After the Fake Heiress Died, She Was Filled with Regret - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Absurd Tang, The Ink-Soaked Yin

The gentle breeze once again lightly blew the girl’s words over, once again tempting Xia Shinan.

That’s right… what is there to be afraid of? If other girls can do it, so can she!

Xia Shinan nodded with determined eyes, recalling the girl’s actions as she climbed down, and tried to turn around.

“Yes, move your left foot down a bit, and you’ll be able to step on the brick,” the girl looked at her and reminded her.

Xia Shinan’s voice trembled. She was too scared to distinguish between left and right: “Left foot, which one is it? This one?”

The girl: “Yes, extend it down a bit, and you’ll step on it.”

Xia Shinan lowered her head, and after a few tentative steps, her foot finally landed firmly. Then, she continued…

“Who’s there! Which college are you students from?” A man’s voice suddenly rang out from outside the wall.

Xia Shinan was startled. Her feet slipped, and she lost her balance, tumbling downwards.

“Ah!”

Will I fall to my death? Or break my leg…

If I die without marrying Lin Yu, it doesn’t sound so bad…

Unfortunately, Heaven did not hear her prayer, or perhaps it still had mercy on her. The girl caught her, and the two of them tumbled to the ground together.

“Ah…”

“…Hiss”

Xia Shinan opened her eyes and found herself lying on top of the girl. She even heard the girl’s muffled groan.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

She anxiously asked while checking if the girl was injured, “Say something!”

The girl closed her eyes in pain, took several deep breaths, and then managed to speak with difficulty: “You’re pressing on my chest. I can’t breathe.”

Xia Shinan froze, realizing that her left hand was indeed resting on the other person’s chest. She was extremely embarrassed and quickly withdrew her hand and climbed up.

“I’m sorry… is your chest alright?” Her face crumpled, feeling especially apologetic for her recklessness.

The girl glanced at her, slowly stood up, and brushed the dust off her clothes. “It’s fine. It’s nothing serious. How about you?”

Xia Shinan looked at her and shook her head, “I’m fine too.”

The girl looked at her timid appearance and smiled brightly. The next second, she grabbed Xia Shinan’s hand, “Since we’re fine, let’s run.”

Run?!

Xia Shinan hadn’t even reacted before the girl pulled her out of the patch of bushes and ran towards the crowded area.

The wind whistled past her cheeks. Cherry blossom petals swayed with the wind. The girl ran, holding her hand, occasionally looking back at her with a wild and unrestrained smile. Xia Shinan couldn’t tell if her heart was pounding because she was running too fast or because of the girl in front of her.

“Alright, the security guard won’t catch up now.” The girl gently panted, looked at the somewhat dazed Xia Shinan, and snapped her fingers in front of her eyes.

Xia Shinan regained her composure. She looked around. They had run near the cafeteria, and there were many people buying late-night snacks, so it was safe.

“Thank you. What’s your name?”

The girl put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and assessed Xia Shinan.

The good girl’s pink Chanel-style dress was now dirty, and her white leather shoes were also stained with mud, making her look like a princess in distress.

“Tang Yin,” she slowly replied, “My name is Tang Yin.”

“Tang Ying?” Xia Shinan repeated.

Tang Yin explained: “Tang as in ‘absurd’ (huāng táng), Yin as in ‘ink-soaked’ (yīn mò).”

Xia Shinan nodded: “Okay! I remember it! My name is Xia Shinan (Summer, Time, Year). You have to think of me every summer! Isn’t that easy to remember?”

Tang Yin softly repeated her name: “Xia Shinan. Hmm, very easy to remember.”

Having exchanged names, Xia Shinan was very happy, “Tang Yin, you’re so amazing!”

Tang Yin looked up at her, “Amazing at what?”

“Climbing the wall! Tang Yin, you’re amazing at climbing the wall!” Xia Shinan smiled at her: “It’s my first time climbing a wall! I definitely couldn’t have done it without you, and I was lucky you caught me when I fell later.”

Tang Yin raised an eyebrow, “The school is being neurotic with the curfew. Many students who can’t get out climb the wall here because it’s close to the dorms. Didn’t you know?”

After she finished, she felt she shouldn’t have asked. Of course, the good girl wouldn’t know.

Xia Shinan smiled and shook her head, her eyes curved like a crescent moon: “First time hearing about it, but it’s not too late to know now!”

She speaks as if she’ll keep climbing walls in the future… Tang Yin glanced at Xia Shinan and pointed at her hair, “Your hair is a mess.”

“Oh!” Xia Shinan gasped and started smoothing her hair with her hands.

A rich young lady. What’s the big deal about not being able to return? Why bother climbing the wall and getting so messy?

“It’s so late, why did you have to come back to school?” Tang Yin couldn’t help but ask.

Xia Shinan replied while fixing her hair: “It’s my roommate’s birthday. I wanted to come back to blow out the candles together.”

I see… Tang Yin nodded, not intending to talk further, and turned to leave.

“Well… I’m going back now. Goodbye.”

“Wait…” Xia Shinan put down her hand, wanting to talk to her more, but she didn’t seem to know what to say. Looking at Tang Yin’s retreating figure, she whispered, “Thank you… Tang Yin.”

There was still half an hour until the dorm doors locked. It would only take five minutes to get back to the dorm, leaving plenty of time to blow out the cake with her roommate.

Xia Shinan felt cheerful and walked back slowly. Her roommates didn’t know she was back yet. A surprise would be nice. She had even sneaked out to buy a birthday present while Mrs. Lin was trying on bags.

Her dorm was the first room on the third floor. Just as Xia Shinan reached the door, she heard voices coming from the not-quite-closed door. She walked softly, but the smile on her face gradually disappeared after hearing the contents of the conversation inside.

“Do you think Xia Shinan is coming back or not?” It was Miao Miao’s voice, the birthday girl.

“Hard to say… it’s already this late. She probably won’t come back.”

“Let’s not wait then. It doesn’t really matter if she comes or not. Don’t worry, she’ll give you your present. Wonder what good thing it will be…”

“Oh, I don’t need any gift, really. Don’t make me sound so greedy, but I do look forward to it a little bit. Tingting, for your last birthday, didn’t she give you concert tickets to your favorite idol?”

“Yeah! Front row too! But I didn’t go. I sold them for a lot of money.”

“Wow! That’s awful, hahaha. Selling a gift.”

“Those tickets were expensive for me, okay? I’m not stupid. That’s money! To Xia Shinan, it’s just a number. She probably just tossed them my way, anyway. It’s not like Xia Shinan knows…”

“So what if she knows? Would someone with her personality actually confront you?”

“Right, she’d probably just cry silently… Don’t you think Xia Shinan is just an empty-headed good girl? Her mom tells her to go east, she goes east. Tells her to go west, she goes west. She’s like a puppet, constantly talking about going home, but her family won’t allow it…”

“Exactly! I’m so annoyed, you know? If I wasn’t thinking about her money, and how she treats us to good food and drinks, I wouldn’t bother to suck up to her…”

“Who isn’t? The bag she carries costs tens of thousands. So what if she’s rich? It’s all because of her parents. Without that family, she’s nothing.”

“That’s not entirely true. She’s pretty! Qu Bo, the campus heartthrob in our department, likes her and can’t get her, right?”

“That just means Qu Bo is blind…”

“Hey, is the door not closed properly? Who was the last one in?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go close the door.”

“You came all this way just to stare into space? Can you say something?” A girl in blue pajamas, holding two bottles of yogurt, walked over to the balcony and handed one to Xia Shinan. “Fighting with your roommates is no big deal. If you really can’t stand it, apply to change dorms. Our dorm happens to have an empty bed.”

Xia Shinan looked up at the girl with a wronged expression, “Little Feather, I’m sorry for bothering your rest late at night. I might have to sleep here tonight.”

“What’s our relationship? If you feel uncomfortable sleeping here, I’ll take you out to a hotel.” Qian Yu worried about her friend, “What exactly happened?”

Xia Shinan recalled the conversation she overheard at the dorm door and slowly recounted it to Qian Yu. But strangely, repeating it now, she didn’t feel as sad as she did earlier.

“Actually, I know that roommates aren’t necessarily close friends, but… but I never thought they would talk about me like that behind my back. I thought that at least their impression of me wasn’t too bad.”

“And those concert tickets… I really didn’t just toss them away casually.”

“I know!” Qian Yu ground her teeth, “You even asked me to buy those tickets! Your roommate actually wasted your kind gesture like that! That’s outrageous!”

“Shinan, I’m not criticizing you, but your personality is too good, isn’t it? If I were you, I’d rush in there and yell at them, making sure they don’t enjoy their birthday.”

Qian Yu was so angry that she stomped her foot, which actually made Xia Shinan laugh.

“I thought about it, but it’s just me against the three of them. I’m outnumbered… Besides, now that I know, I just won’t be so nice to them in the future. That’s enough, right?”

Although she said this, the dejection on Xia Shinan’s face was not misleading.

Qian Yu sighed, looking at her friend. The two of them were childhood friends, but their personalities were worlds apart. Her own dad had said that the Xia family next door was outwardly magnificent but inwardly rotten, not good people. The most pitiful one was Xia Shinan, who was raised to have such a gentle and weak personality by her parents.

“So, what are you going to do? Change dorms or move out?”

Xia Shinan shook her head, “I’ll make do. It’s only one more year anyway. After graduation, everyone goes their separate ways. There’s no need to completely tear things apart now. I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.”

“Ah…” Qian Yu pouted. This was indeed Xia Shinan’s style—extremely tolerant, a Ninja Turtle.

“It’s okay! You’re my only best friend!” Xia Shinan smiled, “Your place in my heart is irreplaceable!”

Qian Yu was exasperated and laughed. Xia Shinan was the one who was hurt, yet she was the one being comforted.

“Fine! Then don’t be unhappy anymore. Tomorrow, we’ll go out to eat something delicious. I recently found a private kitchen with incredibly good food!”

“Okay!” Xia Shinan nodded with a smile and started talking to Qian Yu about other things, from participating in the competition in Hong Kong to climbing the wall to return to school…

“So you intentionally lost the piano competition to the first-place winner?”

Xia Shinan nodded, “The first-place winner is very good too! It’s just that I… intentionally played one beat too slowly.” If she had won first place, Xie Wan would have held a celebration banquet for her, and there would be no friends there, only those wealthy aunts and uncles, and the fawning relatives and friends. Xia Shinan didn’t like it.

“Your mother… I won’t comment.” Qian Yu looked awkward, “I’m scared when I see her.”

Xia Shinan smiled faintly. Who wasn’t?

Qian Yu suddenly reacted: “Wait, you said someone helped you climb the wall to get back to school today?”

“Mhm!” Xia Shinan brightened up at the mention of this, “It was a girl! She was really amazing, like she could fly. She practically lifted me up there! She has incredible strength!”

Qian Yu put on a proud look, My girl is finally growing up: “Not bad. Our Shinan has finally grown up and done something I did when I was ten!”

Xia Shinan: …

She looked at the streetlights outside the window and thought of the girl from the evening, Tang Yin…

“Tang as in ‘absurd’ (huāng táng), Yin as in ‘ink-soaked’ (yīn mò).”

Xia Shinan whispered, hearing someone explain their name in this way for the first time—absurd.

I wonder if I’ll ever see her again? How can I see her again?

Should I climb the wall one more time?

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