Nie Yiyun was holding a water glass when Chi Mu pounced, causing the water to pour directly onto Nie Yiyun’s chest.
Before leaving, she had specifically chosen a simple white T-shirt from Chi Mu’s cloakroom. The water soaked through the fabric, and the area over her chest gradually became transparent, revealing her black bra.
Chi Mu wasn’t distracted by her own body. She glared at Nie Yiyun, her back teeth nearly grinding to dust.
“What did you say to Chi Xi?”
“Get up first,” Nie Yiyun said, pushing at her shoulders.
Chi Mu swung her hand back to brush her off. “What did you say to Chi Xi!”
Helpless, Nie Yiyun recounted the conversation between herself and Chi Xi. Finally, she gave Chi Mu another push. “Move.”
Chi Mu stood up. Nie Yiyun set the glass down and went into the room to change. Just as she pulled off the T-shirt, Chi Mu kicked the bedroom door open.
Nie Yiyun instinctively shielded her chest with the shirt.
“What are you hiding?” Chi Mu said. “That’s my body.”
Nie Yiyun turned her back to put on her clothes. She knew perfectly well it was Chi Mu’s body, but she simply wasn’t used to it.
Leaning against the doorframe, Chi Mu said, “I apologize for shouting at you just now. I don’t know when this situation of ours will end, and you’ll be interacting with Chi Xi for a long time. I hope you keep things normal with her, don’t do anything out of the ordinary. My ‘normal’ with her is ignoring her. I don’t acknowledge her, I don’t initiate conversation, and I don’t care to hear anything she has to say.”
Chi Mu’s sudden improvement in attitude, even offering an apology was a first. Nie Yiyun looked at her. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“You’re twins, biological sisters,” Nie Yiyun said. “Why act like enemies?”
Chi Mu froze for a moment before turning back toward the living room. “That’s none of your business. Just don’t screw things up for me.”
Nie Yiyun followed her out. “I need to know why so I can gauge how to behave. I need a sense of what I should and shouldn’t say in the future.”
“There is no gauge! The only rule is to ignore her!” Chi Mu opened the fridge. Aside from some coffee, there was nothing to eat or drink. She shut it dejectedly. “Your life is truly boring.”
Nie Yiyun walked to the balcony, placed the discarded T-shirt into a basin, and poured in laundry detergent. “If you don’t explain it clearly, I’ll have to handle it my own way. If something goes wrong, don’t blame me.”
Chi Mu leaned against the fridge door, staring at the human anatomy chart on the opposite wall. Even in a mere diagram, the limbs were all intact.
“We don’t have a good relationship,” Chi Mu said, her eyes fixed on the legs in the chart. “We didn’t get along as kids either; we fought whenever we saw each other. I bullied her all day long. But then she lost her legs, I can’t exactly bully a disabled person, can I? Where would my dignity be? If I, Chi Mu, am going to bully someone, it’ll be a fair fight with someone on my level.”
She walked to the edge of the balcony and smirked. “Someone like you, for instance. I get an itch to hit you the moment I see you. Wait, is that my new AU T-shirt? You’re scrubbing it like that?”
Chi Mu swung her foot and gave Nie Yiyun a light kick on the backside. Nie Yiyun didn’t change the strength of her scrubbing at all. She didn’t quite believe what Chi Mu was saying. She asked, “Chi Xi is your family. She had an accident and lost her legs, and all you did was stop bullying her?”
Chi Mu’s expression shifted slightly. She paused before saying, “Is it not allowed to have family you don’t get along with? What about you? I see you live alone, and there isn’t a single family-related number in your contacts. I don’t believe for a second you don’t have difficult relatives. What, did you sprout from a rock?”
Nie Yiyun’s hand jerked. She put the clothes down, turned on the faucet, and let the water rush loudly, remaining silent.
Having Chi Mu’s body gave her a keen sense of smell. She noticed the scent of her pheromones had changed slightly. Fortunately, her own original body had a poor sense of smell, so Chi Mu didn’t notice.
The conversation had turned unpleasant, and Chi Mu didn’t want to discuss Chi Xi further. She changed the subject. “Want to try?”
“Mm.” Nie Yiyun turned off the tap, rinsed the shirt, and hung it on the drying rack.
“How do we try?” Nie Yiyun looked at Chi Mu.
“How else? We kiss!” Chi Mu took a step forward, leaning in to bring her lips close.
The posture was a bit aggressive. Nie Yiyun took a step back, leaning against the balcony glass. Their lips, which had been lightly touching, were easily separated.
Chi Mu glared at her. “Don’t move!”
She took another step forward and pressed her lips back against the other’s. They stared into each other’s eyes at such close range they were nearly cross-eyed. Finally, Chi Mu pulled away and wiped her mouth hard.
There was no change.
“It didn’t work.” Chi Mu thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with anything. “Why didn’t it work?”
Nie Yiyun felt the lingering warmth on her lips. Although it was just a light touch without much action, for someone as inexperienced as her, each of these three times felt bizarre.
Only after their lips parted could she regain her rationality. It seemed she really wasn’t used to being close to people.
“I’m talking to you,” Chi Mu said, tapping Nie Yiyun’s chest. “Top of the class, use that smart brain of yours. Why didn’t it work?”
Nie Yiyun pondered for a moment. “Time.”
Chi Mu wasn’t stupid; she caught on instantly. “The first time worked with just a touch. The second time lasted at least twenty seconds. This time was only about ten. Are you saying the time was too short?”
“That’s my guess,” Nie Yiyun said. “Perhaps we need to kiss for longer.”
“Very likely.” Chi Mu snapped her fingers.
Nie Yiyun said, “Then shall we—”
“No,” Chi Mu made a dismissive gesture and smiled. “We’ll try again tomorrow night. You’ll cover for me at work all day tomorrow. Oh, did you say Chi Xi wants me to switch departments?”
“Yes,” Nie Yiyun nodded.
“I’m not switching,” Chi Mu said. “I don’t know how to do anything anyway, so every department is the same. Just kill time at the office; you don’t know anything about design either.”
Chi Mu turned toward the living room. “I’m going to shower. You should head back. Be careful not to let my mom catch you when you go home, though she’s probably already having her beauty sleep by now. Don’t forget the small gathering the class monitor arranged for tomorrow night. We’ll swap back after the party.”
Nie Yiyun had things to say, but Chi Mu had already entered the bathroom. It was indeed getting late, so she didn’t stay, figuring she could tell her another day.
She simply couldn’t stand Chi Mu’s attitude toward life—her flippant, “good-for-nothing” behavior, and the way she seemed to care for nothing but playing and eating.
Since she was in Chi Mu’s body, she couldn’t bring herself to just “kill time.” They didn’t know when this soul-swapping would end. If it were to be a frequent occurrence in the future, she had a right to manage Chi Mu’s life properly.
The next morning, Nie Yiyun went to the company in Chi Xi’s car. Chi Xi seemed to be in a decent mood today. “Not bad today. You’re dressed quite properly.”
Nie Yiyun was simply wearing basic trousers and a short-sleeved shirt.
“Have you thought about switching departments?” Chi Xi asked.
“I don’t plan on switching,” Nie Yiyun said. “Anywhere is the same to me.”
“Fine. Then work hard under Team Leader Han. Stop sleeping.”
Sleeping?
Nie Yiyun was stunned. She knew Chi Mu was useless, but she hadn’t expected her to face work by literally sleeping through it.
What a waste!
Following the message Chi Mu had sent her, she arrived at the Design Department on the fourth floor.
There were six people in the office, including her. There was a transparent cubicle inside, which Chi Mu told her was Team Leader Han’s office.
Although the team was small, the office space was large. Six desks were arranged in two rows facing left. Everyone had two monitors and a graphics tablet on their desk.
On the right side of the office was a 3D printer and several diamond samples that appeared to have been printed from it.
Nie Yiyun looked around. Everything here was transparent; from this office, she could see the neighboring teams’ offices. They had similar setups, each office looking like a giant bubble.
Of her five colleagues, two were Omegas and the other three were Alphas. The Alphas sat across from her. Nie Yiyun’s seat was in the middle, flanked by the two Omegas.
No wonder Chi Mu didn’t want to switch departments; she was nestled right between Omegas.
Nie Yiyun sat down. Fortunately, the desk was large enough that even with Omegas on both sides, they weren’t too close. The only downside was that this body’s nose was too sensitive.
Nie Yiyun could smell everyone’s pheromones. For a doctor, these scents were highly distracting.
Nie Yiyun turned on the computer and stared at the screen, a bit lost. In this unfamiliar field, she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.
Her colleagues were all buried in their work while she sat idle.
Nie Yiyun glanced at the inner cubicle. Team Leader Han’s upper body was hidden by a monitor, but she looked very busy.
She got up, walked over, and knocked on the door.
Team Leader Han looked up and adjusted her glasses. “Come in.”
Nie Yiyun pushed the door open and asked, “Is there any work for me to do?”
“Eh?” Team Leader Han didn’t quite understand.
“I have nothing to do,” Nie Yiyun said. “What do I need to work on?”
Team Leader Han was still a bit confused, but since “Chi Mu” had asked, she had to assign her something. Pointing to a stack of drawings on a side table, she said, “Help me sort through these.”
Nie Yiyun walked over to the pile of design drafts. “How should I categorize them?”
“Check the bottom right corner for the Director’s seal,” Team Leader Han explained, walking over to show her. “Those with the seal have been approved, put them in one pile. Those without it, put in another.”
“Alright.” Nie Yiyun sat down and began sorting through them meticulously.
Meanwhile, in the main office outside the cubicle, several colleagues had opened their WeChat group chat.
Li Rui: She slept all day yesterday, and today she’s doing grunt work. What is she even here for?
Jin Yihao: Some rich person’s twisted hobby?
Jia Ning: I thought she’d be a powerhouse like CEO Chi, but looking at her now, she’s just another deadbeat socialite.
Pan Yuyao: But she looks so much like CEO Chi. When she sat next to me yesterday, I didn’t even dare to look up. It felt like the CEO herself was sitting right there. The pressure was insane.
Jia Ning: I feel that too. It’s mostly her status; she’s the CEO’s twin sister. Who would dare mess with her?
Li Rui: Why did they dump this ‘Great Buddha’ in our group anyway? She should have been sent to Group 3.
Pan Yuyao: It’s only because our Team Leader Han is so nice. If she’d been sent to Group 3’s Team Leader Bao, wouldn’t the roof have been blown off by now?
As the group chatted away fervently, they noticed one person hadn’t joined in. Pan Yuyao craned her neck to look at Qin Zizhen, who sat one workstation over, to the right of Chi Mu’s desk. “Zizhen, why are you so quiet?”
Qin Zizhen looked up from her sketches, shot a disdainful glance toward Chi Mu in the small office, and sneered, “I have nothing to say about a talentless rich brat like her.”