Shen Nian ran a long way before she finally slowed to a stop and lowered the hands that had been covering her face.
'How mortifying! The saying "Impulse is the devil" is definitely true.'
But when she remembered the sight of a stiff Lu Cheng with a faint blush on his face as she turned away, Shen Nian couldn't help but smile.
'It seems that guy, Lu Cheng, is even shier than I am! And I've never seen a blushing, embarrassed Lu Cheng before.' It felt like such a rare sight.
She rubbed her cheeks. Once the warmth had gradually faded, Shen Nian started walking home again.
As she walked, Shen Nian thought about everything that had happened with Lu Cheng since her rebirth, and a soft laugh escaped her lips.
But her smile vanished the moment she heard two familiar voices coming from up ahead.
One of them was the voice of her younger brother, Shen Xiangnan, a voice she had longed to hear. The other was a voice Shen Nian would never forget, even in death.
Qin Xueling. It was Qin Xueling's voice!
Shen Nian hadn't expected to run into her enemy, Qin Xueling, so soon after her rebirth. But then again, considering their "best friend" status at this point in time, it would have been strange if Qin Xueling hadn't sought her out.
'But why is Qin Xueling with Shen Xiangnan?' The thought of Shen Xiangnan's tragic end in her previous life, which had everything to do with Qin Xueling, made Shen Nian quicken her pace.
"Xiangnan, what are you doing here?"
It seemed Qin Xueling and Shen Xiangnan had just run into each other. And in front of Shen Xiangnan, Qin Xueling was actually putting on the air of a doting older sister.
"I don't know you that well. Please call me Shen Xiangnan. Besides, where I am is none of your business!"
Shen Xiangnan's gaze toward Qin Xueling was clearly unfriendly, and his words were just as blunt.
"Xiangnan, how can you talk like that? Your sister and I are best friends! In my heart, you're like my own little brother!"
"I only have one sister, and you're not her. My sister might be easy to fool, but don't you think everyone else is, too!"
Shen Xiangnan looked at Qin Xueling with undisguised disgust, which was obvious even to Shen Nian, who was still some distance away.
Shen Nian couldn't help but remember her past life. Shen Xiangnan had argued with her several times because of Qin Xueling. Each time, he had warned her not to trust Qin Xueling so easily, but back then, she stubbornly refused to listen. Instead, she had come to resent her own brother.
'Looking back now, there was a reason why Shen Xiangnan was always speaking ill of Qin Xueling to me. So, he had already seen through Qin Xueling's true colors even back then!'
'He warned me time and time again, but I refused to believe him. He must have been so hurt.'
'His own sister valued him less than a malicious, scheming woman!'
As she thought about this, Shen Nian looked at Shen Xiangnan, her heart aching with waves of bitterness and guilt.
Meanwhile, the conversation between Qin Xueling and Shen Xiangnan wasn't over.
"Xiangnan, what are you talking about! If your sister heard you say that, I'm afraid she'd blame you again!"
As Qin Xueling said this, there wasn't a trace of pity for Shen Xiangnan on her face. Instead, it was filled with pure schadenfreude.
'So what if Shen Xiangnan doesn't like me? No matter what he says, that fool Shen Nian will only believe me. All I have to do is add a little fuel to the fire, and Shen Nian will definitely chew him out.'
"Don't think I can't see it! You act all friendly with my sister, pretending to have her best interests at heart, but you've been using her this whole time! You're a horrible person!"
Even though Shen Xiangnan could see through Qin Xueling's act, he was only a boy of fifteen or sixteen. His attempts at making threats weren't very threatening at all.
It amounted to little more than glaring at Qin Xueling and calling her a "horrible person" a few times.
"So what if I'm a horrible person? Your sister trusts this 'horrible person'! Believe it or not, if I slapped you a few times right now and went back and told her you hit me, who do you think she'd believe? You, or me?"
"You..."
Shen Xiangnan stared at Qin Xueling, seething with anger. He wanted to retort, but he knew in his heart that if something like that really happened, Shen Nian probably would believe Qin Xueling over her own brother.
After all, it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before.
"You don't believe me? You don't? Then let's put it to the test!"
Qin Xueling said with a smile, raising her hand to slap Shen Xiangnan across the face. Her expression was utterly vicious.
She hated Shen Nian, and by extension, she hated Shen Nian's family. Seeing Shen Nian trust her over her own family gave Qin Xueling a thrill of satisfaction like no other.
"Stop!"