Chapter 23: What Else Did You and Chen Ye Do?

Ultimately, Su Siyun decided not to tell their parents about this.

Jiang Xin's pitiful little expression was the main reason; she simply couldn't bear to do it. Still, she felt she had to fulfill her duty as an older sister. She couldn't let Jiang Xin be deceived, especially by someone with ulterior motives like Chen Ye.

Jiang Xin hadn't interacted much with boys, but she herself had seen more than enough of them.

Even if she wanted to lay everything out in the open, some things were too awkward to say out loud. She could only try to persuade her sister tactfully. Pulling Jiang Xin back down onto the sofa, Su Siyun took deep breaths, her full chest heaving. It took her a good while to figure out how to phrase her thoughts.

She turned to look at the innocent-looking Jiang Xin beside her, who was biting her lip. "Haven't you considered that he might have some ulterior motive for suddenly approaching you like this?" she asked slowly.

Jiang Xin thought about it for a moment, then tilted her head and shook it. She couldn't guess.

Seeing Jiang Xin's endearingly clueless expression, Su Siyun was both exasperated and amused. After a moment of inner conflict, she finally decided to spell it out clearly. Otherwise, her sister—who was a blank slate when it came to romance—would never understand!

Taking a deep breath, she said solemnly, "Chen Ye is probably doing the same thing he's always done. He wants to start with you, get you to put in a good word for him, and ultimately make me fall for him. I saw that you were already starting to lean that way just now!"

Immediately after, not giving Jiang Xin any time to react, Su Siyun grabbed her shoulders with both hands and asked earnestly, "When Chen Ye came to our house today, he didn't mention me at all, did he?"

If Chen Ye had casually brought her up once or twice, that would actually be strange. But if he hadn't mentioned her a single time during his entire visit, it only proved he was overcompensating. It was the same logic as loudly emphasizing whatever you lacked the most. She was all too used to this kind of trick.

Jiang Xin thought back for a moment. First, she nodded, then she shook her head.

"What does that mean?" Su Siyun asked, confused.

Jiang Xin honestly wrote down, "Before he came in, he asked if you guys were home."

"I knew it!" Su Siyun immediately wore a knowing expression, her beautiful face regaining its usual confidence.

Her grip on Jiang Xin's shoulders tightened as she spoke with absolute certainty. "Listen to me, don't associate with him anymore. He couldn't win me over, so he must have listened to someone's terrible advice and decided to target you instead!"

After saying this, Su Siyun smiled smugly.

It wasn't that she needed to feel superior to Jiang Xin, or that boys who liked her weren't allowed to like her sister. Rather, she simply couldn't accept being inferior to anyone else. It was fine if they liked other girls, but the reason couldn't be that the other girl was better than her. The only acceptable reason was, "I'm not good enough for her."

If someone genuinely liked Jiang Xin, she would naturally congratulate her. Unfortunately, Chen Ye was not that someone.

However, Jiang Xin clearly didn't understand. Her small mouth fell open as she stared blankly at Su Siyun. Then, she pressed her lips tightly together, her gaze darting around as she wore an awkward expression, clearly unsure of how to respond.

Jiang Xin figured Su Siyun probably didn't know about the love letter Chen Ye had written to her. Otherwise, she wouldn't be acting so confident. But Jiang Xin couldn't bear to shatter her older sister's pride. She knew her too well.

Left with no other choice, she simply humored Su Siyun and nodded silently.

Some things would just have to be explained slowly later on. Besides, wouldn't Su Siyun forget about Chen Ye before long anyway? With so many boys fawning over her, she was never one to remember the names of past suitors.

Seeing that Jiang Xin understood, Su Siyun finally nodded in relief. Her younger sister was still very sensible and obedient, after all. At the same time, she felt she had done a good deed. At the very least, she had protected Jiang Xin and fulfilled her duties as an older sister.

But a second later, something else occurred to her. "Do you still have the gift he gave you?" she asked.

Jiang Xin nodded.

"Open it up and let's take a look. We probably can't get a refund even if we return it, so I'll buy it from you!" Su Siyun said earnestly.

She wasn't used to owing anyone. That was why, despite receiving so many gifts, no one ever called her shameless. She was fundamentally different from those girls who led boys on while comfortably accepting their presents.

But Jiang Xin hesitated. Because only she knew that the gift was meant for her, and even the love letter had been written to her. Even if she were to refund it, she should be the one to decide and use her own money. Su Siyun was... overstepping her bounds a little.

Yet she also knew that it was precisely this confident, self-respecting, and dignified personality that made Su Siyun shine so brightly and attract so many admirers. That was something... she couldn't do.

While Jiang Xin was hesitating, Su Siyun assumed she was worried about hurting Chen Ye's feelings. So, Su Siyun simply stood up and headed straight for Jiang Xin's bedroom. By the time Jiang Xin snapped out of her daze, Su Siyun had already entered the room.

The moment she stepped inside, Su Siyun spotted the gift bag sitting on the desk by the window. However, her attention was immediately drawn to the two sheets of stationery next to it. Walking over to the desk, she looked down at the two stacked pages.

"What do you need the computer for? Do you need my help?"

"No need, I know how to use it."

"Just call me if you need help."

The first page only contained these three lines—a very ordinary conversation. But did he really just want to use the computer? Su Siyun wondered. Still, she set the first page aside and looked at the one underneath.

Taking up the entire page were six large words.

"Hello, my name is Chen Ye."

At the very bottom was a line of normal-sized, elegant handwriting. She recognized it immediately—it was Jiang Xin's. It was also six words.

"There is only Chen, no Ye!!!"

It seemed like she was... very angry? But on the line just below that, the tone abruptly shifted, consisting of only two words.

"Thank you."

What was going on here? Did they have some secret interaction she didn't know about? Su Siyun instantly went on high alert.

But before she could dwell on it, Jiang Xin rushed into the room after her. Jiang Xin didn't even know why she felt so bashful, or why she felt the overwhelming urge to snatch those two pieces of paper away. However, she knew that if Su Siyun found out that Chen Ye might actually like her instead, given Su Siyun's current mood and personality, she definitely wouldn't let it go.

Therefore, with her near-zero understanding of romance, the best solution her mind could conjure in that moment was to hide anything and everything related to Chen Ye.

"What are you hiding?" Su Siyun froze for a moment before pressing her. "What else did you and Chen Ye do?"

Crumpling the two pages into a ball, Jiang Xin hid her clenched fists behind her back and resolutely shook her head. What she didn't know was that the harder she tried to hide it, the more suspicious she looked.

"Tell me right now, or I'll tell Mom and Dad that you sneaked a boy into the house!" Su Siyun spun around, pushing Jiang Xin down onto the bed. Snatching up a pen, she shoved it into Jiang Xin's hands and glared at her threateningly.

Jiang Xin immediately panicked. But under such a threat, she eventually had no choice but to obediently take the pen, flatten out the crumpled paper, and write down her answer.

Su Siyun turned to look at it, and she too froze on the spot.

"I taught him a sentence in sign language."

Learning sign language?

Chen Ye had only done two things when he visited their house. He used the computer for a bit, and then learned a sentence in sign language? Did he... really not care about her at all?

Recalling the calm, almost teasing look in Chen Ye's eyes just before he left, Su Siyun doubted her own judgment for the first time.