The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 57

Nuo Yang was throwing another tantrum. Ever since returning from the hotel, she hadn’t spoken a word to Long Huaichang.

Although Long Huaichang wanted to mend their relationship, seeing how reluctant her sister was to engage with her, she didn’t push it. She even asked their homeroom teacher for a week’s sick leave.

So, when Nuo Yang saw Long Huaichang still sitting at the dining table eating breakfast on Monday morning, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you going to school?”

Long Huaichang tilted her head, pointing at the bite mark on her neck that hadn’t faded yet, and said, “If I go to school like this, my classmates will laugh at me.”

Nuo Yang glanced at it—it was the mark she had left when she bit Long Huaichang at the hotel. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t held back, and now the area looked red and swollen, appearing rather pitiful.

But could Nuo Yang really be blamed for that?

Wasn’t it all Long Huaichang’s fault to begin with?

“Serves you right,” Nuo Yang muttered. “If you hadn’t been so handsy, would I have bitten you?”

Long Huaichang blinked her eyes, looking aggrieved. “How can you be so harsh after biting me, sister…”

Her expression was so vivid—those big eyes brimming with pitifulness. If Nuo Yang hadn’t been the one involved, she might have fallen for it too.

“Sister…”

Long Huaichang reached out and pulled Nuo Yang closer, looking up at her. “Sister, please don’t be mad anymore, okay? I promise I won’t dare to do it again.”

Nuo Yang eyed her suspiciously. “You’re sure?”

“Mm-hmm.” Long Huaichang nodded obediently, then pointed at her neck again. “Can you buy some anti-inflammatory ointment for me when you come back from work?”

Nuo Yang’s face flushed slightly as she nodded. “That’s fine.”

After all, since she was the one who had bitten her, she had to take responsibility.

Seeing Nuo Yang agree, Long Huaichang curved her lips into a smile and leaned in. “Thank you, sister.”

She lightly pecked Nuo Yang’s lips before sitting back down in her seat. Nuo Yang froze for a moment before realizing—this little brat had taken advantage of her again!

“I’m going to work.” Nuo Yang quickly pulled away from Long Huaichang, grabbing her bag and fleeing in a fluster.

Long Huaichang remained seated at the table, propping her chin in her hand, completely unhurried. Nuo Yang might run, but she couldn’t escape forever. There was no need to rush.

Humming a tune, Long Huaichang started clearing the table, planning to finish her homework later. Just as she placed the dishes in the sink to wash them, she heard the doorbell ring.

Thinking Nuo Yang had forgotten her keys, she called out, “Hold on, sister~”

After drying her hands, Long Huaichang hurried to the door and opened it—only to freeze when she saw the woman standing outside.

Mu Jiazhao removed the oversized sunglasses that covered most of her face, casting a faint glance with her peach-colored eyes at the person before her. Her tone was indifferent as she asked, “How have you been lately?”

Long Huaichang stared at Mu Jiazhao without saying a word…

——————

Nuo Yang arrived at the company in a sullen mood. It wasn’t that she was genuinely upset with Long Huaichang—she just felt unhappy.

The editorial team immediately noticed their boss was in a bad mood today, and everyone was curious.

The company had been thriving recently, with increasing readership, growing ad revenue, and even collaborations with major media outlets, propelling them into the mainstream.

Moreover, since Nuo Yang wasn’t short on money, the employees’ salaries had also risen significantly compared to when they were just a subsidiary. It was truly a rags-to-riches story.

Chu Kexin approached with a steamed bun in hand and asked, “Wanna bite? It’s carrot-filled.”

Nuo Yang shook her head. “No, I already ate at home.”

“Oh, you ate at home?” Cheng Bai teased with a smile. “Did little Huai make it for you?”

Nuo Yang nodded.

“You seem down today. Did you two argue again?” Cheng Bai shooed Chu Kexin away to eat her bun elsewhere and leaned closer to Nuo Yang. “What’s going on between you two? Ever since little Huai’s birthday, you’ve been looking gloomy. Constant fights aren’t good.”

“We didn’t fight,” Nuo Yang said helplessly. “I just got a little annoyed with her.”

Cheng Bai chuckled. She knew Nuo Yang’s younger sister was clingy—even if they argued, it wouldn’t last more than half a day. Still, she wasn’t worried, except…

“Speaking of sisters, there’s something about mine…”

Cheng Bai hesitated awkwardly. “It’s not that I’m pushing you, but my aunt heard my sister mention this and—”

This was already the third time Cheng Bai had brought this up. Constantly refusing didn’t feel right, and Cheng Bai was probably stuck in an uncomfortable position as the middleman. Nuo Yang thought it over—it wasn’t a big deal—and said, “Fine, you can give her my contact info.”

At worst, she could just reject the girl herself.

Cheng Bai exhaled in relief as if a weight had been lifted, then cheerfully went off to send the message, leaving Nuo Yang with no choice but to let it go.

No sooner had Nuo Yang turned on her computer than the green messaging app in the corner started blinking incessantly.

She moved the cursor and clicked to check.

Xi Qingwei: “Hey there, cutie~”

Nuo Yang was puzzled. Why was this person messaging her first?

Xi Qingwei: “We didn’t get to talk properly at the hotel last time. I think you’re really adorable.”

Nuo Yang: “???”

Xi Qingwei: “My sister told me you’re sweet and single. Wondering if I might be your type~”

Nuo Yang paused, then asked, “Who’s your sister?”

Xi Qingwei: “Cheng Bai~”

Nuo Yang: “…”

Hiss!!!!

Nuo Yang never expected this person to be Cheng Bai’s sister. Didn’t Cheng Bai say her sister had just returned from studying abroad?

Xi Qingwei: “Oh, I kept a low profile, so relatives all thought I was overseas.”

Nuo Yang: “Sorry, I’m not looking for a relationship right now. I only agreed because I didn’t want to put Cheng Bai in a tough spot.”

Xi Qingwei: “But you still agreed, didn’t you? Cutie, I’m free for lunch—how about we grab a bite together?”

Nuo Yang: “I’d rather not…”

Xi Qingwei: “Is there already someone in your heart, sis? That girl who went to the hotel with you last time?”

Nuo Yang: “No, she’s my sister.”

Xi Qingwei: “I’m so jealous she gets to go out with you. Unlike me—I can’t go anywhere. Even asking someone out has to be done in secret. It’s so painful.”

Nuo Yang: “……”

Xi Qingwei: “Sis, I want to ask you out~

Xi Qingwei: “Sis~~~”

Just as Xi Qingwei sent a cute, pastel-colored emoji, a red exclamation mark popped up beside it—“You are not a friend of this user. Please add them as a friend first…”

Xi Qingwei: “……”

Damn it, this woman actually blocked her!!!!

Xi Qingwei rolled around on her bed. Most people would kill for her contact info—what was wrong with this woman???

Turning down an offer like this was just bizarre.

She hugged her phone, scrutinized the screen, then tapped the red notification and sent a new friend request—though this time, approval wasn’t instant.

“This job isn’t easy,” Xi Qingwei muttered under her breath, lying on her bed with her phone raised. “Always making me look for bugs. I’m not even a programmer…”

No sooner had she spoken than her phone slipped from her grip—smack—landing right on her face. The pain made her yelp and roll around in agony.

When Nuo Yang got off work, she hesitated about whether to go home.

If she went back now, Long Huaichang would definitely latch onto her, and she wouldn’t be able to shake free. But if she didn’t go home, where else could she go??

Nuo Yang sat in a fast-food restaurant across from her office, chewing on fries while staring blankly out the window.

The glow of the setting sun looked particularly hazy, its light sneaking through the gaps between skyscrapers and stretching the shadows of the street long and thin.

People hurried past, and Nuo Yang watched their retreating figures as she took a sip of her Coke.

It was strange, really. She knew these were just characters from a book—passersby who might never appear alongside the protagonists—yet they all seemed to have lives of their own.

Come to think of it, didn’t that make Long Huaichang a fictional character too?

Nuo Yang frowned around her straw. If Long Huaichang was fictional, then wasn’t she herself just the same?

The thought felt a little too harsh, so she decided to stop dwelling on it.

She finished the last of her Coke and calculated the best time to head home. If she arrived just after dark, she could eat dinner and retreat upstairs before Long Huaichang got any ideas.

Yeah, that settled it.

Nuo Yang grabbed her things and left the fast-food joint, hailing a taxi to take her home.

Long Huaichang had already prepared dinner and greeted Nuo Yang the moment she walked through the door.

“Sis,” Long Huaichang said, taking Nuo Yang’s bag. “Why are you back so late today?”

Nuo Yang couldn’t exactly admit she’d been out eating alone, so she pursed her lips and said, “Overtime.”

Long Huaichang gave her a look. She might have believed that excuse before, but now, getting Nuo Yang to work overtime was harder than climbing to the sky. Coming in late and leaving early were trivial matters for Boss Nuo.

Long Huaichang saw through it but didn’t point it out, calmly letting Nuo Yang into the house. “The food’s on the table,” she said. “It won’t taste good if it gets cold.”

Nuo Yang nodded and followed the aroma over.

Two girls couldn’t eat much anyway—three dishes were more than enough.

Halfway through the meal, Nuo Yang noticed the marks on Long Huaichang’s neck had already subsided, no longer as prominent as they were before leaving home in the morning. Now they just looked like mild allergic reactions.

“I… I forgot to buy medicine for you,” Nuo Yang said awkwardly. “I’ll go downstairs to get some after we finish eating.”

“No need,” Long Huaichang replied, placing some food in Nuo Yang’s bowl. “I’ve already applied some medicine.”

“You did it yourself?” Nuo Yang bit her chopsticks in puzzlement. “I thought you’d wait for me to help you with it.”

Long Huaichang couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. “Did sister want to apply the medicine for me?”

“You’re quite the dreamer for someone so young.”

Unfazed by the rejection, Long Huaichang calmly continued, “Aunt Mu came to see me today.”

Nuo Yang froze.

“She wants me to visit my grandmother in the hospital for the last time.”