The Fake and Real Heiresses Fell in Love (GL) - Chapter 5

The person stood in the morning sunlight, wearing a cheongsam-style dress with knotted buttons, her eyes curved in a smile towards Cheng Xuan. Her light-colored pupils looked like two beautiful amber beads.

Cheng Xuan met her gaze for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

She had never been good at communicating with such overly sunny people, and deep down, she didn’t want to get too close to this person.

Yao Yanyan didn’t notice her coolness. Seeing the little chubby boy inside staring at her intently, and watching Cheng Xuan pick up a spoon to feed him, she instantly understood what was going on.

Cheng Shibao pushed the spoon away, jumped off the chair, and ran over to Yao Yanyan. He looked up excitedly: “Big Sis! Are you the tenant upstairs?”

Yao Yanyan tilted her head, her face relatively expressionless: “Yes, why?”

Cheng Shibao’s face flushed with excitement: “Are you moving in today, Big Sis? Can I come up and play?”

“Ha.” Yao Yanyan laughed. Seeing Cheng Xuan set down the spoon and watch, she crouched down to talk to the little chubby boy: “You and I aren’t good friends, so of course not.”

Cheng Shibao looked extremely disappointed, saying helplessly: “Then how can we become good friends?”

Yao Yanyan thought for a moment and smiled: “How old are you this year?”

Cheng Shibao replied: “Ten.”

Yao Yanyan feigned astonishment, drawing out the word: “Oh my goodness.”

“I absolutely don’t want a silly child who is ten years old and still needs his sister to feed him to be my good friend.”

Cheng Shibao was upset and quickly said: “Then I won’t let Cheng Xuan feed me. Can we be friends then?”

Yao Yanyan rested her chin on her hand: “Hmm… Also, someone who has no manners and doesn’t greet their elders can’t be my good friend. I like independent, well-behaved children.”

Cheng Shibao argued: “I do greet people! I greet everyone I see!”

Yao Yanyan was surprised: “No, you don’t.” She turned Cheng Shibao around slightly. “You don’t even call her ‘Sister.’ I don’t like impolite children.”

Cheng Shibao frowned: “But…”

Yao Yanyan’s tone was soft: “What is it?”

Cheng Shibao lowered his head and sighed: “…Nothing.”

Cheng Xuan had watched the whole exchange. Seeing the girl look up and smile at her, she felt uncomfortable and quickly averted her gaze.

It was time to leave. Cheng Xuan pulled Cheng Shibao over and, regardless of whether he ate, quickly shoved two mouthfuls of congee into him: “It’s time to go.”

To Cheng Xuan’s surprise, Cheng Shibao didn’t make a fuss or throw a tantrum. He allowed Cheng Xuan to change his shoes in the entryway. After they left, when Cheng Xuan was halfway through the bike ride, she heard him grudgingly say from behind her: “I’ll eat by myself from now on…”

Cheng Xuan replied with a plain “Mm,” devoid of any emotion.

After dropping off Cheng Shibao, the weather began to heat up. Cheng Xuan rode her bike back home, and the person who had been at the door was gone.

Only a pink suitcase was left resting in the corner of the entryway.

The clean, beautiful suitcase was covered with many cartoon stickers, making it stand out sharply in the cluttered corner of the entryway.

Cheng Xuan’s gaze shifted upstairs. Even though no sound was coming from above, she knew someone was there now.

She stood silently for a moment, then turned and walked back into her room.

Three minutes later, Cheng Xuan was carrying the suitcase upstairs anyway.

The suitcase was quite heavy, but it was nothing to Cheng Xuan. When she was halfway up the stairs, she heard footsteps from above.

Yao Yanyan stood at the top of the stairs. Seeing Cheng Xuan silently carrying her suitcase up, she was completely dumbfounded.

“What are you doing?” Yao Yanyan frowned.

Her tone was sharp. Cheng Xuan’s heart skipped a beat, thinking she didn’t want anyone touching her luggage: “I’m… I’m sorry.”

“What was that?” The apology was whispered so quietly Yao Yanyan didn’t hear it clearly. She quickly ran down the stairs, went to Cheng Xuan’s side, and took the suitcase: “Don’t do this next time.”

Cheng Xuan kept her head down, avoiding eye contact again: “Okay.”

“Just let Uncle Zheng handle this kind of work, I hired people for a reason.” Yao Yanyan strained to lift the other half of the suitcase. “You’re so skinny, carrying such a huge suitcase up the stairs, aren’t you afraid of exhausting yourself to death?”

She complained in a delicate voice. Cheng Xuan was bewildered by her reaction. Seeing the girl struggling with the suitcase, she quickly took hold of her end again.

The two girls worked together to haul the suitcase upstairs. Yao Yanyan hadn’t exercised in years and rarely walked, always traveling by car. Even though Cheng Xuan did most of the heavy lifting, Yao Yanyan was exhausted and collapsed onto the floor without a thought for her image.

“Hoo…” Yao Yanyan panted heavily. She looked up and saw Cheng Xuan standing nervously at the top of the stairs, seemingly covered in a gray filter.

She wiped the fine sweat from the back of her neck, picked up the remote control on the table, and turned on the air conditioner. She walked up to Cheng Xuan, her face full of curiosity.

“What’s wrong?” Yao Yanyan asked her.

Cheng Xuan hung her head. She blinked. Hearing the question, she slightly lifted her head.

The upstairs really has become very beautiful.

This was Cheng Xuan’s first thought as she came up.

The original hardwood floor had been newly covered. Most of the furniture was in light pink tones. Large oil paintings hung on the walls. The tenant seemed to enjoy buying interesting small furnishings; for example, the coat rack was made of carved wood and looked like an excessively beautiful tree standing to the side. Even the small spoons stuck in the watermelon on the coffee table had delicate flowers carved onto the handles.

A light breeze passed through, bringing the gentle chime of a wind chime from the inner room. Cheng Xuan’s eyelashes fluttered, and her thoughts were pulled back. She realized she had been staring blankly at someone else’s house, and her face flushed with shame.

“What’s wrong?” the girl asked her.

Cheng Xuan gently lifted her eyes and saw genuine concern in the girl’s gaze. Only then did she belatedly recall the previous moment.

She wasn’t actually scolding me just now.

Cheng Xuan pursed her lips and shook her head.

The concern in the other girl’s eyes hadn’t faded, but she smiled: “That’s good then.”

Silence slowly spread. Cheng Xuan spoke: “I’m going back.”

“Hey, don’t go.” Yao Yanyan raised her hand to stop her.

“Wait for me a moment.”

With that, Yao Yanyan went into the room.

Cheng Xuan waited outside, tempted several times to just go downstairs, but hearing the rustling sounds from the inner room, she couldn’t bring herself to move.

After a while, Yao Yanyan emerged from the inner room, carrying a pink plastic container.

She smiled: “Pick a few packs to take with you.”

The box was placed on the ground, and Cheng Xuan saw that it was completely filled with snacks.

“No,” Cheng Xuan shook her head, retreating as if to leave.

Yao Yanyan grabbed her hand: “Pick a few. If you’re a good friend, pick a few.”

Cheng Xuan looked distressed. She wasn’t sure how she had suddenly become good friends with her.

“Here.” Yao Yanyan pulled her arm and used her other hand to grab two bags of snacks, stuffing them into Cheng Xuan’s hand.

The similar words and situation reminded Cheng Xuan of the last time, when this very person had presumptuously given her a popsicle.

Cheng Xuan took the snacks. She frowned but stopped moving toward the stairs.

Yao Yanyan glanced at her, and a light bulb went off: “Is it inconvenient to eat downstairs?”

Cheng Xuan looked at her, looking troubled, and nodded slightly.

Yao Yanyan smiled: “Then eat here in my room.”

“But I need to take a shower first, I worked up a sweat just now,” she said, walking toward the inner bathroom. “You sit on the sofa and eat. There’s watermelon on the coffee table, and there’s water and disposable cups at the water dispenser. I’m going to take a shower now.”

Waving her hand behind her, Yao Yanyan entered the bathroom, and the sound of running water quickly started from inside the door.

Cheng Xuan stood still. She looked at the light on in the bathroom. She wanted to leave, but then she frowned and stayed put.

I’ll just eat it. Better to avoid trouble.

She opened a small bag of snacks. Cheng Xuan stood by the top of the stairs and finished the entire bag.

When Yao Yanyan came out of the bathroom, no one was outside.

A clean, empty snack wrapper was placed neatly on the floor, like a silent thanks from a traveler who had stopped for a meal.

The trash can in Yao Yanyan’s room must have been placed discreetly, as Cheng Xuan hadn’t seen it and had simply left the wrapper there.

Yao Yanyan couldn’t help but smile. She picked up the wrapper and threw it into the trash can behind the wardrobe.

Cheng Shibao was still listless when he came home that evening.

Chen Huishu took his backpack. The mother and son had a big fight last night but had clearly put their differences aside today: “Bao’er, you’re back.”

Cheng Shibao replied with a dull “Mm.”

Chen Huishu didn’t notice Cheng Shibao’s mood: “Go inside and eat.”

Cheng Shibao: “Mm.”

Cheng Xianshun loudly slurped the dough drop soup in front of her. Seeing her brother return, she offered a cautious, fawning smile.

Cheng Shibao didn’t even bother looking at her. He sat glumly amidst the array of meat dishes.

Chen Huishu put some food on his plate, but he didn’t eat. Chen Huishu worried: “Bao’er, why aren’t you eating?”

Cheng Shibao was sulky and sat silently at the table.

Chen Huishu suddenly remembered something and smiled: “Are you still angry? Mommy will call her over.”

Before Cheng Shibao could understand, Chen Huishu turned her back and shouted: “Cheng Xuan! Come out! Feed your brother!”

Soon, Cheng Xuan came out.

“Why do you stay cooped up in your room all day?” Chen Huishu complained. “Your brother is back, and you don’t even come out to greet him. Do you even care about your brother?”

Cheng Xuan said nothing. She moved a stool and sat down beside Cheng Shibao, picking up the spoon to feed him.

“Such a silent blockhead. Watching you is really irritating.”

Chen Huishu continued to criticize: “Old Zhang’s daughter, she didn’t go to school this year, she went straight to the factory and earns over three thousand a month! What about you? You stay in your room all day long…”

Cheng Xuan’s knuckles turned white on the spoon handle. She pursed her lips, scooped up a spoonful of egg custard, blew on it, and offered it to Cheng Shibao.

“Over three thousand a month? That’s quite impressive.” A sarcastic voice cut through the suffocating atmosphere. Cheng Xuan flinched slightly, and the egg custard slid off the spoon and dropped onto the floor.

Fortunately, Chen Huishu didn’t see it. She was staring at the doorway, her face turning ugly.

Cheng Xuan flinched. Following Chen Huishu’s gaze, she saw Yao Yanyan standing at the door.

She was wearing a pink nightgown, revealing her smooth calves and pale, slender arms. Her long black hair was loose behind her. She looked delicate and fragile, yet no one dared to openly object to what she said.

“Hmph.” Yao Yanyan glanced away.

Seemingly too lazy to confront Chen Huishu, Yao Yanyan shifted her attention to Cheng Xuan: “Have you eaten yet?”

Almost instinctively, Cheng Xuan honestly shook her head.

Yao Yanyan smiled: “Then come upstairs with me.”

“Keep me company while I eat, okay?”