After the Soul Swap Between Love Rival AO - Chapter 15

Cheng Luanxin froze, blurting out: “You know where it is?”

The moment she said it, she regretted it—it sounded far too strange, as if she were hinting to the audience that she was the true owner of this room.

She quickly added, as if to cover up: “In my house, my mom keeps all the photo albums.”

Song Qiuchi thought for a moment and said, “If Grandma hasn’t moved it, it should be on the bookshelf. I’m used to keeping everything on bookshelves.”

Cheng Luanxin had to admit Song Qiuchi’s observational skills were sharp. In her own apartment, she did indeed stash everything—useful or not—on the bookshelf.

And sure enough, the family photo album was on the bookshelf here too.

The two quickly found the album and sat on the bed to flip through it.

Cheng Luanxin had never had professional studio portraits taken, nor had she traveled much. All the photos were candid snapshots taken by Grandma, documenting her life.

Still, the album contained pictures from every stage of her life, missing none of her milestones—her first time sleeping alone, losing a tooth, riding a bike, becoming class monitor. Every shot held sentimental value.

Normally, this would be the part where Song Qiuchi would explain the stories behind the photos, but she clearly knew nothing about them and simply browsed quietly.

The director started signaling Cheng Luanxin again, mouthing: Don’t stay silent—engage, chat.

Cheng Luanxin had no choice but to play along, adopting a mock-interviewer tone: “Now, let’s interview Ms. Cheng Luanxin. How do you feel seeing your childhood self?”

Song Qiuchi was currently looking at a photo of young Cheng Luanxin eating dragon fruit for the first time. In the picture, little Luanxin, her hair in two pigtails, had juice smeared all over her hands and face, looking utterly flustered and on the verge of tears.

Back then, Cheng Luanxin would never have imagined she’d grow up to be so obsessed with dragon fruit-colored nail art.

“Pretty cute.”

Cheng Luanxin froze for a moment, then awkwardly smoothed her hair. “Yeah, I think it’s cute too.”

Bullet comments:

Can we see the cute photos too?

Looking through photo albums together is so heartwarming

Luanbao’s smile is adorable!! Those little dimples, love love love

Next, Song Qiuchi flipped to a photo of Cheng Luanxin getting her first IV drip. Little Luanxin lay on the hospital bed in a blue-and-white striped gown, lips pursed, eyes red from crying, tear stains still visible at the corners—clearly, she’d hated needles since childhood.

Song Qiuchi instinctively reached for her bag. “Right, the suppressants…”

Cheng Luanxin’s expression instantly darkened. “You’re not thinking of giving me a shot right now, are you?”

Song Qiuchi countered, “Isn’t this the perfect time?”

“How is this the perfect time? The romance observers are all watching—it’s embarrassing!”

Song Qiuchi didn’t want to embarrass herself either, but without the cameras keeping Cheng Luanxin in check, she’d probably resist even more. She couldn’t just let herself slip into a rut. “It’s a normal physiological thing. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Cheng Luanxin pointed at her younger self in the photo. “Cheng Luanxin, look at you—crying like that over a shot, and now you want to give one to someone else? ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’—ever heard of that?”

Song Qiuchi was speechless. “I was a kid back then. Are you seriously comparing yourself to a child?”

Cheng Luanxin shot back, “I’m still not that old now.”

Done arguing, Song Qiuchi tore open the packaging and drew the medication into the syringe. “Come on, roll up your sleeve.”

She peeled open a disinfectant swab and waited, hand raised.

With so many people watching, Cheng Luanxin couldn’t keep being difficult. Reluctantly, she pushed up her sleeve. “You said the deltoid doesn’t hurt. If it does, I swear—”

Before she could finish, Song Qiuchi jabbed the needle into her arm.

Cheng Luanxin’s face twisted as if she’d bitten into a sour lemon. The next second, tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks.

She was actually crying.

Song Qiuchi: “…”

She’d never seen herself like this—delicate as a weeping pear blossom. Quickly finishing the injection, she pulled out the needle and pressed the swab to the spot, frowning. “It couldn’t have hurt that much.”

Sniffling, Cheng Luanxin wiped her tears. “It didn’t hurt that much…”

Song Qiuchi sighed. “Then why are you crying?”

Cheng Luanxin: “It was so sudden… I wasn’t ready…”

The comment section was dying of laughter:

I know I shouldn’t laugh, but Qiuchi is just too adorable?!

I thought the shot would be all romantic and flirty—how did it turn out like this LOL

So how did Song Qiuchi survive her ruts before this hahahaha

Pills, maybe? Shots aren’t the only option. Though they are safer!

Screenshotted Qiuchi’s fairy-in-tears look already. Why did I sign that NDA? I wanna send this to my bestie right now!!!

Since she’d made Cheng Luanxin cry, Song Qiuchi figured she ought to comfort her. Flustered, she grabbed the snacks Cheng’s grandma had prepared. “Want some?”

Cheng Luanxin shook her head.

“Juice?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want?”

Cheng Luanxin felt even more aggrieved: “I want to drink sweet osmanthus glutinous rice balls, but I’m allergic…”

Song Qiuchi: “…”

Song Qiuchi understood perfectly well—it wasn’t the sweet osmanthus glutinous rice balls that Cheng Luanxin wanted, but her body.

Yet she couldn’t fulfill that wish. All she could do was clumsily pull her into an embrace and wipe away her tears. “Don’t cry. Next month, we’ll stick to the medicine, okay?”

Hearing this, Cheng Luanxin blinked pitifully. “Really?”

Song Qiuchi nodded.

Cheng Luanxin’s tears turned to laughter as she sheepishly wiped her face. “Then my crying wasn’t in vain. Was my acting good?”

Song Qiuchi knew full well that her tears had been genuine, completely unrelated to acting, but she deliberately feigned a stern expression. “Mhm, you totally fooled me.”

After flipping through the photo album for a while longer, they prepared to end their date. Grandma Cheng insisted that Cheng Luanxin pick out some scented balms to take home, so she chose the ones she used most often.

Grandma Cheng smiled warmly. “Our Luanluan loves these scents the most too! Come back and visit again soon!”

On the ride home, they finally had a rare moment alone.

Cheng Luanxin put on her headphones as soon as she got in the car, adopting a “do not disturb” posture while staring out the window.

After hesitating for a moment, Song Qiuchi nudged her shoulder. “Are you still mad at me?”

Cheng Luanxin replied awkwardly, “No, I wouldn’t dare be mad at you.”

Song Qiuchi: “Then why won’t you even look at me?”

Cheng Luanxin turned her head, pouting at Song Qiuchi. “Are you going to scold me again?”

Song Qiuchi was taken aback. “Scold you for what?”

“For ruining your personal image again,” Cheng Luanxin mumbled sheepishly. “I really didn’t mean to. You pricked me so suddenly—I wasn’t ready, and I don’t even know why I started crying.”

She continued, “What’s done is done. There’s no use blaming me now. We’ll just have to do better next time.”

“I’m not blaming you,” Song Qiuchi paused. “I was at fault too this time. I shouldn’t have forced you.”

Cheng Luanxin blinked. “Really? You’re being so nice today. Normally, you’d have scolded me by now.”

Song Qiuchi wasn’t entirely sure why either. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve been the first to criticize Cheng Luanxin for distorting her image. But today, the moment she saw Cheng Luanxin’s tears fall, she hadn’t thought about any of that—only how much pain she must have caused to make her cry like that.

All she could say was, “I can be reasonable too, you know?”

Cheng Luanxin took off her headphones. “Then let’s make up. I wasn’t even listening to music—I was just afraid you’d scold me.”

Song Qiuchi sighed. “Am I really that scary?”

Cheng Luanxin thought for a moment. “You’re unreasonable most of the time, but occasionally, you make sense.”

Song Qiuchi retorted dryly, “Then you’re really lucky. The one time I decide to be reasonable, you happened to catch it.”

Cheng Luanxin giggled. “That’s the tone I know. That’s the real you.”

Seeing Cheng Luanxin’s silly grin, Song Qiuchi’s heart softened. Almost without thinking, she asked, “Cheng Luanxin, what kind of girls do you like?”