Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 382: Chapter 364: A Night Visit to Tang Chen

Luo Shufan made the call with no other intent but to say, once she had finished signing up, she would video call.

When Luo Qianqian woke up in the hotel, it was late at night. Despite still wearing the indispensable device on her head, once she woke, she didn’t plan on getting more sleep. The reason she came back to sleep immediately after finishing her exam and meal, rather than going out to celebrate the end of high school like other students, was precisely to get up early. Pulling up the screen on her phone showed it was half past eleven, she tore off the patches connected to her body and still hadn’t managed to make a single phone call after long contemplation.

After changing her clothes and lazily washing up, she left the room with her room card and wallet, not taking her phone but instinctively wearing her watch. It was only after leaving that she remembered the watch was trackable too, but then she let it go, for she wasn’t heading home.

Aimlessly catching a taxi, she then returned to her home’s location, observing her neighborhood which had taken on complete darkness except for sparse dim lights and the occasional cat’s meow.

Looking at her own home plunged in darkness, Luo Qianqian didn’t go upstairs even though she had the keys. She was afraid there might be someone inside and if she bumped into them, she wouldn’t be able to explain.

From He Wenyu’s home shone a dim light, seemingly from watching television; just who was watching it remained unclear. She circled to the back of the building and looked at her and He Wenyu’s rooms. He Wenyu’s room, unlike hers which was dark, was still lit, Xiao Yu wasn’t asleep yet. She observed the light spilling from his room, her eyes twinkled for a second before she turned and left.

As her eyes swept the familiar surroundings, her nose tingled, and before she realized it, she was already standing at the doorway of the place Xu Tianyi had once lived. Hesitating for a moment, she remembered Tang Chen now lived inside, and, after a slight hesitation, she knocked on the door.

Tang Chen, awakened by the knocking and rubbing his sleep-blurred eyes, cursed as he opened the door, ”Who is it? Selling something this late? Don’t you know disturbing people at night could end up with a police call?... Luo Qianqian?” Seeing Luo Qianqian standing there with a smile, Tang Chen was stunned, quickly slamming the door shut.

Luo Qianqian, faced with rejection, touched her nose sheepishly, wondering what had gone wrong. However, the next second, the door reopened. Tang Chen had changed into sportswear, looking embarrassed, ”I was asleep just now, so... hehe.” He said, letting Luo Qianqian into the room.

Luo Qianqian raised an eyebrow, realizing the issue, ”Because you were wearing boxers? But I’m just a teenager, what are you afraid of? That I’d take a photo and share it with the world?”

”Yeah, I just got back, came to check it out.” Luo Qianqian tugged at the corner of her mouth, eyeing the messy fast food containers in the room.

Tang Chen looked embarrassed, then quickly grabbed a trash bag and started cleaning up the fast food containers, ”The girls came over for a meal today, it got a bit late so I didn’t tidy up.”

”They?” Luo Qianqian raised an eyebrow, grabbing an unopened bottle of AD Calcium and started drinking without hesitation, ”Who was here? Xiao Yu and the others?”

Tang Chen nodded, cleaned up the trash, then sat down, ”Did you just finish your exam?”

Luo Qianqian nodded, her eyes on the bottle in her hand, ”Which school does Xu Tianyi plan to attend?”

”Him?” Tang Chen shook his head, looking surprised at Luo Qianqian, ”Didn’t you know? He already got his admission certificate, decided to go to a school across the ocean. But I’m not sure why he still wanted to take the college entrance exam...”

”When was this decision made?” Luo Qianqian was shocked, tightening her grip without realizing the drink was already dripping from the straw.

Tang Chen looked seriously at Luo Qianqian’s expression, ”It was decided before the New Year, I’m not very clear on the Xu family matters...”

Luo Qianqian nodded, it had been a long time since she last contacted Xu Tianyi, their interactions limited to a couple of fairly normal greeting messages.

”How are Xiao Yu and the others?” Luo Qianqian hesitated for a moment before asking.

Tang Chen nodded, ”He Wenyu and Zhao Wenxuan confirmed their romantic relationship, seems to be getting along well, Jiang An and Zhang Jingjing have broken up, Jiang Qian is now with a guy from our grade...”

”Stop, stop, stop, why is it all gossip...” Luo Qianqian scoffed, placing the spilled AD Calcium back on the table, ”What about their grades? They haven’t all lost their ambitions to play, have they?”

Tang Chen looked pointedly at Luo Qianqian, ”Gu Yanzhi and Qiao Xiyang have always been in the top three of our grade, Chu Yu and He Wenyu are quite close in ranking, overall not falling out of the top thirty, Zhang Jingjing might be a bit lower...”

Luo Qianqian rolled her eyes, that was just a rundown, ”What about my family?”

”Your mom has been frequently visiting the hospital recently, afraid that...” Tang Chen paused slightly, stopping to gauge Luo Qianqian’s reaction.

”What? What happened to my mom? What’s the matter?” Luo Qianqian immediately stood up, her face filled with fear and her eyes quickly filling with tears, as if about to fall in the next moment.

”She might be pregnant...” Tang Chen seemed even more conflicted, knowing it might not matter for a single-parent family to remarry, but having another child was another story... he wondered if she could accept it.

Luo Qianqian was stunned, ”Pregnant? Are you sure?” Luo Qianqian’s eyes widened in shock.

”It should be right... Your stepdad treats your mom with such care every day,” Tang Chen touched his nose, seeming to think that wasn’t the main point.

Luo Qianqian was stunned for a long time before she finally sat down, relieved. Tears slid down her face, yet she smiled and clasped her hands together in front of her chest. ”Then that’s good, praying for my mom and the baby to be safe.”

Tang Chen was surprised. ”You’re not upset?”

”Why? Because someone else is getting the love? But I haven’t been home for almost a year. If there’s a little baby to divert mom’s attention, that’s also good.” Luo Qianqian smiled and shook her head. ”I don’t like to see mom upset.”

”But I always feel like your mom doesn’t want this child...” Tang Chen hesitated for a moment before speaking. When he had discovered the matter, he had someone follow her to prevent any accidents, only for that person to see An Zilan secretly wiping tears with the report in her hand.

”How could that be?” Luo Qianqian furrowed her eyebrows, then relaxed them a moment later. ”I’ll talk about it after I finish submitting my college applications. Thanks for looking out for my family...”

Tang Chen shook his head and smiled. ”If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have encountered...”

”Encountered what?” Luo Qianqian looked at Tang Chen cover his mouth, raised an eyebrow, and reached out to him.

”What?” Tang Chen completely ignored Luo Qianqian’s question, looking at the hand she stretched out and grabbed a handful of the sunflower seeds he hadn’t finished eating during the day, placing them in her hand.

Luo Qianqian looked at the sunflower seeds in her hand, almost not sure whether to cry or laugh.

”I want my phone, my phone, I didn’t bring it with me when I went out.” Luo Qianqian sighed. ”Your comprehension skills...”

Blushing, Tang Chen took out the phone and handed it to Luo Qianqian, who naturally unlocked it and was just about to dial when she saw the photo on the screen, laughed, and then dialed.

Tang Chen was tidying up the snacks he hadn’t finished, and it took him a while to remember his phone’s wallpaper. He turned to look at Luo Qianqian, but saw that she had already put the phone to her ear, blushing. Did she not see it?

Luo Qianqian saw the look Tang Chen gave her and realized what he was thinking, pretending not to know, she listened to the unconnected dial tone and chuckled internally. After all the gossip, he hadn’t mentioned this situation.

The screen was displaying a photo of Fu Mingxue making a heart with her hands, her face bright with a broad smile.

”Hello? Brother?” The voice from the other side came through.

Luo Qianqian softly said, ”It’s me.”

”What’s up? Right, you should be over there, what’s up?” The voice went from surprised to completely flat in less than three seconds.

Luo Qianqian smiled. ”I heard you’re about to leave.”

”Yeah, soon,” the voice became melancholic for an instant but then returned to being indifferent. ”How did the exams go?”

”Even if it’s not as good as yours, I’m still very confident,” Luo Qianqian laughed. ”When are you coming back?”

”Two years, three years? Who knows. What college are you planning to apply to?” The voice was very calm. Luo Qianqian laughed silently, just pausing slightly.

”Probably the one Nuannuan is attending.”

”Hmm.”

”Are you going to sleep?”

”Almost.”

”Hmm, should I wait for you?”

”... Wait for me.”