The air in the living room suddenly went still.
Originally, Qiao Mengdi felt the atmosphere was a bit heavy and wanted to use this absurdly superstitious behavior to liven things up, but it backfired.
“Does that mean… I’m supposed to be a meat shield?”
As luck would have it, in her embarrassment, she added another sentence. Consequently, the air became even quieter, and her awkwardness deepened.
Qiao Mengdi felt the situation was beyond saving. Sigh, forget it.
After a moment of silence, Yao Chiyue let out a cold laugh. “A meat shield? What kind of nonsense are you thinking?”
“You’re the one who said it. How is it me thinking nonsense?”
“Fine. You’ll find out when the time comes.”
Yao Chiyue also showed a look of embarrassment, as if she regretted revealing even that much.
Although she desperately wanted to understand right now, Qiao Mengdi knew the importance of moderation. Prying too deep rarely leads to a good result.
“When are we going back?” she changed the subject.
“Do you have planned this afternoon?”
Qiao Mengdi shook her head.
“There are rooms upstairs. Go sleep for a while; we’ll head back later.”
Lying on the large, unfamiliar bed in the guest room, Qiao Mengdi felt no sleepiness at all.
She replayed the conversation she just had with Yao Chiyue in the hall.
Previously, in the underground parking lot of the mall where Lian Tongwei’s bridal shop was, Qiao Mengdi thought Yao Chiyue had no expectations for this marriage. Judging by what she said today, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Even if she didn’t believe in feelings or didn’t like women, it was certain that she didn’t reject marriage—she might even need it.
She’d rather marry a woman; in that case, was she still straight?
Could this be interpreted as: the two of them weren’t in a fake marriage, and their marriage wouldn’t be sexless?
Qiao Mengdi couldn’t stop herself. She began to let her imagination run wild. Before they were even married, she had already fantasized about various exciting details and fragments of married life, with all sorts of plots available.
Yesterday’s trending incident had caused Qiao Mengdi’s Weibo to gain over 300,000 followers.
Seeing Yi Hongzhou’s fans cursing in her comments, making wild guesses, and acting like experts, Qiao Mengdi felt the urge to uninstall the app.
His fans were far too active. Just thinking about how they had already married them off, had them having kids, and even picked out names for the children made her extremely angry.
She couldn’t help but take a screenshot and send it to Yao Chiyue to vent. “Sister Yao, look at this!”
“I’ve seen it,” Yao Chiyue replied quite quickly.
Ah? Even faster than me! Qiao Mengdi couldn’t help but wonder if she followed her Weibo.
No, no, she definitely wasn’t that idle. She must have seen it because of that dangerous figure, Yi Hongzhou.
“Does Sister Yao have any thoughts on this?”
“Should I?” Then, she added, “It’s not real anyway.”
She’s so rational! Unable to find someone to be angry with her, Qiao Mengdi felt very frustrated. She had to vent somehow.
“Um, can I clarify things?”
“How do you plan to clarify?”
“The article by the special correspondent was published yesterday, and we also took photos. I could—”
“You can.”
“Then are you going to post with me?” From now on, Qiao Mengdi planned to infiltrate Yao Chiyue’s life through small details, advancing step by step until she slowly occupied her heart!
“No.”
Is this something someone who feels ‘lucky’ to have met me would say?
Qiao Mengdi began to question what Yao Chiyue had said at Luling during the day. At that time, her expression hadn’t been very natural.
“A solo act is so boring. Shouldn’t we work together to nip these rumors in the bud? That way, maybe Yi Hongzhou will give up!”
“Don’t provoke him.”
“Oh.”
The chat ended. In the end, Qiao Mengdi didn’t post anything on Weibo. Regardless, the original host’s friends already knew from WeChat that she was marrying a woman. As for Yi Hongzhou’s fans, they would see the reporter’s article sooner or later.
Yao Chiyue and Qiao Mengdi’s marriage hit the financial news and major sections of the Lizhou Evening News.
Furthermore, Lin Linfeng had been bragging to her friends for the past two days about how wealthy and promising the person her daughter was marrying was.
The news of their New Year’s Day wedding was spreading across Lizhou at a speed Qiao Mengdi couldn’t fathom.
Before exiting Weibo, Qiao Mengdi searched for Yi Hongzhou’s account. The post he forwarded yesterday already had over 100,000 comments. The sheer number and activity of his fans shocked her.
She carefully recalled the contents of “Blood and Tears Marriage.” There was indeed no mention of this Yi Hongzhou character. Therefore, she had no idea what would happen to him later.
Even if he was Ji Honghan, life’s trivialities were numerous. Because the novel’s capacity was limited, many things weren’t written down. She still couldn’t predict Yi Hongzhou’s specific future actions based on the plot.
All that was certain was that Qiao Mengdi wouldn’t be charmed by her cousin like the original host, nor would she be emotionally unfaithful. Whether Yi Hongzhou would fall for her as written in the novel, she couldn’t say.
Thinking of this, she felt a chill. Ugh, please don’t like me. I’d rather you just want to use me.
If only I had finished the novel. Then she might have known Ji Honghan’s profession, the reason he constantly vanished, and his fate after the original host’s accident.
It was too late for that. Now she just had to be on guard against Yi Hongzhou. She warned herself.
Knock knock—knock knock. Two knocks each time, with a pause, twice in total. That was Qiao Mengyang’s habit.
It was past ten; what was this kid doing? Qiao Mengdi was puzzled but got up and walked to the door. Actually, the door wasn’t closed, but she didn’t really want him in her room at this hour.
The siblings looked at each other across the threshold. Qiao Mengyang rubbed his nose and turned his head away. “You and that sister… have you guys slept together already—”
“Hey, Qiao Mengyang!” Qiao Mengdi interrupted him, pulled him into the room, and slammed the door shut. Thud. “What do you mean by that?”
Qiao Mengdi was still holding his hand. Qiao Mengyang yelled like a ghost and struggled to pull his left hand away. Once free, he hid his hand behind his back, looking like he’d been molested. “It… it means exactly what it sounds like.”
“You just focus on your studies. You don’t need to worry about my business.”
“Then why did you cry and ask me to help you run away before?” Qiao Mengyang pulled a long face. He still wanted to figure out what his sister had been through these past few days.
“When did I ever cry?” Qiao Mengdi refused to admit it. That was something the original host did, not her. “Don’t talk nonsense!”
“The chat logs are still there!” Qiao Mengyang flashed his phone. “If you deleted them, you can look at mine.”
“Fine, fine. I’ve changed my mind now. Didn’t I tell you? You and Dad aren’t ‘others’ to me. Besides, Sister Yao is actually quite nice. She’s beautiful and rich—you know that! So, for myself and for everyone, this is the only way.” Qiao Mengdi felt this wasn’t entirely a lie; in fact, most of it was true.
“I suggest you give it a try. It’ll be too late after you’re married.”
Qiao Mengdi suddenly found her bristly “cheap” younger brother quite cute. It turned out he really did care about her.
But he was just a headstrong young man. He wouldn’t catch the logical loopholes in her words like the old lady did, forcing her to answer if there was a necessary link between “being nice” and “getting married.”
He knew the original host was straight and had confirmed with her that “orientation isn’t something that can be forced.”
Now, Qiao Mengdi understood why he asked if she had slept with Yao Chiyue. Qiao Mengyang wanted to know if she could truly accept a woman. That was something that needed to be tested to be certain.
She didn’t need to test it; she definitely could. However, she wasn’t so sure about Yao Chiyue.
“Yangyang,” Qiao Mengdi walked to the bed and sat down. “Now, I have no way back. I can only move forward.”
This was true on every level: as Qiao Chengrong’s daughter and as her soul-transmigrated self.
Qiao Mengyang followed her and sat in the chair in front of the dressing table.
“Yesterday, did you ask that sister to come to your room, or did she come on her own?” Qiao Mengyang looked like an angry teenage lion, his face full of awkwardness.
Qiao Mengdi blinked. So the things he said he wanted to ask her on the phone last night were actually these.
“Qiao Mengyang, why are you peeping behind people’s backs?” she asked, intentionally feigning indignation.
“Was that peeping? If you didn’t want me to see it in the living room, you shouldn’t have been so flashy.”
“You were peeping!”
“So tell me, what was she doing in your room?”
“Hey, are you an idiot? We’re getting married. Isn’t it normal for her to come to my room?”
The siblings bickered, but the atmosphere actually became lighter.
“Heh!” Qiao Mengyang turned his face away dismissively. “Acting like the two of you are actually in love.”
“Yangyang,” Qiao Mengdi swung her legs. Her mood was inexplicably good. “In the future, you must marry someone you like and who likes you back, okay?”
“I won’t settle!”
The boy’s expression was so arrogant and defiant.
That was the good thing about being young. Having experienced few hardships, they always believed they could do it, believed the future was bright—as if they were the protagonist of the world.
“Good. I’ll definitely support you.”
She had lost a sister, but as if in compensation, Qiao Mengdi had gained a brother.
“I heard from my classmates that when their sisters get engaged or married, they give out big red envelopes.”
Qiao Mengyang stretched out his hand toward Qiao Mengdi, though his eyes looked elsewhere.
This kid… why is he asking for money everywhere?!
He was the exact opposite of his mother. One couldn’t wait to spend every cent she had; the other didn’t miss any opportunity to collect wealth.
Qiao Mengdi couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t have any money. Your sister is now called ‘Qiao Super Poor’.”
“Tsk!” Failing to get a red envelope, Qiao Mengyang didn’t mind. “Is being poor something to be proud of?”
“I’m about to marry a CEO. Maybe I can pick up a ‘sugar mommy’ instead,” Qiao Mengdi said self-deprecatingly.
“If you rely on a mountain, it might crumble. You can’t possibly not understand such a simple truth, right?”
“You understand it? You understand it and still ask me for money?”
“Go ask around. Which woman gets married without giving her brothers a red envelope? Didn’t you say that sister is nice? If she’s nice, she shouldn’t ignore me, her brother-in-law!”
Qiao Mengyang was really trying his best for that red envelope.
Qiao Mengdi thought this brother was quite fun.
“Alright, when I have money, I’ll definitely make it up to you.”
“How much?”
“Qiao Mengyang, are you done?”
“Heh, women! You know nothing of the power of money! Just now, I was testing your sincerity.”
“The scab on your face is gone. It recovered quickly. Looks like you’re still growing.”
“Of course. I think I can grow to 185.5 cm.”
“So precise? How tall are you now?”
“182.3 cm.”
“With shoes?”
“Barefoot, okay!”
After Qiao Mengyang left, Qiao Mengdi took a shower. It was about time to sleep.
Lying down, she picked up her phone and noticed a missed call from Yao Chiyue.
It had rung 7 times, twenty minutes ago.
I have to return this call, she thought as she flopped onto the bed.
It wasn’t even twelve yet, so Qiao Mengdi dialed back.