Senior, Stop Pretending to be an Alpha - Chapter 45

Xie Bufei stared at her for a moment, her earlobes burning slightly. She cleared her throat in a bid to hide her reaction and asked with a smile, “How did your mouth get so sweet today?”

Yu Qiao pursed her lips and smiled without answering. Under that tender gaze, Xie Bufei felt her cheeks grow even hotter. She turned around quickly and said, “Come on, I’ll take you inside.”

 

Yu Qiao followed obediently behind her.

 

As they pushed open the front door, Xie Hongxin, Lin Qingwei, and Xie Ke were all sitting in their original spots. Hearing the door open, they all turned to look.

 

Yu Qiao entered the living room. A long-haired woman on the sofa turned and asked, “Feifei, is this your friend? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

 

The woman looked to be in her thirties, with wavy hair and red lips. Her features carried the charm of a mature woman and bore a striking resemblance to Xie Ke. Yu Qiao quickly realized that this must be Xie Ke’s mother.

 

Beside her, a middle-aged man with refined yet dignified features watched her with a scrutinizing gaze.

 

“My junior, Yu Qiao,” Xie Bufei stopped and introduced her succinctly. “This is my father, and that is Aunt Lin.”

 

Yu Qiao hesitated for a moment but followed her lead. “Hello, Uncle Xie. Hello, Aunt Lin.”

 

Xie Hongxin stared at her for a while before nodding heavily. “Mhm.”

 

“Hello there,” Lin Qingwei said with a sudden, soft smile. Her voice was gentle as she greeted them. “Feifei rarely brings friends home; it’s quite a rare sight. Yu Qiao, feel free to come over and visit whenever you have time.”

 

Yu Qiao replied cautiously, “I will.” She didn’t take the woman’s polite words to heart. This “Aunt Lin” gave her the same dangerous feeling as Xie Ke.

 

Xie Ke was more direct and pure in her malice, while Lin Qingwei was like a needle hidden in silk.

 

On the sofa, Xie Ke smiled and waved at her. “Student Yu Qiao, we meet again.”

 

Xie Hongxin asked, “Xiao Ke, you two know each other?”

 

“We’ve met before because Sister is very close with her,” Xie Ke replied in a thin, delicate voice, her hands resting on her knees. “I’ve always wanted to be friends with Student Yu Qiao, but unfortunately, I never had the chance.”

 

She lowered her head, looking a bit dejected. Her underlying implication seemed to blame Yu Qiao for being unwilling to befriend her.

 

Sure enough, Xie Hongxin’s face darkened upon hearing this.

 

Xie Bufei glanced at her and said coldly, “Some people should reflect on why they aren’t liked.”

 

With that, she grabbed Yu Qiao’s wrist and led her straight upstairs.

 

No more sounds came from behind them as they stepped into the second-floor corridor. The sunlight had warmed the wooden floorboards to a light brown hue, and their footsteps echoed with a rhythmic “thump-thump.”

 

Xie Bufei pushed open one of the doors and said, “This is my room.”

 

Yu Qiao took off her shoes and stepped inside, pausing for a moment. The room was styled similarly to Xie Bufei’s dormitory—warm tones and a comfortable atmosphere.

 

The four walls were covered in girlish wallpaper, and the furniture had cute designs. The room was large, yet every inch of space was utilized perfectly.

 

Xie Bufei watched her, asking a bit nervously, “What do you think?”

 

Yu Qiao withdrew her gaze and said earnestly, “It’s very beautiful. You have a great eye for matching things, Senior.”

 

Xie Bufei smiled, pulled out the chair at the desk for her to sit in, and sat on the bed herself.

 

She fell backward onto the soft bedding and stared at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, she said, “Actually, I’m not that great at it. A lot of the furniture was bought for me by my mom.”

 

Yu Qiao said, “Your mother has very good taste.”

 

“She used to love fiddling with these things. She even wanted to buy me Barbie-style clothes and a pink lace princess bed,” Xie Bufei said. “I had to protest strongly and threaten her with a three-day hunger strike before she gave up.”

 

Yu Qiao imagined the scene, and the corners of her mouth gradually lifted.

 

Xie Bufei added, “Her room is right next to mine. Even at her age, it was still filled with pink.”

 

Yu Qiao found it strange. “Did she live alone?”

 

“Ever since she got sick, she and my father stayed in separate rooms.” Xie Bufei paused, her tone turning somber.

 

“After my mom passed away, my dad originally wanted to give her room to Xie Ke. I refused to agree no matter what. One day I came home and saw the servants moving all of my mom’s things into the storage room.

 

That day, I had a massive argument with my father. It was incredibly fierce. Later, he backed down and never opened that room again.”

 

As Yu Qiao listened, her brows furrowed instinctively. “Uncle Xie went too far.”

 

“To this day, I still can’t understand why,” Xie Bufei rolled over on the bed, her head resting on her slender arm as she gazed at Yu Qiao. Her voice was low. “Is that room, and those memories, really so insignificant to him?”

 

Her gaze drifted downward. The light in her beautiful eyes flickered and dimmed, like a crescent moon reflected on a lake, shattered by the wind. She looked beautiful, yet profoundly lonely.

 

Yu Qiao didn’t know what to say. She stood up, walked over, and gently took the girl into her arms.

 

They lay face-to-face. Xie Bufei buried her face in the crook of Yu Qiao’s neck, her nose nudging against her skin.

 

The room remained quiet for a long time, with only the distant rustling of leaves and the faint chirping of birds.

 

Xie Bufei gradually calmed down. Leaning in Yu Qiao’s embrace, she whispered, “Do you want to see her room?”

 

Yu Qiao replied, “Of course I do. Am I allowed?”

 

“You are,” Xie Bufei looked up at her and smiled. She pulled a small, yellowed key from her nightstand and sat up.

 

They walked out and went to the room next door.

 

The door opened to reveal a pitch-black interior. Xie Bufei pulled back the curtains, and a flood of sunlight poured in, with tiny dust motes dancing in the air.

 

Yu Qiao was surprised to find that the room was very clean, as if someone came to tidy it up regularly. The wooden floor reflected the light clearly, and it felt cool against her bare feet.

 

She looked around and said, “It really looks like a princess’s room.”

 

“It’s full of ‘girly heart’.” Xie Bufei picked up a glass jar from the table; it was filled with colorful origami stars.

 

Yu Qiao looked up at the bookshelf. She noticed a book without a cover sitting on the top shelf and felt curious. Seeing this, Xie Bufei reached up and took it down.

 

“I remember this. I think it’s a photo album.” She flipped a page and smiled. “It really is.”

 

Yu Qiao leaned in to look. The first page held a photo of a woman in a rouge-colored long dress and a straw hat. She seemed to be standing by the sea, looking sideways at the camera.

 

As the sea breeze blew, her dress rippled like the waves, and a faint smile played on her lips.

 

Yu Qiao remarked, “Your mother was so beautiful.”

 

“This was when she was young, at the peak of her beauty.” Xie Bufei smiled and said softly, “It’s a pity that after chemotherapy, all her hair fell out, and she didn’t look as good anymore.”

 

“I’m sure she was never anything less than beautiful,” Yu Qiao said.

 

Xie Bufei flipped to the second page. The younger woman was standing with Xie Hongxin in a wedding photo. They were a handsome couple and looked very well-matched. In the bottom right corner, a few words were written in elegant calligraphy: One life, one era, one couple.

 

She scoffed and quickly flipped the page. “It was all a lie.”

 

On the third page, Yu Qiao saw the woman in the photo looking gentle. She was holding a little girl with twin pigtails, wearing a pink bubble dress and licking an ice cream cone while looking at the camera with a dazed expression.

 

Yu Qiao paused and leaned in for a closer look, but a hand blocked her view.

 

Xie Bufei covered the photo, stammering, “Don’t look. It’s a dark part of my history.”

 

Yu Qiao tried to pull her fingers away, her tone serious. “But it’s clearly very cute.”

 

Xie Bufei pursed her lips and reluctantly removed her hand. Yu Qiao stared at the photo intently and couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Are you mocking me?” Xie Bufei looked at her sideways.

 

“No,” Yu Qiao said. “I just didn’t expect you to be so… cute as a child. You looked just like a Barbie doll.”

 

Xie Bufei hummed, begrudgingly accepting the compliment. “She forced me to wear all of that. I didn’t like any of it.”

 

She hadn’t expected there to be so many similar photos. The next page featured “Barbie doll eating cake,” “Barbie doll riding a tricycle,” “Barbie doll falling down and crying,” and so on.

 

The more Xie Bufei looked, the more embarrassed she became. She said indignantly, “When were these even taken? You’re not allowed to look!”

 

Yu Qiao suppressed a laugh. “Okay, I won’t look.” Meanwhile, she silently memorized the images to savor later.

 

She flipped to the next page. A teenage girl stood before the camera fair, poised, with dark hair and a delicate nose. Her beautiful fox-eyes were playfully curved in a youthful, innocent smile. The blueprint of a beauty was already clear.

 

Xie Bufei took a look and said, “I think this was when I was in middle school.”

Yu Qiao stared at the photo, lost in thought. She realized that Xie Bufei’s features were very similar to her mother’s, though slightly softer. Between the shifts in her expressions, there was a natural brightness and charm.

“Staring so hard?” Xie Bufei caught her expression and let out a soft laugh.

 

Yu Qiao snapped out of it, rubbing the tip of her nose in embarrassment. She had been thinking that it would have been wonderful to meet Xie Bufei earlier. She had missed so many beautiful moments in the older girl’s life.

 

On the tenth page, the teenage girl and the woman were looking at each other. Their faces were strikingly similar. The woman lay in a hospital bed, her lips pale, with only her eyes shining like a flower on the verge of withering. The girl sat by the bed, the rims of her eyes red.

 

Xie Bufei looked at the photo, remained silent for a moment, and said, “I used to dislike taking photos with her. I thought it was a hassle.”

 

She paused, then added, “Later, I felt a bit of regret. Why didn’t I take more back then?”

 

Yu Qiao remained silent, gently patting Xie Bufei’s back. She could feel the girl’s slight trembling beneath her palm.

 

There were many photos of the woman’s life, ranging from vibrant to frail, each capturing a different charm. She was naturally photogenic; any candid shot looked like professional photography. Xie Hongxin appeared occasionally by her side, but their interactions didn’t look intimate; they seemed more like a couple who treated each other with polite distance.

 

Watching the photos change over time felt like witnessing the span of her entire life. Before they knew it, they had reached the last page of the album. The slot for the final photo was empty. In its place, a piece of paper had been inserted.

 

The paper was yellowed and wrinkled, stained with dark circular marks as if liquid had once been spilled on it. The handwriting was the same elegant script as before, though it looked somewhat more frantic.

 

“On the day of my follow-up appointment, you accompanied me to the doctor. When I came out, I heard you on the phone flirting with that woman.

 

Your affair makes me feel disgusted, Xie Hongxin. When did she get pregnant with your daughter? How long have you been entangled behind my back?

 

I was too naive. If I had known, I should have left with Feifei. But I am sick, and I truly have no strength left. I don’t have the courage to tell her that everything is a lie—that this family has already fallen apart.”

 

Yu Qiao saw the look on Xie Bufei’s face change.

 

“What does this mean?” Her eyes widened in a daze, her lips trembling. “What affair? My dad has another daughter?”

 

She took the paper out, reading it over and over. Though it was just a thin sheet of paper, she could barely hold it steady.

 

Yu Qiao held her by the shoulders, her voice low and steady. “Senior, don’t panic. Don’t be afraid…”

 

Xie Bufei breathed deeply, finding her grounding in Yu Qiao’s voice. She turned the paper over and saw two names written on the back.

 

—Xie Hongxin, Lin Qingwei.

 

A suspicion immediately surfaced in Yu Qiao’s mind, and she froze.

 

Xie Bufei suddenly gave a short laugh. “So that’s how it is.”

 

She had always believed that Lin Qingwei and Xie Hongxin had only started their relationship three years after her mother’s death. She never imagined the two of them had been entangled so early on.

 

“I always thought Xie Ke was the child Lin Qingwei had with her ex-husband.” She laughed softly, her expression self-mocking. “No wonder… no wonder my dad seems to love her so much.”

 

Xie Bufei murmured, “Treating her so well, being so obedient to her every whim. I suppose he wants to compensate her?”

 

Yu Qiao suddenly reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace.

 

Xie Bufei’s voice cut off abruptly. After a long silence, Yu Qiao felt warm liquid trickling down her neck.

 

“For a second just now, I really wanted to get back at them.” Xie Bufei’s eyes were misty with tears. “Qiaoqiao, am I a bad person?”

 

“No,” Yu Qiao said. “If you want revenge, I will help you. You can do whatever you want.”