The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 45

Nuo Yang couldn’t remember how she got down from the rooftop or how she made it home.

All she knew was that this Spring Festival had been the worst she’d ever experienced.

The next morning, Long Huaichang was awakened by the sound of firecrackers outside. She glanced at the grayish dawn light—it was probably around 7 a.m.

Winter mornings made getting up especially difficult. Long Huaichang turned to look at Nuo Yang, who was still buried under the blankets, and couldn’t bring herself to wake her.

She had no idea how long Nuo Yang had stayed on the rooftop last night, but her hands and feet had been ice-cold, and she’d even developed a slight fever. After taking medicine, she’d fallen asleep, and Long Huaichang hadn’t dared to leave her side, afraid she might wake up if she stepped out.

Propping her head up, Long Huaichang watched her sleeping sister. Nuo Yang’s eyes were still faintly red—a clear sign she’d cried for hours.

She reached out and rubbed her crimson, still-damp eyes…

Nuo Yang was sleeping peacefully with steady breaths, and Long Huaichang couldn’t get enough of watching her—her sister looked so well-behaved when asleep.

Just as Long Huaichang was observing her sister’s nose tip, she felt a weight at her feet.

Guazi stretched lazily and jumped up from the floor. It let out a big yawn, then opened its mouth to meow at the now-awake Long Huaichang—

“Shh…”

Long Huaichang pressed a finger to her lips and said to Guazi, “She’s sleeping, don’t make noise.”

Guazi twitched its whiskers but didn’t meow, instead rolling around on the bed by itself.

It had been freezing outside all night, and after coming indoors, it had disappeared until now.

Long Huaichang got out of bed and, noticing Guazi’s dirty paws, carried it to the bathroom for a wash. Then she went to the kitchen and saw the dumplings on the cutting board.

Dumplings???

She picked one up to examine it, only for the wrapper to loosen and the filling to spill out, startling her.

These dumplings were wrapped so poorly! How could they even be cooked??

Looking helplessly at the rest of the dumplings—each one gaping open menacingly—Long Huaichang sighed.

How were they supposed to eat these???

With another sigh, she opened the fridge and took out the leftover dumpling filling and wrappers Nuo Yang hadn’t used, then stood by the pot and started wrapping new ones.

As for the ones Nuo Yang had made earlier, Long Huaichang flattened them into pancakes—at least those would be edible.

By the time she finished, it was already past 8 AM. The neighborhood was bustling with people coming and going, all preparing to visit relatives. But since neither Long Huaichang nor Nuo Yang had family to visit, they didn’t have to follow such traditions.

Nuo Yang woke naturally, her body aching and her nose stuffy as if she had a bad cold.

Bleary-eyed, she sat up in bed and glanced at the empty space beside her, slowly recalling how she had cried buckets in Long Huaichang’s arms on the rooftop yesterday.

It had been downright childish.

Blushing at the memory, Nuo Yang grabbed her hair in frustration, mortified by her behavior. She was supposed to be the older sister—how could she have bawled like that in her younger sister’s arms?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She really wanted to go back to sleep!!!

“Sis?”

Long Huaichang’s voice suddenly came from the doorway. She knocked before opening the door and asked, “Are you up?”

Nuo Yang yanked the covers over her head and curled up, pretending to still be asleep.

Long Huaichang seemed to be carrying something as she entered and sat by the bed.

Nuo Yang was exasperated. Why had this girl come back? Wasn’t she supposed to be celebrating New Year’s with the Long family? What was the point of being nice to her now?

It was infuriating. She’d told her so many times not to go back—why wouldn’t she listen?

Did she have to reveal everything that would happen in the future to make her listen???

Seeing Nuo Yang cocooned in the blankets, Long Huaichang tugged at them and called, “Sis, time to get up. I made breakfast.”

Nuo Yang threw off the covers and snapped, “I’m not eating!”

Both of them froze at her words—because Nuo Yang’s voice was hoarse, as if…

Long Huaichang blushed slightly and stammered, “Sister, is your throat bothering you?”

Nuo Yang coughed twice before replying, “It’s all your fault.”

“Huh?”

“If it weren’t for you, would my throat be like this?”

“…Sister, I’m sorry.”

Long Huaichang’s ears turned red. Nuo Yang had developed a low fever after yesterday’s events, and Long Huaichang had hastily stuffed her into bed after pulling off her clothes. Now, the situation between them felt a little awkward…

Nuo Yang glanced at the glass of water on the nightstand and took a sip, soothing her throat slightly.

Seeing Nuo Yang glaring at her unhappily, Long Huaichang offered a placating smile. “Sister, have some dumplings. I just made them.”

Nuo Yang glanced over and frowned. “Where are the ones I made?”

“Here they are.”

“…Isn’t this a flatbread?”

Long Huaichang hesitated. “But the ones you made turned into soup in the pot.”

Nuo Yang: “…”

Hmph, even if it turned into soup, you’d better drink it!

Given Long Huaichang’s attitude, Nuo Yang couldn’t bring herself to argue—especially since none of this was worth fighting over.

“Xiao Huai,” Nuo Yang said, wrapped in the blanket, “yesterday, you…”

“I went to the Long family,” Long Huaichang replied, blowing on a dumpling before feeding it to Nuo Yang. “Then I made a scene and ran back.”

Nuo Yang ate the dumpling and looked at her in confusion. “Why did you make a scene?”

“If I didn’t, they’d keep trying to make me go back,” Long Huaichang said dismissively. “I won’t return. Things are fine as they are now.”

Nuo Yang puffed her cheeks, sulking slightly. “I thought… you wouldn’t come back.”

“How could that happen?” Long Huaichang smiled. “I’ll never leave you, Sister.”

———

Throughout the winter break, Mu Jiazhao never came looking for Long Huaichang again—she only had an assistant return the phone left at the Long family.

When the first day of school arrived, Long Huaichang debated skipping. After such a carefree break, she really didn’t want to go. But skipping on the very first day didn’t seem right.

Besides, Nuo Yang had work, and someone had to wake her up.

After washing up and cooking porridge, Long Huaichang couldn’t help but chuckle. It was hard to tell which of them was the older sister.

Maybe the only reason Long Huaichang would ever get out of bed in the future was to make breakfast for Nuo Yang.

By the time she roused Nuo Yang, Long Huaichang was almost late. She reminded Nuo Yang to finish breakfast, grabbed her keys, and headed downstairs.

Though the school wasn’t far from their neighborhood, Long Huaichang was in a good mood and decided to ride her motorcycle.

The campus gates were already crowded with students. Spring came early in this city, and some girls had already started wearing short skirts, their bare legs forming a striking sight.

Long Huaichang rode her black motorcycle into the school parking lot, instantly overshadowing the nearby electric bikes and bicycles. Ignoring the stares, she hung her helmet on the handlebars and walked away.

Entering the classroom, she spotted Shi Tian asleep at his desk. She walked over and knocked on it. “Wake up. Why are you sleeping in school?”

Shi Tian lifted his head and yawned. “Morning, Long-jie. Long time no see.”

Long Huaichang sat down, placing his schoolbag to the side, and said to Shi Tian behind him, “How was your time back home? Judging from your social media posts, it seemed pretty rough.”

“Exactly…” Tian perked up at this, sitting up to say: “There are just too many relatives at home—uncles, aunts, third uncles, second uncles—I can’t even keep them straight. Memorizing family titles is harder than studying English vocabulary!”

Long Huaichang chuckled softly, glad she didn’t have that problem.

Tian propped his head on his hand and sighed. “Holidays are so much fun—running wild all over the hills, bragging with my buddies. What’s there to do at school besides classes?”

Long Huaichang ignored his rambling, continuing to pack her things.

At the company.

Nuo Yang drowsily rested her head on the desk, trying to soothe her tired eyes.

Cheng Bai glanced at her and remarked, “Boss, isn’t it a bit inappropriate to nap in front of your employees?”

Nuo Yang kept her eyes closed. “I feel so exhausted just being alive.”

“If even you think life is tiring, what about the rest of us?”

“Ah…”

Nuo Yang opened her eyes. “What’s the date today?”

Cheng Bai checked the calendar and gave the number, then teased, “What’s wrong? Missing little Huai on her first day of school?”

“Not at all.” Nuo Yang sat up. “I vaguely remember her birthday is coming up, but I can’t recall the exact date.”

Cheng Bai gasped. “Little Huai’s birthday? When?”

“Sometime soon—this week or next.”

“You should mark it on your phone calendar next time. That way, you won’t forget.”

“Yeah.” Nuo Yang shifted positions. “Cheng Bai, what do 18-year-olds even like these days?”

Cheng Bai filed her nails. “Just get her whatever she wants.”

“But I don’t know what she wants.”

“Then give her something practical.”

Cheng Bai grinned. “Since little Huai only started living with you this year, why not make up for all 17 missed birthdays?”

Nuo Yang’s eyes lit up. “You’re a genius. It does feel like a sugar mommy spoiling her boy toy.”

“Pretty much.” Cheng Bai added, “If you need baby store recommendations, though, I’m clueless. Ask HR—they’d know.”

Nuo Yang waved it off, deeming it unimportant. Remembering she’d even gotten Huai’s age wrong last year, she decided to make up for everything at once.

The only question was what to buy for all 18 gifts.

That evening, Nuo Yang left a message saying she wouldn’t be home for dinner, dragging Chu Kexin and Cheng Bai straight to the mall after work.

Long Huaichang stared at the message, spatula in hand and hip cocked in displeasure. “She promised scallion pancakes today. Fine, we’ll have them tomorrow morning.”

With that, she untied her apron and walked to the wall calendar, marking a check.

One week left until Long Huaichang’s birthday.