Campus Ace Girl

Zhou Yunchen sat on the edge of the bed, quietly watching the sleeping Song Jia.

Her features, really, are still very similar to when she was little. It’s just that for all those years, he never thought he would find her again. Even after meeting Song Jia, he hadn’t made the connection, so he’d missed it.

If he had known it was her, he wouldn’t have let her follow Bo Qing.

A touch of pain flickered in Zhou Yunchen’s eyes, a sense that old memories were being stirred.

"Duo Duo," he murmured, "you’ve grown so big."

His fingers gently touched her face; it was delicate and fair, just like in her childhood.

As a child, she had been very delicate and fair, her whole physique quite slender. This was partly due to her fine bone structure and partly due to a lack of food.

They, brother and sister, had wandered the streets for two or three years, right up until he lost her.

Zhou Yunchen couldn’t say what he would choose if he could go back in time. In fact, he’d had no choice. If he hadn’t gone to the hospital when he fell ill with a fever, he might have died, and Duo Duo would still have been left alone.

A wave of sadness washed over him, and he sighed softly.

Just then, Shen Congwen came in and sat down beside him. "Why aren’t you asleep yet?"

Zhou Yunchen’s gaze remained on Song Jia’s face. After a long moment, his voice rasped, "I want to look at her a bit longer."

Shen Congwen knew he had been very tired these past few days. She reached out and touched his forehead. "She’ll be living with us from now on, so what do you have to worry about? Your sister is here; she’s not going to run away."

Zhou Yunchen looked up, smiled, then got up to stretch. "True. From now on, she can only be with me. I have nothing to worry about."

After speaking, he turned off the light and returned to the master bedroom with his wife. As he entered the bathroom, he found the bathwater already drawn. Zhou Yunchen peeked in and remarked, "Life’s good with a wife around."

Shen Congwen was sitting on the sofa watching TV, snacks in hand. Zhou Yunchen glanced at her but said nothing.

After he had showered, he emerged in a white bathrobe, towel in one hand, drying his wet hair. He sat down beside her, picked up a snack, and ate it before saying, "You don’t usually eat snacks."

He was two years older than her, but because he started school late, they were in the same grade when studying abroad. He didn’t recall her eating snacks back then either—not that it would have been strange if she had, since she was thought to be male at the time.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yunchen’s heart softened. He pulled her into his arms, his large hand gently touching her belly. "Is the little one behaving?"

Shen Congwen glanced at him while still watching TV. "The baby is still tiny, only this big."

Zhou Yunchen smiled tenderly, holding her as he closed his eyes to rest. After a moment, he said, "Didn’t you say you were sleepy earlier?"

She remained silent.

Zhou Yunchen just laughed. "It’s been a busy few days."

He pinched her cheek. "We’ll talk tomorrow."

Shen Congwen seemed a bit flustered. "Are you overthinking things?"

Zhou Yunchen said earnestly, "I feel I’ve neglected my wife these past few days."

"You don’t need to feel guilty." She pinched his cheek forcefully. "Don’t look for excuses for your shamelessness."

He chuckled deeply, then casually picked her up and carried her to bed. Afterward, he tidied the sofa himself, the very picture of a perfect gentleman.

That night, Zhou Yunchen stayed up quite late. He probably didn’t fall asleep until around three in the morning, even getting up to go outside and smoke a few cigarettes in between.

The next day, he took a half-day off and got up rather late.

* * *

When Song Jia woke up, it was already half past eight.

Half past eight. Her Senior Brother has probably already turned into a handful of ashes by now.

She sat there dazedly for a long while, then threw off the covers and got up. She quickly found the master bedroom, intending to confront Zhou Yunchen. She was certain she had been drugged last night; that had to be why she slept so soundly.

But just as she pushed the door open, a pillow was thrown out from inside. "Wait a moment."

Song Jia froze for a second, then slammed the door shut forcefully and stormed downstairs in a huff.

It seems I was really overthinking things. My dear brother is doing just fine!

Inside the bedroom, after a long pause, Shen Congwen remarked, "I feel like we have another child in the house now."

Displeased, Zhou Yunchen was about to tease her again, but she stopped him. "Alright, stop fooling around. Beauty is probably furious. You should at least try to understand how she feels. She has loved Bo Qing for so many years; it’s impossible for her to let go all at once."

Zhou Yunchen stood up, tidying himself as he spoke, "You’re not allowed to be too nice to her, understand?"

Shen Congwen found this highly amusing. She also got up, tidied herself a little, and went downstairs with Zhou Yunchen.

And so, from the sofa on the first floor, Beauty saw two handsome ’men’ descending the stairs together. It didn’t look out of place at all. Pervert! she silently cursed Zhou Yunchen, a pang of jealousy in her heart.

Zhou Yunchen, on the other hand, felt a little smug. After catching a glimpse of things just now, Beauty can finally accept that her sister-in-law is a genuine woman. That’s good.

Shen Congwen appeared completely at ease. Having changed into a white shirt and trousers early in the morning, she sat on the sofa. Zhou Yunchen, meanwhile, rubbed his nose and said, "I’ll go make breakfast."

As he spoke, he pulled out a cigarette, clearly intending to sneak a smoke in the kitchen.

Beauty wanted to call out to him, to argue with him, but in the end, she kept quiet.

Only after the kitchen door closed did she turn to look at Shen Congwen. Shen Congwen was flipping through a magazine. The morning light shone on her, casting a soft glow, making her look infinitely beautiful.

Beauty’s voice was low. "Was there something wrong with the water you gave me last night?"

She didn’t know why. She should have been able to question her righteously, but the words came out weak and powerless when they reached her lips.

Compared to confronting Shen Congwen, Beauty would rather have a big fight with Gu Anxi.

Shen Congwen closed the magazine and smiled faintly. "I put two sleeping pills in it."

She was so candid that Beauty didn’t know what to say and simply stared at her.

Shen Congwen lowered her gaze, her voice soft. "You’re an unmarried young woman. Making too big a scene in front of Bo Qing’s relatives wouldn’t look good. Besides... Mr. Bo Qing probably wouldn’t have wanted you to act that way."

"It’s none of your business," Beauty retorted, a little annoyed.

However, deep down, she knew. Her Senior Brother had never truly cared for her. Now that he was gone, she...

Beauty didn’t say she wanted to leave, nor did she make a fuss about seeing Bo Qing one last time. It seemed she just stayed, tacitly accepting their respective roles. She became quite attached to Shen Congwen and listened to her, though she didn’t particularly take a liking to Zhou Yunchen, this so-called elder brother of hers.

When Gu Anxi found out about this, she laughed herself silly. "You’re really quite useless, aren’t you? You’re a good-looking man, so how come you’re no match for your wife?"

Zhou Yunchen sat at his desk smoking, slowly blowing smoke rings. "I don’t care. It’s good that she listens to Congwen."

Gu Anxi, perched on the edge of his desk, also smiled, musing on the capricious nature of fate.

Beauty—someone Gu Anxi herself had once gnashed her teeth at—was now Yun Chen’s sister.

The score with Fengxi could only be settled by Feng Mian and her. And thinking about it, Zhou Yunhua was, in a way, lost because of Gu Anxi and her father.

After Gu Anxi returned, she visited her parents. Wang Keru hadn’t seen her properly in a long time and was overjoyed, fussing over her terribly. Gu Yuntian, feeling better, even went into the kitchen and cooked a few of his signature dishes.

The family had dinner together. When Gu Anxi spoke about Beauty, Gu Yuntian was silent for a moment before speaking softly, "It’s good that she’s back. If she’s disobedient, she can be taught slowly."

Saying this, he even teased his wife, "Your mother also liked to play around and was disobedient. Look, didn’t I teach her well?"

Wang Keru was momentarily speechless...

Gu Anxi and Chu Yan exchanged a glance, stifling their laughter.

Later, the two young women lay on the rooftop together, secretly drinking beer and admiring the moonlight.

Gu Anxi was half-reclining, her hands cupped behind her head, chuckling softly. "This feels like we’re back in Qingcheng, doesn’t it? That time after we helped Wang Qin vent her anger, and Little Li threw that banquet?"

Chu Yan also laughed. "How could I forget? Little Li acted as if he’d found a treasure, and indeed, he had."

The two of them laughed again.

Now, Wang Qin is Beicheng’s ’Little Oracle.’ It’s thanks to her speaking out several times that Beicheng has remained safe and sound. Her ’consecrated lips’ are quite something; her casual predictions turn out to be 70-80% accurate. With Gu Yuanshan backing her, she’s quite influential in Beicheng now. Later, Wang Qin simply joined the Gu family, and Gu Anxi dumped the whole burden of divination onto her.

Wang Qin protested for quite a while, claiming to be an art student.

Back then, the ’little imp’ blinked and said something utterly shameless, "Well, deceiving people is an art form too!"

When Gu Anxi told Chu Yan about it, Chu Yan couldn’t stop laughing. "You’re really too much! Wang Qin must have been stunned for ages. She’s such a little fool, and you still conned her like that."

Gu Anxi sighed. "Ignorance is bliss, huh? Unlike me, always involved in fights and killings. She, the ’Little Oracle,’ just has to flap her gums."