Chapter 84 : Side Story 14. Please Continue to Guide Me in the Future
When they left again, it was already half an hour later. The two took the elevator directly to the underground garage.
Since Su Huan's leg was inconvenient, she had her wait nearby while Shen Xiaoyu went to get the car herself.
She walked to the car and was about to open the door when she caught sight of car lights turning on behind her. A figure got out of the car and walked toward her.
"Xiaoyu," Qiao Si'en's voice came from behind.
Shen Xiaoyu paused in opening the door, hesitated for a few seconds, then closed it and turned to look at the person behind her, "Si'en? Why are you here?"
She spoke with an awkward smile, "Well, this afternoon, we—"
"I heard everything." Qiao Si'en's gaze fell on her neck, where there were still uncovered marks on her collarbone, showing what they had done.
Shen Xiaoyu lowered her head, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
If she had known, she would have kicked Su Huan out! Damn it, she'd have to beat her up later!
"I've been waiting here for you for a long time." Qiao Si'en seemed to have been crying, her eyes red and swollen, her voice choked and hoarse.
Her gaze went past Shen Xiaoyu to look at Su Huan standing not far away. A hint of sadness flashed through her eyes, "Have you two gotten back together?"
Shen Xiaoyu followed her gaze and met Su Huan's eyes directly.
Seeing Qiao Si'en, the other frowned and was about to come over. She immediately raised her hand to stop her movement and took out her phone to send her a message.
—Let us talk.
Su Huan looked down at the message, stopped, and didn't move anymore.
Watching their communication, the sadness in Qiao Si'en's eyes deepened.
She bit her lip, not caring about anything else, and spoke almost shouting, "Shen Xiaoyu, I like you."
Shen Xiaoyu turned back sharply to look at her, her eyes containing everything—conflict, difficulty, embarrassment—but no joy.
"I've loved you for a long time, but I never said it. Now I'm seriously telling you, I want to raise An'an together with you. I also want to eat together every day in the future, travel together, watch sunrises and sunsets together."
As Qiao Si'en spoke, her hands in front of her nervously twisted together. She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and asked again, "Would you be willing to be my girlfriend?"
Shen Xiaoyu lowered her head, not daring to look at her expectant eyes, her lips struggling with word choice.
"Si'en, I..."
"You don't need to rush to reject me. You can think about it more!" Qiao Si'en became agitated, "Although Miss Su is An'an's mother, she might not be suitable for you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have divorced!"
"Si'en, I really..."
"Xiaoyu!" Qiao Si'en interrupted her again, her eyes pleading as she begged, "Think about it more, consider it carefully! Actually, I wanted to tell you before, but your condition didn't look good, so I thought I'd wait a bit."
Qiao Si'en looked at her nervously, undisguised panic in her voice.
"But with this delay, you suddenly had a daughter. After An'an appeared, your mood was obviously low, including the time you were taking care of An'an. I wanted to speak up several times, but seeing your state, I felt it wasn't urgent. After all, An'an was most important. Before An'an's emotions stabilized, you probably wouldn't consider other things either. But this wait lasted two years." Qiao Si'en said, wanting to cry even more, "I didn't expect An'an's mother Su Huan to appear. Am I too late?"
Shen Xiaoyu closed her mouth and was silent for a long while before honestly saying, "Si'en, I'm not suitable for you. Don't waste any more time on me."
Qiao Si'en's eyes reddened as tears fell drop by drop, "Xiaoyu, really can't be with me?"
She shook her head, "Si'en, I only consider you a friend. Before and in the future."
"What about her?" Qiao Si'en pointed toward Su Huan, "Do you still love her?"
Shen Xiaoyu looked in the direction she pointed, falling into silence for a moment.
Just when Qiao Si'en thought she wouldn't answer, she spoke, "I love her."
Qiao Si'en was stunned, "Even though she did wrong things?"
She fell silent.
After a long while, she said, "...It wasn't really wrong. Just different positions."
Shen Xiaoyu withdrew her gaze and smiled at her, "Too many things happened between Su Huan and me. It's too troublesome to explain in a sentence or two. Generally speaking, we can't be described with right and wrong between us. There are only different positions."
When she returned from the first playthrough, she had also been full of hatred, hating Su Huan for deceiving her, hating her for hurting her.
But six years was enough time for her to calm down.
Speaking of deception, she had deceived her first, and regardless of the purpose, deceiving the conquest target was a kind of harm to Su Huan.
Especially after Su Huan learned that successful conquest meant she would leave, giving her true heart meant she would definitely be hurt. Even if she had thought about staying, revealing her true feelings and being noticed by Su Huan was itself a deception.
But then again, Su Huan's behavior had indeed hurt her, making her suffer countless grievances in those ten years.
In six years, she still hadn't figured out whose behavior was more detestable.
So now she had figured it out—they had different positions, and there was no way to blame who was right or wrong.
"I can fool others, but not myself." She said, "I love her. And I can't forget her."
Shen Xiaoyu seemed not to see Qiao Si'en's pain and despair, continuing:
"When she wasn't here before, I just wanted to raise An'an well. But when she appeared in front of me, I inevitably thought of her. Every time our eyes met, my heartbeat told me I still loved her."
Heartbeats can't deceive people.
"Are you going to remarry her?"
Shen Xiaoyu thought about it, then shook her head, "No. I can't accept it, and I can't forgive."
Hearing this, Qiao Si'en's eyes immediately brightened.
Before she could speak, the person in front of her spoke again, "Our relationship is too deeply entangled, not suitable for being together again. But—"
She paused, then continued, "But I can't leave her, and I don't want to leave her. Just as she can't leave me and can't leave me.
We'll only be like this for our whole lives, mutually entangled, torturing each other. Until death."
She spoke sadly, yet her face carried a smile, as if she was very happy.
Qiao Si'en's whole body shook.
She didn't understand, but she knew she was too late.
She would never compare to Su Huan's place in Shen Xiaoyu's heart, and would never be able to erase Su Huan from Shen Xiaoyu's heart.
Even if Su Huan hadn't appeared, Shen Xiaoyu could never have accepted her.
Qiao Si'en suddenly calmed down. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, swallowed all the sadness, but tears still slid down her cheeks.
"Sorry, I was impulsive today." She said, "Xiaoyu, I hope you're happy and blessed."
After speaking, she reached out to hug Shen Xiaoyu.
Shen Xiaoyu patted her back, "You too."
The two hugged briefly, then immediately separated.
Qiao Si'en didn't say anything more, looked at her deeply, then stepped back and turned to leave.
Shen Xiaoyu watched her figure disappear, exhaled a breath of stale air, then turned to open the car door and get in.
Shen Xiaoyu started the car and slowly drove to Su Huan, rolling down the window to call, "Get in."
Su Huan crossed her arms over her chest, pouting as she questioned, "What were you just talking about? Why wouldn't you let me listen? And why did she hug you just now?"
Don't think she didn't see—Shen Xiaoyu had hugged her back too!
Like an overturned vinegar jar, she gritted her teeth, spouting sour words, "Why can she hug you but I can't?! Are you still thinking about Shi Qiubai? I knew that vixen would only bring trouble!"
Shen Xiaoyu rested one hand on the steering wheel, expressionlessly watching her go crazy.
"Are you done? Are you going or not? If not, stay home by yourself!"
Su Huan's eyes immediately filled with tears as she raised her voice, "Fine! Really great, Shen Xiaoyu! You're fickle! You use and abandon! You don't cherish what you get! When you were sleeping with me, you weren't like this... mmm mmm mmm—"
Hearing the content was about to go off track, Shen Xiaoyu panicked and immediately opened the car door, covering Su Huan's mouth with one hand. She looked around to make sure no one was there before relaxing, then embarrassedly hit her several times.
"Can you shut up! Are you afraid people don't know what we did?" Shen Xiaoyu glared at her angrily, "Tone down your drama queen act, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
Only after being scolded did Su Huan restrain herself, smiling innocently like a harmless kitten.
Shen Xiaoyu glared at her once more, then turned to get in the car.
Su Huan limped and bounced into the passenger seat.
When they reached the restaurant, Shen Nian'an and the others had already arrived, and the meal was enjoyed by all.
During the meal, Mother Shen's gaze kept moving between Shen Xiaoyu and Su Huan. Suddenly her eyes caught something, and understanding flashed in them.
She didn't say much, just when Su Huan was playing with Shen Nian'an, she approached Shen Xiaoyu and said she hoped she would be happy.
Shen Xiaoyu felt complicated emotions, held Mother Shen's hand, and smiled at her.
"Mom, I'm very happy." She turned to look at Su Huan, slightly curving her lips as she murmured, "Happier than before."
Missing when not seeing, not wanting to show a good face when seeing.
This was what she meant by always tormenting each other.
That night when they returned home, Shen Nian'an was so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open and was carried to bed by Mother Shen.
Shen Xiaoyu was taking a shower in her room. When she came out, she found an extra person on her bed.
Su Huan seemed to have had her channels opened, being shameless to an inhuman degree.
Shen Xiaoyu expressionlessly rolled up in a blanket and got out of bed to sleep on the floor.
But in the middle of the night, someone still snuck in, woke her up, and had their way with her body.
After some commotion, Shen Xiaoyu couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and directly kicked the person away with her foot, then continued sleeping.
After a while, the warm body pressed close again. Just as she was about to scold, her ankle was grabbed.
Su Huan just held her, her voice gentle, "Alright, no more trouble. Let's sleep."
Shen Xiaoyu waited a while and seeing no movement from her, fell into deep sleep.
○
Shen Xiaoyu's affection level had stabilized and rarely changed. The hidden missions given by the system provided large time rewards.
Su Huan no longer worried about missions. Before she even submitted resumes to major entertainment companies, a director came to her door, hoping Su Huan could play the female lead in her movie.
After Shen Xiaoyu inquired, she learned that Su Huan's disheveled appearance outside the amusement park that day had been photographed and posted online. Her cool, broken beauty immediately captured many hearts.
The director accidentally saw Su Huan's photo and was immediately taken with her temperament. Through various introductions, she found Shen Xiaoyu. After seeing Su Huan, the director's eyes lit up like light bulbs, insisting that Su Huan become the female lead.
This was quite similar to Su Huan's debut experience in the original world.
After reading the script, Su Huan decided to act in the movie.
However, acting in the movie required leaving home for about a year and a half, first receiving professional training and living in hotels prepared by the crew.
This condition made Su Huan hesitate.
The director saw the relationship between Su Huan and Shen Xiaoyu and suggested letting Shen Xiaoyu make a cameo in her movie, packaging both of them together into the crew.
Su Huan happily signed the contract and had a warm and enthusiastic exchange with the director.
Throughout, Shen Xiaoyu couldn't get a word in, realizing she had just found herself a new job.
After seeing off the visitors, Su Huan excitedly circled around Shen Xiaoyu asking for credit. If she had a tail, it would be spinning like a propeller.
Shen Xiaoyu felt complicated emotions but didn't say anything else.
After all, who could refuse becoming famous and earning more money?
Soon, Su Huan joined the crew for professional training.
A year passed quickly. In the days before the movie's release, box office was low but reviews were consistently good. Starting from the sixth day, box office began doubling, with rave reviews online.
Online influencers who watched it all posted recommendation videos, pushing the movie's popularity to its peak, with discussion ranking first across the internet.
As the female lead, Su Huan became an overnight sensation, transforming from an unknown to a nationally recognized actress. With the entertainment company's support, she had constant script offers and lasting fame.
Although Shen Xiaoyu didn't have many scenes, she was also discovered by fans and gained millions of followers.
She had clear self-awareness and didn't sign with an entertainment company, instead continuing to ride the popularity wave as an internet celebrity blogger.
In the second year after becoming famous, Su Huan won various newcomer awards for the movie and took home Best Actress.
In her acceptance speech, Su Huan said many things, thanking the director for her keen eye, thanking the crew for their hard work, thanking her own efforts.
"...But I'm most grateful for my lover who has always been by my side. Yes, it's my nemesis in the movie! Although the director didn't adopt my suggestion to let us fall in love and made me work so hard against my nemesis, resulting in me getting beaten by her for a long time when I got home to comfort her, I still want to say that in reality, I have the most unforgettable love. Taking this opportunity, I want to tell everyone that Su Huan is taken!"
She looked at Shen Xiaoyu sitting below, word by word, "Shen Xiaoyu, let's continue walking together in the future!"
My love, in the future, please continue to guide me.
(Side Story: Completed)
