Chapter 28
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Volume 1 + Chapter 28: As Your Rival
“Hey, why are you crying again?” Seeing the tears on Bai Yuxuan’s cheeks, Ouyang Qianxue was a little at a loss for what to do.
“Why… Even though I did such terrible things to you before… you still went out of your way to celebrate my birthday and make me a cake?” Bai Yuxuan didn’t answer why she was crying—she just asked Ouyang Qianxue with a trembling voice.
“So you do know what you did before was awful, huh? Well, whatever. What’s done is done. I just happened to know it was your birthday today, and I also happened to see you all alone in the rain, devastated.”
“Just because of that, you didn’t mind the trouble of making dinner and cake for me, your former tormentor and rival? You really are a strange one.”
“And you, running around getting soaked in the rain like that, still have the nerve to call me strange?”
“Forget it. Here, try the cake I made. It’s one of my proudest creations.” As he spoke, Ouyang Qianxue cut a slice and placed it on Bai Yuxuan’s plate.
Bai Yuxuan picked up a piece with a fork and brought it to her mouth. Immediately, a delightful sensation filled her mouth.
The cake base was delicate and soft, the cream was rich but not greasy, and the sweet-and-sour fruit jam gave the cake a unique layer of flavor.
“It’s so sweet… so good!” As Bai Yuxuan ate the cake, tears once again poured uncontrollably from her eyes.
“Geez, seriously? It’s just a bite of cake. Do you have to be this dramatic?” Ouyang Qianxue said as he handed her a tissue.
“Honestly, are you really Bai Yuxuan? The arrogant young master of the Bai family who looks down on everyone? You seem more like some stray kid today—first getting drenched alone in the rain, and now tearing up over a piece of cake.”
Ouyang Qianxue couldn’t help but feel that the Bai Yuxuan in front of her was completely different from the one she used to know. That once domineering, aloof, proud air was gone. The current Bai Yuxuan looked so helpless, so pitiful… and maybe even a bit soft and delicate?
At that moment, Bai Yuxuan had just come out of the shower, her hair still down, and the tears had dampened her lashes, giving her a gentle, almost graceful appearance…
(Wait, what am I thinking?! He’s a guy just like me! Have I worn girls’ clothes for so long that my brain’s gone weird? I can’t believe I actually had that kind of dangerous thought, even for a second!) Ouyang Qianxue quickly snapped himself out of it.
“Stray kid… huh. That name might actually suit me,” Bai Yuxuan mumbled under her breath.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Just pretend you didn’t hear anything.”
“Oh, okay. Well, I brought you your student ID, and I celebrated your birthday, so I guess I’ll be going now,” Ouyang Qianxue said, walking toward the door.
“Wait!” Bai Yuxuan, seeing her about to leave, instinctively grabbed his hand.
“You… is something else wrong?”
“No, sorry…” Bai Yuxuan realized how abrupt her action was and quickly let go of Ouyang Qianxue’s hand.
“What’s going on? You don’t seem like your usual self today. Did something happen?”
“No, I’ve just… come to understand a few things. Why? You want to hear my story?”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Everyone’s got their own secrets.”
“If it’s with you… then I don’t mind.” Bai Yuxuan herself didn’t know why she said that. As the heir of the Bai family, she was always the most reluctant to let others know what she was thinking. But now, she wanted to pour out everything—to Ouyang Qianxue, the rival she used to find the most troublesome.
So Bai Yuxuan told Ouyang Qianxue everything about how her father made her take the fall. But she didn’t say a single word about her real gender or her upbringing. No matter how shaken she was inside, Bai Yuxuan was still Bai Yuxuan—she didn’t completely trust Ouyang Qianxue.
“I can’t believe there are fathers like that in this world!” Ouyang Qianxue was furious after hearing Bai Yuxuan’s story. Talk of irresponsible fathers always reminded him of the man who abandoned her, her sister, and their mother.
“You’re the weird one. Even I, the one it happened to, didn’t get that mad. You look more upset than I am,” Bai Yuxuan said with a smile as she watched Ouyang Qianxue fuming.
“Because your father’s a complete bastard! Not only did he commit something so awful that harmed the townspeople, he even made his own son take the blame. That’s inhuman. Even a tiger wouldn’t eat its cub!”
“Inhuman, huh… If that’s inhuman, then I’m no better. Like father, like son. I’m no different from him,” Bai Yuxuan replied with a bitter expression.
“No! I think you’re completely different!” Ouyang Qianxue said firmly.
“Huh?”
“After everything happened, the first thing you did was use your own money to compensate the residents whose health was affected. You put their well-being first. Just that alone makes you a hundred times better than your father. If someone like you, with a sense of justice, isn’t human, then who is?”
“Hahaha!” Bai Yuxuan burst out laughing at Ouyang Qianxue’s words.
“What? Was what I said that funny?”
“No… not at all.” Bai Yuxuan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“I just never thought I’d be comforted by you, my rival.”
“All right. I’ve made up my mind.” Bai Yuxuan stood up. The look of sorrow on her face had completely disappeared.
“I swear I will never leak your secret to anyone.” Then, right in front of Ouyang Qianxue, she deleted the photo of him hugging his little sister from her phone, and even logged into her cloud storage to delete the backup as well.
“I’m sorry for threatening you with those before… and for all the things I did to you,” Bai Yuxuan apologized, bowing her head.
“It’s fine. I forgive you. But, uh, I saw earlier that you still had that one photo of me in a maid outfit saved in your cloud. You forgot to delete that one…”
“What are you talking about? I left that one on purpose.”
“Eh?”
“That’s my treasure! A rare sakura academy’s school idol maid photo—I plan to cherish it for the rest of my life.” Bai Yuxuan had already returned to that sly, cunning expression Ouyang Qianxue knew so well.
“Didn’t you just apologize to me? How could you turn right back into this jerk?”
“Yeah, I did sincerely apologize. But what’s that got to do with your maid photo?”
“You…!” Ouyang Qianxue pointed at Bai Yuxuan, trembling with anger.
“I can’t believe I actually comforted you, celebrated your birthday, and this is how you treat me? Do you have any decency? You’re just like that snake in the story of the farmer and the snake!”
“Then you’ve only got yourself to blame for being such a gullible farmer.”
“You’re the worst! If I’d known, I never would’ve celebrated your birthday!” Ouyang Qianxue yelled as he stormed out the door.
Looking out the window at the retreating figure of Ouyang Qianxue, a bitter smile appeared on Bai Yuxuan’s face.
“Ouyang Qianxue… to me, you’re like the sun. Even someone like me can feel warm around you. I want so badly to get closer to you. But someone like me, who doesn’t even understand emotions and has hurt you before, has no right. So… it’s enough for me to stay by your side—as your rival.”
