Forced into a Secret Marriage with the Villain, We Now Have a Child - Chapter 26

The two walked in silence. Jian Chun’s shoes were soaking through as she stepped into puddles. She turned and asked loudly over the rain, “Where’s your girl Feifei?”

Because they were close together, the volume of her voice made Yu Siyi’s eardrums ring. Yu Siyi winced and rubbed her ear, choosing not to answer. They were barely more than acquaintances, after all; she owed Jian Chun no explanation.

Suddenly, Yu Siyi felt a cold trickle down the back of her legs. Rain. Her hair was only shoulder-length, and droplets were finding their way under the umbrella, chilling her scalp. Worse yet, her hair got snagged in the metal catch of the umbrella frame.

She reached up to untangle herself, her face twitching slightly with annoyance. She truly regretted accepting this shared umbrella. Looking at Jian Chun, she realized the girl had no idea how to hold a parasol for two people. Jian Chun held the handle resting on her shoulder, tilting the canopy so that one side was high and the other low. While Yu Siyi was “protected” from above, the low side was funneling a waterfall directly onto her legs.

Jian Chun, meanwhile, was lost in thought. Should I drop her at the bus station? Does she even know how to use a bus card? Does she know the name of her stop? She couldn’t recall ever seeing Yu Siyi take the bus; she was always with Zhu Feifei.

Lost in her daydreams, Jian Chun felt a warm touch on the back of her hand—a fleeting contact. Before she could react, Yu Siyi gripped the handle and took control of the umbrella.

“??” Jian Chun looked at her, confused. Yu Siyi just stared straight ahead, holding the umbrella perfectly level for both of them.

They reached the station in silence. Jian Chun wanted to say something—maybe a joke about borrowing homework—but the bus arrived, splashing through the mist. It was her route.

Jian Chun looked at Yu Siyi, who returned a cool, somewhat puzzled gaze. The words “give me back my umbrella” died in Jian Chun’s throat. Whatever, she thought. It’s just an umbrella. She’s given me plenty of things in the ‘past’ anyway.

As the bus doors opened, Jian Chun dashed inside with the agility of a martial arts master. She swiped her card and sat down, smoothing back her damp hair. She wiped the foggy window and looked out at Yu Siyi standing in the shadows. Well, I got her this far. If she doesn’t know how to get home, that’s on her.

Under the station awning, Yu Siyi watched the bus pull away. In her mind, Jian Chun remained a “fascinating” variable. Most people tried to impress her with elegance; Jian Chun tried to impress her by looking like a drowned rat wiping a bus window.

Her phone rang. It was the driver. She had ignored his previous calls while walking with Jian Chun. “I’m at the station outside the school,” she said.

“Miss Siyi, please wait. I’m still at the teaching building,” the driver said breathlessly.

“It’s fine. Don’t rush.” She hung up.

The Morning After

Jian Chun woke up late after a night of terrifying dreams. In her sleep, a “drowned” version of Yu Siyi had haunted her like a vengeful ghost from a horror movie.

At breakfast, she dealt with her stepmother Yan Shan and her arrogant younger brother, Jian Yanmin. Seeking to secure her National Day holiday, she called her father, Jian Fanghua.

“Dad, are you coming back for National Day?”

“No, I’m busy at the site.”

“Oh. Mom wanted me to bring my brother to visit you, but I have three days of holiday and tons of homework. I should probably stay home and study.”

Jian Fanghua, hearing his daughter wanted to study, immediately agreed. “Tell your mother not to run around. It’s crowded everywhere during the holidays. Stay home.”

Jian Chun smiled. Their interests were perfectly aligned. “If I do well on my exams, do I get a reward?”

“Depends on how well you do,” her father replied.

The Classroom Shock

Back at school, the atmosphere was tense. It was the last day before the holiday, and the teachers had been grading mock exams at lightning speed.

Jian Chun arrived and threw her bag down. Suddenly, someone blocked her light. She expected Jing Ge, but when she looked up, her eyes widened. So did everyone else’s.

Yu Siyi was standing by her desk, holding out a long, dark object. An umbrella.

The classroom buzzed. Did Yu Siyi just give Jian Chun a gift? Wait, is that a rejection? Like ‘we’re done, so take your stuff and go’?

“Your umbrella,” Yu Siyi said.

“Oh.” Jian Chun took it, her fingers brushing Yu Siyi’s pale, almost translucent hand. She felt a strange reluctance to take it back. That cost me forty yuan, she reminded herself.

The first period was English. Ms. Feng, a stylish older woman with blonde curls and a red dress, enjoyed announcing scores publicly.

“Zhu Feifei, 135.” “…” “Yu Siyi, 150.”

The class went silent. A perfect score. Yu Siyi was, as always, an “exam machine.”

Ms. Feng paused. The students thought she was done. Then she spoke again. “Jian Chun, 110.”

The room remained quiet for a second. 110? That wasn’t a bad score, but it wasn’t amazing either. The test was easy; anyone who usually passed could hit 110.

…Wait. Who got 110?

Heads turned as Jian Chun stood up and walked toward the podium. The realization hit them like a freight train. Jian Chun—the girl who usually hovered between 60 and 70 points—had just scored 110.