CHAPTER 327: CHAPTER 325 SIBLINGS (PART 1)

"Yueshi."

On the way to their next class, Qian Yuya suddenly asked, "Have you ever mentioned me to your brother before?"

"Yeah." Qin Yueshi was momentarily taken aback, then said, "I’ve told him before how much you’ve looked out for me."

"Not in that roundabout way," Qian Yuya said, "I mean, have you ever, like, pointed at me from afar when I wasn’t looking and told your brother, ’That’s Qian Yuya’?"

"No, I’ve actually never even told him your name, just called you ’some upperclassman.’" Qin Yueshi suddenly got nervous, "Why? Did he mess with you while I wasn’t paying attention just now?"

Qian Yuya shook her head and said thoughtfully, "So that means, that must’ve been the first time he met me just now..."

"Yeah."

At this point, Qin Yueshi suddenly realized something was off, "I haven’t even told him your name, so how did he just blurt it out as soon as he met you... ah! Sorry, maybe my brother got nervous! He’s got a few old friends back in Yanjing."

Qin Yueshi figured Qin Leyin probably had someone secretly look into Qian Yuya’s background—moves like that were basically standard procedure for her family.

Back in Xuanzhu County, Qin Yueshi didn’t have many friends, but every one she did have was approved by the Qin Family. Zhengwu even more so—thankfully, Zhengwu was a good, chaste, upstanding guy, not a weirdo like Zhengwei. Otherwise, Qin Leyin would never have let her date Zhengwu.

Of course, that kind of ’approval’ didn’t actually mean anything—at best, it just meant "fate has chosen you as my tool." When it was time to dispose of a tool, Qin Leyin would throw it away without a second thought, whether that meant her sister’s boyfriend or her sister’s boyfriend’s brother. Love, ideals, kindness—these things were lighter than a feather on Qin Leyin’s scales of profit.

Qin Yueshi’s guess was the most logical one; after all, her big brother had no reason to cross paths with Qian Yuya outside of her.

But Qian Yuya knew much more than Qin Yueshi did, and she thought much further ahead, too.

Looking at what she knew so far, even if Qin Leyin and Zhengwei weren’t "close as skin" best friends, at the very least, they must’ve had some pretty deep philosophical clashes—otherwise, there was no way Qin Leyin could know so much about what Zhengwei thought.

And Zhengwei had some secret, mysterious connection to Qian Yuliu—a connection deep enough that before Qian Yuliu died, she told Zhengwei about Qian Yuya, and Zhengwei ended up secretly giving her living expenses—money enough for Qian Yuya not only to finish her studies, but to buy a house in Yanjing, even.

"Dongyang businessmen aren’t exactly known for being philanthropists." She didn’t buy for one second that anyone would give her that much money just for being a "friend’s little sister"—if Zhengwei had said, "Your brother’s dead, so I’ll raise you in his place," and wanted Qian Yuya to move to Xuanzhu County after graduation and be his eighth mistress, Qian Yuya could’ve accepted that.

But Zhengwei never revealed his identity; if White Night hadn’t helped investigate, Qian Yuya never would’ve figured out that the guy giving her money was actually Zhengwei, the one and only Big Boss of Silver Blood Association in Dongyang District.

Qian Yuliu was backstabbed by Yin Yinyin, then Yin Yinyin died in Dongyang. Not long after, someone pretended to be Yin Yinyin and started working with Xuanzhu’s White Night. Now every piece of evidence pointed to Yin Yinyin being long dead, with Zhengwei using some forbidden jutsu to "resurrect" Yin Yinyin and work with White Night—and Zhengwei was an old acquaintance of Qian Yuliu...

"Qian Yuya had this nagging feeling that, ever since Qian Yuliu died, some invisible thread had started tying together Qian Yuliu, Yin Yinyin, Zhengwei, and maybe even more people, and now, with Qin Leyin suddenly appearing in her life, he might be the next one to get drawn in."

Zhengwei’s fate was unknown—probably dead, not that it mattered much anymore—but among all the people who’d ever "mind-melded" with Zhengwei, Qin Leyin was the one most likely to know what the hell this ’invisible thread’ really was.

On top of that, Qin Leyin’s attitude toward her seemed oddly familiar. It was almost impossible for Qian Yuya not to be interested in him.

Even more than that, the way Qin Leyin and Qin Yueshi messed around together felt eerily familiar—so much so it made her...

Feel a little envious.

"Do you know where Mr. Hongle’s dorm is?" Qian Yuya suddenly asked.

"Yeah." Qin Yueshi hesitated a bit, then asked, "What do you need from him? Want me to come with?"

"I just want to thank him for looking out for me."

"Looking out for you?"

"He told the class that I’d figured out his intentions, so he deliberately used the power to dock points to threaten and scare the other students—basically, he helped me diffuse everyone’s frustration and resentment toward me, even flipped their negative feelings into admiration."

"But didn’t he basically get it right?" Qin Yueshi blinked, "You did great, honestly. Me and Ming Shuiyun just stood there, totally lost about how to use our privileges."

"No, I didn’t overthink it like he did," Qian Yuya shook her head, "I just can’t stand people slacking off, so I used my power to control them—when you have power, use it, push your advantage... ’I don’t really care about relationships, but in the end, it was your brother who cleaned up the mess for me.’"

"Stuff working out by accident like that isn’t weird at all..."

"But I never like owing people," Qian Yuya said seriously, "so I want to thank him in person."

"Then I’ll go with you to see him tomorrow—"

Qian Yuya thought for a moment. She hardly ever lied, and she didn’t want to start, so she said honestly, "I want to go alone. Besides thanking him, there’s something else I want to talk to him about."

Thud!

Qin Yueshi’s heart suddenly skipped a beat!

"No way, is Big Sis Qian actually falling too?"

Qin Leyin, oh, Qin Leyin, you’re such a damn flirt!

Is it really true that out of every ten girls I know, nine of them end up liking you!?

And honestly, it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened—Qin Yueshi always silently thanked the universe she’d been born as the little sister. If she’d been a guy, every single girl she knew would have a crush on her brother, and she’d have lost her mind by now.

Wait, wait, Second Brother Qin Yueyang is so quiet and detached, could it be...

While Qin Yueshi was busy plotting the outline for her new novel, My Brother Can’t Possibly Be This Much of a Player, she noticed Qian Yuya staring right at her—no shyness, just the look of someone totally determined to win—and Qin Yueshi had to sigh to herself.

Although, really, compared to some future emperor turning out to be her sister-in-law, having Big Sis Qian as a sister-in-law sounded way more tolerable.

After going through that life-and-death saga with Zhengwu, Qin Yueshi had come to realize that "a simple life was true happiness." She just wished for family peace, and she had no interest in that plan of her brother’s to "become emperor."

But what if her brother couldn’t keep it in his pants and broke Big Sis Qian’s heart?

"Thinking it through, Qin Yueshi realized she couldn’t possibly stop them from seeing each other. Qin Leyin just lived right there at the academy, and Big Sis Qian picked his class by choice. If she tried to meddle, she’d just make her brother look even more mysterious. Why not just let them spend plenty of time together, and let Big Sis Qian see for herself that Qin Leyin was a heartless scumbag? Wouldn’t that be perfect?"

Suddenly realizing something, Qin Yueshi decided to patch things up, "Uh, Big Sis Qian, about what I said before—about how my brother once crossdressed and wandered around the street—I think he might’ve been forced into it. He might not really... be into that... right?"

The last few words came out pretty uncertain, and Qian Yuya nodded, "Oh."

"So if you’re thinking of getting close to him for weird reasons, you might be disappointed."

"Qian Yuya felt her heart sink. Did Qin Yueshi know more than she let on? Was she purposely pointing out that Qin Leyin only cross-dressed because someone forced him, reminding her that there’s a deep unseen storm under all this?"

She nodded slowly, "I got it."

"Good, as long as you understand."

Qin Yueshi breathed a sigh of relief. Just imagining Qian Yuya and her crossdressing brother standing in front of her gave her an existential crisis about her own looks. As long as Qian Yuya didn’t want to make her brother her ’best girlfriend boyfriend,’ she could live with it.

"So, Sis-in-law, he’s living in..."

"Huh?"

"Wait, I misspoke... No! Just forget what I said!"