Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 58.2

By the time Huai Xu and Fu Qi concluded their discussion, the sky had already darkened. Rain also began to pour.

"It's already June, huh…" Fu Qi sighed as he got into his car. Then, while starting the wipers, he urged, "We'll meet again in a few days, so stop seeing me off! Hurry back inside! Also, make sure to perform well! My daughter's giving you her vote!"

Fu Qi was much more casual than when they first met. For some reason, whenever he interacted with Huai Xu, it felt like he was interacting with an old friend.

Huai Xu nodded and waved Fu Qi goodbye. After seeing his car turn the corner, she turned around and walked back into the White Tower.

The rain under the eaves formed transparent threads, which, in turn, created a curtain. Huai Xu stopped to admire the curtain for a while before going to the convenience store to pick up a bag of mandarins.

It was raining, so she finally had an opportunity to feed Song "Little Shi."

Before returning for evening practice, Huai Xu put the mandarins back in the dormitory. Then, while imagining the look of delight Song Yingshi might have after seeing these mandarins, she headed to the practice room with a smile.

…

Unbeknownst to Huai Xu, Song Yingshi was preparing a huge surprise for her.

Song Yingshi initially hesitated when she first finished processing the absurdity of the system's latest mission, the tower of confidence she had just established becoming unstable.

Amidst her hesitation, Song Yingshi encountered Kou Lengyu, a trainee she wasn't particularly familiar with.

Kou Lengyu was a trainee of Class A. She had participated in Star of Spring last season but ended up in eighth place and failed to debut, which was a huge pity to her tens of thousands of fans. This year, she returned to challenge Star of Spring again, and many of her fans came to support her. Fortunately, she didn't disappoint her fans, remaining firmly in Class A since the start of the show. She even came in second place in the first public performance.

Of course, these details weren't important. What was important was that she and her friends were as straight as they could be—

When the cameras were off, Kou Lengyu dared to do a striptease in the dormitory. When she interacted with her friends, they would kiss each other's cheeks and physically size up each other's breasts without fear. They would also put on "You love me, I love her, but she loves her" drama skits every day. It was even rumored that they would often visit each other's rooms and sleep on the same bed.

Even as a straight girl, Song Yingshi was fearful of Kou Lengyu and her friends, let alone lesbians.

When Song Yingshi encountered Kou Lengyu in the second-floor hall, their eyes met, and they greeted each other.

The two of them didn't usually play in the same group, so they weren't familiar with each other. Hence, Kou Lengyu was a little surprised when Song Yingshi took a seat beside her. However, she quickly got over her surprise and casually placed an arm around Song Yingshi's shoulders, asking, "What's the matter, baby?"

Song Yingshi felt a little uncomfortable, but she still smiled and said, "Nothing; I just wanted to chat with you."

Raising her arms flirtatiously, Kou Lengyu responded, "What do you want to talk about? I love chatting with beauties like you the most."

Going with the flow, Song Yingshi said, "I heard you have a very good relationship with your friends…"

After saying so, Song Yingshi feigned nonchalance as she continued, "You wouldn't happen to take baths together too, right? Ahahaha."

"Normally no," Kou Lengyu sighed dejectedly.

Song Yingshi sighed in relief at this reply, saying, "I thought so." In that case, it would be normal for me to refuse this mission…

"But when we stayed in a hotel that was running out of hot water in the past, we bathed together. Otherwise, we'd have to go to sleep dirty," Kou Lengyu added.

Song Yingshi: "..."

Leaning closer to look at Song Yingshi, Kou Lengyu asked, "What's the matter? Don't tell me you've never bathed with others before, hahaha. Have you never been to a big bathhouse?"

Song Yingshi opened her mouth but failed to come up with any response.

"Everyone can freely enter a bathhouse, so what's wrong with bathing with friends?" Kou Lengyu said, giving Song Yingshi an even more irrefutable reason.

After thinking it over, Song Yingshi made up her mind and said to Kou Lengyu earnestly, "Thank you. I will learn more from you in the future."

Kou Lengyu: "Huh?"

After bidding goodbye to Kou Lengyu, Song Yingshi returned to resume her practice, trying to buy herself as much time as possible.

Unfortunately, no matter how much time Song Yingshi wasted, she couldn't avoid the inevitable.

When 10 o'clock arrived, practice ended.

After mentally repeating "I'm straight" over a dozen times, Song Yingshi made up her mind and stopped hesitating. Like a lamb preparing the oven it was about to jump into, she returned to the dormitory without Huai Xu to prepare the bathroom.

…

Huai Xu noticed that Song Yingshi didn't wait for her to leave today.

When Huai Xu opened the door to the dormitory, she heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. However, it wasn't the sound of the shower running. Rather than beads of water hitting the ground, it sounded like a continuous stream of water pouring into a layer of water.

Huai Xu raised her eyebrows curiously before entering the room.

When Huai Xu first entered the room, she failed to see Song Yingshi. However, when she turned toward the bathroom, she immediately spotted Song Yingshi sitting on the edge of a round bathtub half-filled with hot water and wearing nothing but a milky white bath towel…

The bath towel covered Song Yingshi's chest and thighs, and her legs, which were folded together, leisurely swayed back and forth.

As Song Yingshi bent down to explore the water, her thick, curly hair slid from her shoulders to her chest, highlighting the fairness of her collarbone and shoulders. Looking at her shoulder blades that pushed against the bath towel, Huai Xu couldn't help but be reminded of a butterfly struggling to break free from its cocoon.

The bath towel was originally loosely wrapped around Song Yingshi. However, following her movements, it was stretched taut, forming a plump and attractive shape from top to bottom. At one point, it was even on the brink of exposing something that shouldn't be exposed.

Huai Xu initially thought to avert her gaze. But when she saw Song Yingshi cast a quick sidelong glance at her, seemingly unconcerned by her presence, she decided not to bother with gentlemanly pretense and continued her observation.

Meanwhile, Song Yingshi looked normal as she picked up a towel to wipe her hands, asking, "You're back?"

Huai Xu hummed. While looking at the mandarins that seemingly remained untouched on the dressing table, she asked, "Are you using the bathtub tonight?"

Class A's dormitory had always had a round bathtub. When they moved in on the night of the Initial Rating Performance, the bathtub facing the floor-to-ceiling window made them the envy of everyone else. But in reality, the bathtub mostly existed as a decoration, as few people had the leisure to enjoy a soak.

"After showering, I suddenly got the urge to soak and relax," Song Yingshi said as she brushed the long hair that stuck to her wet skin, completely unaware of how beautiful her generously exposed shoulders and neck were.

Huai Xu nodded in understanding. At the same time, she realized that going by Song Yingshi's meticulous habits, she'd have to wait at least half an hour for her turn to use the bathroom.

Feeling a little parched, Huai Xu turned around to grab her mug. However, before she could take a sip, a chirping voice suddenly came from behind her, saying, "Let's take a bath together."

The bottom of the mug hit the table with a thump, and a slight numbness spread from Huai Xu's fingers to her heart. After taking a deep breath, she turned her face back and asked, "...What?"

"I don't need to use the shower, so you can use it. Otherwise, who knows how long you'll have to wait? We still have a rehearsal tomorrow," Song Yingshi said in a charming voice.

Huai Xu's throat rolled lightly, and the moisture between her lips and teeth evaporated instantly.

After a short pause, Song Yingshi asked in confusion, "Or…have you done so many squats today that your legs can't stand anymore? Do you also want to use the bathtub?"

Provocation.

This was a blatant provocation.

What was going on with Song Yingshi tonight? Since just now, Huai Xu had been wondering about this question. But now, she no longer cared about the answer.

Giving Song Yingshi one last chance, Huai Xu asked, "Are you sure?"

Huai Xu didn't hear an immediate response from Song Yingshi. She only heard a ruffling sound coming from behind her, followed by the sound of a person entering the bathtub.

A moment later, Song Yingshi replied, "Hurry up. You're dawdling."

Huai Xu turned around.

The milky white curtains surrounding the bathtub formed a circle, covering the large semicircle facing outwards tightly.

Song Yingshi's silhouette could be seen through the curtains, her silhouette wrinkling with the thin fabric.

Huai Xu's eyes were fixed on this silhouette for a long time.

After a while, Song Yingshi seemed to have grown anxious as she said, "You promised to cooperate with me after losing in the first public performance. Also, it's no loss to you, right?"

"No loss to me?" Huai Xu repeated.

Song Yingshi: "..."

Realizing she had misspoken, Song Yingshi shut her mouth and kicked the water. If Huai Xu refused to come in, she'd have to go out and drag Huai Xu inside.

Song Yingshi tied her hair up and leaned on the edge of the bathtub, her chin resting on her forearm.

It was still raining outside, uneven streaks of water rolling down the window behind the bathtub. Although Song Yingshi wanted to enjoy the view of the sparkling lake and resort outside, she had yet to complete her mission, so she could only postpone this enjoyment for later.

Sighing resentfully, Song Yingshi decided to get out of the bathtub and take matters into her own hands.

However, before Song Yingshi could actually climb out, a palm-sized opening appeared in the curtains beside her face—Huai Xu, with her back against the light, had appeared before her.

Light and shadow danced across Huai Xu's waist and hips, like a tender spring breeze kissing the first budding forsythia, creating waves of springtime delight. It was also like a stream of liquid gold flowing over warm, smooth jade.

Huai Xu simply stood there without doing anything. Yet, just a glance from her conveyed infinite charm.

Like a white rose that had shed its disguise at night, Huai Xu suddenly turned into a poppy, the core of her flower flowing with enchanting honey.

In an instant, Song Yingshi stopped hearing the drizzle outside the window, her ears overwhelmed by the sound of her thumping heart that threatened to jump out of her chest. The water in the bathtub had also seemingly risen in temperature, as her body flushed red like a boiled shrimp.

In fact, Song Yingshi behaved no differently than a shrimp right now, her arms tightly hugging her knees, and her head buried into her chest, refusing to look up.

Out of embarrassment, Song Yingshi began awkwardly playing with the water in the bathtub. However, if one listened carefully, one could hear the tremor in her calm voice as she said, "Why are you here?"

Huai Xu quietly looked at Song Yingshi's back and the rippling water around it. Her gaze deepened, and she said in a pleasant voice, "I bought you mandarins. Did you see them?"

The question momentarily distracted Song Yingshi from the awkward situation. She quickly recalled there being a bag of something on the dressing table, but due to her grand plan, she never bothered to check the bag's contents.

"I know now," Song Yingshi replied. So, can you please leave?

Unaware of Song Yingshi's thoughts, Huai Xu hummed and continued, "Don't you want to peel them?"

Song Yingshi gritted her teeth and said with a fake smile, "I'll peel them once I finish soaking. Thank you, baby."

"You're welcome," Huai Xu replied. Then, she considerately handed Song Yingshi a mandarin, saying, "Here, I brought one for you."

Before Song Yingshi could react, Huai Xu chuckled and continued, "Little Shi, why don't you stop playing with the water and raise your head?"