continued to change her shoes. Even if she knocked out all her teeth right now, she wouldn’t dare to make a sound.

As she was quietly putting on her shoes, there was a slap, and the previously dark room was instantly flooded with light. The sudden light stimulated Su Xiyan’s eyes, making her unable to open them. She could only cover her eyes with her right hand. When she saw He Jingmo’s ashen face, Su Xiyan shivered all over, and cold sweat broke out on her back.

He Jingmo stood in front of the sofa with her arms crossed, her face devoid of expression. But the more expressionless she was, the more frightened Su Xiyan became. She stared at He Jingmo blankly, opening her mouth to say something, but in the end, she only moved her slightly dry lips and said nothing.

He Jingmo looked at her, smelled the alcohol on her, and frowned.

“Where did you go?”

“…The bar.”

Su Xiyan avoided eye contact, not daring to look at He Jingmo. In front of her, Su Xiyan never dared to lie. He Jingmo stared at her for a long time, saw her pale face and deep dark circles, and sighed, “Go take a shower first.”

“Oh.” Su Xiyan answered meekly. The tacit understanding of many years told her that if He Jingmo told her to die now, she would have to open the window and jump without hesitation.

But agreeing was one thing, and acting was another. Su Xiyan staggered only a few steps before an overwhelming sense of dizziness surged in her head, and her chest felt suffocated.

He Jingmo noticed Su Xiyan’s abnormality, suppressed the anger in her heart, and quickly walked over to support her. “What’s wrong?”

“I—” Su Xiyan started a sentence and then stopped. He Jingmo frowned, “What is it?”

“I’m going to throw up!”

After that sentence, Su Xiyan vomited all over He Jingmo. He Jingmo looked at the vomit on her, her face dark, her brows tightly knitted.

“I’m sorry, Jingmo, I’m sorry…” Having thrown up the alcohol, Su Xiyan felt much better, but her head was still dizzy. He Jingmo bit her lip and said viciously, “You! Now, take off that dress and throw it on the floor, then immediately roll onto the sofa and lie down.”

This much was something Su Xiyan could still manage. Dizzily, she took off her dress and threw it on the floor, leaving only her underwear. Her feet felt like they were treading on cotton as she stumbled toward the sofa, finally collapsing onto it.

Following that, her consciousness gradually blurred. Su Xiyan heard the sound of rushing water nearby. She knew He Jingmo was cleaning up and wanted to open her eyes to look at her, but she couldn’t. Her head ached terribly. Just as she was suffering and in pain, a cool touch gradually covered her cheek and slowly slid down her entire body. The strong contrast between the cool solace and the fiery pain in her body made her grab the source of the coolness and murmur, “Jingmo,” before she knew nothing else and sank into a deep sleep.

The next morning when she woke up, Su Xiyan first looked around groggily. She looked down at the towel blanket covering her and the water glass nearby, and frowned.

“Awake?”

He Jingmo walked over with a bowl of porridge. Su Xiyan looked at her and licked her lips.

“Drink some porridge.”

Mechanically accepting the porridge, Su Xiyan kept staring into He Jingmo’s eyes. He Jingmo kept a straight face and didn’t look at her. Su Xiyan didn’t dare to speak and lowered her head to swallow the porridge.

The calm often precedes the storm. Su Xiyan pondered how to break the silence while drinking the porridge. After finishing the bowl, she hesitantly raised her head, looked at He Jingmo, and coughed, “Jingmo, did I drink too much yesterday?”

“Ha.” He Jingmo let out a cold laugh and ignored her. This “ha” was like a heavy blow, instantly knocking back the little courage Su Xiyan had. She took a breath and dared not speak.

He Jingmo also remained silent. She watched Su Xiyan finish the entire bowl of porridge, and her temper softened a little. But Su Xiyan was different. She hadn’t felt it when she first woke up, but now after finishing the porridge, she felt the nausea churning in her stomach again. The familiar feeling from last night surged up. She quickly pushed He Jingmo away. “You—”

With a whoosh, the porridge she had just eaten was completely thrown up, and it landed squarely on He Jingmo. If she hadn’t pushed He Jingmo just now, she would have thrown up on the floor. This push, however, caused a counterproductive mess.

He Jingmo’s brows knotted into a tight knot. She didn’t look at herself; she stared intently at Su Xiyan. Su Xiyan quickly closed her eyes, frowning, “I feel awful, so awful.” Heavens, He Jingmo won’t kill me, will she?

He Jingmo took a deep breath and went to the bathroom. Su Xiyan still kept her eyes tightly closed like an ostrich, not daring to open them. After a long time, just as she was feeling uneasy about whether to check on He Jingmo, footsteps sounded nearby. She slowly opened her eyes and saw He Jingmo, who had changed into home clothes and was squatting on the floor, water still dripping from her hair, clearly having just showered.

“Jingmo…” Su Xiyan looked at her apologetically. She wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it. He Jingmo glanced at her, all her good temper gone, and sneered, “Su Xiyan, you’re quite something, aren’t you? Didn’t answer calls, didn’t reply to texts! After all that fuss, you were at a bar looking at girls until midnight, and then you come back and throw up on me twice using the words ‘I’ and ‘You’! I think you have a death wish!”

Su Xiyan supported her head with one hand and sat up, pouting with a wronged look. “Do you think I wanted to go? It was that—that Xiao Moyan, who insisted that her married life wasn’t fulfilling and tricked me into going with her with tears and snot. I swear, I didn’t touch anyone.”

“Didn’t touch anyone?” He Jingmo smiled insincerely. Su Xiyan nodded vigorously, raising her hand to swear: “I swear! If I touched anyone else, I’ll be pushed down [be the submissive] for life!”

“I don’t care who you touched! Also, what did you just say?” He Jingmo glared at her. Su Xiyan’s face flushed. She cried “Aiya!” and fell back onto the sofa, rubbing her head and muttering, “Jingmo, I hurt, my head hurts.”

“Stop pretending! Get up and take a shower, you reek!” He Jingmo looked at Su Xiyan, who was twisted into a ball on the sofa, and wanted to go over and pinch her to death. Su Xiyan had no sense of awareness. She frowned, opened her eyes, and said in a sickly sweet voice, “No way. You help me wash. I can’t move, my head hurts.”