After Being Bent by Reader

Xu Chuanchuan only dared to answer the call after making sure Linda had left. "What's the matter?"

"Aunt Lian said that my mother fainted from a heatstroke. I have to go over and take a look now," Murong Shi said hurriedly.

Xu Chuanchuan was shocked, and she subconsciously blurted out, "Should I accompany you?"

"No need; I'll go by myself. Applying for leave is too troublesome, so you stay at work for now. I'll give you a call afterward."

The situation looked quite urgent as Murong Shi didn't even wait for Xu Chuanchuan to respond before cutting the call.

Did she leave yet?

Xu Chuanchuan jogged to the first floor in the hopes of catching Murong Shi on her way out. When she saw Murong Shi assigning tasks to Linda at the front desk, she thought of approaching them but hesitated to do so.

Murong Shi spoke very quickly, and she turned to leave as soon as she finished speaking.

"Mu—" In the end, Xu Chuanchuan still couldn't help herself from calling out to Murong Shi. However, when she thought about how other people were present, she quickly shut her mouth before she could finish her words.

Even so, Murong Shi still heard Xu Chuanchuan's voice. When she turned around and saw that it was indeed Xu Chuanchuan who had just spoken, she walked back a few steps and said, "It's fine; don't worry."

Xu Chuanchuan couldn't even extend her greetings before Murong Shi left, and she couldn't help but grow a little worried and annoyed by this situation. The last time her father had gotten into an accident, Murong Shi had followed her back home without hesitation. Yet, now that Murong Shi had come across problems in her family, she could only look at Murong Shi foolishly without being able to do anything.

Only after Murong Shi's figure had disappeared into the distance did Xu Chuanchuan reluctantly retract her gaze. When she turned around and came across Linda's suspicious gaze, she couldn't even be bothered to make up an excuse before walking away with a heavy heart.

After spending an hour working in anxiety, Xu Chuanchuan finally received a call from Murong Shi telling her that Murong Mingshu was alright.

Sighing in relief, Xu Chuanchuan said, "That's good, then."

However, despite knowing that Murong Mingshu was alright, Xu Chuanchuan still decided to visit in person to ease her mind.

After getting off work, Xu Chuanchuan tidied up her office desk and got ready to visit Murong Mingshu. However, as she didn't bring her wallet with her to work, she had to make a trip back to the dormitory to get it. Unexpectedly, she came across Linda when she opened the door.

Xu Chuanchuan was a little surprised by this situation. Typically, Linda would leave the company building after getting off work, so it was very unusual to see her in the dormitory at this time. After calming herself, Xu Chuanchuan said, "You still haven't left?"

In response, Linda held up the item in her hand and said, "I forgot my charger. I'll be leaving right away."

"Oh."

"Aren't you going to go have dinner?"

"I came back to grab my wallet. I'll go in a moment," Xu Chuanchuan said, smiling.

Nodding, Linda said, "In that case, I'll take my leave first. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

"By the way, Little Xu." Suddenly, Linda turned around and stared at Xu Chuanchuan. Then, she said, "I have a question to ask you."

Even though Linda wore a look of nonchalance on her face, Xu Chuanchuan found herself getting goosebumps when Linda looked at her. Then, while trying to maintain her composure, Xu Chuanchuan asked, "What question?"

Linda fell silent for a moment. Then, she looked toward the coffee table in the living room and said, "Is that YSL lipstick yours? I found it under the coffee table, so I picked it up for you."

Lipstick? Xu Chuanchuan followed Linda's gaze, and sure enough, there was a tube of lipstick placed on the coffee table. Xu Chuanchuan's heart also thumped when she saw that lipstick.

That tube of lipstick belonged to Murong Shi.

On the night before yesterday, Murong Shi had suggested giving Xu Chuanchuan a makeover out of boredom. The lipstick she used at the time was none other than the one currently sitting on the coffee table. At the time, they had started fooling around halfway through the makeover, and their haphazard movements had sent Murong Shi's cosmetic products falling all over the floor. Although they had collected the fallen cosmetic products after they were done fooling around, they had evidently missed one.

Xu Chuanchuan quickly withdrew her gaze from the lipstick. Then, pretending to be calm, she smiled and said, "That's right, I dropped it. I've been looking for it for quite some time now, so thanks."

However, Linda did not respond to Xu Chuanchuan's words of gratitude. Instead, she said, "But I don't recall you ever putting on any makeup before."

Must you be so observant… Xu Chuanchuan had no choice but to continue lying in this situation. "I still put some on in private. It's just that I do it infrequently."

Linda hesitated to continue speaking.

"I'll go look for my wallet now," Xu Chuanchuan gave an excuse to leave.

"Wait," Linda called out to Xu Chuanchuan once more.

"Is there anything else?"

Without giving Xu Chuanchuan any time to mentally prepare herself, Linda frankly asked, "What exactly is your relationship with Miss Murong?"

As soon as Linda finished speaking, Xu Chuanchuan guessed that Linda must've noticed something. While inwardly telling herself to stay calm, Xu Chuanchuan forced herself to smile and said, "A subordinate and her superior. What other relationship can I have with her?"

Linda observed Xu Chuanchuan with a questioning gaze for a long time, so long that Xu Chuanchuan started sweating from her palms. After a few more moments, Linda finally said, "Don't be so nervous. I was just casually asking."

I doubt that. Xu Chuanchuan did not follow up with Linda's words.

"Last question."

Xu Chuanchuan suddenly had the urge to run away.

However, Linda gave Xu Chuanchuan no opportunities to flee as she asked, "You should be going to meet up with Miss Murong afterward, right?"

Xu Chuanchuan felt that this situation was strange. She and Linda rarely ever talked to each other under normal circumstances. Yet, today, Linda had not only taken the initiative to strike up a conversation with her, but the woman was even talking so much. To avoid exposing any crucial information, Xu Chuanchuan chose to purse her lips and stay silent.

Linda didn't mind Xu Chuanchuan's refusal to answer. She also didn't hurry to leave. On the contrary, she even deliberately slowed down her speech as she said, "That day in the printing room… I saw it."

Saw what? Although Xu Chuanchuan wasn't so dumb as to ask what Linda was referring to, she roughly understood what Linda was talking about.

A few days ago, Xu Chuanchuan had many materials she needed to print, so she had stayed cooped up in the printing room for a long time. Partway through the process, Murong Shi happened to walk past the printing room and saw Xu Chuanchuan inside. Afterward, Murong Shi secretly snuck into the room, locked the door behind her, and embraced Xu Chuanchuan from behind.

Given a huge scare, Xu Chuanchuan cried out, "What are you doing?!"

"Shh, be quiet," Murong Shi said with a mischievous smile. "People outside might hear you."

"Then why did you come in?!"

"It's fine. I locked the door," Murong Shi said. Immediately afterward, she began kissing Xu Chuanchuan.

…

At this point, Xu Chuanchuan was certain Linda had already found out about her relationship with Murong Shi. She felt both surprised and embarrassed about this situation.

Breaking the silence, Linda said, "I wasn't peeking on you two on purpose. I had a document I needed Miss Murong to sign at the time, but I couldn't find her in her office, and she didn't bring her phone along, either. So, I checked the surveillance system in her office and accidentally saw it."

Xu Chuanchuan: "..."

"Don't worry, though. I won't tell anyone about it."

Xu Chuanchuan was surprised.

Then, Linda continued rambling on by herself, "I went on leave for three whole months. Yet, not only did Miss Murong not replace me, but she even loaned me money. Although my father eventually succumbed to his illness still, I am still grateful to her nevertheless."

Xu Chuanchuan didn't know the situation's specifics, but looking at Linda's expression, she didn't think the other party was lying.

Meanwhile, now that the cat was out of the bag, there was no longer a reason to continue pretending. After moving her lips a little, Xu Chuanchuan turned her head away in embarrassment and admitted, "She and I… We've been together for close to three months now."

"So that lipstick isn't yours, but Miss Murong's instead," Linda said, hitting the nail on the head.

"Mhm…"

"I never expected this," Linda said, letting out a soft chuckle. Then, after a slight pause, she continued, "I was very conflicted when I found out about this secret. I originally planned to pretend like I saw nothing, but I decided to come clean after carefully thinking about it. This way, you two wouldn't have to continue acting in front of me. It must've been tiring, right?"

"It was quite tiring," Xu Chuanchuan said with a weak smile.

"Rest assured, I'll help you two keep this secret," Linda said, patting Xu Chuanchuan on the shoulders.

Xu Chuanchuan found it incredibly awkward to have someone expose her secret right in her face, and she had no idea how she should respond. So, she simply replied with some words of gratitude.

Then, Linda's furrowed brows relaxed as she said, "Hu— I finally got it out. This matter has been suffocating me for the past few days."

Xu Chuanchuan chuckled with a silly smile.

"Alright, I won't waste any more of your time. Hurry up and go on your date with Miss Murong."

"There's no date today… I'll be visiting her mother at her house," Xu Chuanchuan timidly explained.

Retracting her smile, Linda somberly said, "I would've forgotten about it if you didn't mention it. Unfortunately, I still have some matters to deal with, so I won't be visiting. Help me send my regards."

"Sure."

After Linda took several steps to the front door, she turned back once more and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have this thing with me. Please help me pass it to Miss Murong."

"What is it?"

Linda unzipped her handbag and pulled out a flat, rectangular parcel. Then, she handed it to Xu Chuanchuan and said, "It's a delivery for her. This thing has been sitting at my place for a very long time already. Although the packaging is slightly damaged, the item inside should be intact. I've been so busy today that I completely forgot to hand it over to Miss Murong, so please pass it to her for me."

Murong does online shopping as well? Xu Chuanchuan accepted the parcel. When she saw the courier slip on it, her pupils immediately shrank.

Linda was quick to notice the change in Xu Chuanchuan's expression. Then, anxiously, she asked, "Is there a problem? Did it really get damaged?!"

However, Xu Chuanchuan remained silent and continued staring at the courier slip with widened eyes.

Seeing this, Linda started inspecting the parcel before mumbling to herself, "It doesn't seem damaged."

The item wrapped inside the parcel was indeed intact. In fact, not only was the item intact, but even the words written on the courier slip remained legible.

Meanwhile, written in the sender's section were the words "Xu XX," and written in the address section was the apartment Xu Chuanchuan had previously rented for two years.

Most importantly, written in the recipient's section was a nickname Xu Chuanchuan couldn't be more familiar with—Passerby Shi.

Currently, many questions filled Xu Chuanchuan's mind, with the main ones being: Why would a parcel she sent out end up in Linda's hands?

However, Xu Chuanchuan already had her answer.

Thinking back, Xu Chuanchuan realized that Murong Shi had played her for a fool all this time.