Chapter 4 — When You Shine, I Am Still Here

I spun around and straddled him, burying my face against his chest. "My precious darling, I missed you to death!" A hardcore gamer, after forcibly restraining themselves from playing for a few days only to finally log back in, could only experience one thing—an even more violent addiction! "I love it so much when you are fiercely jealous, Yan Chi!" "Yan Chi, I am completely done for. I think I have fallen even more hopelessly in love with you." "Did you miss me these past few days?" "How does it feel to be dumped? Were you furious?" "..."

Yan Chi rubbed his temples, his voice low and raspy. "You say you like me and love me so fluently... yet when you dumped me and declared you no longer loved me, you didn't hesitate for even a single second." This man... he held a grudge for a very long time. I offered a guilty, sheepish smile. Dawn was just beginning to break. I stared blankly at my phone, completely frozen. The time to face reality had finally arrived... What on earth was I supposed to do about my young mistress?! How could I possibly explain this to her?! My head pounded as if it were being struck by a heavy hammer.

"When do you plan to tell Qiong?" "I am tired of having to circle around just to fish for news about you. Wei Xi, when are you finally going to give me a proper title?" Yan Chi had already dressed in his suit, transforming back into his usual aristocratic persona—aloof, ascetic, and annoyingly handsome. If he worked as a male fashion model, his booking schedule would undoubtedly be completely packed. "Just give me a little more time..." I muttered in a tiny voice.

He let out a dry, helpless yet amused chuckle, reaching out to playfully poke the tiny dimple on my cheek. Did both siblings in this family have some sort of strange condition? Even their habits were identical! I slapped his hand away, accepted my grim fate, and turned on my phone. The young mistress had already sent dozens of WeChat messages.

What on earth is going on, Xi? Is Nuobai blind? Why on earth would he like you?! Tell me, are his eyes completely broken?! It is not that I am putting you down, but I—Chu Qiong—am the one who likes him, yet he doesn't like me back? Instead, he likes you? Where am I supposed to put my face?! Is he sick in the head?! It's one thing for me not to like him, but for him not to like me means there is definitely something wrong with his brain! I am so mad I could die! Today I finally found out that Nuobai liked you from the very beginning! No wonder he agreed to add me as a friend; it turns out he just wanted to get close to me so he could find an opportunity to get to you! I genuinely want to curse out loud! Where did you even go? Your brother suddenly dragged me away, and I didn't even get a chance to say a single word to you! Old Zhang was waiting for me, but didn't he ask for leave? My head hurts, I must have drank too much, we will talk tomorrow. Damn it, Nuobai has really lost his mind!

She still hadn't discovered the truth between Yan Chi and me. My mood roller-coasted up and down before plummeting straight to the bottom. What should I do now... How was I supposed to explain this... I grabbed Yan Chi's arm and, lowering my head, bit down hard on his flesh. This was all his fault! All because of this annoyingly gorgeous face of his! A literal sinner! A disaster! Yan Chi was caught off guard by the bite and let out a soft groan. He had already been prepared to leave the house, but instead turned back, aggressively ripping off the tie he had just carefully knotted. "It's... entirely my fault..."

Yet, apologies were utterly useless. By the time I woke up at noon, my entire body felt as though every ounce of strength had been drained from it. The young mistress called me: "Xi, since when did Nuobai start liking you?" She could never endure keeping things bottled up inside for long; whenever she had a question, she asked it directly. "I only found out yesterday myself, it scared me half to death. Is he blind? Instead of liking the young lady of a wealthy household, he likes someone like me? It's completely absurd!" I replied while brushing my teeth and changing my clothes. On the other end of the line, the young mistress let out a frustrated huff.

Aside from a mountain of cash, what do I even have over you? You have looks, you have presence. Isn't it completely natural for someone to like you? This Chu Qiong is not someone who loses her mind over a pretty face, you know! Once you step out into the real world, you'll understand—what good is a pretty face? I can ride wild horses in my own private racetrack, I can play the cello. But seriously, Nuobai must truly be blind! There was a long, heavy silence on the other end. After a moment, I heard her voice turn slightly choked: "You aren't inferior to anyone. My upbringing was entirely funded by my family's wealth, but you are completely self-taught. You are no less than anyone else." "Whatever, let's not talk about it anymore. He's just a man anyway, Nuobai is yours."

I bit my lower lip. After pondering for a long while, I finally decided to speak up: "Wait. There is something... I need to tell you." "I think I... have feelings for your older brother..."

As soon as those words left my mouth, the other end of the line went completely dead silent. I pulled my phone away to look—the call was still active. For some inexplicable reason, this exact scenario felt bizarrely familiar. After a long while, the other end finally exploded. "Are you out of your mind?! A guy like my brother—that icy, freezing expression—and you actually like him? Just thinking about it makes me feel suffocated, you know? Xi, are you truly insane?!" "I treat you like my best sister, and yet you want to become my sister-in-law?" "I refuse to accept this, unless you have an older brother to trade with me!"

I didn't have an older brother. This particular math problem... simply had no solution. "If I genuinely manage to win him over, will you be angry?" This was what worried me the most. It was also the thing I was most terrified of facing. "As if that could ever happen." She hung up. Did the phrase "as if that could ever happen" mean I couldn't possibly win him over, or that she couldn't possibly not be angry... It was impossible to tell.

Sigh... Time quietly slipped by. The relationship between the young mistress and me remained as tense as ever. She continued to drag her wild circle of friends out to party, while I silently stayed behind to clean up the aftermath. Naturally, some people began to grow resentful. Someone sneered at me mockingly: "I have never seen anyone so utterly shameless. Do you just cling to Chu Qiong like some kind of servant? How do you even dare show your face in places like this? Why don't you take a look at what kind of person you actually are?"

What kind of person was I? I lowered my gaze to look at the dress I was wearing—it was a high-end couture evening gown that the young mistress had bought for me. Next to it in my closet were piles of other dresses she had grown tired of. But this specific dress was different; it had been a personalized birthday gift from her. So I supposed it wasn't bad at all, right? Compared to the other girl... at the very least, my dress was worth many times more than the cheap rag she was wearing. It was only then that I understood—ah, so this was simply someone who wanted to act like a sycophant and couldn't, and was thus consumed by jealousy.

Before I could even open my mouth, the young mistress strode over and flung a glass of red wine directly into the woman's face. "From now on, at any gathering like this, if she is present, I am leaving." The woman's face turned instantly pale. Once Chu Qiong made a declaration like that, she was essentially blacklisted and cast out of the inner circle. The young mistress angrily grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the party. "Where did your sharp tongue go? Did it emigrate abroad? Someone insults you to your face and you just stand there without a single reaction?"

This was actually a misunderstanding. I hadn't even had the chance to counterattack yet... "Why is my brother looking for you?" The young mistress stared intently at her blank phone screen, her eyes narrowing as she cast a deeply suspicious gaze toward me. Walking straight into the sword was a single blow; dodging it was still a single blow. There was simply no escape left. Gritting my teeth with final resolve, I blurted out: "Maybe... because I am his girlfriend. Your girlfriend's phone ran out of battery, so he had no choice but to contact her close relatives, didn't he?"

Chu Qiong stared at me unflinchingly. Her gaze was remarkably calm: "Are you two actually dating for real?" "Mm, truly." "Since when?" "To be exact... it's been a year." She gently bit the inside of her cheek, pressing her tongue against it. I knew that expression all too well—it was the look she wore whenever she was angry, and furious to the absolute extreme. "Wei Xi, you are truly something else!" She shot me a frigid glare, spun on her heel, and walked away. She didn't even allow me to get into her car.

I sank down onto the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face. I was genuinely awful. I didn't deserve to be her friend. Neither did I deserve to be loved by Chu Di Yan Chi. Why on earth was I like this? I despised myself. Ever since the young mistress cut ties with me, many others began to take notice. New "best friends" gradually appeared by Chu Qiong's side. As for me, I retreated completely, hiding away in the library day in and day out. Even Chu Di Yan Chi seemed a little more distant—he was busy, and I enjoyed the quiet solitude. In stark contrast, Chen Nuobai began showing up much more frequently. He would appear in the library, the cafeteria, and the quiet pathways across campus, persistently "checking in" everywhere I went. I truly found it baffling. A campus god like him, towering so high above the rest, why on earth would he ever fancy someone like me?

"Do you even know what you are saying?" "Talented individuals naturally draw all eyes toward them—Wei Xi, you constantly downplay the radiant light within yourself." I never expected those internal musings of mine to slip out loud unintentionally. I had just asked him why he liked me. He let out a helpless sigh, raising his hand as if to flick my forehead before ultimately holding himself back.