Reversed Life: Chapter 17 - Move Aside! Sister Nan is About to Flirt with Girls!
Chapter 17: Move Aside! Sister Nan is About to Flirt with Girls!
Saturday was the day of Gao Yan’s birthday party.
Mu Xiangxiang got up unusually early for it. After waking, she sat on the bed in a daze for a while. Weighing whether to review vocabulary words or pick out clothes, she chose the latter without hesitation.
After much effort, she found a matching outfit hanging in the corner of the walk-in closet under a dust cover—something its owner clearly rarely wore. Once dressed, she checked the gift Qiao Nan had handed over to her earlier. The moment she straightened up, the nervousness in her chest honestly felt even stronger than when she first discovered she and Qiao Nan had swapped bodies.
This was one of the very, very few times in her life that she had been invited to a group activity.
When she was younger, it was because her family had no permanent home and constantly changed schools, making normal friendships impossible. As she got older and understood her parents’ hardships better, she shifted more and more of her focus toward the family. Before she realized it, she seemed to have lost the ability to socialize normally. Then she entered Yingcheng, where she could barely even understand the everyday topics her wealthy classmates talked about, and the word “friendship” drifted even farther away.
She figured those affluent classmates who always went strangely quiet around her probably had no interest in getting to know a poor scholarship student so out of place among them.
Take Gao Yan, for example. They’d been classmates for over a year and had barely spoken. Mu Xiangxiang had no idea why the other girl had invited someone with Qiao Nan’s soul inside to this birthday party, but she was still happy.
That pleasant mood lasted right up until she opened the bedroom door and headed downstairs.
In the living room on the first floor of the Qiao residence, the two male heads of the household—one old, one young—were already seated on the sofa, each holding a newspaper and pretending to read seriously. Behind the newspapers, however, their gazes “casually” swept toward her one after another.
Qiao Rui’s was by far the sharpest. His already stern expression was even more severe than the past few days, and Mu Xiangxiang could practically read accusation in it. She reflected for a moment—
Oh. She’d locked the door last night.
Seriously, after someone sneaks into your room three nights in a row just to yank your hair, only an idiot wouldn’t lock the door, okay? Big brother, are you seriously giving her that accusing look?
Mu Xiangxiang had no energy to complain. Unlike the first day, she’d actually been asleep the last two nights when Qiao Rui came to mess with her. Every time, he fled with incredible speed, leaving no trace behind. If she hadn’t already known the truth thanks to pretending to sleep the first night, waking up to her scalp hurting and an empty room might really have convinced her it was all a hallucination.
So she was becoming increasingly curious—how exactly could Qiao Nan’s older brother do something that childish, then still act completely calm and dignified in front of his younger brother afterward?
At this point, she genuinely couldn’t feel any awe toward that cold face anymore. As for the other person…
Her gaze shifted from Qiao Rui to the middle-aged man bundled in a thick wool-lined coat.
Mm. Rosy complexion. Looked extremely energetic.
That said, the Qiao house had central heating throughout, and the indoor temperature was maintained at twenty-one degrees Celsius all day.
Mu Xiangxiang sighed and gave up on the standoff. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“Congee!”
The two answered in perfect unison. Resigned, she rolled up her sleeves and headed for the kitchen, while sincerely wondering—
She’d only invited them to eat the first day because she happened to run into them while making breakfast for herself and felt awkward not offering.
So why had these people naturally started waiting for her to cook breakfast every single day ever since?
*******
After meeting up with Qiao Nan, Mu Xiangxiang asked with mixed emotions, “Do you maybe want to buy something for your brother?”
Qiao Nan looked up from his phone and stared at her like she was mentally impaired for several seconds. “…Did you lose your mind?”
Mu Xiangxiang met his gaze for a moment before silently changing the subject. “…I think you should go home and change clothes.”
Qiao Nan was wearing a black hoodie with light-colored casual pants, layered with a gray cardigan and a black puffer jacket, paired with flat leather boots. Everything was from his own wardrobe. Put together, the outfit created a cool, stylishly androgynous look. It looked good, but perhaps a bit too casual.
Mu Xiangxiang had never attended a “party” before and instinctively felt she should treat it more seriously.
Qiao Nan, on the other hand, was a veteran of this social circle. At his age, he’d attended more major events than he could count on both hands and feet. A birthday party hosted by peers was nothing to him. “Change into what?” he scoffed. “Showing up without flip-flops is already me giving her face. You’re the one acting crazy dressing up like this.”
He lounged there with his legs spread casually apart, eyes dissatisfied as they swept over Mu Xiangxiang. Even when he hosted his own birthday parties, he’d never dressed this flamboyantly. Yet Mu Xiangxiang had somehow polished him up until he was practically dazzling.
Way to disrespect Brother Nan’s carefree bad-boy image.
******
City A, Xiaoming Mountain, Waihai Villa Resort.
The resort sat atop a mountain, remote and secluded. But thanks to its beautiful scenery and exorbitant prices, it had built quite a reputation.
Rich people from surrounding cities often came here to relax, and tonight was no exception. Aside from Gao Yan’s birthday party, several nearby villas were occupied by street racing enthusiasts from neighboring cities.
The scent of food filled the resort villa’s main hall as birthday girl Gao Yan skillfully chatted with her friends. City A wasn’t large, and the rich second-generation social circle was limited. Most of them were either classmates or family acquaintances from their parents’ generation, so everyone already knew each other.
The atmosphere was lively. And beneath that liveliness, undercurrents stirred.
Groups of Yingcheng girls leaned against tables chatting. A closer look revealed they’d all dressed especially carefully tonight.
Unable to spot the person they wanted to see, someone looked disappointed. “Didn’t Gao Yan say Brother Nan promised he’d come? Why isn’t he here yet?”
“He’s not going to suddenly cancel, right?! Please no—I haven’t seen him in almost a year. This is finally my chance…”
“Ahhh, Gao Yan just called him! She said he’s already on the way!”
Hearing the discussion around her, Fang Lingli became slightly dazed. Her memories drifted back to the days before the second semester of first year of high school—a time that didn’t actually seem all that different from now.
She’d entered Yingcheng in middle school and gone straight through into high school, just like her friends. She had witnessed “Brother Nan” dominating Yingcheng firsthand. Now that he’d transferred away for nearly a year, she could still vividly picture him shooting hoops in the gym whenever she closed her eyes—
If you hadn’t seen it in person, it was impossible to imagine that overwhelming wave of hormones hitting you head-on.
It wasn’t just about a handsome face or athletic body. Almost every girl at Yingcheng had fallen for him, and Fang Lingli was no exception.
Or perhaps “fallen for” wasn’t the right phrase. It was more like worship. Once he appeared in your field of vision, everything else dimmed into insignificance.
Only after he transferred away had she started noticing Jiang Hai, who was also handsome.
But even now, Brother Nan’s transfer remained a wound in the hearts of Yingcheng’s girls.
Being able to see him tonight should have been exciting, yet Fang Lingli felt strangely distracted. Her gaze wandered through the villa until her friend Mi Xiang suddenly leaned close and whispered, “Who are you looking for? Jiang Hai?”
Fang Lingli froze, then nodded vaguely.
“Jiang Hai’s been training nonstop with the school basketball team lately. He probably won’t arrive early. The team relied entirely on Brother Nan carrying them in previous years. Now that he’s gone, the pressure must be huge. I heard he even skipped the physics competition at the end of the month to practice.” As Mi Xiang spoke, she casually wrapped an arm around Fang Lingli’s shoulders. “Seriously, get ahold of yourself. You see him at the school gym every day already. Haven’t you seen enough?”
Fang Lingli mumbled awkwardly, suddenly realizing she hadn’t gone to the basketball gym to watch Jiang Hai in days. For a moment, she didn’t even know how to explain herself.
Mi Xiang abruptly changed topics. “Oh right, I heard Gao Yan invited that girl from your class too—the poor scholarship student you said kept pestering Jiang Hai.”
That sharp-featured girl’s face suddenly flashed into Fang Lingli’s mind, and she instinctively nodded.
Mi Xiang rolled her eyes. Thinking back to the girl who’d gone onstage to receive the full scholarship at the end of last semester, her image was already blurry in memory—just a vague silhouette with long hair and glasses obscuring her face. She slowly sipped her sparkling wine and said disdainfully, “Inviting just anybody to this kind of event… Gao Yan seriously has no taste…”
Before she finished speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted near the villa entrance.
Mi Xiang turned instinctively—and immediately saw the face she’d never forget even if it turned to ashes. “Brother Nan!”
But at the same time, her eyes uncontrollably shifted to the figure entering beside him.
Snow-white skin. Short hair. Delicate features. Standing next to Qiao Nan… was a girl.
The next second, perhaps sensing how sharp her stare was, the girl turned her head. When their eyes met, one brow lifted slightly, and her smile suddenly became wickedly teasing, carrying an indescribable aggression.
******
Qiao Nan narrowed his eyes as he swept a glance over the group of little animals pretending to act reserved inside the room. He hadn’t expected to encounter several hostile gazes. It took almost no effort for him to make the owners of those looks blush furiously. All he could think of was the way they used to scream themselves hoarse for him in the basketball gym. He cast a sideways glance at Mu Xiangxiang, inwardly thinking only an idiot like her would feel nervous because of them.
Out of insecurity, Mu Xiangxiang had dressed herself especially carefully today. Not only had she put on the outfit Qiao Nan loathed, she’d even styled her hair and added a pair of decorative glasses before leaving.
After wearing glasses for years, the weight on the bridge of her nose gave her a sense of security.
But the decorative glasses in Qiao Nan’s closet were obviously different from the thick black frames she usually wore. The finely crafted silver-rimmed glasses didn’t hide her features at all—instead, they made her gaze seem even sharper and deeper.
The effect left Gao Yan stunned for quite a while before she finally worked up the courage to go greet them.
But even more surprising than that… was the other person.
The short-haired girl dressed casually noticed Gao Yan looking at her but didn’t avoid the gaze. She simply stood there relaxed with one hand in her pocket, raising the other arm so a gift bag dangled and swung from her index finger as she tilted her head and grinned. “Happy birthday~”
The drawn-out tone carried a teasing lilt, as frivolous as the curled strands of hair falling over her forehead.
Meeting that handsome face smiling so mischievously, Gao Yan’s cheeks instantly heated bright red for reasons she couldn’t explain—even though she hadn’t blushed facing the former campus heartthrob himself.
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