Love Rival Turned Lover - Chapter 15

First clash.

Neither won.

A draw.

From that day on, Qian Xun felt as if she had fallen straight into boiling water—because she practically had no privacy and no personal life left at all.

At school, Gongliang Bingyi and Ling Qiao’er followed her everywhere. Outside of school, the male lead and the female supporting character tailed her as well. And even when she finally returned to her rented apartment, those two would dawdle around until the middle of the night before leaving.

The only thing Qian Xun could be grateful for was that thanks to the male lead’s existence, the female supporting character no longer stayed overnight at her place.

Time slipped by, and soon it was the end of the month.

Very quickly, the final exams for the second semester of her sophomore year arrived.

The three consecutive days of testing had drained most students completely. When Qian Xun walked out of the classroom after the very last exam, even though she had walked through this corridor countless times, she still couldn’t help letting out a long breath.

She couldn’t help it—she had long forgotten most of the high school knowledge she had once learned. And maybe it was because, on the inside, she felt far older, but picking up high school textbooks again felt twice as exhausting. Even with the original body’s memories, none of it helped.

From the opposite teaching building, Gongliang Bingyi spotted Qian Xun from afar—her face filled with utter despair. Fully aware of his lover’s academic level, he shook his head and walked over with a sigh.

“How’d it go, Qian Xun?”

Qian Xun stared blankly at him and spat out one word with icy indifference: “Bad.”

Bad was an understatement. It was catastrophic.

Those ridiculous equation problems that looked like something out of an alien language—Qian Xun truly had no way to deal with any of them. Aside from Chinese and English, she was certain the rest of her grades were going to be abysmal.

“Oh? And you still have the nerve to say ‘bad’?” Gongliang Bingyi took the pencil case from her hand and tucked it into his own bag. Bending his index finger, he flicked her forehead. “Who told you to keep spacing out during class? And when I was tutoring you these past few days, you kept nodding off the moment you found a gap!”

Thinking of the tutoring sessions, Gongliang Bingyi felt both amused and exasperated.

This girl seemed to have a natural allergy to studying. No matter who was teaching, she slept through every lesson. During the week he tutored them, she always fell asleep halfway through.

Yes—them, not her.

Because he tutored Ling Qiao’er at the same time.

“You little piglet, always sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.” Gongliang Bingyi tapped her nose fondly. “Good thing I filled in the exam papers based on what I roughly predicted your score would be. Otherwise, we’d be separated next semester.”

“Hmph. Who’d believe that?”

Qian Xun snorted and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t everything up to you anyway?”

“Heh, true. Then tell me, does having such a capable boyfriend make you feel deeply proud?” He rubbed her soft, silky hair and sighed. “According to books, girls with soft hair tend to be very gentle, but why—”

“Why is Qian Xun the complete opposite—tsundere and stubborn?”

Don’t think I didn’t hear that jab.

Just as Qian Xun puffed up her cheeks, ready to fire back, a cool female voice cut in and perfectly slapped Gongliang Bingyi’s words back at him:

“Heh. They say men with thin lips are fickle and unfaithful. Does that mean you’re destined to abandon your partner someday?”

“Ling. Qiao. Er!”

A vein popped on Gongliang Bingyi’s forehead. He glared at the girl in the blazing red dress, vibrant and arrogant. “If you don’t speak, no one will mistake you for a mute.”

“Hah. So, you’re allowed to bully Qian Xun nonstop, but I’m not even allowed to speak?” Ling Qiao’er strode forward, pulling Qian Xun straight out of his reach. “What’s wrong with Qian Xun being tsundere and stubborn? If you don’t like it, then scram and go find that gentle and elegant fiancée of yours.”

“Ling Qiao’er, you!”

All the secrets he had been keeping from Qian Xun were suddenly exposed by Ling Qiao’er, and Gongliang Bingyi honestly felt like throttling her on the spot.

A rival in love, indeed.

From the very beginning, he should have eliminated the threat.

“Fiancée?” Qian Xun looked at Gongliang Bingyi in surprise. After all the twists and turns, nothing in the story seemed to have changed—so what was she supposed to do now?

“Qian Xun, don’t listen to Ling Qiao’er’s nonsense! I don’t have a fiancée!” Gongliang Bingyi’s expression turned anxious as he stared at her, desperate for her to believe him. “This was all decided suddenly by my parents; they never asked me. I only found out a few days ago—from Lu Yun, just now.”

Isn’t that ridiculous?

His own marriage, and he heard about it from a friend?

Sometimes, Gongliang Bingyi truly wanted to pry open the heads of his ‘silly’ parents just to see what kind of infatuation spell An Yu had cast on them—what made them like her more than their own son. It was absurd.

Qian Xun frowned at his words. “So, it’s real?”

“Qian Xun, listen—I honestly didn’t know,” Gongliang Bingyi said, anxious, trying to step closer. But unexpectedly, Qian Xun grabbed Ling Qiao’er’s hand and took a few steps back. Clearly, she didn’t want to be touched.

“Qian Xun.” His pupils contracted, his arm frozen mid-air, a deep, shadowed hurt flashing across his eyes.

“So cruel, Qian Xun.”

The boy’s lost and helpless expression made Qian Xun’s heart ache. She bit her lip and hesitated before saying, “It’s just, I really don’t like that you have a fiancée.”

Huh. Qian Xun was jealous?

Gongliang Bingyi, feeling the unexpected turn of events, struggled to suppress the joy and excitement bubbling in his chest. His eyes gleamed as he looked at her, almost ready to swear: “No problem. Give me a little time, Qian Xun. I promise, I’ll deal with this fiancée who shouldn’t exist—perfectly.”

Qian Xun nodded.

She had accepted his words.

Meanwhile, Ling Qiao’er glanced meaningfully at Gongliang Bingyi. Qian Xun hadn’t noticed, but Ling Qiao’er had clearly heard the deadly determination and ruthlessness in his tone. Hmph. Looks like An Yu was in for trouble. That was fitting—for a girl who had always been someone else’s child.

Ling Qiao’er had long disliked her.

“Unfortunately, Qian Xun, I’ll be leaving you for a while too,” Ling Qiao’er said. After nearly a month of living closely together, Qian Xun had worn down most of her rough edges. But what remained, hidden deep in her bones, would probably have no outlet for a long time.

“Huh?”

One by one, they were all leaving?

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back after the summer break.” Ling Qiao’er smiled gently at Qian Xun. She knew that even now, her efforts might be a little too late, but she truly wanted to become stronger, just a little stronger.