The Beautiful Older Sister I Picked Up Is Good at Flirting - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Fu Siyi usually spent her weekends at home. After getting up and freshening up, she headed to the main building’s dining room. Today, she hadn’t started eating yet—she was waiting to dine with Cen Wan.
Fan Zhen stood beside the sideboard, brewing jasmine tea, stealing glances at Fu Siyi through the swirling steam.
The morning sunlight poured gently through the window. Fu Siyi wore a light brown blazer, bathed in golden particles, looking even more dazzling than the heroine of a romance drama.
Fan Zhen’s gaze slowly drifted downward and landed on Fu Siyi’s slender waist.
That tight waistline… perfect for hugging.
Her shoulders—delicate yet straight… perfect to lean on.
And that bewitching face… perfect to squish between your hands.
Hey!
In broad daylight, what was she thinking?
Fan Zhen was startled by her own impure thoughts and quickly looked away, only to meet Fu Siyi’s gaze by accident.
Their eyes locked unexpectedly—like a spark hitting dry wood, igniting a crackling flame.
Fan Zhen was even more flustered, and Fu Siyi, slightly unsettled herself, casually grabbed the newspaper from the table and started reading in a distracted haze.
The dining room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. The brewed jasmine tea on the table gave off a delicate fragrance, and wisps of white steam curled between the two of them, filling the quiet air with a subtle sweetness.
Suddenly, the screech of a chair dragging across the floor shattered the silence. Fan Zhen turned her head in surprise and saw Fu Siyi abruptly stand up, eyes wide with disbelief on her face.
“Fan Zhen, you—you have to come look at this. Doesn’t this person look just like you?”
Fan Zhen’s gaze lowered and landed on the newspaper in her hand—and her whole body trembled violently.
The newspaper?
Fan Zhen knew her father had been looking for her, posting missing person notices across Su Country on TV, in magazines, and in newspapers.
She had been living in the Fu residence for over a month, yet no one had realized she was the “Huo Shuixian” featured in those notices.
That was because most of the servants in the old Fu residence were elderly. They spent their spare time chatting or knitting, rarely used their phones, and weren’t up-to-date with the news.
Fu Siyi, even more so, wouldn’t waste time on anything unrelated to work. That’s why no one had noticed until now.
But right now, the newspaper in Fu Siyi’s hands had a photo of her on the front page.
But wait—hadn’t she hidden all the newspapers in the storage room?
Only Fu Weirong had the habit of reading the paper. Though she no longer lived in the old residence, her subscription was still active. Fan Zhen would always stash the papers in storage the moment they arrived.
Her mind went blank. She had no idea how that paper had ended up on the dining table.
She clenched the dishcloth in her hands, too nervous to move, her whole body frozen stiff.
It took her several seconds to shake off the shock, and then she walked stiffly toward Fu Siyi. Distracted by her thoughts, she nearly tripped over a bucket on the floor, but caught herself in time and steadied her steps.
She finally reached Fu Siyi and stood in front of her.
“Fan Zhen, look at this…” Fu Siyi held the paper up close to her. “Doesn’t this person look just like you?”
Fan Zhen’s long lashes trembled, her gaze falling unsteadily on the photo as she forced a confused tone:
“Yeah… she does look a lot like me. Who is she? A celebrity? Why’s there a whole page with her photo?”
Fu Siyi shook her head. “It’s a missing person notice. Her name is Huo Shuixian, the only daughter of a wealthy businessman from Yuan Country. She ran away from home over a month ago… uh, the reason… well, something about a fight with her family…”
Sweat began to form in Fan Zhen’s palms. Her mind raced to come up with an excuse. She was just about to speak when a lazy, charming voice drifted from the spiral staircase.
“Aiyo, sorry, sorry—I overslept adjusting to the time zone…”
Fu Siyi looked up and waved at Cen Wan. “Aunt Wan, come look at this…”
“What is it? So mysterious.” Cen Wan tightened her robe, held onto the stair rail, and walked downstairs, heading over to peek at the paper beside Fu Siyi. She blinked in confusion, glancing back and forth between the paper and Fan Zhen, her face full of shock:
“Heavens, can people really look this alike?”
Fan Zhen’s anxiety grew, her hands twisting the dishcloth unconsciously, her face pale as a sheet.
What now?
She couldn’t let Fu Siyi and Cen Wan find out she was “Huo Shuixian.” If they contacted her father, she’d be dragged back and locked up, forced to marry Song Lan.
…Or… maybe she could just tell Fu Siyi the truth.
Over the past month, after spending time together, Fan Zhen could feel that Fu Siyi was honest and had a strong sense of justice. If she asked for her help, maybe—just maybe—she’d actually help her.
But… the laws of Su Country explicitly forbade harboring an Omega. If Fu Siyi found out she was an Omega, she might no longer be willing to shelter her.
She couldn’t risk it. She’d gone through too much to escape—if she was sent back now, everything she’d suffered would be in vain.
Fan Zhen stood rigidly, watching Cen Wan pull the paper from Fu Siyi’s hand and hold it up beside Fan Zhen’s face, comparing carefully.
“They do look alike… but not exactly the same. Can’t quite say what’s different.”
Fu Siyi leaned in for a closer look and compared again.
“Maybe it’s the flowy dance costume and the makeup. There’s a kind of…”
The photo was stunning, and Fu Siyi couldn’t find the words to describe it. She stared at the picture, wearing the same dazed smile as a young fan watching a pretty dancer online.
That tiny, barely concealed smile on her lips made her look kind of silly.
She said, “There’s a kind of… like a fairy descending from the heavens.”
In the photo, Huo Fanzhen wore delicate, exotic makeup and a flowing celestial goddess outfit that showed part of her slender waist. She posed mid-dance in the vast desert, holding a pipa behind her back, like a goddess from a mural stepping into the mortal world.
If her bare face gave off a calm, graceful vibe, her made-up self was the very image of a stunning seductress.
It was a big contrast.
That photo had gone viral in Yuan Country. That scumbag Alpha, Song Lan, had seen the image and become obsessed, ultimately resorting to dirty tricks to strike a deal with her father.
Fan Zhen turned her head to glance at the paper, keeping her expression as natural as possible.
“Yeah, she really does look like a fairy.”
Fu Siyi’s red lips curved slightly. “She looks more mature. Wearing a high-end traditional outfit makes her seem really elegant. She’s a proper heiress…”
Fan Zhen cut her off coldly:
“I’m a maid.”
Fu Siyi could hear the subtle bitterness in her tone and hurried to explain:
“I—no, that’s not what I meant…”
“I mean, what are the odds of two people looking so alike?” Fu Siyi gave her a small smile. “If you were the Huo family’s heiress, why would you come work as a maid in my house?”
Fan Zhen said nothing. The more she spoke now, the more chances she’d have of slipping up. She stood still, trying to guess what Fu Siyi might ask next.
But she didn’t ask anything else. Instead, her eyes crinkled into a smile, as if filled with sweet wine, glimmering and light:
“Fan Zhen, go get me a pair of scissors.”
Fan Zhen blinked in confusion but nodded. After hesitating for a second, she turned to leave the room.
She’d just taken two steps when she heard Cen Wan nudge Fu Siyi’s elbow:
“Xiao Yi, what do you want scissors for?”
Fu Siyi folded the newspaper and her peach blossom eyes sparkled with little stars.
“I want to cut out the photo.”
Cen Wan let out a long, teasing “Ooh,” and nudged her again, winking.
“What, fallen for the Omega in the picture?”
Hearing that, Fan Zhen suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She turned around just in time to see the tips of Fu Siyi’s ears turn red.
Fu Siyi rubbed her glowing ears. “Aunt Wan, stop teasing. I just… If I find this Miss Huo, I’ll get the 1 million yuan reward.”
“Oh really?” Cen Wan raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Her tone took on a gossipy, nosy auntie vibe.
“Our Xiao Yi earns tens of millions with just one contract—and she’s tempted by a measly one million yuan reward?”