“No way! You four can fight among yourselves, we won’t join the fray.”
Shen Qiaoyu decisively refused, and without turning her head, she ran away, pulling Yan Shiqing along.
She thought that their hands were still stuck together. If they joined the tugging match between the four, they would not know which side to ally with. Moreover, what if it was a trap and those two teams were actually working together?
Everyone knew that she and Yan Shiqing had the most resources. It would not be surprising if the four people decided to team up and take them down first.
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.
Fs kv oyp clvvla vs cl nywvkswp…
&dcpr;
Mbl vos sq vblx, olyakdt czwl vlyx wdkqsaxp yde bszekdt bydep, zlqv y clokzelakdt kxytl qsa vbl qswa sdzssjlap yp vblu ekpyrrlyale.
&dcpr;
Fbld Zwnbwyd lmnzykxle, “Fbld Ckysuw, es usw alyzzu dsv nyal ycswv uswa casvbla yduxsal?!”
&dcpr;
Tl alnlkhle ds alprsdpl. Mbl pkzbswlvvlp sq vbl vos osxld bye yzalyeu hydkpble yaswde vbl nsadla.
&dcpr;
He smirked and turned to the two people opposite him, “Fei Wuya, see, she has been smart since she was a child, just like me~”
“She must have guessed that we might consider forming an alliance.”
“I think you should face us first, before thinking about any alliance.”
A moment ago, Fei Wuya and Yan Tang had felt the challenge of dealing with Shen Yuchuan and his party, and had suggested an alliance, hoping to use Shen Qiaoyu and her group to confuse the situation.
But they had not anticipated that Shen Yuchuan knew his sister very well. Apart from being a bit dull in matters of the heart, she was indeed very clever.
The situation had escalated into a four-way standoff.
On one side, Yan Yi finally looked away from the distance and opened her mouth with a solemn and apologetic expression. “I’m sorry…”
Before she could finish, she lunged forward and engaged in a fight with Yan Tang and Fei Wuya. Her swift movements contrasted sharply with her innocent appearance.
With Shen Yuchuan’s assistance, the duo had to retreat constantly, losing the upper hand completely.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the live stream room were enjoying the drama with great enthusiasm.
[Is this Shiqing’s fiancé?]
[Wow, he’s here too.]
[The Shen family has such strong genes. They are all so attractive!]
[No way, is that a pro gamer from the MOBA esports scene? He seems to have a lot of fans. Is he the one Shiqing is engaged to?]
[Who is the other guest with the last name Yan?]
[She is a rising internet celebrity who became popular recently after searching the whole internet for her biological parents following the death of her adoptive ones. She has signed with an agency now, right?]
[She said she found her birth parents.]
[That’s quite impressive, you have to admit.]
….
Online discussions are buzzing, as multiple search terms rise to the top of the trending lists.
Meanwhile, the camera in the live broadcast room unexpectedly switched to Shen Qiaoyu’s side.
It revealed that the two of them had not left yet, but had instead taken a detour to find a more hidden spot to hide, ready to enact the saying “the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.”
The photographer was walking with slightly louder footsteps, so Yan Shiqing turned her head and put her finger to her lips, gesturing for silence with a smile that curved her eyes, a beautiful sight captured by the camera that instantly charmed.
[Why, oh why? How could Shiqing, such a wonderful person, get engaged to someone else?]
[This is madness! I disagree!]
[We have followed Shiqing’s career for five years. She has won many awards and she is very popular. How could she get engaged to a pro gamer? What does he have that makes him worthy of her?]
In the camera, Yan Shiqing always leaned forward slightly, watching the four people nearby.
The comment section of the live broadcast room was in tears, with everyone claiming that Yan Shiqing had fallen for an esports player who also joined the show. They expected more interactions between the two in the future, which would make the live broadcast unbearable to watch for even a minute!
Yet, despite their complaints, the popularity of the live broadcast only rose. A few very different comments stood out among the flood of messages.
[I’ve created a sister-in-law CP (couple pairing) topic, anyone interested, come and join us fast! It’s too delightful to indulge in, it’s happiness that belongs uniquely to us!]
[Sister, you are so outrageous!]
[Ah, you’re right. Look at them quickly holding hands and walking shoulder to shoulder. Their heads are almost touching each other.]
…
As they observed the situation outside, their hands tightly interlocked without them noticing. They crouched in a corner, clinging to each other in fear of being discovered by the four people.
Soon, Shen Qiaoyu spotted Shen Yuchuan and Yan Yi’s backs in front of their eyes. She sensed an opportunity to take down an enemy and glanced at Yan Shiqing.
Yan Shiqing happened to look back at her.
Their eyes met, conveying their intentions to each other. They carefully stood up together and took a different route to get closer to the group of four.
Unconsciously leaning her back against the wall, Shen Qiaoyu gestured to Yan Shiqing with one hand while clutching her other hand tightly.
Just a few steps ahead, four individuals were tugging and pulling, exposing the backs of Shen Yuchuan and Yan Yi.
She stretched out three fingers and started the countdown.
3, 2, 1.
Go!
……
As soon as the countdown ended, the two of them dashed forward with explosive speed.
Shen Qiaoyu also reached out and grabbed Yan Yi’s name tag in front of her, tearing it off fiercely!
Her movements were lightning-fast, and the sound of the name tag ripping startled everyone present.
Especially Yan Yi, who turned around and saw her, changing her expression completely.
Yan Shiqing saw the look in her eyes and quickly snatched the name tag from Shen Qiaoyu’s hand, feeling a sour twinge in her heart.
Shen Qiaoyu never glanced at Yan Yi, but turned to Shen Yuchuan beside her and said with a smirk, “I wanted to snatch your name tag along with her, but Yan Shiqing and I have our hands tied together, so it’s not convenient.”
Shen Yuchuan: “???”
Are they flaunting their love?
Still holding hands? How absurd.
“Oh, I should thank you.” He retorted, “How much longer will you two be holding hands?”
“Maybe a few more minutes,” Shen Qiaoyu replied earnestly.
Shen Yuchuan couldn’t help but tease, “I never saw you hold hands with me, did I?”
“Who would want to hold hands with you?!”
Shen Qiaoyu’s face showed utter contempt, but Shen Yuchuan didn’t mind at all. The sibling’s banter was fully displayed here.
“You were supposed to help me, but you chose this kind of sneak attack instead.”
“Well, I wouldn’t come. Who knows if you were trying to trap me?”
As they chatted, Yan Shiqing’s mood improved greatly, but somehow, she unintentionally locked eyes with Yan Yi, who was beside her.
The other person looked very delicate, with short hair that reached her shoulders. She radiated pure innocence but also showed a hint of resilience. She resembled Madam Yan a lot.
When their eyes met, Yan Shiqing felt the other’s disdain.
This was normal, after all. She had taken the affluent life that should have been Yan Yi’s, and the past twenty years had been hard and painful for her.
Yan Yi had been kidnapped by human traffickers from the street. They acted randomly, making it impossible to track them down.
Madam Yan’s mental state deteriorated day by day. One day, she saw her kneeling on the ground in ragged clothes, begging for money and mistook her for her daughter. She cried and clung to her, refusing to let go.
Mr. Yan had no choice but to take her home and ask her to pretend to be their daughter. In exchange, he would compensate her.
She had only played the part, but unexpectedly, Old Lady Yan thoroughly believed it and became inseparable from her.
Even though she was only a few years old, Yan Shiqing knew her background very well.
Her parents had died early, leaving her under the sole care of her elderly grandmother, who was over eighty years old. Her grandmother was the director of a welfare home that was about to close down, which sheltered thirty-five children.
It was a corner forgotten by society, with a leaky roof and creaky wooden doors. When the welfare home closed, the children would be taken away to another unfamiliar place, and this one would be phased out sooner or later.
Just like the elderly’s hair that grew grayer every day and their legs that could barely walk.
She would always sigh at the sunset, anxiously asking, “What will you do if I’m gone one day, Ningning? What will the children do?”
The child would always smile naively, always believing that the kindly face of the elderly would never disappear and would always be with her.
But the dazzling sunset came anyway, covering the old welfare home, and also shining on the fallen figure of the elderly lady.
…
Her grandmother was seriously ill and needed chemotherapy, which was very expensive.
She had cried and begged many times, but no one helped her. One day, she saw a man with a broken leg by the roadside, who had a lot of money in his bowl. She decided to break her leg and kneel under the bridge, hoping to get some sympathy from the passers-by.
That was when she met Shen Qiaoyu for the first time.
A private car drove past her but then stopped abruptly.
Water was dripping from the arch above, making a tick-tock sound. It was a rainy day.
Someone in the car yelled, “Qiao Qiao, don’t be fooled. They are all faking it. They have a normal life after they finish their act. They even live better than us.”
“Not this one!” A little girl in a red scarf jumped out of the car, her eyes shining.
She snatched the adult’s wallet and also took the money from a little boy’s pockets. Then she ran over and stuffed all the cash into her bowl.
“Shen Qiaoyu! You dummy! That was the money for my Ultraman toy, waaaah…” The little boy burst into tears, infuriated, while his parents chuckled in the car.
“What’s there to cry about? We’ll buy you another one.”
The car’s warm light reflected the parents’ smiling faces and the child’s sense of grievance.
This was a very happy family.
Yan Shiqing’s face was already streaked with tear tracks, grimy, with only her tear-brimmed eyes visible.
“Don’t cry…” Shen Qiaoyu gently wiped her tears with a tissue. Even with her round face, her phoenix eyes looked quite cold when not smiling and she seemed a bit flustered.
Eventually, she took off the scarf from around her neck, wrapped it around Yan’s neck, and then ran away.
“Goodbye.”
“Go home early, okay? It’s Lantern Festival tonight.”
“Happy Lantern Festival.”
Happy Lantern Festival…
She knelt there, the pain in her knees piercing. She couldn’t utter a word but foolishly watched the cars drive away.
She couldn’t go home, nor could she go to the hospital—she didn’t want to let her grandmother see her with a broken leg.
She realized her foolishness only when she saw a man by the road leaving work, his legs completely fine.
For her, the Yan Family was her salvation.
Mr. Yan provided her with enough money for medical expenses and even donated to the welfare home. All she needed to do was to play the role of their daughter.
Mrs. Yan was very fond of her and enabled her to undergo rehabilitation for her legs so that she could stand up again.
She also had the opportunity to meet Shen Qiaoyu.
She treated them as her own parents and followed whatever they said because they were genuinely kind to her and loved her as their own daughter.
Without them, she probably wouldn’t have survived until now…
She and her grandmother wouldn’t have had so many happy times together…
But she didn’t know when everything slowly started to change.
Their family became indifferent and suffocating.
It became worse after Mrs. Yan discovered her secret.
Mr. Yan even used the welfare home as a threat to prevent her from leaving their home, insisting that she obediently remain their daughter to appease Mrs. Yan.
Later, she found out that the year they took her in, Mrs. Yan’s madness and instability had influenced Mr. Yan’s career.
Bringing her into the family improved the family’s harmony, which led to Mr. Yan successfully becoming the secretary of the municipal committee. In the eyes of outsiders, he was a leader who loved his wife and daughter. After retiring early, he further expanded the family business, solidifying their status as a truly wealthy household.
But in reality, what awaited at home was a relentless torrent of cold violence; and the hysterics of Mrs. Yan one after another left her increasingly exhausted.
Deep down, she felt pity for this woman, and also guilt for the deception she committed against her. And yet, on several occasions, Mrs. Yan would suddenly ‘come to her senses,’ recognizing that she was not her daughter; and indifferently cast her out of the house.
Shortly afterward, she would come out crying, looking for her; and return to the facade of a loving mother.
At those moments, Yan Shiqing had already completely lost any attachment to this home.
But she knew that Mr. and Mrs. Yan had shown her genuine kindness.
Thus, over the years, she leveraged her fame to help the family business thrive; repaying them greatly and contributing to the growth of the Yan family’s standing.
She thought that she had repaid the debt of gratitude; she could start her own life.
However, now that Mr. Yan had found his biological daughter, he insisted on forcing her into an engagement with Shen Yuchuan; using Mrs. Yan’s name to announce it publicly. This was all because his biological daughter refused to accept this arranged marriage.
After the engagement, she was dumped by her family, as the news that she was not the biological daughter was announced.
What a well-played strategy.
Yan Shiqing indeed wanted to completely break away from that family, but not to be cast aside after being used.
She did indeed want to form an alliance through marriage with the Shen family, but her wish was to marry Shen Qiaoyu.
However, Shen Qiaoyu’s parents would definitely not agree…
As thoughts rapidly swirled in her mind, Yan Shiqing noticed that Yan Yi was intently gazing at Shen Qiaoyu with a look of deep affection and intense warmth.
Only someone who had loved could quickly understand the meaning behind such a gaze.
Yan Shiqing immediately frowned and took Shen Qiaoyu’s hand with both of hers, drawing a faint smile. She appeared extremely close to her and turned to Yan Yi, saying, “Yan Yi, little sister, you’ve been eliminated, aren’t you going to leave?”
She called her ‘little sister’ while tightly holding onto Shen Qiaoyu’s hand, almost causing Yan Yi to grind her molars to bits. A fire burning in her heart made it hard for her to speak. It took her a while to squeeze out, “I’m leaving.”
With that, the staff quickly escorted her away.
Only then did Yan Shiqing let go of Shen Qiaoyu’s hand, feeling sour.
She couldn’t help but inwardly complain about how charismatic Shen Qiaoyu could be. She even knew Yan Yi and had once been roommates with her.
Even though she said they had fallen out, it was clear from Yan Yi’s eyes that she didn’t think so. She looked like she was about to devour Shen Qiaoyu.
What a nuisance!
How could Shen Qiaoyu be so clueless?
She pinched the other person’s hand with a look of grievance.
Shen Qiaoyu lowered her head to glance at her. Oddly enough, she had gotten used to her pinching and wondered if she had a grudge against Yan Yi since they seemed to be unusually hostile to each other.
But she decided not to ask.
It was too late anyway. The man opposite them, Fei Wuya, and his companion copied what they saw and launched a surprise attack on them, aiming for Yan Shiqing, who was the most vulnerable.
The group was chatting and didn’t notice until Fei Wuya had already grabbed Yan Shiqing’s name tag, ready to rip it off any second.
Shen Qiaoyu acted quickly and reached out to hold Yan Shiqing’s name tag firmly, accidentally knocking her down in the process.
The force of the collision made Fei Wuya let go.
Shen Qiaoyu had brought Yan Shiqing down so hard that she hit her hand, which was behind Yan Shiqing. Tears filled Yan Shiqing’s eyes from the pain, her fingers locked with Shen Qiaoyu’s, and she whispered in her ear, “It hurts~”
Only two people could hear her voice, which quivered as if resonating with a tremolo, captivatingly affecting their heartstrings.
Shen Qiaoyu felt a sharp pain from the hard fall onto the unforgiving floor. It must have been very painful.
She was about to offer some consoling words.
But Fei Wuya leaned forward again, determined to tear off her name tag. Yan Shiqing saw this and quickly cried out, “Quick, turn around! He’s going to tear it off!”
Shen Qiaoyu was startled and realized that they were holding hands. If she turned and Yan Shiqing didn’t, they would still be in trouble.
Without hesitation, she embraced Yan Shiqing and rolled with her to the side, shouting to Shen Yuchuan, “Shen Yuchuan! Come over and help!”
“I want to!” Shen Yuchuan said urgently, “But a big guy is blocking me here!”
The big guy, Yan Tang, was confused: “???”
He shouted, “You guys just keep rolling for now!”
“Really?”
Shen Qiaoyu was dumbfounded, “Keep rolling?!”
They looked ridiculous, rolling back and forth on the ground. What a spectacle they made!
…..
Please support me in Kofi.
1 Kofi = 1 extra chapter
Second Life Translations' Comment Policy
1. Be kind and respectful. Comments with curses will be put under moderation.
2. No links to other websites or asking for links.
3. No spoilers!