Ji Heyuan was so frightened by Ji Xu'an's words that her heart almost stopped beating. She widened her eyes and looked at Ji Xu'an in disbelief. "W-What?!"
Ji Xu'an seemed not to realize how terrifying that sentence had been.
Earlier, when she spoke, Ji Xu'an had already closed the door behind her. At this moment, there were only the two of them in the room.
The wordless atmosphere intensified the heaviness and oppression hanging in the air. Ji Heyuan felt as if she could barely breathe.
After a long while, she finally found her voice again. "Sis, you're joking with me, right?"
Ji Xu'an still did not speak. Ever since asking that question, she had been staring at Ji Heyuan with a complicated, unreadable gaze, as if trying to look straight through her eyes into her heart.
Seeing this, Ji Heyuan could no longer convince herself that Ji Xu'an was just joking.
She moved her lips, wanting to explain something, yet she did not know how to begin.
Should she say she had no thoughts about Jiang Jiang?
Ji Heyuan could be sure that she did not like Jiang Jiang, at least not the kind of liking that meant wanting to date her. If she truly had feelings for Jiang Jiang, she would not have worked so hard to bring Jiang Jiang and Ji Xu'an together.
And yet Ji Heyuan really had had a similar dream before. That was the real reason she could not stand before Ji Xu'an with complete confidence.
They all said dreams were reflections of one's true inner thoughts. Ji Heyuan herself felt confused. She could not possibly like Jiang Jiang, right?
In the end, Ji Heyuan could only ask softly, "Who told you that?"
Who exactly was sowing discord in front of her sister?
Ji Xu'an's tone was indifferent. "Zheng Zhouzhou."
"Huh???" Ji Heyuan was stunned again.
She remembered the dream she had had. In that dream, Zheng Zhouzhou had also questioned her hysterically, asking why she was with Jiang Jiang.
Ji Heyuan felt foolish.
Could it be that she really liked Jiang Jiang, and simply did not know it herself?
Ji Xu'an watched Ji Heyuan's panicked expression and curled her lips slightly. "Zheng Zhouzhou told me that you and Jiang Jiang are a match made in heaven. Even if Jiang Jiang is my fiancée now, in the future she will still end up with you."
Ji Heyuan tried her best to steady herself. "Sis, you know Zheng Zhouzhou has always disliked Sister-in-law. Saying that in front of you, she obviously wants to drive a wedge between you and Sister-in-law."
"If you really start suspecting us, wouldn't that be falling right into her trap?"
In order to reassure Ji Xu'an, Ji Heyuan had even changed the way she addressed Jiang Jiang and called her Sister-in-law. It was practically written across her face that they were innocent.
Actually, besides panic, Ji Heyuan also felt wronged. Even though she had that rather abnormal dream, Ji Xu'an knew about it.
Just because of a few instigating words from an outsider, she was really going to suspect her own younger sister?
Ji Heyuan still did not know about Zheng Zhouzhou's suspected rebirth. Now even the last trace of sympathy she had for Zheng Zhouzhou had completely worn away.
She had even given her own allowance money to Zheng Zhouzhou, and this was how Zheng Zhouzhou repaid her, smearing her and Xie Jiang Jiang behind her back??
At the thought of her empty wallet, Ji Heyuan almost wanted to cry. She wished she could call Zheng Zhouzhou right now and demand her money back!
Ji Xu'an had no way of understanding Ji Heyuan's near-tears grievance. Ji Heyuan's inexplicable silence earlier, along with her evasive attitude afterward, had caused Ji Xu'an's heart to sink to the bottom in an instant.
Ji Heyuan was her biological younger sister. Ji Xu'an understood her too well. If Ji Heyuan had truly been wronged, her first reaction would not have been to explain, but to feel angry and wronged.
After a long silence, Ji Xu'an finally spoke again, her voice much heavier than before. "Little Yuan."
"I really like Jiang Jiang. It's the kind of liking where I want to spend my whole life with her. Do you understand?"
All the explanations Ji Heyuan had prepared were blocked in her throat by that single sentence. Seeing the undisguised exhaustion on Ji Xu'an's face, the grievance in her heart seemed to fade, replaced by a helplessness over not knowing how to explain herself.
"I know. And I swear to you, there will never be anything between me and Xie Jiang Jiang." Ji Heyuan raised her fingers, her expression especially solemn and serious. "Xie Jiang Jiang will only ever be my sister-in-law. Even if you don't end up with her in the end, she will still always be my sister-in-law. I couldn't possibly do something that shameless."
Ji Heyuan paused, her voice lowering. "Would you rather believe Zheng Zhouzhou than believe me?"
Ji Xu'an closed her eyes briefly, her tone growing more strained. "This matter is very hard to explain. It's not that I don't believe you, little Yuan. I'm afraid…"
She stopped.
Until the very end, Ji Xu'an still did not say what she was afraid of.
Ji Heyuan knew that something must have happened that she did not know about. Since she could not get answers from Ji Xu'an, she could only go ask Zheng Zhouzhou, but unfortunately Zheng Zhouzhou did not reply to her either.
For some reason, Ji Heyuan felt uneasy, as if there were an oppressive sense of an impending storm.
Separated by a single wall, Jiang Jiang was not idle either.
She had not contacted Xie Xiao for several days. At this moment, Jiang Jiang was holding up the White Jade Linglong Mirror, recounting in detail everything that had happened recently to Xie Xiao.
At first, Xie Xiao still had a smile on her face. By the end, however, she revealed a hesitant expression.
"Are you really going to tell her about this?" Xie Xiao asked.
She knew that Jiang Jiang was very guarded around others, and the matter of swapping identities was their greatest secret. If Ji Xu'an learned the truth and thought Jiang Jiang had only been using her, and in a fit of anger told someone else about it…
Xie Xiao could not help voicing her speculation.
Jiang Jiang's expression, however, was calm. "She wouldn't do that."
Xie Xiao did not know where Jiang Jiang's certainty came from. In fact, while listening just now, she had wanted to ask whether Jiang Jiang truly felt no stirrings at all toward Ji Xu'an.
But she did not dare to ask.
Seeing her silence, Jiang Jiang explained further, "This matter also involves Ji Heyuan. Ji Xu'an wouldn't easily take that risk."
But how she would treat herself, Jiang Jiang did not dare to be certain.
She was waiting for Ji Xu'an to come question her. Yet Jiang Jiang waited from evening until midnight, and the bedroom door remained silent, without a single knock.
Jiang Jiang had clearly heard movement outside. Ji Xu'an had definitely come home. Since she was home, why did she not come to see her?
Rarely, Jiang Jiang suffered from insomnia. She lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. In the end, she simply reached for her phone, curled up under the blanket, and repeatedly scrolled through every comment left by readers in the comment section.
Everything else Jiang Jiang had now had been given to her by Ji Xu'an. Only this novel belonged entirely to herself. She treasured it.
Counting down the hours until morning, Jiang Jiang only realized when she got up and looked in the mirror that there were two dark circles under her eyes. She covered them with foundation. At least from her appearance, no one could tell she had stayed up late.
When Jiang Jiang finished tidying up and opened her bedroom door, the door of the adjacent room was opened from inside at the same time.
The next second, Jiang Jiang unexpectedly met Ji Xu'an's gaze. She subconsciously tightened her grip on the doorknob.
Neither of them spoke. After a long moment of eye contact, Jiang Jiang was the first to look away. After she withdrew her gaze, Ji Xu'an parted her lips and said softly, "I came back late last night. I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I didn't tell you."
But she had not slept with Ji Heyuan either. She had lain on the sofa for the whole night.
Jiang Jiang heard the explanation in her words. Ji Xu'an's attitude made her momentarily stunned. It sounded as though Ji Xu'an was not angry with her at all, but rather worried she might misunderstand something.
After a brief pause for thought, Jiang Jiang replied, "It's fine. No matter how late it is, as long as you want to, Sister, you can come in."
Ji Xu'an's gaze never left Jiang Jiang's face. She stood only two steps away. Her dark eyes stared directly at Jiang Jiang, that focused gaze seeming to carry an invisible sense of pressure.
"Last time I promised you that before getting your consent, I wouldn't do anything that made you unhappy."
Jiang Jiang pressed her lips together. "Didn't we used to sleep together before?"
"That's different." Ji Xu'an picked up her words quickly.
It was as if she had been waiting for Jiang Jiang to say that. Before Jiang Jiang could ask what was different, Ji Xu'an gave the answer plainly.
"Before, we were sisters. Sleeping together, we didn't disturb each other. We could both remain at peace."
Ji Xu'an's expression was calm, as if she did not feel her words were ambiguous at all.
"Now we're lovers. After starting a relationship, it's impossible to keep the same distance as before and do nothing. Do you understand what I mean?" Ji Xu'an paused slightly.
"At least, I can't."
—
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