My Idol Turns Out To Be My Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 4

“If you’re really afraid of troubling people, then don’t go to bars anymore. You’re about to take the college entrance exams, right? You should focus on your studies. Does it make sense to drink yourself into that state? There are many bad people in bars. If something really happens, you won’t be able to go to university in the future.”

Qiao Lian (Chow Lee-en) suddenly burst out laughing.

Lin Sanyuan (Lin San-ywen) pulled a long face, “What are you laughing at?”

Qiao Lian crouched in front of the sofa, hugging her knees, her lips curling slightly, “The way you nag, you sound just like my mom,”

Lin Sanyuan rolled her eyes in annoyance, “If I were your mother, seeing you like this, I’d definitely beat you to death with a clothes hanger.”

Qiao Lian slumped her shoulders and smiled, “If someone could actually look after me like that, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

She reached out to ruffle Lin Sanyuan’s hair, her smile strangely indulgent, “What grade are you in, junior? I’ve delayed your classes today, I can help you catch up with some tutoring.”

She had mentioned the college entrance exams, which meant she knew Qiao Lian was a senior this year. Qiao Lian was somewhat “famous” at school, and plenty of people recognized her. This junior was just a bit eccentric, acting like an old soul.

Lin Sanyuan brushed her hand away, indignantly pulling out her ID card, “Who’s your junior? I’m twenty four this year! A certified member of society! Show some respect, kid.”

“Twenty four?” Qiao Lian glanced at the name on the ID.

Lin Sanyuan.

She double checked the date of birth. Yes, twenty four was correct. She shook her head, stifling a laugh.

Feeling deeply offended, Lin Sanyuan stood up from the sofa and looked down at her, “Does your stomach not hurt anymore?”

The direct hit landed perfectly, and the tips of Qiao Lian’s ears turned red. Her sanitary pad had been changed by the person standing right in front of her.

“Alright, stop crouching on the floor. Get on the sofa. I made breakfast, let’s eat together.”

The high fever from the night before still had her feeling dizzy and irritable. Lin Sanyuan continued to mutter incessantly as she leaned over to plug in the power strip.

Under the coffee table in front of the sofa sat a small heater. It wasn’t quite the season for electric heaters yet, but girls on their periods are always fragile and sensitive to the cold. Not to mention how Qiao Lian had been seeking death the night before, drinking herself into such a state.

Qiao Lian sat on the sofa and wiggled her feet. She was wearing a pair of thick, knitted wool socks. She didn’t need to ask to know who had put them on her.

She had consumed a lot of iced alcohol. Based on past experience, if she didn’t spend the night in agonizing pain and lose three pounds through dehydration, she wouldn’t be doing justice to that night’s chaos. Yet, she had slept soundly all night. It was only in the morning, after she kicked off the quilt and caught a cold breeze, that her stomach began to ache.

Resting her feet against the heater to warm them, Qiao Lian tilted her head to look into the kitchen.

Lin Sanyuan was wearing cotton pajamas and loose trousers, standing in the kitchen chopping green onions. She was yawning, looking very sleepy and lethargic.

Suddenly, Qiao Lian curled one foot, using her instep to hook the calf of her other leg. She gave it a little rub.

The loose, soft trousers were pushed up slightly, revealing a slender, delicate ankle, white and clean. The protruding ankle bone was a soft pink. It was quite cute.

Qiao Lian’s gaze shifted. Lin Sanyuan wasn’t wearing socks. She was great at taking care of others but very casual when it came to herself.

“Do you eat pickles?” Lin Sanyuan asked after putting away the knife.

“I do,” Qiao Lian propped her chin on her hand and smiled.

The pickles were kept in the storage area of the upper cabinet. Lin Sanyuan pulled open the cabinet door and stood on her tiptoes to reach the items inside.

As her arms stretched upward, her pajama top pulled up with them. The elastic waistband of her pajama pants caught on her lower back, revealing a sliver of soft, fair skin. There was a tiny birthmark on her waist, pink and shaped a bit like a kitten’s ear.

The hem of the pajama top swayed slightly, and a few faint red finger marks on her waist became visible in the hazy light, adding a touch of ambiguity to the scene.

Qiao Lian, who had been smiling with her chin in her hand, suddenly lost her grin. She bent over to turn off the small heater and walked into the kitchen, making small talk just to break the silence, “The pickles, did you make them yourself?”

“Yeah, I made them. The flavor isn’t too strong, perfect for breakfast.” Lin Sanyuan put a small portion onto a plate.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

Lin Sanyuan was busy serving the porridge, “No need, I’ve already eaten. There are buns and rolls in the steamer, take whatever you like. I’ll bring the porridge to the coffee table for you.”

After speaking, she padded back to the coffee table in her matching little gray chicken slippers. She looked down, knitted her brows, and let out a soft cry, “Why did you turn the heater off?”

Qiao Lian poked a bun in the steamer and took one for herself. She was about to say she wasn’t cold, but the image of those sockless feet flashed through her mind, and she swallowed the words.

“I accidentally turned it off by habit. I’ll just turn it back on.”

Lin Sanyuan murmured softly, “How do you accidentally do that by habit,”

Qiao Lian sat back at the coffee table to enjoy her breakfast. The bun skin was soft and the fresh meat filling was juicy, likely homemade as well. The porridge was millet with brown sugar.

Seeing her eating porridge so obediently, Lin Sanyuan thought she looked like a proper student, nothing like the wild way she had dressed yesterday. The contrast was quite stark. The “nagging mother” gene ingrained in her DNA began to stir.

“Kid, let me ask you something,”

“Hmm?” The porcelain spoon stopped at Qiao Lian’s mouth. She looked at Lin Sanyuan with a playful expression, amused that someone with such a youthful face was calling her “kid.”

Damn! It felt like even without saying anything, Lin Sanyuan could easily offend her just with a look.

Lin Sanyuan pretended not to notice the look, “At school, are you being bullied?”

While bathing her yesterday, Lin Sanyuan had seen injuries on her body. There were also signs that her hair had been cut, but since she had a lot of hair and it was curled, it wasn’t noticeable until her hair was washed.

Qiao Lian put down the half eaten bun and pulled a tissue from the table to wipe her hands. Her movements were calm, showing no embarrassment at having her dark secrets discovered.

Lin Sanyuan cursed again in her mind. She was being out-cooled by a student. However, given the girl’s personality, she didn’t seem like the type to expose her scars to a stranger for help.

“Yeah, I’ve been bullied and picked on. Can you keep taking me in then?”

Qiao Lian pushed the bowl and chopsticks away and leaned her whole body on the table like a cat stretching after waking up. She looked up with large, watery eyes, her voice carrying a deliberate, soft coolness. As she spoke, she intentionally tilted her neck, revealing the bruised scars hidden by her hair.

Unbelievable. She had completely tossed away her pride and was playing the pity card!

Lin Sanyuan was shocked, “You want to keep staying at my house?!”

Is this a question a normal kid would ask?

Qiao Lian pursed her lips and smiled modestly, “I’m just a student, I won’t do anything bad to you.”

Lin Sanyuan took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, “But to you, I’m a strange adult. Aren’t you afraid of something dangerous happening?”

She took back her earlier thought. Even though this child looked obedient, she was truly wild. Most people wouldn’t make such a boundary-crossing request.

The corners of Qiao Lian’s eyes tilted upward, “If something dangerous was going to happen, last night would have been the best time.” Instead of being wrapped up like a hibernating bear.

Lin Sanyuan pulled a serious face, “Don’t play the pity card. I have no obligation to take in a stranger who isn’t related to me. Do you know how much trouble you caused me last night?”

Qiao Lian lowered her gaze and pinched her reddening ears, remaining silent. Lin Sanyuan’s words were perfectly logical and not at all excessive. Yet, seeing her with her head bowed, Lin Sanyuan felt, for no reason, that she might have been too harsh.

She hesitated, then grabbed half a bun and stuffed it into Qiao Lian’s hand, her voice softening significantly.

“You… regardless of everything, finish your breakfast first. After that, I’ll take you to school.”

Even though it had nothing to do with her, she couldn’t bring herself to kick someone out of her house first thing in the morning.

Qiao Lian rolled the half bun in her palm, “I don’t want to go to school. The principal said I don’t have to go to class anymore.”

“That’s too much!” Lin Sanyuan’s eyes widened, “As a teacher, how can he tell someone not to study! Do your parents know about this?”

Qiao Lian sniffled and said, “My parents are divorced,”

Oh… so that’s how a problem child is formed. Lin Sanyuan scratched her head, not knowing what to say.

Qiao Lian continued, “I was awarded to my mother, and she took me with her when she remarried.”

“Remarried… but she’s still your mother. She wouldn’t just ignore you. You can tell your mother about being bullied at school. It’s usually easier for adults to step in and solve these problems.”

Qiao Lian was silent for a moment, then she laughed. Her voice was suddenly very, very soft, “She can’t help. My mom had depression, and she passed away when I was in seventh grade,”

The sheer amount of information in those few sentences hit Lin Sanyuan like a bolt from the blue. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but she truly didn’t know what to say. She could only lower her head and drink her porridge to hide her complicated emotions.

Lin Sanyuan suddenly regretted what she had just said. It felt a bit heartless.

Qiao Lian remarked casually, “That’s my porridge.”

“Cough, cough, cough,” Lin Sanyuan choked and put down the bowl, “I’ll go get you another bowl.”

Qiao Lian stopped her from getting up, the corners of her lips tilting up, “Are you really twenty four? Why are you so empathetic?”

Lin Sanyuan replied, “Why are you still attacking my age at a time like this?” She looked at Qiao Lian cautiously, “If you really have to stay at my house, it’s not impossible, but you have to agree to a few conditions.”

Qiao Lian raised her eyebrows, looking at Lin Sanyuan as if she were some kind of mythical creature. Was she really this easy to talk to? It made the whole series of arguments she had prepared in her head completely useless.

Qiao Lian sat up straight, “Tell me.”

She understood how the world worked. Take her stepfather, for example. When her mother was alive, their finances were kept strictly separate. Even though they had a good relationship, it was understood that expenses for food and housing had to be paid. Even after she was left alone, her biological father would regularly pay a certain amount to her stepfather every month. This apartment was old, but it couldn’t be free.

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