That woman

"Did I scare you?"

After he wiped her hands, Li Xiqing hugged her close while she buried her face at the hollow of his neck.

Shao Yan didn't say anything, she just shook her head, she was so shy.

But after a while, she said "... no, I.. I can understand your needs." she could feel his arms around her tightened.

"I'm sorry. I really wanted to take things slow between us. But waking up with you today in my arms, just felt so surreal." Li Xiqing looked down and then kissed her cheek.

When she was helping him just now, he felt a surge of furious jealousy. She knew how to do it. And she knew it really damn well.

Li Xiqing tried all his best not to think about her past, but he still felt so damn jealous. How he wanted to make her his soon!

He snuggled with her for a while, trying to calm himself down.

.....

After a while, he slowly sat up and leaned back to the headboard. Still having Shao Yan in his embrace leaning onto his shoulder. He was rubbing her head and gently said,

"Can you tell me why she wanted to hurt you?"

Shao Yan paused for a while, trying to think who he was referring to. And then she remembered Fake Melon from yesterday.

Shao Yan thought for a while how to tell him. She got out from his embrace, and leaned back to the headboard as well. Trying to distant herself away from him for a while. She brought them to what happened many years ago.

.....

"Pan Meifang, Qi Ling and I were neighbors. Qi Ling and I grew up together. I just started senior high when Pan Meifang moved to the neighborhood. She just graduated from high school."

"Since our ages were pretty close, Mom thought, it would be great if we became friends."

Shao Yan sighed.

"But our personalities were two sides of the world. She loved it when guys pampered her. She loved getting a lot of gifts. Or driven around in expensive cars. Her boyfriends varied from poor to more and more rich. She craved for luxuries and power."

"Her mother was a widow, she couldn't afford sending her to college. So Pan Meifang started to work as a sales person in cosmetic store at the mall. Everytime someone sent her home, it would be different men; different cars."

Shao Yan paused and started to reminisced more.

"One summer, Mom sent me to city B to stay with my grandmother during summer holiday. My grandmother was not doing well, so Mom stayed with us for two weeks as well."

Shao Yan paused and showed a sullen face.

"That's when everything changed."

Her tears were pooling at the corner of her eye, threatening to fall.

"Dad was a senior official in tax office and Mom was the accountant in the same office. They always left the house and came back together. So there was no issue with their relationship."

"But Mom was suddenly away for two weeks. So it's the oldest method of marriage destruction." her tears fell.

"Pan Meifang started to seduce him. Dad, even though he was in his fifties, he still looked good. And he had secure job too."

Shao Yan voice started to shake.

"Mom couldn't contact dad for few days, so she got worried and got back earlier. When Mom came back home, she found them together in her bedroom."

.....

Li Xiqing pulled her back to his embrace. She was looking more pale, and he didn't like it.

"That's enough. I got it" he stopped her.

Shao Yan shook her head. "No, please let me finish. I didn't get the chance to let it out before. I need to do this for my sake." and then she looked up at him "And for both of us."

Li Xiqing couldn't understand her last statement, but he just kept quiet and let her continued while still holding her.

"Mom was devastated. Dad tried to hold her back and explained but Mom didn't want to hear at all."

Shao Yan slightly raised her voice, "What was the use? The fact was that he had betrayed Mom. With someone who was around his daughter's age?!"

She paused and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Mom decided to leave. She didn't even ask for any alimony support. Pan Meifang moved in soon after. And that's a huge insult for me and Mom. So we decided to move to city B."

"Qi Ling moved to City S to pursue her modelling career. And I decided to stay at city B with Mom and enrolled in college there."

"Ever since that incident, Mom would always nagged me about not to think of relying ourselves to men. Women should have our own career, our own savings. She always said I should not find a guy with looks." she gave a sad smile.

Shao Yan looked at Li Xiqing and put her hand to his cheek, while continuing, "Because pretty flower attracted a lot of bees."

Li Xiqing pursed his lips and teased her, "Are you trying to tell me that you're the flower and I'm the bee? Yeah, I agree."

Shao Yan slapped his arm, "Don't pretend! Of course you're the flower. I am just a small small bee in the whole bee world."

(↼_↼)

Li Xiqing circled his arm around her and coaxed her for a while.

.....

"After that, Mom refused to see Dad at all. But she didn't keep me away from him, he could see me anytime he wanted to. Dad kept sending money to my account. I kept it for Mom. I didn't want to use his money at all. I preferred to work in a convenience store."

She went silent for a long while. Li Xiqing thought she was done.

"After grandmother passed away, Mom worked even harder. She said it was for my sake. But I disagree. I still think it was to distract herself from pain. And from loneliness."

More tears flowed down from her beautiful face.

"One day, Mom collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. I was in the middle of my final exam. I could not pick up any calls."

She hiccuped, while Li Xiqing pulled her to his embrace. He tightened his hold around her, soothed her back, trying to give her strength.

"Doctor said it was heart attack. She was too exhausted and dehydrated. She passed away peacefully, as if she were only sleeping."

"After that, Dad would come to city B to see me. That woman would came with him, looking prettier and prettier each time."

"That's when I knew that she must have spent all my Dad's money to fix herself. I'm still so angry whenever I think about that."

She went quiet for a while. And then she took a deep breath.

"The last time I saw her was when I got marr.. when I graduated from college. Dad came to my graduation and I told him that I've decided to move to country U."

"He tried to convince me not to go. But that time, all I could think of was to create a new life for myself."

Li Xiqing noticed her misspoken words there. He could feel his jealousy and anger risen up again. He closed his eyes to calm himself down.

He kept saying the past didn't matter. but he underestimated her influence on him. He fell deeper and deeper to her charms.

How one slip of words was able to hurt his feelings like this. What would happen if she finally told him about her marriage?