A Love Rival Is Still A Love Rival, Yet The Love Rival Becomes The Wife - Chapter 2

“What’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve lost your soul.”

Hua Liyan was slumped over the main service desk in the library lobby. A colleague standing outside the counter, passing the time, pulled out a piece of candy and handed it to her. She took it and gave a noncommittal hum.

She hadn’t gone home last night. After seeing a long list of keys registered on the school’s official “Lost and Found” account, she had opted to stay in a nearby hotel for the night.

Seeing her listless state, the colleague asked, “Did your application get rejected?”

“Don’t worry, it passed.” Hua Liyan sat up straight. Recruitment for students from low-income backgrounds usually began at the end of March. During this period, things were busy yet not busy—basically, it was impossible to slack off comfortably.

“This semester is relatively relaxed. There aren’t any of those troublesome award evaluations or excellence ratings. It only gets busy when it’s time to submit graduation theses. You’ve timed it well.”

“Yeah…” Hua Liyan flipped through the documents in front of her, typing on the keyboard to feign busyness. She didn’t want to overanalyze the implications behind her colleague’s words.

Receiving only a flat response, the colleague didn’t press further and moved elsewhere to kill time.

Once her morning shift ended, Hua Liyan visited the Lost and Found office. She gave a brief description of her keys, but the staff member rummaged through a basket full of keys for a long time without finding a trace of them.

She was incredulous. “They’re not there? Maybe the keychain fell off. The keys themselves have a smaller, round one that’s quite distinctive.”

“Nothing.” The staff member held the basket out for her to see. “These are all dormitory keys, or keys for lockers… some even have classroom numbers taped to them.”

Hua Liyan glanced over; her keys were definitely not there. “I see. Thank you anyway.”

A wave of helpless exhaustion washed over her. She felt incredibly frustrated. Had she misunderstood that “delinquent girl” yesterday? Had she dropped her keys somewhere else?

This was bad. If the keys had been dropped on the road outside and picked up by a stranger… if someone had followed her last night and entered her home while she was away… the mere thought was terrifying.

Anxious, she took a deep breath to force herself to calm down. She opened her chat with Zhao Moqiu, hesitated for a long while, but ultimately didn’t send a message. Instead, she opened her contacts and called a locksmith.

“Hello, your delivery is here.”

Zhong Qing opened her eyes groarily. She mumbled, “Thanks, just leave it on the table downstairs in the dorm building.”

She lay there for a while before sluggishly crawling out of bed. As she haphazardly pulled on a hoodie, a ring of keys fell onto the floor.

She stared at them. There were two keys, one large and one small, attached to a keychain featuring a small, white crocheted cat. She snapped awake instantly.

Yesterday, on her way to the Lost and Found, she had run into some seniors from her club who had just returned from their internships. After chatting for a bit, she was dragged out to dinner and then to the clubroom for practice. The club president was busy arranging the repertoire for the club recruitment drive happening in a week.

Zhong Qing belonged to the instrument club. Although she practiced the guitar, her skill level was only average. The president kept saying that as a senior, she had to set a good example, and was exceptionally strict during her practice.

Zhong Qing had been so busy that she completely forgot about the keys.

“I’ll go to the Lost and Found after I eat…”

Regardless, her roommates had asked the dorm manager to post messages in all the female dormitory groups and even on the campus “Confession Wall.” Since the keys were so distinctive, the owner should be able to get in touch immediately if they were looking for them.

She remembered the last time her roommate moved campuses; the roommate had thrown away her ID card along with an old bag. Within ten minutes, the news had spread through every dorm group, and the items were recovered instantly.

“It’s fine, it’s fine…”

Zhong Qing yawned and went leisurely to pick up her takeout. Her phone kept chiming with notifications as the president posted a barrage of recruitment schedules.

Zhong Qing skimmed through them and finally declined to attend the afternoon training session.

“Why?!!”

Listening to the president’s frantic phone call, and after confirming she was alone in the room, Zhong Qing tossed her phone aside and turned on the speakerphone.

“I have things to do these next two days. It’s my friend’s birthday tomorrow; I’m going to pick out a gift for her today.” Zhong Qing unhurriedly opened her takeout. The steaming rice noodles lifted her spirits.

“Huh?” The president’s tone softened. “Tomorrow… is it Zhao Moqiu’s birthday?”

“How do you know?”

“A junior in the club told me. She’s in the same Student Union department as Zhao Moqiu. She said there’s a group dinner tomorrow night.”

“Small world.”

Zhong Qing spoke absentmindedly. As the president droned on about club trivia, she stirred the hot lamb rice noodles and took out her specially prepared large spoon. She scooped a spoonful of broth, added some noodles, a slice of beef, some pickled vegetables, and topped it off with a piece of pink pickled radish.

She looked at her creation with satisfaction, finally garnishing it with a mint leaf wilted by the heat of the soup. One “perfect spoonful” of rice noodles was complete. She blew gently on the rising steam.

“…By the way, I heard another department head plans to confess to Zhao Moqiu tomorrow. Apparently, he’s going to set up a confession scene at the KTV. Is that true?”

“What… Hot! Cough, cough, cough!”

Caught off guard by the shock, Zhong Qing was scalded by the noodles she had just put in her mouth and began to choke. That “perfect spoonful” landed right on her clothes.

“Are you okay?”

Ignoring the tragedy of the ruined spoonful, Zhong Qing asked urgently, “You said a confession? Who’s confessing? Setting up a scene???”

Who on earth was so tactless?

She couldn’t get any more information out of the president, so she hung up. She couldn’t even enjoy her noodles anymore.

Originally, she had only planned to celebrate a simple birthday with Zhao Moqiu’s roommates at noon tomorrow. But now that she knew someone was going to put Zhao Moqiu in a difficult position, she had to stop it from happening at the KTV tomorrow night no matter what.

And the most important part of stopping it was…

Zhong Qing looked at the clothes in her wardrobe, contemplated for a moment, and dialed a number.

“Thank you, Master.”

Hua Liyan tested the newly installed smart lock. Originally, she had worried about electronic locks running out of battery and locking her out, so she had chosen a standard lock. Little did she know she’d lose her keys one day. Thinking of the lost small key made her feel even more frustrated.

The locksmith had come in the evening; it was already dark now. Tomorrow night she had to attend that KTV thing, which presented another problem. She rummaged through her closet; most of her clothes were from her college days—they were either worn out or didn’t fit her current age.

Staring at her tattered canvas bag, Hua Liyan dazed for a moment before muttering to herself.

“I don’t have suitable clothes. I guess I have to go buy some…”

The Next Day, Noon.

“Moqiu, here is your gift.”

Inside a beautifully decorated milk tea shop, Zhong Qing handed a wrapped gift to Zhao Moqiu, who sat opposite her.

Before Zhao Moqiu could speak, Zhong Qing added, “It’s a fountain pen.”

This kind of gift wasn’t overly practical, but it wouldn’t force Zhao Moqiu to use it just because of their friendship. If she wanted to use it, she could; if not, it wouldn’t take up much space.

“Thank you.” Zhao Moqiu was a bit surprised. She had expected someone with Zhong Qing’s personality to give something like a water bottle or a mug.

Zhong Qing watched Zhao Moqiu’s expression. Seeing no signs of awkwardness, she felt an instant sense of relief. After having lunch with Zhao Moqiu’s roommates, she had suggested joining the KTV party that evening. To her surprise, Zhao Moqiu had readily agreed and even suggested watching a movie to pass the time in the afternoon.

Even though this was just normal interaction between friends, she still found it hard to hide her inner joy.

Zhao Moqiu put the gift away, feeling immensely relieved that Zhong Qing was willing to come to the gathering. With more people she was familiar with there, perhaps the department head would back off.

“By the way, are you sure you won’t eat dinner with us?” Zhao Moqiu confirmed the number of people for the evening meal. “Some people probably won’t be able to make it on time, so you could come to dinner too.”

“…I’ll pass.” The thought of chatting with those Student Union people—who would inevitably pry into her major and background—was something Zhong Qing couldn’t stomach. It wasn’t that she feared being offended, but rather that she might lose her temper and snap at them, making things awkward for Zhao Moqiu.

Zhao Moqiu suddenly smiled. “Zhong Qing, you’re coming to the KTV because you’re worried, I’ll be forced to drink, aren’t you?”

Zhong Qing nodded, her heart skipping a beat at being found out.

“Thank you. Having you there makes me feel much more at ease.” Zhao Moqiu gave a warm smile.

Zhong Qing’s eyes crinkled in response. It was the first time she felt so trusted and relied upon by Zhao Moqiu; even her racing heart seemed to throb with happiness.

But… what did “you guys” mean?

“Oh, right.” Zhao Moqiu took out her phone. “A friend of mine is also coming to the KTV. Why don’t you two have dinner together?”

Zhong Qing was clearly coming out of concern for her; Zhao Moqiu felt it would be too pitiful to leave her to eat alone near the mall. She sent Zhong Qing a shop coupon. “I happen to have a double-person discount coupon for this barbecue place. You guys can go there.”

“Eh?”

“Ah…” Zhao Moqiu realized that in her rush to ease her own guilt, she might have suggested something awkward. She said, “You two don’t know each other; it might be a bit weird to eat together.”

“Well…” Zhong Qing intended to decline, but seeing the luxury BBQ set on the coupon, she wavered instantly. “I only have to pay 149 for a set originally worth 299?”

Seeing no resistance, Zhao Moqiu breathed a sigh of relief. “But it has to be used by two people. The discount is applied at the final payment. If you split it with my friend, it’s only about seventy-something per person. Want it?”

“Absolutely!” Zhong Qing craved barbecue, and more importantly, this was Zhao Moqiu’s request!

“That’s good then.” Zhao Moqiu relaxed. “Though, that friend of mine is a bit introverted.”

Zhong Qing blinked. “Who is this friend?”

Zhao Moqiu tilted her head. “I think you might have seen her back in high school.”

“Huh?”

Hua Liyan checked the message from Zhao Moqiu repeatedly. Looking at the coupon, she felt a bit helpless.

Moqiu: Liyan-jie, could you help me use up this coupon?

Moqiu: [Sticker: Little fox kneeling]

Moqiu: This friend of mine is also coming to the KTV tonight. She’s a big eater, so don’t worry about leftover food.

Moqiu: [Contact Card Recommended]

Is that the main point?

Hua Liyan narrowed her eyes, wondering about Zhao Moqiu’s intentions. She wasn’t sure if Moqiu wanted her to socialize more or if she truly just wanted to use the coupon.

She typed back: Does your friend know the way?

Moqiu: She does! Don’t worry, with her there, you definitely won’t get lost!

The anxiety Hua Liyan felt about going to the KTV eased slightly. If she were alone, she might pace in front of the entrance for ten minutes before going in. Having someone to lead the way wasn’t bad.

She added the contact and set a time for dinner.

By the time she finished work, the other person had already arrived at the BBQ restaurant and had thoughtfully sent a photo of the location and the table number.

The contact name at the top of the chat was “Chomp Chomp Eating Food.” Hua Liyan was nervous. Someone so thoughtful and fond of eating must be a kind, pleasant person. She just hoped they weren’t a “social terrorist.”

“Hello, which table?” the waiter asked.

“Ah, I’m at Table 5.”

“Table 5? Over here, over here!” Sitting by the window, Zhong Qing heard the conversation and immediately waved her hand.

Hua Liyan followed the sound and looked over. When she saw that familiar flash of blue-dyed hair, she froze in her tracks.

How could it be her?