The temperature by the lake was lower than the general temperature. Even though Song Qingchun was wearing a coat, she still shivered from the cold after standing there for quite some time. She was ready to head back indoors when she saw a shadow coming her way through the bamboo patch. She stopped moving instantly.
The make-up Tang Nuan had on that night was a bit heavy, so she looked a bit different from usual. Her face was red from alcohol, and she faltered as she walked on the path of stone pebbles. Although that might have to do with the fact she was wearing thin heeled stilettos as well.
"Why are you hiding here alone?" Tang Nuan stopped before Song Qingchun. She wrapped her winter coat closer to her body and gave Song Qingchun a side-eye. After a short silence, she knew Song Qingchun had no intention to speak, so she continued. "I know, you came here alone to hide and cry, didn't you?"
Even though, if she really put her mind to it, she might not lose to Tang Nuan in a verbal contest, the weather was seriously too cold. She had been standing there in the open for quite some time, so she could not stand the cold anymore, and she really did not want to indulge Tang Nuan's dumb behavior, so Song Qingchun chose to ignore Tang Nuan and walked past the woman who blocked her way.
"Song Qingchun, let me remind you this, I still do not like Qin Yinan, but I will continue to play with him, and this is entirely your fault for liking him…" Tang Nuan purposely lowered her voice, and her colored lips curved into a wicked smile as she continued. "…Your fault entirely for making me hate you. How does it feel to see my slave, Qin Yinan, do everything within his power to please me again after three years? It must feel good, right?"To be honest, Song Qingchun had heard plenty of provocations like this over the past few years. Even she herself had gotten used to it; the initial pain and anger, she realized, was no longer there.
Her steps that headed toward the bamboo patch did not even stop.
"Then again, watching the man that you've loved for so many years working hard to please the woman that you hate the most must have been the worst torment there is…" Tang Nuan continued with her monologue, but when she continued into the next sentence, her expression turned colder, and her words had lost the earlier vexed tone, in its place was a concentrated hatred. "As long as I, Tang Nuan, am still around, Song Qingchun, you will never have the chance to be together with Qin Yinan…"
Song Qingchun suddenly stopped moving. She sighed, facing away from Tang Nuan, and slowly turned around. Staring at the other woman, she opened her lips slowly. "Tang Nuan, aren't you tired, doing this day after day?"
Tang Nuan raised her brows but did not answer.
"Honestly, even if you aren't tired, I am."
Tang Nuan laughed like she had heard a joke. "Song Qingchun, are you seriously trying to find a truce with me, or is this one of your fake kindness tactics?""Will you believe me if I tell you, you are overthinking this?" Song Qingchun asked softly.
"I won't," Tang Nuan answered without hesitation. "Song Qingchun, don't you worry, I will never have a truce with you for as long as I have breath in me because I will never forget how Su…"
Tang Nuan caught herself mid-sentence. She suddenly stopped talking, as if she had almost blurted out a secret that was not meant for Song Qingchun's ears. She glared at Song Qingchun and finally hissed through gritted teeth, "In any case, as long as I, Tang Nuan, am still alive, we will always be enemies, Song Qingchun!"
In comparison to Tang Nuan's anger, Song Qingchun's expression was exceptionally calm. Even the words that came out of her mouth were as still as water, with no conspicuous emotions.
