After Mistakenly Marking Her Stunning Omega Stepsister - Chapter 24

Because of the rain, Lin Sui hadn’t left the classroom. She’d had Zhu Huan bring her lunch back.

She sat at her desk, bored, propping her face in her hands and staring into space. The empty desk in front of her felt strangely unfamiliar.

She was used to watching Wen Xiangzhu’s back, her hair, her clothes.

Now there was nothing to watch, and it felt strangely dull.

Lin Sui was startled by her sudden, inexplicable thought.

It was just… utterly bizarre.

Zhu Huan woke up and looked around. She glanced at Fan Shihan on the other side and nudged Lin Sui with her elbow.

“She’s clearly been crying.”

Lin Sui gave her a flat look.

“Oh.”

Zhu Huan clicked her tongue at her reaction. “So cold.”

Just then, the class bell rang.

Lin Sui froze. Has it really been that long?

Her gaze drifted to the empty desk in front. She frowned slightly.

Why hasn’t Wen Xiangzhu returned yet?

Hesitating briefly, she called out to Lu Xiaomeng in the front row before the teacher arrived. “Where did Wen Xiangzhu go?”

“Don’t know,” Lu Xiaomeng replied, turning around and shaking her head. “She said she had something to take care of and didn’t eat lunch with me.”

Lin Sui’s frown deepened.

She disappeared right after lunch, and now class is starting. Still not back?

Did something happen to her?

As she thought this, Lin Sui glanced at the still-pattering rain outside. She lowered her head, opened her phone, and called Wen Xiangzhu.

The phone rang several times before automatically disconnecting.

Zhu Huan glanced at Lin Sui and sighed inwardly.

Just moments ago, she had been so indifferent toward Fan Shihan, yet now she was practically vibrating with anxiety over this other person.

“Don’t worry,” Zhu Huan murmured reassuringly. “Something must have held her up on the way.”

Lin Sui put away her phone, her expression stormy.

“… I’m not worried,” she insisted.

Zhu Huan blinked in confusion.

Is this just stubborn denial?

She was both surprised and speechless, but seeing Lin Sui’s troubled expression, she held her tongue.

Lin Sui lowered her gaze to her phone. No messages. No calls.

Silence.

The sound of high heels clicked across the floor as Yang Li approached the podium.

Her eyes immediately fell on Wen Xiangzhu’s empty desk, and she frowned. “Where’s Wen Xiangzhu?”

The entire class turned to look.

Lu Xiaomeng hesitated, then, as Wen Xiangzhu’s desk partner, forced herself to answer. “She went out to get food. Something must have delayed her.”

“Delayed her this long?”

A flicker of concern crossed Yang Li’s face as her gaze landed on Lin Sui. “Lin Sui, do you know where she went?”

Lin Sui’s body stiffened. Just as she was about to say something, a clear voice came from the front door.

“Reporting in.”

Wen Xiangzhu stood at the doorway, a small basket in one hand and a dripping wet umbrella in the other, panting from rushing.

“I’m sorry, Teacher Yang. I’m late.”

Who would get mad at a good student for being a little late? Especially when she’s the top student in the grade and a member of the Lin family.

Yang Li naturally said nothing, even showing a hint of concern on her face.

“Come in, come in! Dry yourself off. Don’t catch a cold in this rain.”

“Thank you, Teacher,” Wen Xiangzhu replied. She walked to the back of the classroom to put away her umbrella before returning to her seat.

Lin Sui showed no reaction, only glancing up at Wen Xiangzhu when she sat down.

Her hair was damp at the ends, and her coat was soaked.

For some reason, Lin Sui thought of the Little Calico they’d found in the lab yesterday.

It had looked so pitiful, just like Wen Xiangzhu did now.

The lesson was physics, and Lin Sui couldn’t make heads or tails of it. She struggled to stay awake, fighting the urge to fall asleep.

To her, the teacher’s voice was practically a lullaby. The only thing that could wake her up was the bell signaling the end of class.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Lin Sui stretched, feeling refreshed.

Wen Xiangzhu turned around and placed a small basket on Lin Sui’s desk.

“They’re really good,” she said softly, blinking.

Lin Sui looked down at the basket of bright red cherry tomatoes, momentarily stunned.

“Where did you get these?” she asked. Then she remembered the bag Wen Xiangzhu had been carrying when she arrived late. “Did you just go out to buy these?”

Wen Xiangzhu pursed her red lips and nodded.

“I tried them last time. They’re delicious.”

“But why go out in such a downpour just for these?” Lin Sui frowned, her expression disapproving. “If you want them, you could just call the aunties at home.”

“It’s not for me,” Wen Xiangzhu said, her eyelashes trembling slightly. “I bought them for you.”

Lin Sui fell silent. Her mind was still a jumbled mess, unable to process such complicated thoughts… though perhaps this wasn’t actually that complicated.

“Why did you buy these for me?” Lin Sui narrowed her eyes.

Wen Xiangzhu hesitated. “Because you said they were good.”

Zhu Huan watched the two of them with an unruffled gaze, a knowing smile playing on her lips.

If it were anyone else, she would have teased them mercilessly right then and there.

But alas, nominally, Wen Xiangzhu was still Lin Sui’s younger sister, and Lin Sui still had an engaged fiancée.

She couldn’t push things too far.

Ugh, this headache-inducing love triangle.

Lin Sui gazed at Wen Xiangzhu for a moment before her gaze drifted downward to the basket of cherry tomatoes in front of her.

A strange feeling stirred within her, something she couldn’t see or touch, but it left her feeling uneasy.

She’d never been treated with such care before.

Just because of a casual remark she made, Wen Xiangzhu had braved the rain to go buy…

After a moment, she lowered her eyes and smiled.

Having a younger sister might not be so bad after all.

“Thank you,” Lin Sui murmured.

Wen Xiangzhu’s eyes sparkled, and a radiant smile blossomed on her face.

“I’m just glad you like them.”

Lin Sui’s mood was unusually buoyant as she returned to the dormitory with the cherry tomatoes, proudly sharing them with Xia Yi and Ye Shuqian.

“Wen Xiangzhu bought them for you?” Xia Yi sighed wistfully. “Having a younger sister is amazing. I wish I had one too.”

Ye Shuqian nodded in agreement.

“I like having a younger sister too. My older sister used to boss me around all the time, and when we were little, she even used to play with me like I was her toy.”

“Sounds like you must have been really cute as a kid.”

Lin Sui silently ate her cherry tomatoes, listening to the others chat.

She couldn’t be sure, but the tomatoes seemed sweeter than the ones Fan Shihan had bought last time.

Suddenly, the dorm lights went out, plunging the entire building into darkness.

“What’s going on? It’s not even lights-out time yet!” Zhu Huan frowned, opening the dorm door to peer outside.

Xia Yi used her phone as a flashlight and checked the balcony. “It’s not just us—the lights in the other dorm buildings are out too.”

“Must be a power outage,” Ye Shuqian sighed, showing the group a notification on her phone. “It says the heavy rain today caused flooding in the server room, and they’re working on repairs.”

Lin Sui’s eyes flickered as she glanced toward the balcony.

The wind was howling, and the pitter-patter of rain hadn’t stopped. There might even be thunder.

Her phone beeped.

Lin Sui checked it and saw it was just a weather update: Thunder expected after midnight.

“This is probably the last rain of summer,” Ye Shuqian said, gazing out the window.

Lin Sui glanced up, her thoughts drifting. What if that guy gets scared of the thunder tonight?

But she’s in the dormitory with others. She should be fine.

Lin Sui pondered, her finger repeatedly swiping through the contact list, but in the end, she didn’t do anything.

“Since the power’s out, let’s read a bit and then sleep.”

Everyone nodded and climbed into bed.

Leaning against the headboard with her phone, Lin Sui absentmindedly opened the short story she’d been reading earlier.

She noticed the author had updated it.

[I finally got Sister’s contact information. She’s different from everyone else, like a lighthouse in the deep sea—visible and lovable at a glance. But Sister has a fiancée, and I don’t dare confess. I’m just a coward…]

The story was still unfinished. After reading the update, Lin Sui sighed softly, feeling a pang of sympathy.

Is this forbidden love? Or just unrequited feelings? This is so tragic.

Tragic.

After dawdling for a while, Lin Sui drifted off to sleep.

Not long after, she was jolted awake by a muffled thunderclap.

The lightning flashed in the dark dormitory, its irregular flashes illuminating the room.

Amidst the thunder, the roommates slept soundly, but Lin Sui lay awake, her sleep suddenly stolen.

With such violent thunder, will Wen Xiangzhu be okay?

Meanwhile, in another dormitory, it was deathly quiet. Wen Xiangzhu huddled on her bed, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she clutched a steel pen tightly in her hand.

She had first seen this pen on Lin Sui’s desk when she moved into the Lin family residence. Seeing how much Wen Xiangzhu liked it, Lin Sui had generously gifted it to her.

Wen Xiangzhu had never brought herself to use it.

In the corner, Little Calico, nestled in a cardboard box, seemed frightened. Its round eyes darted around in panic, and it meowed several times.

Wen Xiangzhu opened her eyes, rolled out of bed with a weary sigh, and rushed to the corner to pick up Little Calico. “Suizhu, don’t be afraid. Here, pet me.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she turned and carried the kitten back to bed.

Little Calico was remarkably well-behaved, neither fussing nor meowing again as it settled quietly beside Wen Xiangzhu.

She felt somewhat relieved, the name “Suizhu” echoing in her mind.

Suizhu…

It seemed quite fitting.

The power outage didn’t last long. By the next day, the computer lab was back in operation.

Lin Sui didn’t sleep well that night and arrived early at the classroom, lost in thought.

As her classmates gradually trickled in, they all began discussing the previous night’s blackout.

“Yesterday’s storm was intense—thunder, lightning, and a blackout! It was like a horror movie come to life!”

“I slept just fine. It wasn’t scary at all.”

Soon, Wen Xiangzhu arrived. She looked much the same as usual, but there was a hint of weariness in her expression, making her seem a bit listless.

Lin Sui gave her a searching look, her gaze lingering with hesitation before quickly withdrawing.

Looks like everything’s fine.

Relieved, Lin Sui settled back down to catch some more sleep.

When she woke up, it was noon. Zhu Huan was pulling her out for lunch.

The rain had stopped, leaving the ground damp and dotted with puddles that reflected the sky.

Lin Sui breathed in the fresh air, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

She loved the smell after the rain—the scent of water washing over plants and soaking into the earth.

Zhu Huan lowered her head to look at her phone, then poked Lin Sui’s arm after a moment. “The freshmen’s opinions about you are really split.”

“Hmm?” Lin Sui glanced at her. “What are you reading now?”

“I snuck into the freshmen’s anonymous group chat,” Zhu Huan said mysteriously.

Of course, this anonymity was only assumed. For Lin Sui and Zhu Huan, uncovering the real identities behind the accounts was child’s play.

“Some of them idolize you, while others hate you,” Zhu Huan said, narrowing her eyes. “And there are even rumors about you and Wen Xiangzhu.”

Lin Sui froze. “What’s there to speculate about? Didn’t I make it clear?”

Zhu Huan hissed, hesitating.

“Because you and Wen Xiangzhu… don’t share the same surname, some are speculating that she’s your illegitimate daughter. Others are saying… you’re raising her as your child bride.”

Lin Sui stared blankly. “What the hell?!”

“I don’t get it either. We’re in the 21st century—why are people still talking about child brides?”

Zhu Huan scratched her head, equally baffled.

“But seriously, if she did end up marrying you someday, what would you think about that?”

Lin Sui looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “There’s no ‘what if’ about it! And what about Jiang Wanwan? She’s so good to you—why are you even saying this?”

Zhu Huan sighed and waved her hand, still looking somewhat reluctant to let the matter drop.

“Hmm… what if Jiang Wanwan wasn’t involved? Just hypothetically, you know? What if you imagined it?”

Lin Sui fell silent for a moment before shaking her head.

“I can’t imagine it.”

“Never mind then.”

Zhu Huan looked disappointed but didn’t press the matter further.

Lin Sui thought the matter was settled, but over the next few days, she kept seeing posts on the forum about her and Wen Xiangzhu.

People were saying they dressed alike, used matching items, and some shameless ones even claimed Lin Sui was using their friendship to make advances on Wen Xiangzhu.

Lin Sui: “……”

Thanks for the offer, but I’m having a heart attack. Don’t worry about me.

Although these rumors had nothing to do with Wen Xiangzhu, Lin Sui couldn’t help feeling resentful toward her.

Especially on Friday, when she saw Wen Xiangzhu wearing a shirt similar to hers as they were getting ready to go home…

She felt even more annoyed.

Wen Xiangzhu got in the car and placed a cardboard box on the seat.

Lin Sui glanced over. A little calico cat was pawing at the edge of the box, its round eyes peering curiously out.

“Suizhu seems to like you quite a bit,” Wen Xiangzhu said with a small smile.

Lin Sui looked at her, narrowed her eyes, and suddenly realized something was off.

It had been several days since Lin Sui had heard Wen Xiangzhu call her “Sister.”

Thinking this, Lin Sui clicked her tongue.

“Why haven’t you been calling me ‘Sister’ lately?”

For a moment, the car fell silent.

Wen Xiangzhu stared blankly at Lin Sui. “What?”

“What did you say?” Lin Sui asked calmly, her expression indifferent.

Wen Xiangzhu blinked, as if suddenly understanding something. She bit her lower lip for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Sister.”

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