Chapter 35: The Onlookers

Yin Xuelian’s gaze was utterly cold, like a thousand-year-old ice pick, piercing directly into Su Cheng’s heart.
The hand gripping Su Cheng’s wrist was slender yet incredibly strong, clamping down like iron tongs.
Su Cheng could even feel a slight pressure on her wrist bones.

“Sister… Sister Lian, good evening…”
Su Cheng’s voice was clearly trembling, her face pale.
Fragments of memory from her previous life, of being controlled by Yin Xuelian, surged uncontrollably, making her instinctively want to break free, but it was futile.
Yin Xuelian’s strength was never something her delicate, white-haired beauty of a girl could contend with.

“Little Orange, you’re not doing well tonight, you know.
Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you changed your skin?”
Yin Xuelian’s gaze finally moved from Su Cheng’s face, with a hint of condescending scrutiny, landing on Lin Shiyue’s hand tightly gripping Su Cheng’s.
The frost in her eyes seemed to have thickened, yet her lips still maintained that eerie curve.

“It seems that while I was away, my Little Orange made a ‘good girlfriend’.”
She enunciated “good girlfriend” exceptionally clearly, with a heavy sarcastic undertone.
Lin Shiyue felt Su Cheng’s stiffness and fear, her heart tightening, but as Yin Xuelian’s opponent, she couldn’t back down.
She squeezed Su Cheng’s cold hand firmly, trying to convey some strength, and straightened her back, meeting Yin Xuelian’s uncomfortable gaze.

“Senior Sister Yin,” Lin Shiyue’s tone remained as calm as possible, her eyes filled with unyielding determination, “please let her go first.”
She clearly saw Su Cheng’s fair wrist already turning red.

“Let go?
Haha…”
Yin Xuelian seemed to have heard an amusing joke, chuckling softly, yet her laughter held no warmth.
Not only did she not let go, but she pulled Su Cheng closer to herself.
Su Cheng stumbled, almost falling into her embrace.
Seeing this, Lin Shiyue forcefully pulled Su Cheng’s wrist, preventing her from completely falling into Yin Xuelian’s arms.
Her body was pulled left and right.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on Su Cheng’s forehead.
‘How is this scene so similar to the one in my dream?’
Su Cheng swallowed hard, turning her head left and right.
Neither Lin Shiyue nor Yin Xuelian showed any intention of letting go.
‘These two aren’t going to end up tearing me in half, are they?!’
‘How terrifying, someone save me…’
Yin Xuelian’s gaze fell on Lin Shiyue’s serious face, her eyes filled with undisguised hostility and a desire to drive her away.

“Junior Sister Lin, please let go.”

“Senior Sister Yin, you should let go.
There’s a proper order to things.”
Yin Xuelian’s smile vanished as she stared coldly at Lin Shiyue.

“Junior Sister Lin, I don’t think you understood my words.”
Lin Shiyue was not afraid of her, glaring back.

“Perhaps Senior Sister is the one who didn’t understand my words.”
The two glared at each other, gritting their teeth, the force with which they pulled Su Cheng continuously increasing.
Su Cheng felt that if they continued pulling like this, her arms would probably be torn off first.
Already, scattered passersby cast curious glances.
The tense atmosphere made it hard not to attract attention.
Yin Xuelian and Lin Shiyue didn’t care at all; they only cared about Su Cheng’s ownership.

“Can you two stop arguing?”
Su Cheng tried to persuade them kindly, but all she got were two displeased glares.

“No!”
Both said in unison, simultaneously increasing the force on her hands.
Su Cheng, being pulled, gritted her teeth in discomfort, still enduring.
But there’s a limit to endurance.
If she let them continue, never mind the public opinion consequences, her two arms would be rendered useless first.

“Enough!”
Su Cheng’s angry shout made both girls’ eyes glaze over simultaneously, and the force in their hands relaxed somewhat.
Taking advantage of this gap, Su Cheng retracted her two battle-damaged arms, shaking them to soothe the pain.
‘Why is it that every time they argue, I’m the one who gets hurt?’
A frustrated Su Cheng looked left and right.
Lin Shiyue’s face held an apologetic expression, while Yin Xuelian showed one part apology, three parts displeasure, and six parts stubbornness.
Su Cheng unhappily folded her arms, taking a step back, encompassing both of them in her gaze.

“Have you two had enough?
Can you please consider the occasion?
Are you trying to torment me here?”
“Are you treating me like a rope for a tug-of-war, huh?”
“Why?
Baby why?
Why am I always the one getting hurt?”
“You two answer me!
Speak!”
Su Cheng’s scolding words deterred the two girls in front of her.
Seeing Su Cheng glaring at them, both lowered their heads.

“Is this fun?
Can’t you two just get along?
My mood for bubble tea is gone.”
Lin Shiyue was the first to apologize: “Orange, don’t be angry, it’s my fault.”

“Orange?”
Yin Xuelian immediately glanced at Lin Shiyue, her eyes like daggers.
“Is that a name you get to call her?”
Lin Shiyue confidently curled her lips, looking somewhat like a triumphant war god: “What, jealous?”

“Tch…”
Su Cheng forcefully interrupted their conversation: “Enough!
If you two keep fighting, the bubble tea shop will close!”
As soon as Su Cheng said this, Yin Xuelian’s aggression subsided a little, and Lin Shiyue also straightened her lips.
Both stood obediently.
Su Cheng snorted lightly, dropped her words, and turned to leave.

“I’m not bothering with you two anymore.
I’m going to get my own drink.”
Lin Shiyue glanced at Yin Xuelian, then quickly followed Su Cheng: “I said I’d treat you, Orange, wait for me!”
Yin Xuelian cast a strange look at Lin Shiyue, then followed behind them.
At the counter of the bubble tea shop, the appearance of the three girls attracted the attention of the staff.

“Miss, I’d like a lemonade.
What about you two?”

“Seven-tenths sugar bubble milk tea with pearls.”

“Three-tenths sugar coconut jelly milk tea.”
Su Cheng wasn’t surprised by their choices; she had already anticipated this scene.
It was the same answer as in her previous life.
Yin Xuelian never liked overly sweet drinks, usually opting for only three-tenths sugar, while Lin Shiyue habitually chose seven-tenths sugar.

“Alright, that’ll be fifteen yuan in total.”
Su Cheng stared at the number for two seconds.
This was almost a day’s worth of food money.
Finally, Su Cheng secretly pursed her lips and pulled out her already prepared phone QR code.

“I’ll pay.”
Lin Shiyue stepped forward with her phone, intending to pay, but Su Cheng beat her to it.

“I’ll do it.
Consider it my treat for you both.”
Su Cheng still paid, for the sake of avoiding awkwardness between them.
As the mediator, she knew how to smooth things over.

“By the way, we just happen to have one last box of fruit that hasn’t sold yet.
Consider it a gift from us.”
Su Cheng took the fruit box handed to her by the staff, blinking her smiling eyes as she thanked them: “Wow, it’s watermelon!
Thank you, miss!”
‘A rare bargain, no reason not to take it.’
Su Cheng, carrying the fruit box, led the two behind her to a quiet corner to sit down.
Around the round table, the three sat, maintaining their distance from each other.
Su Cheng opened the fruit box, inserted the provided bamboo skewers into the cut watermelon pieces, and ate first out of respect.

“Mmmph… Aren’t you two eating?”

“Eating, eating.”
Lin Shiyue picked up a watermelon-skewered stick and put it into her mouth.
Seeing Lin Shiyue eat, Yin Xuelian also picked up a skewer, but aimed it towards Su Cheng.

“Little Orange, eat more.
You’re so thin; are you not eating well?”

“Of course not, I’ve been eating properly.”
Su Cheng, having just swallowed watermelon, looked at the piece Yin Xuelian offered, secretly glanced at Lin Shiyue’s somewhat displeased expression, and hesitated.

“Not eating?
Or are you…”
Yin Xuelian’s eyelids suddenly lowered, feigning distress and lowering her voice, her fingers trembling slightly, “Already disgusted with big sister?”
Su Cheng instantly broke into a sweat.
Yin Xuelian was using her usual trick again.
But with Lin Shiyue present, she felt a little timid.
In the end, it was Yin Xuelian’s cold, smiling glare that made Su Cheng completely obedient.

“No disgust at all, I’ll eat, I’ll eat.”
Lin Shiyue’s eyes widened, staring intently as Su Cheng swallowed the watermelon.
Her small mouth slightly parted then tightened, the words she wanted to say stifled by the scene before her.
‘Doing such intimate gestures in front of me, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?’
Lin Shiyue coldly eyed Yin Xuelian, then skewered a piece of watermelon and extended it towards Su Cheng.

“Orange, you eat more too, here.”
Su Cheng had just swallowed, and seeing Lin Shiyue imitate Yin Xuelian’s feeding, her big eyes darted around.
The stone she had just set down in her heart floated up again.
‘My sisters, please don’t torment me anymore.’

“Shiyue, this, this…”
Lin Shiyue stubbornly said, “What?
You ate hers, but you won’t eat mine?”
Su Cheng gave an awkward smile, her peripheral vision catching Yin Xuelian’s expressionless smile, not knowing what to do.

“I, I’m a bit…”
Lin Shiyue’s tone was firm, disregarding Yin Xuelian’s presence, she still wanted to feed Su Cheng watermelon: “Eat, even if you’re full, you have to eat mine.
Otherwise, it’s not fair.”
Su Cheng sighed inwardly.
Faced with Lin Shiyue’s strong attitude, she had no retreat.

“Eat, I’ll eat.”
Su Cheng, on the verge of tears, finally ate the watermelon Lin Shiyue fed her.
Lin Shiyue smiled triumphantly, her smile even brighter when she met Yin Xuelian’s gaze.
Yin Xuelian returned the smile, but it was an icy one.
Their gazes clashed, sparking invisible electric currents.
Su Cheng, caught between them, was helpless.
These two powerful figures in front of her simply wouldn’t calm down.
The staff member, a young woman, watched the scene, cracking two melon seeds in the interval of making bubble tea.

“A box of watermelon for a big drama.Not a bad deal.”