Chapter 99: Ten Minutes

Besides, Luo Xiaoning definitely needed a wash. She was soaked through, so she had to take a hot bath.

She hesitated for a moment and was about to speak.

Luo Xiaoning stood at the bathroom door, ears perked. She heard Lin Qingxue say “water outage.”

Her eyes rolled, and she immediately ran back, crouched in front of Lin Qingxue, looked up with bright eyes:

“Sister Lin, is the water going to be cut off? Little Peach needs a medicinal bath, right? I heard you mention a medicinal ball or something.”

Lin Qingxue nodded.

Luo Xiaoning went on: “How about this? Little Peach and I can share a tub. She soaks in the medicinal bath, and I get in too. That saves water. Ten minutes is enough to collect water.”

“I can scrub her back and look after her. I’m afraid of slipping if I wash alone. If we wash together, we can keep each other company. Okay?”

When she finished, she pressed her palms together and blinked. Her whole body radiated an “I’m so good and sensible” aura.

Lin Qingxue hesitated.

She looked at Su Yutao in her arms. The little blind girl had buried her face, curling up in her arms like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand.

She knew Su Yutao didn’t want to. But the situation was: only ten minutes. If they didn’t wash together, Little Peach wouldn’t be able to take the medicinal bath.

Shen Nian said the medicinal ball had to be used consistently. It helps the wounds heal and prevents scars.

She didn’t want Su Yutao to be left with those scars.

Luo Xiaoning saw Lin Qingxue hesitate and sensed an opening. She pounced over, hugged Lin Qingxue’s legs, pressed her face to her knee, and spoke with a crying voice:

“Please, Sister Lin.”

“I can’t even wash myself properly. If I wash with Little Peach, I can help scrub her back. Please.”

Her tears welled up in her eyes but refused to fall, just the right amount.

Su Yutao shivered at the sickening words.

Little Peach? Hah, what a fake.

Qiansui also whispered in her ear: “Yeah, yeah, she’s even hugging Lin Qingxue’s leg and begging. Look at her. Doesn’t she look like a dog wagging its tail?”

Su Yutao thought, ‘Don’t insult dogs.’

Lin Qingxue looked down at Luo Xiaoning, then at the time on her phone.

Over a minute had passed. Less than nine minutes left. She gritted her teeth, stroked Su Yutao’s head, and said with a note of pleading:

“Little Peach, what do you say we wash together? I’m begging you, okay?”

“She’s soaked and pitiful. She can’t even bathe herself. Please.”

Su Yutao stiffened in her arms.

She didn’t want to agree.

She would rather die than agree.

But when she heard Lin Qingxue say “I’m begging you,” a complicated feeling rose in her chest.

Her daytime self rarely begged anyone, let alone her.

She was asking, not ordering.

But Su Yutao knew that if she refused now, at night, dark Lin Qingxue would say she was disobedient and hit her.

She took a deep breath and nodded in Lin Qingxue’s arms.

The movement was tiny, but Lin Qingxue felt it.

Lin Qingxue let out a relieved breath and held Su Yutao a little tighter, resting her chin on her head. “Thank you, Little Peach,” she said softly.

Su Yutao didn’t respond. She just buried her face in Lin Qingxue’s neck and hugged Qiansui tighter.

Qiansui’s voice came through: “Host, are you okay?”

Su Yutao replied in her mind: ‘Not okay.’

Lin Qingxue carried Su Yutao into the bathroom. Luo Xiaoning followed behind, slippers slapping against the floor tiles.

The bathroom was small. The bathtub sat against the wall, the sink faced the toilet, the window was shut, and steam hadn’t risen yet.

Lin Qingxue set Su Yutao on the toilet seat and turned to Luo Xiaoning.

“Run the water first. Don’t make it too hot. Test the temperature with the back of your hand.”

Luo Xiaoning hummed in acknowledgment, bounced over, and turned on the faucet. Water rushed out with a loud din.

She crouched by the tub, stuck her hand into the stream, and adjusted it. Her voice was sweet:

“Sister Lin, is this temperature okay?”

Lin Qingxue walked over, tried the water, and nodded.

She returned to Su Yutao, crouched down, and looked her in the eye.

“Little Peach, let me help you take off your clothes. The medicinal bath will help your wounds heal faster.”

Su Yutao shrank on the toilet seat, clutching Qiansui, leaning back to avoid Lin Qingxue’s outstretched hand.

She shook her head, desperate.

She didn’t want Lin Qingxue to see the wounds on her body.

The bruises, the scars, the bandages. She knew the daytime Lin Qingxue wouldn’t mind, but she still didn’t want to.

She didn’t want to be seen.

Lin Qingxue saw how she was and didn’t force it.

She pulled her hand back, rested it on her knee, and tilted her head at Su Yutao, speaking softly like she was coaxing a child:

“Be good, Little Peach. Are you shy? It’s fine. You can keep your undershirt on.”

She hooked her finger at the collar of Su Yutao’s clothes, revealing the edge of a small vest underneath.

“This little undershirt and your little panties, they have little penguins on them. Remember?”

“When I bought you clothes before, I got you several sets to change.”

“This set is dirty. After the bath, I’ll give you new ones. Sister Luo Xiaoning and I won’t look, don’t worry.”

Su Yutao kept shaking her head. It wasn’t shyness. It was some feeling she couldn’t name. She just didn’t want Lin Qingxue to see.

Lin Qingxue sighed and tried again:

“Little Peach, be good. After the medicinal bath, your wounds will heal faster, no scars. You don’t want those scars to stay forever, right?”

Su Yutao still shook her head. She didn’t care about the scars. She only cared about whether she’d get beaten less at night.

The water kept running, echoing in the bathroom.

Luo Xiaoning crouched by the tub, glancing back from time to time, her eyes full of the delight of watching a show.

Lin Qingxue crouched in front of Su Yutao. The two were at a standoff.

She was getting anxious. The water was almost ready, and time was running out.

She thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and lowered her voice. There was a deliberate coldness to it, not a shout, not a scold, but a commanding tone that allowed no argument:

“Su Yutao, be good. Disobedient children are bad children. They have to be punished.”

Su Yutao’s body went rigid.

That voice, that tone, that pitch. It was exactly like that night.

That night, that person stood in front of her, looking down at her, speaking with the same coldness, the same calmness:

“Dogs that don’t obey get beaten to death.”

Su Yutao’s hands began to shake, then her whole body.

She pressed Qiansui to her head, covered her ears, curled into a ball, and squeezed into the gap between the toilet and the wall.

Qiansui was squashed out of shape and let out a muffled “mmph.”

Her mouth hung open, and a hoarse “huh, huh” escaped her throat. It wasn’t crying. It was fear, the kind that seeped out of her bones.

Lin Qingxue froze.

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