After the Fake Heiress Died, She Was Filled with Regret - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Her Ears Suddenly Flushed Red

Xia Shinan took a long time to recover in her room before her emotions slowly stabilized. She went to the room’s bathroom, washed her face, and changed into a clean set of clothes.

Looking at herself in the mirror, the area on her face where her mother had hit her was particularly noticeable, red and her mouth was slightly swollen… Her eyes were probably from crying heavily, bloodshot, and still aching.

Xia Shinan touched her cheek, and the pain made her hiss. She was very worried about whether it would recover by tomorrow.

“Miss, Madam is asking if you’ve changed your clothes? Lunch is ready,” Aunt Zhang knocked on the door upstairs and said softly.

“Okay,” Xia Shinan responded, opening the door with that face. Aunt Zhang was still standing by the door, and seeing Xia Shinan’s face, a hint of distress appeared in her eyes.

She had worked in the Xia family for more than ten years and had watched Xia Shinan grow up. If she had such a sweet and sensible daughter, she would cherish her like a treasure, but Madam was too much.

Aunt Zhang sighed: “Miss, just try to agree with Madam a bit and don’t make her angry.”

“Mhm.” Xia Shinan nodded, then slowly walked downstairs.

Xie Wan sat at the head of the dining table, casually flipping through some documents. Hearing the footsteps, she looked up and paused when she saw Xia Shinan’s face. She clearly hadn’t expected her slap to be this severe.

When Xia Shinan sat down, she put down the documents, “Does it hurt?”

Xia Shinan nodded, saying softly: “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

It actually still hurt a lot, but she knew what her mother wanted to hear was that it didn’t hurt.

Xie Wan was indeed satisfied with this answer and nodded, showing a slight smile. She even personally served her daughter some food.

“This was specially made. Your favorite beef brisket with potatoes. Eat more.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

Xia Shinan picked up her chopsticks and ate a little. All the dishes on the table were her favorites, but she really wasn’t in the mood to enjoy the meal, and it felt like chewing on wax.

The atmosphere between mother and daughter remained awkward until the end.

Xie Wan sipped her soup, wiped her mouth with a silk scarf, and then slowly spoke.

“You should be grateful that your father is on a business trip in Europe and won’t be back until next week, or else he would only be angrier if he found out.”

Xia Shinan put down her chopsticks, her hands instinctively resting on her lap, her head bowed.

Xie Wan continued: “But don’t worry, Li Ran has already gone to the school, and everything has been handled.”

Xia Shinan was a little confused. What did “handled” mean?

Looking at her daughter’s seemingly naive appearance, Xie Wan slightly frowned, as if to say: How could I have such a weak daughter?

Her tone was cold: “That boy, I’ve already made him voluntarily withdraw from school. Whether he studies abroad or transfers now is up to his own wishes.”

Withdraw from school?

Xia Shinan’s eyes widened. Qu Bo’s public confession and his words were certainly uncomfortable, but making him withdraw from school… wasn’t that too severe?

Xie Wan met Xia Shinan’s surprised gaze, “If I didn’t handle it this way, how would I explain it to Mrs. Lin? What if the Lin family mistakenly thinks you actually have something going on with that boy, then what?”

“You can’t handle things yourself, so you can only let me play the villain.”

Xia Shinan tightly gripped her hand. She was still thinking of pleading when Xie Wan continued.

“However, that boy did mention another thing. Your roommate seemed to have helped a lot. He promised to give your roommate twenty thousand yuan once the deed was done.” Xie Wan sneered, her tone mocking: “Xia Shinan, are you only worth twenty thousand yuan?”

Xia Shinan stared blankly at Xie Wan. So Miao Miao betrayed her just for twenty thousand yuan?

The gifts she had given Miao Miao and the treats she had paid for over the past three years were worth more than twenty thousand.

“I told you from the start to stay away from those poor friends in college. Do you understand now?”

“Shinan, it’s time for you to grow up. Those people lurking in the gutters, thinking about how to scheme against you, are the most terrifying.”

Xia Shinan had a bad feeling, looking at Xie Wan: “Mom, what are you going to do? Are you going to make Miao Miao withdraw from school too?”

Xie Wan smiled gently, like a kind and gentle noblewoman.

“Mom is not the kind of person to cut off all possibilities. She will continue her studies. It’s just a coincidence that her parents happen to work at one of our branch companies.”

“It wouldn’t be right for the parents to live on a salary from the Xia family while the daughter tries to use you as a cash cow, would it?” Xie Wan stood up and walked up to Xia Shinan, gently stroking her hair, “I just need to find a reason to let her parents go.”

Xie Wan’s steps were light as she walked towards the bedroom, but each step felt like a heavy stomp on Xia Shinan’s heart.

Xia Shinan leaned back against the chair, turning around to look at Xie Wan’s back, and finally couldn’t help but say:

“But doing that is going too far!”

Using power to oppress others—that’s not right either!

Qu Bo’s confession embarrassed her, but she only intended to scold him and let it go. Miao Miao lied to her for twenty thousand yuan, but she thought that at most, they would just confront each other, stop being friends, and she would move out.

Perhaps that was too forgiving, but was her mother’s way necessarily right?

Xie Wan stopped, turned her face to glance at Xia Shinan, her eyes cold. “Being my daughter for twenty years, and you’re still so useless.”

Then, she didn’t look back and went upstairs to her room.

Xia Shinan remained in the same posture, but her expression had changed significantly.

Because I’m useless, Mom dislikes me so much.

If only… I wasn’t her daughter.

In the last semester of junior year, professional courses were clustered in the mornings. Everyone was listless during class, but after class, they seemed to wake up, clamoring to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

Tang Yin walked out of the teaching building while opening her phone.

Xia Shinan hadn’t been back to school for a few days. Their chat history stopped the day before yesterday, when she had said she would be back in a couple of days.

A couple of days—is that today?

Tang Yin opened the chat box, hesitating whether to ask, when someone patted her shoulder.

“Sister Yin!”

It was Chen Li, who worked part-time at the BBQ restaurant with her.

“What a coincidence, you’re also taking classes in Building A!”

“Mhm.” Tang Yin put her phone away and responded casually.

Chen Li’s eyes darted around, and she said: “Sister Yin, are you going to the cafeteria for lunch? Let’s go together. My treat.”

Tang Yin glanced at Chen Li. Offering kindness for no reason means something is amiss.

But they still went to the cafeteria together along the way.

Chen Li pulled Tang Yin to the second floor, which had fewer people. After ordering rice noodles, they found a place to sit.

The two sat facing each other. Tang Yin, while sprinkling a large spoon of chili oil, looked at Chen Li: “Spit it out, what is it?”

Chen Li gave an awkward laugh, slurped a couple of mouthfuls of rice noodles, got burned, and quickly put down her chopsticks, saying cautiously: “Well… I heard there’s a microfilm competition at our school, and you’re participating. Could you do me a favor and get my boyfriend a role in it?”

Tang Yin frowned at Chen Li, her eyes full of disbelief.

“Chen Li, do you think I’m that powerful? A whole film club lets me call the shots? Do you think I’m the president or the investor? My recommendation is useless!”

“You never know if it’s useful, but we can try, right?” Chen Li smiled at her. “You’ve met my boyfriend, Wu Bin, the one who picked me up from work that one time.”

Tang Yin put down her chopsticks, leaned back in her chair, and folded her arms across her chest, “Oh… that one?”

Chen Li nodded: “I’ll send you his photo. Can you just send the photo to the president? He’s so handsome, he’ll definitely be selected.”

Tang Yin couldn’t help but laugh, “Does that shifty-eyed look of his count as handsome? Chen Li, has someone put a spell on you? No one else would want that boyfriend of yours, but you treat him like a treasure.”

“If he’s really handsome, why hasn’t any talent scout found him?”

Chen Li was offended, “Why hasn’t anyone? He’s already auditioning for models! He just wants more opportunities…”

Tang Yin couldn’t listen anymore and covered her ears, “Chen Li, if you’re having a love-struck moment, go back to your dorm. Don’t flaunt it in front of me. I hate being around people who are love-struck.”

Saying that, she pulled out her phone and transferred the money for the bowl of rice noodles to her.

“I’ve paid the money. I don’t owe you a favor.”

She stood up, taking her rice noodles to the vendor, asking the boss to pack it up.

Suddenly, she heard a soft, sweet voice.

“What do you want to eat? Rice noodles or fried rice?”

“Um… either is fine. I’m not hungry, so just choose whatever…”

Tang Yin turned her head and bumped right into Xia Shinan, who was walking over.

Xia Shinan was wearing a light blue cinched-waist dress, her long hair tied in a low ponytail, making her elegant and beautiful face look like water and the moon.

But after a few days apart, did she look thinner?

“Tang Yin!” Xia Shinan hadn’t expected to run into Tang Yin. Her eyes lit up with joy, and she greeted her enthusiastically.

Tang Yin glanced at the curly-haired girl beside her, smiling faintly: “Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”

Xia Shinan touched her ear, embarrassed: “I just got back to school and haven’t had time to tell everyone… Oh, right, this is my good friend, Qian Yu!”

Qian Yu looked at Tang Yin curiously. She felt a sense of familiarity but couldn’t quite place it, so she greeted her first: “Hello. I’m Xia Shinan’s childhood friend.”

Childhood friend… Tang Yin smiled and nodded: “I’ve heard of you. I’m Tang Yin, filming the microfilm with Xia Shinan.”

The boss handed over the packed rice noodles. Tang Yin took it and shook it, “You two take your time eating. I’m heading back to the dorm.”

“Oh…” Xia Shinan paused, then remembered something, “Oh, right, the president said we’re taking promotional photos tomorrow afternoon. Do you know about that?”

“Yes, see you tomorrow.” Tang Yin finished the brief sentence and left the cafeteria.

“See you tomorrow…”

Xia Shinan felt a little reluctant. Why did Tang Yin’s tone sound so flat? What was wrong with her?

Qian Yu tugged her wrist, “What are you talking about? What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s go with these rice noodles then,” Xia Shinan looked up. Tang Yin’s taste shouldn’t be bad.

The cafeteria was getting crowded. The two carried their rice noodles and found a seat. Only then did Qian Yu speak: “I have to say, your mom’s move this time was truly impressive. Early the next morning, all the posts about the confession on the school forum, Weibo, and everywhere else disappeared. I really admire that.”

Xia Shinan nodded slightly, “But… I think she went too far.”

Qian Yu frowned, “I initially thought your mom might have been too angry and just wanted to protect her precious daughter, but then I saw your face…”

She only returned to school the next day and found out about the big incident. She immediately went to the Xia family to see Xia Shinan. She was shocked when she saw her red and swollen face.

Xie Wan had requested three days off for Xia Shinan, saying she needed a change of scenery before returning. But Xia Shinan knew clearly that it was because the red marks on her face wouldn’t fade. If she went out and people knew she had been hit, Xie Wan’s reputation for being virtuous and dignified would be ruined.

But she hadn’t expected Qian Yu to also take time off to accompany her, which was why they were both returning to school today.

Qian Yu couldn’t understand it. If Xie Wan didn’t love her daughter, this mother quickly pressured the school to deal with the matter. If she did love her daughter, why the hitting and yelling?

Xia Shinan saw through it clearly and said softly: “She was worried this incident would affect the Xia family’s reputation and my engagement with the Lin family.”

Qian Yu felt sorry for her good friend, “Does your face still hurt?”

Xia Shinan shook her head and smiled: “It doesn’t hurt anymore! You can’t even tell after I put on makeup, right?”

“True.” Qian Yu comforted Xia Shinan: “But think about the happy things. You won’t have to live in that dorm anymore, and you’ll have much more freedom living alone.”

“Mhm…”

Although she hadn’t been back to school for these three days, Xie Wan had already arranged for all her belongings to be moved out of the dorm and had the school arrange an empty dorm for her to live in alone.

“If you’re scared of living alone, I’ll move in with you.”

“No need, I can manage on my own,” Xia Shinan said softly, though she was worried about whether her classmates would look at her strangely.

Qian Yu nodded. She wanted Xia Shinan to be happier and quickly changed the subject, “By the way, that dark-skinned girl just now, is she the lead character in the microfilm with you? She looks quite unique!”

Upon mentioning Tang Yin, Xia Shinan naturally smiled: “Mhm! Her name is Tang Yin. Isn’t she pretty? And we have quite a fate!”

“How so?”

Xia Shinan smiled, first telling Qian Yu that Tang Yin was the wall-climbing heroine.

Qian Yu rubbed her chin: “I knew she looked familiar. I must have seen her at the BBQ restaurant, but I didn’t recognize her because she was wearing a mask then.”

Xia Shinan giggled, “And that night, she was the one who helped me out and scolded Qu Bo!”

Qian Yu “Woah-ed” and said, “We must treat her to a meal next time and thank her properly. The promotional photos are tomorrow, right? I’ll go watch too!”

“Okay!”

The next day quickly arrived. With no classes in the afternoon, Xia Shinan and Qian Yu met up, bought milk tea and coffee, and headed to the agreed-upon shooting location—the library.

As Xia Shinan reached the back entrance of the library, she saw Duan Xiaofei with a camera around her neck, whispering to Weiba. Hearing footsteps, Duan Xiaofei looked up, saw Xia Shinan, and quickly waved.

“Shinan!”

“President! Weiba! I brought you coffee!”

Duan Xiaofei smiled, taking the coffee, “The lead actress and the boss bought me coffee. This is too kind of you…”

The lead actress naturally referred to Xia Shinan, and the boss referred to Qian Yu. After all, a large portion of the sponsorship for this competition came from Qian Yu’s family.

“No problem! Actually, I feel bad for delaying the shoot since I haven’t been at school these past few days, so this coffee is my apology,” Xia Shinan explained.

“We know you had things to do. It’s okay.”

Duan Xiaofei then “tsk-ed” and said, “Qu Bo is such an overly confident man! He’s not handsome at all! ‘Campus Stud,’ more like ‘Cockroach’… He deserves to be warned by the school. I heard he feels embarrassed and plans to study abroad. Shinan, don’t feel burdened; he got what he deserved.”

Weiba: “Exactly! It’s a good thing the school deleted those posts online. Don’t worry about others’ gossip.”

Xia Shinan listened to their comfort and smiled faintly bitterly. It was a pity they didn’t know the deletion of posts and the withdrawal from school were her mother’s doing.

“Let’s not talk about those things,” Qian Yu quickly interrupted. “Shinan, hurry up and change your clothes!”

Duan Xiaofei also realized and quickly handed the clothes to Xia Shinan: “Yes, yes, yes. The restroom is inside. You can use either of the two.”

“Okay.” Xia Shinan took the clothes and walked into the restroom.

This restroom was in a corner and rarely used. It was suitable for changing clothes for the shoot. The women’s restroom had two stalls. Xia Shinan walked in and pushed the first door but found it wouldn’t open. She then went to the second stall.

The door was unlocked. She pushed it open immediately, but… someone was inside.

Xia Shinan froze in place, her eyes wide, her mouth opening in surprise.

Before her was Tang Yin. Her lower body was covered in black-and-white striped sweatpants, and her upper body… only had a plain white bra.

“I’m so sorry!” Xia Shinan exclaimed, immediately closing the door.

Tang Yin looked at Xia Shinan, who had appeared out of nowhere and then mysteriously disappeared. She looked down at her upper body, and her ears suddenly flushed red.

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