Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 43
When the door to the room opened, Cong You saw Xiang Shuhuai standing outside barefoot.
“Sister,” she stood there in a thin nightgown, her eyes particularly red, “…let’s change rooms.”
Seeing her in such a state, Cong You couldn’t ask anything else for the moment, so she just nodded and quickly led her inside.
“Alright, alright,” she responded. “Xiao Shuhuai, come in.”
Xiang Shuhuai quietly followed her in, obediently keeping her head down and not saying a word.
Cong You raised her hand, wanting to comfort her sister by putting an arm around her shoulder. But then she hesitated, thinking that as an alpha, it might scare her even more, so she stopped herself just in time.
Looking at Xiang Shuhuai like this, Cong You had a guess in her mind.
She softened her voice and asked gently, “Xiao Shuhuai, did Xiaoxiao bully you?”
“…No.” Xiang Shuhuai answered quickly, “No, sister.”
Her words were short and rapid. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her fingers, which were clasped together, were turning white. Not only was her body tense, but her expression also showed that she wasn’t feeling well. However, Cong You knew that since her little sister had said it like this, there was no point in asking further.
So, she just nodded and said, “Alright. Xiao Shuhuai, I understand.”
After having Xiang Shuhuai sit on the bed, Cong You quickly made a pot of soothing tea and handed her a cup filled with warm tea.
“Well, I’ll go now, Xiao Shuhuai. I’m going to sleep with Xiaoxiao,” Cong You said with a soft smile. “Get some rest.”
Her sister obediently held the tea cup and gave a small nod.
When Cong You went into the other room, she saw her other little sister sitting at the edge of the bed, looking just as absent as Xiang Shuhuai.
As soon as she heard the door open, Yu Xiaoxiao immediately looked up and saw that it was Cong You. She pouted, and her eyes turned red with tears.
“Youyou sister…” Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes were filled with tears, as if she was about to cry. “I… I think I did something wrong…”
“…Did you bully someone?” Cong You asked.
Yu Xiaoxiao shook her head vigorously, then nodded.
Cong You looked at her in confusion. “Xiaoxiao, what does that mean?”
Yu Xiaoxiao still shook her head.
After that, no matter how Cong You asked, Yu Xiaoxiao just kept her eyes red, tightly closed her lips, and refused to say a word.
Seeing this, Cong You could only helplessly agree to leave it for now.
For the rest of the time, as they got ready to turn off the lights and sleep, Yu Xiaoxiao’s mood remained low, looking like a little dog drenched in a downpour, head hanging, discouraged. Cong You tried to cheer her up, but she just drooped her eyes, letting Cong You rub her, not saying anything.
When they were finally lying in bed with the lights turned off, Yu Xiaoxiao tossed and turned for a while. Half of her face was buried in the pillow, and then, in a small voice, she asked.
“Youyou sister,” she asked cautiously, “…did she cry?”
Cong You then thought about those quiet black eyes.
Did she cry?
“Well…” She thought for a moment and finally replied, “You can ask Xiao Shuhuai tomorrow, Xiaoxiao.”
Yu Xiaoxiao gave a quiet “mm.”
“Alright, Xiaoxiao,” Cong You gently said in the dark, “Good night.”
With things on her mind, Yu Xiaoxiao turned restlessly in bed, unable to sleep for most of the night, and only dozed off later.
…She dreamed of something from the past, something a long time ago.
It was when she first met Xiang Shuhuai.
They were both thirteen years old, and it was summer.
Cong You, now a university student, was on summer break. She was doing field research for her work and was being bothered by the younger Yu Xiaoxiao. After getting permission from Xiaoxiao’s parents, she ended up taking her along with a few other kids the same age to a vacation resort.
That was where they met the Xiang family’s child.
—Xiang Shuhuai.
Little Yu Xiaoxiao had never seen another child like her.
The first time she saw Xiang Shuhuai was in the backyard garden. Her friends were napping, but little Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t fall asleep and couldn’t bother Cong You, who was drawing. So, she went outside by herself, found a tree, and climbed up to lie in its branches, chewing on a piece of grass, bored.
After a while, she suddenly heard strange sounds coming from the garden below.
Yu Xiaoxiao sat up and looked down to see what was going on.
—She saw a few older boys surrounding a younger girl by the swing, pushing and teasing her, laughing loudly and saying something.
The girl in the middle looked even smaller than her, thin and pale, wearing an old T-shirt. She seemed terrified, her face half lowered, not saying a word, her expression unreadable.
Little Yu Xiaoxiao thought the girl was being bullied!
—The girl was so small and frail, surrounded by boys much bigger than her, her body almost disappearing among them.
Yu Xiaoxiao noticed how thin her arms and legs were, how quiet and introverted she seemed, and immediately thought that she wouldn’t fight back, becoming very worried.
So, she quickly changed her position, crouching in the tree and planning out how she would help.
—If those boys really bullied the girl, she would jump down, grab a big rock, and throw it at the leader’s head, knocking him out. Then, when they tried to kick her or lost their balance, she would knock them down one by one and escape with the girl into the mountain. They wouldn’t be able to catch them!
Yu Xiaoxiao had everything planned out in her mind, feeling all fired up and ready to jump down when she saw that the situation below had suddenly changed.
The boys stopped moving and, after a moment, started slowly backing away. From Yu Xiaoxiao’s view, she saw one of their faces, which had turned pale, as if they were scared.
When they moved aside, Yu Xiaoxiao saw the girl again.
It turned out she had started talking.
Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she saw that the small, pale girl was looking up at the boys with calm eyes, speaking like an adult.
—Her eyes were dark and calm like ice.
Yu Xiaoxiao had a sudden thought in her innocent mind.
She froze in the tree, unable to move.
Without any need for violence, the small bullying scene ended just like that. The boys didn’t dare say another word or act aggressively, and one by one, they slunk off, leaving the girl standing by the swing.
At that moment, Yu Xiaoxiao got her first clear look at the girl’s face.
She was so pale, almost glowing under the bright summer sunlight, as if she might melt. Her lips weren’t even red, and her body was so thin, hanging loosely in her ill-fitting clothes, as though she were sick. But those beautiful black eyes…
Those black, moonlit eyes.
And her calm, almost expressionless face, like someone in charge of a battlefield, struck Yu Xiaoxiao, who was obsessed with war novels and wanted to be a general, as the perfect strategist.
She watched the girl, holding her breath.
Just then, the girl seemed to notice her gaze.
She simply adjusted her sleeve and looked up at Yu Xiaoxiao.
—And they made eye contact.
That cold, quiet gaze hit Yu Xiaoxiao like ice, and she felt suddenly flustered.
She couldn’t say a word and almost slipped from the tree.
Once she steadied herself, Yu Xiaoxiao wanted to greet the girl, but she had already turned away and walked off, leaving Yu Xiaoxiao staring at her back.
How… how could she be like this…!!
Yu Xiaoxiao was furious, glaring at the girl’s retreating figure.
She wasn’t a bully! Why couldn’t the girl even say a word before walking away?
This annoyance stayed with Yu Xiaoxiao, until the next day—when she found that the annoying girl was following Youyou sister like a shadow.
The girl had completely changed, now sticking closely behind Cong You like a little follower. When Cong You said something, she would obediently look up and listen.
But what puzzled Yu Xiaoxiao even more was Cong You’s attitude toward her. Despite being at an age where she disliked childish behavior, her tone with this girl seemed different, like she was talking to a peer.
“—Youyou sister!” Yu Xiaoxiao said, furious. “Who does she think she is!”
Cong You just patted her on the head, telling her the girl’s name was Xiang Shuhuai.
—But even when Cong You introduced her to Yu Xiaoxiao, Xiang Shuhuai didn’t say a word. She just gave a slight nod to Yu Xiaoxiao, like a formal greeting, with a calm expression, as though she didn’t even notice Yu Xiaoxiao.
Yu Xiaoxiao was livid, standing there thinking for a moment, and then decided she was going to take Youyou sister away from this icy person.
She wanted whatever Xiang Shuhuai wanted.
If Xiang Shuhuai wanted to nap, she would nap too. If Xiang Shuhuai wanted to eat lunch and go to the garden, she would follow. If Xiang Shuhuai drank tea, she would scowl and drink bitter tea too. If Xiang Shuhuai wanted to talk about work, she would follow and watch…
So, during their vacation, Cong You became quite busy, trying to entertain both the mature “partner” and the jealous little sister, who kept switching back and forth.
Finally, Cong You, feeling dizzy from all the chaos, decided to send both children off to play on their own.
And that’s when Yu Xiaoxiao came up with her prank.
She tricked Xiang Shuhuai into believing that Cong You had sent them to pick wildflowers for her project. Sure enough, Xiang Shuhuai trusted her, and when she saw Yu Xiaoxiao and her friends having fun, she went off on her own into the back mountain to gather flowers.
Yu Xiaoxiao quietly followed her, waiting for the right moment. She was planning to make Xiang Shuhuai fall in the muddy path, just to see how the ice-cold girl would react if she lost her flowers. Would she cry?
…What would it be like to see her cry?
So, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao lay in the back, watching as Xiao Xiang Shu Huai stepped right into the trap, eagerly awaiting her victory.
Sure enough, Xiao Xiang Shu Huai stumbled, nearly falling, her body swaying, unable to find her balance.
—Then, she actually staggered a few steps and suddenly fell into a small ravine!
There was a muffled sound of collisions, and Xiao Xiang Shu Huai tumbled into the shallow ravine, and there was no movement afterward.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao was scared out of her wits and hurried over.
She didn’t bother checking the situation below; instead, she tumbled down the slope, stumbling and rolling a few times in a very messy and dirty fashion.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao winced in pain but didn’t care about herself. She immediately lifted her head to look at the person beside her.
—And Xiao Xiang Shu Huai was lying there on her side, eyes closed, her breath so faint it was nearly invisible. In her palm, she held a tiny, orange-yellow wildflower, looking like a lifeless sculpture.
Her pale face was flushed with heat, marked by glaring scratches, with bl00d trickling down her cheek, flowing into her chin.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao froze for a few seconds, then tears poured out of her eyes.
“Wuwu—” She began crying loudly. “Big Ice Block, wuwu, don’t die… wuwu…”
The rest of it seemed blurry to Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao.
She only remembered a voice telling her, “Don’t cry,” the taste of chewed-up grass leaves pressed onto a wound, her higher-than-usual feverish temperature, and a warm, shallow breath, regularly falling onto her neck…
That night, it seemed like she was being carried by someone, slowly but steadily, walking back home step by step under the quiet night sky.
And Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao’s dreams about the past stopped the moment she saw the injured Xiao Xiang Shu Huai.
The bl00d flowing from her face had shocked her, and she immediately opened her eyes.
—Now, there was only the dim and empty ceiling above her.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t stop thinking about that face.
And… last night, she had kissed her.
And Xiao Xiang Shu Huai had pushed her away with force.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s eyes had been so red, as if she was about to cry. She just stood there, her shoulders trembling, and eventually ran out of the room without saying a word.
That expression—almost painfully fearful, like she was on the verge of tears.
Her eyes had really been so red, like she was about to burst into tears at any second.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t stop thinking about it, thinking about it again and again, until those two faces gradually merged into one, the scar left because of her, and the unshed tears that almost fell because of her.
…It seemed like, she had ruined her.
This complex feeling of guilt and confusion weighed heavily on Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao, making her heart sink.
She couldn’t wait for the morning, wanting to find Xiao Xiang Shu Huai, apologize to her, and ask her why she had shown that expression.
But when morning finally came, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao hurriedly got ready, rushed out of her room, but didn’t see Xiao Xiang Shu Huai at the dining table downstairs. Only Cong You and Yi An Ning were sitting there.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao froze for a moment, unable to process what was happening, not even hearing Cong You calling her.
After a long time, she finally turned to face Cong You’s questioning gaze and said in a hoarse voice:
“…Has she left?”
Before Cong You could answer, they heard a light sound from the tea room door.
—Xiao Xiang Shu Huai gently pushed the door open.
She looked completely different from last night, her long hair loosely tied behind her ears, her expression calm, with no trace of fear in sight.
The moment Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao saw her, she hurried over, about to call out, “Xiang—”
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai suddenly stopped.
It seemed like she wanted to step back but didn’t, instead nodding slightly at Cong You and Yi An Ning, before turning to Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao. “Let’s go to the room.”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao knew she was at fault, so she followed behind, walking up the stairs and into the room with Xiao Xiang Shu Huai.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai entered the room, found a more comfortable spot by the bed, and looked at Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao standing there, a little surprised. “Sit.”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao lowered her head, feeling very guilty as she stood there, shaking her head.
“…Alright.” Xiao Xiang Shu Huai sighed, “What’s the matter?”
“I…” Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao said, her voice rough, “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done that yesterday.”
She kept her head down, not daring to look at Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s expression.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Xiao Xiang Shu Huai said lightly, “I don’t mind. You don’t need to apologize.”
Even though she said it so lightly… But that expression from yesterday, clearly wasn’t like this.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao stood in front of her, feeling like her feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move.
Seeing her like this, Xiao Xiang Shu Huai slowly furrowed her brows.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao?”
“Ah, are you going to take responsibility for me?”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao asked, and Xiao Xiang Shu Huai, with a cold sneer, replied as if she hadn’t heard.
“—I told you, I don’t mind.”
…No matter what, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao had never seen this expression on her face, especially not directed at herself.
Filled with hostility, cold and firm.
But—perhaps because of the memory of Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s eyes being so red and almost crying, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao could clearly see, even in that sneer, a trace of self-despair.
She couldn’t help but take a step forward, wanting to hold Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s hand, telling her not to show such a sad expression.
But Xiao Xiang Shu Huai just stared at her, speaking slowly.
“Or, do you want me to take responsibility for you?”
She tilted her mouth into a wider sneer.
“—Sure, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao. What do you want?”
“Anything, I don’t mind. Do you want to do it? Now, or do you want me to be with someone else?”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao was completely stunned.
She stared at Xiao Xiang Shu Huai, not even having time to blush at the meaning behind those words, when she saw Xiao Xiang Shu Huai reach for the buttons of her shirt.
“—If you’re still interested after seeing it, go ahead.”
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai undid one button after another, still speaking.
“Want to do it now? But if you’re scared, I—”
…Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao grabbed her hand.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai tried to pull away, but couldn’t. Her expression grew colder.
She coldly asked, “What are you doing?”
Facing her hostile gaze, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao simply held her wrist lightly, stopping her from continuing to undo her clothes.
She looked at those dark eyes, shattered and no longer able to hide her emotions, feeling like her heart was heavy, aching and wet, as if it could drip with tears at any moment.
She hoarsely asked, “…Why say such things about yourself?”
The moment she spoke, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao realized she was about to cry.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai didn’t answer.
“So,” she just said, “Not doing it now?”
At this, Xiao Xiang Shu Huai suddenly seemed to understand, her expression shifting.
“Or do you want to turn off the lights?”
“Xiang Shu Huai…”
“Fine,” Xiao Xiang Shu Huai said. “Remember to pull the curtains. If there’s light, you’ll still see my body—”
“…Xiang Shu Huai!!”
At the sound of her voice, Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s shoulder trembled slightly, and her words stopped.
Finally, she just looked up at Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao, her expression empty, and the emotions in her eyes slowly sank.
“Don’t do this.”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao’s voice cracked, her eyes redder than ever.
“Don’t say such things about yourself. Don’t… wuwu, I’m sorry, Xiang Shu Huai… don’t do this…”
Maybe because her tearful, sorrowful look resembled a frustrated puppy, Xiao Xiang Shu Huai stared at her for a long time before suddenly laughing softly.
“It’s fine, really.”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao just wiped her tears, still looking down dejectedly.
“…Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao. Stop crying.”
Right after she spoke, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao’s tears fell with a loud “plop”—two large droplets.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai couldn’t help but laugh.
“Alright,” she said helplessly, “It’s okay. Stop crying. Why are you crying?”
“Wuwu…” Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao raised her hand to wipe her tears, but they just fell harder. “I don’t, wuwu, I don’t know…”
…She just had this feeling.
A feeling that if she didn’t stop Xiao Xiang Shu Huai, the soft, unguarded Xiao Xiang Shu Huai—the one who would look at her with confusion and let her help untangle her wet hair—might really disappear. She would lose her and never find her again.
This thought made Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao clutch the sleeve of the person in front of her, unwilling to let go, even though she had no free hand to wipe her tears.
“…Fine.” Xiao Xiang Shu Huai said with some helplessness, “So, Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao, what do you want to do?”
The alpha girl, wiping her tears, shook her furry head like a rattle.
Xiao Xiang Shu Huai had to think for herself.
She looked at Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao, and half-jokingly said, “—Do you want me to kiss you back?”
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao was still in a daze and instinctively agreed.
“Okay…”
At her response, they both froze, staring at each other.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
In Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao’s teary amber eyes, was her own pale reflection.
And in Xiao Xiang Shu Huai’s expression—innocent and focused, yet so dependent and trusting—it seemed like she would never doubt anything the person she looked at said.
…She really did look like the sun.
That’s how Xiao Xiang Shu Huai felt.
—In the end, she reached out, grabbing Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao’s collar, her movements filled with a sense of resolve.
Xiao Yu Xiaoxiao was pulled forward.
And she met her, lifting her head.