Chapter 101: The Herbal Bath

Lin Qingxue looked at the two little things in the bathroom, and the corners of her mouth curved up on their own.

Su Yutao was curled into a corner of the tub. The brown herbal brew came up to her chin, leaving only half her face and a head of white hair exposed, like a white-furred cat steeping in tea.

Luo Xiaoning crouched by the tub, her hair still wet, pink tips dripping, clothes soaked through a large patch. But she hadn’t gotten in. She just squatted there, head tilted, watching Su Yutao.

Lin Qingxue walked over and bent to test the water. It was fine. Nice and hot.

She glanced at her phone. A minute or two left before the water shut off. Enough to fill a pot for rice.

She straightened up and said to Luo Xiaoning, “Luo Xiaoning, get in and soak too. The water’s hot enough to chase off the chill.”

Luo Xiaoning’s eyes lit up. She hopped up right away and stripped off her wet clothes in no time, leaving only a pink set of underthings: a tank top printed with a white rabbit, and bottoms with a little floral lace trim.

She climbed into the tub and sat across from Su Yutao. The water surged up, sloshed a couple of times, and spilled a little over the rim.

Lin Qingxue watched the two little ones. One had white hair and purple eyes, curled into a ball. The other had pink hair and a round face, grinning. One on each side, one quiet and one full of life, like two rice balls soaking in tea.

A feeling she couldn’t quite name rose in her chest. They looked harmonious. They looked cute. And for some reason, she was a little uneasy.

She crouched down, looked at Su Yutao, and kept her voice very soft.

“Little Peach, soak nice and long. I’m going to cook. Sister Luo here will take care of you.”

Then she turned to Luo Xiaoning. “Help me look after her. She can’t see, she can’t talk, and she can’t express herself.”

“If you notice she’s uncomfortable, call me.”

Luo Xiaoning smiled sweetly, her voice soft and sticky. “Don’t worry, Sister Lin. I’ll take good care of Little Peach. We’ll both be good.”

Lin Qingxue stood, took two steps, and looked back again.

Su Yutao was still curled in her corner, white hair floating on the surface like a clump of white seaweed.

Luo Xiaoning waved at her, still smiling.

She turned and left. When she reached the kitchen door, she looked back once more.

The bathroom door was half open. She could see two small heads in the tub, one white and one pink.

Only then did she step into the kitchen. She filled a pot halfway with water, set it on the stove, and turned on the flame.

Then she took ribs out of the fridge. Thawed them. Washed the ginger. Sliced the scallions.

She listened for sounds from the bathroom while she washed the vegetables.

There was splashing, and voices talking, but she couldn’t make out the words.

She figured Luo Xiaoning must be talking to Little Peach. That girl had a lot to say. Little Peach couldn’t answer, but at least listening wouldn’t bore her.

She sliced ginger, thinking about making Little Peach something good today.

Ribs stewed with radish to build her strength, a fried green vegetable, and a steamed egg.

She ran through what Little Peach had eaten these past few days. Too plain, she decided. She needed more meat.

What she didn’t know was that once the frosted glass door had closed, Luo Xiaoning’s smile had vanished bit by bit.

Luo Xiaoning squatted in the tub against the far end, face to face with Su Yutao.

She waited a few seconds and pricked up her ears. From the kitchen came the sound of water, a knife on the cutting board, the stove catching.

Lin Qingxue was busy. She wouldn’t come back.

Luo Xiaoning tilted her head and examined the little white-haired thing across from her, the one showing only half her face.

The white hair was wet and plastered to her face. Her eyes were closed, lashes trembling.

Her whole body was hunched in the water, like a snail tucked into its shell.

Luo Xiaoning curled her lip. Her voice was still soft, but a snide, mean edge crept into it. “Little Peach, you have so many wounds. How did you get them? Don’t tell me you fell on your own?”

Su Yutao didn’t move.

She’d heard the voice. She just didn’t want to respond.

Girls like this, fake-sweet green tea types. Acknowledge one once, and she’d stick to you like a slug, impossible to shake off.

She shrank a little deeper into the water, hugged herself, and ignored her.

Luo Xiaoning saw she had no reaction and reached out to toy with her white hair.

Her fingers touched the wet strands and rolled them, like she was examining something strange.

“The white hair is pretty, too bad it grows on a mute’s head.”

“And who knows, maybe you have some disease, hair all white like that.”

Qiansui spoke into Su Yutao’s ear. “This pink-haired one is getting snide. Don’t mind her.”

Su Yutao turned her head slightly, avoiding Luo Xiaoning’s hand.

Still no sound.

Luo Xiaoning was annoyed.

She reached out, pinched Su Yutao’s cheek, and turned her face.

Her fingers squeezed the flesh, nails digging in and leaving two small crescent prints.

Her voice stayed soft, but with a cloying sweetness that made you uncomfortable. “I’m talking to you. Are you deaf? Oh, right. You’re not just mute, you’re also blind. How pathetic.”

She put a little more strength into it, nails pressing deeper.

Qiansui was frantic. “She’s pinching your face! What a psycho! You ignore her and she keeps pushing! This damn green tea b*tch, all snide and sarcastic, she’s unbearable!”

Su Yutao didn’t want to take it anymore.

She’d thought this girl was an idiot, and she’d ignored her. But ignoring her had only made things worse.

When Lin Qingxue bullied her, it was because she couldn’t win and couldn’t run.

But this person was a stranger, bullying her out of nowhere for no reason.

She couldn’t stand it. She shot out a hand, grabbed the one pinching her cheek, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on it.

She bit hard. Her teeth sank into the flesh, and the taste of blood spread through her mouth.

Luo Xiaoning hissed at the pain and snatched her hand back.

A deep row of tooth marks wrapped around her wrist, seeping blood.

She stared at those marks with wide eyes. Her voice had changed. It was no longer sweet, but shrill and frantic.

“Shit! Are you insane, you little mute?! You bite people?! What if you’ve got some disease or something?!”

She was furious. She reached out, pressed her hand on Su Yutao’s head, and shoved it underwater.

Su Yutao’s face went under the brown herbal liquid. She choked on a mouthful. It was bitter, harsh.

She struggled, reaching for Luo Xiaoning’s wrist, but couldn’t catch it.

Luo Xiaoning held her head down, her voice sharp and cold.

“Someone like you who delayed Sister Lin Xue’s mission shouldn’t have been taken in at all! And all those wounds of yours, you probably paid someone to beat you up so you could play the pitiful act for Sister Lin Xue!”

At those words, something in Su Yutao’s head snapped.

These wounds were from hiring someone to beat her up?

Ha. That was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

All of these wounds were made by her so-called Sister Lin Xue.

If not for her, she wouldn’t have suffered any of this.

This dumb b*tch really thinks I’m sticking around this place on my own free will, huh…

Right now, she wanted to leave more than anything.

She didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to have transmigrated. She didn’t want to be like this.

Right now, she wanted to cut that person from last night into a thousand pieces.

She ducked her head straight down. Luo Xiaoning’s hand found nothing.

Her hand had been pressing on the top of Su Yutao’s head, but Su Yutao suddenly dropped down. The hand slid off her hair and sank into the water.

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