Dating Myself - Chapter 18

An Mu had bought an apartment just a five-minute bike ride from the Jian family’s neighborhood. She timed her departure and arrived at the gate just as the familiar car pulled over.

The car door opened, and Jian Yixi stepped out. Her white layered dress and long, straight hair were beautiful. When she saw An Mu, her lips moved as if to smile, but her expression remained rigid as she walked over.

An Mu met her halfway and handed her the phone, offering a rare smile. “It’s a little boring to ride to school alone. Do you want to ride together tomorrow morning?”

“I’m sorry… Huh?” Jian Yixi was stunned. The invitation made her feel better than any “it’s okay” or “don’t worry.” Her nose tingled, and she nodded vigorously. “Yes! Okay!”

The streetlight was behind An Mu, and the gate light was blocked by her, so Jian Yixi’s face was in the shadows. It was impossible to see her expression or the tears in her eyes. But An Mu didn’t need to see them to know she was crying. She was hurt, guilty, and helpless.

This is nothing compared to how I had to apologize to Jian Yihu after she slandered me in my last life. But the point isn’t how much pain I’m in. The point is, why should I have to put up with this family?

Yes! My sixteen-year-old self is stupid, naive, timid, and silly. I don’t even like her. But that’s my problem. It doesn’t give anyone the right to bully me!

An Mu thought she wouldn’t feel anything. After all, she had planned all of this. She knew this would happen. This small amount of hurt was just a warning for her sixteen-year-old self so she wouldn’t have to face the ugly truth without any preparation.

But when she saw her past self’s forced smile and then looked at Wen Qiaoyun in the driver’s seat and Jian Yihu in the back, who had rolled down the window just to give her a cold smirk, An Mu’s eyes went cold.

I can teach myself how to grow later. But these flies have to be taken care of now.

Even if she disliked her weak sixteen-year-old self, if she couldn’t stand up for herself, who would?

An Mu ruffled Jian Yixi’s hair. The soft strands felt cool and made her heart soften. “It’s a deal. 6:50 a.m. at your gate. Don’t be late.”

“I won’t be!”

“Good girl.”

An Mu ruffled her hair again before pulling her hand away. Jian Yixi subconsciously touched her head, feeling as if she had just been treated like a child.

The promise to ride with An Mu made Jian Yixi feel much better. She said goodbye and got back in the car. Before she was even fully seated, Jian Yihu reached out for her phone.

“Let me see what she did to it.”

Jian Yixi frowned, looked at her mother in the front, and handed the phone to Jian Yihu, saying with more force than she intended, “She didn’t do anything!”

Jian Yihu ignored her. She quickly went through the phone. The phone’s light was reflected in the car window, making it easy to see the screen. Jian Yihu opened the browser and searched for the school forum. Jian Yixi didn’t think much of it and turned to her mother.

“Mom, do we have a bike at home?”

“We have a mountain bike. Why?”

“I want to ride to school.”

Her mother glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She was already busy with work and stressed out about the scandal. She was in no mood to deal with her daughter’s problems. “We have a car, so why do you want to ride a bike? I gave you that phone, but did you ask me before you lent it to someone? Your sister and I came all this way to get it back, and now you’re throwing a tantrum?!”

Jian Yixi was shocked by her mother’s words. She leaned forward and said, “That’s not what I meant. I just…”

Jian Yihu, having finished with the phone, handed it back to Jian Yixi and feigned kindness. “Mom, don’t be mad at Xixi. She’s not trying to throw a tantrum. An Mu probably said something to her. Why else would she suddenly want to ride a bike?”

Her mother turned to her. “Did that girl tell you to ride a bike?”

“No,” Jian Yixi said without thinking. “I want to ride one. School isn’t far. It’s good exercise, and I can lose weight. I think it’s a great idea.”

Jian Yihu said, “Mom, just let her ride. She probably just got used to riding in that small town and isn’t used to riding in a car.”

Her mother turned the steering wheel impatiently. “Xixi, I’m not trying to be mean, but why would you ride a bike when we have a car? Besides, your sister will be in a car while you ride a bike. What will people think?”

Jian Yihu held Jian Yixi’s arm and said, “Xixi, Mom’s right. People will say she’s a bad mother if you do that. You have to consider her feelings.”

Her mother cut her off. “Enough. Tomorrow, you’ll ride with your sister. If you want to exercise, I’ll get you a gym membership.”

Jian Yixi opened her mouth, but the words got stuck. All the frustration she had been feeling came rushing back. She just wanted to ride a bike with her friend. Why did they have to make it so complicated?

I’m going to meet her tomorrow no matter what! If my family won’t give me a bike, I’ll just use An Mu’s!

When she got home, Jian Yixi went to her room to wash up and go to sleep. Jian Yihu also went to her room, but she wasn’t ready to sleep. She put on some makeup, turned off the lights, and opened a live-streaming app.

Her live stream didn’t have many viewers. Most of her fans from Weibo didn’t follow her on the app. Only a handful of people watched, but she still gave it her all.

“I was going to post on Weibo, but I don’t feel like writing, so I’ll just talk about what’s been happening recently.”

Jian Yihu told them the same story she had told Jian Yixi. She also said that Qin Yige had taken the blame because they were best friends. When she couldn’t get in touch with him, he had assumed that she was the one who had posted the comments and had tried to help her. She said she had thought that he was the one who had posted them out of a misunderstanding. They had both been too emotional to clear up the confusion.

She then said that she wanted to say something to the person who had framed her. “If I have offended you, I apologize. I can forgive you for framing me, but I can’t forgive you for dragging my sister into this. I will find the truth and give everyone an explanation.”

Jian Yihu was a good actress. As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks. Her viewers were moved. Her loyal fans who were invited to the stream explained the situation to the new viewers.

She ended the live stream by showing a picture of Jian Yixi’s report card.

“I didn’t want to talk about my sister’s grades, but given the situation, if I don’t speak up, people will continue to misunderstand me. My relationship with my sister means too much to me.”

The report card had five subjects: Chinese, math, English, humanities, and sciences. Her grades were all below 100, mostly in the 90s, with a humanities grade of 86.

Her fans commented:

“Her grades are so bad. How did she get 130+ in math? She must have cheated!”

“Her grades aren’t that terrible, but I don’t believe she could improve by forty points in one go.”

Jian Yihu pretended to wipe away her tears and said, “My sister isn’t like that. Maybe she just happened to get a test with all the questions she knew.”

After the live stream, she edited the video and posted it on Weibo with the report card.

#HumanTrafficking# I will not make malicious assumptions, but I will not stop until I find the truth. [Video link] @ShaonianQinLake; @oYanyuZhouo; @ChenHanIsMe; @lLinjiangBiel; #JianYihu#; #MostBeautifulSister#

[Picture of the front of the report card] [Picture of the back of the report card]

Qin Yige quickly posted a message to support her, confirming that he had tried to call her all night. He said he had been worried sick and had taken the blame for her.

Since it was late, most people were asleep. These two posts didn’t get much attention. Only her loyal fans and a few passersby commented, “Waiting for the results.” But it was a good start.

Jian Yihu lay in bed, holding her phone. The light from the screen made her face look pale and sinister.

Jian Yixi, don’t blame me for being so ruthless. Why did you have to try to steal my spotlight? You think you’re cuter than me? You think you’re smarter than me? Ha! Without me, you’d still be with those poor parents! You should be grateful.

You can take the blame for this. It’ll make up for the fact that I didn’t get a chance to take those pictures of you. If I had, people would be praising my body and I’d have a lot more followers.

The next morning, the classroom was a mess. There was more chattering than studying. It was the juiciest gossip they had ever heard, and they couldn’t help but talk about it. It was a heated debate between those who thought Jian Yihu was a liar and those who thought she was a victim.

Last night’s posts had worked, but only a small portion of people actually believed her. Most of them were the same people who valued looks over logic.

Class 2-1 was an elite class, so there wasn’t much talking during class. Most of the students were either studying or doing practice problems, but a few were still whispering and laughing.

“She says she doesn’t care what people online say, but then she immediately posts the report card. She’s so fake, and a bunch of idiots believe her. It’s disgusting.”

“I know, right? She’s clearly wearing makeup in the video. Who is she trying to fool with that tired look? Does she think she’s a goddess?”

“Shh! Be careful what you say. What if she clears her name?”

“No way! She can’t clear her name!”

“Don’t get into trouble. What if you’re wrong? Don’t you remember the senior from last semester who called her a liar? Her fans went after him, and he had to delete his account. When he was about to graduate, someone hit him in the back of the head.”

“Didn’t the police say that was a robbery?”

“Yeah, right! Who knows? Everyone knows she goes to this school. Her fans don’t even need to search for her to find her.”

The two girls got scared and looked at Jian Yihu, who was reading with red eyes. They didn’t say another word.

Qin Yige was also at school. He was doing his practice problems as if nothing had happened. He even had a slight smile on his face. When a student talked to him, he would smile.

An Mu watched them, then lowered her head and went back to reading.

It was a cloudy day. The sky was dark, and the lights in the classroom flickered. An electrician had to come and replace the light bulb during the break. A storm was coming, but it just wouldn’t rain. It wasn’t until the end of the second period that a flash of lightning suddenly appeared, followed by a loud thunder.

The break was canceled, and the students started playing in the classroom. Jian Yihu got a phone call and suddenly stood up.

“What?! The security cameras didn’t see anyone?! How is that possible?!”

Qin Yige walked over to her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Jian Yihu waved him off. Her voice was loud enough for many of the students to hear. The room became quiet. “Dad, what are you saying? How could it be Xixi? That’s impossible!”

“Even if the camera didn’t see anyone, maybe it was… something else. But I don’t believe it was Xixi!”

After hanging up, Qin Yige asked again, “What happened? What did your dad say?”

Jian Yihu shook her head, her face pale. “Don’t ask. It’s nothing.”

Qin Yige slammed his hand on the desk, his eyes full of anger. “It was your sister, wasn’t it?! Wasn’t it?!”

“Don’t… don’t say that.”

Even though she said not to, tears started to fall. The sound of her crying combined with the thunder made her look like a modern-day martyr.

Boom! The thunder got louder, and the clouds got darker. It was daytime, but it felt like nighttime. Under the pale classroom light, Qin Yige’s face was grim. He grabbed Jian Yihu’s arm and pulled her out of the room.

Jian Yihu tried to pull her arm away. “What are you doing? Where are you taking me?!”

“To find your sister!”

“Why do you want to find her?!”

Qin Yige turned around. A flash of lightning lit up his face. He said word for word, “I just thought of a way to find out the truth. Let’s live stream it.”

Jian Yihu shook her head frantically. “No, I’m not going!”

Qin Yige held on to her with one hand and took out his phone with the other. He opened the app and started a live stream. “If you won’t do it, I will.”

He turned the camera to Jian Yihu. “This live stream is for my fans. I’ll post the replay on Weibo later. Thanks to everyone who’s here right now. If the stream suddenly cuts off, it’s probably because of the storm.”

Qin Yige pulled Jian Yihu out of the classroom. The students, who loved gossip, followed them out, leaving the classroom half empty.

Qi Siying, An Mu’s classmate, also got up and followed them, but not before giving An Mu a nasty look. “Humph. Some people don’t know what’s good for them. They’ll be crying later!”

A flash of lightning exploded outside the window, revealing An Mu’s dark eyes. Qi Siying shivered, whether from the thunder or An Mu’s chilling stare.

The thunder got louder, and the lightning came one after another. A big storm was on its way.