True and False Daughters 7
When Shang Xi was a child, he was in poor health. Honestly, even now, his health isn’t great. He had delicate features and wasn’t talkative, which made it hard for him to fit in after he and his parents moved.
Once, he was cornered by a group of troublemaking kids. They held him down and yanked at his pants. Just then, He Chunxi happened to pass by. Seeing injustice, she hurled her small water bottle and then fiercely swung her backpack, scattering the kids. She even took out a perfumed little handkerchief to wipe away Shang Xi's tears.
From that day on, Shang Xi acknowledged He Chunxi as his big brother.
After going home, he even told his parents that he wanted to be together with his big brother forever.
Shang Xi’s mother was the original host’s coworker, and when she heard the whole story, she and Shang Xi’s father laughed for a long time. Still, after teasing her son, she had to respect his wishes: she took the initiative to talk to their teacher and arranged for them to be in the same class.
From then on, He Chunxi and Shang Xi became the very model of childhood playmates. By the time they were fifteen... they started dating young.
But since they were top students at the Affiliated High School of Capital University, and their relationship didn’t hurt their grades, neither the teachers nor Shang Xi’s parents minded. In fact, his parents were delighted about it.
However, according to the original host’s memories, He Chunxi and Shang Xi were already having problems before the original host’s coma. At that time, they were in their third year of high school. Qin Jingzhou could conclude that all the points Jin Li earned after transmigrating had been used on He Chunxi and Shang Xi.
Gao Wen glanced at Shang Xi, who was unconscious, blood streaming down his forehead, and after consulting with Qin Jingzhou, contacted the colleagues on duty downstairs—one of whom was a doctor.
Soon, the doctor hurried up with his medicine box in hand, took the elevator, and stepped into the He family apartment. As soon as he entered, he saw Shang Xi sitting on the floor, staring at the blood on his hands, looking wronged. "You hit me again, and you won't even let me explain..."
He Chunxi said, "You provoked me first."
When Dad fell into a coma, the hospital assigned by the school wasn't great at caring for vegetative patients. She made up her mind to transfer her father to a different hospital.
She knew her father's medical bills were a bottomless pit. From the beginning, she never thought to ask Shang Xi for financial help—even though Uncle Shang had a place on the richest people list. But at that time, Shang Xi not only didn't support her, he even heartlessly said that the sooner her dad died, the sooner he'd be reborn. The pain was unbearable, and she resolutely broke things off with Shang Xi!
Shang Xi had urged her to give up on her father, and just now he showed up and started talking out of turn. With new grudges on top of old ones, He Chunxi wasted no time before smashing an ashtray at him.
Now, even though Shang Xi seemed to have regained his senses, she didn’t regret it one bit.
Someone was tending to Shang Xi's wounds while He Chunxi, without looking back, went to find her father, who was leaning against the door and smiling at her. Ex-boyfriends only mess with my mood!
She threw herself into her father's arms. For the first time, she truly felt what it meant for “Dad, upon waking, to be an expert loved by all in Guo Jia.” “Dad, now I know how amazing you are.”
Qin Jingzhou wrapped his arm around his daughter, feeling a bit sentimental. “In the last world, I really liked Xuan Qing too, but that rascal never snuggled into my arms like this or bragged that I was amazing.”
The system asked, “So?”
Qin Jingzhou said from the heart, “So I’ll always love my daughter.”
His little system was speechless. He patted his daughter on the back and gently asked, “Now that you know your old man is awesome, let me ask you again, what are your plans for the future?”
He Chunxi leaned against her dad. “Of course, I’m going to take the college entrance exam... It’d be a real regret if I never took it. I want to get into Capital University! But before that, I still want to finish my current work. A person should start what they mean to finish. Even though I kind of hate this job, the money I earned these last couple of years has saved us in emergencies.”
Qin Jingzhou was deeply gratified. “Good.” As expected, his daughter was a responsible child.
Seeing her father didn’t mind her mentioning such... less-than-pleasant memories, He Chunxi also felt at ease. She knew her father was broad-minded.
But the father and daughter talking and laughing only made Shang Xi, whose wounds had just been bandaged, feel even more wounded.
He felt... even more wronged. But this wasn’t his turf. Now that he was pretty much lucid, seeing Gao Wen and the doctor tending to him, he realized Uncle He was not the same as before. He tried hard to contain himself, but after a while, tears welled up and his nose tingled. “Don’t you have a conscience? When Uncle and Auntie, my parents, were busy with work, it was me who spent the most time with you!”
He Chunxi slowly turned her head. “Are you jealous of my dad?”
Shang Xi hurled his phone onto the ground. “So what if I am?!” He was all out of pretense. “These last couple years, I’ve been losing it, sometimes not even in my right mind—didn’t you notice at all? You go through something huge and you never think to ask me? And when you do, it has to be when I’m losing it. Couldn’t you ask me again?”
He Chunxi stared at him. “So you want me to go begging for humiliation, is that it?”
Tears sprang from Shang Xi’s eyes as he blurted, “That’s not what I meant! When you stopped coming to see me, I was scared I'd lose control if I saw you, so I asked Ji Chun for help. That bastard actually let himself get caught by Jin Li too, what a useless idiot!”
He Chunxi believed Shang Xi was telling the truth. For a while, she was overcome with complicated feelings and didn’t know what to say.
Even if he was annoyed that his buddy Ji Chun dropped the ball at a crucial time, it was still Ji Chun who got the news to him first. Love and hate mixed together—he’d call it even. Shang Xi took a breath and noticed that even though he was shaken, his mind was still sharp. Remembering Ji Chun’s advice, he cautiously glanced at Uncle He, who was walking toward the rocking chair by the window, then said, “Xiao Xi, listen, Jin Li is really strange. I’m sure she’s got some supernatural power, but I’ve got no evidence... When I was lucid, I went to get checked out by doctors, saw psychiatrists, and nothing ever showed up... Plus, I just have this feeling—Uncle He's divorce, and my parents' divorce, both had something to do with Jin Li!”
At the mention of that last sentence, He Chunxi’s expression changed. She whipped her head toward her father.
Qin Jingzhou, supported by Gao Wen, took a seat in the rocking chair and even lit a cigarette. “Girl, wait until I can mix up a potion for you. Drink it and you’ll understand.” Shang Xi, this Fate’s Son, was a little crybaby but had his merits. Shang Xi’s little buddy, Ji Chun, was the same. Qin Jingzhou pointed at Shang Xi, “Just to get to the truth, are you really going to feed yourself to the tiger?”
He Chunxi held Shang Xi’s shoulder and took over, “There’s no need!”
Shang Xi's indignation faded by more than half. He seized the moment to hug Xiao Xi. “You won’t let me get close to her, so I stayed away! Seeing that Xiao Xi didn’t push him off, he grinned from ear to ear. “Xiao Xi, my dear wife...”
Qin Jingzhou grabbed the tissue box at hand and threw it.
He Chunxi reacted fast and dodged to the side, the tissue box hitting Shang Xi square on the forehead.
Even though it hit him right in the forehead, Shang Xi wasn’t particularly scared. He just gave an awkward smile and clung tightly to Xiao Xi’s hand.
Last night, Jin Li had pulled off two performances. Feeling satisfied, she returned home brimming with confidence.
But when she woke up the next morning, something felt wrong: both Shang Xi and Ji Chun had started to “read but not reply” to her messages!
While doing her skincare routine, she asked her center-of-attention system, “Did their favorability scores change?”
The center-of-attention system was clearly getting impatient. “The skill failed. Neither of them are hopelessly devoted to you, so of course their favorability returned to its natural level. Shang Xi is Fate’s Son, how could he be that easy to win over? You should start by solidifying your relationships at home, working from your cousins outward. Don’t aim too high too soon.”
Jin Li’s hand paused as she applied a facemask. “Negative favorability? Both of them?”
The center-of-attention system replied, “Yes.”
Jin Li kept slapping on her facemask. “I thought the skill card would last longer. But after all, He Chunxi is the female lead. I haven’t come anywhere close to dragging her down so badly she can’t recover. That’s why as soon as she appears, she has a huge effect on Shang Xi and Ji Chun... Looks like it’s time to go to Plan B. Next, I’ll butter up Du Jiahui, and get him to have an early attack. Then the Du family will realize the daughter was switched, bring He Chunxi back, and that’s when I can shine.”
She’d barely finished speaking when her phone rang. The caller was her cousin, Du Jiahui.
Jin Li wanted to laugh but could barely muster it. “See? The prey comes knocking on the door.”
The host had charged in headlong before, overestimating herself when dealing with Shang Xi and Ji Chun, and after the skill card failed, everything reverted just as the system predicted. Still, the host wasn’t without her merits—at least seducing Du Jiahui was effortless.
The center-of-attention system chimed in, “Should I open the shop? Reminder: You still need to complete the task of ‘raising any male supporting character’s favorability to 90 points.’ Du Jiahui currently has the highest, at just 60.”
90 points means “never abandon you,” while 100 means “eternal loyalty, even unto death.”
Jin Li hung up at once. “No rush. As soon as he has another episode, my cousin will think nothing of it if I don’t despise him. His favorability will jump straight to 90. Du Jiahui... is kind of a glutton for punishment.”
The center-of-attention system was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “Right now, he’s already at 65.”