An Qing held her phone with trembling hands.
She stared at that eye-catching title, wishing she could smash the device to the floor.
“Roommate? Girlfriend?”
She gritted her teeth and read the keywords aloud, a sharp pain stabbing through her chest.
If it had only been ordinary media hyping things up, An Qing would have sneered at it.
But she had seen that girl’s gaze.
It was tender and affectionate, brimming with surprise and delight, as if in the entire world only An Yu existed.
More importantly, An Qing did not recognize the girl at all.
She was not Ning Wanciu, not Huai Xiang, and not Cheng Shimumeng.
An Qing clenched her fists tightly, the phone creaking under the pressure.
This person was not anyone she knew, and she could not even tell whether it was unrequited love.
Because the next image showed them hugging.
She still understood An Yu well—if it were a stranger, hugging would never have been allowed.
Yet that very point made An Qing collapse even harder—only the friends she knew would be granted such contact.
In her previous life, An Yu had only ever had An Qing by her side.
Did that not mean that no matter how many girls liked An Yu in this life, the number of girls around her was still unconsciously increasing, and every single one owed something to her, An Qing?
She… seemed unable to endure it any longer.
While she was painstakingly collecting intelligence on her end, time on An Yu’s side was not frozen.
An Yu was constantly radiating her charm, never giving An Qing even a single moment of breathing room.
It seemed An Yu would no longer concern herself with this younger sister of hers…
Or rather, in this life… An Yu had no younger sister.
“Heh… hahaha…”
An Qing irritably flung her phone aside.
Her chest rose and fell heavily, and her crimson pupils lost all their light.
At the same time, her possessiveness surged to its absolute peak.
If the person beside An Yu had been Cheng Shimumeng, Huai Xiang, or even Ning Wanciu, she would not have reacted this violently.
But it was a stranger.
A complete stranger An Qing had never seen before.
How could she not overthink it?
In her previous life… An Yu had been hers, her one and only older sister.
She felt afraid.
She felt terrified.
She realized there were still so many things about An Yu that she did not know.
How could this be allowed?
She was hers too—her one and only younger sister.
Why had it become like this?
An Qing could not accept it, and she had never even considered the possibility.
Really, just why had An Yu gone out with someone she did not know?
Why did they look so close?
Why had they hugged?
Why had An Yu not refused?
Why, why, why, why?
Why… did that girl look so happy?
Was it because she had gotten close to An Yu?
Was it because An Yu would respond to her?
Was it because she could stay by An Yu’s side without any reservations?
Only she, An Qing, was not allowed?
Only she, An Qing, could do nothing but stare helplessly from here?
Just how many more girls she did not know had appeared around An Yu and fallen for her?
She did not understand.
She did not know.
She did not get it.
She wanted to know.
She wanted to figure it out.
She wanted to understand!!
An Qing’s eyes were vacant as her phone lay discarded to the side.
She might as well have been broken.
From this moment on, pure hatred no longer surfaced in An Qing’s eyes.
All that remained was near-mad possessiveness and a faint trace of curiosity.
Perhaps… rather than doing all this investigating, directly observing would be faster, wouldn’t it?
An Yu… An Yu, An Yu, An Yu!
The help Chen Yu had given her these past days vanished completely in this instant.
An Qing’s breakdown happened in a single moment.
The emotions piled up inside her heart had long been stacked together; all it took was one spark to set them ablaze.
And in her eyes, that stranger girl—Ning Dongli—was exactly that spark.
She could no longer stay calm.
She could no longer just sit there and do nothing.
She wanted to know…
She wanted to understand…
She wanted… An Yu.
On the other side, Ning Wanciu was currently at Cheng Shimumeng’s house.
She looked on with an embarrassed smile at the overly enthusiastic middle-aged man in front of her and at Cheng Shimumeng, whose face was full of resentment.
Coming to Cheng Shimumeng’s house had been a last-minute decision.
She had to create an opportunity for Ning Dongli, or that idiot little sister of hers probably would not give up on making her go in her place.
So she had pretended to have something urgent and headed over to Cheng Shimumeng’s first thing in the morning.
But she had never expected Cheng Shimumeng’s father to actually be home.
The moment he saw Ning Wanciu, he started asking all kinds of questions, radiating boundless enthusiasm.
Although Ning Wanciu found it a little hard to handle, she still responded politely.
However, Cheng Shimumeng’s expression did not look pleasant at all.
That left Ning Wanciu feeling extremely guilty, as if she had done something wrong.
“Oh my, our Shimumeng can actually make friends with…”
“You’ve said enough! She’s here to see me!”
Cheng Shimumeng finally exploded amid her father’s endless chatter.
Her face flushed bright red—this was the first time Ning Wanciu had seen Cheng Shimumeng make such an expression…
Well, not the first time.
The last time she had met Cheng’s father, Cheng Shimumeng had worn almost the exact same face, nearly overheating from embarrassment.
“Wanciu, let’s go to my room!”
Cheng Shimumeng quickly grabbed Ning Wanciu’s hand and shot her a secret glare.
“You are not allowed to follow us.
You are not allowed to enter the room.
Do not knock.
No need to bring fruit.
No need to buy snacks.
No need to get water.
No need for money.
No need to show baby photos!
In short, I have everything I need, so you just stay here and mind your own business!”
Cheng Shimumeng rattled off a long string of instructions, her face growing redder with every word.
Clearly, this was incredibly embarrassing for her.
But there was no helping it—these were all habits her father had displayed before.
“Let’s go!”
After one final glance at the dazed Cheng father, Cheng Shimumeng dragged Ning Wanciu and bolted.
In the blink of an eye the two of them were back in Cheng Shimumeng’s room.
Cheng Shimumeng immediately locked the door without hesitation, as if some terrifying beast lurked outside.
“Whew… that should do it.”
Cheng Shimumeng wiped the sweat from her forehead and mentally reviewed what she had just said.
Mm, I think I covered everything.
She nodded to herself, then finally turned her gaze to the embarrassed-looking Ning Wanciu.
“So, our dear Ning Wanciu, what’s with the sudden morning raid? Care to explain your intentions?”
Ning Wanciu scratched the back of her head, looking thoroughly awkward.
Still, she really had not expected Cheng Shimumeng’s father to be home…
“It’s just… I suddenly missed you and wanted to come see…”
“Nice try. Lying makes it worse.”
Cheng Shimumeng narrowed her eyes, instantly seeing through the excuse.
“Out with it. Give me the real reason, or I’ll send you straight back to the living room.”
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