Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Correcting Mistakes

Qin Wanshu stepped three paces away from Zuo Qinghuan. In all her years, she had never lost her composure like this. She took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm her emotions. She didn't dare look at Zuo Qinghuan, but it was clear she could feel Zuo Qinghuan's gaze glued to her face. Qin Wanshu felt her face heat up slightly. Embarrassed, she turned away from Zuo Qinghuan, and in that instant, caught a glimpse of Zuo Qinghuan's infuriating, ambiguous expression from the corner of her eye.

"Qin Wanshu, you really surprised me," Zuo Qinghuan said with a dazzling smile. For someone like Qin Wanshu, this was probably the first time she had initiated an intimate gesture toward another person, even if it was driven by anger and a lapse of judgment. But at the very least, it proved that deep down, Qin Wanshu didn't truly hate her. This thought gave Zuo Qinghuan some relief; she felt hopeful that she could continue to interact with Qin Wanshu in the future, which made her quite happy.

Qin Wanshu continued to take deep breaths, trying to prevent herself from getting upset again by Zuo Qinghuan. In truth, it wasn't just Zuo Qinghuan who was surprised; Qin herself was also astonished. She didn't know how the incident had even happened. How could she have allowed it? Where had her usual grace and composure gone? Qin Wanshu took several more deep breaths, closed her eyes, and forced herself to calm down. By the time she opened her eyes again, she had returned to her usual state. What she prided herself on most was her ability to regulate her emotions. She had no reason to lose to a mistress—otherwise, where would the dignity of Miss Qin be?

Zuo Qinghuan noticed that the redness in Qin Wanshu's ears had faded. She knew Qin Wanshu had likely regained control over her emotions, which had clearly embarrassed her deeply. This woman wasn't simple, Zuo Qinghuan thought to herself.

"Zuo Qinghuan, I have to admit, you're much more interesting than I thought." Qin Wanshu turned around, her expression half-smiling as if nothing had just happened.

Zuo Qinghuan marveled at Qin Wanshu's inner strength, how quickly she could rearm herself with elegance and composure. If Zuo Qinghuan hadn't seen her genuinely lose control moments ago, she would have believed Qin Wanshu was invincible.

"As long as you find me interesting, that's all that matters. You're always welcome to explore me further. To be honest, I think you're fascinating too, and I'm very interested in exploring you. Releasing the magma from beneath the ice must be the most wonderful thing," Zuo Qinghuan said teasingly, her words layered with innuendo. That magma would surely be scorching. Just thinking about it made Zuo Qinghuan's heart race with excitement. Okay, she admitted to herself, maybe she had some perverse tendencies.

Qin Wanshu's face stiffened for a moment but quickly returned to normal, her refined smile turning slightly colder. Internally, she cursed Zuo Qinghuan for being shameless. Qin Wanshu felt acutely that, as the legitimate wife, she couldn't get the upper hand over the mistress in this situation. After all, her dignity as a wife meant she couldn't say the kind of vulgar things the mistress could. What's worse, the woman in front of her was truly frivolous and utterly without restraint.

"Zuo Qinghuan, what makes you so confident?" Qin Wanshu raised an eyebrow. After all, she wasn't as harmless as she appeared.

"Because you like me," Zuo Qinghuan said with complete nonsense. Though she had a sense that Qin Wanshu didn't dislike her, it was far from being love. But she wanted to see Qin Wanshu's reaction—it would surely be interesting.

Qin Wanshu's face twitched slightly. She had seen shameless people before, but never someone as utterly self-assured and brazen as Zuo Qinghuan.

"Didn't you just kiss me? Doesn't that count as liking me?" Zuo Qinghuan asked, feigning innocence, as if she were truly a pure-hearted girl, adding a touch of bashfulness to her act. It almost seemed believable. Zuo Qinghuan clung tightly to that earlier kiss, thinking it had been a stroke of luck. She was determined to use it to her advantage, confident that she could openly cling to Qin Wanshu in the future.

Qin Wanshu's elegant smile faltered. She felt as if she had swallowed bitter medicine, unable to voice her frustration. Regret coursed through her, wishing more than anything that there was some way to undo her mistake. She hated herself for allowing things to happen this way. As she watched Zuo Qinghuan's pretentious performance, she even had the urge to strangle her.

Instead of getting angry, Qin Wanshu looked at Zuo Qinghuan and smiled, a reaction that unsettled Zuo Qinghuan slightly. After all, a tiger is still a tiger, not to be mistaken for a harmless cat.

"It doesn't matter if you don't like me. I like you, and that's enough," Zuo Qinghuan said, her face serious. She had a knack for knowing when to stop pushing.

Qin Wanshu looked at Zuo Qinghuan's serious expression, unsure if it was genuine or fake, but it didn't matter to her. She just felt foolish for standing there, listening to Zuo Qinghuan's nonsense.

"It's getting late. I should go," Qin Wanshu said politely, though she felt far from calm inside.

"Can I come see you again?" Zuo Qinghuan asked, noticing the distant coldness in Qin Wanshu's expression. She felt a bit uneasy, suspecting that Qin Wanshu wouldn't want to see her again.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Qin Wanshu said coolly, casting a glance at Zuo Qinghuan.

"Not even as ordinary friends?" Zuo Qinghuan asked, lowering her tone. Normally, she valued her pride, but there was something about Qin Wanshu that made her willing to set it aside.

"We'll see," Qin Wanshu replied without looking at her, her tone indifferent. With that, she left Zuo Qinghuan's home, feeling unsettled. The visit had gone nothing like she had expected. What bothered her most was that she was still angry and hadn't yet regained her composure when it came to Zuo Qinghuan.

Zuo Qinghuan leaned against the doorframe, watching as Qin Wanshu's car disappeared from view. She felt a sense of emptiness. Perhaps it was a mistake to get involved with someone like her; they came from completely different worlds.

"Miss Qin, what's going on?" Shi Yunyang asked, swirling the red wine in her hand with curiosity. Though Qin Wanshu always kept her emotions well hidden, her pursed lips and silence gave her away. In the twenty years Shi Yunyang had known Qin Wanshu, she could count on one hand the times she had seen her angry.

"I suddenly realized I'm not as composed as I thought. Today, someone actually managed to get under my skin," Qin Wanshu admitted, feeling a pang of frustration over how foolish she had acted.

"I'm more curious to know who could actually make you angry," Shi Yunyang replied, intrigued. After all, Qin Wanshu was admired for her grace and elegance throughout high society—a paragon of composure, even Shi Yunyang's role model. She had no doubts about Qin Wanshu's self-control, so whoever managed to anger her was certainly someone interesting.

Qin Wanshu didn't respond. She wasn't about to introduce Zuo Qinghuan to Shi Yunyang. After all, Han Shibin's affair was a family scandal, and there was no need to let even her closest friend know about it.

While Qin Wanshu often made other women standing beside her fade into the background, this wasn't the case with Shi Yunyang—who was, in her own right, a stunning beauty.

Seeing that Qin Wanshu didn't plan to share more, Shi Yunyang dropped the subject.

"Let me tell you a secret," Shi Yunyang said, changing the topic.

"Hmm?" Qin Wanshu, not particularly curious, still acted interested, as it was only polite to do so when someone was about to reveal a secret.

"I had a one-night stand with a woman, and surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all." Shi Yunyang's lips curved into a smile as she recalled the experience. The woman had seemed wild, but had ended up crying like a virgin, which Shi Yunyang found amusing. It was her first time with a woman, and the experience had been unexpectedly good.

Qin Wanshu blinked in surprise. She knew Shi Yunyang liked to have fun, but she had never been interested in women before. When had she changed? For some reason, Qin Wanshu suddenly thought of her own reckless behavior and of Zuo Qinghuan's attempts to seduce her, causing her heart to skip a beat.

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