Chapter 191

Xie Shiqing blinked. “I brought it.”

“When I asked you earlier, why didn’t you say so?”

“I didn’t know Ning-jie was asking about pajamas. I thought you meant outerwear.”

Zhong Ning: “…”

She was left speechless. After a pause, she said, “Wear your own pajamas, then.”

She had only brought two sets of pajamas with her. If she hadn’t asked just now, she wouldn’t have had anything left to wear herself.

Seeing Xie Shiqing’s pitiful expression, she pursed her lips slightly. “Is your skin still itchy now?”

Xie Shiqing softened her voice. “I really want to say it’s super itchy, but it’s already a bit better than before.”

Zhong Ning called for room service, handed the changed pajamas to the server who came, and asked them to be dry cleaned. She then turned around and changed into her remaining set.

“You sleep inside. I’ll sleep outside.”

Xie Shiqing finished putting on her camisole nightdress.

She really wanted to invite Zhong Ning to sleep together, but in the end, reason took over and she didn’t say it out loud.

The fact that Zhong Ning was now willing to talk to her, even take care of her, was already something that made her very happy. Anything more would be pushing her luck.

Don’t rush. Don’t force it. You have to take it slow.

Xie Shiqing lay half-prone on the bed, muttering under her breath repeatedly, “Take it slow, take it slow, don’t rush, control your emotions, don’t go crazy, stay calm, stay calm…”

It was like self-hypnosis. She repeated it over and over for a long time before finally giving in to the sleepiness and slowly drifting into slumber.

Zhong Ning had always been a good sleeper. She lay on the sofa bed. Despite how Xie Shiqing constantly made her thoughts wander, she still fell asleep almost instantly once her head hit the pillow.

But she wasn’t woken by her internal clock — instead, something heavy pressed down on her, waking her with a jolt.

Before she even opened her eyes, she caught a whiff of that familiar absinthe scent at the tip of her nose.

Her expression turned cold immediately.

She sat up at once and pushed the person off her.

Xie Shiqing’s eyes were dazed as her body went limp, sliding softly to the floor. A peachy flush colored her cheeks, and her arms reached forward as if trying to grasp something.

“Ning Ning… help me, I…”

The scent of absinthe lingered in the air like a tiny hook, tugging at her emotions and desire.

But Zhong Ning’s gaze was colder than a glacier.

She had no intention of indulging, no desire to share passion — only an overwhelming fury.

Her voice was low and tense.

“Xie Shiqing, the same trick twice — do you think I’m stupid?”

“Another request for a mark? Even if you’re not tired of it, I already am.”

What she had always sought was a connection of the mind, a spiritual resonance — not just physical pleasure.

Last time, Xie Shiqing had taken advantage of her heat cycle, taken advantage of her own condition, and Zhong Ning had felt distressed for her. That made her forgive everything too easily.

And now she was using the same move to get back together?

What was she in Xie Shiqing’s eyes, really — a desire-driven slave? A prisoner of the body?

Did sleeping together once mean everything could just be wiped clean?

And to think she had actually believed this person had changed.

Turns out it was just a convincing act.

Zhong Ning looked down at her lying weakly on the floor, with not the slightest intention of helping her up. That sliver of pity in her heart burst like a bubble — gone without a trace.

What remained was pure disgust.

She sat up, reached under herself to grab her phone, unplugged the charging cable, and was about to make a call.

“I believe Ms. Xue must have the contact information for the Xie family’s butler. She’ll bring over a tranquilizer.”

“Endure it for a few hours. That shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”

“No, don’t…”

Xie Shiqing used all her strength to raise her hand and grabbed Zhong Ning’s ankle.

Her hand was burning hot, as if it had just come out of boiling water.

Zhong Ning stood up and stepped aside, easily shaking off her grip.

Xie Shiqing tilted her head upward. Tears spilled out before any words could, streaming down her face.

“I just… the tranquilizer is… it’s in my suitcase.”

Her eyes brimmed with endless heartbreak. It was as if a fishbone was stuck in her throat, or as if she had swallowed a handful of coarse gravel — every word she spoke brought a pain as sharp as bleeding tears.

“I didn’t…”

Xie Shiqing bit down hard on her lower lip, stifling a sob that was about to break free. No one knew where the strength came from, but she clung tightly to the sofa and managed to half-sit up, crawling on her knees.

“I just wanted to get the tranquilizer.”

Her face was still flushed, but that lingering sorrow clung to her features like the slow torture of death by a thousand cuts. That flush looked like the final flare of life before death, filled with the sorrow of someone on the verge of collapse.

She stood unsteadily and took two shaky steps before her legs gave out again. With a thud, she collapsed to the ground. That fall seemed to trigger something in her, causing her to let out a wail of grief and a stream of broken sobs.

“I really didn’t, Ning Ning, I didn’t… I just tripped, I didn’t…”

The bittersweet scent of absinthe continued to spread through the room.

Zhong Ning walked past her in silence, opened Xie Shiqing’s suitcase, and from a small pocket in the lining, pulled out a few tranquilizers and their matching syringes.

Her hand tightened silently around the package.

Chapter 68

Zhong Ning once believed that bad emotions were like water in a cup — as long as you poured it out, it would disappear.

But she had forgotten that water always leaves a residue. What remained would gather again, drop by drop, forming a shallow pool at the bottom of the cup.

It silted up in her heart.

She still had the ability to trust, just not when it came to Xie Shiqing.

How could anyone, after being hurt by the same person for the same reason over and over, still hand over their heart without hesitation?

She could easily place her trust in anyone else in the world — except Xie Shiqing.

The moment she was around her, she could never help but imagine the worst, think the darkest thoughts — what had she done now, what lie had she told this time?

She hadn’t expected herself to be such a prisoner of experience.

The broken sobs were like a whip with tiny barbed hooks, coiling around her neck, making her bleed as she struggled to breathe.

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