ORCBRB – Chapter 1
Chapter 1
#SangShi'anJianCenyuLivingTogether#
Early in the morning, an unexpected post went viral and was pinned to the top of the Yanjing University forum. Replies were increasing at a rate of dozens per minute.
Sang Shi'an clicked the forum link. The moment she saw the title, the cup beside her hand tipped over onto the keyboard.
The computer screen flickered twice, then abruptly went black.
【Waiting for the tea in the front row】
【Yo~ Aren't these the two successive campus belles who are known to turn and walk away the moment they see each other? [smirk]】
【So they only pretend to have a bad relationship, but they've already tumbled into bed behind the scenes? [lecherous]】
【Any insiders want to spill? Are these two really living together?】
【...】
The photos in the main post were clicked and enlarged.
A continuous canopy of green trees blocked the warm yellow light of the streetlamps. Beneath the hazy spots of light was Jian Cenyu, walking into the apartment building with Sang Shi'an. Even though it was just a side profile, she was instantly recognizable.
As the top institution of higher learning in the country, Yanjing University was home to not only top students but also countless beauties of all types.
But Jian Cenyu's aura was one of a kind—clean and cold, like an otherworldly goddess who didn't partake in mortal affairs. To associate anyone with her seemed like a form of blasphemy.
It was precisely this pure, world-weary face that had snatched the campus belle title from Sang Shi'an at the beginning of the semester, capturing the hearts of countless innocent boys and girls.
So when the goddess was photographed descending to the mortal realm, embracing another person—especially when they were caught outside an apartment building in the community—her admirers on the school forum simply exploded.
As one of the people involved, Sang Shi'an looked at the photos and let out a frustrated sigh, unable to bear the vexation in her heart.
Since the semester began, she had been painstakingly avoiding Jian Cenyu at school for two whole months, terrified that someone would find out they were living together.
Well, now everyone knew.
Unlike others who admired, looked up to, or even worshipped Jian Cenyu, Sang Shi'an despised her more than anyone.
Jian Cenyu was famously outstanding in the circle of second-generation elites, praised by parents since childhood for her excellent grades.
Four years ago, Jian Cenyu had suddenly decided to go abroad for university. A few years later, she suddenly returned to the country for graduate school—at Yanjing University, where Sang Shi'an was studying.
Attending the same university was one thing.
But their families happened to be on good terms. Sang Shi'an's parents, worried that Jian Cenyu wouldn't be able to adjust after returning, directly gave Jian Cenyu the keys to Sang Shi'an's off-campus apartment and insisted that Sang Shi'an take good care of her.
And so.
Their ill-fated cohabitation of two months began.
For the past two months, a chasm wider than the Milky Way separating the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl seemed to lie between Sang Shi'an, who was usually popular among her friends, and Jian Cenyu.
Sang Shi'an went out with people every day, never missing any club activities or social events. That was until last night, at another childhood friend's birthday party, when Sang Shi'an had too much to drink.
Perhaps, just maybe, Jian Cenyu knew she didn't want their relationship discovered and found an opportunity for revenge. She had paraded the drunk Sang Shi'an all the way home, successfully getting photographed by a fellow student, and the pictures were then posted on the school forum.
There was still a large bruise on Sang Shi'an's lower back. She wondered if Jian Cenyu had taken advantage of her state and deliberately dropped her last night.
Just as she was thinking this, her phone rang again, as if showing off its power.
It was Su Ningyue, the one who had sent her the forum link and also Sang Shi'an's best friend at school.
Ten minutes later, after finally wiping the last drop of water from her keyboard, Sang Shi'an tossed the tissue aside. Facing Su Ningyue's eight hundred questions from the other end of the line, she finally caved under the pressure and confessed everything.
“The post wasn't wrong. I am living with Jian Cenyu...”
“Didn't you say you were living with a short, fat, ugly, dark-skinned, older student who was held back a year?” Su Ningyue's voice came through the phone, sounding a bit frantic.
“Okay, even if you're blind and can't see such a huge beauty living with you, what's with those photos? Haven't you always hated Jian Cenyu, to the point where you wouldn't even let me mention her name?”
Sang Shi'an's arm grew tired, so she placed her phone on the desk. Her gaze fell on one of the still-enlarged photos on the screen, her feelings extremely complicated. “How was I supposed to know Jian Cenyu would come pick me up last night? Now everyone at school knows. I should be demanding compensation for emotional distress from her.”
Su Ningyue's voice was hesitant. “For her to go all that way to pick you up, doesn't that mean your relationship isn't that bad?”
Sang Shi'an denied it flatly. “It's bad. Very bad.”
“You didn't ask her why today?”
“No, it's not like I sleep with her.” As Sang Shi'an replied to Su Ningyue, her peripheral vision inevitably caught the photo of Jian Cenyu holding her.
The wind was strong that night, making the hem of her dress flutter and curl, which made her figure, leaning against Jian Cenyu's embrace, look especially frail.
No wonder the people on the forum were letting their imaginations run wild.
Sang Shi'an silently closed her eyes. But Jian Cenyu was not someone who would be close to her.
Four years ago, Jian Cenyu had left for abroad without saying goodbye. Sang Shi'an had held a grudge over it for four years. On the first day Jian Cenyu moved into the apartment, Sang Shi'an decided there was no need to dwell on the past. She familiarly called out, ‘Cenyu Jiejie,’ and offered to help Jian Cenyu unpack.
But the moment she touched the suitcase, Jian Cenyu rejected her help outright. “I won't be bringing anyone back, and I hope you'll do the same. Also—”
At that time, Jian Cenyu's attitude was cold and dismissive, as if she hated being touched by her. “I have some... special habits. I hope you won't go through my things.”
Sang Shi'an's pupils contracted, and her face flushed crimson.
Yet Jian Cenyu's gaze was frank, as if she wasn't the one who had just said something so shocking. Her clear, light-colored eyes shimmered with a golden luster in the silhouette of the sunlight, a stark contrast to the ice-cold person in Sang Shi'an's memory.
Especially when that gaze looked straight at her in the silent environment, it made Sang Shi'an's heart pound like a drum.
She had fled back to her bedroom then, using the deadbolt for the first time in her life.
As if she were hiding from some kind of demon.
From that day on, Sang Shi'an lived in constant fear, day and night, having countless nightmares about Jian Cenyu.
“Of course I know you're not sleeping together. I just want to know, if you dislike her so much, how did you end up in her arms last night?” Su Ningyue's voice pulled Sang Shi'an back from her thoughts.
“It was a polite gesture of support. Watch your wording,” Sang Shi'an corrected Su Ningyue, her fingers tightening as she mumbled guiltily, “It was just an accident...”
Jian Cenyu knew her whereabouts last night because of a prankish, yet for Sang Shi'an, completely innocent, game of Truth or Dare.
Sang Shi'an never shied away from games like Truth or Dare. She was narcissistic enough to think no one was good enough for her. Despite looking like a seasoned player, she was already a sophomore and had never been in a relationship.
Therefore, when the birthday girl, after asking around and failing to get any juicy gossip, dared Sang Shi'an to pick someone from her contacts and call them to say ‘I like you.’
A contact was chosen at random, and it just so happened to be Jian Cenyu.
A damn twist of fate.
Fortunately, Sang Shi'an was already quite drunk at the time and didn't find it too awkward. When she hung up, she even felt smugly satisfied, thinking she had grossed out Jian Cenyu, and readily accepted the drinks her friend offered.
Drinking leads to trouble. What happened afterward was beyond her control.
She got drunk and passed out. Jian Cenyu came to pick her up, and a photo of them intimately heading upstairs was exposed on the school forum. The relationship she had tried so hard to hide was completely out in the open. Now the whole school knew she and Jian Cenyu were on good enough terms to be ‘living together.’
Sang Shi'an found a random excuse to get off the phone with Su Ningyue, then slumped down, staring blankly at Jian Cenyu in the photo.
In the night, Jian Cenyu was wearing a cinched white shirt, her long, soft black hair scattering in the wind. Even the streetlights seemed to favor her.
After Jian Cenyu went abroad back then, Sang Shi'an had unilaterally deleted all their contact information. She thought they would never see each other again in this lifetime. Who would have thought... Sang Shi'an took a deep breath, pushing the old memories out of her mind. Just as she was about to delete the candid photo, a soft pat—
A glistening drop of water fell onto the phone screen, spreading out and landing right on Jian Cenyu's face in the photo.
“What are you looking at?”
The steam from a recent shower wafted over. Sang Shi'an held her breath and looked up.
After her shower, Jian Cenyu's translucent white skin was like a piece of fine suet jade. A drop of water from her dark hair traced a path down her soft jawline and disappeared into her tightly tied bathrobe.
Feeling the warm, moist steam coming from Jian Cenyu, Sang Shi'an shot up from her seat. “Jian-Jian Cenyu, why aren't you wearing any clothes!”
Jian Cenyu said calmly, “I just finished showering. And I am wearing clothes.”
Sang Shi'an was stunned for several seconds, unable to find a reason to argue, and just stared wide-eyed at Jian Cenyu.
Jian Cenyu asked again, “Why such a big reaction? Are you afraid you'll lose control and do something to me?”
Her tone was extremely faint, but combined with the dare from last night where she had confessed to Jian Cenyu, Sang Shi'an subconsciously felt that Jian Cenyu was mocking her. Sang Shi'an lifted her chin and said, “What kind of joke is that? It was just a game of dare. You didn't actually take it seriously, did you?”
Jian Cenyu hummed in agreement. “That would be for the best.”
She held out her hand to Sang Shi'an. “The photo.”
Since she had already been seen, there was no point in hiding it; refusing would only make her look more suspicious. Besides, she also wanted to know if Jian Cenyu was aware of the situation and to see her reaction.
As she handed the phone to Jian Cenyu, the moisture on Jian Cenyu's fingertips brushed against Sang Shi'an's palm. The dampness, mixed with the crisp scent of her body wash, made Sang Shi'an's mind go blank for a moment.
Sang Shi'an took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair with an impatient expression. She appeared to be watching her phone, which had been taken, but in reality, her peripheral vision was discreetly sizing up Jian Cenyu.
From her downcast, indifferent eyes to her finely sculpted, straight nose, and then to her pale, thin lips.
Jian Corporation was a century-old pharmaceutical company that held numerous drug patents. Many of the country's finest original drugs came from the Jian family. Jian Cenyu had majored in chemistry as an undergraduate, and her every move exuded a rigorous and clean aura.
Truly deceptive.
Sang Shi'an found it boring and looked away.
When Jian Cenyu noticed, she pressed her lips together slightly, her tense nerves relaxing a little.
Five minutes later, Jian Cenyu finished reading the post, returned the phone to Sang Shi'an, glanced at her shoulder, which was damp from her wet hair, and turned to go blow-dry her hair.
“Jian Cenyu, why did you come to pick me up last night? And how did someone get a picture like that?” Sang Shi'an followed behind Jian Cenyu, her slippers slapping against the floor.
“Your family's driver was sent to the airport by your parents to drop off a business partner. Your mother called me and asked me to pick you up.” Jian Cenyu walked into the bathroom, took a hairdryer from the drawer, and started drying her hair.
Sang Shi'an stood stunned outside the bathroom. She had drunk too much last night; her memory stopped at sending her location to the driver. She couldn't remember much of what happened after that.
Jian Cenyu's reason was very convincing; it didn't sound like she was lying. After all, ever since they had reunited, Jian Cenyu's attitude towards her had been very cold. She didn't seem like the type of person who would proactively do something as intimate as picking her up.
Sang Shi'an asked Jian Cenyu, “I didn't say or do anything stupid after I got drunk, did I?”
When Sang Shi'an was drunk, she was very quiet. In the car, she just slept obediently, a completely different person from her sober self, who always spoke with a sharp tongue.
Jian Cenyu lowered the hairdryer's setting and said, “No.”
Sang Shi'an thought about the candid photos again, imagining herself being moved around at will. No wonder they looked so harmonious in the pictures, she thought.
Seeing Jian Cenyu turn to the mirror to dry her hair, Sang Shi'an took another step closer. “Wait, I need to confirm one more thing. You didn't hire someone to take those photos, right?”
The words had barely left her mouth when the sound of the hairdryer suddenly stopped. Jian Cenyu leaned in, closing the already small distance between them. The familiar scent of her body wash instantly filled Sang Shi'an's nostrils.
Then, a clean, crisp voice sounded by her ear, “Actually, I have a secret crush on you too. After hearing your confession, I deliberately showed off our affection to expose our relationship.”
A warm, moist breath brushed past, creating a ticklish sensation. Her mind, already sluggish from the hangover, felt as if it were shrouded in a thin fog, going blank in an instant.
Sang Shi'an looked at Jian Cenyu blankly, meeting her calm and steady gaze. When a drop of water from the tip of Jian Cenyu's hair fell on the side of her neck, Sang Shi'an was jolted awake.
A storm raged in her heart. Her contracted pupils revealed a rare hint of helplessness. “You...”
Jian Cenyu let out a low laugh, her voice a little cool. “Want to hear another version?”
Huh?
Jian Cenyu picked up the hairdryer again. The whirring sound of the blowing air occasionally hit Sang Shi'an. It took her several sluggish seconds to realize that Jian Cenyu was joking with her.
Jian Cenyu hadn't hired someone to take the photos, nor had she deliberately posted on the forum to expose the fact that they were living together.
Her pounding heart gradually calmed down, returning to a state of composure.
Sang Shi'an pouted and muttered under her breath, “If you're going to joke, don't look at me so seriously. You're just like those annoying guys at school.”
“You scared me to death...”
Jian Cenyu's gaze lingered on Sang Shi'an for two seconds before moving away, returning to her semi-damp hair in the mirror. The moment her long hair was lifted by the hairdryer, her eyes lowered imperceptibly, then she resumed her usual unruffled demeanor.
Comments
Post a Comment