You Don’t Have To Please Me

"Our girl sleeps early…"

Sheng Xiao was ready to leave, but Mu Qiqi seemed to have heard the car ignition starting, and promptly switched on the lights before dashing to the window for a look. 

Sheng Xiao saw her. He turned off the ignition.

In the next split second, Mu Qiqi appeared before him in her pajamas. "You're here? Did you saw my message?"

"Young lady, what phone are you using?" Sheng Xiao locked his car and entered the living room with Mu Qiqi in tow.

She was a little nervous as she watched his huge frame—her cheeks were red, her heart beating furiously.

"I learned tennis and it turns out I'm quite good at it," she said from his back. "But you must be busy—you won't be interested in me saying such things, but… I just know that you that you like to play."

Sheng Xiao turned around to look at her then. He settled onto the sofa and gestured for her to come closer.

But just as she took two steps towards him, he caught her hand and said, "You don't have to please me. I'm not from the Mu family—I won't simply throw away things that belong to me."

"I'm not… a thing!" Mu Qiqi retorted, frowning. "I'm a person."

Sheng Xiao could not help teasing her in return. "Anyway, I'll play tennis with you when I'm done with my work. There'll be punishment if you suck."

"What punishment?"

"You'll know when the time comes. Go to bed, there's still school tomorrow." Sheng Xiao released her and urged her to return upstairs. "By the way, although you definitely didn't do well in the mock exam, you should remember that your goal isn't Mu Tangxue—it's yourself."

Mu Qiqi took a deep breath even as she gazed upon Sheng Xiao's handsomely captivating face, afraid that she would forget to breathe.

"Well, I'm off to bed…"

"Alright." Sheng Xiao nodded.

He still had to return home after visiting the girl. He was definitely going to reclaim his freedom when that geezer recovers for some skiing in New Zealand.

He could even consider bringing the girl along then.

By the time he left the small mansion, Mu Qiqi, whom he thought had gone to bed was actually hiding behind the stairs. She only returned to her room when he was gone, leaping into her large, soft bed.

She felt she had become closer to Sheng Xiao once again.

It was almost euphoric!

She was slowly bonding with her classmates, becoming cheerful and energetic in a brief three months and a leader in studies.

Quick-witted and easily understanding new things, she was also active in sports—even enduring what others could not stand for whatever she wanted to learn.

But that was not enough. For Sheng Xiao, the Mu Qiqi he wanted was one who could lift her chin when facing others and refuse anything she disliked, even strutting.

At the same time, Sheng Xiao understood well that sufficient confidence was needed so that Mu Qiqi could become that proud, but he must also be the one to grant that support.

The Mu family had hurt her too much, and she was also often worrying about what she gained or lost. It was clear from how much effort she was putting that she feared Sheng Xiao would abandon her.

Soon, it was the national mock exams once more.

This time, Mu Qiqi was ready.

With her strong fundamentals, she easily reached the top fifteen in national rankings, surpassing Mu Tangxue by a wide margin.

Su Zipei was beaming for a long time when she found out about Mu Qiqi's results.

Nonetheless, Mu Qiqi was left disappointed—since Sheng Xiao last met her and promised to take her to play tennis, he was busy and nowhere to be seen.

After all, his father's condition had become critical. There had been a critical warning as well.

Mu Qiqi learned about all that from the news, and as such tried her best to not disturb Sheng Xiao.

In the soft light of the night, Mu Qiqi went through her report card. It was not only her grades—she bested Mu Tangxue in many other ways.

That being said, if she had not deliberately repressed her talent and outperformed Mu Tangxue when she was still with the Mu family, would she have been abandoned?

***

On the other hand, Mu Tangxue's results dropped slightly compared to last time.

She became even more upset when she saw that the other 'Mu Qiqi' had climbed fifteen places above, even if she was definitely not her sister.

Even so, that name left her very distressed!

Later, Mama Mu entered her room to find her spacing out.

"Tangxue, why aren't you sleeping?" she quickly asked.

"Mom, can I transfer to Eaton?"

"Why? You were doing really well… are you unhappy in Van Gogh?" Mama Mu asked sympathetically. "Are you being bullied?"

"Mom, please agree… I want to attend a better school."

"Oh, child. Eaton is not somewhere you just come and go… at least wait until your father can work something out." Mama Mu said helplessly. "Silly you, could you be having trouble at school because of your sister?"

Having no actual excuse beforehand, Mu Tangxue simply played along since her mother mentioned it. "Mommy, I understand… It's not Sister's fault."

"Alright. I'll talk to your father, you should sleep."

After Mu Qiqi's little incident, the Mu family affection for Mu Tangxue had reached new heights. Still, the fact was that they felt guilty about disowning her even if they did not say it—or were indeed fearful of karma, and such treated Mu Tangxue well so that it could atone for their sins.

Whatever the case may be, Mu Tangxue got what she wanted.

Papa Mu had called up his secretary immediately when he learned about her daughter's request, instructing the secretary to make the arrangements.

At the moment, Mu Qiqi had become considerably popular in Eaton. Although she had just transferred for a brief four months, she was having a happy time with her classmates and growing in self-assurance, and longer the Mu Qiqi before who only dwelled in Mu Tangxue's shadow.

Soon, Eaton had responded, and Mu Tangxue suggested that she would visit the school with the secretary.

Mama Mu wanted to accompany on the day of the visit, but Mu Tangxue declined. "Mommy, don't worry. I'm just going for a look—I won't go missing with the secretary with me, you should go about your business."

"I'll leave it to you then?" Mama Mu incidentally had a gathering of noble housewives to attend.

"Okay." Having planned everything, Mu Tangxue visited Eaton as arranged by the secretary.

There was another Mu Qiqi in that place causing headaches for her.

She checked the information on the result rankings: the 'other' Mu Qiqi appears to be in Class 3.

She really wanted to see that person's face, and she really hated that name!

Anyone named Mu Qiqi must not be better than her!