Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 172: Chapter 161: Chance Encounter

Luo Shufan went shopping with Luo Qianqian and as they arrived at the bookstore, he spotted a familiar figure. Luo Shufan noticed his sister’s complexion turn sour in an instant, dark as the bottom of a pot.

”Qianqian,” Luo Shufan hesitated for a moment, grabbing the arm of Luo Qianqian who was continuing forward, ”What are you planning to do?”

”Shouldn’t I go and say hello when my good friend is over there?” Luo Qianqian’s tone was matter-of-fact, but Luo Shufan felt a chill.

”Xiao Yu,” Luo Qianqian approached He Wenyu and the boy, ”You are also here to buy stationery, huh?” Her smile was beaming, yet it didn’t reach her eyes.

”...” He Wenyu sensed that Luo Qianqian bore ill intent, but was at a loss for a response. She could only nod her head and greet Luo Shufan, ”Good morning, brother.” However, her mind was on alert regarding her friend’s behavior, given the harsh words she had uttered the day before, making He Wenyu ponder carefully.

At that moment, Luo Qianqian took the measure of Zhao Wenxuan, whom she was meeting for the first time in this life. Merely in his teens, a few years younger than Luo Shufan, yet already over 1.8 meters tall, half a head taller than Luo Shufan. Remembering his almost two-meter stature in her previous life, she had some understanding—this was the result of good nutrition.

”Hello, you must be Xiao Yu’s good friend Luo Qianqian, right? I’m Xiao Yu’s friend, Zhao Wenxuan.” Zhao Wenxuan smiled warmly, ”I often hear Xiao Yu speak of you, always saying she wants to get to know her good friend better.”

Luo Qianqian curled her lips in a smile, ”Hello.” However, her gaze was frosty.

Zhao Wenxuan was somewhat puzzled. Even though Luo Qianqian’s polite remark was without fault, why did he detect a note of disgust in her tone? He shouldn’t have had contact with He Wenyu’s good friend before, could it be she was worried he would snatch away her friend He Wenyu? Zhao Wenxuan chuckled in his head, thinking how childish.

”We should get going,” He Wenyu, noting the icy look in her friend’s eyes, hastily said goodbye and pulled Zhao Wenxuan into the bookstore.

Zhao Wenxuan rejoiced internally; this was their first time holding hands, as before they had only done homework together and asked each other questions.

Luo Qianqian watched their hands tightly clasped together, furrowing her brows, her eyes full of annoyance. If she had spoken nicely yesterday, could all this have been avoided?

”Are we still going to go?” Luo Shufan, seeing his sister’s unhappy expression, grew worried. She had just fainted before; he hoped no further issues would arise.

”Go, why not?” Luo Qianqian, spotting her brother’s concerned face, showed a smile and clung to her brother’s arm, ”I can’t just stop studying because I’m in a bad mood, can I? Otherwise, brother, you’d spank me right?”

Seeing his sister’s demeanor, Luo Shufan also relaxed, stroking her head, ”What should we buy first?”

”They must have gone to look at reference books; we’ll go buy pens and notebooks first.” Luo Qianqian blinked, ”Out of sight, out of mind.” As long as her brother was there, she couldn’t get into an ugly fight with He Wenyu; her brother would worry, and He Wenyu would resent her later on.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t explicitly state her reason for stopping He Wenyu and Zhao Wenxuan, leaving them to their own devices. She would have to ask her school friends to investigate them after school started.

”Good girl, I’ll buy you a lollipop later,” Luo Shufan sighed in relief, following his sister into the bookstore.

Luo Qianqian stood at the entrance of the supermarket and had to admit that her fate with He Wenyu was predetermined by the heavens. Out of so many small supermarkets, they both chose this one. Luo Qianqian huffed, took her things, and left. He Wenyu’s hand hadn’t even touched the hem of Luo Qianqian’s clothes when her figure disappeared around the corner.

He Wenyu sighed. Initially, she thought Luo Qianqian’s greeting was a sign of softening, maybe her abrupt departure provoked her, and now it really seemed out of control. Was she really never going to speak again, to sever the friendship? He Wenyu’s face showed confusion. She couldn’t understand why her good friend knew Zhao Wenxuan, nor could she comprehend why her friend would prevent her from being friends with Zhao Wenxuan even if it meant ending their friendship, and she certainly couldn’t grasp her friend’s hostility towards Zhao Wenxuan. Seeing today’s situation, Qianqian must know and recognize Zhao Wenxuan, yet Zhao Wenxuan clearly acted like it was their first meeting. She didn’t believe what her informed friends had said since the ones who knew she was acquainted with Zhao Wenxuan didn’t know Luo Qianqian; she was utterly baffled and had nowhere to vent.

”Why didn’t you buy water?” Luo Shufan looked at his sister coming back empty-handed and asked curiously, ”Weren’t you thirsty?”

”It’s too cold, I’ll drink hot water when I get home.” Luo Qianqian opened her mouth, forgetting the purpose of her trip to the supermarket, and made up an excuse on the spot.

”As long as you can hold off, that’s fine. How about this one?” Luo Shufan picked up a workbook. Luo Qianqian pushed the jumbled thoughts out of her mind and began carefully selecting workbooks to give to Shufan.

”Don’t bother buying physics, Grandpa Zhang has too many, you wouldn’t be able to finish them all.” Luo Qianqian pursed her lips as she watched Luo Shufan holding a dozen or so workbooks, sorting them painstakingly: ”You wouldn’t do the Chinese ones you buy, and these history and politics ones are just for show, right? Do you think you have too much money?”

”Luo Shufan?” A girl walked up to Luo Shufan and tapped him on the shoulder, ”You’re also here to buy workbooks?”

Luo Shufan paused, turned around, and saw the girl, then smiled, ”I’m mainly here to buy stationery for my sister. You’re here too, huh.” After saying this, he introduced her to Luo Qianqian, ”This is Tan Xiyun, the class committee leader from my class, and this is my sister Luo Qianqian.” He then introduced Luo Qianqian to Tan Xiyun.

”I’ve heard so much about you.” Tan Xiyun looked at Luo Qianqian, covering her mouth with a light laugh, ”Every time Luo Shufan gets his grades back from an exam, he says, ’That’s my sister’s role model.’ You are the legendary sister spoken of by our academic gods.”

Luo Qianqian was taken aback. Her brother had such a cute side? She looked at Luo Shufan doubtfully, only to see a hint of red on Luo Shufan’s face. Her heart was also happy as she clung to Tan Xiyun, ”Sister Tan Xiyun, thanks for always looking out for my brother.” She blinked her eyes, creating the perfect image of a sweet and lovely girl-next-door.

”If I hadn’t seen you put back the workbooks Luo Shufan was going to buy just now, I would have been completely fooled by your appearance,” Tan Xiyun said as she touched Luo Qianqian’s braid. ”What have you both bought? Grab a set for me too; I should learn from an academic god.”

Luo Shufan grabbed a set of the workbooks he was holding for Tan Xiyun as well, ”See? Be mindful of your image,” he teased his sister, grinning with a look of joy and pleasure.

Luo Qianqian pouted, ”I think I look quite good.” Saying this, she picked up a workbook then frowned as if suddenly waking from a dream, hurriedly saying to Tan Xiyun, ”My brother’s workbooks are all for senior year review with complex question types, it might be better to choose some basic ones for freshman year, right?”

Luo Shufan wordlessly pulled on his sister’s sleeve, pointing at Tan Xiyun who had already checked out and left, ”It’s too late to say that now, she’s already gone...”

”Should you buy some basic ones and exchange them when school starts?” Luo Qianqian suggested, looking forlorn.

”It’s fine, we can return and exchange them here, and she’ll probably come back to exchange them once she realizes she can’t do them.” Luo Shufan didn’t want to, thinking that if she came back to exchange, wouldn’t he also have to come back again?

”Alright then.” Luo Qianqian picked up two more workbooks nonchalantly, ”This one seems pretty easy going, nice to relax with after doing a math paper.” Luo Shufan’s mouth twitched at the sight of the chemistry papers his sister had picked up.