Surprise! My Cohabiting Sister is Actually My Fiancée - Chapter 24

The saleswoman was so eager, practically throwing money at them, that Jian Suixin grew suspicious. “Are these people scammers?”

Jun Xizhi smiled. “I don’t think so. Let’s go inside and see.”

So, the saleswoman pulled Jian Suixin, who in turn pulled Jun Xizhi, and they entered the store.

Despite the saleswoman’s enthusiasm, Jian Suixin remained skeptical until she saw several neatly packaged bags before her. It was then that she belatedly realized, perhaps, maybe, possibly, this was actually real.

Holy crap, a free lunch from the heavens!

She opened the bags and found all the clothes she had tried on and liked the previous day.

Jian Suixin exclaimed in surprise, “You remembered?”

“Of course, Miss,” the saleswoman replied. “These are all the styles you liked. We’ll arrange for home delivery.”

“Great, thank you!” No one turns down freebies. Jian Suixin had another question. “Since these are gifts, could I exchange a few items?”

“Hmm, that…” The saleswoman hesitated, instinctively glancing at Jun Xizhi. After Jun Xizhi nodded, she agreed. “Of course. Which items would you like to exchange?”

Jian Suixin ran off to pick out a few items and returned. “Just these will do.”

Jun Xizhi immediately recognized the clothes she had worn the previous day. “Xiao Jian, these are your winnings. You don’t need to give them to me.”

“It’s no problem, Elder Sister,” Jian Suixin replied, shaking her head and looping her arm through Jun Xizhi’s. She tilted her head, smiling warmly. “We should share our good fortune.”

Turning to the saleswoman, she added, “Could you calculate the total and let me know which items we should swap out?”

Jun Xizhi’s gaze softened at her words, and she said nothing more.

The saleswoman nodded and was about to speak when Jun Xizhi subtly winked at her.

Though it was just a glance, the saleswoman understood instantly: Don’t swap anything. Put everything on my account.

After exchanging a knowing look with her colleague and receiving a firm nod in response, the saleswoman continued with a smile, “Miss, I have even better news for you. You’re our ultra-ultra-ultra lucky customer! Not only are you our 88,888th customer this year, but you’re also our 888th customer today. To show our appreciation, we’re upgrading your reward. These items are all on the house!”

Jian Suixin’s mouth fell slightly open, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Tong’er, did I walk into the wrong store?”

“What?”

“This is a clothing store, right? I thought I’d stumbled into some charity organization.”

“……”

You did stumble into a charity organization. Your Elder Sister is the great philanthropist.

Riding high on tonight’s string of good fortune, Jian Suixin floated on air. “With this kind of luck, do you think I’d get rich faster if I bought lottery tickets?”

“Calm down, calm down.”

In the end, Jian Suixin returned home empty-handed but brimming with treasures, eagerly awaiting the delivery of her “88888 Grand Gift Package.”

The shopping trip had been invigorating. Back home, Jian Suixin didn’t forget to praise Jun Xizhi. “Elder Sister, thanks to your suggestion to go shopping tonight, we wouldn’t have encountered this otherwise.”

“It’s just your good luck,” Jun Xizhi replied with a smile. “I’m just along for the ride.”

Jian Suixin was about to respond when her phone rang. Seeing an unfamiliar number, she wondered, Who is this? And why are they calling with a video call?

After a moment’s hesitation, she returned to her room, covered the camera, and answered the call.

“Hello, Xin Xin?”

The instant Mother Jian’s voice came through the speaker, Jian Suixin regretted answering.

She wanted to hang up immediately, but the other party anticipated her move and swiftly cut her off: “If you dare hang up, I’ll have you kidnapped and thrown into a hotel room with Xiao Jun for your wedding night!”

The threat was utterly vicious, and knowing Mother Jian’s usual tactics, she knew it was no empty promise.

For her own safety, Jian Suixin barely managed to retract her finger.

I knew it, she thought. My family are all cunning foxes. I was wondering why they hadn’t come after me sooner. Well, here they are.

Jian Suixin had always been adaptable, able to bend when necessary. After a quick mental calculation, she sweetened her voice by 180 degrees. “Hello, Mom! It’s you! I saw it was a strange number and was about to hang up.”

Mother Jian mercilessly called her bluff. “You recognized my voice and tried to hang up, didn’t you? Take your hand off the camera.”

Jian Suixin quickly removed her hand and chuckled awkwardly, “What are you talking about? How could I hang up on my own mother?”

Mother Jian replied slowly, “Exactly. If you dared to hang up on your own mother, you’d be getting married tomorrow.”

“…Can we talk about something else? Stop going on about marriage all the time,” Jian Suixin said, rubbing her temples in exasperation. “Your daughter just turned 23. Why are you in such a rush to get me married?”

Jian Suixin found it strange. “You can find me? Then why didn’t you and Dad come to drag me back? Why let me roam free out here?”

“That’s all your father’s fault. He said you’d come crawling back once you’d suffered enough out there, and forbade me from looking for you.” Mother Jian’s voice softened with concern. “My dear, have you been mistreated out there? Please come home.”

“If I go back, will I still have to marry?”

“Of course. The engagement is still valid, it hasn’t been called off.”

“Then what’s the point of going back?” Jian Suixin rejected the idea outright. “I’m not suffering at all. I’m living like royalty. I just got a whole pile of new designer clothes from the mall today. I can’t even spend all the money I’m making.”

“Host, how could you lie?” the System protested.

“Where’s the lie?” Jian Suixin retorted. “Didn’t I just get a whole bunch of new clothes?”

“But…”

Jian Suixin cut it off. “The process doesn’t matter. The result is what counts.”

Mother Jian was visibly startled. “Really? How did you earn the money?”

Jian Suixin snorted. “I’m not telling you. I have my own ways of getting rich.”

Mother Jian clearly didn’t believe her, muttering something under her breath before changing the subject. “You’re sharing an apartment with someone?”

“Yeah, I live with my Elder Sister,” Jian Suixin replied.

“Elder Sister?” Mother Jian didn’t immediately recognize the term. “Which Elder Sister? Your cousin?”

Jian Suixin’s face flushed crimson. She coughed awkwardly. “Neither. She’s just my roommate. She’s a few years older, so I call her Elder Sister.”

Mother Jian frowned. “Roommate? But… are you really that close? Calling her ‘Elder Sister’ already?”

Jian Suixin mumbled, “It’s just a nickname.”

Mother Jian refused to let it go. “Just a nickname? Fine, if it were anyone else, I wouldn’t care. But in all these years, I’ve never heard you call anyone ‘Elder Sister.’ Why are you suddenly being so affectionate?”

Of course it’s different, Jian Suixin thought to herself, but she explained aloud, “When I first met her, I didn’t know her name, so I just called her ‘Elder Sister.’ It became a habit, and I never changed it.”

“How’s your roommate?”

“My roommate?” Jian Suixin’s eyes lit up at the mention of her Elder Sister, her earlier listless demeanor vanishing. “Elder Sister is absolutely…”

She paused mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that praising her Elder Sister too much might reveal her feelings and lead to her immediate capture and confinement.

Forcing herself to change course, Jian Suixin swallowed her pride and refrained from belittling Jun Xizhi. “She’s definitely a little prettier than my arranged marriage partner.”

“I haven’t met your roommate, but I’ve seen Xiao Jun. He’s quite handsome,” Mother Jian said, her brow furrowing with a subtle expression. “You haven’t even met him. How can you claim she’s prettier?”

I don’t need to meet him, Jian Suixin thought. My Elder Sister is the most beautiful.

Aloud, she replied, “Just a guess, a guess.”

“Do you get along well?” Mother Jian pressed.

“Of course, we’re very… quite compatible,” Jian Suixin said, struggling to suppress her urge to shower her Elder Sister with praise and trying to sound understated. “She’s… her temper is relatively gentle, her personality is relatively considerate, her cooking is relatively good, and we get along relatively well.”

Then, in her mind, she silently replaced “still” with “especially.”

System: I suspect you’re about to develop a split personality.

Jian Suixin: Shut up.

Though Jian Suixin’s words were understated, Mother Jian’s interest was piqued. “Your roommate sounds nice. When can I meet her?”

At this, Jian Suixin shot up from the bed. “There’s no time like the present! She’s home right now.”

With someone like her Elder Sister, Jian Suixin couldn’t resist wanting everyone to know how wonderful she was.

After a moment’s hesitation, she made up her mind. Just one meeting, and maybe her mother would be so captivated by her Elder Sister’s beauty that she’d stop pressuring Jian Suixin to return home and marry that Eldest Miss of the Jun Family. Maybe she’d finally let her have the freedom to choose her own love?

Compared to her Elder Sister, the Eldest Miss of the Jun Family was utterly insignificant.

With this thought, Jian Suixin’s spirits soared. Her happiness, her freedom, were right within reach!

Telling her mother to “wait a moment,” Jian Suixin put down her phone, her heart pounding with excitement. She flung open the door, leaned against the frame, and peered out with sparkling eyes. “Elder Sister, would you like to say hello to my mom?”