Chapter 124: Don’t Move

‘Just take her. When Lin Xue comes back and finds the little thing gone, she’ll search everywhere. If she traces it to me, I’m in trouble.’

‘Who knows how long that crazy woman will take to finish her mission and crawl back. Leaving her here is a problem too. I hate that madwoman Lin Xue.’

‘If I accidentally set her off, I might die without knowing when. And she always puts on that cold, aloof act. Who is she trying to impress?’

‘And that little thing.’ She looked at Su Yutao, curled up on the sofa. She really had the urge to destroy one of Lin Xue’s things. But if she actually did something to this little blind girl, the consequences…

Luo Qianning thought it over, then looked at Luo Xiaoning again, still in her grasp. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face full of pleading.

She took a deep breath, loosened her grip, set Luo Xiaoning on the floor, and untied the rope around her wrists. Her voice was low and grudging. “Fine. She can stay here for now.”

Luo Xiaoning froze. She opened her mouth, ready to keep persuading, with a whole basket of reasons lined up in her head. Then it hit her: her sister had said “fine.”

Her eyes went wide. Her voice shook. “Y-you… what did you say?”

Luo Qianning glanced at her but didn’t repeat.

Luo Xiaoning’s eyes lit up like two bulbs suddenly plugged into a socket. She crouched, took her sister’s hand, and pushed her onto the sofa. Then she stood behind her, kneading her shoulders and patting her legs.

“Sis, sit. You must be tired from hitting me earlier. Let me rub your shoulders. Are your legs sore? I’ll pat them for you…”

Luo Qianning leaned back from the kneading, her brow still furrowed, but she didn’t push her away. She leaned against the sofa, eyes closed, her voice still carrying that stiff edge, but softer than before. “Stop. Annoying.”

Luo Xiaoning ignored her and kept kneading, even harder.

Luo Qianning’s shoulders swayed from the force of it. She finally lost patience and swatted her hand away. “Quit pounding. I have something to ask you.”

Luo Xiaoning’s hands paused. She pulled them back and stood obediently still.

Luo Qianning turned her head, her gaze landing on the wounds on her sister’s face: the bruise at the corner of her mouth, the red, swollen eyes, the bandaged fingers. Her voice dropped. “Where did you get these injuries?”

Luo Xiaoning froze.

She rubbed her hands together, her head buzzing.

‘I can’t tell her the truth. If I say Lin Xue did it, what would my sister think?’

She didn’t know whether her sister knew Lin Xue. But she knew her sister’s temper. If she learned that someone had beaten her little sister like this, she would go straight to that person’s door.

‘If those two met, with Lin Xue’s temper… would my sister even make it back alive?’

Luo Xiaoning didn’t dare think about it.

She needed an excuse. Something plausible, something that wouldn’t make her sister fly off the handle.

Luo Qianning watched her sister rubbing her hands, picking at her nails, eyes darting, unable to squeeze out a peep. She already understood.

‘Knowing my sister, there’s a good chance Lin Xue did this to her. She’s afraid I’ll find out who hit her. Afraid I’ll go looking for revenge.’

The corner of Luo Qianning’s mouth twitched. She didn’t press further.

She turned and looked at the little white-haired thing curled up in the corner of the sofa.

Su Yutao had somehow edged all the way to the sofa’s rim, only a third of her rear still on the cushion. Her small feet pushed slowly against the floor, inching her away from Luo Qianning.

Her white hair fell forward, hiding half her face. Her whole body was folded into a ball, like a little mouse trying to slip out from under a cat’s paw.

Luo Qianning was annoyed just looking at her.

It was this little thing that had made her sister suffer.

She reached out, grabbed Su Yutao by the back of the collar, and dragged her over from the sofa corner.

Su Yutao pitched forward. Before she could react, she was pressed down across Luo Qianning’s lap.

Her face sank into something soft. The tip of her nose brushed against black stockings, cool and smooth, with a faint clean scent.

Luo Qianning’s hand pressed on her head, lifting strands of white hair for a look. She clicked her tongue. “This white hair doesn’t look dyed. So soft and smooth. Is it natural?”

As she spoke, she stroked the hair, one stroke after another, like petting a cat.

Su Yutao had been curled on the sofa moments ago, listening to the two sisters talk. Her mind was still turning.

‘They seem to be talking about me. Whether to take me away or leave me here.’

She was afraid they might fight again, so she shrank back, trying to get farther away.

Then a big hand grabbed her by the collar, lifted her, and pressed her against something soft.

Her cheek was pressed against Luo Qianning’s leg. The fabric of the black stockings rubbed against her face. It stung, but it wasn’t unbearable.

The hand moved over her head, neither hard nor soft, like petting a cat that didn’t want to be petted.

Su Yutao wanted to resist. She didn’t want this person touching her. She didn’t want to smell her scent.

She shifted. The hand on her head suddenly pressed harder, pushing her face deeper into the leg.

The stocking fabric scraped her cheek. Her skin stung.

Su Yutao struggled twice. She couldn’t break free. The hand held her down like an iron clamp.

Suddenly, she didn’t want to move anymore. She gave up.

‘As long as they don’t hit me, don’t burn me with cigarette butts, they can touch me if they want.’

She lay there, motionless, like a cat pinned by the scruff of its neck.

Luo Xiaoning watched her sister press Su Yutao onto her lap like a pet. The little blind girl lay without moving, her white hair spread over Luo Qianning’s knees like a puddle of white paint.

It made her uncomfortable. Her sister was going too far. It was so disrespectful to Su Yutao.

She opened her mouth. “Sis, don’t…”

Luo Qianning shot her a look, cold as ice shards.

Luo Xiaoning’s words caught in her throat. She shrank her neck, backed off, and shut up.

But she still wanted to redirect her sister’s attention, to stop her from bullying Su Yutao.

She thought for a moment, then forced out an excuse. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was just loud enough for Luo Qianning to hear. “Sis, a bunch of thugs barged in earlier, with rainbow-colored hair. They hit me. I fought back and drove them off.”

“These… these injuries are from those thugs. Yeah. That’s right. That’s how it was.”

Luo Qianning’s hand paused on Su Yutao’s head.

She remembered the thugs she’d met downstairs. Yellow Hair, Green Hair, Bald Guy, Baseball Cap Guy. They’d been stumbling as they ran, like something was chasing them.

That bald guy had said, “Hit the pink-haired girl with a stool.”

It seemed she hadn’t hit those people hard enough.

Her gaze turned cold. Her fingers unconsciously tightened in Su Yutao’s hair.

‘They dared to touch my sister? They really don’t care if they live or die.’

‘Forget Lin Xue. I can’t beat her anyway. And my sister went and offered herself to Lin Xue as a punching bag all on her own. She brought that on herself.’

‘But a few thugs dare to lay a hand on my sister? The next time I run into them, I’ll apply for authorization and kill them.’

Su Yutao felt the hand on her head suddenly press down harder. Fingers sank into her hair and pressed her scalp until it hurt.

She was uncomfortable. She nudged her head, trying to change position.

Luo Qianning let go. On reflex, she smacked her on the butt.

It was the same slap she’d given Luo Xiaoning when she didn’t listen.

There was a sharp smack. It wasn’t hard, but Su Yutao’s body jolted. She dared not move.

Luo Qianning’s voice came from above, light and cold. “Don’t move. I know you recognized me.”

“I suggest you do as you’re told.”

“If my sister weren’t here, you’d already be my…”

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