I Became the Female Lead’s Current Obsession - Chapter 39

Her whole body ached, like it was on the verge of being crushed—hovering right at the breaking point, but never quite breaking.

After washing her face in the bathroom, Jiang Qing wanted nothing more than a hot shower. Leaning against the wall, she debated for a while before finally checking her temperature.

38.6°C.

She could still shower.

Moving sluggishly, Jiang Qing finished bathing. She felt like a sponge—water had seeped into the cracks of her worn-down body, making her feel groggy and heavy.

The sound of water suddenly stopped. A vague flash of memory darted through her mind—something about a conversation with Hou Xue. But the content of it was a blur.

Her body was too sore to think clearly, so she gave up trying to recall it.

As for why she got sick—well, that didn’t take much thought.

Jiang Qing considered herself pretty good at staying warm recently. The only mistake was that one night, standing in the evening breeze, smoking a cigarette.

She sighed, frowning. Her body didn’t seem all that weak, but one gust of wind and she was down. A pampered young lady after all—clearly not built for hardship.

She glanced at her phone. 3:00 a.m.

Given her current condition, she should’ve been sleeping.

“You took a shower?” Hou Xue’s sudden voice startled her. She nearly dropped her phone.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Jiang Qing said awkwardly, shining her phone’s flashlight toward the bed.

Hou Xue was wearing a long nightgown, sitting curled up at the edge of the bed. Her ponytail was loose, giving her a soft, gentle appearance—but her delicate brows were furrowed.

“Aren’t you cold?” Hou Xue beckoned her over. “Come here.”

She lifted the blanket, revealing a small stretch of her bare thigh, pale under the dim light.

Jiang Qing had been moving around in the dark and had no idea when Hou Xue had woken up. Now the phone screen went dark, and only the moonlight from the window remained.

But Jiang Qing couldn’t deny it—she had feelings for Hou Xue.

Even in the faint light, her mind ran wild.

Her legs are really fair.

She swallowed hard as she reached the bed.

Luckily, it was dark enough to hide the look in her eyes. Otherwise, all the “big sister authority” she had worked so hard to build would’ve crumbled instantly.

Jiang Qing climbed back into bed.

Her throat tickled, and she gave a soft cough into her hand—immediately drawing Hou Xue’s attention.

“Are you okay? I’ll get you some water.”

Jiang Qing wasn’t used to ordering her beautiful stepsister around. She covered her mouth and said, “No need. Go back to sleep. There are only a few hours left.”

Hou Xue reluctantly lay back down—but this time, she faced Jiang Qing.

Feeling her gaze, Jiang Qing grew uneasy. “Maybe you should sleep a bit farther away. I don’t want to get you sick too.”

After a pause, Hou Xue replied softly, “Okay.”

She turned over, leaving behind only a faint, ambiguous silhouette.

As the feeling of being watched faded, Jiang Qing realized it hadn’t made her uncomfortable. She just wasn’t used to it.

After realizing she liked Hou Xue, her mindset had changed.

Whatever “category” she might fall into in Hou Xue’s mind, to Jiang Qing, their interactions were no longer just simple sisterly affection.

She was an adult—or at least her mind was.

She had adult desires. She’d simply never had someone she liked before, so she never felt any urges. But now the person she liked was right beside her.

Touch, conversation, longing…

Forget it.

Jiang Qing shut her eyes.

She was sick, after all. Better to focus on getting better than overthinking.

Half-asleep, she remembered how her mom used to scold her for overanalyzing everything. “You hear one sentence and imagine ten more,” her mom had said. “It’s exhausting. Try slowing your mind down. Look around you more—don’t let your thoughts carry you away until you miss everything.”

Jiang Qing didn’t take a sick day. Fever and all, she still went to school.

The teachers paid close attention to the Jiang family’s second daughter. It only took one class for them to notice something was wrong. They fussed over her and even tried to write her a sick note—but Jiang Qing politely declined.

To be honest, she was kind of enjoying it.

Her head hurt, her thoughts were slow, and everything felt like a blur—but it was oddly comforting.

She looked a little dazed and barely thought before doing anything all day. This worried Xu Miao, who thought Jiang Qing had fried her brain.

Jiang Qing just propped up her chin and smiled foolishly.

Hou Xue couldn’t do anything about her, so she treated her like fragile glass—caring, gentle, and endlessly accommodating.

Jiang Qing basked in the attention, feeling warm inside.

This is what school life for a transmigrator should feel like.

Having a stepsister is amazing.

“School’s out! Let’s eat!”

“Cafeteria 1 or Cafeteria 2?”

The bell rang, and the classroom exploded into chatter. The last class was chemistry, taught by a young and easy-going female teacher who never ran overtime.

Although Yangrui High traditionally didn’t have night classes, that was only for underclassmen. Now that they were seniors, things had changed—they had three mandatory evening sessions.

But due to Jiang Qing’s condition, the homeroom teacher gave her and Hou Xue special permission to skip.

With the slip in hand, Jiang Qing was led away by Hou Xue.

After all, Jiang Qing had said, “Nope, still dizzy, legs still weak. Better safe than sorry—hold my hand.”

Hou Xue, of course, obliged.

It was dinner time, and the hallway was busy. But no one spared a second glance at the two girls holding hands tightly.

Just two female students. Normal, right?

As long as they didn’t say anything weird like they had at the mall, no one would notice.

Girls could be close. Best friends. Sisters.

That’s probably how Hou Xue saw it too—she wasn’t shy or awkward about it at all.

In fact, thinking back, Hou Xue had always been bold with physical contact—hugs, hand-holding, cuddles. Completely normal among “sisters.”

Ah, the trouble of having a 24-year-old single soul…

Jiang Qing suddenly felt there was still distance between them—even though they were walking hand-in-hand, fingers intertwined.

Then, Hou Xue turned to glance at her.

“What are you looking at?” Jiang Qing’s head was swimming again—probably from overthinking.

Hou Xue replied casually, “Just wanted to look at you.”

Do normal sisters say stuff like that? Probably. Jiang Qing didn’t know—she’d never had siblings. She never thought much about it before, but now her thoughts were running wild.

She used to wonder whether Hou Xue was rejecting her closeness.

Now she wondered what kind of closeness Hou Xue wanted with her.

Too much thinking made her head hurt.

A cigarette would help right now.

That last one had felt good—just no more smoking on the balcony.

Time passed quickly.

Maybe it was because they were in senior year, but Jiang Qing felt like time was strapped to a rocket. The calendar pages flew by without pause.

Finally, she welcomed her first winter since transmigrating.

“I can’t believe it,” she said, amazed. “I feel like it was just summer—I was still wearing short sleeves! How is it winter already?”

“Senior year’s like that,” Xu Miao sighed. “Time’s tight, workload’s heavy. It won’t wait for anyone.”

Jiang Qing nodded in agreement.

She had been through senior year before, but it had been so long ago. All she remembered was everyone burying their heads in books from morning till night, non-stop, all the way to the college entrance exam.

High tension, no rest.

It was exhausting.

But here, the atmosphere wasn’t as suffocating as her past memory.

Most of the students here came from well-off families. Though they studied hard, they had resources. There was no desperate, do-or-die feeling like there was in a one-chance-only fight.

Still, this was Yangrui. The competition was fierce, and the increasing frequency of mock exams added a sense of urgency.

“What day is it today?” Jiang Qing asked Hou Xue.

“The nineteenth, I think.”

“November 19th?”

Hou Xue gave her a look. “It’s December already.”

“Wait—it’s almost Christmas?”

“You celebrate foreign holidays?” Xu Miao cut in.

Jiang Qing waved her hand. “Not really. It’s just that my dad told me there’s a dinner party on the 25th. I thought it was still far away—didn’t realize it’s coming up so soon.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. My dad mentioned it too. It’s the Wang family’s coming-of-age ceremony for their youngest son.”

The casual conversation between Jiang Qing and Xu Miao left the class monitor sitting nearby a bit stunned. She wasn’t from a wealthy family—her future depended on the college entrance exam.

It was the first time since sitting next to Xu Miao that she truly felt the distance between herself and them.

Her pen pressed harder against the paper. A swirl of vague emotions churned inside. Jiang Qing and Xu Miao kept chatting, but to her, their voices felt sharp—yet she couldn’t help but keep listening.

As if recalling something, she turned to sneak a glance at Hou Xue.

Hou Xue’s expression didn’t change.

She was writing, focused and meticulous, as if she hadn’t heard a word of the conversation.

The class monitor turned back and stared blankly at her test paper. After a moment, she got up and walked out the back door.

Jiang Qing was the first to notice. “Where’s the class monitor going? She didn’t say anything.”

“Probably the bathroom?”

The four of them had gotten along decently over the past few months—friends, more or less. Strictly speaking, three of them got along well. Hou Xue was still cold and quiet, except when it came to Jiang Qing.

“Maybe she’s just tired,” Hou Xue said—rarely commenting on anything related to the class monitor.

“I see…” Jiang Qing nodded thoughtfully.

Hou Xue didn’t say anything more. Her gaze lingered on the empty seat for two seconds before she returned to her work.

She had seen the girl’s little actions—understood her intentions.

Trying to find comfort in someone who shared her situation… but failing, which only deepened her inferiority complex.

But that was only natural.

She and that girl weren’t the same kind of person.

Neither were Xu Miao and Jiang Qing.

Hou Xue wouldn’t waste her attention on something so meaningless.

Jiang Qing was hers. They were from the same world, the same kind of people.

“Wow, it’s snowing!”

“It came out of nowhere—it’s so pretty!”

A few students trickled out into the hall, lifting their heads to admire the snow falling thickly outside.

Fluffy white flakes fluttered down like goose feathers. They melted on contact with the ground, but it wouldn’t be long before they blanketed everything.

Xu Miao finally set down the pen she hadn’t moved in ages and looked out the window.

“It’s pretty heavy, but probably won’t last long.”

Jiang Qing, on the other hand, hoped it would snow harder.

The Jiang family’s backyard was huge. If she didn’t build a snowman and start a snowball fight, it would be a waste of this winter snow.

And a waste of having siblings to share it with.