After Stealing a Kiss from My Sponsor Sister - Chapter 11
The mountain wind came and went freely.
The golden morning light spilled from the rising sun.
It fell upon Jiang Ya’s fragile retinas, yet all she felt was a stinging pain.
Her heart felt as though it were clenched by a hand—
Not painful,
But unbearably sour and swollen.
“What… did you say?”
Jiang Ya turned toward Yu Shuang, her emotions surging so violently that everything in her vision blurred once more.
She blinked hard, only for it to grow worse.
Yu Shuang took another sip of beer, her profile straight-backed and long-legged, standing tall and unyielding, yet her voice carried an incongruous lightness: “Come with me to study in the city, kid. Want to?”
“Your original plan was to continue your education, wasn’t it?”
“You only changed your mind after discovering Jiang Rui took the passbook, right?”
Yu Shuang chuckled. “Since the truth isn’t the worst-case scenario you imagined.”
“And he’s already gotten what he deserved—administrative detention.”
“No mutual destruction,”
“No feeding anyone to wild dogs,”
“Shouldn’t you return to the normal course of your life now?”
Jiang Ya’s throat was blocked, unable to make a sound.
Her nose was stuffed too, aching with sourness.
This wasn’t the conversation she had envisioned.
Not a single word of it.
Yet it was so good,
Like a fragile dream.
Was she really dreaming?
She blinked again, moisture gathering, the scene dissolving into smeared patches of color. Jiang Ya couldn’t tell anymore.
After a long silence with no answer, Yu Shuang finally turned to look at her. “Jiang Xiao Ya?”
The wind lifted her curls, swaying like waterweed in the air. The golden light brushed faintly over her slender figure—dark hair, pale skin, gentle brows and kind eyes, like a goddess descending, not a mere passerby in this world.
Jiang Ya blinked once more.
Yu Shuang watched as tears suddenly welled up on that nearly translucent face.
Yet there was no sign of fragility. Jiang Ya didn’t wipe them away, just stared straight at her, the stubbornness buried deep in her bones surfacing now.
Yu Shuang froze.
Jiang Ya pressed her lips tightly together, her head tilting down but her gaze lifting, staring fixedly at Yu Shuang with an odd, upward tilt—as if looking up at her.
She looked… utterly aggrieved.
Yu Shuang hesitated. “Don’t want to go?”
Jiang Ya shook her head.
Without the slightest hesitation.
The movement broke the dam. Tears surged forth as Jiang Ya buried her face in her sleeve, shaking her head over and over.
“No.”
“I do want to.”
“I do.”
A whole night had passed, and only now did Yu Shuang finally hear the girl speak in a tearful voice.
Some balance had been disrupted.
The girl who had remained composed all night could no longer maintain her facade of composure, collapsing entirely in this moment.
Yu Shuang sensed it, standing quietly without a word.
“Aren’t… aren’t you afraid of trouble?”
Her sobs came in hiccups, her words broken between breaths.
Perhaps it would have been better to wait until she calmed down before speaking.
But Jiang Ya couldn’t wait.
Emotions flooded through her limbs and bones. Faced with a Yu Shuang like this, she couldn’t stay calm for even a second.
“It’s fine. Can’t be worse than tonight’s mess.”
She’d already cleaned up tonight’s disaster for her. Arranging a school transfer couldn’t possibly be more troublesome than disposing of a body.
Jiang Ya understood, and her crying became even more uncontrollable. She covered the lower half of her face, revealing only reddened eyes fixed on Yu Shuang.
That feeling returned—
The girl’s eyes brimmed with rich, complex emotions, swirling and shifting, unbearably moving.
Even though these eyes were now frighteningly red, it did nothing to diminish the viewer’s impression.
Of course, Yu Shuang still couldn’t decipher it.
Jiang Ya’s voice was muffled, “You’ll regret this later.”
If Miss Yu knew what kind of thoughts she harbored toward her…
Jiang Ya repeated sadly, “You’ll regret it.”
Yu Shuang: “…”
Yu Shuang: “Are you coming or not?”
Jiang Ya bit her lip.
Yu Shuang, “Countdown, three!”
She had barely called out the first number when Jiang Ya hastily blurted, “I’ll go!”
Yu Shuang raised an eyebrow.
Jiang Ya: “I’ll go.”
Now she wasn’t acting foolish.
Wait, no—she had never been foolish to begin with. It was all just Yu Shuang’s own misconception.
Yu Shuang laughed at this realization.
Her laughter made Jiang Ya uneasy. “What are you laughing at?”
Yu Shuang: “Changed my mind. I take back what I just said.”
Jiang Ya’s face froze in confusion.
Yu Shuang couldn’t hold back her amusement. “Just kidding.”
Not foolish, but still so easy to tease.
“R-really?”
“Nope.”
“Miss Yu!”
“Fine, fine, truer than pearls!”
With this distraction, Jiang Ya couldn’t keep crying anymore and started wiping her face with her sleeve.
She was so absorbed in the task that she didn’t notice Yu Shuang’s hand resting on her head until it was already there.
Just a light pat.
Yu Shuang said, “Stop crying.”
Jiang Ya obediently replied, “Okay.”
But as she spoke, her eyes grew hot again from Miss Yu’s gentleness.
Jiang Ya lowered her head to hide it.
“Let’s go, back to the hotel. Time to sleep.”
Yu Shuang led the way back.
Once Jiang Ya had composed herself, she murmured softly, “Miss Yu, you’re so kind.”
Yu Shuang: “I know. No need to flatter me about that.”
“It’s not flattery.”
“Mm, and no need to butter me up either.”
“…”
They walked in silence for a while longer before Jiang Ya asked, “Miss Yu, aren’t you going to scold me?”
“Give me a break. I’ve been running around for you all night—do you think scolding doesn’t take effort?”
“Then… you’re not angry? Don’t you want to vent?”
She was, in fact, quite angry.
Yu Shuang glanced at Jiang Ya. “Then how about you write me an 800-word self-criticism?”
“…”
“Is 800 enough?”
“3,000 words!” Yu Shuang raised the price.
“Okay.”
Jiang Ya agreed without hesitation.
“Three days to hand it in.” Yu Shuang made an outrageous demand.
Jiang Ya nodded obediently. “Alright.”
Yu Shuang felt a stir in her heart and decided to push further. “Handwritten?”
“Mm.” Another agreement.
Well, she had absolutely no bottom line.
Yu Shuang shook her head with a wry smile. “Now you’re being so obedient.”
Her voice was soft, almost a murmur.
Jiang Ya didn’t catch it. “What?”
“I said you’re annoying.”
“…Oh.”
–
When they reached the hotel, Yu Shuang had Jiang Ya pull up her digital ID on her phone and handed it to the front desk to book another room.
Before Jiang Ya could voice her realization, a new key card was already pressed into her hand.
“Come on, let’s rest.”
Yu Shuang strode ahead.
Jiang Ya hurried into the elevator after her, but before she could speak, Yu Shuang had already pressed the button to close the doors.
“You don’t need to spend so much. I can go home.”
Walking back up the mountain from here would take at least half an hour. Yu Shuang laughed in exasperation.
“It’s not a waste.”
“From now on, every penny I spend on you goes on your tab. Once you graduate and start working, you’ll pay me back—with interest.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ya actually stopped resisting. “At the student loan interest rate?”
“At the high commercial loan rate!”
“Okay.”
“…”
Yu Shuang suppressed the urge to crack open Jiang Ya’s head and see what was inside.
Upon reaching the floor, Yu Shuang first located Jiang Ya’s room. Swiping the key card, she turned the handle and pushed the door open. “Go on in. Don’t think about anything else—just get some proper rest.”
“Miss Yu…”
Jiang Ya still wanted to say something, but Yu Shuang gave her a firm shove inside. “You look awful from all that crying. Rest up and let the swelling go down first!”
“Miss Yu, I’ll study hard!”
Yu Shuang, who had been about to leave, paused mid-step.
She turned back to see the girl’s face peeking out from behind the door, gazing at her with hopeful eyes.
“And what else?”
“I’ll find a good job after graduation and earn money as soon as possible.” Jiang Ya spoke eagerly, “I’ll pay you back with high-interest commercial loan rates! I won’t let you lose out!”
“…”
Headache.
Well, even if the priorities sounded a little off, at least she’d steered her back on the right path.
Yu Shuang exhaled softly and raised her hand.
Gently pressing a finger to Jiang Ya’s forehead, she pushed her all the way back into the room.
“Just go to sleep already!”