The Fake and Real Heiresses Fell in Love (GL) - Chapter 3

“Wait, wait a minute!”

Zhao Zhilian was startled by the sudden change in the girl’s expression. Seeing the big guy behind her about to come forward, he scrambled backward, collapsing miserably onto his rear.

“I’ll move out! I’ll move out right away! Don’t hit me, please don’t hit me!”

Yao Yanyan adjusted the hem of her skirt and stood up gracefully: “Now that’s being obedient.”

“Remember, go back and move, move out immediately, right now. Don’t let me see you again, or else…”

“Yes, yes, I’ll move when I get back, I’ll move immediately.”

“Good boy.” Yao Yanyan smiled faintly. “Uncle Zheng, ask him how much he owes and give him the money.”

“Yes, Miss.” Uncle Zheng’s expression was serious, his respect for the young lady rising to an unprecedented level.

“What? You’re not renting anymore?” Chen Huishu stood up, frowning. “How can you just decide to stop renting like that?!”

Zhao Zhilian wore a face mask, revealing his eyes, which were swollen purple: “I just won’t rent it. Why all the damn nonsense, you old biddy.”

Chen Huishu was both anxious and angry. They rarely got outsiders in this area. She finally managed to rent out a small room upstairs, and now this man was just quitting!

“Well, I won’t be able to refund your rent!”

“Keep it or don’t, I don’t care.” Zhao Zhilian couldn’t be bothered arguing with the unpleasant woman. He had Chen Huishu fetch the contract, signed it, pushed the door open, and left.

Cheng Xuan heard the commotion and quickly pulled her younger sister into the room, closing the small gap in the door they had been listening through.

But the house had poor soundproofing. Muffled footsteps moved from the door panel to the ceiling, thudding directly overhead, followed by the sound of heavy objects being dragged. Zhao Zhilian had wrapped his belongings in a sheet and dragged them away.

“Sister, that man left?” Cheng Xianshun’s eyes shone brightly, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but turn up.

“Yes,” Cheng Xuan squatted down and patted her sister’s head.

Although Cheng Xianshun was only thirteen this year, she was very sensible. She knew her sister disliked Zhao Zhilian, and now that he was gone, she was happy: “He finally left.”

Cheng Xuan was about to speak when she heard a knock on the door.

The sisters exchanged a look. Cheng Xuan stood up and opened the door.

Chen Huishu stood in the doorway, complaining: “What’s going on, keeping the door shut.”

Cheng Xuan didn’t say anything, just looked at her.

Chen Huishu became inexplicably irritated seeing her: “Stop spending all day in your room when you have nothing to do! There are so many chores around the house! If you keep being so unobservant, what will happen when you get married!”

After this long rant, Cheng Xuan still showed no reaction.

Only her phoenix-like eyes were cold, staring at her like sharp knives.

Chen Huishu was unhappy but couldn’t find anything else to say. She pointed upstairs: “You go upstairs and clean up! Get it spotless!”

Cheng Xuan didn’t even nod. She silently walked past her, grabbed a broom and dustpan, and went upstairs.

The upstairs layout was very similar to the first floor.

There were many rooms, all locked, because the Cheng family was afraid Zhao Zhilian would ruin the house. He only rented one small room on the second floor.

Cheng Xuan opened the door to Zhao Zhilian’s room. The inside looked as if it had just been hit by a tornado. Beer bottles, instant noodle wrappers… were strewn everywhere. Trash piled up across the whole room, leaving almost nowhere to step. Furthermore, there was a terrible odor that grew even stronger in the stuffy room. The smell was overpowering the moment the door was opened.

Cheng Xuan frowned. She stepped over the trash to open the window, but when she tried to pull it down, she found it was broken. The screen also had several cigarette burns.

She checked the room and found the quilt had many cigarette burns, and the electric fan was broken too.

“…Sigh.”

Cheng Xuan pressed her lips together. Wiping a bead of sweat that had formed on her forehead from the heat, she went downstairs, got a large sack, and started filling it with trash.

She cleaned until nightfall.

Cheng Xuan was exhausted from the heat, but she had only managed to throw out half the garbage.

She wiped down the small section of floor she had cleared and sat on the ground to rest.

As night deepened, the stars and moon appeared in the sky. Since the window was broken, watching the night sky was easy.

She gulped down two large mouthfuls of water, preparing to continue cleaning, when she heard laughter from downstairs.

Cheng Shibao was back, and the family was having dinner together.

The joyful laughter was gratingly loud in the quiet room. Cheng Shibao’s tone was excited: “Really?!”

Chen Huishu laughed: “Really!”

“Where are they from?!”

Chen Huishu couldn’t hide her happiness: “Jing City! You wouldn’t believe it, they’re from the big city. They rented the entire second floor! Such rich people, so generous…”

“Hey? Bao’er, where are you going?” Chen Huishu called out.

Cheng Xuan turned around and heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

It was Cheng Shibao.

Cheng Shibao stood at the top of the stairs, gripping the handrail, looking incredibly smug: “Cheng Xuan! Someone from the big city rented our house!”

“You’d better not let them see you! Did you hear me! You’re dirty and smelly! Don’t embarrass our family!”

After speaking, he thudded back down the stairs.

A moment of silence passed downstairs before the sound of laughter resumed.

Cheng Xuan sat still for a long time before slowly turning her head.

Dirty… and smelly?

She grabbed her collar and sniffed it.

It does seem to smell a bit unpleasant.

Cheng Xuan got up very early the next day.

The trash upstairs wasn’t all cleared yet; she had to keep going.

Grabbing the large sack, Cheng Xuan went upstairs.

She hadn’t been cleaning for more than a few minutes when she heard footsteps.

Two strange women were talking as they came up the stairs.

Cheng Xuan was surprised.

Were they the new tenants?

The two women were also startled to see Cheng Xuan. They quickly approached her.

One said: “You don’t need to do this, little sister, you don’t need to. Go on downstairs.”

The other nudged her: “They hired us specifically to clean. You don’t need to do it, little sister.”

Cheng Xuan was ushered downstairs, where she saw Cheng Shibao and his classmate standing in the entryway.

Cheng Shibao pointed upstairs: “See? Those two women are nannies hired by the people from the big city.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” the classmate said, his eyes filled with longing.

“It’s nothing special! They rented our house, specifically!” Cheng Shibao held his head high, looking very proud.

“Shibao, your family is so awesome! Even people from the big city are renting your house!”

“It’s nothing special!” Cheng Shibao insisted.

Cheng Xuan walked past them expressionlessly.

Cheng Shibao raised his voice and called out: “Cheng Xuan!”

“You remember what I said, right? Don’t go near them and embarrass our family!”

Cheng Xuan paused slightly, frowned softly, but said nothing. She opened the door and returned to her room.

After taking a quick nap, Cheng Xuan got up and took Cheng Shibao to his tutoring class.

Perhaps because the new tenants had arrived and Cheng Shibao wanted to show off to his classmates, he kept urging Cheng Xuan to ride faster—the tutoring class he usually hated going to. When they arrived, he jumped off the bike, grabbed his backpack, and ran into the classroom.

Only after watching him go inside did Cheng Xuan turn her bicycle around.

It was the hottest part of the afternoon. Cheng Xuan was soaked in sweat from the ride. In the distance, she saw a white moving truck parked outside her house.

Several men stood by the truck, moving heavy pieces of furniture one after another.

Even from afar, Cheng Xuan’s chest rose and fell slightly, and sweat dripped from her scalp to her jaw.

She saw it.

Almost every large piece of furniture being carried down was pink.

Inopportunely, Cheng Xuan recalled the pink sports car she had seen not long ago.

The fleeting thought was quickly dismissed.

Impossible.

People who drive that kind of luxury car would have no interest in coming to the countryside like them, let alone renting a house.

Cheng Xuan rode her bike over. Chen Huishu was standing uncomfortably by the door.

Her face was stiff, showing none of her usual sharp temper. Everything about her screamed caution. Seeing Cheng Xuan return, she even offered a greeting.

“You’re back.”

Cheng Xuan: “…”

Cheng Xuan felt a chill. She parked her bike and was about to go inside.

Chen Huishu quickly grabbed her arm: “You child, quick! Go help the uncles unload the stuff.”

The moving crew standing by the truck quickly refused: “No need, no need, ma’am. That’s our job.”

Chen Huishu gave a forced smile, not understanding at all. People in their village hired relatives to help them move, so she thought the moving crew were the new tenant’s relatives and was eager to cozy up to them: “This child of mine is capable. Just let her lend you a hand.”

The workers couldn’t refuse any longer and were at a loss. They said to Cheng Xuan: “Then, little sister, can you help us assemble that stool? You can’t do the heavy lifting.”

Cheng Xuan nodded silently, squatted in a corner by the door, and began to assemble the computer chair.

Chen Huishu looked down, saw that there were blueprints, and panicked: “Don’t let her do that! She’s just a girl, and she’s already clumsy! She should be doing hard labor that doesn’t require thinking!”

The leading worker, who had a daughter himself, was taken aback by someone speaking about their child like that. He immediately grew displeased: “Why don’t you just go back inside, ma’am? We have everything under control, and we don’t need you here.”

Chen Huishu looked annoyed but didn’t dare say anything, so she reluctantly went back to her room.

Cheng Xuan watched her close the door, then returned to studying her blueprints.

The leading worker went upstairs with a sofa. When he came back down, he saw that Cheng Xuan had already nearly finished assembling the computer chair.

“Amazing,” the leading worker said, raising an eyebrow and giving genuine praise.

Cheng Xuan nodded to him and continued with her assembly.

A moment later, a shadow fell over her again.

Cheng Xuan thought the leading worker had come back down and didn’t look up.

She was just about done.

After tightening the last screw, Cheng Xuan heard a slightly delicate female voice above her head.

“Not bad, huh.”

Cheng Xuan froze and looked up.

A girl in a white dress was standing in the mid-summer heat, wearing a straw hat adorned with two small goose-yellow flowers on the brim.

She squatted down, took off her hat, revealing a dazzlingly fair and beautiful face. Her peach blossom eyes were curved in a smile as she looked at Cheng Xuan.

She smoothed her slightly messy hair, then handed the hat over and placed it on Cheng Xuan’s head.

Cheng Xuan was completely caught off guard and immediately smelled the perfume coming from her.

It wasn’t unpleasant or heavy—it was light, yet carried a sweet scent.

Cheng Xuan looked up and met her honey-colored eyes. Those clean pupils, lighter than a normal person’s, clearly reflected her current disheveled appearance.

“Thank you,”

Cheng Xuan heard the other person say.