A Love Rival Is Still A Love Rival, Yet The Love Rival Becomes The Wife - Chapter 4

“Alright! Everyone’s picked their songs, right? Come on, let’s have our birthday girl lead the way! Moqiu, come up and sing the first one!”

Amidst the cheers of her classmates, Zhao Moqiu took the microphone and stood before the big screen, saying a few words to liven up the atmosphere. Tossing aside the annoyance of being confessed to, she truly did enjoy lively occasions.

She had selected a cheerful foreign song. For those who enjoyed singing, they joined in; most others were either chatting or taking photos, only occasionally chiming in during the chorus.

In the dim light, amidst the immersive sound system and the noisy chatter, Hua Liyan felt as though her ears were about to explode. Even middle schoolers during recess weren’t this loud.

“Teacher Hua, did you get into the library through the exams, or were you recommended by a family member at the school?” A girl who had sat down next to Hua Liyan at some point leaned in close.

“I passed the exams. And I’m not a ‘teacher,'” Hua Liyan said succinctly. Guessing what the other person wanted to ask, she explained, “I’m a graduate student in Library Science. After graduation, a new position opened up at the new campus library. My supervisor recommended I take the civil service exam here, and I was lucky enough to pass.”

“That’s so great…” The girl pulled out her phone. “I want to be a librarian too. Can we exchange contact info? Please recommend some postgraduate entrance exam materials! I’ll treat you to dinner and milk tea, Teacher!”

“Uh…” Meeting the girl’s bright, expectant eyes, Hua Liyan found herself completely unable to say no. Finally, she nodded and agreed.

“What’s this? I want to add you too!” Another girl nearby crowded in.

A moment later, Hua Liyan stared at the several new friends on her chat app, feeling utterly regretful. Why was she so incapable of refusing?

“By the way, Teacher, how old are you? Can I ask about your work duties—”

“Alright, alright, it’s your turn to sing.” After Zhao Moqiu urged the girl to go sing, she sat down next to Hua Liyan and smiled. “Liyan-jie, I felt like they were about to eat you alive.”

“Are they your friends?” Hua Liyan’s face was slightly pale. “They’re certainly… enthusiastic.”

“They’re just some underclassmen and peers I know…” Zhao Moqiu’s gaze landed on Zhong Qing, who was drinking with some guys in the corner. “Zhong Qing, who had dinner with you today, is the one who actually counts as my friend.”

Hua Liyan still found this fact hard to believe. Zhao Moqiu had always been someone who drew very clear boundaries; the people she considered friends could be counted on one hand. She truly couldn’t understand why Zhong Qing had been included in that circle.

Hua Liyan looked with disdain at Zhong Qing, who was messing around with the boys. Was it really okay for someone like that to be friends with Zhao Moqiu? That person had literally brandished her fists and threatened to hit people. Thinking back to the girl by Zhong Qing’s side the day before yesterday—even her friends had troublemaking personalities. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; how much better could Zhong Qing really be?

Although Zhong Qing had indeed looked after her, people are multifaceted. The thought of such an unstable person being friends with Zhao Moqiu filled her with uncontrollable worry and distress. Whether this irrepressible loathing stemmed from jealousy or prejudice, she didn’t know; in the end, all that remained was irritation.

Zhong Qing was playing drinking games with the Department Head. She opened another bottle and handed it to him. Seeing his vacant expression as he drank it down, she let out a contemptuous smirk.

She had only provoked him slightly, and he had immediately agreed to the game. She hadn’t expected him to be such a lightweight; after two bottles, his speech was already slurred. As long as she endured a little longer and got this tactless guy drunk, she could sabotage the confession plan.

“I… I can still drink…” The Head wobbled, leaning against the sofa.

Zhong Qing rolled her eyes and shoved the bottle directly toward his mouth. “Drink up, Head. You have to accept your loss.”

Useless. To think someone like this wanted to confess to Zhao Moqiu; she wondered where he got the confidence.

“Wait, the Head can’t drink anymore—”

“Hmm?” Zhong Qing glared at the boy nearby who was trying to intervene, then turned back to the Head with a smile. “Oh, Head, I didn’t know you couldn’t handle your liquor. Well, if you can’t, then let’s forget it. I didn’t expect you to be done after just two bottles. I guess I overestimated your strength.”

“No! No! I can still drink!” The Head snatched the bottle and immediately started chugging.

“What are you doing!” The boy next to her grabbed Zhong Qing’s hand, but she instantly shook him off. He was furious. “We only gave you face because you said you were Moqiu’s friend! Our Head has business to attend to, why are you provoking him? If you ruin things, Moqiu won’t be happy either!”

“Heh, a guy who only knows how to move himself to tears with a tactless confession like this?” Zhong Qing applied a bit of pressure, and the beer can she was holding instantly deformed. Ignoring the spilled alcohol, she said coldly, “I didn’t force him to drink. If you slander me again, I’ll beat you lackeys first, then I’ll beat the ‘Head’ you’re all sucking up to.”

“Heh, you and what army?”

“Yeah, just me.” Zhong Qing casually twisted the can and crushed it flat. “Anyway, getting into a fight is just a disciplinary mark at most; I don’t care. But what about you guys?”

“I… I…” Hearing the word ‘disciplinary mark,’ the boy sat back down, no longer trying to persuade the Head.

Zhong Qing stood up, satisfied. She could still hear the boy muttering “Psychopath,” but she didn’t care at all.

“A bunch of spineless idiots who bully the weak and fear the strong…”

As Zhong Qing walked toward Zhao Moqiu, she caught Hua Liyan’s gaze. The latter immediately looked away, making Zhong Qing feel a spark of displeasure. She knew that look all too well—it was one of wariness mixed with disdain. She walked right up, made the girl next to Hua Liyan move, and sat down.

“Liyan-jie.” Zhong Qing didn’t want to make things hard for Zhao Moqiu’s friend. The woman was five years older and seemed quite rigid; she probably judged people by their appearance like those old fossils, thinking she was unkempt. She asked, “Want a drink?”

“Drink what?” Hua Liyan smelled the alcohol on Zhong Qing and subtly pulled away.

Zhong Qing grabbed the whiskey from the side and reached for the fruit tea Hua Liyan had barely touched on the table, tearing off the seal. She took two glasses, scooped some ice from the bucket, poured half of the fruit tea into each, added some whiskey, and finally topped it off with soda water.

“Your fruit tea is lemon green tea; the sweetness is just right for mixing.” Using a disposable straw to stir it, she took a sip and handed a glass to Hua Liyan with a satisfied smile. “This is definitely good. Try it.”

Hua Liyan took the drink reluctantly, completely unable to fathom why Zhong Qing would mix a drink for her.

Observing Hua Liyan’s hesitant expression, Zhong Qing sneered inwardly. Since Hua Liyan had looked at her with those eyes and was being so carefully looked after by Zhao Moqiu, she wouldn’t feel right if she didn’t ruffle Hua Liyan’s feathers a bit.

“Actually, I’m a bit—”

“Zhong Qing!” Having finished chatting with the others, Zhao Moqiu noticed them. She picked up her drink and toasted Zhong Qing across Hua Liyan, whispering, “You got the Head drunk just to help me, didn’t you? Thank you. They didn’t make things hard for you or hurt you, did they?”

“No, no.” Zhong Qing waved it off and looked at Hua Liyan. “Perfect timing, let’s toast together.”

Hua Liyan: “…”

The moment she realized she had misunderstood Zhong Qing, Hua Liyan fell into a state of intense self-loathing. Her gaze fell on the drink the other had mixed for her, and she found it even harder to refuse.

She raised her hand slightly, toasted with Zhao Moqiu and Zhong Qing, and then downed the drink in one go.

“Cough, cough! Cough!”

“Liyan-jie, did you drink that too fast?” Zhao Moqiu had rarely seen Hua Liyan like this. She asked worriedly, “It really was too much to ask you to come. Since the Head is already drunk, you don’t need to pretend to be drunk anymore. You can leave whenever you want…”

“Mm…” Hua Liyan felt a bit dizzy. The drink Zhong Qing mixed was indeed tasty, but she had eaten too much and felt like she was going to throw up at any second. Seeing that the bathroom inside the private room was occupied, she stood up slowly. “I’m going to the restroom outside…”

After Hua Liyan left, Zhong Qing, who had heard their conversation clearly, asked Zhao Moqiu, “Pretend to be drunk?”

“Ah, I asked her for a favor today. Luckily, you already solved the problem.” Zhao Moqiu sighed. “Otherwise, Liyan-jie really would have been forced to drink. She gets drunk very easily…”

Zhong Qing froze. “She can’t drink?”

“She’s gone after one can of beer.”

Zhong Qing stood up instantly. “I’m going to the restroom too.”

Zhao Moqiu tilted her head. Noticing the slightly panicked look on Zhong Qing’s face, her lips slowly curled into a smile.

“Blegh… hurl…”

Hua Liyan leaned against the toilet lid, helplessly throwing up everything she had eaten and drunk. Her heavy stomach felt much lighter instantly, but the burning sensation from her throat to her esophagus became more pronounced.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

I’m so useless. I came here, didn’t help at all, and ended up vomiting. I even presumed to misunderstand Zhong Qing’s actions when she was clearly helping Moqiu. This is so embarrassing.

Hua Liyan stood before the vanity mirror. Her lipstick had completely disappeared, revealing her pale lips. She wiped away the physiological tears that had fallen and rinsed her mouth at the sink, the pain in her stomach making her feel miserable.

“Are you okay?”

Feeling a warm touch on her back, Hua Liyan looked in surprise at Zhong Qing, who had followed her. Accepting the tissue handed to her, she felt even more guilty.

“I… I’m fine…” Hua Liyan couldn’t bear to face Zhong Qing. The words of gratitude shifted in her mouth as she asked, “Are you here to use the restroom?”

In all her years, this was the first time Zhong Qing had been asked if she was in the restroom to use the restroom. However, she was too embarrassed to say she was worried about Hua Liyan.

“No, I just came to wipe my pants, they got wet from the beer.” As she spoke, Zhong Qing tugged at her pants, only to feel something in one of the many pockets of her cargo pants. She curiously pulled it out; it was a set of keys, and the white cat charm on it was stained yellow on one side by the beer.

“These keys…”

“Ah, I happened to come here to wash these keys!” Zhong Qing blurted out a lie.

She had completely forgotten! She had intended to take the keys to the lost and found when she left today, but somehow forgot again. It was all because these cargo pants had too many pockets.

As she rinsed the little cat under the water, she wondered how to tell the owner.

“Are those your keys?” Hua Liyan asked faintly.

“Yeah, mine,” Zhong Qing answered casually.

“…Thief.”

“Huh?” Zhong Qing thought she had misheard.

“Thief!” Hua Liyan snatched the keys away and shouted, “Those are my keys!”

“What?” Zhong Qing blurted out, “How can it be such a coincidence!”

“They are mine! My little cat is dirty! You didn’t even put them in the lost and found!” Hua Liyan’s complex emotions toward Zhong Qing instantly turned into anger the moment she saw the dirty keychain. “Moqiu made this herself and gave it to me!”

“What? Moqiu gave you this too?” Zhong Qing was incredulous. “Why? What exactly is your relationship with Moqiu? Why does she always look after you!”

Hua Liyan narrowed her eyes. No wonder she always felt a sense of dissonance, feeling that Zhong Qing looked after her too much because of Moqiu’s request. She asked directly, “Do you like Moqiu?”

“You—this…” Zhong Qing reacted quickly, realizing Hua Liyan was clearly projecting. She shot back, “What about you?”

“So what if I do?” Hua Liyan shook the keychain. “Do you have one of these?”

“Ha! So we’re rivals!” Zhong Qing’s anger flared up. Seeing the suddenly transformed Hua Liyan, she refused to back down. “You were so quiet before, but now your tongue is sharp enough, huh? Was it fun watching me awkwardly talk to myself during dinner?”

“What are you saying? I didn’t—”

“Moqiu-xuejie!”

The two of them stopped talking.

“Moqiu-xuejie! Do you still remember me?”

The two of them looked at each other.

“I know, you’re the underclassman from before.” Zhao Moqiu didn’t stop her pace. She walked into the restroom and looked around. Only one stall door was closed; the others were all open.

“Xuejie…” The underclassman followed her in. “Xuejie, can I have your contact info?”

“You’re Xu Xueyuan, right? That’s a very pretty name.”

“Thank you…”

“I’ll ask directly—do you like me?”

“Eh? I—”

Thump!

The closed stall door on one side made a sound. Xu Xueyuan immediately changed her tune. “No! I just have some academic questions I wanted to ask you! Hahaha! I think I’m a bit drunk, I’m going to go get something to eat!”

Xu Xueyuan fled in a panic.

Zhao Moqiu breathed a sigh of relief. She looked suspiciously at that door, then glanced at the gap beneath it. She quirked an eyebrow and silently left the restroom.

Zhong Qing was leaning against the stall door. After she had pulled Hua Liyan into the stall, the other had suddenly stumbled. In her haste, she could only use her body to catch her, resulting in Hua Liyan slumped against her chest.

“Why did you pull me in here?” Hua Liyan whispered, looking up to glare at Zhong Qing. Her other hand was braced against the door, keeping herself from crashing into Zhong Qing.

“What do you mean why? What else were we supposed to do in that situation?” Zhong Qing unceremoniously pinched Hua Liyan’s cheek. “As for you, what a total personality shift. Do you have a split personality?”

“Don’t pinch…”

“I’ll pinch if I want to!”

“No… I’m going to throw up… blegh…”

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”