After Being Marked By A Love Rival - Chapter 49

Xie Rong slightly paused her steps, waiting for Zhuang Xinbai to reach her. She lowered her eyes and asked, “Are you also taking an exam this morning?”

Zhuang Xinbai nodded, “I checked your schedule, and it seems our major is similar to yours. What a coincidence, right?” As she spoke, her eyes curved happily.

Qi Musi’s gaze swept across her cheek, her outwardly maintained facade unchanged, but she secretly grumbled inwardly, Every major and class probably has an exam this morning, so what’s so coincidental about that?

And even if it truly is a coincidence, so what? It doesn’t prove anything.

However, Xie Rong seemed genuinely surprised, her expression softened slightly, and then she nodded, “Indeed, quite a coincidence.”

Qi Musi: ……

She secretly gritted her teeth.

Forget it, I shouldn’t blame Xie Rong. It must be because she didn’t know, she didn’t realize.

Since they were about to head to the exam, Zhuang Xinbai didn’t stay too long. The only reason she ran over was because she was too excited to see Xie Rong.

She just came over to say hello, not to delay Xie Rong’s time, so after chatting for a couple of sentences, Zhuang Xinbai waved goodbye to Xie Rong, “I’m going to the exam hall now. Contact me on my phone if anything comes up, Xiao Rong.”

Xie Rong nodded, her expression composed.

Qi Musi stood on the side, silent the entire time, watching their interaction with a calmness that bordered on indifference. After Zhuang Xinbai left, she chuckled softly, “I didn’t realize you and Zhuang Xinbai have such a good relationship.”

Xie Rong looked over confusedly, “What do you mean?”

Qi Musi said, “It’s difficult for people who’ve failed a confession to get along so peacefully with the person they confessed to.”

Xie Rong didn’t pick up on the awkward and resentful undertones in Qi Musi’s words. Instead, she thought for a moment and then nodded, “What you said is true, but Xinbai and I… don’t have that kind of fragile and shallow relationship.”

Qi Musi suddenly clenched her fingers.

Not a fragile and shallow relationship, meaning their emotional connection and bond are extremely close and strong?

She pursed her lips and bit the tip of her tongue. The brief jolt of pain brought a moment of clarity to Qi Musi’s mind, but soon, her brain was soaking in a vat of sourness again.

Great. She and Xie Rong don’t have that level of intensity in their bond. If she were to fail a confession, Xie Rong would probably be avoiding her by a mile, and it would be impossible for them to interact as normally as she is doing now with Zhuang Xinbai.

Thinking about this, the sourness in Qi Musi’s heart began to bubble up.

She knew very well that Xie Rong and Zhuang Xinbai grew up together, naturally making their relationship different from others, but Qi Musi still wanted to compete with Zhuang Xinbai, even if every competition resulted in her being inferior.

Qi Musi smiled, an emotion she couldn’t quite place, “Then your feelings for each other must be very good. Why couldn’t you become a couple?”

Such a question was undoubtedly stabbing a knife into Qi Musi’s own heart, yet she insisted on asking, both seemingly for self-torment and to get an answer.

Xie Rong fell silent, then her eyelids moved slightly, “Not liking someone is simply not liking them. It has nothing to do with how solid or intimate the relationship is.”

Hearing Xie Rong’s calm and gentle voice, Qi Musi felt as if she had been splashed with cold water, and she immediately calmed down.

She couldn’t quite describe her current emotion, only vaguely sensing a… bitterness.

If a bond as strong as Xie Rong’s and Zhuang Xinbai’s couldn’t lead to a relationship, then what about her and Xie Rong…

Qi Musi couldn’t help but wonder, her possibility with Xie Rong was probably even lower than Xie Rong’s possibility with Zhuang Xinbai.

One of them was a childhood sweetheart who grew up with Xie Rong and was the person she loved dearly. The other was a roommate she met in college, with whom she had even had some initial unpleasantness and bad perceptions.

No matter how she compared, she seemed to lose to Zhuang Xinbai, not to mention she was an Alpha.

How low was the probability of an Alpha liking another Alpha? It could probably be represented as zero.

Qi Musi kept her eyes downcast all the way as she followed Xie Rong to the exam hall.

“Musi?” Xie Rong looked sideways at her, sensing that the other person’s state seemed slightly off at the moment.

Qi Musi snapped back to reality. She looked up and saw Xie Rong’s dark, clear eyes, which seemed to look directly into her heart.

Her heart trembled slightly.

Qi Musi still couldn’t give up. She couldn’t bear to see these beautiful eyes only looking at others from now on, showing gentle and soft emotions only to someone else.

“…I’m fine.” Qi Musi offered her a smile, slowly gathering her fingers, “See you after the exam. Let’s head back together.”

Xie Rong looked at her, saw no further signs of distress, and simply nodded, “Okay.”

Qi Musi smiled and followed her exam number to find her seat.

After sitting down, she took a deep breath, sweeping away all the obscure and gloomy emotions from earlier.

But so what?

Even if there were many incompatibilities between her and Xie Rong, even if she was an Alpha, liking was liking, and acknowledging was acknowledging. Qi Musi would not let go.

After all, the law didn’t forbid an Alpha from liking an Alpha.

Qi Musi lowered her gaze, concealing the myriad of emotions in her eyes.

She wasn’t Zhuang Xinbai, and she wouldn’t become Zhuang Xinbai. She was only Qi Musi.

What she wanted, she would definitely find a way to pursue and obtain.

She would work hard to make Xie Rong fall for Qi Musi.

After the exam, since it was still early, it was too soon for lunch, as breakfast hadn’t been fully digested yet. So, they decided to return to the dorm to continue studying and then come down to buy food around noon.

On the way back, Zhao Rongrong asked, “Um, Xiao Rong, was that… ahem, was that Zhuang Xinbai just now?”

The other two in the dorm had also heard about Xie Rong’s feelings for Zhuang Xinbai and her failed confession. However, they were usually very discreet and would never say anything to hurt Xie Rong’s feelings, as everyone was very considerate.

But the suddenness of the event just now had a bigger impact on Zhao Rongrong, forcing her to ask out of curiosity.

After all, that was literally a love triangle scene just now!

Xie Rong was at the center of the scene but was completely unaware that while she liked Zhuang Xinbai, Qi Musi standing beside her liked her!

This was too thrilling. Zhao Rongrong couldn’t even imagine what kind of state Qi Musi must have been in standing there.

Xie Rong nodded, “We bumped into each other by chance, so she came over to say hello.”

Zhao Rongrong looked like she wanted to speak but didn’t know what to ask. She just genuinely found the situation a bit frustrating.

Xie Rong noticed her expression and then asked her, “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Rongrong quickly shook her head, then couldn’t help but glance at Qi Musi.

She couldn’t spot anything amiss on the other person’s face, after all, Qi Musi’s ability to hide her thoughts and emotions was top-notch.

Zhao Rongrong grumbled inwardly, She truly is a young lady from a prominent family her acting is definitely spot on.

Although she was curious and really wanted to ask more questions, she was afraid that continuing to ask would delve into Xie Rong’s privacy. Therefore, Zhao Rongrong held back and didn’t ask anything further.

Xie Rong saw the doubt in her heart and paused before saying, “It’s fine. She really was just saying hello. Xinbai and I… even though the confession failed, we are still friends.”

Zhao Rongrong, whose thoughts were unexpectedly seen through, was startled, then quickly nodded, “Oh, oh, oh, I, I didn’t mean anything else, I’m not curious, I just…”

She was just curious.

Xie Rong didn’t mind, “It’s okay. I’m not a fragile person. There’s no need to be considerate of me because of this.”

Zhao Rongrong smiled, rubbed her head, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Rong wasn’t surprised that her roommates had guessed these things, as she had never deliberately tried to hide them. Moreover, Xie Rong never thought that confessing to someone she liked and being rejected was an embarrassing thing.

It might be sad, it might be disappointing, but she wouldn’t feel disgraced.

Zhao Rongrong quietly asked again, “Then is there still a possibility between you and Zhuang Xinbai?”

Mo Li couldn’t help but pull her, “Rongrong, don’t ask random questions.”

Xie Rong wasn’t angry. She lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, and then shook her head, “It’s probably very difficult.”

And… even Xie Rong herself was now wondering what her feelings for Zhuang Xinbai truly were.

Was it still love?

But Xie Rong hadn’t fully figured it out yet.

However, despite this, she understood that she and Zhuang Xinbai probably wouldn’t become a couple. They would only be friends and family. Zhuang Xinbai also had no romantic intentions towards her whatsoever.

Xie Rong paused, thinking of how Zhuang Xinbai had once said she had a crush on Qi Musi…

At that thought, she looked up at Qi Musi.

Sensing Xie Rong’s gaze, Qi Musi immediately looked up. She chuckled and asked, “What’s wrong, Xiao Rong?”

Xie Rong didn’t say anything, just shook her head.

She had initially thought that after learning this, she would view Qi Musi negatively, treating her as a romantic rival. But now that the moment was here, Xie Rong realized she hadn’t been angry at Qi Musi, nor had she been unreasonably resentful.

Of course, her perception of Qi Musi wasn’t as good then as it was now, but it was certainly not bad.

If Qi Musi and Zhuang Xinbai really ended up together, Xie Rong thought that what she would care about most was whether Qi Musi would be good to Zhuang Xinbai, treat her sincerely, and be able to make Zhuang Xinbai happy, rather than…

Mind that Qi Musi stole the person she liked.

This mindset, rather than that of an admirer, was more like…

A sister.

Xie Rong’s heart skipped a beat.

Qi Musi had always been very attentive to Xie Rong’s status and emotions, and she had keenly noticed the glance the other person had given her just now.

On the way back to the dorm, Qi Musi also noticed the slight fluctuation in Xie Rong’s emotions, as if she were thinking about something.

Qi Musi narrowed her eyes. Could it be related to Zhuang Xinbai again? And the way the other person looked at her, how to describe it, had a strange, inexplicable feeling.

After a pause, she couldn’t help but speak, interrupting Xie Rong, “Xiao Rong?”

Xie Rong came back to herself and looked at Qi Musi again.

She realized that when she looked at Qi Musi, it wasn’t simply like looking at a romantic rival, but more like looking at a brother-in-law.

…Good grief.