The Fake and Real Heiresses Fell in Love (GL) - Chapter 8
It wasn’t until someone inside called out, “Oh, isn’t that your eldest girl?” that Chen Huishu snapped out of it.
Amused by her own strange thoughts, Chen Huishu watched them approach and shouted through the rain curtain: “Cheng Xuan!”
The two under the umbrella stopped. Yao Yanyan frowned, glancing quickly at the shop’s entrance, feeling a headache coming on.
She looked at Cheng Xuan. The other girl was looking at her, too. After a moment, Cheng Xuan spoke: “I’ll go for a moment. You go back first, Sister.”
The use of “Sister” made Yao Yanyan pause. She wanted to say something, but saw that this foolish girl, Cheng Xuan, had already bolted from under the umbrella, running swiftly into the rain.
She didn’t even let her walk her over.
Yao Yanyan honestly didn’t know what to say.
Chen Huishu watched Cheng Xuan run out from the shelter of the umbrella into the rain, completely drenched and miserable. She felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
Cheng Xuan walked into the shop, dripping wet and leaving footprints all over the floor. Chen Huishu frowned, worried the shop owner would be displeased: “Alright, just stand by the door!”
Hearing this, Cheng Xuan stood by the door and didn’t move.
The shop was filthy, like a tightly sealed alchemist’s furnace. Sweat and smoke odors mixed in the dark little room. A large round table, surrounded by people, occupied the open space. The clatter of Mahjong tiles almost drowned out the sound of the rain outside.
Chen Huishu’s accusations came pouring down: “What are you doing out here?”
“Where’s your brother? Not home?”
Cheng Xuan didn’t speak, keeping her head bowed very low.
She had always struggled to understand why people got angry, knowing that in situations like this, whatever she answered would likely be wrong.
Of course, not answering was also wrong.
Chen Huishu glared, finding Cheng Xuan’s sullenness irritating: “Don’t you have a mouth? Are you mute?”
Chen Huishu yelled at her: “Speak up, why don’t you!”
The rain grew heavier, but it barely muffled the noise of the Mahjong game inside.
Cheng Xuan’s hands hung down. She lowered her gaze and said submissively: “He’s home.”
Chen Huishu didn’t hear clearly: “What!?”
Cheng Xuan: “He’s at home.”
Chen Huishu heard it this time: “At home! And at home, you don’t know to stay and look after your brother?”
“And you went out to play! Who ever heard of a sister like you…!”
The scolding suddenly cut off. Cheng Xuan looked up. Before she could figure out what was happening, she smelled a familiar, faintly sweet perfume near her.
Instantly, it overpowered the stinging smell of cheap smoke in the room.
Her hand was taken. The person smoothed out her palm, tracing the deep nail marks left by her tightly clenched fist.
“Does it hurt?” Yao Yanyan asked her.
Cheng Xuan turned her head to look at her.
Yao Yanyan stood right beside her. The overcast day made her skin look extremely pale, almost unreal. At this moment, she was smiling at Cheng Xuan, her eyes curved.
Cheng Xuan’s eyes glazed over slightly. She was about to reply, but the other girl had already turned away.
Yao Yanyan let out a large breath. All the gentleness and friendliness she reserved for Cheng Xuan vanished. She looked impatient and haughty, viewing Chen Huishu as annoying garbage: “What law says a sister must look after her brother?”
Confronted by her, Chen Huishu immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, but she wouldn’t admit defeat verbally: “That… that’s none of your business! That’s what she should be doing as an older sister! I provide her with clothes and food, shouldn’t she be good to her brother…?”
“Then what are you doing?” Yao Yanyan was almost provoked into laughter. She held Cheng Xuan’s hand tightly and stepped in front of her. “Is your job as a mother to come out and play Mahjong? You gave birth to the child, not Cheng Xuan. And you’re acting so self-righteous?”
Chen Huishu was angry but didn’t dare to explode: “Mind your own business.”
Yao Yanyan almost rolled her eyes: “Cheng Xuan is my friend. I took her out. I’m rich and bored. You’re asking me what business it is of mine?”
Chen Huishu glanced at Cheng Xuan. Standing behind the young lady, Cheng Xuan looked dark and menacing. She couldn’t see what the young lady found appealing about her: “Why would you befriend someone so unwelcome…”
Yao Yanyan frowned, tightening her grip on Cheng Xuan’s hand behind her: “Unwelcome? I like her very much!”
This shut Chen Huishu up completely.
She desperately didn’t want to upset the young lady. If the tenant moved out, Chen Huishu would regret it deeply, but she didn’t want to lose face either. She said with a sneer: “You two can go wherever you want. I’ll just go home earlier, alright?”
With that, Chen Huishu returned to her seat to continue playing Mahjong.
Yao Yanyan didn’t bother arguing with her. Seeing that she had backed down, she snorted, took Cheng Xuan’s hand, and walked out, opening the umbrella.
The rain had lessened at some point. Yao Yanyan held her hand and walked a short distance. Her anger gradually faded, and remembering that Cheng Xuan disliked physical contact, she belatedly let go of her hand.
“I forgot you don’t like being touched,” Yao Yanyan said. “I’m sorry.”
Cheng Xuan stood behind her, completely drenched. Hearing this, her dark, deep pupils looked slightly bewildered: “…What?”
Yao Yanyan wasn’t good at apologizing. The number of times she’d apologized today was almost equivalent to her yearly total, and all to the same person.
She spoke awkwardly: “I said, I forgot you don’t like me touching you, and I held your hand… I’m sorry.”
The moment she said this, Cheng Xuan seemed to completely short-circuit.
“I don’t,” she said. She had never once disliked Yao Yanyan’s touch.
Yao Yanyan frowned, feeling a little wronged herself: “Then why were you standing so far away from me? I asked you to come closer, and you wouldn’t.”
Hearing her words, Cheng Xuan pressed her lips together, as if she found it hard to speak.
Yao Yanyan didn’t want to hurt her pride: “It’s fine. Don’t force yourself. Let’s go back…”
“I don’t,” Cheng Xuan finally spoke. “I…”
Cheng Xuan frowned slightly, grabbing the fabric at her chest with one hand: “I was afraid I smelled.”
Yao Yanyan froze: “What?”
Cheng Xuan: “My family is large, and there isn’t enough hot water. I can’t get a turn, so I don’t shower every day.”
This unexpected answer truly stunned Yao Yanyan. When she finally processed it, her heart was filled with mixed feelings. She could hardly tell if she felt more pity for Cheng Xuan or for herself.
Yao Yanyan looked at her: “Was it just because of that?”
Cheng Xuan nodded: “Yes.”
Yao Yanyan was almost speechless: “…Let’s just go back now.”
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the way.
The umbrella had long been closed midway. The young lady held the black umbrella in her hand, which made her fingers and wrist look exceptionally pale, contrasting sharply with the darker skin of the village people.
Cheng Xuan glanced at it from behind, then lowered her head again.
She was inarticulate. Although she felt the current situation was wrong, despite clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides several times, she couldn’t force out another word.
It wasn’t until Yao Yanyan stopped walking ahead and muttered, “Who’s that?” that Cheng Xuan looked up.
A short girl with a high ponytail was standing at the Cheng family’s door.
She seemed a little nervous. Her face, dusted with small freckles, was unsmiling. Hearing Yao Yanyan’s murmur, she looked up, paused for a few seconds, and then burst with joy: “Miss!”
The moment Yao Yanyan heard the title “Miss,” her first instinct was to turn and leave, but the person had already run up to them: “Miss, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Yao Yanyan had no choice but to face her: “You are?”
The young girl held her hands clenched at her chest. She was half a head shorter than Yao Yanyan, and her un-pale skin made her smile particularly endearing: “My name is Hong Xiaonuan. Uncle Zheng sent me.”
Yao Yanyan remembered. It seemed there was such an arrangement last night: “Oh! It’s you.”
She felt a little awkward. She hadn’t come to Fengkang Town for a vacation that required a tour guide, but Hong Xiaonuan had a pleasant appearance, and she couldn’t bring herself to refuse: “Well, then…”
She thought for a moment: “Do you have QQ or WeChat?”
Hong Xiaonuan took out her phone: “Yes, I do.”
Yao Yanyan: “Then let’s exchange contact information.”
Hong Xiaonuan smiled brightly: “Sure thing!”
As the two scanned codes, Cheng Xuan, who was behind Yao Yanyan, drifted silently toward the door like a ghost. Yao Yanyan spotted her out of the corner of her eye and called out: “Don’t go yet.”
Cheng Xuan stopped. Hong Xiaonuan looked up and saw Cheng Xuan’s face: “Oh?!”
Seeing this, Yao Yanyan raised an eyebrow: “What, you know each other?”
Hong Xiaonuan nodded: “…Yes.”
“We’re in the same grade, but she probably doesn’t know me.”
Hong Xiaonuan’s gaze fell on Cheng Xuan. Cheng Xuan glanced at her dismissively: “Mhm.”
Hong Xiaonuan, already expecting this, shrugged and smiled at Yao Yanyan.
After they finished adding each other on WeChat, Hong Xiaonuan left.
Cheng Xuan turned to go inside. Yao Yanyan followed her, clearly sensing her low mood.
“What’s wrong?” Yao Yanyan asked her.
Cheng Xuan replied curtly: “Nothing.”
Yao Yanyan grabbed her slender wrist from behind: “Why are you walking so fast?”
Cheng Xuan turned back, a frown on her face, looking at this incredibly willful young lady.
The other girl stared right back at her, their gazes unwavering.
“Come upstairs with me, Cheng Xuan,” Yao Yanyan said in a spoiled tone, giving Cheng Xuan’s wrist a light tug. “Upstairs to take a shower.”
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