The Sickly Fake Daughter, But a Beloved Darling of All - Chapter 31

The moment Xu Chengjin saw that message, she felt as if she had forgotten how to read. Her pupils constricted in shock, and the next second she scrambled out of bed. However, the movement was too sudden and intense, causing an unmistakable, stinging pain in the scraped area.

“Hiss.” Xu Chengjin stumbled, falling straight forward. Fortunately, Wu Boran’s peripheral vision had been focused on her, and she reacted quickly to catch her.

“Why are you rushing? Your wound is going to tear open soon.”

Wu Boran softly chastised Xu Chengjin, intending to get her to sit down. “Sit down. Let me take a look at your wound.”

“Wait!”

Xu Chengjin ignored her, pushing Wu Boran away and striding toward the balcony. Sensing that the other person might follow, she immediately turned back to stop her: “Stay put.”

Normally, Xu Chengjin’s voice was gentle, and she rarely got angry with anyone, always giving off a very approachable vibe. But this was the second time tonight she had shown a cold face.

Wu Boran’s steps faltered. She didn’t know what was happening with herself, but she stopped moving, obediently sitting back down on her chair to wait for the other person to return.

“To be honest, Xu Chengjin was pretty cool just now,” Wu Boran muttered to herself. As soon as she finished speaking, she realized something was amiss. She patted her own face, her tone full of self-suspicion. “Am I a masochist?”

Unfortunately, her words went unanswered.

Xu Chengjin opened the balcony door and immediately called Si Yu. The other party answered quickly: “Xiao Jin.”

“Si Yu.”

Xu Chengjin didn’t immediately ask what had happened. She took small gasps of air, her eyes filled with confusion. Her ragged breaths traveled through the tiny device and into Si Yu’s ear. Their breathing mingled, then separated.

Si Yu understood Xu Chengjin’s confusion and took the initiative to explain: “I had someone look into what happened to Jin Xi yesterday. She went to the bar for her part-time job and then came out to hand out flyers, right?”

That was when she had run into Xu Chengjin crying to Jin Xi.

Xu Chengjin’s voice sounded muffled, as if trapped somewhere airless. She lowered her head and “mm-hmm’d.” “And then?”

“Xu Jing was also at that bar later, and she directly had the bar fire Jin Xi.” Si Yu took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to keep her voice from sounding too exhausted. “I checked more deeply. Jin Xi’s main sources of income are the coffee shop and the bar, and the bar accounts for the majority.”

Xu Chengjin slowly looked up, feeling the heat from outside. After a few seconds of silence, she asked, “Is the information reliable?”

Si Yu: “Reliable.”

“Okay, I understand.” Xu Chengjin gritted her teeth, forcing herself to manage a smile. “Thank you for helping me with all this.”

Si Yu chuckled softly. “You don’t need to thank me. You can ask Xu Jing yourself later what’s going on.”

“Okay.” Xu Chengjin felt like she could barely hear her own voice. She suppressed the bitterness welling up inside, and as her lips moved, it seemed every trailing syllable was swallowed up. “I’m hanging up. Get some rest early.”

Si Yu didn’t say much more. She leaned back weakly in her chair and gently reassured her, “If you need anything, call me anytime.”

Xu Chengjin “mm-hmm’d,” said “goodbye,” and immediately hung up.

Xu Jing… what exactly was she doing?

Was she targeting Jin Xi because of her?

Xu Chengjin knew that if it had been Jin Xi’s own fault, she would have mentioned it when asked earlier. But judging by her reaction, it seemed she had been fired for unclear reasons.

She bit her lip, her hand gripping the phone tightly at her side. Xu Chengjin bent slightly, taking a breath, and looked up at a point in the void. After calming herself down, she reopened the door and went back inside.

Wu Boran was still sitting in the chair, waiting for her return, and kept staring at Xu Chengjin once she entered.

She was being very obedient. She needed Xu Chengjin’s praise.

Xu Chengjin quickly noticed her actions. “I was a little agitated just now. Are you mad?”

Xu Chengjin walked up to Wu Boran as she spoke, reaching out to brush the hair behind the other person’s ear. The next second, her hand was caught by Wu Boran. She stumbled forward slightly, then curved her lips. “Are you going to bully me?”

“Do I look that violent?”

Wu Boran gave Xu Chengjin a quick glance. She held the other person’s hand and pressed it against her own neck. “Um… I’m not mad.”

“Oh.” Xu Chengjin bent down to meet Wu Boran’s eyes. Her eyes were bright, without any hint of the coldness she’d shown earlier. “Then are you sitting here because of what I said?”

The moment she finished speaking, she felt Wu Boran’s body stiffen. Xu Chengjin used her other hand to pinch Wu Boran’s ear. She feigned surprise: “Are you very hot? Your ears are all red.”

“Xu Chengjin!”

Even as slow as Wu Boran was, she realized the other person was teasing her. She reached out in embarrassment and gently pinched Xu Chengjin’s waist. “I’m just tired; I’m sitting down for a bit.”

“Alright.” Seeing her reaction, Xu Chengjin stopped playing around. She looked at Wu Boran with genuine sincerity. “Regardless, I think you’re very obedient.”

Then she withdrew her hand and took a step back. “I’m hungry.”

“It’ll be a little while still.” Wu Boran’s voice was tight. She looked down at Xu Chengjin’s knee, gritted her teeth, and still carried her chair over. “Lift your leg so I can look at it.”

Xu Chengjin blinked. Before she could reply, Wu Boran forcibly lifted her leg. Her leg rested directly on the other person’s thigh. She was wearing a sleep dress, and Wu Boran was wearing shorts—they were practically leg-to-leg.

Wu Boran seemed completely unaware, muttering, “Why are you so skinny? Where does all the food you eat go?”

“What are you saying?” Xu Chengjin leaned back, squinting at Wu Boran. “Are you secretly saying bad things about me?”

“No way, am I that kind of person!” Wu Boran retorted quickly. “Don’t falsely accuse me.”

As she spoke, Wu Boran unwrapped Xu Chengjin’s bandage and glanced at it, realizing it was bleeding again. She frowned and went to grab her first-aid kit. “Next time, you can’t make such large movements. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It does.”

Xu Chengjin put her hands together in front of her face. “I beg for mercy, Lord Wu.”

Xu Chengjin’s antics made Wu Boran laugh. She pressed her lips together. “I’ll forgive you this time, but next time you mess up, it won’t be this simple.”

Xu Chengjin “mm-hmm’d” and made an ‘OK’ gesture. “I will definitely be careful.”

“That’s better.” Wu Boran put Xu Chengjin’s leg down and rubbed her fingers together, casually asking, “Do you play games?”

“Very little.” Xu Chengjin spent most of her childhood in the hospital, and playing games took too much energy. She didn’t have much interest, so even now, she might only have played ‘match-three’ games or the like.

Wu Boran’s eyes lit up immediately. She brought her laptop over. “Then do you want to play? It’s really fun.”

“But I don’t know how.” Xu Chengjin genuinely spread her hands and lightly tilted her head. “I’m afraid I’ll be terrible.”

“It’s okay, I’ll teach you.”

Wu Boran placed the laptop on Xu Chengjin’s desk so the other person wouldn’t have to move over. “Alright, these are the character’s skills, and this is how you move. You make her…”

She quickly explained the basics to Xu Chengjin and then let her figure it out herself. Wu Boran stood behind Xu Chengjin, watching her play. She used to play with a group, and it seemed the group hadn’t disbanded yet, as people were still chatting in it.

“What should I do?” Xu Chengjin was a bit confused; her talent in gaming was zero. “Why don’t you teach me? I don’t understand.”

Xu Chengjin also found it amusing. She turned back and tugged on Wu Boran’s shirt sleeve, not noticing the flashing microphone icon in the bottom right corner. “How long have you been playing this game?”

She listened to Wu Boran telling her key points, tried to operate it herself, and also brought up a topic. “I feel like you’re so amazing, and some of the characters are really pretty.”

Wu Boran’s peripheral vision caught the scrolling chat box below. She paused, then casually spoke: “I paid for them. But I am indeed very good. I’m one of the best in this game.”

“Genius!”

Xu Chengjin was never short on praise for others. She smiled at Wu Boran and said, “You’re really super awesome!”

The two were very close. Wu Boran was standing behind Xu Chengjin, and if she leaned forward just a little more, she could touch Xu Chengjin’s back. Now, she was bending down to talk to Xu Chengjin, and if she tilted her head slightly, she could touch the other person’s face…

“Is this God Wu’s significant other?”

A female voice suddenly came from the computer. Xu Chengjin whipped her head around, looking surprised. “Who’s talking?”

The girl explained: “Your mic is on.”

Xu Chengjin froze, then realized: “I am not God Wu’s… significant other. I’m just her roommate.”

She immediately stood up and let Wu Boran deal with it. “God, you play by yourself.”

The girl sounded excited: “Just a roommate? From your conversation, we thought you were a little couple.”

“No, please don’t say that.” Xu Chengjin narrowed her eyes at Wu Boran, lowering her voice. “Explain. Don’t let them misunderstand.”

“We’re not that ashamed…”

Wu Boran was glared at by Xu Chengjin. She let out a soft “hmph” and said flatly, “That’s right, I’m teaching her how to play the game. I didn’t notice the mic was on.”

The girl repeatedly said “okay” and then muted her mic, but the chat log within the group was scrolling furiously. Wu Boran glanced at it and quietly turned it off. “There, I explained.”

“That’s good.”

Xu Chengjin didn’t like such misunderstandings. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Have the delivery arrived?”

Wu Boran picked up her phone and checked. It was almost there. She stood up and walked out. “I’ll go get it. Wait for me.”

Xu Chengjin said “okay” and sat back down in the chair, carefully looking at the game interface. A guess formed in her mind. She looked sideways at Wu Boran, who was walking out—

Her eyes flashed with mischief. Propping her chin on her hand, she called out:

“You knew the mic was on all along, didn’t you?”