ORCBRB – Chapter 21
Chapter 21
After the hug, Sang Shi'an pulled away. She then happily did a lap around the parking space before belatedly realizing what she had just done.
She carefully glanced at Jian Cenyu and saw her getting into the car to grab the keys, then secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Right, a little hug was no big deal. Jian Cenyu's attention was all on Kitty now, so what could she possibly do to her?
That night, Sang Shi'an changed into a new cosplay outfit, intending to continue capturing Jian Cenyu's attention. The outfit was adorned with many black feather pieces and had a large pair of wings on the back. The overall black ensemble created a stark contrast with her skin.
Sang Shi'an quite liked this outfit, simply because the garter clips holding the hem of the shirt in place were made of soft velvet, unlike the previous set where the clasps were decorative jewelry chains.
She turned slightly to the side, revealing a small section of her slender waist, so white it seemed to glow. Her taut skin trembled slightly, as if it would break with a little more force.
The succubus's signature tail was revealed along with the wings as she turned. The camera flash captured it all, leaving a beautiful photo on her phone screen.
Sang Shi'an switched to her Moments, where Jian Cenyu was her only friend, so she didn't even need to set visibility permissions: 【My newly grown tail is so hot and painful, who will come and save me?】
Beneath it was the photo she had just taken. The base of the tail, half-hidden behind her back, had a few red velvet hairs that looked like a feverish red glow—pitiful, helpless, and sparking the imagination.
After posting, Sang Shi'an changed out of the outfit, hung it back in the closet, and went to the main bathroom in the living room to shower.
While drying her hair, she glanced at WeChat and saw that Jian Cenyu had liked her Moments post twenty minutes ago and commented: 【New clothes?】
If she were truly curious, she should have messaged her directly.
Sang Shi'an had recently confirmed that Jian Cenyu wouldn't delete the Kitty account, because Jian Cenyu had never even replied to her main account's Moments.
So, she started playing hard to get. She was determined to break Jian Cenyu of this habit of not initiating messages.
Sang Shi'an placed her phone face down and switched back to her main account to send a message to Sang Shiyue: [Cenyu Jiejie is willing to teach me how to drive, you don't need to send anyone over.]
Sang Shiyue replied five minutes later: [Okay. Mom is coming back to the country next week. She said she has a lot of gifts for you and Jian Cenyu, remember to come home and get them.]
Sang Shi'an happily sent a sticker of a spinning character: [Got it!]
For the next few days, Jian Cenyu didn't go to the lab at night. Apparently, Professor Jian had taken several doctoral students to a conference in another province, so Jian Cenyu had rescheduled her lab time to the daytime.
After five days, Sang Shi'an had finally learned another skill—reverse parking. And she could do it by looking at the rearview mirrors, without relying on the 360-degree camera.
During dinner, Su Ningyue sent her a link.
[Quick, look at this post. Senior Jian was spotted out with someone. The original poster seems really jealous, indignantly accusing Senior Jian of being kept by a sugar daddy. But when I saw the car, isn't that the one she drove us back in last time?]
Sang Shi'an clicked on the post. Sure enough, it was the car she usually practiced in. A weekend had passed, and even the top students who usually focused solely on research had heard about it.
The photos were taken at night. Some showed Jian Cenyu outside the car, some in the passenger seat, and there was even one of her leaning over to hug the person in the driver's seat.
Sang Shi'an thought back. At the time, Jian Cenyu had helped her park the car back in its original spot. After they switched places, she forgot to fasten her seatbelt, and Jian Cenyu had helped her.
In the photo, it really did look a bit like a self-degrading female university student trying to please her sponsor in a car.
Sang Shi'an quickly shook her head, trying to banish the thought.
Jian Cenyu happened to look over just then. Seeing Sang Shi'an's expression change multiple times mid-meal, she asked, "What are you looking at?"
Sang Shi'an looked up with a complicated expression, hesitated for a moment, and handed her the phone. "Well, you were secretly photographed."
Jian Cenyu glanced at it, seemingly unfazed by such things.
During her freshman year, similar malicious sexual rumors had been spread about her. Perhaps some girls disliked her, but it was more likely the work of radical men who couldn't have her.
But when something like this happened to Jian Cenyu, Sang Shi'an still added, "It's all baseless. Just think of them as dogs barking."
"Mm," Jian Cenyu said after a quick scan. "The angle is pretty good."
The comforting words Sang Shi'an was about to say got stuck in her throat. "What did you say?"
Jian Cenyu smiled slightly. "It's good that they didn't show your face."
"What do you mean it's good they didn't show me? Am I that unpresentable?" Sang Shi'an was displeased. "If they had included me in the picture, they wouldn't have said such nasty things. What kind of reaction is that?"
Jian Cenyu placed some vegetables on her plate and said nonchalantly, "As long as it doesn't affect you, it's fine. I don't interact with many people at school, so this kind of thing doesn't affect me."
That was true.
Graduate students were already more solitary than undergraduates. Especially since Jian Cenyu spent all her time in the Chemistry College's lab when she didn't have classes, and also had to manage her family's company. Her time was precious. If it weren't for helping her, she wouldn't pay any mind to the childish posts on the forum.
Just as she had mentioned a few days ago, Jian Cenyu probably preferred to resolve things directly with a lawyer.
Sang Shi'an understood the logic, but she was only a sophomore, just a year out of high school. She still felt that many things at school didn't need to be handled with adult methods.
Noticing Sang Shi'an's distraction, Jian Cenyu put down her chopsticks and chuckled softly. "An'an, this kind of thing really has no effect on me."
Sang Shi'an's thoughts returned to the present. She pushed the food Jian Cenyu had given her to the side of her plate. "If you don't care, why should I? Besides, I have my own chopsticks, I can get my own food."
She unlocked her phone and started chatting with Su Ningyue about other things.
Su Ningyue told her that Jiang Xinqi and her girlfriend seemed to be having problems recently. One insisted she really didn't like men anymore, while the other kept bringing up the past.
At first, they could joke about it, but as it was brought up more and more, the young couple inevitably started to argue.
[Relationships are so much trouble,] Sang Shi'an sighed.
She ate while playing on her phone, not even noticing when Jian Cenyu left.
It wasn't until a strange man sat down next to her, looking to be in his thirties with his hair slicked back with gel and wearing a black suit, that she looked up.
Sang Shi'an's first thought was that he was an insurance salesman.
After listening to him for a moment, she realized he was here to lure naive young women from around the university town.
It seemed the rumors on the forum about being a sugar baby weren't entirely baseless; some people in society really were targeting the university town.
Jian Cenyu hadn't taken her bag, so she would obviously be back. Sang Shi'an decided to listen to the man to pass the time. The man complimented her face while subtly showing off his wealth. He made no mistakes; it clearly wasn't his first time.
Sang Shi'an studied the man's face, finding not a single trace of a blush, and cursed him for being shameless in her mind.
Then, a hand rested on her shoulder. "Are you done eating?"
The man's attention was drawn to Jian Cenyu. He initially thought she was some tactless person interrupting, but his eyes lit up when he saw her face. "This is..."
"She's my sister."
"She has a partner."
The two spoke in unison.
Sang Shi'an was completely stunned.
It wasn't until she saw the man walk away, muttering curses, that her face flushed red and she glared at Jian Cenyu. "What nonsense were you spouting?"
"He wanted to date a university student. This was the fastest way to get rid of him." Jian Cenyu calmly picked up her bag. "Shall we go?"
Sang Shi'an was at a loss for words. After a long moment, she said, "Um, let's go then."
After leaving the restaurant, the two walked along the road to aid their digestion. Jian Cenyu said, "It's not his fault for pestering you just now. You kept staring at him, so of course, he'd think you were interested too."
"..." Sang Shi'an said, "I just wanted to see if he would blush while offering to support me. Turns out, there wasn't a single trace."
Jian Cenyu glanced at her sideways but said nothing more.
Halfway through their walk, a voice called out from the side of the road, "Senior Jian."
"Senior Jian, it really is you!"
It was a girl she didn't know. As she approached, Jian Cenyu explained in a low voice, "She's one of my aunt's graduate students."
Sang Shi'an was no longer surprised to hear people from the Chemistry College who were older than Jian Cenyu call her 'Senior'. She said, "Hello, Senior." The girl smiled and pulled a capybara-shaped lollipop from her shopping bag. "I just bought this because it looked cute. Junior, want to help me try it?"
Sang Shi'an accepted it with a smile and heard the girl ask Jian Cenyu, "Senior, I saw the photos of you on a date on the forum. Is that person from our school?"
The girl clearly didn't have the malicious intent of the original poster; she just thought Jian Cenyu had found a partner. Besides, she knew about the relationship between Jian Cenyu and Jian Zhiyan, so she didn't think Jian Cenyu would be worried about money.
"I'm not dating anyone." Jian Cenyu saw Sang Shi'an struggling to undo the metal tie on the lollipop, so she took it and unwrapped it for her. "I was out with her."
The girl's face lit up. "That picture of the hug in the driver's seat was so intimate, a lot of people thought it was real. The other person was actually our junior?"
Sang Shi'an mumbled with the lollipop in her mouth, "Senior, please don't mention it. I have a reputation to maintain."
The girl's smile grew wider. "You two are good friends, after all. Aren't you going to help Senior Jian clarify things?"
Sang Shi'an was quite pleased with this "good friend" label that wasn't misinterpreted as a romantic relationship. She said, "I'll think about it."
She didn't really want to help; she found it a bit embarrassing.
Her young and beautiful face had been rumored by those people on the forum to be some forty or fifty-year-old uncle, and now she was supposed to jump out and claim it herself?
To say that the uncle was none other than her?
Just thinking about it was so awkward.
The girl's other friends came out of a snack shop, calling her name. The girl quickly said her goodbyes and trotted off toward her friends.
Feeling a craving, Sang Shi'an also went into the snack shop and came out with two full bags of snacks.
By the time they got home, she was exhausted and collapsed onto the sofa.
Jian Cenyu sorted and put away the snacks. When she came back, she saw Sang Shi'an occupying the entire sofa, still in the same position she'd fallen into, not even bothering that her skirt had ridden up to her thighs, looking completely carefree.
A slight curve appeared on her lips. She walked over and pulled Sang Shi'an's skirt down a little.
Sang Shi'an didn't move, remaining languid the whole time. Only when Jian Cenyu turned on the TV did she deign to turn her head and show her face. "Watching the news again? Don't you ever get tired of it?"
Jian Cenyu retorted, "Aren't you tireless when you scroll through videos?"
Sang Shi'an said, "How can that be the same? That's my hobby. This is your work."
But from Jian Cenyu's expression, it seemed to say: This is my hobby too.
Sang Shi'an said no more and slowly turned her face away.
She realized that there really were differences between people.
With Sang Shiyue and Jian Cenyu as two stellar role models before her, Sang Shi'an reflected for a moment and decided, "From now on, I'm going to set aside time on weekends to work at the family company."
Jian Cenyu gave a faint "Oh."
It seemed she didn't believe someone Sang Shi'an's age could settle down.
Sang Shi'an said, "Don't you believe me."
Jian Cenyu gave another extremely perfunctory "Oh."
Sang Shi'an: ...
After sulking for less than ten minutes, Sang Shi'an nudged Jian Cenyu with her leg. "Um..."
Jian Cenyu, ever good-tempered, replied, "What is it?"
"Will you still teach me to drive later?" Sang Shi'an had been building up to this for a while and asked uncertainly.
Jian Cenyu: "Why wouldn't I?"
Sang Shi'an said quietly, "I just thought that because of the forum thing, you wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore. I told you we should keep some distance usually, otherwise people will always misunderstand."
Jian Cenyu reminded her expressionlessly, "In the car, when you were fastening your seatbelt, you were the one who wanted to reply to your friend's message first and then asked me to help."
Sang Shi'an bit her lip and, for once, didn't argue back.
Seeing the person beside her about to bury her head in the sofa like an ostrich again, Jian Cenyu chuckled softly. "I forgot to close the car window at the time. I'm also responsible."
Sang Shi'an's hair was a mess. Jian Cenyu reached over, gathered her static-filled long hair, took a hair tie from the coffee table, and wrapped it around twice.
"Don't hide. Come out."
Having been caught by her little ponytail, Sang Shi'an reluctantly turned back around and used her phone as a mirror. "You tied my hair so ugly."
Jian Cenyu: "Then you can re-tie it yourself."
Sang Shi'an pulled off the hair tie and ran her fingers through her hair messily. "No, I look better with my hair down."
"Mm, you look better with your hair down," Jian Cenyu said, agreeing with her while watching the news on TV.
Seeing Jian Cenyu being so cooperative, Sang Shi'an remembered the suggestion from the girl they had met earlier, and her eyes flickered.
She grabbed a throw pillow, propped it under her chin, and then found a reason to help Jian Cenyu.
"We're sort of... half sisters-in-law now, right?"
Jian Cenyu's brow furrowed slightly. "Sisters-in-law?"
Sang Shi'an hated this kind of repetitive, questioning sentence structure.
Usually, it meant her words were being questioned.
Clearly, that was the case now.
But she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said. "What, even though only our families know about your situation, are you planning to get my brother for free?"
Sang Shi'an sat up straight, looking at Jian Cenyu with displeasure, her beautiful face instantly tensing.
Her wanting to sabotage the marriage alliance between Jian Cenyu and Sang Shiyue was one thing; Jian Cenyu wanting the benefits of the alliance while also freeloading was another.
Her eyes were filled with vigilance.
Jian Cenyu noticed and rubbed her temples, feeling a bit helpless.
Sang Shi'an had a difficult personality and was clueless about love. There were some things she couldn't say too much about, worried that if Sang Shi'an knew, it would backfire and make her even more distant. But if she didn't say anything, it would lead to situations like this, where she had no idea what strange character Sang Shi'an was imagining her to be.
Half sisters-in-law it was, then.
From being sisters in their youth, to strangers after she went abroad, to their previous 'unfamiliar friends' status, and now to half sisters-in-law...
At least it wasn't in the category of strangers anymore.
That counted as progress.
"I haven't graduated yet, so I haven't considered my relationship with your brother. But I can promise that no matter what our relationship is in the future, I won't take advantage of him. Is that okay?"
Jian Cenyu's suddenly serious tone made Sang Shi'an pause, her ear tips turning a little red.
There was an eight-year age gap between her and Sang Shiyue, so it seemed like they wouldn't get along. But when she was very young, her parents were busy with work, and she was neglected by the nanny at home. It was Sang Shiyue who saw it and had the nanny replaced.
After that, Sang Shi'an was practically raised by Sang Shiyue.
Later, Sang Shiyue went abroad for university, and then Jian Cenyu came into their lives.
The reason Sang Shi'an hadn't dated all these years was, one, because of her extreme narcissism.
And two, because with Sang Shiyue and Jian Cenyu as templates, no one else could catch her eye.
Therefore, when it came to Sang Shiyue's marriage, Sang Shi'an was relatively more serious.
But she had never thought her parents' choice would be Jian Cenyu.
Sang Shi'an's gaze drifted as she mumbled an "Mm."
"I wasn't trying to doubt you, don't be angry."
Sang Shi'an apologized with her head down, a faint blush rising on her cheeks, which drifted into Jian Cenyu's eyes.
"Your brother and I haven't started a romantic relationship yet, so let's not mention the 'sisters-in-law' thing for now." Speaking to Sang Shi'an, Jian Cenyu cautiously added the words 'for now'.
"I know, I know." Seeing the topic straying further and further, Sang Shi'an steered it back. "The reason I brought this up was actually to ask you—since we're on pretty good terms, do you want me to help you clarify things on the forum?"
Jian Cenyu turned the TV volume down a couple of notches. "Weren't you unwilling just now?"
Sang Shi'an denied it. "Which ear did you hear me say I was unwilling with?"
Jian Cenyu said, "I didn't hear it, but I could tell from your expression."
Sang Shi'an kicked Jian Cenyu's calf, crossed her arms, and leaned back against the sofa. "Well, if you beg me now, maybe I'll be willing?"
Jian Cenyu: "I can call a lawyer."
Sang Shi'an: ...
She knew Jian Cenyu would resort to that method.
But they were all from the same school. What if someone held a grudge?
Forget it, it wasn't her business anyway.
Sang Shi'an didn't want to deal with Jian Cenyu anymore. She turned to the side and started playing on her phone. "Then do as you please."
She opened the school forum. There were more people looking for gossip on the weekend. Soon, someone refuted the original poster, saying that Yanjing University had plenty of rich second-generation students, and judging by the build of the man in the driver's seat, he clearly wasn't an old sugar daddy.
After all, it was common knowledge that men started getting fat as they aged.
So someone started another thread, listing all the single, decent-looking guys at school who had confessed to Jian Cenyu.
Sang Shi'an glanced down the list and saw several familiar names—boys who had also expressed interest in her. She pouted, then leaned toward Jian Cenyu. "Jian Cenyu, someone is choosing a consort for you. Are you really not going to look?"
"The last time our post got so much attention was because they didn't know our real relationship, which led to all sorts of speculative hot threads. If you don't stop this thread, there will be even more candidates by tomorrow morning."
Sang Shi'an's tone became increasingly gloating. "Especially since they're just choosing a consort for you, not directly saying you're involved with any one of them. It doesn't count as defamation, so a lawyer's letter won't work."
But no matter what she said, Jian Cenyu remained uninterested. Her personality had always been calm and detached.
"Just consider it practice for the journalism students' press releases."
The buzzing of the news was giving Sang Shi'an a headache. She snatched the remote and turned off the TV. "What if they take it seriously and start shipping you with someone else?"
Jian Cenyu's gaze left the TV and slowly met Sang Shi'an's eyes. "It's fake anyway, isn't it just like with you and me? If a real rumor starts, then there will be a reason to issue a statement."
"...How can that be the same?" Sang Shi'an looked away, asking unhappily, "Can just any random guy have his name put next to yours?"
Jian Cenyu repeated, "It's fake anyway."
Sang Shi'an: "But I already said I can help you clarify."
Jian Cenyu went to turn the TV back on. "Mm, no need."
Sang Shi'an was furious. She threw the throw pillow hard onto the adjacent sofa and stood up, intending to go back to her room.
The pillow bounced on the sofa and landed on the carpet. Jian Cenyu picked it up. As she was putting it back, she heard Sang Shi'an's voice from the doorway of the study. "Hey, you really don't want my help?"
It was the third time. Jian Cenyu turned around and saw a blurry figure through the Chinese-style screen. A smile spread in her eyes.
She finally said, "Then thank you, An'an. It will save me a lot of time communicating with a lawyer."
Sang Shi'an's slippers slapped against the floor as she walked back to her bedroom with her head held high.
If you wanted my help, you should have said so earlier.
So pretentious.
She went to the forum and created a post.
Title: 【The person in Jian Cenyu's car was me, she's been teaching me to practice parking recently】
Main post: 【I am Sang Shi'an】
Concise and to the point. She hit send, then dropped the post link into her dorm's group chat, asking the other three to come and bump the thread.
The post's popularity quickly rose, and the replies below were filled with disbelief.
【Is this really her? Oh my god, oh my god, am I seeing the actual person?】
【So after all this fuss, the person who took the photos didn't even know if Jian Cenyu's partner was a man or a woman? Maybe they should get their eyes checked.】
【I get it now. Senior Jian didn't cheat. Sang Shi'an is still firmly in the main consort's position.】
【Wait, you two dog-like girls went out in the middle of the night just to practice driving? Oh, I see, you were testing the car's stability with certain... exercises, right?】
【I've been saying Sang Shi'an is so in love. Jian Cenyu hasn't even said anything, and she's already jumping out to chase away all the other vixens trying to move up.】
In love, my ass.
You're the ones who are so desperate that you're making up rumors.
Sang Shi'an was angry. She wanted to reply to each one, but the number of comments flooding in was too much. After some thought, she gave up and sulked by herself.
When she heard Jian Cenyu's footsteps outside her room, Sang Shi'an got out of bed and rushed toward her. "Jian Cenyu!"
Jian Cenyu turned her head.
Sang Shi'an shoved the replies with 'main consort', 'vixen', and 'she's so in love' in front of Jian Cenyu's face. "I made such a huge sacrifice to help you. How are you going to thank me?"
After reading the replies on the screen, Jian Cenyu slowly looked up. "How do you want me to thank you?"
"I..." Sang Shi'an opened her mouth, but the words died on her lips.
Sang Shi'an hadn't actually thought about what she wanted. It felt like there was nothing she really needed.
The only thing she wanted Jian Cenyu to do was not marry her brother. She really couldn't imagine a lesbian marrying her brother, and she was genuinely worried that after marriage, Jian Cenyu wouldn't be able to find anyone to relieve her loneliness and would eventually, out of desperation, set her sights on her.
But she couldn't say that.
Jian Cenyu seemed to think Sang Shi'an had said something and leaned closer. "Next time you run into this kind of situation, I'll help you clarify it just like this?"
Their warm breaths mingled. They were about the same height, and the shortened distance made it seem like they could kiss at any moment.
Sang Shi'an's breathing became very light, afraid to exhale too hard. The heels of her feet pressed against the wall, and her fingers suddenly clenched. "This... this counts as thanks?"
She wasn't an idiot. If she clarified things this way once, and Jian Cenyu did the same in return, their relationship would become completely ambiguous. She could forget about dating anyone else in university.
"Since you don't think it's a good idea, then think about it and tell me next time." Jian Cenyu pulled back. "I'm going to take a shower."
Sang Shi'an nodded randomly and started to shuffle back to her room.
Halfway there, Sang Shi'an seemed to have a sudden realization. The strange mood vanished completely. She turned back, closed her bedroom door, and then started humming a little tune as she walked toward the closet.
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