Chapter 90: Dropping In Part 1

By the time Xu Yinian reached the upper floor, her heart was racing, and her steps felt light and airy, as if she were walking on clouds.

Having experienced last night’s intoxication, she knew exactly what this was—a delayed reaction to that glass of beer. Fortunately, the alcohol content in this cheap beer couldn’t compare to the expensive red wine Qin Jiashu had served the night before. At the very least, she remained conscious, even if her head was spinning.

I can never drink again…

After these two incidents, Xu Yinian had gained a painful clarity regarding her own alcohol tolerance.

She felt her way into a lounge and found the curtains drawn tight. In the pitch-black room, she could vaguely make out a large bed and a beanbag chair; it was a home theater room. Sinking her floating body into the beanbag, the dizziness finally began to subside.

Massaging her throbbing temples with one hand, she redialed Jiang Ke’s number.

On the other end, Jiang Ke was still leaning against the wall, having waited stubbornly for a long time. The moment the word “Sister” flashed on her screen, the frantic, sickly mania that had been building in her chest finally calmed, if only temporarily.

“Ke-ke, I’m done over here. There’s no one around me now. Can you tell me? You… just now…”

Xu Yinian hesitated, still unable to believe that the sudden, violent outburst—the threat so foreign it had frightened her—had come from the mouth of the little sister she had looked after since childhood.

Jiang Ke keenly noticed that Xu Yinian’s voice was softer and more languid than usual. That slight upward lilt at the end of her sentences made everything sound like she was acting spoiled.

Stimulated by that strange woman’s “official announcement” that her sister had come out, Jiang Ke was currently a powder keg. She couldn’t handle the slightest provocation. Assuming those people had “bullied” Xu Yinian into this state again, a crimson glint began to bleed into her eyes, though Xu Yinian couldn’t see it.

“Sister, I feel… so selfish, so terrible.”

After a long silence, Xu Yinian finally heard those muffled words. The tone alone was enough to make her panic. If Jiang Ke had been crying, it would have been easier to handle; but if she was holding it in, it meant she was truly heartbroken and aggrieved.

Before Xu Yinian could say a word, Jiang Ke pushed through in one breath. Her voice sounded dejected and pitiful, yet it carried a strange, cloying weight.

“I don’t think I want you to be with anyone else.”

“I’m so selfish and awful… but I want you to belong only to me.”

The words were spoken softly, yet they struck Xu Yinian’s ears like a thunderclap. Her already dizzy brain turned into a confused mess. She knew Jiang Ke was dependent on her and loved her in a unique way, but she had never imagined the obsession ran this deep.

Hearing the long silence on the other end, Jiang Ke’s heart plummeted. She hadn’t even revealed her real secret yet, and her sister was already starting to fear her!

Jiang Ke felt as though she had been dropped into a hole in the ice. Her lips trembled as she unconsciously repeated her apologies. “Sister, I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Please don’t ignore me…”

“I—I’m not ignoring you.”

Xu Yinian truly didn’t know what to do with a Jiang Ke like this. She still chalked up this dependency and possessiveness to the temperament of an immature child.

“Ke-ke, I am your sister. I am your sister alone. Blood and family ties—those are things that will never change.”

At the mention of “blood,” Jiang Ke’s entire body shuddered. She tried her best to steady her breathing, asking as if it were a casual hypothetical: “What if we… I mean, what if we weren’t related by blood?”

If she didn’t know the secret, perhaps her feelings for Xu Yinian would truly just be a sister’s over-possessiveness.

—But she wasn’t Xu Yinian’s cousin at all. She had every right to pursue her!

Xu Yinian had no idea what Jiang Ke was hinting at. Thinking she was just being stubborn, she let out a sigh. “It’s not just you, Ke-ke. I rely on you a lot, too. I didn’t have many friends growing up, but I always looked forward to winter and summer breaks because I knew you’d be coming back to Yuanwu.”

“And because I know my relationship with you is forever, I never felt that having no friends was something to be afraid of.”

Forever…

Jiang Ke froze. In that moment, she was split in two. One half melted into her sister’s gentle confession and the promise of “forever.” Would being a sister for a lifetime be enough?

But the other half was filled with intense resentment. She was already the most special person in Xu Yinian’s life; why could she still not possess her?

“…Will you ever be with someone else?”

Her voice was thick with focused intensity as names flashed through her mind: Shen Ruoshuang, Bai Ran, and that sultry, mature voice that had claimed to be Xu Yinian’s girlfriend. Would her sister end up with one of them?

Confronted with this question, Xu Yinian remembered the Truth or Dare question she had avoided with a penalty drink: Have you ever liked someone, and how did it end…

With her emotions heightened by the alcohol, a look of resolve and pure disgust crossed her face. For the first time, the usually vague girl left no room for doubt.

“No.”

Jiang Ke hadn’t expected such a decisive answer—it was exactly what she had been praying for. After a moment of stunned silence, she suppressed the wild joy in her heart, her voice softening back into that of the clingy, dependent little sister.

“Me neither! You’re right, Sister. Our relationship is forever. I won’t overthink things anymore.”

Jiang Ke calculatedly said “our relationship” instead of “the two of us.” She wanted this bond to be forever, but she never specified it would remain a sisterly one.

Xu Yinian breathed a sigh of relief, her soft voice carrying a hint of a spoiled complaint. “You’re still such a handful…”

“What’s wrong with being a kid? I get to be protected and pampered by you this way.”

“By the way, Sister, who was the person who called me today? Her voice sounded a bit familiar. Are you close with her?”

Jiang Ke was already certain that her rivals included Shen Ruoshuang and Bai Ran. That voice today had triggered the same sense of crisis, making her incredibly uneasy.

“It was Qin Jiashu, the senior who hosted the freshman ceremony and military training. She and I… we’re okay, I guess.”

Given today’s “girlfriend” misunderstanding, Xu Yinian didn’t dare mention that the senior had confessed and was currently pursuing her. Anyway… the senior is probably just acting on a whim. She’ll likely find a new target in a few days, Xu Yinian consoled herself.

Jiang Ke, however, didn’t trust her oblivious sister. She made a mental note of Qin Jiashu, intending to investigate her thoroughly later.

Using the excuse that the party was already at capacity, Xu Yinian managed to stop Jiang Ke from coming to find her. If Jiang Ke found out about her entanglements with any of the four women today, her image as a proper sister would completely collapse!