After the Soul Swap Between Love Rival AO - Chapter 28

Cheng Luanxin was utterly stunned, clinging to the last shreds of her composure: “What are you talking about? I—I’m Song Qiuchi!”

Du Zhiruo sighed helplessly: “If you were Qiuchi, you probably wouldn’t be this flustered no matter the situation.”

Cheng Luanxin’s face flushed red. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to appear calm: “I really am Song Qiuchi.”

Du Zhiruo smiled: “Luanxin, we were close friends for three years. Don’t you trust our friendship?”

Cheng Luanxin wanted to argue further, but under Du Zhiruo’s gentle gaze, she couldn’t bring herself to lie. In the end, she gave up.

“…How did you figure it out?”

“There were too many giveaways. Your personalities are complete opposites. At first, I didn’t consider this possibility—I just thought it was strange how much you’d both changed in just a few years. But that day, when I teased you casually, your reaction was so exaggerated that I realized something was off. Once I accepted this idea, everything made sense.”

Cheng Luanxin fidgeted awkwardly: “Were we really that bad at acting?”

Du Zhiruo burst into laughter: “Terrible. But I doubt anyone else noticed, and I won’t tell a soul, so don’t worry.”

Cheng Luanxin grumbled under her breath: “This Song Qiuchi—Best Actress, my foot. She’s not much better than me…”

Du Zhiruo said, “She probably just doesn’t know your habits well. Let me guess—you two haven’t kept in touch much over the years, have you?”

Cheng Luanxin scratched her head: “Not really… Does occasionally running into each other and bickering count?”

Du Zhiruo asked, “How long has this been going on? And why did it happen?”

Cheng Luanxin replied, “Not long, just these past two weeks. As for why… I have no idea.”

She briefly explained the mix-up with the award trophy, resting her chin on her hand with a sigh: “…And it’s been like this ever since. No clue when we’ll switch back.”

Du Zhiruo thought for a moment, then asked, “So you’re only pretending to be together because the body swap is inconvenient, right?”

Cheng Luanxin looked embarrassed: “You saw right through us. Pretty much. Since we’re stuck like this, we didn’t want to drag anyone else into this mess…”

Du Zhiruo tilted her head, studying her: “So you’re just going to keep up the act until the show ends? You… don’t want to take this chance to date someone?”

Cheng Luanxin froze, her face visibly reddening: “Of course I do… But given my situation…”

Du Zhiruo cut straight to the point: “What if it’s me?”

Cheng Luanxin’s eyes widened in shock: “Wh-what are you saying?”

Du Zhiruo held her gaze: “If I asked you out now, would you say yes?”

“I—” Cheng Luanxin could hear her own heart pounding wildly. “But what about Song Qiuchi… Are you sure it’s me you want?”

Du Zhiruo nodded: “Yes. Me, Du Zhiruo, asking out Cheng Luanxin—the real you. Will you go on a date with me?”

The situation had taken such an absurd turn that Cheng Luanxin felt her face burning. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Du Zhiruo’s eyes: “I—I need to talk to Song Qiuchi first. We made a promise…”

Du Zhiruo said, “You’d better not discuss it with her. She probably doesn’t want me to find out about your secret.”

“Huh?” Cheng Luanxin was dumbfounded. “Why would you say that?”

Du Zhiruo gave a bitter smile. “From my recent interactions with Qiuchi, I get the feeling she doesn’t like me very much.”

“She doesn’t like you?” Cheng Luanxin was shocked. “How could she not like you? It must be your imagination. You—you’re so wonderful. Everyone likes you.”

Du Zhiruo blinked. “Really? Then let’s just say it’s my imagination. Go back and think it over. Let’s keep it as our little secret, okay?”

Since Du Zhiruo had put it that way, Cheng Luanxin couldn’t refuse. Blushing, she agreed, “Okay.”

When Cheng Luanxin returned to the dorm, Song Qiuchi was applying a cooling face mask. She glanced at Cheng Luanxin and asked, “Back already?”

Cheng Luanxin, feeling guilty, fidgeted awkwardly. “Yeah, I’m back.”

“Where did you go?”

“Uh… nowhere special. There’s an observatory next door. We climbed up to take a look—the view was great. Haha.”

Song Qiuchi didn’t think much of it. “Go wash your face. I have some ointment here—I’ll apply it for you when you’re done.”

“Okay.” Cheng Luanxin obediently removed her makeup and sat down in front of Song Qiuchi, avoiding direct eye contact.

Song Qiuchi frowned. “Face me properly.”

Reluctantly, Cheng Luanxin turned her head, but her gaze remained evasive.

Song Qiuchi dipped her finger into the ointment and gently dabbed it on the small red rashes under Cheng Luanxin’s eyes.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, just a little itchy.”

After applying the ointment, Song Qiuchi wiped her fingers clean with a tissue and tossed it into the trash.

Cheng Luanxin hastily stood up, her eyes darting away. “It’s getting late—should we call it a night?”

Song Qiuchi eyed her suspiciously. “Did something happen? You’re acting strange.”

“Huh? Nothing happened.” Cheng Luanxin played dumb. “Do I seem weird? I didn’t notice. Haha.”

Her reaction was obviously off. Song Qiuchi thought for a moment. “Did Du Zhiruo say something to you?”

Cheng Luanxin waved her hands frantically. “No, no, she didn’t say anything to me.”

Song Qiuchi: “…”

Recalling what Du Zhiruo had once said to her, Song Qiuchi paused. “Did she ask you out?”

Cheng Luanxin’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

Song Qiuchi thought, With your terrible poker face, it’s not exactly hard to guess. “Did you turn her down?”

Cheng Luanxin stammered, “I… haven’t yet…”

Song Qiuchi sighed. “You’re not actually considering saying yes, are you?”

“Of course not! I signed a contract with you. I’m a person of my word—how could I do something like that?” Cheng Luanxin protested. “But…”

“But what?”

Cheng Luanxin scratched her head, unsure how to explain it to Song Qiuchi.

Song Qiuchi gave her a look. “Let me just remind you—Du Zhiruo isn’t as simple as you think. Don’t let her take advantage of you.”

Cheng Luanxin gasped. “How can you say that about Zhiruo? What would she even gain from using me? I don’t have anything worth exploiting.”

Song Qiuchi couldn’t stand her naivety. “You don’t have anything worth exploiting? Right now, you represent Song Qiuchi. Do you have any idea how much influence you hold?”

Cheng Luanxin argued, “Zhiruo isn’t after your influence. She invited me, not you…”

Halfway through her sentence, Cheng Luanxin realized she had let slip too much and quickly covered her mouth.

Song Qiuchi frowned. “What do you mean?”

Cheng Luanxin hurriedly replied, “Nothing, nothing! I just won’t agree to her request. Let’s get some rest—didn’t we plan to watch the sunrise early tomorrow?”

But Song Qiuchi pressed on. “Are you saying she knows you’re Cheng Luanxin? Did you tell her?”

Cheng Luanxin grew flustered. “Why would I tell her something like that? I’m not an idiot! Ugh, she figured it out herself. She made me promise not to tell you, but you know me—I can’t keep secrets! It’s been driving me crazy!”

She plopped onto the bed in frustration, her face sulky.

Song Qiuchi pondered for a moment. Du Zhiruo had always been sharp, and the way she and Cheng Luanxin interacted sometimes didn’t quite match up. It wasn’t surprising she’d noticed—and it wasn’t Cheng Luanxin’s fault.

She walked over to Cheng Luanxin. “Alright, don’t be upset. I’ll pretend I don’t know, okay?”

Cheng Luanxin looked up at her pitifully. “Really?”

Song Qiuchi nodded. “Really. Did she say anything else to you? She didn’t try to blackmail you, did she?”

Cheng Luanxin waved her hands. “Oh, don’t think of her like that! She just asked if I’d go on a date with her. She even said she’d keep our secret.”

“Then… do you really want to go out with her?”

Cheng Luanxin thought for a moment and mumbled, “Not really… Honestly, I was a little tempted at the time, but after coming back and calming down, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Actually, it even feels kind of troublesome. Hey, do you think I’m getting old?”

Only when she noticed the cold sweat in her palms did Song Qiuchi belatedly realize she had been slightly nervous. She exhaled softly. “Don’t talk nonsense. Let’s sleep.”

The two lay side by side on the bed, separated by a thick, damp quilt, maintaining a careful distance.

The dim glow of the bedside lamp illuminated the cracks on the long-neglected ceiling, evoking a faint sense of childhood nostalgia.

Freed from her worries, Cheng Luanxin relaxed. She played with hand shadows on the ceiling for a while, yawning repeatedly, before poking Song Qiuchi’s waist. “How should I turn Zhiruo down? I feel like we’re acting like grade-schoolers forming cliques—it’s so unfriendly to her.”

Song Qiuchi sighed. “Blame it on me. Say I’m cold and heartless, forcing you to honor the contract.”

Cheng Luanxin giggled. “It’s not that bad—you’re not that terrible. Song Qiuchi, you know what? This is the first time since I grew up that I’ve shared a bed with someone.”

Song Qiuchi wasn’t any different. She let out a quiet “Oh.”

“Never thought it’d be with myself. How did this even happen…”

Song Qiuchi waited for Cheng Luanxin to continue, but there was only silence.

She turned her head and saw that Cheng Luanxin had already fallen asleep, her eyelashes fluttering slightly with each breath.

Cheng Luanxin had always been expressive, but ever since their body swap, Song Qiuchi rarely saw her own face display such a serene, innocent expression. A strange impulse suddenly surged in her chest—she wanted to reach out and touch that cheek.

The thought startled her. After all, wanting to touch her own face was undeniably odd.

She suppressed her strange impulse, took three deep breaths, and turned off the small desk lamp.