Chapter 31

Su Yaoyao nodded. “I know… I-I’m just scared.”
Still huffing, Qin Yao turned back to explain to Wen Jiu, “She might be the eldest daughter of the Su family, but she’s got an older brother and a younger brother, and her parents are always busy and hands-off. When she was little, she got bullied badly and was too scared to tell anyone.
Later, when Su Tan found out, he got into a fight with the kids who were picking on her, one against twelve. They all got hurt, and he ended up in the ICU. Thankfully he was young and bounced back; now he can run and jump just fine.
After that, though, Yaoyao basically stopped saying anything. She kept everything bottled up because she was terrified of Su Tan getting hurt again.
If she could endure it, she would. That let some real creeps get high off bullying a rich family’s eldest daughter. If I hadn’t seen them forcing drinks on her seven years ago, who knows what would’ve happened.”
Never mind the basic fact that minors shouldn’t drink; back then, how old had she even been? Qin Yao had been used to throwing her weight around in Beicheng. The moment she saw it, she’d toppled the entire champagne tower on top of the kids doing the bullying, nearly burying several under a cascade of glass.
“Even if Su Heng and Su Tan’s feelings for Yaoyao aren’t… exactly pure, you can’t deny they’ve guarded her very tightly these past seven years,” she admitted.
Then she started spiraling again. “But they’ve guarded her too tightly! Now she doesn’t understand anything, and she’s even more timid than before!”
At this point, Her Young Lady’s feelings were identical to those of a frustrated kindergarten teacher, maybe worse. Yaoyao wasn’t some clueless toddler; her brain was just full of clever ways to avoid problems, and nothing could drag her out of it.
“Miss, have some water. Don’t be mad, don’t be mad,” Wen Jiu soothed, handling this side first.
Once Qin Yao calmed down, Wen Jiu turned to the other side.
She pulled out her phone and compiled a folder of ten novels full of forced love, groveling men, and tragic breakups, classic “scum man chases wife to the crematorium” BE stories. Then she handed the phone to Su Yaoyao. “Yaoyao, read all of these and write a two-thousand-word reflection for each one.”
Su Yaoyao had never refused anyone in her life. She took the phone with both hands and whispered, “Okay.”
She didn’t feel like Wen Jiu was ordering her around at all. Instead, she lifted her fluffy little head and leaned closer. “You called me Yaoyao, can I call you Jiujiu?”
Saving Wen Jiu that time had used up all the courage she’d saved over twenty years. She knew Wen Jiu’s name, and they had each other’s contact info, but they’d never actually gotten that close.
With one glance, Wen Jiu could see the everyone-falls-for-her Young Lady, face radiant and stunning, looking at her with those shimmering peach blossom eyes.
Wen Jiu: “……”
There was no way she could say no.
“Of course you can.”
Su Yaoyao’s curled lashes fluttered, and her voice grew syrup-sweet. “Jiujiu.”
Wen Jiu had fully intended to call her “Young Lady,” but something had clearly gone wrong in the process.
When Su Yaoyao wasn’t being hurt, she was like a sunflower in full bloom, facing the sun, cheerful and bright, with no sign of the bullying she’d endured or the timid personality underneath.
The moment she got hurt, though, she turned into a mimosa plant, shrinking herself down, folding all her leaves tight and pretending no one could see her. That, in her mind, meant she was safe.
Wen Jiu thought for a moment, then added five more titles to the end of that reading list, hardcore “big heroine” face-slapping power fantasies, and told Yaoyao, “You have to read these too. And also write reflections.”
Qin Yao, now done being angry, craned her neck to peek and frowned. “Is this really going to help?”
Wen Jiu: “Maybe?”
After a fifty-minute ride, they finally reached their destination.
Her Young Lady led the two of them out of the car and toward a tall building.
There were a lot of people outside. The moment Su Yaoyao realized how dazzling and eye-catching Qin Yao was, she got scared that being too close would split the crowd’s attention, so she shrank further and further back.
By the time Wen Jiu turned around, Yaoyao was almost back inside the car. She hurried over and dragged her forward.
Su Yaoyao’s hands trembled as she clung tightly to Wen Jiu.
Wen Jiu silently added one more line to the notes on Yaoyao’s condition: fear of crowds.
“Where are we going?” Once they were in the elevator and it was just the three of them, Su Yaoyao finally let out a breath of relief.
“To take you home,” Qin Yao said, proud as a little cat with its tail held high. “Your phone and its locator are in a trash can now. If Su Tan wants to chase after you, he’s going to need time.”
“If this were Haicheng, he’d still have ways to track us. But we’re abroad.”
“I’ve already had the butler file a flight plan. We’ll take a helicopter out of here, then switch to my private jet.”
Her Young Lady slipped on her sunglasses and lifted a slender finger to adjust them. “We’re going to Australia.”
“This trip isn’t over, it’s just getting started,” she added for Wen Jiu’s benefit. “I’m taking you two to see the world.”
With her sunglasses in place, she glanced sideways at Su Yaoyao. “Su Tan won’t let you step out of the house? Then I’ll take you out. Yaoyao, I will help you stand up tall again.”
Whenever she saw something she liked, she didn’t bother with pros and cons, she just bought it.
Su Yaoyao was good at listening and being good to others, but when it came to voicing what she wanted, she clammed right up.
So when her gaze lingered on something for a beat too long, the young lady immediately bought it for her, leaving Su Yaoyao so moved her eyes were brimming.
As the Su family’s young miss, she didn’t lack money. But out here, she didn’t dare swipe her own card in case her brother traced her location. So just like Wen Jiu, her gratitude for Miss Qin’s wild spending turned into pure, sparkly-eyed worship.
After a few luxury malls, under Wen Jiu’s bad influence, Su Yaoyao actually started… taking initiative. She could now say what she wanted, at least a little.
Mainly because if she never opened her mouth, Qin Yao would just keep buying and buying and buying, and she really didn’t need that many things.
“Let’s rest at noon. This afternoon I’ll take you two sea fishing.”
Behind the young lady, ten bodyguards stood in a row, both hands full of shopping bags.
The moment she turned to announce this, Wen Jiu felt like Miss Qin was literally glowing.
Spending money like water, she practically shone gold.
Wen Jiu cupped her face. “Young lady, you’re amazing!”
After finally managing to voice her own needs, Su Yaoyao was a little less soft and skittish. She glanced at Wen Jiu, then copied her, cupping her own cheeks as she bravely echoed, “Young lady, you’re so amazing!”
Wen Jiu side-eyed her, a little horrified.
Her other young lady was calling this young lady “young lady”?
That was more tongue-twisting than a tongue-twister.
Come to think of it… had she led Su Yaoyao astray??