My Idol Turns Out To Be My Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 7

Lin Sanyuan grabbed her car keys and led Qiao Lian downstairs.

Her car was a lime-green “chopped chili fish head” (a tiny micro-car). Qiao Lian, with her long legs, had to curl up to fit into the passenger seat. “Let’s go get congee,” Qiao Lian suggested.

Lin Sanyuan started the engine, pressed the accelerator, and shook her head. “Let’s go for stir-fry instead.“

She had given Qiao Lian congee yesterday morning. Since the girl wasn’t actually sick, Sanyuan was worried that eating nothing but congee would eventually give her stomach issues.

Sanyuan picked a Cantonese restaurant near the city center. She ordered a bowl of winter melon and lean meat congee for herself, and for Qiao Lian, she ordered seafood fried rice, a signature roast goose, poached greens, a small portion of lotus root and pork rib soup, plus two small desserts for after the meal.

This ordering style once again deepened Qiao Lian’s lack of understanding regarding Lin Sanyuan.

As a corporate drone who drove a tiny “fish head” car to and from work, it was one thing for Sanyuan to let a stranger stay in her house for free. But bringing her out to eat and ordering like this, she was surprisingly, not stingy at all.

The service at the Cantonese restaurant was quick, and the dishes were served in no time. Qiao Lian ladled a bowl of pork rib soup first. After a sip, she suddenly asked, “Do you often pick people up and bring them home?“

Lin Sanyuan looked at her, speechless. “Do you think people are just kittens or puppies on the street? Is that something you can just ‘pick up’ on a whim?“

Qiao Lian pursed her lips against the soup spoon. “So, I’m the only one you’ve ever brought home?“

Good grief.

“Could you please stop acting like it’s perfectly natural to define yourself as a stray kitten or puppy?“

“I’m not. I just feel,” Qiao Lian smiled subtly, “that there must be a reason why you live such a frugal life.“

“Hey!” Lin Sanyuan bristled weakly. “You’re eating my food and mocking my poverty? If you act like this at school, you’ll never make any friends.“

She had been poked right in her sore spot.

In truth, she wasn’t exactly poor. With her regular salary plus extra freelance income, her monthly earnings usually cleared 10,000 yuan.

Her daily expenses weren’t high either. She rarely wore makeup, didn’t care for big-name skincare brands, and had no desire or need for luxury bags. She mostly cooked for herself. Her most expensive outlays were electronic products like computers or drawing tablets needed for work.

She was born to be plain, ordinary, and without any expensive hobbies. If she didn’t go on those blind dates, she’d save even more money.

But it was strange, the money in her wallet always felt like it had been stolen by a thief with a time machine. It was only in the last two years that things had stabilized and she’d managed to save a little, but even then, it was only enough to buy a small commuter car.

Her health wasn’t great. Although she went on blind dates, it was mostly to appease her family, as she had no real intention of getting married. Therefore, she saved whenever she could to prepare for a rainy day.

So, when Qiao Lian said her life was frugal, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

Qiao Lian bit her chopsticks and said slowly, “I actually really wanted to make friends at school before, but I don’t have that desire anymore.“

Lin Sanyuan, her tongue still numb from her cold, sipped her congee. “Why bother being friends with people who bully you?“

Qiao Lian blinked. She suddenly remembered the lipstick she had seen thrown in the kitchen trash can while washing dishes yesterday. She smiled. “Are you talking about Ke Tingyu?“

“The one with the high ponytail?” Sanyuan asked.

“Yes.“

Recalling the girl’s “delinquent” vibe, Sanyuan curled her lip. “How did you ever think of hanging out with them anyway?“

Now that Qiao Lian’s clubbing makeup was gone, her appearance and temperament were nothing like those girls. She had an air of elegance. Even sitting there eating, Sanyuan hadn’t seen her straight back slump once. Her posture was very much that of a young lady from a wealthy family.

Is it an inferiority complex caused by her family background? Sanyuan wondered.

Regarding Sanyuan’s question, Qiao Lian pondered for a moment. “Hmm… maybe it’s because I’m too perfect. It led to me having no friends around me. So, during this rebellious stage of adolescence, I felt I should rebel a bit. I thought if I made myself less perfect, I could integrate into a social group better.“

Give me a break! What kind of logic is that?

Sanyuan’s expression was hard to describe. “I mean, having confidence isn’t a bad thing, but don’t you think overconfidence is a bit embarrassing?“

This girl had been personally named by the principal for suspension, yet she had the audacity to think she was being bullied because she was too “flawless.“

Qiao Lian smiled but said nothing more.

Sanyuan was also sharp enough to notice that Qiao Lian wasn’t willing to discuss the trivial details of her school life.

Qiao Lian’s appetite seemed quite good, as she finished almost everything Sanyuan had ordered. Youth truly was a blessing, her healthy digestion was enough to make anyone envious.

Finally, Sanyuan had the two exquisite cakes packed up for Qiao Lian to take to school. After the meal, Sanyuan felt a bit more energetic and drove her “little fish head” to drop Qiao Lian off.

After getting out of the car, Qiao Lian watched the bright green micro-car disappear down the road. She pulled a key from her coat pocket, turned it over to examine it, and a faint smile escaped her lips.

It wasn’t yet time for afternoon classes. Qiao Lian wasn’t in a hurry to scan her face to enter the gate. Holding the two boxes of cake, she rubbed her stomach, her brows furrowing quietly. She then squatted down by the small flower bed at the school entrance.

The autumn sun wasn’t scorching, making one feel a bit lazy. Qiao Lian narrowed her eyes, looking like a cat basking in the afternoon light.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind her. “What are you doing squatting here?“

Qiao Lian’s eyebrows twitched. The laziness in her eyes vanished, replaced by a lowered gaze and a touch of coldness when she looked up.

The girl speaking was a fellow student, wearing an oversized blue and white school uniform. She had long, straight black hair, and her face looked soft and gentle in the sunlight. With bright eyes and a kind smile, she was the standard image of a “good student.“

Qiao Lian withdrew her gaze. “I overate.” She was just staying here to recover.

Lu Xi looked down at her and let out a soft, sharp chuckle. Her face was bright, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You? Overate? Since when did the Great Miss Qiao start making things difficult for her own stomach?“

She and Qiao Lian didn’t share a surname, but they were indeed on the same household register. Based on age, she should have called Qiao Lian “Sister.” However, she never had.

In Lu Xi’s memory, although Qiao Lian was very smart and excelled in her studies, her personality was terrible, pretentious, and difficult to please.

Lu Xi came from a complicated family. Her father wasn’t very successful, just an ordinary man who made a living selling skewers and fried rice at the night market. Because of that poverty, Lu Xi had been frugal since childhood, knowing that every bite of food was hard-earned.

Ever since Qiao Lian was brought into the family by her mother, Lu Xi had witnessed that there was another way to live. That way was called “exquisite” and “uncompromising.“

Qiao Lian was a picky eater, she wouldn’t touch a dish a second time if she didn’t like it. This was the first time Lu Xi had seen her eat until she was stuffed, disregarding her own comfort.

Qiao Lian rubbed her stomach, ignoring the hidden mockery in Lu Xi’s words. She handed her one of the cake boxes.

“Want some?“

Because of their awkward family dynamic, their relationship as step-siblings was incredibly thin. Lu Xi looked surprised again. “Why are you giving me food?“

“I can’t finish it, and I don’t want it to go to waste.“

Lu Xi glanced at the other box in her hand. “You still have another one there.“

Since Qiao Lian was so full she could barely move, Lu Xi didn’t think she had a second stomach for cake.

Qiao Lian said leisurely, “I’d give them both to you, but I can’t bear to.“

Truly a strange day. After a few days away, Miss Qiao had not only learned to “fear waste” but also learned what it meant to “not bear to part with something.“

After all, Lin Sanyuan lived in such a dilapidated apartment and drove a car that looked like a severed head, she seemed very poor. Yet, when Qiao Lian was sick and had no appetite, Sanyuan had taken her to a restaurant that wasn’t cheap.

This made Qiao Lian feel, for the first time, that wasting someone else’s money was a very bad thing.

Lin Sanyuan hadn’t worked properly for the last two days. Since the company was in its off-season, working from home to draw designs wasn’t a problem.

Returning home, she took two cold pills, charged her hot water bottle, changed into her pajamas, and wrapped herself in a quilt. As per her routine, she went into “seclusion,” not stepping out the door.

Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do. By focusing on her work without slacking off, she finished her two-day modeling tasks by 7:00 PM. After breaking a sweat, her fever had finally broken. Her nose was still a bit stuffed, but the headache had eased significantly.

Sanyuan didn’t have much of an appetite, so she decided to wait until Qiao Lian finished her evening self-study and then make some noodles for them to eat together.

She closed her laptop and stretched. She didn’t feel like working on her side projects today, so she opened her phone and started scrolling through Weibo.

Sanyuan wasn’t usually addicted to the internet. She aimlessly scrolled through daily videos of fat cats and silly dogs. She couldn’t quite understand how these pet bloggers, who called their cats and dogs “baby” all day, managed to make them seem so mysteriously intelligent.

Huskies that could bark “idiot,” Golden Retrievers that could balance coke cans on their backs, Silver Tabbies with evil smiles… Sanyuan was incredibly envious of all of them. They were so well-behaved.

She wasn’t very interested in the real world and didn’t follow celebrities, so her feed was mostly filled with funny pets or tutorials from master illustrators.

Sanyuan’s formal education was limited, her path to drawing manga and writing novels was self-taught, and she was well aware of the gaps in her knowledge. So, when she wasn’t doing side jobs, she spent most of her time on Weibo learning from the masters.

The streamer she had followed the longest was a master named “Qiu Feng.”

The live stream was, as always, set in a light blue tone, showing a room layout that was simple yet exquisite. Although only a corner of the scenery was visible, one could see a large terrace garden outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The morning mist clung to the elegant, quiet space, where lush green plants stretched out. Through the small screen, one could see the boundless sea. The sound of waves served as background noise, and a fiery red sunrise was slowly drifting up from the horizon.

This was clearly a live broadcast from abroad.

The full interior wasn’t visible, only an easel set up in front of the window. A hand holding a brush was sketching sophisticated strokes, outlining beautiful lines with a lazy, relaxed, and composed motion.

The light through the window fell on that hand. It was a cool white, with soft fingers that felt long and powerful. The nails were trimmed neatly and clean, with a pale color. A plain silver ring sat on the bone of the pinky finger. Even through the screen, one could feel a wordless sense of detached coldness as the brush moved.

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