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Shen Wenxin entered the passcode to her stepmother’s apartment.
As soon as she walked in, she saw Jin Hanshuang waiting by the entrance.
Jin Hanshuang was wearing the gentle, elegant look from Shen Wenxin’s childhood. She had on a set of pajamas and a long-knitted cardigan, her long hair fixed in place with a clip.
Her stepmother asked, “Staying over tonight?”
Shen Wenxin shook her head, slipping on a pair of cotton slippers as she walked into the living room. “No, just coming over to grab the papers. I have something to do later.”
Jin Hanshuang quietly let out a breath of relief. She looked at Shen Wenxin and asked with concern, “Coming by at this hour—have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet. I’m going out with a friend later.” Her stepdaughter’s voice was already drifting down the hallway.
Jin Hanshuang glanced at her tightly closed bedroom door before following Shen Wenxin into her stepdaughter’s room.
Shen Wenxin was rifling through her nightstand.
Nothing.
She headed to the study.
Jin Hanshuang followed her there too.
“What file are you looking for? Want me to help you find it?”
“No need.”
Shen Wenxin pulled a familiar-looking folder from the desk drawer. After she rifled through it, she snapped it close and held it up for Jin Hanshuang to look at.
“Found it,” she said, her expression relaxing.
Jin Hanshuang was relieved. “Good.”
Shen Wenxin gave her a quick hug. “Thanks, Mom, for helping me organize my stuff.”
Jin Hanshuang gently patted her daughter’s head with affection.
She never threw out people’s things, especially not Shen Wenxin’s.
Even if she didn’t understand what something was, it was still Shen Wenxin’s. Even if she thought Shen Wenxin wanted to throw it away, she should let Shen Wenxin do it herself. What if Jin Hanshuang accidentally threw out something important? How could she bear that responsibility?
After the hug, Shen Wenxin said, “Stepmom, you seem kind of anxious.”
Jin Hanshuang: “…”
This child was so sensitive!
She played dumb. “Anxious?”
“A little,” Shen Wenxin teased. “What’s going on? Don’t tell me someone else is here, and you’re afraid I’ll find out?”
Jin Hanshuang’s heart skipped a beat.
She knew it—this child saw too much!
Jin Hanshuang told herself to keep her composure.
She turned defense into offense. “Yes, someone is here. Do you want to see who?”
As she anticipated, Shen Wenxin shook her head. “No. You date whoever you want. I don’t need to know. Just don’t fall for some loser who’ll screw you over.”
Jin Hanshuang patted her stepdaughter’s head again and offered a new excuse. “There’s no one else here. I was just nervous that I accidentally misplaced one of your work files.”
“Oh.” Shen Wenxin believed her. “It’s fine. I’ve got it now.”
“I’m glad you found it.” Jin Hanshuang smiled. Then she changed the topic. “You haven’t eaten yet, right? Go meet your friend and eat something. Don’t stay hungry.”
Shen Wenxin said, “Alright, alright. I’m going.”
She started heading for the door.
Jin Hanshuang said, “Wait.”
Shen Wenxin turned.
Jin Hanshuang went into the walk-in closet and came out with a scarf.
She wrapped it gently around Shen Wenxin’s neck. “Why aren’t you wearing a scarf when it’s so cold out. Where’s the one I bought you?”
“In the car.”
“Why?”
“I was in a hurry and forgot.”
Jin Hanshuang gave Shen Wenxin a helpless look. “You…just take care not to catch a cold, or you’ll be whining again.”
Whenever Shen Wenxin was sick, she always started whining like a little kid. Jin Hanshuang knew that better than anyone else.
But she knew when to give it a break. “Okay, hurry up and go eat. Remember to fill your stomach.”
Shen Wenxin asked, “Have you eaten?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I’m heading out now. Bye.”
“Be careful on the road!”
Jin Hanshuang couldn’t resist sneaking in another reminder before Shen Wenxin left on the elevator. But once the crisis was averted, she shut the door and sprinted to her bedroom.
Light from the living room spilled through the crack in the door, casting a large patch of brightness right on Lu Yunshu.
She was sitting at the edge of bed, quietly waiting for Jin Hanshuang.
“Shen Wenxin left?”
Jin Hanshuang nodded. “Yes.”
Lu Yunshu stretched out her hand.
Jin Hanshuang turned on the light and locked the door behind her.
Taking Lu Yunshu’s hand, she swung herself over her girlfriend’s lap.
Their eyes met.
Lu Yunshu held Jin Hanshuang’s waist. “This doesn’t feel good.”
A secret relationship—it didn’t feel good.
Her gaze was full of love, but her words carried a hint of grievance.
She wanted to let the whole world know that Jin Hanshuang was her girlfriend, and they were deeply in love.
But if she couldn’t have that, she wanted a relationship where they wouldn’t need to hide every time someone showed up.
Jin Hanshuang gently caressed her face. “You’ve suffered…”
“It’s been three months.” Lu Yunshu kissed Jin Hanshuang’s palm. “Can we consider telling Shen Wenxin?”
They couldn’t keep it a secret forever.
Unless Jin Hanshuang had never intended to make it public in the first place…
Thinking this, Lu Yunshu’s brows furrowed.
The next moment, two fingers gently pressed against her wrinkles and smoothed them away, as if to soothe her worries.
“Don’t do that,” Jin Hanshuang said softly. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Hmm?”
“There will be a way to tell Wenxin. We can’t hide it from her forever, right?”
“Right.” Lu Yunshu’s gloom lifted.
Jin Hanshuang thought for a moment and said, “If we’re going to tell Wenxin, I think you should make peace with her first. Once you’ve reconciled, everything else will be easier.”
Lu Yunshu nodded gently.
When you’re dating someone, you always want to leave a good impression with their family.
Shaking hands and making peace was a start.
Jin Hanshuang added, “The ones who tied the bell must untie it together. This is a problem between you and Wenxin, so you must find a way to resolve it. No one else can help.”
Lu Yunshu fell silent.
She and Shen Wenxin…no longer enemies?
It sounded so strange.
Jin Hanshuang took Lu Yunshu’s hand between hers. “Yunshu, do you really hate Wenxin?”
Lu Yunshu said reflexively, “Yes.”
Jin Hanshuang smiled. “Truly?”
Lu Yunshu was silent for a while, then she nodded.
Jin Hanshuang gently pushed, “So what to do? I am Wenxin’s stepmother, and we still want to tell her about us…”
Lu Yunshu looked up at her. “Hanshuang…”
Jin Hanshuang asked, “Do you want to hear what I think?”
Lu Yunshu said, “I do.”
Jin Hanshuang took Lu Yunshu into her arms. “Actually, I don’t think the two of you truly hate each other.”
Lu Yunshu: “?”
Jin Hanshuang pinched her cheek. “You always speak up for each other. Is that what hate looks like? Didn’t you stand up for Wenxin all those years ago, saying that I was wrong for cheating on her father?”
“…”
“And Wenxin too. She didn’t let those boys in class talk bad about you behind your back.”
“?”
Lu Yunshu was confused. “She didn’t?”
Jin Hanshuang smiled. “No. I saw it with my own eyes when you were in high school.”
Lu Yunshu fell silent.
“And Wenxin never asked me to hate you. She always said this was a private matter between you and her, and she didn’t want to drag innocent people into the mix. Otherwise, how could I talk to you in front of her?”
Jin Hanshuang looked at Lu Yunshu. “Isn’t this how you think too?”
Even though they would incessantly complain about each other in front of her, neither of them has ever made her take a side.
That’s why she had always believed the two of them could eventually make peace.
She continued, “If you can’t figure out whether you hate Wenxin or not, then answer this question. Back in high school, when you saw Wenxin beat you in the rankings, was your first reaction to hate her competing with you or to fear your dad scolding you?”
Lu Yunshu became even more silent after hearing this.
After a while, her voice came softly, “The latter…”
Her hostility toward Shen Wenxin all stemmed from her father.
Lu Cheng never liked Shen Minghai, so his daughter definitely couldn’t lose to Shen Minghai’s daughter. He always pushed Lu Yunshu to excel—to do better, always better than Shen Wenxin.
And when Lu Yunshu didn’t do as well as Shen Wenxin?
She became afraid that her father would ask her why she scored lower than Shen Wenxin. Was she slacking off or what?
But even with that fear, she had never truly despised Shen Wenxin’s existence.
She was only afraid of her father’s scolding and disappointment.
She was scared…
Jin Hanshuang gently cupped Lu Yunshu’s face.
Her eyes glistened with care—and heartache for Lu Yunshu.
“I was right,” Jin Hanshuang said. “You two are the same.”
Lu Yunshu had been a scared child, just like Shen Wenxin.
When the pressure was too great, Shen Wenxin would even cry.
But even so, Jin Hanshuang had never heard her say she hated Lu Yunshu.
These two children probably understood that, even without each other, there would always be someone else to compete with. Truly hating each other served no purpose. The root of their conflict was never between them.
This was the first time Lu Yunshu heard about the other side.
She had always wondered if Shen Wenxin might be like her, but because Shen Wenxin always seemed livelier and more outgoing, especially after Jin Hanshuang became her stepmother, the thought only ever lived in Lu Yunshu’s head as a possibility.
Until today, when Lu Yunshu’s suspicions were confirmed.
Even Shen Wenxin’s brightest smiles were haunted by the fear of disappointing her father.
All these years…it hadn’t been easy for either of them.
Jin Hanshuang pulled Lu Yunshu into her arms.
She gently began stroking Lu Yunshu’s long hair.
“You’re both adults now. You’ve made it through the hardest part. You can make your own decisions now. Do whatever you want to do. No matter what, I’ll support you.”
Their fathers had left the earth, and the choice to reconcile or not fell on their shoulders.
When Lu Yunshu saw the fondness in Jin Hanshuang’s eyes, she made a decision.
“I’ll give it a try…I’ll try to make peace with Shen Wenxin first.”
Jin Hanshuang’s expression instantly brightened. “Good!”
Lu Yunshu asked, “But what if she doesn’t want to reconcile?”
Jin Hanshuang held her cheek in her hand. “Yes, what then?”
Then she said, “Just take it slow. Give her some time. And give yourself time too.”
After all, the two of them had been enemies for so many years. Their animosity wasn’t the sort of thing that could be resolved with just a few words and no doubt reconciling would come with all sorts of embarrassment.
But Lu Yunshu’s persistence should never be underestimated.
She had liked Jin Hanshuang for so many years, and from the beginning, she was determined to be honest with Shen Wenxin, her worst enemy. So how could she possibly give up so easily on this?
Jin Hanshuang gently kissed Lu Yunshu on the lips. “You’ll always have me.”
Lu Yunshu’s serious expression melted away into something softer.
That’s right, she would always have Jin Hanshuang.
The atmosphere turned warm for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Lu Yunshu asked, “Is it true that Shen Wenxin whines when she’s sick?”
Jin Hanshuang: “…?”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“This coming from the person who documented her sickness all over social media?”
Lu Yunshu leaned into Jin Hanshuang’s palm, feigning innocence.
Jin Hanshuang pinched her cheek, filled with exasperation and affection.
“You and Shen Wenxin…really are two peas in a pod.”
The author (热到昏厥) has something to say:
Ms. Jin, the person who holds dirt (?) on not one but two powerful CEOs.
