The Fake Girlfriend is Online - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Argument

By that afternoon, Mu Jinxuan walked into the classroom after lunch to find her deskmate’s expression had returned to normal. Mo Ran was chatting and laughing with Luo Qi and the others as usual. Mu Jinxuan’s hand, hanging by her side, tightened around some drinks, hiding them slightly behind her back.

“Hey, Xuan-Ge, why did lunch take you so long? Did you sneak out to treat yourself to something special?” Luo Qi caught sight of her with his sharp eyes and waved.

“Scram. You’re the one who wants to be invited to Li Yulan’s office for a ‘special treat,’ aren’t you?” Mu Jinxuan pulled out her chair and sat down, quickly tossing the two bottles of drinks into her desk drawer.

“Ai ai, Xuan-Ge, why did you buy two? Is one for me? Thanks a lot!” Luo Qi caught a glimpse of the bottles she had thrown in and reached out to grab one.

“Ten yuan a bottle. Thank you for your business.”

“You profiteer! Then why did you buy two?” Luo Qi wailed theatrically, drawing out his voice.

“Because I feel like it. I’m rich. Can’t I drink one and look at the other?” Mu Jinxuan unscrewed one bottle in front of him, lifting her chin defiantly.

Beside them, Qing Mo Ran maintained a smile the entire time. To anyone else, it looked like a merely polite smile, but when she saw Mu Jinxuan holding the two bottles, a trace of genuine amusement flickered in her eyes. Her eyes crinkled and she let out a soft laugh, earning a glare from her deskmate—though it didn’t dampen her improved mood one bit.

Saturday was a rare day off, but the plan to go wild in the streets was ruined by a sudden thunderstorm. The rain came abruptly, leaving people unprepared. The once bustling streets turned silent as men pulled their girlfriends into shops for cover and mothers used their bags to shield their children.

Mu Jinxuan sat at the entrance of the West District clinic, clutching her phone. She watched the raindrops hit the ground, forming tiny waves, while listening to her mother’s voice through the receiver. They had been on the phone for half an hour, but Mu Jinxuan showed no sign of impatience.

“Jinxuan, come home tonight. Let’s have a real talk.”

“Okay.”

Following that “okay” was a long silence. Finally, her mother broke the quiet with a closing remark, ending a conversation that had practically “burnt to a crisp” because they had spent half the time in total silence.

Mu Jinxuan dusted off her pants, planning to eat dinner at Gu Qing’s place before heading back; after all, who knew if there would be food waiting at home?

“Brother Qing, I’m hungry. When is dinner?”

“Are you a pig? Do you do anything all day besides eat?” Gu Qing, lying in a chair reading a medical book, spoke with feigned disgust but stood up anyway and headed toward the small kitchen in the back.

Though the clinic looked simple from the outside, it was a “sparrow that possessed all its organs”—it was fully equipped like a studio apartment. Mu Jinxuan sat like a boss in Gu Qing’s seat, picked up the book he had just been reading, and began flipping through it.

After dinner, she took an umbrella from the shop and took a taxi home.

She had expected a shouting match upon her return, but what awaited her was a bowl of steaming porridge in the dining room and her mother, Ye Xi, who had been sitting and waiting for a long time. Mu Jinxuan walked silently into the dining room. Ignoring her already full stomach, she picked up the spoon and began to eat; this was one of the few times her mother had ever cooked.

They ate in silence, their every move exuding a refined air, as if they had undergone long years of etiquette training. Not a single sound of clashing cutlery was heard. After finishing the porridge, Mu Jinxuan sat upright, waiting for the interrogation. Instead, Ye Xi walked over, patted her head as she used to do, said goodnight, and went to the study.

Mu Jinxuan was baffled. It stood to reason that her mother calling her back wouldn’t be as simple as just having a meal, especially given their current standoff. But tonight, Ye Xi’s thoughts were that simple: to cook a bowl of hot porridge for her family and say goodnight before bed.

That night, lying in bed, Mu Jinxuan listened to the loud thunder and the pattering rain as droplets lashed against the window, seemingly trying to break through.

The storm stopped sometime during the night. By the next morning, warm sunlight poured through the window. It should have been a beautiful morning, but as an early-rising Mu Jinxuan passed the study, she heard her mother’s voice, thick with suppressed anger, coming through the ajar door.

“Teacher Li, I will have a proper talk with Jinxuan about this… Right, that’s fine… Yes, goodbye.” Hanging up, Ye Xi rubbed her temples, trying desperately to push down the fire inside.

Standing at the door, Mu Jinxuan had heard enough to know the call was from her homeroom teacher, Li Fei, regarding the “calling the parents” incident on Friday.

“Mom.” Mu Jinxuan pushed the door open.

Ye Xi looked up. Even without makeup, she looked young, as if time had favored her and left no marks on her face. Having just spoken to Li Fei, she realized Mu Jinxuan had been asked to call a parent on Friday, yet she, the actual parent, was only finding out now. The criticism she wanted to voice twisted in her mouth and stayed there as she remembered Uncle Fu’s advice to get along with Jinxuan.

“Mom, was that Teacher Li?” Mu Jinxuan walked to the desk, recklessly bringing up the very topic she shouldn’t have.

“Yes,” Ye Xi looked into her eyes. “Were you asked to bring a parent on Friday?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Mu Jinxuan admit it so bluntly, without a hint of shame, Ye Xi’s anger flared. “Yes? That’s it? You don’t intend to explain yourself?”

“Gu Qing went.”

The words were like a bomb dropped into the room. Ye Xi slammed her hand on the desk and stood up, glaring at Mu Jinxuan, repeating “You…” several times in fury. A few drops of water vibrated out of the glass on the desk, glinting in the sunlight.

“The grade director wanted me to bring a parent on Friday morning. I called you, but your assistant answered. I didn’t tell her to tell you I called. The director then pulled the number for the secondary contact,” Mu Jinxuan explained calmly.

“So you let Gu Qing go? Since you’re such good friends with him, why don’t you just live there? Why come back at all?” Ye Xi grew angrier as she spoke, nearly roaring by the end. “Mu Jinxuan, do you think your wings are strong enough now? Do you not have a home? You insist on hanging around those people! Where did you stay the nights you didn’t come back?”

“I stayed at Brother Qing’s place.”

Hearing this, Ye Xi lost all composure. “Mu Jinxuan, what are you thinking? I truly understand you less and less. You said you were lonely living here alone, so fine, I bought you an apartment near the school—do you only pretend to stay there for one night when I visit? Brother Qing? Are you worthy of your own father?”

“Mom—” Mu Jinxuan tried to de-escalate her mother’s emotions.

“Don’t you ever forget who your father died because of!” After screaming this, Ye Xi seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed into her chair.

Mu Jinxuan had been watching her mother’s agitation closely. Seeing her fall, she rushed forward to support her, but Ye Xi violently shoved her hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

Shoved aside, Mu Jinxuan could only stand by. “Mom, I don’t want to fight with you. Dad said very clearly that he didn’t blame Gu Qing or Mu Jinyu. Why can’t you try to accept them?” Mu Jinxuan’s expression was pained; she had kept these words hidden for a long time, only daring to say them now.

“Accept them? I can’t even accept that short hair on your head!”

“Mom! You can’t just dismiss our wishes entirely. Not everyone has to follow your arrangements. Whether it’s Mu Jinyu or me, we’ve tried to talk to you, but you’re always like this.” Finally, Mu Jinxuan turned and stormed out of the study. The only way forward was for both of them to cool down.

“Mu Jinxuan, I’m telling you, I will never forgive Gu Qing or Mu Jinyu!” Her mother’s roar followed her, the suppressed sob in her voice tightening around Mu Jinxuan’s heart.

Walking out of the villa, she didn’t know where to go. As she walked through the Jincheng estate, passing security guards greeted her kindly and early morning exercisers wore smiles, but the warm sunlight couldn’t dispel the gloom in her heart.

Exiting Jincheng, Mu Jinxuan irritably pulled out her constantly ringing phone. Seeing “Luo Qi” on the screen, she answered with a sharp tone.

“What?”

“…Uh… Xuan-Ge? Bad mood? Are you in the middle of a fight? Should I call back later?”

“Say what you have to say, fast.”

“Xuan-Ge, remember Li Jie?”

“What ‘courtesy’ (Li Jie)? I don’t have any courtesy right now.”

“Oh, come on, the guy from the friendly match we had with Class 5. Li Jie and his crew were sore losers; they wanted a rematch on Saturday. It rained yesterday, so they called early this morning to provoke us. They said if you don’t show, you’re a…”

“A what?” Her tone turned dangerous.

“A coward,” Luo Qi shouted, as if throwing caution to the wind. “Xuan-Ge, come and beat them senseless! Those arrogant jerks…”

“Where?” Mu Jinxuan interrupted. She happened to be in a foul mood today; these people were asking for it.

“Ah? What?”

“The location.”

“Oh, oh! The basketball court at the South District urban construction site.” The moment he finished, he heard the beep-beep-beep of the line going dead.

Beside him, Hu Hai and the others who had been staring at Luo Qi immediately swarmed him. “Well? Is Xuan-Ge coming?”

Luo Qi looked at their expectant eyes and sighed. Only after they started groaning and began to scatter did he say, “She’s coming. Haha, Xuan-Ge is coming!”

The disappointed group now wanted to punch him. “But…”

“But what?”

“Xuan-Ge’s temper is explosive today. She sounds like someone you don’t want to mess with.”

The others rolled their eyes. Since when did Bully Mu have a good temper?

“No, really,” Luo Qi pulled them back to explain. “It felt like she ate gunpowder today. Hearing her on the phone, I almost wondered if I’d cheated on her and she was going to climb through the line to kill me. Usually, her temper is pretty good, right? Aside from being a bit ‘special’ with Li Yulan, being aggressive on the court, liking to curse, and being a bit arrogant…” As he spoke, Luo Qi realized he was digging a hole and shut his mouth.

“Actually, I think Xuan-Ge’s temper is normally quite good,” Luo Qi muttered under his breath, trying to salvage her reputation.