48: Splitting Heads and Spilling Blood is Fine Too

Splitting Heads and Spilling Blood is Fine Too

Right now, Mu Tangxue could hardly get anything out of Mu Qiqi.1

Even if the reality was that she had lost, Mu Qiqi would not simply watch and become a laughing stock for her twin. At worse, she would bring her down with herself.

Meanwhile, the class welcomed Mu Tangxue's return with full disdain, since those who tattled would only ever earn hate.

"Qiqi, I'll let you in on a secret: There are quite a few others in school thinking about ways they would repay Mu Tangxue," Qian Qian whispered to Mu Qiqi. "It would be quite the show…White Lotus Mu's days are numbered."

However, Mu Qiqi was unable to enjoy the cheer of that victory. After all, she was worried that her aunt would read her diary back home. 

Moreover, Mu Tangxue had seemed to expect that she would be pranked, since she was used to seeing others play practical jokes on Mu Qiqi herself. Therefore, she never left her seat and remained there until the end of school.

Once the bell rang, Mu Qiqi dashed to Old Lin's car and sent a message to Sheng Xiao overseas on the way back.

[Xiaoxiao…Mu Tangxue has given my diary to Aunt Zipei…I'm afraid she'll know my secrets…]

Nonetheless, there was no reply from Sheng Xiao since he was having a video conference.

Without anyone to talk to, Mu Qiqi sent another message.

[Aunt Zipei must find it hard to accept!]

Then, holding her phone and summoning her courage, Mu Qiqi waited until she saw Su Zipei at the mansion gates before going up to meet her.

"You're home? Come, eat." Su Zipei gestured for her to put down her bag.

Mu Qiqi could not tell anything from her aunt's reaction. "Aunt Zipei…"

"What is it?" she asked.

Mu Qiqi shook her head since she was not brave enough to ask. Even so, since Su Zipei was not being especially weird, she quickly shrank like a tortoise. "Nothing…"

After their meal, Mu Qiqi went upstairs and sneaked into Su Zipei's room while her aunt cleaned up the kitchen.

She was going to check whether the diary pages were there as Mu Tangxue told her, and found it at Su Zipei's bedside drawer.

However, she couldn't simply take them away—she quickly returned to her own room and wrote several new pages before tearing them apart and piecing them together again with cellophane tape. Then, she switched them for the ones in the bedside drawer when Su Zipei was bathing.

She had no idea whether Su Zipei had read them, but she would feel better to have those pages that wrote about Sheng Xiao with her.

She carefully protected her relationship with Sheng Xiao because liking him was immoral from Su Zipei's point of view.

She might have the courage to tell her aunt that she liked him when she eventually entered university, but she only felt ever-present guilt now. 

Meanwhile, Sheng Xiao still had not replied. Mu Qiqi's mood was naturally in a mess.

Nonetheless, it was when she was about to fall asleep that he finally replied.

[If you're afraid, why continue?]

Mu Qiqi held her phone, feeling distaste at those words.

[I'm only afraid. I want to continue, even if it means splitting heads and spilling blood.]

Then, it was another long wait and Mu Qiqi dozed off. It was only the next morning when she found Sheng Xiao's reply, "How are you going to get first place if you sleep so late?"

That man—he could never stay on topic!

Mu Qiqi sat up on bed with a silly smile, and went downstairs where she saw Su Zipei. "Good morning, Aunt Zipei…"

"Hurry up with your breakfast. I've just been informed by your school that I'm going for a parent-teacher meeting next Monday," Su Zipei told her with an unnatural look. "Qiqi, I think I shouldn't go since I would only embarrass you…after all, I do know that Eaton students are born in money and power."

"Don't you think I'm going to blush harder if you do that, Aunt Zipei? It's fine, you should go… it would be horrible if I don't have a guardian representing me." Mu Qiqi stuck her tongue out at her aunt. "To me you're no different from my biological mother, and it's not like we aren't comparable to others in terms of social standing."

Su Zipei tousled her head and nodded. "Alright, I'll go."

Mu Qiqi nodded.

When she reached school, everyone was talking about the parent-teacher meeting too.

With the semester almost over, it was the school's practice to invite parents and guardians with concern to their children's results, although it was also a thinly-veiled event of invidious comparisons.

After all, those who could attend Eaton basically came from rich families, with Mu Qiqi herself being the sole exception.

As such, Qian Qian asked Mu Qiqi while resting her chin on her hand, "Who's coming from your home for the conference?"

"I only have my aunt. Who do you think?" Mu Qiqi answered with another question.

"What about that thing?" Qian Qian nodded at Mu Tangxue.

"Nothing to do with me." Mu Qiqi replied.

"As is usual with Eaton," Qian Qian reminded her, "every student here belongs to families of wealth and power. They'll be dressed in branded stuff from head to toe, but if your aunt comes… she might have to endure some ugly stares, since you are aware that the rich are very materialistic."

Mu Qiqi knew too that Su Zipei would only be humiliated if she came. How could she bear having that happen?

Mu Tangxue knew about Mu Qiqi's situation too, and hence approached her during recess and said, "Sis, could you be asking Aunt Zipei to come to the conference?"

Mu Qiqi turned and throw her a mind-your-own-business look.

"Both my parents will be coming. It's a pity your guardianship no longer belongs to the Mu family, so they can't help you. Still, if you really asked Aunt Zipei to come, it would only be very awkward, you know? She's poor for life, and she's going to be made a joke when she presents herself."

Mu Qiqi gave her a single glance and loudly yelled so that the whole class could hear, "Shut your stinking mouth and go back to your seat. Please work with me 'cause I don't want to see your face, okay?"

Mu Tangxue did not say another word. She turned and went back to her seat because Mu Qiqi certainly had no one else who could attend the parent-teacher conference for her!

How embarrassing could she get?

Therefore, Mu Tangxue grinned coldly!

Since she could leave the Mu family so elegantly, she must now pay the price.

Nonetheless, Mu Qiqi started to hesitate after Mu Tangxue spoke to her. It was not as if she was unhappy with Su Zipei, but she was worried that the other parents might give her a hard time, and she was absolutely unwilling to allow someone she cherished be upset.

That being said, she had no one else…

Therefore, during recess, she hesitated for a while but ended up calling Sheng Xiao.

"Xiaoxiao…what should I do?"

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