I Fell In Love With My Rival (GL) - Chapter 2
Su Chunyin gave Xu Chang a call and asked her to bring Yang Yuxia over to help set up the venue for Song Rao’s birthday party. She had hesitated earlier when Xu Chang first asked because Su Zhi was due back from a business trip. Now that he had left again, she immediately decided to go ahead with the preparations.
When Xu Chang stepped out, she had her hoodie pulled up and was cautiously peeking around from behind a pillar. Su Chunyin knocked her on the head from behind.
“What are you skulking around for, looking so shady?”
Xu Chang turned and, seeing it was her, rubbed the back of her head in relief.
“Let’s go, let’s go—we need to leave now. I just ran into our homeroom teacher!”
That one sentence was enough to make everyone spring into action. Without wasting another word, Su Chunyin and Yang Yuxia hailed a taxi and dashed off to the venue.
The venue Su Chunyin rented was at Lanjing Scenic View—a beautiful, open space with a wide landscape. The only drawback was that it was too wide. Hiring professionals to decorate it would likely cost more than the rental itself.
Though Su Chunyin was well-off, most of her allowance had been saved up by her parents, leaving her with very little she could freely spend. As for Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia—by their own admission—they were “broke as hell.” So, the two broke friends and one cash-strapped heiress decided to DIY the decorations themselves.
They got out of the taxi, called a truck to haul their props up the mountain, and were immediately stumped by their first problem:
Should they set up the balloons first, or the flower arrangements?
Su Chunyin argued that the flowers should go first—otherwise, they might step on and pop the balloons. Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia thought the flowers were too delicate and should be left for last.
Neither side would back down. And with Su Chunyin’s extra dose of stubbornness, she held her ground like a one-woman army. In the end, Xu Chang gave in with a sigh.
“How about we draw lots? Whichever one gets picked first, we do that first.”
It was a fair enough compromise, but Su Chunyin wasn’t having it.
“I paid for the venue. Why should we draw lots to decide what gets done first?”
Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia really had no money—they’d covered the cost of the decorations, but the venue was indeed paid for by Su Chunyin. Her blunt statement made Xu Chang choke, even though she was used
to her personality.
“Fine, fine. Then let’s each take half of the area and decorate it however we want. Happy now?”
Su Chunyin tilted her head and said nothing, which meant tacit agreement. So, Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia took the balloons and got to work. Meanwhile, Su Chunyin began unwrapping the bouquets to start arranging the flowers.
The roses they bought were cheap, discounted ones—small and full of thorns. Poor Su Chunyin had never arranged flowers before, and her fingers were quickly scratched and pricked all over. After finally managing to stick the flowers into the stands—though somewhat crookedly—she raised her arm to start hanging balloons. As she did, the flower rack beside her toppled over, crushing the rose display into chaos.
She glanced nervously toward Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia. Fortunately, their section was far enough that they didn’t notice. She quickly propped the rack back up—only to accidentally yank flowers off the neighboring stand. As she bent down to pick them up, her movements shook the leftmost rack violently, triggering a domino effect that sent an entire row of stands crashing down.
“…”
Su Chunyin stood frozen for a moment, then sighed in resignation and began setting the racks upright one by one. About two-thirds of the roses were still salvageable, but the bare patches in the flower stands looked painfully obvious.
She shifted the racks to the side to hide the mess, then quietly slipped down the mountain path—determined to buy another bouquet to cover it up before anyone noticed.
The mountain wasn’t tall; it took her just over half an hour to get down. But after walking around a few times, she couldn’t find a single flower vendor. The area was remote, and it wasn’t a holiday—who in their right mind would sell roses at the foot of a mountain this late at night?
She sighed and was about to hail a taxi into the city when something caught her eye: sitting by the roadside ahead was a slender figure holding a large bouquet of red roses.
“Hey—” Su Chunyin ran over excitedly, but the word “hey” turned into a swallowed “sister” halfway through.
Because the person turned around, and what she saw wasn’t an older woman at all. The girl had long, straight hair draped over her shoulders, and though half her face was hidden by a mask, she was clearly a young student—maybe even younger than Su Chunyin herself.
Maybe she’s younger than me, Su Chunyin thought.
She quickly changed her tone. “Hey, classmate, would you sell me those flowers? I’ll pay you three hundred—no, five hundred!”
The girl looked at her, then at the flowers in her hands, but said nothing.
Su Chunyin took that as agreement, hurriedly grabbed the bouquet, and rummaged through her bag for her phone to pay. That’s when she remembered: Xu Chang had collected everyone’s phones before they went up the mountain to avoid losing them.
All she could find was a sticky note. She scribbled down her phone number.
“I forgot my phone—I’ll send the money once I get back!”
She shoved the note into the girl’s hands and bolted back up the mountain with the flowers.
By the time she returned, Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia were still hanging balloons. Su Chunyin quickly arranged the new roses, and with the flower racks standing in neat rows, the whole setup finally started to look decent.
She was admiring her work when Yang Yuxia popped over.
“Let me see how far you’ve—” She stopped mid-sentence and widened her eyes. “Seriously? That’s all you got done in all this time?”
Su Chunyin immediately bristled.
“What do you mean ‘that’s all’? It’s your fault those roses were so thorny—it slowed me down! Look at my hands!”
She held them out. Dozens of tiny cuts covered her fingers from the rose thorns. It looked truly pitiful.
Seeing her injuries, Yang Yuxia was speechless. She scratched her head.
“How do you even hurt yourself arranging roses… Xu Chang, come look!”
Xu Chang came over and frowned.
“You’re way too slow. The place is huge—we’ll need more help.” Then, noticing her hands, she sighed. “Go down and get someone to help. And buy some Band-Aids—clean those cuts before they get infected.”
It was true—despite working for hours, they hadn’t even finished half the venue. At this rate, they’d be here until sunrise. Su Chunyin had no objection to Xu Chang’s suggestion and headed down the mountain with her phone.
As she reached the bottom, she spotted a familiar figure still sitting on a bench. To her surprise, it was the same girl who had sold her the roses.
“You’re still here?” she asked.
The girl nodded. “You haven’t paid me yet.”
Su Chunyin blurted out, “Seriously? You’re that desperate for money?”
Didn’t she already give her a phone number? Did the girl think she’d actually skip out on paying?
Realizing how harsh that sounded, she tried to backtrack—
But the girl simply nodded, unfazed.
“Yes. I really need money.”
Su Chunyin blinked, looking her up and down.
“Then… can you help decorate a venue?”
…
When Su Chunyin returned with the girl, Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia were still tangled in balloons. They both looked surprised.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to hire a guy?”
Su Chunyin was already regretting her decision. The girl did look like a student—what if she didn’t know how to do anything? Every step up the mountain, Su Chunyin debated whether she should go find a real worker instead. But now that the girl was here, she had no choice but to bluff her way through.
“Don’t underestimate her! She’s a pro—I spent ages looking for someone this fast!”
Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia were skeptical.
“Really?”
Before Su Chunyin could reply, a quiet laugh came from behind her. She immediately turned around, trying to block the girl from view.
“Of course!”
Once Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia walked off, Su Chunyin pulled the girl aside.
“What are you laughing at? Don’t expose me—get to work!”
The girl nodded and got started.
They were currently on balloons. Next up: hanging tulle, sticking decorations, and setting up the cake table.
Su Chunyin grabbed a deflated balloon, puffed up her cheeks, and blew until her face hurt, then tied a knot and proudly held it up.
“See that? You gotta blow it up like that, then tie a tight knot.”
The girl nodded. Just as Su Chunyin thought she understood, the girl pulled out a balloon pump from her bag, inflated a balloon in seconds, and tied it into a perfect knot.
“Wait—what? Where’d you get the pump?” Su Chunyin gaped.
“I saw one for sale at the general store when you were buying Band-Aids,” the girl said, still working smoothly. She’d figured balloons would be involved, so she picked up two pumps on the way.
Su Chunyin beamed. “You got another one?”
The girl nodded and pulled it out.
Su Chunyin clapped. “Awesome!” She glanced toward Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia and made a “shh” gesture.
“Let’s keep this a secret. Once we finish way ahead of them, we’ll give them a big surprise!”
The girl nodded, her gaze briefly resting on the peach-pink heart nail polish and the messy wounds on Su Chunyin’s fingers.
By the time Xu Chang and Yang Yuxia returned, they were stunned.
“You’re already done?!”
The girl stayed quiet. Su Chunyin puffed her chest out.
“Told you—she’s a pro!”
Earlier, their side had only a few lonely flower racks, and the balloons weren’t even blown up. Now, Su Chunyin was already hanging tulle. The progress was genuinely impressive.
Xu Chang gave them a thumbs-up and mouthed: “Awesome.”
Su Chunyin couldn’t hide her smile but still tried to play it cool.
“Oh, it’s nothing. We still have a lot to do. Let’s keep going!”
Though they technically cheated a little with the balloon pump, the girl’s skills were undeniable. While Su Chunyin struggled to hang tulle on a stool, the girl tossed, adjusted, and had it hanging perfectly in seconds. Su Chunyin looked over and…