The time was nearing 8 p.m. Night had already fallen. The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and the sound of rain tapping against the windows filled the room.
Su Yun awoke naturally.
“Ugh…” she groaned groggily, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings.
The gentle sound of water, the softness of the blanket...
Soft...
She shifted her back slightly, brushing against something.
Flattened…
“!? Wait, no—!”
Her mind instantly snapped awake. Without hesitation, she scrambled to crawl out of bed.
The girl behind her was still deep in sleep, and the hand wrapped around her waist had already loosened, making it easy for Su Yun to slip out.
Kneeling by the bedside, her gaze landed on a sight so clear it took her breath away.
Qin Xue lay defenseless before her.
In the dim room, on this rainy evening, the campus belle of a prestigious university slept on the bed of an “opposite sex” without a care, revealing the most beautiful version of herself.
This time, Su Yun didn’t run away.
Instead, she knelt quietly beside her, staring dazedly at Qin Xue’s cold yet elegant face.
She recalled the words Qin Xin had said to her that afternoon.
Qin Xue wasn’t as strong as she looked. Deep down, she was just a girl in need of care.
That—Su Yun was confident she could do.
If Qin Xue would allow it, she was willing to stay by her side forever.
As for being husband or wife… she didn’t really care about that.
She only wanted someone to favor her, to stay with her.
Qin Xin had said that being together for twenty years, it was only natural to fall in love with another girl...
Thinking that, Su Yun suddenly felt like a dozen cats were crawling all over her body—itchy and squirming.
“Sister Xue… Sister Xue…”
Finally, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
She felt like if she didn’t say it now, her little heart would explode.
“Sister Xue, I like you.”
“Can we… date?”
She mustered all her courage and confessed to the person lying before her.
In the darkness, she shut her eyes tightly, as though awaiting an answer.
…
But sadly, in this small room, only Su Yun was awake.
She opened her eyes again and looked at the gently rising and falling figure in front of her, disappointment flashing in her heart.
Still, her feelings remained sincere and burning.
“I know my family isn’t wealthy… my grades aren’t good either… I’m not worthy of you. But please believe me—I’ll work hard.”
“I’ll study hard until I become number one in school. I’ll find a good job and make enough money so you can live comfortably.”
“Even if we can’t afford a villa… no, I’ll work twenty-three hours a day! Maybe then we can.”
Her mouth was getting dry. She paused for a second.
“I’ll also try to get your family to accept me. That way, you can reunite with them.”
“So… will you say yes?”
“Haah…”
With that final plea, Su Yun collapsed backward, limp against the side of the bed.
She’d said it!
Even if Sister Xue hadn’t heard, she felt so much better.
This had been weighing on her so heavily lately that she couldn’t even concentrate on her studies.
Qin Xue was the first person to ever step into her world.
She was like a beam of sunlight piercing through the darkness—Su Yun didn’t want to return to that dark place again.
So comfortable...
Time to get up and cook something for Sister Xue~
Su Yun jumped to her feet and skipped happily to the door.
“Hm? Xiaoyun, what are you doing?”
Just as she was about to sneak out with glee, a soft, sweet voice rang out from behind.
“Ah!” Su Yun nearly leapt out of her skin in fright.
She turned around slowly, like a thief caught in the act.
Qin Xue was still lying in bed, not yet up. If there was any change, it was that the bundle in her arms had been replaced by a lump of blanket.
“What the heck… mumbling in your sleep scared the cat to death…”
In the end, Su Yun tiptoed out the door.
…
That night, Su Yun cooked two dishes for Qin Xue—stir-fried eggs with carrots and stir-fried eggplant with pork.
They were just ordinary home-style dishes, but Qin Xue didn’t complain at all. She ate happily and even complimented Su Yun multiple times.
Afterwards, Su Yun made a plan for herself: in addition to studying, she would also start watching cooking videos to improve her skills.
Since there wasn’t much time left in the evening, she washed the dishes and went straight to the table to study.
“Xiaoyun, did you say something earlier while I was sleeping?”
“You heard… what?” Su Yun had barely begun reviewing when Qin Xue, sitting beside her, asked.
Her pupils dilated, and her feet—which didn’t quite touch the ground—began to tremble slightly.
“Mm… I didn’t hear clearly. I wasn’t fully awake yet. Do you remember what you said?”
“Nope! Don’t remember! That’s good…”
“Hm?” Qin Xue raised a brow.
“Xiaoyun, did you say something scandalous?”
“N-no! I was just talking to myself… it’s kind of embarrassing… I didn’t want you to hear…”
Su Yun shook her head in a panic, trying to explain. Her flustered look made her seem especially cute in Qin Xue’s eyes.
“Oh, talking to yourself~ Xiaoyun’s still just a child, like my little sister.”
“I’m not!!”
“Hehe.”
Qin Xue smirked at the girl’s evasive gaze.
“Xiaoyun, look—you’re the same age as my sister, same height, and even here, you’re about the same~”
She lifted a finger and gently poked Su Yun’s chest.
“Ahh!”
“You, you—!”
Su Yun looked up, eyes filled with a mix of rage, shyness, and helplessness.
Qin Xue, seeing that she had successfully teased her, smiled triumphantly. Her face even flushed slightly, making her look all the more alluring—leaving Su Yun too flustered to stay angry.
“What~ Did I do something wrong?”
“If you’re mad, you can hit me with your little fists. My sister does that all the time. But Xiaoyun seems really strong, huh? I’m kind of scared you’ll suddenly pounce on me. After all, I’m just a weak little lady~”
As she said that, Qin Xue made a circle in the air with one hand, then poked at it with the other in a rapid motion.
“…”
Su Yun said nothing, her ears flushed bright red from the teasing.
She’d thought boys were already perverted enough—but girls… were worse!
“Sister Xue, just study properly, okay? Don’t talk anymore. If you really don’t want to study, then go video call your sister or something,” Su Yun muttered under her breath.
“Oh~ I’ll call her later. For now, let’s study. After all, I need to pass all my exams if I want Xiaoyun to play with me~”
“…?”
Su Yun felt a question mark pop above her head but chose not to respond.
She was scared Qin Xue might say something else so embarrassing she couldn’t even keep her legs together again.
She didn’t want to go through a fourth time. That stuff wasn’t helping her studies at all—and every time it ended, her legs would tremble like jelly.
…
Later that night, they studied seriously together and even video-called Qin Yuanyuan. The three of them seemed very close.
Before going to sleep, Su Yun even received a study invitation on WeChat—from a certain perverted sister-obsessed girl.
…
Meanwhile, the time rewound to 7 p.m.
“Young Miss, you don’t have to go to the kitchen. We can cook for Second Miss.”
“No, I’ll do it. You all go eat.”
In the elegantly decorated villa, Qin Yao was wearing a pink apron.
She awkwardly wielded the spatula in her hand.
In her spare time, she had been learning how to cook—but her previous attempts had all ended in disaster.
This time, though, she had a good feeling. She might finally cook something edible.
“Ow! Hot!”
In the middle of cooking, the hot oil splattered onto her hand. A red welt immediately appeared on her pale skin.
Her instinct was to retreat, but she gritted her teeth and pushed forward.
“Young Miss, let me take over.”
“No! It’s almost done. Xuanxuan, go wake up Qin Xue.”
“…Okay.”
Qin Yao waved the maid away.
And so, after forty minutes of effort, she finally finished a dish.
Miraculously, it actually looked edible.
For the first time ever.
“I did it… it worked this time.” Qin Yao smiled with satisfaction.
She carried the dish from the kitchen to the dining room herself, like a maid.
Not long after, Qin Yuanyuan came out of her room.
“Yuanyuan, go ask your sister to come eat. She’s sitting over there.”
Qin Yao, with a hint of scheming, pointed to the seat closest to the dish she made.
She wanted to see Qin Xue eat more.
“Sister Xue just woke up. I’ll bring the food to her instead.”
“…Okay.”
Her words made Qin Yao’s heart sink slightly, despite her earlier joy.
—So she wouldn’t see her eat…
“Here, Yuanyuan, this dish has carrots. It’s good for your sister’s anemia.”
Qin Yao handed over the plate she had worked so hard on.
“Mm.”
Once Qin Yuanyuan had carried the dish into the room, Qin Yao finally relaxed.
She hoped Qin Xue would at least find it edible. After all, she really wasn’t born with a talent for cooking. Most of her past attempts had ended up completely burnt.
After that, Qin Yao didn’t keep the maids by her side. She let them all go eat.
And so, beside the huge round dining table, only Qin Yao remained.
She glanced at her now-reddened hand, then quietly lowered her head to eat alone.
(End of Chapter)