Chapter Nine: Diuresis!

Chen Xiaoxue and Lin Wanxi were colleagues, working together in the same office. Their striking beauty and refined demeanor earned them the nickname "the two golden flowers" among the students. Eventually, even some teachers adopted the moniker, often teasing them about it.

Despite both being attractive, their approaches to life were polar opposites. Chen Xiaoxue was warm and enthusiastic, blending easily with everyone. Lin Wanxi, on the other hand, was aloof and reserved, rarely speaking to the others in the office.

Logically, Chen Xiaoxue should have been the more popular one. Yet, reality proved otherwise.

Although everyone seemed close to Chen Xiaoxue, they kept their guard up around her. Her exuberance felt excessive, giving the impression of someone with complex motives.

Lin Wanxi, though seldom speaking, never gossiped about others behind their backs, which made people feel safe around her.

Thus, the icy Lin Wanxi ended up more welcomed and admired than Chen Xiaoxue. Many male colleagues had been rebuffed by her, yet even a rare response from Lin Wanxi was enough to make them boast for half a day.

This situation infuriated Chen Xiaoxue and left her with an unresolved knot in her heart.

Her second grievance was the man in the dress shirt seated beside her.

His name was Wang Hao, CEO of a medical equipment company. With connections in the health bureau, he made a fortune selling medical devices.

While collaborating with Beijing University Hospital, Wang Hao met the dazzling, ice-cold Lin Wanxi and began a feverish pursuit.

Flowers—thrown out. Jewelry—returned unopened. A car—she brought her own champagne BMW the next day, leaving the Beetle he gifted her abandoned at the administration building, never sparing it a glance.

After six months, Wang Hao finally gave up. In the process, he ended up entangled with Chen Xiaoxue, Lin Wanxi’s colleague.

At least the Beetle didn't go to waste; it was handed over to Chen Xiaoxue.

A woman's instinct to compare is fierce: beauty, brand of clothing, bust size, carat of diamond rings, men, their status and wealth—

By all these measures, Chen Xiaoxue felt utterly defeated.

She tried her utmost to please, but gained no favor among colleagues. Her man only chose her after being rejected by Lin Wanxi. The car she drove—a constant reminder, every time she saw the Beetle, she was tempted to smash it to pieces.

When that beige Beetle was parked under the administration building, it caused quite a stir among the teachers. Everyone knew it was originally meant for Lin Wanxi.

Now, she couldn't bring herself to drive it to work.

For all these reasons, she really had no reason to like Lin Wanxi. Every encounter was tinged with inexplicable hostility.

She had tried to vent her frustration before, but whenever she jeered or mocked, Lin Wanxi acted as though she hadn’t heard, making her efforts feel like punches landing on cotton—hollow and unsatisfying.

Today, upon meeting her again, Chen Xiaoxue finally couldn’t hold back and launched another attack.

Lin Wanxi turned to face Chen Xiaoxue, her words sharp as blades: "What does my business have to do with you?"

"It has nothing to do with me. I’m just saying, what concern is it of yours? If you have the nerve to seduce students, why pretend to be some saint?" Chen Xiaoxue sneered.

Lin Wanxi’s response delighted her; her body trembled with excitement, eager for a showdown.

"Besides spreading rumors and causing trouble, what else can you do?" Lin Wanxi looked at Chen Xiaoxue, her gaze tinged with pity.

Not speaking did not mean she was oblivious.

She was reluctant to give up what she had, yet mired in the very things she couldn’t abandon. She knew the man was hers only after Lin Wanxi’s rejection, and others would see her as a mere substitute. Still, she couldn’t let go of the material comforts he provided—

A pitiable woman!

"Spreading rumors? Is this a rumor?" Chen Xiaoxue pointed at Qin Luo, smirking. "The two of you, cuddling and holding each other, we all saw it. Are you going to deny it?"

Cuddling? Holding each other?

Qin Luo was astonished. He wouldn’t mind holding Lin Wanxi, even—lying on the ground, letting her have her way with him.

But cooperation was needed for that.

Qin Luo didn’t know who these two were, or their connection with Lin Wanxi. So he remained indifferent, ready to watch how she handled the situation.

It would also help him tailor his treatment for Lin Wanxi’s "man-phobia" in the future.

But this woman dragged him into the fray, which annoyed him greatly.

"Tell me, which eye saw us cuddling?" Qin Luo asked with a smile.

"Both my eyes did. What, are you going to deny it? Which department are you from?" Chen Xiaoxue stared at Qin Luo.

He was handsome, young-looking, dressed in a white Nike tracksuit—no different from the students. She assumed he must be a student.

She knew Lin Wanxi had no brother, nor would she casually go out shopping with a man. Aside from a romantic relationship, what other possibility was there?

"You saw it with both eyes? You must be ill," Qin Luo replied seriously.

If she saw something that never happened, what else could it be but a problem with her eyes?

"You’re the one who’s ill! How can you curse people? Have you no manners?" Chen Xiaoxue, quick to accuse, shrieked.

Her loud voice drew the attention of passersby, who stopped to form a circle around the four of them.

The bigger the audience, the more Chen Xiaoxue felt the urge to perform.

With righteous indignation, she pointed at Qin Luo and Lin Wanxi, shouting, "Teachers nowadays are shameless, hooking up with their students—old cows eating young grass. What kind of morals is that?"

Teacher? Student? Forbidden romance?

The crowd, hearing these buzzwords, became electrified, their gossiping hearts ablaze, eyes sparkling as they pointed and whispered about Lin Wanxi and Qin Luo.

There was a murderous atmosphere!

Qin Luo turned and saw Lin Wanxi’s face pale, on the verge of an outburst.

He moved closer, whispering in her ear, "Don’t get upset. Let me handle this."

Seeing them whispering so intimately, Chen Xiaoxue acted as if she’d uncovered evidence of their affair, announcing to the crowd, "Everyone saw that, right? Proof I wasn’t lying!"

Qin Luo shook his head helplessly, stepped up to Chen Xiaoxue, and whispered something in her ear.

"What are you saying? Don’t get so close. Speak up," Chen Xiaoxue retreated, having not heard a word.

Qin Luo, appearing impatient, shouted, "I said, miss, you wet your pants."

"Ridiculous!" Though she didn’t believe it, Chen Xiaoxue instinctively glanced down at her trousers.

At his words, the others quickly shifted their gaze to her pants.

A shocking scene unfolded—

The white casual trousers Chen Xiaoxue wore suddenly looked as if splashed with water—a large, wet patch spreading rapidly—

It was as though she truly had an accident in public.

"Oh my god! Look—look—she’s still wetting—"

"Ha! How mortifying, urinating in the street—"

"Spectacular! Get it on video! Quick, film it—"

Ah!

Chen Xiaoxue screamed, clutching her bag to cover her pants as she fled toward the restrooms, chased by cheers and jeers from the crowd.

"Did you do this?" Wang Hao glared fiercely at Qin Luo, demanding an explanation.

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about," Qin Luo replied innocently.

"I’ll settle this with you later," Wang Hao spat, striding out of the mall. He wouldn’t even look for his girlfriend—he couldn’t bear the shame.

Lin Wanxi’s beautiful eyes turned to Qin Luo, knowing full well this must be his doing.

She wasn’t a vegetable; how could anyone have such a humiliating accident in public?

"I just happened to touch her bladder meridian," Qin Luo shrugged.

In Chen Xiaoxue’s eyes, Qin Luo was uncivilized, so uncivilized deeds were expected.

So when he approached her, he pressed the Sanjiao Shu point on her waist.

Sanjiao Shu, located below the first lumbar vertebra, 1.5 cun to the side, regulates water pathways in the body.

Qin Luo was well versed in acupuncture points; with his unique technique, making her lose control on the spot wasn’t difficult.

"Vulgar," Lin Wanxi said disdainfully.

"Uh—" Qin Luo was furious, wishing he could pin her down and do unspeakable things a hundred times over.

Not only did she not appreciate his help, she called him vulgar. Wasn’t everything he did for her?

If not for his intervention, who knows how long that shrew would have kept pestering her.

"Thank you," Lin Wanxi suddenly said, with the faintest hint of a smile.

"No need," Qin Luo replied, still annoyed.

He gazed at Lin Wanxi’s face, sensing something had changed—what was it?

Heavens. She was smiling. She could actually smile.

It was a calm, untroubled smile—comfortable, natural, like a hundred flowers blooming at once, breathtakingly beautiful.

"You smiled," Qin Luo pointed out, dumbfounded.

"I know," Lin Wanxi quickly regained her composure.