Qiao Shutang rapped Qiao Xingye on the back with a straight ruler.
“Straighten up.”
Kneeling on the floor, Qiao Xingye pinched his earlobes with both hands while a stack of books wobbled precariously on his head.
The sixteen-year-old boy cried like a six-year-old. “Sis, I know I was wrong. Spare me.”
“What did you do wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have pretended to be a girl, and I definitely shouldn’t have used your photo. But I didn’t do it on purpose—he threw money at me, hard. Who could resist that?”
Qiao Shutang was about to retort when a notification popped up on her phone.
Zero—: [Are you there?]
Zero—: [Transfer: 50,000 yuan.]
(_)
She pressed her lips together tightly.
Summoning every ounce of willpower to resist the primal urge surging inside her.
Qiao Xingye boldly steadied the books on his head and leaned over.
“See? That’s exactly how he lured me in before.” He had the righteous confidence of someone caught red-handed with stolen goods.
Qiao Shutang cleared her throat. “Enough nonsense. Confess your problems honestly—leniency for the cooperative, death for the defiant.”
Qiao Xingye figured he couldn’t hide it any longer, so he laid out the whole story from beginning to end.
Ever since their parents were imprisoned last year for economic crimes and the Qiao family went bankrupt, the siblings’ affluent life had plummeted. They had no choice but to move in with their grandmother and live off her meager pension.
Half a year ago, a game Qiao Xingye played held a beauty contest. Female players uploaded their photos, and the top three vote-getters won a cash prize of ten thousand yuan.
So he uploaded Qiao Shutang’s photo.
The result was a runaway victory—an easy first place.
This Zero was the guild leader of the game’s top guild, a massive whale who spent enormous amounts of money. Even the server was named after his ID.
“Sis, getting married in a game is super casual. At first I didn’t take it seriously.”
“Later I joined the guild’s WeChat group, and the two of us added each other on WeChat.”
“Don’t worry, I registered a separate WeChat account specifically. I only added guild friends on it. My identity would never be exposed.”
Qiao Shutang put her hands on her hips. “Supporting you in the game is one thing, but in real life you can’t accept over a million yuan from him.”
“Ugh, stop yelling at me.” Qiao Xingye, looking aggrieved, scrolled the chat history all the way to the top. “Look, the first time he transferred money, I was just joking when I said ‘V me 50 to see what you’ve got,’ and he sent me 500,000.”
“This guy’s a fool with too much money. You can’t blame me, right?”
Qiao Shutang looked at the timestamp in the chat history and suddenly understood. “So the 500,000 for Grandma’s heart stent—that wasn’t from Auntie?”
Qiao Xingye nodded. “At the time, Auntie said she’d figure something out, but there was no news for a long time. I was worried Grandma would be in danger if we delayed too long, so I…”
“And after that? How come you kept asking him for money every few days?”
“Sis, remember that time you used cheap cosmetics and almost ruined your face?”
He was talking about the time Qiao Shutang had an allergic reaction to face cream.
The Qiao family had been wealthy. Growing up, Qiao Shutang had always used the best of everything, including the most expensive brands of face cream.
After their fall, she switched to cheap face cream with excessive heavy metals, which caused her face to break out in red rashes.
It took over a month of treatment to recover.
“So the face cream you brought home after that—it wasn’t from Sisi?”
Luo Sisi was their old neighbor and also Qiao Xingye’s high school classmate. In the past, the Qiao family had often looked after the Luo family.
Qiao Xingye said that if Luo Sisi’s face cream at home went unused and expired, it would be a waste, and she believed him.
“Yeah, and those clothes and bags were all bought by me. Because I was afraid you wouldn’t bear to wear them and would sell them for money, I said they were gifts from Sisi.”
When the siblings compared notes, Qiao Shutang was surprised to discover that half of the 1.36 million yuan Ling Heng had transferred was spent on herself.
She was, in fact, Ling Heng’s biggest creditor.
Qiao Shutang rubbed her brow.
“We’ll return the money to him, then break up with him, and cut ties completely.”
Qiao Xingye shook his head like a rattle-drum.
“Sis, the rest of the money is all locked up in the stock market. Where would we get the money to pay him back? Besides, I don’t think we need to.”
“He’s pretty rich in real life, and he’s always quick to transfer money. If we really break up, he can’t ask for it back. I think he’s like a rich man’s foolish son…”
“Qiao Xingye!” Qiao Shutang scolded him sternly. “So it’s justified to swindle someone’s money? Who taught you to think that way?”
Besides, he was a madman whose behavior patterns were unpredictable. Who knew if this was one of his triggers?
She didn’t want to relive the speed and thrill on the river embankment again.
Nor did she want her brother to be humiliated into depression.
Cutting ties completely was the only safe option.
Qiao Xingye’s head hung so low his face was hidden, only his ears burning bright red.
Qiao Shutang knew he was ashamed and embarrassed.
Her heart softened. “Get up.”
Qiao Xingye grabbed the desk and slowly pulled himself up, feeling his legs as numb as if they’d touched a high-voltage wire.
The big boy sniffled with a reddened nose and muttered, “But sister just lied too.”
After the video call connected, Qiao Shutang played two roles by herself, putting on a show of their grandmother supervising studies, and even had him cooperate by creating the sound of a door opening, successfully fooling the other side.
“And the lie was flawless, top-notch professional skill.”
Qiao Shutang was momentarily speechless at his retort.
She was a student in C University’s Broadcasting and Hosting Arts program, ranked first in her dubbing class. Qiao Xingye meant to praise her dubbing skills, but in this context, it sounded like he was praising her lying skills.
“Sis, your on-the-spot reactions are so good, and your acting is great too. If we work together, we definitely won’t get exposed.” Qiao Xingye really couldn’t bear to give up Zero, that human ATM machine.
Qiao Shutang said seriously, “If you keep walking by the river, your shoes are bound to get wet. Besides, I’m already a sophomore, and I’d have to pretend to be a high school sophomore girl. It’s very easy to mess up. Don’t hold onto wishful thinking.”
“From now on, I’m taking over the Xiao Qiao WeChat account. You’re not allowed to get involved in this anymore, no gaming, and study hard. If you don’t get first place in the final exams, I’ll deal with you.”
Qiao Xingye stuck out his tongue and slunk back to his room to study.
Zero—: 【?】
Qiao Shutang was thinking about how to reply when something suddenly occurred to her, and she chased after Qiao Xingye to his room.
“Xiao Ye, who’s attending your gathering tonight?”
Although he didn’t know why his sister was asking, seeing her serious expression, he didn’t dare ask more.
“Just a few close classmates from class. Sis, apart from Sisi, you probably don’t know anyone else.”
He showed her the birthday photos from Sisi’s Moments.
In the center position was Luo Sisi, making a wish in front of a birthday cake.
Three boys and three girls stood on each side, all sixteen years old and in the prime of their youth, their faces beaming with clear, innocent smiles.
Who exactly was the informant?
It would be figured out.
Qiao Shutang clenched his fists.
“Remember, don’t tell anyone about the online romance.”
“Got it.”
Qiao Xingye muttered to himself as he watched the girl’s receding figure.
Are college students this guarded?
Is there no basic trust between people anymore?
Babe, add it to your bookshelf ( ˉ 3ˉ)