Reborn! Entangled with the Obsessive Best Actress - Chapter 11

A heavy silence fell over the air. Song Qingxing hesitated, unsure how to answer. Technically, she was Xie Jingcheng’s sister-in-law, but their relationship wasn’t yet at a stage where they could openly acknowledge it.

After all…

She was just a mistress.

Mistress relationships were a common trope in dramas and CEO novels.

Ahem… In short, it wasn’t exactly a respectable term, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for a child to know too much about it.

She settled for a nod.

Xie Jingshu’s expression immediately shifted, her eyes now filled with admiration as she gazed at her older sister. She never imagined that the sister who could kick her off the bed in her sleep had actually managed to win over the most popular goddess in school.

“Wow, Sis, you’re amazing!”

Xie Jingcheng closed her eyes, unable to find the words to respond to her younger sister.

After her moment of admiration, Xie Jingshu rummaged through her backpack and eagerly tore out over a dozen pages of paper.

“Song Qingxing, can I get your autograph?”

“I want to give one to each of my classmates.”

Song Qingxing nodded. Since Xie Jingcheng was her patron, showing respect to her family was part of her daily duties.

But as soon as she took the pen from Xie Jingshu, Song Qingxing noticed something unexpected and began flipping the paper over and over.

Sure enough, she saw the math problems on the back, along with the teacher’s red-inked comments:

Xie Jingshu, bring your parents in. Who told you math problems could be solved this way?

Crap!

Could this little brat have torn up her own math homework?

This was truly…

Xie Jingcheng naturally noticed the scene as well. Her gaze drifted downward, landing on her younger sister’s somewhat messy handwriting on the homework sheet.

She scoffed in amusement.

“Xie Jingshu, you tore up your own homework.”

Xie Jingshu finally realized her mistake. Glancing at the back of the paper, she saw she had indeed accidentally torn off a sheet she had already completed.

Her heart sank like lead.

“I-I didn’t mean to.”

“Intentional or not, you’re responsible. Rewrite all of this and submit it to the teacher,” Xie Jingcheng said sternly.

“Sis…” Xie Jingshu whined, resorting to her usual tactics of pleading and acting helpless. But seeing her sister’s unwavering gaze, she knew her usual tricks wouldn’t work this time.

So she turned her pitiful gaze to Song Qingxing, burying her face in Song Qingxing’s lap. Her perfectly symmetrical features bore a striking resemblance to Xie Jingcheng’s, about seventy percent identical.

Her teary-eyed expression was truly heart-wrenching.

“Sister-in-law, you have to vouch for me! I really didn’t mean to tear it.”

Song Qingxing: ……

How did the term “Sister-in-law” suddenly become “Older Sister-in-law”?

Xie Jingshu accepted this way too quickly.

Just as Song Qingxing was about to offer some vague, noncommittal remarks, the hospital room door was knocked again. A well-dressed couple entered—the man in a sharp suit with tousled hair, though closer inspection revealed strands of gray among the dark. The woman was impeccably styled, her long, curled hair swaying gently as she moved, like turbulent waves.

“Jingcheng, how did you get hurt?” the woman asked softly. “Your father, mother, and sister flew all the way here.”

Her gaze settled on Song Qingxing, showing no surprise. Given the widespread media coverage and their attentiveness to their daughter’s career, they were well aware of the relationship between the two women.

In truth, unlike the melodramatic tropes found in novels, the Xie family parents didn’t object to Xie Jingcheng having a girlfriend. After all, finding a female partner was preferable to her remaining single for life.

“It’s nothing,” Xie Jingcheng replied slowly, deliberately downplaying the incident. “Someone accidentally spilled something on me.”

Hearing this, Song Qingxing bristled. This wasn’t an accident; those people had been targeting her.

Just as Song Qingxing was about to stand up and explain the truth to Xie Jingcheng’s parents, Xie Jingcheng’s fingers emerged from under the covers. Her skin was so pale against the hospital’s pristine white sheets that she looked almost like a thousand-year-old zombie.

Those fingers gripped Song Qingxing’s wrist tightly. Xie Jingcheng’s eyes flickered. If it had been anyone else, they would have asked, “Xie Jingcheng, did you get something in your eye? Why are you blinking so much?”

But Song Qingxing wasn’t that naive. As an actress, she could at least read the emotions in someone’s eyes. Xie Jingcheng’s message was crystal clear: I don’t want my parents to know about this. Don’t make things worse.

In the end, Song Qingxing simply pursed her lips and steered the conversation in a different direction.

“It’s my fault for not taking better care of Jingcheng. If I had been more attentive, she wouldn’t have been bumped into. I’m truly sorry.”

Song Qingxing lowered her head, appearing utterly pitiful, like a pear blossom tree after a storm, its petals pure white and translucent.

It was as if the physiological tears welling in the corners of her eyes were part of the act.

Xie Jingcheng’s eyes widened in disbelief. When did Song Qingxing become such a good actress? Just a few days ago, she was a terrible actress who couldn’t even deliver two lines without stumbling over her words!

Her acting skills had improved at an astonishing rate.

The Xie parents were momentarily speechless. Having spent years in the business world, they had seen countless people and their manipulative tactics.

There were plenty who feigned poverty and played the victim.

But the Xie Family had no poor relatives.

Xie Jingcheng’s lineage had been wealthy since her great-great-great-grandfather’s time.

Unsure what to say about their daughter’s new girlfriend, Father Xie cleared his throat.

“How could this accident possibly be your fault?”

“It’s alright, we don’t blame you.”

“But who was that person? How could they be so careless? Carrying a cup of hot coffee, they should have been paying attention to where they were going.”

Clearly, Father Xie intended to target the person who had bumped into Jingcheng.

After all, his daughter had been wronged, and he couldn’t tolerate such treatment. Regardless of right or wrong, anyone who dared to bully Jingcheng was essentially shitting on his head.

The Xie parents spent nearly an entire afternoon at the hospital, clarifying the details of the incident and cooperating with the police investigation by reviewing surveillance footage.

But the woman remained stubbornly silent, refusing to reveal anything.

In the end, they had to leave empty-handed.

Father and Mother Xie were both busy with work and couldn’t stay long. They left their assistant behind to help follow up on the police investigation.

They refused to believe the woman’s actions were accidental.

After they left, Song Qingxing finally relaxed, collapsing into her chair.

Her long hair clung to her face, revealing a disheveled beauty.

“Why didn’t you let me explain everything to your parents earlier? We could have avoided this whole roundabout investigation to uncover the mastermind.”

Because both of them could clearly see:

The woman had been aiming for Song Qingxing.

It was only because Xie Jingcheng insisted on playing the damsel-saving-damsel role, shielding Song Qingxing from the scalding coffee.