My Straight Girlfriend with Skin Hunger Syndrome - Chapter 71

Chapter 71

The scorching atmosphere was shattered by a single drop of blood.

Ying Yuan felt an itch in her nose, followed by a vivid red drop trickling down. The moment she glanced in the mirror, she saw it.

Shock, shame, disbelief.

Her eyes widened. In her mind, this whole ordeal truly felt like a chaotic and bewildering dream.

Her fingers slipped from Yi Shanshan’s hair, sliding down to grip her neck. With a forceful shove, she wrenched Yi Shanshan away from her body.

“Shanshan, move,” she said, her voice finally regaining a sliver of rational clarity.

Yi Shanshan had also seen the drop of blood, right in front of her eyes.

The blood’s color was strikingly beautiful, like some vibrant pigment. She stared blankly, feeling dazed, until Ying Yuan yanked her away. Even then, she lingered on the sensation of her previous bite.

Ying Yuan pressed a hand to her nose, pushed Yi Shanshan aside, and set down the hairdryer.

Yi Shanshan blinked, finally asking with genuine concern, “Ying Yuan, what’s wrong?”

Do you even need to ask what’s wrong?

Haven’t you seen everything?

Isn’t this all your fault?

This naive, innocent culprit—about to kill her, yet standing by to relish her misery.

Only now did Ying Yuan finally show a flicker of genuine anger—a fury born of shame.

“It’s nothing. It’s just too hot,” Ying Yuan said, turning on the tap and leaning down to rinse her face.

“I’ll clean up. You should go out.”

Yi Shanshan didn’t move, while the clear water in Ying Yuan’s palm remained streaked with blood.

As soon as she stopped moving, the blood dripped, one drop after another, into the porcelain-white sink.

Ying Yuan: “……”

She splashed ice-cold water on her forehead, but it had no effect.

The blood, like the fever surging through her body, finally broke free, overflowing without end.

In the corner of the mirror, Yi Shanshan still stood there, staring blankly at her.

“……You,” Ying Yuan said, trying to find something for her to do, “Do we have any medical cotton balls at home?”

“Ah…” Yi Shanshan responded immediately, “I don’t remember, but I think there might be some. Let me go look.”

Having finally accepted the task, she turned and hurried out.

The bathroom door was open, letting in light from outside. The sound of running water still echoed.

Fresh air swept through the stuffy, sealed space, and Ying Yuan exhaled deeply.

Yi Shanshan’s medicine cabinet was surprisingly well-stocked. She not only brought cotton balls to temporarily plug Ying Yuan’s nose, but also a box of medications.

“Could you be having heatstroke? Should I give you some Huoxiang Zhengqi Water?

“Can we use this hemostatic spray? The instructions say it’s for all external injuries. Does a nosebleed count as… an external injury?

“Are you still feeling hot? Should I turn the air conditioning down further?

“How about an ice pack on your forehead? But wouldn’t the sudden temperature change be too harsh and give you a cold?”

Yi Shanshan didn’t understand much, but her mind buzzed with one idea after another.

She hovered around Ying Yuan, bombarding her with questions, her gaze fixed intently on her, a display of genuine concern.

Ying Yuan’s initial anger dissipated like smoke.

Her resentment faded away, vanishing with the breeze.

It takes two to tango; ultimately, she had accepted this situation willingly, because she had truly… gotten off…

Her nosebleed was simply a consequence of her… overwhelming pleasure.

“It’s fine, just hold it closed,” Ying Yuan said. “It’s usually just a ruptured capillary. It’ll stop soon.”

“Oh, okay,” Yi Shanshan said, her gaze fixed on Ying Yuan’s face. “Does it hurt…?”

Ying Yuan wiped her hands dry. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

Yi Shanshan: “But it’s bleeding so much…”

“Moderate bleeding can stimulate red blood cell regeneration.” Ying Yuan glanced at the nearby hairdryer. “Your hair should be almost dry. Do you want to read or go to sleep?”

By presenting these two options, she cut off Yi Shanshan’s attempts to linger.

Yi Shanshan gazed at Ying Yuan, clearly not wanting to choose either option. She countered, “What about you? Are you going to read more?”

Ying Yuan: “I’ll read for a bit.”

Yi Shanshan: “Then I’ll read for a bit too.”

Ying Yuan: “Suddenly feeling tired. I’m not going to read after all.”

Yi Shanshan: “Then let’s go to bed~”

Ying Yuan bent down slightly, looking at her earnestly. “It should be you sleep in your bed, and I sleep in mine. You take the master bedroom, Mao Mao and Xiaohan can have the side room, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Yi Shanshan: “The sofa isn’t…”

Ying Yuan cut her off. “I have an exam early tomorrow morning. If we sleep together, I won’t be able to sleep properly.”

Yi Shanshan swallowed the words she was about to say.

She knew she would indeed affect Ying Yuan. Just now, Ying Yuan had a nosebleed. If they slept together, she wouldn’t be able to resist hugging Ying Yuan and teasing her.

This was something both of them understood perfectly well.

Their deepening intimacy had allowed Ying Yuan to reject her directly, while Yi Shanshan had begun to genuinely consider Ying Yuan’s well-being, not wanting to burden her or put her in a difficult position.

“Oh,” Yi Shanshan finally relented.

Her gaze lowered, her eyes losing some of their sparkle. “Then I’ll get you a blanket and pillow. You can sleep on that big sofa—it’s long and comfortable.”

“Mm, thank you,” Ying Yuan said.

All the restlessness finally subsided with the flowing blood.

After washing up, Ying Yuan lay down on the sofa. Yi Shanshan squatted beside her, adjusting her position, tugging at the blanket one moment, fluffing the pillow the next, looking utterly reluctant to leave.

Ying Yuan watched her. Yi Shanshan, sensing her friend’s gaze, moved her lips, saying with a touch of melancholy, “It’s just… now that the exams are over, the semester’s ending. And freshman year’s over too. And summer vacation…”

Ying Yuan: “Did you forget we’re from the same hometown? We’ll still be in the same city during the summer break.”

“Oh, right.” Yi Shanshan twisted her fingers. “But being together outside of school… it’s just not the same…”

Ying Yuan: “Then after summer vacation, we’ll both be back at school again.”

“Oh…” Yi Shanshan sighed deeply, tilting her head back to gaze at the sky.

Though she didn’t fully understand, Ying Yuan tried to grasp Yi Shanshan’s current mood.

She raised her hand and gently patted Yi Shanshan’s head, reassuring her, “We’ll have plenty of chances to see each other. There’s a long future ahead. Don’t worry.”

“Mmm~” Yi Shanshan finally smiled faintly. “I like the phrase ‘the days ahead are long.'”

She opened her arms to Ying Yuan, taking the initiative. “Ying Yuan~ Good night~”

Ying Yuan stood up and gave her a gentle hug. “Good night.”

The chaos of the night subsided into stillness.

Yet after stillness came new chaos.

Mao Mao and Xiaohan had studied late into the night and couldn’t wake up on their own the next morning. Ying Yuan had to coax and drag them out of bed.

By the time the three of them finally managed to get ready and leave, Yi Shanshan was still sound asleep, lost in sweet dreams.

Knowing how difficult it had been for her to sleep lately, Ying Yuan didn’t disturb her.

She quietly closed the door and raced to the exam hall.

Just as the exam began, Yi Shanshan’s phone rang.

Another sudden opportunity had arisen, one she couldn’t afford to miss.

Yi Shanshan groaned as she dragged herself out of bed, firing off a string of complaints to Ying Yuan. Yet her hands never stopped moving as she spruced herself up, looking her best, ready to rush to the next battlefield.

Every second of youth was too precious to waste.

Summer arrived with fiery intensity.

This summer, Ying Yuan had originally planned to find a part-time substitute teaching job and spend her vacation with her parents in B City.

But as fate would have it, her father had to go on a long business trip out of town, and her grandmother back in their hometown had been unwell recently, requiring intravenous infusions at the county hospital every other day. Ying Yuan returned to visit and ended up staying longer to care for her.

Summer in the village lacked the oppressive heat of the city.

Just a few hundred meters from the village, vast fields of wheat and orchards stretched as far as the eye could see.

Despite his advanced age, Grandpa still insisted on working in the fields for a few hours each day, weeding, tilling, and tending to his neat little vegetable patch. He’d sit on the ridge between rows, smoke a cigarette, and gather fresh produce for their meals.

Grandma used to enjoy doing handicrafts, taking on any odd jobs the villagers offered for a few mao or yuan per piece. Now, with her eyesight failing and her fingers less nimble, she’d taken to playing cards with her old friends.

They’d play a round in the morning, another after lunch. On lucky days, she might win a few mao or yuan in a single hand.

Ying Yuan had grown up in this village, knowing every house, field, and road like the back of her hand. Even though the village had changed drastically over the years, returning to her hometown still evoked the nostalgia of childhood.

Her grandparents weren’t the doting kind who hovered over their grandchildren. Each had their own routines, gathering only at mealtimes.

They made few demands of Ying Yuan, who was well-behaved and spent most of her time at home reading. Even when she went out to play, she never got her clothes dirty.

It was the same now as when she was a child.

Claiming to be caring for her grandparents, Ying Yuan felt more like she was on vacation, reliving the same long, sweltering, and uneventful summers of her youth.

Yi Shanshan’s situation was entirely different. After finishing her school exams, she was still immersed in Teacher Han’s rigorous special training. Just as the training was nearing its end, her teacher recommended her for an industry exchange event.

Every day, Ying Yuan heard Yi Shanshan’s sighs of frustration mixed with excited squeals over new discoveries. One moment she was overjoyed, the next furious, then elated, then dejected, like a frostbitten puppy.

One morning she might be in C City, and by evening, in T City. When she held her phone, she was usually on the move. When she didn’t reply promptly, it was likely because she was performing or engaged in intense socializing.

Ying Yuan sat in her courtyard, grapevines climbing the bamboo trellis above.

Looking up, she saw a small patch of azure sky. Looking down, a line of ants marched past her feet, heading to gnaw on a grain of rice dropped during lunch.

Staring at the messages on her phone, she struggled to imagine Yi Shanshan’s surroundings: what kind of room, what kind of stage, what kind of tailored suit, what kind of clinking glasses.

Yi Shanshan would call or video chat with her, but mostly late at night, when the world was still and quiet.

Just finished with work, Shanshan’s face would still be made up. She’d prop her phone against the bathroom sink as she removed her makeup, chatting with Ying Yuan all the while.

By then, the rural night had long fallen silent.

A dim yellow light glowed in the room, while the courtyard echoed only with the intermittent chirping of insects.

Lying under her quilt, Ying Yuan gazed at Shanshan’s face on the phone screen, thinking she looked like a dazzling, unattainable star.

“Ugh, I’m so fed up! Talking to those people is exhausting.” Yi Shanshan, after removing her makeup and applying a facial mask, collapsed onto the sofa. “It’s like they don’t understand plain English—or maybe they pretend not to because it’s not what they want to hear.”

Yi Shanshan frowned, wrinkling her mask. “And why are they so… calculating? So blinded by greed? When they didn’t know who I was, their noses were in the air, looking down on me like I was dirt. But as soon as they found out I’m Yi Tian’s daughter—oh my god—suddenly it’s ‘Little Sister this, Little Sister that,’ ‘Little Sister’s so pretty,’ ‘Little Sister’s professional skills are so impressive~~~'”

Yi Shanshan dragged out her words, mimicking their sycophantic tone.

Her exaggerated performance was so endearing that Ying Yuan couldn’t help but smile.

Yi Shanshan’s gaze drifted over, locking onto the camera. She stared into Ying Yuan’s eyes, then glanced around at her surroundings. Her words trailed off, and the conversation abruptly shifted.

“You’re still at your hometown?”

“Yeah,” Ying Yuan replied softly.

“How’s Grandma doing? When are you coming back to the city?” Yi Shanshan asked.

“It’s nothing serious. The doctor prescribed medicine today and said to take it for a couple of days to see if it helps. If it works well, I won’t need to go back to the hospital.” Ying Yuan blinked, then paused to consider the question of returning to the city. “There’s really not much for me back there right now. My parents have both been away recently. The village has internet and courier services, and the air is clean—it’s quite comfortable here.”

Yi Shanshan’s lips, made even more vibrant against her pale facial mask, pursed. “How can you say it’s nothing? Don’t I count? I’m coming back, you know.”

“Huh?” Ying Yuan looked surprised. “When?”

“The day after tomorrow. I have a banquet to attend,” Yi Shanshan replied. “But I probably won’t stay long. Teacher Han wants me to come early to her place to record some songs.”

The mere mention of seeing Yi Shanshan made Ying Yuan’s heart clench.

She began to strategize mentally, thinking, “You’ve finally come back, so you’ll definitely want to see your family and friends. And there’s the important banquet. I doubt we’ll have much… time to hang out together, will we?”

“Time is like water in a sponge,” Yi Shanshan retorted stubbornly, staring at Ying Yuan with a pout. “If you’re willing to squeeze, there’s always some to be found. You could come to the banquet with me! It’s just eating, drinking, and socializing—nothing else.”

“Or you could come with me to see my friends. You even know some of them—they’re our high school classmates.”

“We’ll just eat, drink, and have fun together.”

“Since your parents aren’t home, why don’t you just stay at my place? My dad and brother rarely come back, so the house is empty.”

“We could sleep together, wake up together, do our makeup together, and go out to play together,” Yi Shanshan fantasized, her eyes crinkling with delight. “We’d be glued to each other from morning till night, squeezing every last drop of water out of the sponge.”

Ying Yuan hadn’t expected such intensity right from the start. Her heart pounded wildly, as if from pure joy and excitement, yet also from panic at facing such an overwhelming challenge.

She hesitated. “But… wouldn’t that be…”

“Aiya, don’t you dare refuse me!”

Yi Shanshan flipped over, going from lying on her back to sprawling on her stomach. Even beneath the face mask, her expressions conveyed a rich range of emotions: coquettishness, unwillingness to back down, longing, wilfulness, and an overwhelming need.

“I haven’t seen you in ages! I’ve missed you so much, I could die!”

“You don’t even think about me, do you? You have no idea how much I’ve been yearning for you. Every night when I get back to the hotel, all I can think about is how wonderful it would be if you were there waiting for me.”

“Even when I wake up, you’re on my mind. If you were here, I wouldn’t have to worry about what to eat for breakfast or what time to leave.”

“I miss you most when I’m stuck with those awful people. If everyone in the world turned into you, I’d be the happiest little girl in the entire universe!”

“You really can’t refuse me. This is for your own good.”

“If you reject me, I’ll go crazy. I’ll run to your hometown, kidnap you, stuff you in my car, and spank you hard!”

Ying Yuan: “??????”

Yi Shanshan gritted her teeth fiercely. “And then I’ll tell your grandparents you’re a heartless woman who’s betrayed my deep love!”

Author’s Note:

Don’t worry, darlings! The plot you’ve been waiting for is just around the corner! It’s coming soon! (Please allow me to finish writing everything I want to!)

Also, I highly recommend my friend 一只花夹子’s new novel, Spring Blizzard! It’s a fantastic wife-chasing-firestorm story—anyone who reads it will say it’s exhilarating!

If you can’t find it, search for numerical ID: 8709236

Early Stage CP Dynamics:

Pure-hearted, naive office worker (Huai Xing) x Dark, scheming executive (Director Yi Shanshan)

Late Stage CP Dynamics:

Wife-chasing-firestorm

Synopsis:

When Huai Xing was sixteen, her mother planned to remarry an old classmate, but before they could even officially merge households, both sets of parents unexpectedly passed away.

In the torrential rain, Huai Xing knelt before the gravestones, her vision blurring with tears. At that moment, her future step-sister came to stand beside her.

Chu Wantang, sheltering Huai Xing under her umbrella, bent down to gently wipe away the rain and tears from her face. In a soft voice, she asked, “Would you like me to be your family? I don’t have any family left either.”

Huai Xing didn’t refuse.

She went to university in Chu Wantang’s city, moving into her house. They publicly referred to each other as sisters, though there was a six-year age difference between them.

As they spent more time together, Huai Xing inevitably fell for the gentle Chu Wantang. But Chu Wantang didn’t reciprocate her feelings.

The shift in their relationship came one night.

Slightly tipsy after a business dinner, Chu Wantang held Huai Xing close, softly calling her name, again and again, tender and restrained, like a lover’s murmur.

After a night of reckless abandon, Huai Xing opened her eyes to find Chu Wantang fully dressed, her gaze frosty as she asked coldly, “Are you a lesbian?”

“…No, Big Sister,” Huai Xing whispered, her lips pale, shaking her head in denial.

“Good. From now on, we’ll each take what we need physically.” Chu Wantang lowered her gaze, her expression softening into its usual gentle demeanor. A dimple appeared at the corner of her lips as she ruffled Huai Xing’s hair. “I’ve taken care of you for so long, Little Xing. Don’t make things difficult for me.”

This ambiguous arrangement continued for many nights. Huai Xing never made things difficult for Chu Wantang, never mentioning her feelings and continuing to play the role of her younger sister.

Until she overheard Chu Wantang telling a friend, “My sister? Just a little pet.”

By the time Chu Wantang returned from her business trip, the little pet had vanished completely.

Only a bank card lay on the table.

Later, Huai Xing said, “Miss Chu, I simply didn’t love you. What did I do wrong?”