A Winter Night at Swan Lake

No one was willing to back down.

Wen Yuzhi walked to the car and yanked the door open.

She stood by the car, negotiating with the person inside.

“Those first two times were you as well, right?” The man in sunglasses recognized her.

“Yes.” Qin Huairen sneered. “It’s been years and you still haven’t learned how to communicate like normal human beings.”

The man told her to stop recording and delete the video.

She refused.

His face darkened as he stepped forward to snatch her phone.

Qin Huairen did not hold back and swung the iron pipe with a whoosh, scaring him into dodging hurriedly.

Several others rushed over.

Some tried to grab her phone, some tried to seize the iron pipe.

Qin Huairen swung the pipe wildly, striking someone who cried out in pain.

In the end, one who had narrowly avoided her grabbed her arm and wrested the pipe away, while another took the chance to snatch her phone.

At that moment, Qin Huairen bitterly hated the difference in size and strength between men and women.

She clutched her phone desperately.

When the man tried to forcefully grab it, she bit down on his arm, making him stagger back in pain.

This time she no longer had the iron pipe.

They swarmed her all at once.

During the scuffle, her phone was knocked flying.

Now she was truly furious.

With a leap, she jumped onto the man who had knocked her phone away, clamping her legs tightly around his waist and yanking his hair with all her strength.

“Damn it! That was my brand-new phone! If you don’t pay up today, I won’t let you off!”

Dragged backward by her grip, the man stumbled into a wall, screaming, “Ahhh! Damn it! Get this lunatic off me!”

Another person stepped forward and reached to grab Qin Huairen, only to have his knee kicked from behind.

He fell to his knees with a thud, baring his teeth in anger, but when he saw it was Wen Yuzhi, he swallowed his rage.

Another tried to grab Qin Huairen’s ankle and was struck with the iron pipe, letting out a miserable scream.

Wen Yuzhi had made her move.

No one dared to act again.

Only the man whose hair was being yanked kept slamming himself against the wall, hoping the pain would force Qin Huairen to let go.

Unfortunately, she seemed not to feel pain at all.

She tore out one clump of hair and switched to another spot.

Seeing Wen Yuzhi approaching cold-faced, the man dropped to his knees with a thud and pleaded, “President Wen, I’m just an employee! I don’t have a choice! My hair’s going to be gone!”

Wen Yuzhi hugged Qin Huairen from behind.

Qin Huairen swung her hand to hit her, but Wen Yuzhi held her tightly and soothed her, “A-Ren, it’s me.”

Recognizing her, Qin Huairen withdrew her hand.

Her chest heaved violently, yet she refused to get off the man, only demanding, “Are you paying or not? Say it!”

“I’ll buy you a new one.” Wen Yuzhi coaxed, trying to carry her down.

“Let him pay! He broke it!” she snapped.

The man hurriedly agreed to compensate her.

Only then did Qin Huairen climb down.

Her whole body felt numb and sore.

Breathing fast, emotions surging, she rushed to the car and pointed at the person inside.

“Wen Heyun, you bastard! No matter what, Wen Yuzhi is still your own sister! This is how you treat her? You’re not even a man!”

The car sped away in a flash.

Wen Yuzhi’s expression darkened.

“Your master’s already gone. Are you still not leaving?”

Qin Huairen grabbed the tearful man.

“You! Contact info! Give it to me! If you don’t pay for my phone, I won’t let you off!”

He left his contact details and ran.

Her body went limp, as if falling apart.

She could no longer hold herself up and nearly collapsed to the ground.

The next second, she was lifted into the air.

Wen Yuzhi carried her steadily.

Qin Huairen struggled, biting and hitting weakly, before finally slumping against Wen Yuzhi’s shoulder, tears streaming down.

Just like before, even if she trembled and cried uncontrollably in the end, next time she would still make the same choice.

Wen Yuzhi carried her back into the car.

Curled in the back seat, Qin Huairen sobbed into the gap between the seats.

She had lost again.

The more she thought about it, the more humiliated she felt.

Wen Yuzhi sat beside her, turned off the lights, handed her tissues, and gently rubbed her own eyes.

The winter night in Jingzhou was very cold.

Even on the bustling streets, there were few people in the latter half of the night.

After the earlier commotion, even those who wanted to watch had been driven away.

Now the night outside the window was finally quiet.

Inside the car, the crying lasted for quite some time.

Wen Yuzhi tugged lightly at her sleeve and said softly, “A-Ren, I’m hungry.”

Just like before, after a fight Wen Yuzhi would say she was hungry.

Sniffling hoarsely, Qin Huairen retorted, “Then eat. Why tell me? I’m not your nanny.”

“How about some hot hotpot?” Wen Yuzhi suggested. “I know the best place.”

Qin Huairen did not object.

She only felt tired now.

Wen Yuzhi opened the car door and issued a voice command.

The car switched to autonomous driving mode.

The destination was Swan Lake.

When the car left the city noise behind, Qin Huairen rubbed her red eyes and asked nasally, “What kind of hotpot place is Swan Lake? Is it new?”

Swan Lake was Wen Yuzhi’s private courtyard.

It was normal that Qin Huairen had never heard of it.

“You’ll know when we get there. You won’t be disappointed.”

Wen Yuzhi poured her a cup of hot milk.

“Drink some too. I’m hungry and thirsty.”

She picked up her coffee and gazed at the forest outside, bright under moonlight and snow.

“Winter is perfect for hotpot,” she murmured.

Qin Huairen gulped the warm milk.

After shouting and crying, her throat was dry.

She was exhausted and sleepy, yet for the first time sitting in the back of an RV, she forced herself to look around at the interior.

As she had imagined, the back seat could recline into a bed.

There was a desk, and even a place to brew coffee and heat milk.

Under the warm yellow light, it felt like a small and cozy home.

So this was what an RV looked like inside.

She could not afford her ideal apartment in Jingzhou.

Maybe she could settle for buying an RV in the future and go wherever she wished.

The scent of coffee, milk, and the woody fragrance she liked filled the car.

Her nerves, tense all evening, slowly relaxed.

The alcohol had not fully worn off.

Her head felt heavy.

Leaning against the seat, she drifted into a light sleep.

When the car stopped at Swan Lake, she was still dreaming.

Perhaps because of the earlier fight, even in sleep she muttered emotionally, her voice trembling with tears.

Wen Yuzhi sat beside her and gently stroked her arm, hoping to calm her.

Unexpectedly, Qin Huairen turned and leaned into her shoulder on her own.

Wen Yuzhi’s body stiffened.

Her heartbeat raced, like currents running wildly through her veins.

The lights inside the car were dimmer now, dim enough to hide her reddened ears.

But the heat was unmistakable.

Her face flushed as she fanned herself lightly.

This winter in Jingzhou felt a little warm.

Qin Huairen slept soundly.

Wen Yuzhi kept still so she could rest comfortably.

Later, Qin Huairen shifted again, turning toward the window.

Her back probably hurt, so she pressed herself against the door, grumbling Wen Yuzhi’s name and words like “Let her go.”

Wen Yuzhi gently stroked her hair and muttered fondly, “My little fool.”

Then she slowly leaned closer and pressed a kiss onto her glossy black hair.

Softly, almost inaudibly, she whispered, “How can I ever stop thinking about you?”