Stealing My Stepsister's Fiancée - Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – The First Time She Hugged Her Sister on Her Own

Ni Hezhi took the initiative to scoop rice and set the bowls in front of everyone. Freshly picked vegetables, wild crucian carp — a simple three dishes and a soup.

Grandma looked at the somewhat humble spread on the table and felt a bit guilty.
“Hezhi, I know you don’t like eating our home-raised chickens, ducks, and geese. What was it that foreigner-made chicken called again… oh! Gnawing Chicken… We’ve never had it, don’t know how it’s cooked. When the market’s open in a couple days, I’ll have Ayu take you into the county. I heard they sell that kind of chicken there.”

Su Yu’s family barely spent money on groceries — they ate whatever grew in their fields. Ever since Ni Hezhi arrived, Grandma had been preparing the best they had — slaughtering chickens and geese to treat her well.

The chickens and ducks inside the fence were raised day by day by Shu Hui. Watching her “little companions” being caught by Grandma and slaughtered left Shu Hui in tears.

Ni Hezhi happened to witness this and lied to the old lady,
“Grandma, I love KFC. I don’t like eating the chickens we raise at home. Don’t kill them. Wouldn’t it be better to keep them for laying eggs?”

So, the chickens were spared — and Ni Hezhi gained a reputation for being “picky.”

Truth be told, she was a picky eater. But even the pickiest person, after ten days or half a month of not touching meat, would start to crave it.

Still, Ni Hezhi behaved considerately, spooning out a ladle of tomato and smiling with twinkling eyes:
“Grandma, I love fresh vegetables.”

Grandma smiled kindly, wrinkles deep with joy:
“You sweet child. Grandma’s been watching you these days. Our home’s in poor shape — compared to the life you used to live, it’s like heaven and earth. I was worried you’d suffer staying with us, but it looks like I worried too much. Our Hezhi is a fine, fine girl.”

“Grandma, you’re embarrassing me,” Ni Hezhi said with a teasing pride, brows full of delight.
“But — what you said is all true. I am very likable.”

Grandma laughed even more warmly.

Ni Hezhi’s eyes drifted lazily past the “dumb one” next to her and teased with a double entendre,
“Don’t you think so too, Su Yu?”

Caught off guard, Su Yu froze mid-bite. Her lashes lifted slightly, and the corner of her mouth curved faintly.
She responded softly, “Mm.”

The topic naturally shifted to Su Yu. Grandma followed suit:
“Ayu, Secretary Qiu came by today.”

Su Yu’s brow creased slightly. “Why did he come?”

“Secretary Qiu wants to sponsor your college education. Madam Ni had the teacher turn him down, but he said he’ll personally cover your tuition and living expenses. Shu Hui’s school fees too.”

Su Yu didn’t show the slightest joy — only growing wariness.
“Why is he helping us?”

Grandma’s tone was flat, as if merely relaying a message:
“He said he’s planning to buy a house for Xiao Xia in Bincheng. Prices are rising, and he’s worried you two won’t be able to afford one after working a few years. Since you’re already aiming to go to university there, might as well get the house now — consider it your future marital home. Once you start college, you can move in immediately. He also said—”

“Wait, Grandma!” Su Yu’s eyes widened in shock.
“What did you say? Who and who?”

“You and that girl from the Qiu family.”

Her granddaughter was so quiet and closed-off that the old woman never quite knew what was on her mind. She watched Su Yu’s face and mused aloud:
“Secretary Qiu also said, though you can’t differentiate (present as Alpha/Beta/Omega), his family doesn’t mind. He values your character — said you’re gentle and kind, and wouldn’t mistreat his daughter… but since Xiao Xia is an only child, you’d have to marry into their family. Your kids would take her surname too.”

These words hit Su Yu like a thunderclap. She was too stunned to react — her whole body turned to stone.

But in Ni Hezhi’s eyes, that expression was misinterpreted:
Su Yu was too happy, so much so she was speechless from joy.

No wonder no matter how she flirted with this wooden block, there was never any response.

So… she already had a partner.

Everything — the flirting, teasing, even throwing herself at her — must’ve looked like desperate, low-value moves in Su Yu’s eyes.

Tch!

Homewrecker.

Grandma’s tone was calm, with no matchmaking intent, but Ni Hezhi felt a bitterness stuck in her chest. Why was she staying here, living this simple, cloistered life?

Ni Hezhi had never been the type to let herself be trampled on. Even if her stepmother exiled her to some remote backwater village and cut off all contact with the outside world, she still had ways to escape.

Two days ago, she managed to contact Chen — the assistant her mother Ni Qingyao trusted most — and learned her mother’s surgery had been a success and she’d soon wake up. She could’ve had Chen send someone to fetch her right then and there. So why hadn’t she left Tong Village?

Because she knew once her mother woke, Jiang Sui wouldn’t be able to stir up trouble? So there was no rush?

Was that really the reason?

Ni Hezhi unconsciously bit the soft flesh inside her lip and asked herself honestly — why hadn’t she left?

Leaving meant being separated from Su Yu.

When she first came to Tong Village, she never expected to meet Su Yu. Let alone… that she’d come to feel such pain at the thought of leaving this stranger she’d known for less than a month.

Yes. That’s why she couldn’t bring herself to go.

Ni Hezhi stabbed angrily at her rice. Her mood was a chaotic tangle of emotions — frustrated beyond reason.

Su Yu, still stunned and overwhelmed, didn’t notice the death-stare slicing toward her from the side. Eyes dark and stormy — like a typhoon was about to erupt.

Grandma didn’t sense the tension either and kept talking:
“I told Secretary Qiu that you can’t differentiate, so you can’t conceive… But he said he’ll take you to a hospital in Bincheng. There’s a foreign specialist there — has already treated many girls like you with differentiation disorders.”

“Honestly, Grandma doesn’t mind which surname the child takes. But… if this can really be cured, then that’d be a blessing.”

The old woman sighed.
“Grandma’s getting old. I just want to see you settle down. If you can differentiate — Alpha, Omega, Beta — anything is good.”

Suddenly, Su Yu shot to her feet. The chair scraped loudly across the floor with a grating screech.

“Grandma, you agreed to this?” Su Yu’s face turned red with agitation and resistance.

In Ni Hezhi’s eyes, it looked like she was delighted to the point of being overwhelmed.

Stupid blockhead!

So happy your eyeballs are about to pop out!

Grandma was startled. Her granddaughter was usually expressionless — rare to see her this emotional.
“Of course not. Grandma would never agree without asking you first.”

“I’m not pressuring you, just… girls your age are already discussing marriage. That girl from the Miao family’s been proposed to more times than I can count. Sigh… Our family’s poor. People come to talk proposals, but when they see how we live, they don’t even say a word before leaving. Ayu… when will Grandma finally get to hold her great-grandchild…”

Cough cough… cough…

Her words were cut short by a harsh coughing fit. The pair turned around — and saw Ni Hezhi clutching her throat, face flushed red, eyes full of tears. She looked like she was in real pain.

“Oh dear, what happened?”

Grandma glanced at the fish in her bowl and assumed she’d gotten a bone stuck. She quickly tore off a piece of steamed cornbread and handed it over.
“Here, swallow this!”

Ni Hezhi stuffed it in her mouth, cheeks puffed out as she tried to swallow. The scratchy, stabbing pain in her throat only grew. Another coughing fit came, and tears streamed down her face.

Su Yu’s brows furrowed instantly. She rushed into the kitchen, came back with a bowl of dark sauce, and held it out to her.
“Drink vinegar.”

Ni Hezhi stared at her through tears, almost as if her inner thoughts had been exposed — mortified and furious.
“Tch! Who do you think you are… I’m not… cough cough not jealous of you.”

Su Yu was stunned, then quickly realized the misunderstanding. Her ears flushed red, and she stammered,
“No — I mean, this vinegar. It’ll help.”

Ni Hezhi wanted to evaporate on the spot. She thought Su Yu meant jealous, but she had literally meant vinegar. Now it sounded like she was caught red-handed and overreacting.

So embarrassing.

She awkwardly picked up the bowl — it reeked of sharp acid.

But no matter how sour it smelled, could it possibly be more sour than her heart?

Ni Hezhi downed it out of spite.

So sour!

Su Yu quickly poured her a cup of warm water. Ni Hezhi gulped several sips and pressed her fingers to her lips, still coughing and clearly uncomfortable.

Suddenly, a pair of arms reached from the right, pulling her into a warm embrace.

Everyone’s attention had been on Ni Hezhi, so no one noticed Su Yu’s subtle movements — not even Su Yu herself. It was a subconscious response, an instinctive command from her body.

She wrapped Ni Hezhi in her arms, pressing her close, one hand gently patting her back to soothe her.

The unexpected closeness made Ni Hezhi’s eyes go wide. Her mind blanked for several seconds.

It felt like time stood still.

She never expected Su Yu to hug her — and voluntarily.

Her heart pounded uncontrollably, as if she were lost in a temporal illusion.

Their warm bodies were so tightly pressed together. Every curve seemed to fit — as if their skin and nerves were meant to connect.

Ni Hezhi laid her face against Su Yu’s chest… and heard the thunderous, erratic thump of her heart.

Thump-thump, thump-thump — even faster than her own.

What the hell!

That stupid blockhead just hugged her.

In front of everyone… hugged her.

This is it. Ni Hezhi felt like she was about to drop dead from a heart attack.