The Beautiful Older Sister I Picked Up Is Good at Flirting - Chapter 22
Chapter 22
“Is that so?” Cen Wan looked at her unhurriedly, her tone suddenly turning gossipy. “Our dear Siyi casually signs contracts worth tens of millions. And now she’s suddenly interested in a one-million-yuan reward?”
Fu Siyi instinctively moved the newspaper aside and pretended to reach for her teacup to avoid Cen Wan’s nosy gaze. She strode over to Fanzhen with long strides and said,
“Fanzhen, let the kitchen know it’s time to serve the meal. And bring me the scissors while you’re at it.”
Fanzhen looked up, her gaze brushing over the faint redness on Fu Siyi’s ears. Her chest tightened like it was stuffed full of cotton—heavy and suffocating.
Clearly, she had passed the test.
Fu Siyi, a “severe face-blind” patient, completely failed to recognize that she and Huo Shuixian were the same person.
But… why didn’t she feel relieved or happy at passing? Why did she feel even more stifled?
Was it because Fu Siyi had shown affection toward “Huo Shuixian”?
Fanzhen had never imagined she’d be upset with herself—jealous even—just at the mention of the name “Huo Shuixian.”
The contradiction made her flustered and angry. Her voice carried a hint of displeasure:
“Miss, I haven’t finished my chores. Could you please ask someone else to get it?”
Just then, Granny Ying happened to walk by carrying breakfast. Fanzhen quickly called out softly:
“Granny, could you please bring Miss the scissors?”
Granny Ying, always sensitive to tension, immediately picked up on the strange atmosphere. She ghosted over to Cen Wan and whispered behind a hand:
“What happened?”
Cen Wan, watching Fanzhen sulking without realizing it, let a mischievous smile curl on her lips and deliberately raised her voice:
“Siyi has a crush on an Omega.”
The moment the words landed—one face flushed red, the other turned black.
The red face was Fu Siyi’s.
The black face was Huo Fanzhen’s.
Granny Ying instantly understood everything. She widened her eyes and shot Cen Wan a glare sharp as a knife, whispering so only the two of them could hear:
“Look what you’ve done!”
Then, with a quick change of expression to full peacemaker mode, she turned to Fanzhen and said cheerily,
“Oh my, our young lady is a fangirl now?”
Fanzhen’s voice sounded like she’d just eaten an entire lemon:
“Granny, she’s not a celebrity. She’s a runaway heiress.”
Granny Ying focused her gaze on her nose, her nose on her heart, and kept her fake smile:
“Well, it’s the same thing really. Some people like watching TV, some like playing games—it’s just a way to pass time. Everyone has a favorite. I used to be a fangirl too. Bought merch, collected photos, voted in contests… I even… even chased them on my bicycle…”
Everyone in the room was stunned, especially Fu Siyi, her beautiful peach blossom eyes wide with surprise:
“Granny, you were… that wild when you were young?”
She turned to glance at Fanzhen, wanting to joke along with her—but Fanzhen didn’t even spare her a look. Carrying a water bucket, she walked past coldly, leaving only a distant back in her wake.
Fu Siyi: ???
She turned to Granny Ying, confusion and helplessness written all over her face:
“Granny, what’s wrong with Fanzhen?”
Granny Ying lied with her eyes wide open:
“Nothing at all. Totally normal, right?”
Fu Siyi let out a small breath of relief and called Cen Wan over:
“Aunt Wan, come have breakfast.”
Cen Wan answered, about to walk over, when Granny Ying forcibly dragged her aside:
“Hey! Why is this situation going completely off-script? Where did the young lady’s business-world sharpness go? She’s not only blind, she’s clueless—she actually thinks Fanzhen and Miss Huo are two different people…”
Cen Wan glanced at her twisted-up anxious face and calmly smiled:
“Yes… it’s definitely gone a bit differently than we expected.”
Granny Ying looked like she wanted to bite her:
“I told you it wouldn’t work! Look what you’ve done!”
“It’s not ruined.” Cen Wan gave her a reassuring look.
“Granny Ying, this is what we call ‘a helping hand.’ The situation might have deviated a little, but overall, we’re making progress.”
Granny Ying gritted her teeth:
“Progress my ass! Can’t you see how upset Fanzhen is?”
Cen Wan shot her a smug look:
“She’s upset because she’s jealous. That’s a good thing.”
“Jealous?” Granny Ying looked confused.
“But Fanzhen is Miss Huo. She’s jealous of herself?”
“Exactly. She’s jealous of herself.” Cen Wan ignored her ever-darkening expression and smiled with amusement:
“Don’t you think this is interesting? Just imagine—if one day Siyi finds out… well, chasing her wife is going to be so much fun.”
“Pah!” Granny Ying held back the urge to kick her out of the room and muttered furiously,
“Stepmothers… they’re all bad news!”
…
Maybe it was because she didn’t sleep well, but Fanzhen felt out of it all morning. She groggily made her way to the main building and started cleaning the study.
Fu Siyi had recently started teaching herself Lamu script. Several technical books and documents were scattered across the desk. The missing reference book was there too, sitting on the right side like it had just been used.
Fanzhen hesitated. Fu Siyi had asked her not to touch anything on the desk, but it was such a mess that it made her uncomfortable just looking at it.
After a few seconds of internal debate, she decided to wait and ask for permission before cleaning. As she turned, her elbow accidentally knocked the reference book off the desk.
As it fell, a loose sheet of paper fluttered out and landed at her feet.
She looked down—and her eyelashes trembled violently.
It was a photo of “Huo Shuixian.”
Apparently, Fu Siyi really did like “Huo Shuixian” enough to keep her photo tucked inside the book she consulted every day.
Just so she could see her… every day.
Fanzhen bent down and picked it up, her eyes dropping with a sense of melancholy. Her lower lip was bitten pale from pressure. She didn’t know whether the feeling in her chest was sadness or frustration—only that it was a deep, wordless emotion.
“Fanzhen!”
Fu Siyi was suddenly standing at the doorway, her peach blossom eyes gazing softly at her.
Startled, Fanzhen lost her grip, and the book fell to the floor with a thud.
She bent down in a hurry to pick it up, but just as her fingers touched the cover, a fair, soft hand landed on top of hers.
The warmth on her fingertips wasn’t hers—it was someone else’s. Fanzhen froze for a few seconds before jerking her hand back.
“Miss, I’m sorry. I didn’t go through your things on purpose.”
Fu Siyi’s lips curved into a gentle smile:
“Don’t be nervous. I’m not upset with you.”
Then, she calmly slipped the photo back into the book.
Fanzhen saw everything.
Her heart swelled with a heavy ache, like the air during rainy season—humid, oppressive, hard to breathe.
She asked quietly:
“Miss, you tucked Miss Huo’s photo into such an important book… do you like her?”
A faint red climbed up Fu Siyi’s ears:
“No… I just want to help her family find her. So they can be reunited.”
The lie was so obvious it was painful.
Fanzhen lowered her eyes. Her throat felt like it was stuffed with rice soaked in vinegar—sour and hard to swallow.
She didn’t understand why she was jealous of “Huo Shuixian.”
After all… she was Huo Shuixian.
But… now she wasn’t. She was just a plain Beta housemaid.
Fu Siyi returned to her desk and pulled out a beautifully wrapped gift box. She looked like she was about to go out.
“Fanzhen, I’m going to Summer Yicheng’s birthday party today, so I won’t be home for dinner. The kitchen doesn’t need to make anything for me.”
Fanzhen nodded listlessly. Her soft black hair draped over her delicate face, making her look even more quietly pitiful.
Fu Siyi sensed her sudden drop in mood and turned back after a few steps:
“Fanzhen, I have good news. I made an appointment with my mother next week to discuss your residency. If everything goes smoothly, your documents will be ready by the end of the month.”
She paused.
“Originally, I could’ve helped you privately and avoided the wait. But… my mother is currently running for office, and even the smallest action is magnified by her opponents. So… I have to get her approval first before helping you.”
When she said this, her voice held a rare note of apology. Fanzhen’s eyes burned slightly. A quiet sadness rose in her throat.
Everyone envied Fu Siyi for being born at the top of the pyramid, but no one saw how even seeing her own mother required an appointment.
Something as normal as a mother-daughter chat—was impossibly hard for her.
Looking at Fu Siyi standing there, speaking softly, Fanzhen’s heart ached.
She wanted to hug her. To comfort her.
Her fingers curled at her side. She resisted the urge and instead stepped forward, smiled gently, her eyes curving like crescents:
“It’s okay, Miss. I don’t need to go out. If I want something, I can just ask Sister Huan to bring it back. And besides, the Fu family already has everything.”
Her eyes sparkled like stars, full of tender light—like a spring breeze in March.
That warm breeze swept away the last of Fu Siyi’s guilt. She smiled:
“Fanzhen, once your residency is sorted, I’ll take you on a proper tour around Suguo.”
Fanzhen smiled even more brightly, sweet and radiant:
“Okay.”