Zero—: [You stood me up again. You’re not actually a catfish account, are you?]
Cat-Ears Little Qiao: [Hubby, I really can’t make it (﹏)]
Qiao Xingye stood at the entryway, changing his shoes while replying to the message.
Then he called into the house: “Sis, I’ll be back late today.”
“Stop right there!” Qiao Shutang burst out of her room and shouted.
Her sudden outburst gave Qiao Xingye quite a fright—his sister was always so gentle and refined.
“Sis, what’s wrong?”
Qiao Shutang gasped for breath.
Just moments ago, she had been reborn.
In her previous life, Qiao Xingye had used her photos to catfish the wealthy heir Ling Heng in an online romance. A petty person snitched, and when Ling Heng discovered that his online girlfriend was actually a man, he flew into a rage. He ordered people to humiliate Qiao Xingye retaliatorily for three days and three nights, causing him to develop severe depression. Not long after, he jumped to his death.
And at her brother’s funeral, she was recognized by Ling Heng. Several cars chased her at breakneck speed, causing her to panic and drive her car into the river,
where she drowned…
Even now, with every breath, she could still feel the fishy, salty taste of river water lingering in her lungs.
“You’re not going!” Qiao Shutang had to stop him from leaving the house.
Because it was at tonight’s gathering that he would reveal to a trusted friend that he’d been catfishing a rich second-generation heir with a fake account. She didn’t know which backstabbing friend would drive the knife in and tip off Ling Heng.
Thankfully, the point in time she’d been reborn to was before everything was exposed.
Everything could still be salvaged.
Qiao Xingye changed back into his slippers and walked over, pulling a tissue from the coffee table to wipe his sister’s sweat-covered forehead.
“Sis, why are you sweating so much? Are you feeling unwell?” he asked with concern.
Qiao Shutang quickly told a lie.
“I just got my period. Stay and take care of me.”
Qiao Xingye raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Isn’t it still a week away?”
This younger brother had been a thoughtful little treasure since childhood, memorizing her every menstrual cycle and slipping sanitary pads and painkillers into her bag in advance.
Qiao Shutang gripped his hand tightly, her cold fingers sinking into his skin.
“Can’t it come early?”
Qiao Xingye hissed.
“Sis, your hands are freezing!” he said half-jokingly. “Like you just got pulled out of water.”
Qiao Shutang’s face turned even paler.
“Go make me some ginger brown sugar water.”
“Oh.” Qiao Xingye obediently agreed.
As he headed toward the kitchen, Grandma Qiao threw on a robe and came out of her bedroom.
“Let me make it. Little Ye, go have fun.”
Grandma Qiao looked lovingly at the siblings. “Little Ye rarely gets to go to a gathering. Don’t spoil his fun.”
Qiao Xingye’s eyes instantly lit up, and he spoke in a coaxing, spoiled tone.
“Sis, today is Sisi’s birthday. I promised I’d go.”
He’d been devoted to his sister since childhood and always listened to Qiao Shutang.
Qiao Shutang couldn’t for the life of her understand how a high schooler with excellent grades and character had learned to run online scams.
And had the nerve to use his own sister’s photos to deceive people.
If Ling Heng, a wealthy young heir, just lost some money, that would be one thing.
But being deceived in love—
how could he possibly let it go easily?
She absolutely could not let history repeat itself!
Qiao Shutang put on a stern face and said severely, “You’re not going! Final exams are coming up. Stay home and review properly!”
Her tone brooked no argument.
“Grandma, please go back to your room and sleep.”
Grandma Qiao glanced at Qiao Xingye, who was trudging toward the kitchen with his head hung low, then pressed her lips together and returned to her room.
Qiao Shutang took the opportunity to grab Qiao Xingye’s phone from the coffee table and went back to her own room.
His phone unlock password was easy to guess—it was her birthday.
Logging into WeChat, she saw the messages Ling Heng had sent.
Zero—: 【When are we meeting? Give me a straight answer.】
Qiao Shutang scrolled up through their chat history.
There wasn’t much serious conversation—mostly discussions about games, and…
sending photos and receiving red envelopes.
Ling Heng had brought up meeting in person several times, but “she” had refused every time with various excuses.
The most recent time, Cat-Ear Xiao Qiao had used “an elder in the family undergoing surgery” as an excuse to ask for a 200,000 yuan red envelope, and after agreeing to meet Ling Heng, she’d backed out.
Qiao Shutang had no idea how Qiao Xingye planned to weasel out of it this time.
But clearly, the person on the other end was getting agitated.
Zero—: 【Do I look that easy to fool, huh?】
Zero—: 【Say something!】
Zero—: 【You’re some kind of catfish, aren’t you?】
Zero—: 【Say something!】
Zero—: 【Say something!】
Zero—: 【Say something!】
Zero—: 【Believe it or not, one day I’ll just show up at your school gate!】
That last line painted a vivid picture, and Qiao Shutang’s little heart gave a sharp lurch.
She had to clear up the catfish suspicion and get her brother out of this mess.
Steadying herself, she pressed the voice message button and spoke in an affected, coquettish tone.
“Wuu wuu wuu, you’re so mean! Hmph~, you’re yelling at me!”
The sweet, alluring voice came through the speaker, and Ling Heng felt his ear bones melt into mush.
This was the first time his online girlfriend had spoken without a voice changer.
“So she really is a girl.”
Ling Heng turned to show off to the person behind him. “My girl’s voice is nice, right?”
His slender fingers flew across the screen.
Zero—: 【Baby, don’t be mad. I just really want to see you—I got ahead of myself.】
Qiao Shutang breathed a sigh of relief and continued sending voice messages.
“I want to see you too, but finals are coming up, and my family’s been super strict about it.”
Her tone was full of regret and grievance.
Ling Heng couldn’t help but feel a surge of tenderness.
Zero—: 【Alright, baby, focus on your exams. When they’re over, your man will take you out for a fancy meal.】
Meanwhile, Qiao Shutang used Qiao Xingye’s exam papers as props and snapped a few photos to send over.
Cat-Ear Xiao Qiao: 【The questions are so hard. I need to get a head start—early bird catches the worm~】
The photo showed a glimpse of a girl’s fingers—slender and fair, with jelly-pink nail polish on the nails, looking delicate and pretty.
Ling Heng pulled up the photos Xiao Qiao had sent him before and compared the hand features. There was a tiny mole on the index finger in both.
It was the same person.
Zero—: 【Transfer: 20,000 yuan.】
Zero—: 【Go hire a tutor.】
Zero—: 【No male tutors allowed.】
Cat-Ear Xiao Qiao didn’t reply for a long time.
Qiao Shutang was doing the math.
In just a few months of online dating, Qiao Xingye had actually taken 1.36 million yuan from this guy!
1.36 million!!
Qiao Shutang genuinely wanted to post online and ask: is it illegal to kill your own little brother? (╥﹏╥)
When she saw Ling Heng transfer money over again, she wanted to cry even more.
Take the food, and you’re soft; take the money, and you’re short-handed.
She planned to return the money to Ling Heng and then break up with him—absolutely no more contact, not even a cent’s worth.
She tapped “decline.”
Cat-Ear Xiao Qiao: 【Thanks, but I have money.】
Ling Heng stared at the line in disbelief.
In the past, Xiao Qiao always asked him for money for one reason or another—either buying a pretty dress to host the school gala, or replacing an old computer with a new model, or anniversary gifts for how many days they’d been together…
This was the first time she’d ever declined.
Zero—: [Not enough?]
Two seconds later, a video call popped up directly.
Qiao Shutang: (”*)
The phone rang and vibrated, like a drum beating against her racing heart.
She had only skimmed their previous chat history, unable to remember any details.
With text messages, she could carefully choose her words, dodging the real issues.
A video call was too easy to see through.
She was already a sophomore in college, yet she had to play the part of a high school girl pretending to be young.
What if he saw through her?
Should she answer or not?
Just then, Qiao Xingye pushed the door open.
He mimicked a waiter’s tray-holding gesture, hamming it up: “Miss, your sunset hour is—”
“Sis, why are you holding my phone?”