Chapter 4: A Not-So-Good Dinner Time
Dragged by Long Qinxin all the way to the living room, Lu Zhiyin’s face turned pale from the severe pain in her legs. She gritted her teeth, only letting out muffled groans when she absolutely couldn’t bear it anymore. Long Qinxin felt annoyed. She thought Lu Zhiyin was deliberately challenging her, wondering why she wouldn’t cry out.
Dragging Lu Zhiyin to the sofa in the living room, Long Qinxin lowered her head to look at Lu Zhiyin’s face, which was as pale as paper. Long Qinxin touched Lu Zhiyin’s face with her fingertips, and Lu Zhiyin almost bit her fingers. Thus, Long Qinxin’s few worries vanished. She dragged Lu Zhiyin to the balcony. The brown curtains were adorned with chrysanthemum patterns, accented with threads of gold, making one subconsciously feel that the owner of this house was very wealthy. This was indeed the case; Long Qinxin was very wealthy. However, Lu Zhiyin didn’t think that much; she just glared hatefully at Long Qinxin.
Silently, Long Qinxin opened the curtains. Drizzling rain continuously hit the transparent glass, then slid down the glass onto the balcony. Long Qinxin opened the floor-to-ceiling window, and the cold night wind blew in. Lu Zhiyin shivered. As the floor-to-ceiling window was opened, the sound of the rain became even more apparent. Lu Zhiyin’s slight gasps of pain were drowned out by the rain. Because it was a rainy night, the moon and stars were not visible outside, just a dark expanse, which was unsettling.
Not lingering on the balcony for too long, Long Qinxin quickly dragged Lu Zhiyin back to the sofa. The black and white checkered sofa, the transparent coffee table, and further ahead, the TV cabinet and the LCD TV – all of this should have felt cozy. “Zhiyin… I’ll bring out the food.” Fastening the iron chain to the leg of the coffee table, Long Qinxin returned to the kitchen, and soon after, she came out with a bowl of warm white porridge. She could have actually made a more elaborate dinner, but she didn’t want Lu Zhiyin to have the strength to escape, nor did she want her to starve to death, so she finally chose white porridge. Placing the porridge on the sofa, Long Qinxin removed the chain from the coffee table leg and wrapped it around her wrist. “Zhiyin… It’s time to eat.” She lifted the bowl of porridge.
Lu Zhiyin remained unresponsive. She just lowered her head, looking at her own legs, not saying a word. Her mindset seemed to have some problems; she didn’t want to pursue anyone for now, nor did she intend to go against her will and show a different persona that wasn’t hers. She thought she probably needed a good rest. As long as her mindset recovered, she could continue to use her superb acting skills to conquer these terrible scoundrels and then go home, right? Lu Zhiyin couldn’t bear to stay in this world for another moment.
“…Eat.” Looking at Lu Zhiyin, who was silently lowering her head, Long Qinxin frowned. She stirred the porridge in the bowl with a ceramic spoon and scooped a spoonful to Lu Zhiyin’s mouth. Lu Zhiyin turned her head, avoiding the spoon. Her body ached, and the suffocating feeling from being dragged by the chain hadn’t dissipated. Lu Zhiyin had no appetite. She just wanted to be alone now.
“…” Looking at Lu Zhiyin, who avoided the spoon, Long Qinxin sighed. Why would she refuse her? Whether refusing to be by her side to accompany her or refusing to eat the food she personally made, everything made Long Qinxin feel annoyed. Why was she so obedient when she was with Leng Qing Qiu, but couldn’t be the same with her? Long Qinxin’s psychology was somewhat unbalanced. She felt like she was about to do something bad again… “Eat a little, don’t starve yourself.” With a softer tone, Long Qinxin forced a smile and patiently brought the spoon full of white porridge to Lu Zhiyin’s mouth again.
Lu Zhiyin remained silent, pushing the spoon away. The ceramic spoon fell from Long Qinxin’s hand, landing on the ceramic tile, and then shattering into pieces of various sizes. Long Qinxin’s hard-won smile disappeared, and her gaze gradually turned cold. The dissatisfaction in her heart was about to erupt completely. She pulled the chain in her hand, bringing Lu Zhiyin’s head closer to her, and then pressed the bowl in her hand to Lu Zhiyin’s mouth. Tilting her wrist, she tried to force the entire bowl of porridge into Lu Zhiyin’s stomach, but Lu Zhiyin still kept her lips tightly shut. The bowl of porridge spilled entirely onto Lu Zhiyin’s clothes and the sofa beneath her.
Long Qinxin’s emotions completely broke down. She smashed the bowl in her hand, then picked up a shard. “Whew…” Clenching the ceramic shard in her hand, she took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly. The shard scratched her palm, causing blood to flow, and the pain overwhelmed her, preventing Long Qinxin from calming down. She pushed Lu Zhiyin down onto the sofa and straddled her waist. “Why, why won’t you listen to me?” She pulled open Lu Zhiyin’s clothes and wound the thin chain around Lu Zhiyin’s neck, circle after circle. Long Qinxin held Lu Zhiyin’s shoulder with her other hand, asking again and again, her reason lost. The porcelain shard in her palm broke through the skin on Lu Zhiyin’s shoulder, digging into the flesh. The sharp pain made Lu Zhiyin momentarily dazed. “Mmph…” With a muffled groan, Lu Zhiyin pushed Long Qinxin with her left hand, only to be met with Long Qinxin’s increasingly willful torment. Grabbing the broken porcelain shard, Long Qinxin drove the shard into Lu Zhiyin’s flesh, pulled it out, and inserted it again, repeating this process. “Why… why… why… clearly, clearly I’m so much better than that scumbag Leng Qing Qiu…” Long Qinxin repeatedly asked, believing deep down that Leng Qing Qiu was more important to Lu Zhiyin. Long Qinxin felt like a madwoman; her thoughts were too stubborn, and even if Lu Zhiyin had explained, she was unwilling to believe it deep down. In a daze, Long Qinxin saw Lu Zhiyin’s contorted face and the girl’s bright, glistening eyes. The emotion in those eyes was very low. Looking at those beautiful red eyes, Long Qinxin’s heart trembled.
“…It hurts… It hurts so much…” Finally, Lu Zhiyin spoke the word “pain.” Had she given up? Perhaps… She just couldn’t bear it anymore. She was truly afraid of pain. Her eyes were wet with tears, and there was a faint smell of blood in the air. Lu Zhiyin closed her eyes. As Lu Zhiyin closed her eyes, Long Qinxin also stopped her abusive hands. She stared blankly at the girl’s face, full of pain. Was what she was doing really the right thing? Clearly, she had said she would protect her before… Long Qinxin felt a sense of confusion, and after the confusion came an inexplicable panic. She leaned over Lu Zhiyin, hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” She began to apologize endlessly. Long Qinxin felt like she had truly gone mad; she was the one being abusive, and she was the one apologizing. What was this?
“…Let… let me go… I’m begging you, okay…” Lu Zhiyin was indifferent to Long Qinxin’s apologies. She was simply suffocating from Long Qinxin’s embrace. The physical pain tormented her, preventing her from passing out. She wished she could just fall unconscious immediately… She didn’t want to see Long Qinxin’s face, nor did she want to hear her voice anymore.
