A Love Rival Is Still A Love Rival, Yet The Love Rival Becomes The Wife - Chapter 1

March, the opening day of Chunchun University.

Students rolled their luggage to welcome the new semester. The campus’s famous cherry blossom garden remained a prime spot for flower viewing and photography; whenever the wind shook the branches, it would shower down a flurry of cherry blossom rain.

“Senior Moqiu…”

Two people stood on the gravel path of the cherry blossom garden. The girl addressed as “Moqiu” had natural reddish-brown hair and emerald-green eyes. Her East Asian features, combined with her exotic hair and eye color, made her stand out from the crowd. She expressionlessly sized up the junior who had pulled her here.

Zhao Moqiu glanced at the time and asked gently, “Do you want to join the Student Union?”

“No, no… I just wanted to ask, Senior… did you see the friend request I sent before…” The junior’s voice gradually grew quieter. She lowered her head, her ears flushing red, as her hands tightly gripped her phone.

Zhao Moqiu narrowed her eyes, her tone instantly turning cold. “I’ve been too busy. Besides, we are in different majors and different departments; there’s no reason for us to add each other.”

“That’s not it, Se—Senior! Actually, I—”

“Moqiu.”

A voice coming from behind Zhao Moqiu interrupted the conversation. The newcomer wore a black hoodie and light-colored wide-leg pants, with hair featuring several blue-tinted highlights tied up casually.

“Is this a confession?” the person said in a relaxed tone, staring bluntly at the junior whose face was now beet-red. “How bold. Should I step aside for a moment?”

“No, no, no, no…” The junior’s face burned with shame as she shook her head repeatedly. “I—I—I’ll be going now…”

Watching the junior’s retreating figure, Zhao Moqiu looked at the person beside her. “Zhong Qing, why did you tease her on purpose? Look how nervous you made her.”

“What?” Zhong Qing shrugged, testing the waters. “Do you actually like that junior? If so, I can call her back for you?”

“No need. I just feel…” As the breeze scattered cherry blossom petals, Zhao Moqiu pinched a petal that had landed in her hair. Though she wore an expression of pity, her voice was utterly cold. “I just feel that as a girl and a junior, being able to be this proactive must have taken a great deal of courage.”

“You don’t mind the other person’s gender?” Zhong Qing pursed her lips and asked nervously.

Zhao Moqiu tilted her head. “That’s not important.”

What was important was that she had no desire to be in a relationship at all.

Zhong Qing only knew that Zhao Moqiu didn’t mind being confessed to by someone of the same sex, and she felt a flicker of secret joy in her heart. Her gaze fell on a petal atop Zhao Moqiu’s head. Just as she was about to reach out, Zhao Moqiu smoothed her slightly curly hair with her hand, and the petal fell away.

Zhong Qing’s hand, frozen in mid-air, could only awkwardly rub her own nose. She continued walking forward with Zhao Moqiu, changing the subject. “Speaking of which, the day after tomorrow is your lunar birthday, right? How do you plan to spend it?”

“Lunch with my roommates at a restaurant, then dinner with the people from the Student Union followed by KTV.” Zhao Moqiu asked, “For lunch, there are still empty seats in the private room I reserved. Do you want to join?”

“Sure!” Zhong Qing beamed with joy. In previous years, Zhao Moqiu’s birthday always fell during the holidays, and since her home was far away, she never had the chance to celebrate with her in person. “Will your roommates give you gifts? Would it be too abrupt if I bring a wrapped gift then?”

“No need,” Zhao Moqiu smiled. “You can just split the cost of the cake with them.”

“That won’t do. I’m your best friend from high school. Since I’m attending a rare birthday party, I definitely have to give you something meaningful.” Zhong Qing opened a search app and typed in the keywords “birthday gift ideas.”

Zhao Moqiu was the type who rarely accepted gifts or invitations. This time, since the members of the Student Union were attending the second half of the birthday party, someone was bound to give a gift. She had to seize this opportunity.

“Then just give me something practical.” Seeing Zhong Qing’s enthusiastic expression, Zhao Moqiu let the rejection die on her lips. She sighed inwardly and sent the restaurant address to her.

After leaving the cherry blossom garden, Zhong Qing turned off in a different direction. Once Zhao Moqiu’s figure disappeared into the crowd, Zhong Qing instinctively quickened her pace and pumped her fist in excitement.

She had decided to confess to Zhao Moqiu this semester.

They were now in the second semester of their junior year; it wouldn’t be long before they were busy with graduation, and opportunities to spend time with Zhao Moqiu would become scarce. This time, she had to choose a unique gift—at least something that would make Zhao Moqiu think of her whenever she saw it.

Looking at the date, she calculated the time. She had been harboring a secret crush on Zhao Moqiu for four years.

Back in their senior year of high school, when other classmates were wary of her, only Zhao Moqiu didn’t care about her past. It was because of this that she made up her mind to attend the same university no matter what.

It was Zhao Moqiu who had led her out of those dark times, and it was Zhao Moqiu who gave her the motivation to study hard. She hoped to stand side-by-side with Zhao Moqiu in her future life.

“But…” Zhong Qing looked at the pile of recommended decorative gifts and fell into deep thought. “A practical gift…”

“So, Moqiu, what kind of gift do you want?”

In the rest area outside the teaching building, Zhao Moqiu was sitting on a bench. The person speaking was the one sitting beside her, handing over a phone to show her products on the screen.

Zhao Moqiu caught a glimpse of the prices and sighed. “That’s too much, Sister Liyan.”

Hua Liyan withdrew her phone and patted Zhao Moqiu on the back. “It’s rare to celebrate a birthday with friends, and I have the chance to give you a gift. I want to give you something meaningful.”

Zhao Moqiu raised an eyebrow. This sentence sounded remarkably similar to what Zhong Qing had said.

She quietly observed Hua Liyan. As usual, the other woman wore a common light-colored knit sweater and a khaki long skirt. The canvas bag she carried was a bit worn out, and her hair was tied into a bun with a simple black elastic. She wore no accessories at all.

Hua Liyan was someone who didn’t like spending money on herself; she would use an item for a very long time. Under these circumstances, Zhao Moqiu always felt a sense of guilt when accepting expensive gifts from her.

“There’s no need for a gift,” Zhao Moqiu said. “It’s enough if you can come to the birthday party the day after tomorrow.”

“Birthday party?” Hua Liyan frowned slightly. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go. Everyone might feel awkward with me there.”

“Not at all. My roommates all like you very much.” Zhao Moqiu’s eyes crinkled slightly. “When they go to the library to borrow textbooks, you always recommend the right materials to them. They’ve been saying they want to treat you to milk tea some other day.”

“This…” Hua Liyan hesitated. “As for the dinner, let’s forget it.”

“Then how about joining the Student Union’s KTV gathering that night? There will be a lot of people there in the evening, and I’m afraid things might get out of hand if people play too hard. If you’re there, they probably won’t be so rowdy…”

Hua Liyan blinked, seeing through Zhao Moqiu’s thoughts instantly. “Moqiu, is something going to happen at the KTV?”

“I really can’t hide anything from you…” Zhao Moqiu let out a long sigh and said dejectedly, “I feel like the department head is going to confess to me that day. Everyone will definitely start cheering and making a scene. Regardless of whether I agree or not, there will definitely be some rumors.”

More importantly, seeing each other in the Student Union after a rejection would only make the atmosphere awkward.

Hua Liyan asked suspiciously, “Is that a problem I can solve just by being there?”

She feared that if those people knew she and Zhao Moqiu had known each other since childhood, they would only get more worked up.

“It’s different.” Zhao Moqiu pondered. “I’ll sit with you. When the time comes, you pretend to be drunk. Since I’m the only one who can take you home, no one will be able to say anything.”

“This…” Hua Liyan didn’t want to go to such a crowded social occasion. Although she liked Zhao Moqiu, it didn’t mean she was willing to force herself for her sake.

Furthermore, even if Zhao Moqiu avoided this one confession, the department head would surely confess again next time if he wanted to. She couldn’t hide forever.

“Please, Sister Liyan.” Zhao Moqiu took Hua Liyan’s hand. “Just consider this my birthday gift.”

“But—”

“I’m begging you. I really don’t want the first lively birthday party of my life to be ruined by some self-righteous person who can’t read the room and wants to confess. Nothing could be more miserable than that.” Zhao Moqiu flashed a fake smile and spoke this string of words rapidly, her tone unmasking her blatant disdain.

Having not seen Zhao Moqiu like this for a long time, Hua Liyan found it somewhat amusing. She nodded helplessly. “It seems you can’t handle this on your own after all. I’ll go. Just call me when you all arrive at the KTV.”

“Thank you, Sister Liyan.” Zhao Moqiu breathed a sigh of relief. She checked the time and asked, “Have you eaten? My treat, or I can bring you a cup of milk tea when you go to the library this afternoon.”

“No need, I have to go to the Academic Affairs Office today.” Hua Liyan stood up. “In any case, contact me the day after tomorrow.”

Zhao Moqiu waved her hand, her smile gradually fading as she watched Hua Liyan’s departing figure.

“Something feels off…” she murmured to herself.

Ring-ring-ring—

As Hua Liyan left the Academic Affairs Office after submitting her materials, the bell of the neighboring teaching building rang out. There were no classes for students today, so the building was quite quiet.

Passing by various faculty offices, she occasionally saw people handing in materials, others arguing with their counselors, and some who had brought their parents along. Remembering how her rare friend had become quite haggard after becoming a counselor, she once again marveled at how difficult that job was.

“I’m telling you, I didn’t hit anyone!”

Hua Liyan slowed her pace. Two girls walked out of the College of Liberal Arts office. One of them had blue highlights in her hair; Hua Liyan was instantly drawn to that blue, her eyes filling with a touch of loneliness.

Then she noticed the girl standing beside her. That girl had hair dyed half-gold and half-black, and her clothes were just as eye-catching as her hair. She wore a white dress with gold-rimmed patterns and a black coat; the white boots stepping on the tiled floor had golden laces on the sides.

So extravagant, but actually quite good-looking.

She criticized them in her head while feeling a bit intimidated, silently increasing the distance between them.

“It makes me so mad!” The girl with the black-and-gold hair stamped her foot in anger. “I really can’t stand that male counselor’s attitude! Just because I skipped a few classes, he thinks I deserved what happened. That rumor-mongering guy must have blabbered a bunch of nonsense just because he has good grades and is a sycophant. I might as well just find someone to beat him up in secret…”

“Alright, calm down. What if someone hears you saying things like that?” Zhong Qing comforted her roommate.

“Let them hear it. Anyway, if I can’t stay in this school, I’ll sue them all. At worst, we’ll all go down together… Ahhh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I’m going to go online to seek justice… I’ll make those people and the whole school pay!!!”

“That’s too extreme. People like that are usually cowards who bully the weak. Just threaten him directly next time.” Zhong Qing waved her fist. “Next time I see him, I’ll take care of it for you!”

The roommate looked at Zhong Qing in confusion, unable to tell for a moment if she was joking or serious. “That won’t do. What if he slanders you too?”

“Don’t worry.” Zhong Qing looked at her roommate’s fear and anxiety over the past few days and said seriously, “We’ll collect evidence together, then we’ll go and sue him.”

“Can we also beat him up once? I feel like throwing up whenever I see him…”

“Sure, sure. I’ll bring a burlap sack to class tomorrow.”

Zhong Qing glanced around, worried these jokes might be overheard by someone with bad intentions, and her eyes met those of Hua Liyan behind her.

Hua Liyan immediately looked down at her phone, pretending she hadn’t heard anything, and quickly walked toward the other exit.

“Wait, classmate.”

Just as she entered the stairwell, she heard footsteps behind her. Recognizing the voice as the one from the girl with blue highlights, she quickened her pace and practically ran downstairs. She didn’t know if the girl was calling her, but she didn’t want any contact with those types of people.

“Hey! I told you to wait a second, classmate!”

With a loud thud, Hua Liyan saw out of the corner of her eye that the person had jumped directly down from the middle of the stairs. She was startled; she hadn’t expected the other person to actually chase her. Seeing there was still some distance, she ducked into the faculty lounge on that floor.

“Where did she go? She ran so fast…”

She waited until the voices of those two faded before she came out trembling. Her heart was still pounding. She pressed her slightly aching waist and turned to leave through a side door.

Zhong Qing stood at the entrance of the teaching building. she looked out at the empty plaza, then down at the set of keys in her hand.

“I didn’t see that girl just now; she wasn’t in the restroom either.” Her roommate came out of the building and took a photo of the keys. The various-sized keys were held together by a white kitten keychain. “This doesn’t look like a dorm key.”

Zhong Qing was at a loss. “I’ll take it to the lost and found.”

“I’ll post it on the confession wall and the dorm groups. Lots of people lose things right when school starts.”

“Do you think…” Zhong Qing had a suspicion. “Is it possible she heard what we said and misunderstood that I was going to come after her, so she intentionally hid from us?”

“If that’s really it, that’s too funny. How could there be such a dummy?”

“Hahaha, true.”

Nighttime, in the apartment building.

Hua Liyan crouched at her front door, staring at her torn canvas bag in a long, brooding silence.

Thinking back to the person “chasing” her during the day, she covered her face in agony.

Now that she had calmed down and thought about it, those two were clearly trying to return the keys they had found. How could she have truly thought they were delinquent girls?

“I’m such a dummy.”