A Spider Demon’s Cousin

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Xiang Qing violently shook her head, banishing the dangerous thought from her mind.

‘What was she thinking?!’

‘A pervert is a pervert!’

‘Cute, my foot!’

‘She almost got me killed!’

After that night, the atmosphere throughout the mansion plummeted to a historic low. Xiang Qing had finally seen Gu Wei’s true colors. To preserve her own life, she began to deliberately distance herself from Shen Lanzhi.

When cooking, she no longer chatted and laughed with her in the kitchen. During meals, they sat eight zhang apart, as if attending a United Nations conference. When watching television, she would rather sit on the floor than next to Shen Lanzhi on the sofa.

All those previously casual touches and ambiguous jests had vanished without a trace. Xiang Qing felt like a dog punished by its owner with an electric collar; the alarm in her mind would blare whenever she neared the source of danger.

Shen Lanzhi observed all of this. She said nothing, only growing quieter than before. She no longer sought out Xiang Qing for conversation, instead spending most of her time cradling a book, sitting on the balcony for an entire afternoon, or simply drinking her traditional Chinese medicine in silence, gazing blankly at the bustling traffic outside.

The beautiful eyes that once brimmed with starlight and affection now held only an unyielding melancholy. Every time Xiang Qing saw her like that, a tightness constricted her heart.

She knew Shen Lanzhi was innocent, the one who had been most cruelly deceived.

‘But what could she do?’

‘On one side was a tender and affectionate beauty; on the other, a volatile and deranged sugar mama.’

‘Caught between them, she felt like she couldn’t please anyone.’

That afternoon, as Xiang Qing listlessly prepared dinner in the kitchen, Shen Lanzhi once again sat alone on the sofa, her back appearing utterly solitary. Xiang Qing sighed.

Just then, her phone vibrated in her pocket.

‘Gu Wei again?’

Xiang Qing’s heart instantly leaped into her throat; her hand trembled, nearly flinging the spatula away. Wiping her hands, she nervously pulled out her phone.

[Sender: Gu Wei]

But the content wasn’t text; it was a photo.

Xiang Qing tapped it open and froze instantly.

In the photo was an unfamiliar woman. A woman so stunning it was impossible to look away. The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, sporting eye-catching silver-gray wavy hair and a makeup style that was both sweet and sultry. She wore a tight black slip dress that perfectly accentuated her fiery figure, and a delicate butterfly tattoo adorned her collarbone. She was seated in a flamboyant pink sports car, flashing a peace sign at the camera, her smile both innocent and seductive.

‘Who is this?’

Before Xiang Qing could recover from her shock, a line of text popped up beneath the photo.

[Tomorrow, she will find you. Spend the day with her and make sure she has fun.]

Immediately, another message followed.

[Oh, and her name is An Qi. She’s my cousin.]

Xiang Qing clutched her phone, staring at the innocent yet seductive silver-haired bombshell in the photo, her mind buzzing.

‘Cousin?’

‘And I’m supposed to entertain her?’

‘Gu Wei, is your family running a Spider Demon’s Cave?’

‘Are beautiful women just popping out one after another?’

‘And make her happy?’

‘How the hell am I supposed to make her happy?!’

Xiang Qing’s mind was a whirlwind of complaints, yet all she truly wanted was to appease Gu Wei, her very life still held precariously in the other woman’s grasp.

Facing her phone screen, her fingers flew across the keyboard, the sheer obsequiousness practically oozing through the display.

“Don’t worry, CEO Gu! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished! Your cousin is like my own sister! I’ll make sure she has a wonderful time and feels completely at home!”

After sending it, she let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as though she had survived another day.

As for Shen Lanzhi, whom she had momentarily forgotten…

‘Never mind. Better a dead friend than a dead me.’

‘Sister Lanzhi, I’m sorry, but between your love life and my head, my head is still more important.’

****

Early the next morning, Xiang Qing received a location ping from An Qi. It was one of the trendiest and most expensive influencer cafes in the city center.

Xiang Qing’s heart bled as she looked at the cafe’s name. She had only ever seen the place online; the price of a single coffee there was enough to cover her takeout meals for three days.

She reluctantly changed her clothes. Before leaving, the living room was utterly silent. Shen Lanzhi was sitting on the sofa, holding a book, but her gaze was vacant, clearly not absorbing a single word. Even hearing the movement, she didn’t turn around. In the past few days, the atmosphere between them had chilled to Arctic levels.

Xiang Qing opened her mouth, intending to say something, perhaps ‘I’m going out,’ but ultimately swallowed the words back down.

‘Never mind. The more she spoke, the more mistakes she’d make.’

‘She was a walking powder keg now; anyone who got too close risked being blown to smithereens.’

Xiang Qing gently closed the door and fled downstairs as if escaping. She splurged on a taxi, heading straight for the designated meeting point.

Outside the cafe, a flamboyant pink sports car was brazenly parked by the roadside, drawing countless curious glances from passersby. Xiang Qing spotted the person inside the car at a glance.

Exactly as she had appeared in the photo. Her eye-catching silver-gray wavy hair cascaded loosely, her face adorned with exquisite makeup, and the glitter at the corners of her eyes sparkled under the sunlight. The tight black slip dress perfectly showcased her fiery curves, and the delicate butterfly tattoo on her collarbone was faintly visible, making her seem like a walking hormone.

This was An Qi. A living, breathing woman, a hundred times more alluring than her photo.

An Qi noticed her too, pushed open the car door, and strode over with a pair of impossibly long legs.

“You must be Xiang Qing, right?”

An Qi approached her, scrutinizing her from head to toe before breaking into a smile that was both sweet and mischievous.

“Sister-in-law!”

Pfft––

‘Sis… sister-in-law?’

‘Oh, hell no!’

‘Who’s your sister-in-law?!’

‘Your cousin is your sister-in-law!’

‘Your whole family are sister-in-laws!’

Xiang Qing’s mind roared in protest, yet she was forced to plaster on a smile uglier than a grimace.

“You… you can just call me Xiang Qing.”

“How can I do that?!” An Qi, with an easy familiarity, looped her arm through Xiang Qing’s, her astonishing softness instantly pressing against her. “My sister told me everything; you’re hers. What else would I call you but sister-in-law?”

Xiang Qing stiffened, feeling as though she were enveloped by two fluffy marshmallows.

‘Help me!’

‘Who could possibly resist this?!’

“Come on, sister-in-law, I’ll take you out for some real fun today!” An Qi, without further ado, pulled her into the pink sports car.

With a stomp on the accelerator, the sports car shot forward with a mighty roar of its engine. Xiang Qing was pinned against her seat, watching the streetscape blur past outside the window, feeling as though her soul was about to be flung from her body.

“Sl… slow down!”

“What’s there to be afraid of?!” An Qi exclaimed, aggressively turning the steering wheel and winking at her. “Exciting, isn’t it?”

‘Exciting?’

‘I just want to survive, damn it!’

Xiang Qing cursed inwardly, but on the surface, she could only offer a dry, forced smile and nod.

Over the next half-day, Xiang Qing truly experienced what it meant to live the life of the wealthy. An Qi took her through every expensive mall in the city, buying piles of luxury goods without so much as a blink. Afterward, they went to a restaurant that exuded high-class elegance, where Xiang Qing couldn’t understand a single dish name on the menu.

Throughout the entire outing, An Qi chattered incessantly, like an energetic little sparrow. But Xiang Qing knew, this girl was definitely not as simple as she appeared.

“Sister-in-law, how did you and my sister meet?”

“Sister-in-law, what do you think of my sister? Isn’t she super cool?”

“Sister-in-law, what do you like about her? Is it her face, or her figure? It can’t be her money, right? My sister says you’re quite interesting!”

‘Here comes the main event!’

The alarm bells in Xiang Qing’s mind screamed. ‘This isn’t just entertaining; this is Gu Wei sending someone to conduct a background check on her!’

“Heh heh, your sister… she’s all good.” Xiang Qing chuckled evasively, her answer seamless.

‘The more she spoke, the more mistakes she’d make; the less she spoke, the fewer mistakes; say nothing, and make no mistakes!’

“What do you mean by ‘all good’?” An Qi pouted, looking dissatisfied. “Be more specific! For example, what’s your favorite thing my sister does for you?”