After Swapping Souls with My Rival Alpha - Chapter 4

“Impossible!”

That was the first thought that flashed through Chi Mu’s mind, and the very words that came out of her mouth. Can’t switch back? What a joke.

“Yeah, impossible,” Nie Yijun agreed with a nod, sitting back down in the chair, trying to make sense of everything that had happened that night.

They fought, got dizzy for no reason, and then suddenly—bam—swapped souls. And after the swap, their headaches were gone. Nie Yijun couldn’t find a single scientific explanation or medical reasoning behind any of it.

Chi Mu was silent now, passed out on the table, sound asleep. Judging by her soft groans, she was clearly in pain. She always claimed to have a tough mind, but honestly, Nie Yijun thought she was the truly fearless one—sleeping so soundly in a situation like this.

Nie Yijun turned on her phone’s front camera and was startled by what she saw.

The left side of her—no, Chi Mu’s—face, including her mouth and chin, was bruised and swollen. Chi Mu didn’t hold back. Then again, neither did she.

Could it really be that the soul swap was caused by the fight? Did they have to fight again to switch back?

Nie Yijun glanced at her body, now lying across the table and snoring, and felt deeply unsettled.

She had an important meeting tomorrow.

Maybe everything would go back to normal after some sleep. She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and, despite the chill from the air conditioning, forced herself to try and rest.

________________________________________

Two months before Chi Mu’s college graduation, her thesis was suddenly deemed unqualified. Her advisor told her the introduction and conclusion were well-written, but the middle part was riddled with errors—directly contradicting basic medical principles.

She didn’t believe it. She had spent nearly a year working on that thesis; no way she’d make such amateur mistakes.

After checking her work, she realized that the problematic section wasn’t written by her at all. Someone had tampered with her thesis—after she had finished it. She hadn’t rechecked it before submission, assuming it was intact.

Her first suspect? Nie Yijun. Throughout college, she was the only one Chi Mu had ever dared to offend—and the only one bold enough to mess with her.

Fuming with anger, Chi Mu kicked open the door to Nie Yijun’s dorm. “Nie Yijun! Come out and face me!”

But Nie Yijun wasn’t there—only two of her roommates were. They gave Chi Mu strange looks and said, “Didn’t you hear? Nie Yijun got into Oxford’s joint master-doctorate program. Everyone’s been talking about it. Her flight was this morning—she’s already headed to the airport.”

Chi Mu was enraged. She might not even graduate, and Nie Yijun had the audacity to sabotage her thesis and waltz off to study abroad?

She stormed off to the airport. She was going to catch Nie Yijun and beat her up so badly she couldn’t get on the plane.

If Chi Mu couldn’t graduate, Nie Yijun wasn’t going to get away so easily either.

The airport was packed. She couldn’t find Nie Yijun. The flight to Oxford was set to depart in fifteen minutes. That meant Nie Yijun had already cleared security.

Chi Mu sent one last message, then deleted every way she had to contact her.

Nie Yijun, if you’ve got any guts, don’t ever come back. Don’t even think about stepping foot in Fenglan again. If you do—don’t blame me for not holding back.

________________________________________

“Nie Yijun!” Chi Mu shot awake with a furious shout. She clutched her side and doubled over from the pain. “Ow, damn it, I’m dying…”

Nie Yijun opened her eyes to see her own face sitting across the table. So… they hadn’t switched back.

“Nie Yijun!” Chi Mu slammed the table, wincing. “You and I aren’t done yet… ah, this hurts like hell!”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She started groaning and cursing. “Damn it, Nie Yijun! You’re bad luck! Ever since I met you, nothing good’s ever happened to me!”

Nie Yijun ignored her and closed her eyes. If they couldn’t figure out how to switch back soon…

Bang—the door burst open. The same male officer from the night before walked in, munching on a bun.

“Well? Had some time to reflect?”

“Yes, we’ve reflected thoroughly,” Nie Yijun replied immediately. “We understand our mistake.”

Chi Mu shot her a glare. Traitor.

“Good. Call your families. Someone needs to come bail you out. Once you both sign a reconciliation form, you’re free to go.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

They both spoke in unison.

Chi Mu grimaced. “Officer, I’m an adult… can we please not involve our families? It’s really embarrassing…”

“Oh, now you feel embarrassed?” The officer chuckled. “That’s the whole point. Now, go on—call your folks.”

Nie Yijun hesitated, then whispered something in his ear. The officer looked at her, nodded. “Alright, you can call a friend instead.”

“I don’t need anyone,” Nie Yijun sighed. “I can vouch for myself.”

“Rules are rules,” the officer said. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

He pointed to Chi Mu. “You too. Call your family.”

Chi Mu really didn’t want to. If her dad and mom found out, she’d never hear the end of it.

She picked up her phone, tried to unlock it with Face ID—but it kept failing.

She glanced at the screen. Yep, her phone, and her selfie was still the wallpaper… wait a minute.

She froze and looked up at Nie Yijun, who was also staring at her.

They had forgotten—they had swapped bodies.

The realization hit both of them at once.

Chi Mu was quick to recover. She smiled at the officer. “I’ll make the call now. Please excuse us.”

“Alright. Hurry up,” the officer said, closing the door behind him.

Chi Mu dropped the smile instantly. “Let’s talk.”

Nie Yijun sat across from her calmly. Chi Mu was clearly struggling to look at her own face from the outside.

Chi Mu slid her phone across the table. “Call my mom. Get her here. And give me your phone.”

Nie Yijun stopped the phone with a finger. “Given the situation, shouldn’t we be cooperating?”

Cooperate your ass.

Chi Mu wanted to say that out loud but knew it wasn’t the time for a petty argument. They needed to get out of the police station first.

“Fine,” she gritted through clenched teeth. “Give me the phone.”

Nie Yijun didn’t hand it over. She tapped on Chi Mu’s phone. “My family’s not in Fenglan. They can’t come.”

“Then call a friend.”

“It’s a weekday during work hours. No one’s available.”

“Nie Yijun!” Chi Mu slammed the table again, pain shooting through her. She inhaled sharply and bit back her anger. “You said cooperate! Is this your idea of cooperation?”

“This is cooperating,” Nie Yijun said quietly. “I don’t have anyone who can come. But you do. I’m hoping whoever comes to bail you out can take me—that is, the current you—along too.”

“You…” Chi Mu was stunned. “You’re using my family for your so-called cooperation?”

“Don’t want to?” Nie Yijun picked up her phone, which unlocked with Face ID. “Your mom it is, then. Hello? Mom? Something happened. I’m at Qingxia Road Police Station. Can you come over?”

“Police station?!” the woman on the other end exploded. “Chi Mu! What the hell did you do?!”

Nie Yijun pulled the phone slightly away. “You’ll see when you get here.”

She hung up, completely unfazed by the outrage.

Chi Mu stared at her in shock. That was her mom! She was going to explode!

But then she remembered—she wasn’t Chi Mu right now. Let her mom blow up at Nie Yijun instead.

“When your mom gets here, she’ll bail me out,” Nie Yijun said. “If you don’t agree, you can just stay here. I don’t mind.”

“Fine. You win,” Chi Mu laughed in disbelief. “Let’s cooperate. But don’t get too cocky. We’ll switch back eventually. You’ll pay for this.”

Nie Yijun rubbed her temples. “Did you even win last night?”

“I underestimated you. Who knew the old ‘Weakling Nie’ would turn out like this? If we fight again, I won’t lose.”

“Childish,” Nie Yijun muttered.

“You’re one to talk,” Chi Mu shot back. She pulled something out of her pocket and slammed it on the table. “I haven’t touched this stuff since kindergarten.”

Two pieces of White Rabbit milk candy.

Nie Yijun glanced at them and closed her eyes, uninterested.

________________________________________

The door opened again. Two officers and a woman in a white dress walked in. She had long, curly hair and a gentle demeanor. Nie Yijun immediately guessed—this must be Chi Mu’s mom.

The woman stared at her, walked over, and looked her up and down, face stormy.

“Got into a fight?” she said coldly.

Chi Mu, head down on the table, recognized the voice and practically jumped out of her seat. Shi Ya glanced at her briefly. Chi Mu instinctively smiled, “Mom…”

Shi Ya gave her a puzzled look but didn’t question it. She turned back to Nie Yijun. “What happened?”

“We got into a fight,” Nie Yijun replied.

Chi Mu pouted and sank back into her chair—forgotten again that she wasn’t Chi Mu right now.

“You started it, didn’t you?” Shi Ya asked.

“No—” Nie Yijun caught herself and quickly nodded. “Yes. It was me. I was a jerk.”

Oh, she was so dead. Chi Mu glared at her, practically shooting daggers with her eyes.

Shi Ya turned suddenly. Chi Mu immediately softened her expression and smiled sweetly. Her mom’s face darkened further. She never lost her temper in public—but once they got home? All bets were off.

Still, Chi Mu couldn’t help but feel smug. That temper wasn’t going to hit her—not in this body. Thanks, Mom. Sweet revenge.

The police explained the situation. Shi Ya signed the bail papers. Nie Yijun added, “It was my fault. I started the fight. She just got caught up in it. Please take her—that is, me—home too.”

Shi Ya, ever efficient, asked the officers, “Is that okay?”

“Sure. As long as they don’t fight again, you can take both,” one of them said.

Shi Ya signed a second agreement.

The three of them left the station. Chi Mu limped along, wincing. Seeing her family’s car parked outside, she instinctively followed behind her mother.

But Shi Ya turned at the car door and gave “Chi Mu” a sharp glare. “Get in.”

Her tone had done a full 180.

Chi Mu and Nie Yijun stared at each other.

Nie Yijun didn’t want to get in. She still had a meeting this afternoon. They couldn’t be separated like this—not in their current state.

Chi Mu did want to get in. Sure, she’d get scolded once they got home—but she was in pain, exhausted, and starving. She just wanted to lie down.

But how could they go their separate ways? Where was she supposed to go—Nie Yijun’s house?

Only problem: where the hell was Nie Yijun’s house?!