CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 49: SHE IS VERY ENVIOUS

Su Xingyu lives in a wealthy neighborhood.

The so-called wealthy neighborhood always attracts all kinds of affluent and influential neighbors; even casually bumping into one, you’d likely meet a socialite.

Xia Ling is one of them, and she stands out significantly. After all, in such a high-end luxurious community, it’s rare to see someone like her squatting in front of someone’s door, teasing cats, playing with dogs, playing hide-and-seek with children, arguing over lollipops. She maintains a posture like she’s eaten dirt, pitifully lying in the flower bushes, tears welling up on her long, curly eyelashes, blinking at Su Xingyu, on the verge of crying.

Su Xingyu sighs wearily and reaches out to help her up.

It’s hard not to feel soft-hearted, because some girls possess such stunning beauty it has an overwhelming impact, even on other females.

Xia Ling steadies herself with Su Xingyu’s hand, pats the dirt off her body, looks at the faint blood marks on her fair calves scratched by flower thorns, and is about to cry: "It hurts... Do you think I might have a fracture?"

Su Xingyu almost rolls her eyes: "If you had a fracture, you wouldn’t be standing here perfectly fine, would you?"

"...Oh, right." The girl tilts her head, thinks for a moment, then laughs through her tears, "That’s a relief, otherwise Ziheng would scold me to death."

She hops over to the rattan chair Su Xingyu was sitting on just now, sits down, tilts her head to ask her, "What’s your name? I’m Xia Ling, and I live over there—" she waves vaguely in a direction, "where the red roses are in full bloom. The white roses in your yard are really beautiful, but they don’t withstand climbing well, causing me to step into thin air and fall down, it hurts so much."

She says, rubbing the injury on her calf in grievance.

Su Xingyu feels speechless, Miss Xia Ling, who told you roses are meant for climbing?

"Why were you climbing my wall?" she can’t help but ask.

"You haven’t told me your name yet," the girl pouts, her eyes gleaming as she looks at the flower tea on the nearby glass round table, "It looks delicious, I want some too."

Su Xingyu thinks communicating with her is somewhat challenging, this... possibly a troublesome child. She straightens her face and says, "Tell me why you were climbing the wall, and then I’ll have someone make tea for you."

"Really?" The girl’s eyes shine brighter, staring unblinkingly at her.

"Really."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky..." What the hell. Su Xingyu almost swears, she cannot comprehend how Xia Ling, the legendary diva with a voice like heaven and a proud disposition, is like this privately?

Over there, the girl with the muddy dress has already rushed over, affectionately grabbing her hand and shaking it: "Okay, pinky swear complete. I’ll tell you, it’s all because your roses smell so great from afar, I wanted to climb up and see. When I saw they were white roses, I liked them even more... No one’s planted white roses nearby. I wanted to steal... I mean, just secretly pick one to give to Ziheng, just one! Never thought I’d fall, and my new dress is torn, boohoo... I have a concert tomorrow, what should I do with the injury on my leg..."

The girl becomes sad again while speaking, looking aggrievedly at the shallow scratches on her calf.

Su Xingyu doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, not expecting this to be the reason.

She decisively picks a resplendent white rose and places it in Xia Ling’s hands: "Take it, go home, and have your household help apply some medicine, you won’t even notice tomorrow."

Xia Ling cups the rose flower carefully in her two fair, beautiful hands, her lashes still glittering with unshed tears: "You also promised to make flower tea for me."

Su Xingyu takes a deep breath, restraining the impulse to pack her up and throw her out, exclaims loudly: "Mrs. Gui!"

The amiable maid quickly enters the backyard, startled at the scene: "Young Mistress, Miss Xia Ling?" How did Miss Xia Ling get in? No visitors were seen at the main entrance!

Su Xingyu ignores her surprise, orders: "Go pack some flower tea for Miss Xia, then send her home!" She is thoroughly fed up with this tearful girl, or perhaps, deep inside, she envies her. The girl’s eyes and brows are so bright and cheery, to seriously trouble herself over a tiny issue for half a day. She wishes she could treat a scratch from a flower thorn as a major issue, what carefree living must one possess to cry over such trivial matters? Too bad, Su Xingyu doesn’t have such luck.

Su Xingyu’s expression darkens slightly.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Gui courteously says to Xia Ling: "Miss Xia, please follow me." She refrains from asking how Xia Ling entered; even with immense curiosity, it is the master’s affair. Although Su Xingyu is currently grounded by Lu Shifeng, she remains their young mistress, someone the servants must never neglect. Her guest is considered a distinguished visitor in the household.

Xia Ling hesitates, eventually follows Mrs. Gui, halfway through turns back: "You still haven’t told me your name."

Su Xingyu feels extremely exasperated, massages her forehead, pretends not to hear, and turns to go upstairs.

By evening, Lu Shifeng returns and sees her leaning against the bedroom bay window in a daze, her white dress and long hair cascading down, seeming to be wrapped in a gentle golden aura by the sunset, somewhat melancholy.

He embraces her from behind, tilts his head to kiss her earlobe, she dodges slightly, only to receive a merciless bite.

She cries out in pain: "Lu Shifeng!"

She struggles vigorously, yet her entire body is firmly held in his arms, unable to move.

His voice comes from behind, deep and icy, like the sharpest frost in deep winter: "How many days has it been, still haven’t learned to behave?"

She trembles slightly, dares not move or speak. She senses him chuckle softly, his tongue gently licks the blood droplets on her earlobe, tenderly and lingeringly, yet it sends chills to her heart.

Her back stiffens, she struggles not to think about being held in the arms of a devil-like man at this moment. Her gaze unconsciously falls on a corner of the downstairs backyard, where there is a collapsed cluster of roses, white petals scattered like snow, disorderly.

These are traces left by Xia Ling crushing them this afternoon.

That girl, like a fairy, free and unrestrained...

Her fingertips lightly touch the cold glass, something seems so close yet so far...

Lu Shifeng finishes cleaning the blood on her ear, following her gaze to see the roses: "Xia Ling came over?"

During her confinement, everything happening in the house is reported to him in detail by the servants, and as soon as he entered, he heard about the girl’s visit.

Su Xingyu remains silent.

So he kisses her ear again, bites down on the previous wound, and she cries out in pain again.