But after scanning the area, Lu Jiaoyue failed to locate Lu Xiaoxiao.
"Jiaoyue-jie? What are you looking for?"
Qi Yin asked her in confusion.
Only then did Lu Jiaoyue snap back to reality, shaking her head and saying it was nothing.
Qi Yin patiently continued, "Then can you answer the question I asked earlier?"
Preoccupied with thoughts of her sister, Lu Jiaoyue couldn't help but appear distracted: "Ah… but I'm not particularly familiar with what Lu Yubai likes either. We didn't grow up together, and I've only recently returned to the Lu Family."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Qi Yin's previously smiling expression immediately fell, her tone turning noticeably colder: "If you don't want to help, just say so directly. Making all these excuses is really boring."
Seeing the sudden shift in the other's attitude, Lu Jiaoyue felt momentarily bewildered. But Qi Yin had already lost interest in speaking with her, snorting coldly before turning and walking away.
However, since they had just met, and the other person was determined to misunderstand her, there was no need to chase after them and explain everything clearly.
Lu Jiaoyue paid no further attention to Qi Yin, continuing to survey the people around her, trying to see where her sister was.
Afraid of missing any detail, she examined everyone so carefully that she didn't immediately notice a woman had just taken the seat beside her.
Seeing that Lu Jiaoyue hadn't noticed her, the woman tapped her shoulder and initiated conversation:
"Little sister, was that person who got angry with you just now your friend?"
Only then did Lu Jiaoyue snap out of it, properly seeing the person seated next to her.
The woman wore a beautiful and seductive black dress, with large sunglasses covering half her face. Based on her attire and demeanor, she didn't resemble anyone Lu Jiaoyue knew.
Just as Lu Jiaoyue was wondering why so many strangers were approaching her tonight, she suddenly heard Lu Xiaoxiao's inner thoughts again.
[This is so annoying. Knowing she's talking to her crush's sister, she still couldn't be more polite. Only our Jiaoyue's good temper would let it slide. If it were me she offended, I'd shut her up so thoroughly I'd change my surname on the spot.]
[Don't be upset, baby. It doesn't matter if she doesn't want to talk to you – your sister will keep you company.]
These thoughts sounded so close, as if whispered right in her ear, but the only person near Lu Jiaoyue now was this unfamiliar woman!
Lu Jiaoyue widened her eyes, finding it hard to believe.
Could this woman be her sister?
But that didn't make sense – even with different makeup and clothing, and sunglasses hiding her features, her voice was completely different from her sister's.
In fact, Lu Xiaoxiao's current voice was indeed different from usual. She had specifically exchanged for a voice-disguising prop from the System, and the voice she was using now bore no resemblance to her original one.
While Lu Jiaoyue was distracted earlier, Lu Xiaoxiao had secretly sprinkled the powder the System gave her into the glass of juice in front of Lu Jiaoyue.
Seeing Lu Jiaoyue's dazed expression, Lu Xiaoxiao thought she had startled her with her approach, so she gently explained:
"Don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person. I don't like your brother either – I'm just bored and looking for someone to chat with."
Lu Jiaoyue stared at her unblinkingly, trying to find any details that might reveal similarities to Lu Xiaoxiao.
Hmm… the lips seem quite similar to my sister's.
The casual, lazy sitting posture is just like how my sister usually sits.
Plus, inner thoughts can never deceive—no matter how hard it was for Lu Jiaoyue to believe, she still confirmed that the person before her was indeed her sister.
Though she didn’t understand why her sister would disguise herself as a stranger to strike up a conversation, Lu Jiaoyue held such a strong bias in favor of Lu Xiaoxiao that she simply assumed her sister must have her reasons. All she needed to do was play along.
With that in mind, she pretended to know nothing, politely nodded, and courteously explained:
"That girl just now wasn’t my friend. She only came to ask me something, and when I said I didn’t know, she got upset. But I didn’t take it to heart."
"I don’t think you’re a bad person. What did you want to talk to me about?"
With the System’s voice-changing tool, Lu Xiaoxiao was confident she wouldn’t be recognized, so she decided to take this chance to ask Lu Jiaoyue about her impression of her.
"You’re Lu Jiaoyue, right? The Lu Family’s recent recognition banquet was quite high-profile, so you’re pretty famous now."
Lu Xiaoxiao smiled at Lu Jiaoyue, propping her chin on one hand while admiring her own limited-edition mature lady voice.
"I heard you have an older sister. From what I know, she isn’t very easy to get along with. Though she always acts gentle and magnanimous, she secretly causes trouble for others. I wonder how your relationship with her is?"
[Sigh, my sister is just too oblivious. If I don’t give her a heads-up from a third-party perspective, she’ll probably stay this naive forever.]
Hearing the question, Lu Jiaoyue was momentarily stunned, then gradually grasped Lu Xiaoxiao’s intention.
She understood! Her sister must be testing her!
Her sister must want to see how she would react when someone badmouthed her. It seemed her sister might still not fully trust her.
In that case, she would offer her sister one hundred percent loyalty!
Lu Jiaoyue looked directly into Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes, her expression as serious as if facing an exam question, and replied righteously:
"I don’t know where you heard those rumors, but my sister is nothing like what you described."
"My sister is smart, kind, beautiful, and generous. She treats everyone in the family exceptionally well. She just isn’t very good at expressing herself, and sometimes her actions don’t match her intentions. But at her core, she’s a wonderful sister, a cherished member of our family. We get along very well, so I don’t want to hear anyone speak ill of her!"
[Huh? Seriously? After how I’ve treated you, you don’t want to strangle me?]
After hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets behind her sunglasses.
Lu Jiaoyue’s expression was earnest, completely devoid of jest, and her passionate tone sounded like she was reciting lines from the climax of a family drama.
Lu Xiaoxiao had no idea what she was so fired up about, feeling only that the world had truly gone mad.
She simply couldn’t fathom why Lu Jiaoyue would define her harsh behavior as kindness.
Since transmigrating into this book, she had rarely spoken a gentle word to Lu Jiaoyue. Any normal person would have kept their distance long ago. So why was it that Lu Jiaoyue acted like she was under a spell all day? Could this girl be a masochist?
Hopeless, truly hopeless.
Seeing that this topic couldn't be pushed further, Lu Xiaoxiao felt a headache coming on and simply gave up on the idea of chatting with Lu Jiaoyue. She only wanted to persuade her to drink the juice quickly and then take her to the 6th floor as soon as possible.
"Alright, alright, I spoke out of turn. After all, I don't understand your actual situation, and many things I've only heard about. Have some juice to calm down."