Transmigrating into the Rival's Fanfiction - Chapter 43

The next morning, Sheng Mingluo was awakened by her phone ringing. She couldn’t remember where she’d left it the night before, but the sound seemed to be coming from the living room.

She threw back the covers and padded into the living room, where she found her phone tucked into the corner of the sofa.

Rubbing her eyes, she saw her mother’s name on the screen. Yawning, she answered the call.

“Hello? Mom, what’s up?”

As soon as she spoke, Sheng Mingluo realized something was wrong. She cleared her throat, but her voice remained hoarse and raspy, sounding distinctly off.

Her mother immediately grew suspicious.

“Nannan… what’s wrong? Do you have a cold? I told you to take good care of yourself when you’re home alone. Why don’t you ever listen?”

Sheng Mingluo closed her eyes briefly. Even she couldn’t bear to hear her own voice. No wonder her mother was suspicious. Beside her, her father, who had been reading a book on the sofa, coughed, closed the book, and glanced at Yu Qiu, who was still on the phone with their daughter.

Her parents always put the call on speakerphone when they called her at home.

“Don’t blame Nannan,” her father said. “She’s probably just been working too hard and caught a chill last night.”

“That’s true. You’re such a worrywart, you know that?”

“How’s work been lately?”

Sheng Mingluo, seeing her parents launch into another lengthy lecture, simply sat down on the sofa. After all, the only other person in the house was Qin Zhi, still asleep in bed.

My nails seem a bit long, she thought, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. I should trim them soon.

She continued twisting her hair, half-listening to her parents’ nagging.

“Ming…luo?”

The curtains weren’t fully drawn, and sunlight streamed through the glass. Qin Zhi shielded her cheek with her hand, her fingertips brushing aside a stray strand of hair.

She mumbled unconsciously, the weight that had been pressing against her leg suddenly gone, leaving her feeling slightly disoriented.

But there was no response.

Her fingertips brushed against empty space beside her. Qin Zhi jolted awake, sitting up in bed. She scanned the room but found no one. The bedroom door was ajar, clearly indicating someone had just left.

Sheng Mingluo was still half-listening to her parents’ nagging. Having woken up so early, she felt drowsy, and barely registered a word of their long-winded lecture.

“You never listen when we talk to you, young lady.”

With a beep, Yu Qiu hung up.

Still groggy, Sheng Mingluo barely registered the incoming video call. The lotus flower profile picture instantly banished her drowsiness. She fumbled to answer the call.

Her mother was always pulling these sneak attacks.

Absolutely no sense of fair play!

But the moment Sheng Mingluo answered the call, she regretted it. Her pajamas were unbuttoned all the way to the collar, revealing ambiguous marks of varying shades on her neck and chest.

I’m done for. This time, I’m really done for.

With lightning reflexes, Sheng Mingluo grabbed the collar of her pajamas with one hand and pressed her thumb over the camera lens with the other.

She frantically began buttoning up with one hand, but the more she rushed, the more tangled the buttons became. After what felt like an eternity, she still couldn’t fasten a single one.

Though Yu Qiu was getting older and wore reading glasses, she had caught a glimpse of something amiss in that fleeting moment.

“Nannan, what are you doing? Covering the camera so your mother can’t see?”

Her father’s voice chimed in from the other end of the line. The usually relaxed Sheng Mingluo’s face flushed crimson as she finally managed to button up her pajamas.

She then swept her hair forward to barely conceal her neck before removing her thumb from the camera lens.

Why couldn’t they have called earlier or later? Why did they have to call right when Qin Zhi was here?

“Oh, I just woke up and was tidying my clothes.”

“I don’t have work today.”

“What are Mom and Dad doing?”

Having successfully diverted the conversation, Sheng Mingluo chatted with her parents for a while. But before she could even take a breath of relief, she heard the bedroom door creak open.

Sheng Mingluo held her breath.

Qin Zhi! Please don’t come over here!

As the footsteps drew closer, Sheng Mingluo abandoned her phone call and quickly placed her phone on the coffee table in front of her.

She turned to see Qin Zhi adjusting her pajamas. Apparently, she had gotten out of bed in a hurry, as none of the buttons were fastened, revealing her slightly rippling abs and defined obliques. She stood barefoot on the floor, too rushed to even put on slippers.

Thank goodness… I put the phone down just in time.

If her parents had seen this, it would have been a disaster.

Sheng Mingluo abruptly stood up from the sofa, walked over to Qin Zhi, and nudged her back into the bedroom with a kick to the butt.

Once again, Qin Zhi found herself inexplicably pushed back into the bedroom. But this time, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least Sheng Mingluo hadn’t disappeared without a word, leaving her alone in the apartment.

After their earlier entanglement, Sheng Mingluo had buttoned her shirt, only to loosen it again. She watched Qin Zhi turn around, his innocent eyes questioning her, and placed a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.

“Shh, my parents are calling me… Be careful not to let them see you. Can you come out after I finish the call, Teacher Qin?”

She leaned forward, pressing her hand against the doorframe. Qin Zhi blinked and nodded, indicating he understood.

Sure enough, the moment Sheng Mingluo finished speaking, a voice rang out from the living room.

“Sheng Mingluo?!”

When she had hung up earlier, her parents had been puzzled by her unusual behavior. Their eyes met, and they both felt something was off.

It was as if she were deliberately avoiding them. Could there be something she was hiding in the apartment?

“Honey, did you hear that?”

During the call, when the camera had been pointed at the ceiling, they had both turned the volume up to maximum, pressed their ears against their phones, and listened intently for any sounds from the other end.

“Did you hear that? Our Nannan must be in love!”

“She’s acting like she’s hiding someone in there, sneaking around and avoiding us.”

Having watched their daughter grow from infancy, they knew her thoughts like the back of their hands. They exchanged a knowing look, both agreeing: Sheng Mingluo was almost certainly in love.

After confirming the bedroom door was tightly closed, Sheng Mingluo, startled by the sudden call, rushed back to answer the phone.

“Sorry, I had to step away for a moment. What were you saying, Mom and Dad?”

“Nannan, are you in love?”

As expected, she couldn’t hide anything from her parents’ sharp eyes. Truth be told, Sheng Mingluo herself wasn’t even sure what her relationship with Qin Zhi was. According to the script, they were currently in a patron-client arrangement, not a romantic one. She had never dared to assume otherwise.

“No, Mom and Dad! I’m at a crucial point in my career. Why would I be in love? Dating would be career suicide! In this industry, there’s only gossip, not romance.”