The Sickly Fake Daughter, But a Beloved Darling of All - Chapter 40

“Someone’s coming.”

Xu Chengjin was completely taut. She stared intently at the door, her hands pressed against Si Yu’s chest, pushing her away. “Get up now.”

“What are you afraid of? I locked the door.” Si Yu wasn’t worried at all. Her expression held the annoyance of being interrupted. She gripped Xu Chengjin’s hand. “Are you really that afraid of people knowing we know each other?”

Xu Chengjin was silent for a few seconds. She glared at Si Yu. “I’m afraid of my reputation being ruined.”

Si Yu: “…Huh?”

Though she grumbled, she sat up straight anyway and tidied her rumpled clothes. Si Yu turned to see that Xu Chengjin had already composed herself, her face looking as if nothing had happened, and that familiar surge of annoyance welled up again.

Tsk.

Si Yu opened the door to the lounge. She leaned against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow at Jin Xi. “Hello.”

When Jin Xi saw Si Yu, the smile instantly vanished from her face. She said coldly, “Si Yu?”

“Why the attitude? I was invited by your principal herself to give a motivational speech, you know.” Si Yu stepped aside to let Jin Xi enter. “Come in.”

Jin Xi walked in without a word. Seeing Xu Chengjin sitting on the sofa, she finally relaxed. She positioned herself in front of Xu Chengjin, as if shielding her from Si Yu. “I didn’t see you earlier, you scared me.”

She had zoned out on stage and it took her a long time to snap out of it. By the time she reacted, Xu Chengjin was gone. When she asked Hui Lan, she was told someone had come to look for her.

Jin Xi hadn’t hesitated and immediately rushed over. She hadn’t expected to open the door and run into Si Yu.

She didn’t like Si Yu, not from the first moment, and Si Yu didn’t seem to like her much either; Jin Xi could completely sense it.

“I won’t get lost.”

Xu Chengjin found it amusing. Her gaze briefly met Si Yu’s before she lightly looked away. “How much time is left until the end?”

“About ten minutes. The performance is almost over.” Jin Xi took Xu Chengjin’s hand. Noticing it was a bit cold, she got up to turn up the air conditioning. “It’s so cold in here, why didn’t you turn up the AC?”

The comment was ostensibly directed at Xu Chengjin, but everyone knew who the hidden jab was aimed at.

Si Yu stood by the door, smiling and nodding, her teeth grinding as she looked at Jin Xi. “Oh, is it? Maybe we were too close just now, I actually felt a little warm.”

“Too close…” Jin Xi sat back down next to Xu Chengjin, staring intently at her. “How close do you have to be to feel warm?”

Xu Chengjin felt evasive under Jin Xi’s stare. She couldn’t very well say they were practically pressed together. She bit her lip and glanced up. “Aren’t we supposed to go on stage soon?”

She changed the subject, and Jin Xi went along with it. “Yes, we’ll be going over in a moment. Hui Lan said we should be first place.”

“That’s good.”

Xu Chengjin sighed in relief. “All that hard work practicing these past few days wasn’t in vain.”

Jin Xi smiled. “Mm. You’ve gotten thinner these two days. You should eat more when we get back. They said they’re having a celebration dinner tonight. Are you going?”

“No, I think I’ll go back and rest.”

Xu Chengjin shook her head. Their private conversation left Si Yu completely ignored. Before Si Yu could speak, she saw… Wu Boran walking towards the lounge.

Wow.

Si Yu raised an eyebrow. She glanced sideways at Xu Chengjin and Jin Xi, then quietly stepped back a little, making room for Wu Boran to enter.

Those two kids.

Wu Boran had bought a small bouquet of flowers intending to give them to Xu Chengjin, but when she arrived, she saw Si Yu standing outside the door.

Wu Boran: “?”

Why was Si Yu here?

She quickened her steps, walked rapidly up to Si Yu, and peered into the lounge, only to find Xu Chengjin and Jin Xi holding hands, looking like they were “deeply devoted.”

Of course, this was only Wu Boran’s perception.

“What are you two doing?”

Wu Boran walked in, her hands clasped behind her back, her gaze fixed on Jin Xi. “Your performance was quite good.”

“Thank you.”

Jin Xi accepted the compliment without reservation. She looked past Wu Boran and feigned surprise. “Did you bring a gift?”

Xu Chengjin moved over a bit, forcing a smile. She felt the atmosphere turning awkward again.

“I did.”

Wu Boran beamed. Seeing that their hands were still clasped, she unceremoniously wedged herself between the two of them. She smiled. “Flowers for you. Your performance today was excellent.”

Xu Chengjin blinked. She smiled at the bouquet. “Thank you.”

“I really like this gift.” Xu Chengjin hugged the flowers, her eyes slightly flushed. “You went to a lot of trouble.”

“Unlike some people, right?”

Wu Boran smiled pointedly at the other two. Si Yu was fiddling with a lighter, the clicking sound grating on Wu Boran’s nerves. She spoke up. “No smoking in here, Ms. Si.”

Xu Chengjin looked over upon hearing that, subtly frowning. “You smoke?”

Si Yu: “…No, just posing.”

“Ha.” Wu Boran laughed. She took a deep breath. “Is that so? I thought you didn’t know Xu Chengjin can’t stand the smell of smoke.”

Xu Chengjin’s smile faded. She whispered, “I’m fine.”

Wu Boran adopted a protective stance, patting Xu Chengjin’s hand to reassure her. “It’s nothing.”

“Ah…”

Xu Chengjin didn’t understand what Wu Boran meant. Just as she was about to ask, Wu Boran spoke again: “Your acting was fine too, but the ending was mediocre.”

“The ending was a happy ending, wasn’t it? The knight and the princess lived happily ever after.”

Jin Xi emphasized her words, scoffing, “I guess some people are just cynical and think everything is bad.”

Wu Boran let out a “Ha.” “Don’t be so sarcastic. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. You even changed your phone screensaver to that group photo from that day!”

“So what?” Jin Xi was also fuming. “We took the photo together, can’t we use it? Are you that possessive?”

Wu Boran: “Who’s possessive? Did you even get permission first?”

“Why would I need permission for that?” Jin Xi found it ridiculous. “You’re just looking for trouble. I’m going to change all my social media profile pictures to that photo!”

The argument escalated fiercely. Xu Chengjin watched them helplessly, then slowly stood up and met Si Yu’s gaze. She mouthed, “Let’s go.”

If they didn’t leave now, it looked like the two were about to fight.

“Your classmates are calling you.” Si Yu had no choice but to interrupt. She glanced dismissively at the two of them. “Immature.”

With that, she walked out first. Wu Boran still wanted to say something, but Xu Chengjin quickly stopped her. “It’s fine, let’s just go.”

Wu Boran huffed and pulled Xu Chengjin forward. Jin Xi was also upset, and she followed closely beside Xu Chengjin, whispering, “Hui Lan just messaged me. We got first place!”

“That’s wonderful! You should go to the celebration dinner tonight and eat well.”

“Okay.”

Jin Xi smiled at Xu Chengjin, her eyes tender, but the moment she saw Wu Boran, her face instantly turned cold. The two couldn’t stand each other and both looked away.

Xu Chengjin, stuck in the middle, merely found it amusing. She smiled gently, choosing not to interfere with them.

“The winner of our first-place vote is—”

The host announced the first-place winner. As the academy representatives, they stepped forward. At this moment, the principal also came on stage: “Today is a truly wonderful day! We welcome new vitality and new life! Today, we have also invited a senior from our school to present the award to the first-place winner!”

“Let’s give her a warm round of applause!”

After the principal finished speaking, applause instantly erupted from the audience. Everyone was very cooperative, but Xu Chengjin’s thoughts had clearly drifted off. She looked sideways, and the next second, she saw Si Yu pushing a cake out—

Si Yu mouthed to her silently:

“Congratulations on first place!”