Chapter 50
But in the beginning, she didn’t truly reject Zhong Zinuan’s approach. It was mainly out of curiosity, wanting to see just how fiercely the two sisters, Zhong Zinuan and Zhong Ning, would end up competing with each other.
Zhong Zinuan looked like someone full of schemes, while Zhong Ning was clearly capable of stirring up trouble. Life was bound to be exciting.
Her guess had indeed been correct. The Zhong family was in constant chaos, never finding peace. However, she had ended up drawing trouble to herself—Zhong Zinuan had actually confessed to her.
They were not only both omegas, but also blood-related sisters! What on earth was this person thinking?
Of course, Xie Shiqing had rejected her outright and cut off all private contact. After all, she had only wanted to watch the drama unfold.
But Zhong Zinuan was like a lit fuse, an unstoppable flood. She relentlessly pursued her, cornering her at every turn.
After her car accident, though, Zhong Zinuan had suddenly quieted down. At the time, Xie Shiqing had been consumed by the grief of losing her mother and going blind, unwilling to spare the energy to figure out why Zhong Zinuan had given up so suddenly.
She had thought that after Zhong Zinuan got together with Le Xi, she would probably never bring up the matter again, having abandoned those ridiculous thoughts. Yet, to her surprise, the girl was still obsessing over it, as if mad.
Xie Shiqing bit her lower lip, her voice bitter like wine. "After the car accident, Zhong Zinuan came to see me. She said she was feeling very upset too. Because of our past relationship, I said a few words to comfort her."
In truth, she had been secretly gloating.
"But I never imagined she would have such thoughts."
She shivered slightly. "She came to find me, saying she had something of yours to deliver to me. I believed her. But the moment she opened her mouth, she said she liked me and even wanted to... I refused, but she forced a hug on me. That was in the stairwell—no one around, and I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t even dare struggle too hard, afraid something might happen."
"If you hadn’t come looking for me, I can’t imagine what could have happened."
Zhong Ning was shocked. "How could she do that!"
"Were you hurt? She didn’t do anything else, did she?"
Xie Shiqing slowly drew a faint smile in her heart but outwardly still looked very fragile. She shook her head and said, "Nothing else, just scared me badly."
"If I had known she was capable of something like this, I would never have agreed to meet her alone."
"It’s not your fault." Zhong Ning was distressed. How was this any different from sexual harassment! Zhong Zinuan usually seemed so gentle and kind, but turned out to be someone like this. Truly, you can never know a person’s heart.
She had originally thought that she and her own older sister were quite alike, and had a very good impression of her.
But now it seemed that Zhong Zinuan couldn’t even hold a candle to her real sister! That girl was just a hypocritical petty person!
"Don’t blame yourself. When something dangerous happens, isn’t it clearly the fault of the person with bad intentions?"
All the anger in her chest turned into pity the moment she saw Xie Shiqing’s condition. She opened her arms and pulled her into a hug, gently patting her back. "If only I had come earlier."
Xie Shiqing didn’t speak. She just buried her face in the hollow of Zhong Ning’s neck, the corners of her soft red lips quietly lifting.
Zhong Ning was a good person, and with that came all the flaws that good people usually had. She was too kind and too eager to help the weak.
So Xie Shiqing had deliberately woven a fabricated story. There were many parts that didn’t quite add up logically—but that didn’t matter. That wasn’t the point.
The point was to highlight her own pitifulness, her fragility, her innocence.
Sure enough, Zhong Ning believed it completely.
She didn’t notice the inconsistencies in the story and was effortlessly led to devote all her attention to Xie Shiqing.
Zhong Zinuan truly wasn’t a good person. On that front, she hadn’t lied. Her being frightened was also genuine and undeniable. Everyone was seated at the table discussing matters—if someone suddenly flipped the table, how could she not be alarmed?
Xie Shiqing was someone who cherished her life deeply.
As for the rest of the story... what did it matter whether it was true or false? As long as the goal was achieved, that was all that mattered. A little concealment and embellishment were entirely necessary. Human relationships were built on lies. A world of only truth simply couldn’t exist.
Xie Shiqing even forced out a few tears, letting one bead of moisture well up in her eyes without falling. When the hug ended and Zhong Ning could finally see her face, that tear fell at just the right moment—like a fallen star.
Zhong Ning felt a pain in her heart that defied description.
The last shred of rationality she could claim was gone. All that remained was an overwhelming sorrow, impossible to put into words, urging her to do something—anything—to make the one she loved feel better, to pull her away from such pain.
So, Zhong Ning said, "I’ll go confront Zhong Zinuan right now! She has to give an explanation for this!"
Well… it was within expectations.
Xie Shiqing didn’t expect this "good person" to say anything constructive or take any bold actions.
It was already quite a good reaction that she hadn’t called her *sister*—at the very least, it showed that she was truly angry about this.
"Don’t go. Even if you confront her, it won’t be of any use." She grabbed Zhong Ning’s arm and shook her head as she spoke.
"We can’t expose her true nature. Otherwise, the cooperation between the Xie family and the Zhong family will surely be broken. This matter also can’t be known by others. Zhong Zinuan won’t face any real punishment, but the rumors will turn against us instead, affecting our future wedding."
"Even if you try to reason with her," she let out a bitter laugh, "someone who can say such absurd things has likely abandoned all morals and ethics and become utterly shameless. She would never think she is in the wrong."
Zhong Ning was stunned for a moment. But after thinking over her words, she found them very reasonable, completely correct.
Her shallow understanding of her position within the Zhong family had already crumbled in the face of this incident.
Having just arrived at this point in time, with everything still unfamiliar, emotions naturally had to be rebuilt from scratch.
She had love with Xie Shiqing, friendship with Fu Nanshuang and Zheng Xuan—but with the Zhong family, what was there?
A thin layer of familial affection—far too weak to rely on.
Zhong Ning’s heart quickly tilted toward Xie Shiqing without the slightest hesitation.
"Then what should we do?" she asked, slightly troubled. "If we let her off lightly after what she’s done, wouldn’t that be letting her get away with it too easily?"