“That busy?”
“The contract had already been signed.”
The atmosphere between them grew tense. One of the staff members packing up called out, “Qiu Ze, when are you leaving?”
“Soon. I want to talk to my sister for a bit.”
“All right. The bus should leave around eleven. Don’t be late.”
“Mm.”
Once most of the people had left, Qiuyun turned her head. “You said you wanted to ask me something. Go ahead.”
Qiu Ze sat in the chair, his hands clenched ever so slightly. He lowered his head. “I don’t know if I should ask, but sometimes, I really feel…”
The lights around the rows of makeup mirrors were switched off by the staff, and the surroundings grew dimmer.
Qiuyun sighed. “Ask. I told you—I’ll answer anything honestly.”
Qiu Ze froze and looked blankly at his sister, as if asking, Do you already know what I want to say?
Qiuyun said nothing more, simply watching him in silence.
Their gazes met. In the end, Qiu Ze was the first to back down. His lips moved, and after steeling himself, he finally voiced his thoughts.
“I feel like you’ve changed a lot.”
“Mm.” Qiuyun looked toward the hallway outside.
“Your eyes have changed. So have your thoughts, your expressions, and the way you move. If it weren’t for the mole on your wrist being the same, I—I really might have thought…”
Qiu Ze blurted everything out in one breath. “I know it sounds completely absurd. You can hit me if you want, Sis! But I really feel… I really feel like you’ve changed so much, as if you’ve become a different person! You used to hate cooking, and you were always afraid of eating things that would make you gain weight. But today, you gave me desserts you baked yourself.”
As he spoke, Qiu Ze realized that his sister was looking at him calmly, without offering even the slightest denial.
For some inexplicable reason, a chill spread through his heart.
From Qiuyun’s perspective, she might have been able to fool everyone—even the original owner’s parents. The only person she probably could not deceive was this younger brother who wholeheartedly wanted nothing more than to treat his sister well.
Only someone who truly cared would be familiar with every detail of her past.
Even though the two siblings had spent no more than ten days together in total over the past year, that had still been enough for Qiu Ze’s suspicions to take root.
For Qiuyun, there were only two choices: admit it or deny it.
She chose to admit it.
“I’m indeed not the same sister you had before,” Qiuyun said. “You can think of it as… my soul taking over another body.”
Qiu Ze’s eyes widened, and his breath caught.
“A year ago, your sister and I both slipped and died at the same time. I think it may have been because we looked alike, had the same name, and even had identical birth dates and times. Perhaps the officials in the underworld mixed up our cases. I came to her world, and she may have gone to mine.”
Qiu Ze stared blankly for a long while before finally saying, “So it really wasn’t you.”
Then all the strange things that had happened before made sense.
Qiuyun let out a rueful laugh. “I could have denied it, of course. Something like this is too bizarre—like a ridiculous fantasy.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Qiu Ze asked, “Then why did you tell me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell someone else?”
“You won’t.” Qiuyun looked directly at him. “Because you’re the only person in this world who has ever treated your sister well.”
The hallway outside was empty by now.
The entire place had fallen completely silent.
Qiu Ze lowered his head dejectedly. “Yes. You’re right.”
His father and mother, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles—not one of them had ever treated his sister well. He had seen her cry and seen her lose her temper. He was the only person in this world who truly cared about her.
“There’s another reason I told you.” A smile curved Qiuyun’s lips. “From what I know of your sister, if she ended up in my body, the Duchess would probably realize it at a glance. But even if the Duchess noticed, she wouldn’t expose her. She’d take good care of her instead.”
“The Duchess?”
“You can think of her as my boss,” Qiuyun explained. “I have someone in that other world who worries about me and hopes I might return someday. By the same logic, the only person in this world who cares about your sister deserves to know the truth too.”
Qiu Ze was stunned as he slowly processed all this information.
After a long silence, Qiuyun asked, “Is there anything else you want to know?”
Qiu Ze shook his head, then nodded. “How—how is it over there? My sister isn’t suffering, is she?”
“Not at all. You can think of me as being retired on a generous salary. I also have several shops and residences, plus a considerable fortune in gold, silver, and valuables. As long as your sister doesn’t become a prostitute or a gambler, she’ll have enough to spend for the rest of her life.”
“Really?” Qiu Ze’s eyes lit up.
“Of course.” As the Duchess’s chief stewardess in the Duke’s household, how could Qiuyun not have some money of her own?
“My sister’s dream ever since she was little was to retire!” Qiu Ze said, genuinely delighted for her. “She always said that after retiring, she could enjoy life to the fullest. She wouldn’t have to work, she’d still have a pension, and she wouldn’t have to worry about her figure—she could eat and drink whatever she wanted. I never thought she’d achieve her dream by such an unexpected twist of fate!”
“Does your sister know how to have fun?”
Qiu Ze declared proudly, “Of course she does! She calls herself the person in the entire world who loves enjoying life the most.”
“Isn’t ‘loving the good life’ usually meant as an insult?”
“Of course it’s a compliment. My sister says life is only about thirty thousand days long, and anyone who doesn’t know how to enjoy it is an idiot!”
Qiuyun coughed.
She could already imagine how her sister was dragging along the recently widowed Duchess to eat, drink, and have fun throughout the Duke’s residence.
The atmosphere between them eased a little.
A sense of guilt welled up inside Qiu Ze. “I’m sorry. I—I…”
In truth, this sister had also treated him extremely well—better than his own sister, even. She had bought him a phone, found him a place to live, and helped plan out his career. Though they were not especially close, she had always sincerely considered his future.
Qiuyun smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “My own family relationships aren’t very good, either. I’m happy to have a younger brother like you.”
“Then can I still…”
“Of course you can.” Qiuyun’s gaze was warm. “As far as society is concerned, we’re still brother and sister, aren’t we?”
Qiu Ze’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Sis.”
“All right. Now that we’ve talked about this, let’s never bring it up again.” Qiuyun reminded him, “It involves the supernatural, so the fewer people who know about it, the better.”
“Understood.” Qiu Ze promised, “The moment I walk out that door, I’ll forget everything. I absolutely won’t tell anyone. I’ll take it to my grave!”
“Good.”
In truth, Qiuyun had not kept it from him solely because she felt guilty. There was another reason: Qiu Ze was simply too guileless and honest.
If it had been someone like Pei Cizhou—even if he were an extreme sister complex case—she would never have handed over such a massive weakness.
After leaving the stadium, Qiu Ze boarded the company bus and went to the airport hotel to rest. His flight was early the next morning.
Qiuyun looked around. By then, most of the crowd had dispersed, and when she turned her head, she saw Pei Cizhou waiting at the intersection.
“Sorry. Something came up.” It was nearly eleven, and she had no idea how long he had been waiting.
“Perfect timing. I got to enjoy the breeze.” Pei Cizhou opened the car door for her.
Once they were inside, Qiuyun fastened her seat belt. “I’m taking the fourth part of the driver’s license exam tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, I’m planning to go look at cars.”
