He Chose the Wrong Sister

[She’s back. You can’t expect me to keep settling for less, can you?] That sentence ended my yearlong online relationship.

The man saw the red mole at the corner of my younger sister’s eye and decided she had to be the girl who once saved his life—the girl he had never forgotten.

He gave me 500,000 yuan to buy out a relationship that had not even made it to our first meeting.

What he did not know was that I had an identical mole at the outer corner of my left eye. I took the money, cut contact, and went abroad to study.

Three years later, I graduated and returned to China. I heard that he and my sister were about to get engaged. When we met again at a family banquet, I went.

He looked up with a smile. Then his gaze locked on the outer corner of my left eye. For the first time, he lost his composure. Chapter 1 Not everyone had arrived at the party yet.

People stood around in small groups, chatting. “I heard Zhou Xu and Princess Shen are getting engaged.” “They are!

Apparently, Zhou Xu recognized Princess Shen as the girl who saved his life because of that red mole by her eye.” The speaker suddenly turned to me. “Hey, Shen Man.

What happened to your red mole? “That mole never brought you any luck anyway. Good thing you had it removed.” I touched the outer corner of my left eye.

Before I returned, Dad told me my sister was a famous actress. We looked strikingly similar, so Dad insisted our moles could not look identical too. Mine had to go.

Avoiding conflict had become second nature to me, so I went to the hospital and had it removed. Someone suddenly cried out, “Princess Shen is here!” Everyone looked toward the door.

Shen Moli walked in on Zhou Xu’s arm. She had not changed. Whenever she appeared, no one looked anywhere else. Zhou Xu stood beside her.

Behind his goldrimmed glasses, his features were refined and composed. He looked steadier than he had three years ago. His gaze swept over me.

I lowered my head almost instinctively. Only then did I remember that after a year of dating online, he had still never seen my face. Moli released his arm and came toward me.

She linked her arm through mine with practiced affection. “When did you get back, sis?” I pulled my arm free. “Just now.” The private room was dimly lit.

She studied the corner of my eye for two seconds, then, unusually, brought up our family. “By the way, Zhou Xu and I are getting engaged soon. “Dad says it wouldn’t be proper for the younger sister to marry first, so he asked me to find someone for you.” Her eyes curved as if she expected praise. “Dad and I already picked him out. “He graduated from one of China’s prestigious Project 985 universities and comes from a good family.

The only problem is that he looks down on your easy overseas master’s degree. “I had to call in favors before he finally agreed.” But the program I had attended ranked among the top thirty in the world.

I had been recruited back to China on a high salary. This was not the first time my family had treated me this way. I said nothing and picked up my phone to finish some work.

Her delicate brows drew together. She looked troubled. “Sis, you can’t let your selfishness give people a reason to criticize me, can you?” I nodded. “You’re right.” She froze.

Zhou Xu reached around her from behind and rested a hand on her waist. “Don’t let someone irrelevant ruin your mood.” He could not even be bothered to glance at me.

I pretended not to hear, though my fingers tightened. Everyone soon took their seats again. The conversation, drinking, and games resumed, and the room grew lively once more.

Zhou Xu did not say much. He kept one arm around Moli, his thumb brushing the red mole by her eye. The gesture was easy and intimate.

Someone happened to mention marrying an online partner, and the whole table began teasing them.

As if remembering something, Moli tilted her head toward me. “Speaking of online dating… “Didn’t you have an online boyfriend once too, sis?” Chapter 2 “I seem to remember he went to No. 1 High School too.” Zhou Xu’s thumb stopped over Moli’s mole.

He slowly lifted his eyes and looked at me seriously for the first time. Moli blinked with a smile. “Why did you two break up?” The truth was, I could barely remember anymore.

I remembered only the night before we were supposed to meet in person.

I had been full of a young girl’s shy anticipation, yet sick with worry that I would not live up to his expectations. That night, he sent me a photograph.

It was a picture of Shen Moli. My breath caught. I thought he had discovered who I was and even investigated my sister. I gripped the hem of my dress, nervous.

But the next second, he transferred 500,000 yuan to me. [Do not contact me again.

I don’t want her to know you exist.] [The 500,000 yuan is compensation—and hush money.] He said he had always remembered the girl who saved his life.

He remembered the mole by her eye. I had one too. But I said nothing. I accepted the transfer, logged out of the account, and sealed that phone away forever.

Even when we broke up, he never knew that the bright, cheerful girl who had been his lifeline online was withdrawn and silent in real life. To this day, I still did not understand.

Shen Moli had led others in isolating and bullying me for two long years. How could someone like her have saved him? Later, I heard Zhou Xu scored 713 on the gaokao.

Young, brilliant, and riding the height of his success, he confessed his love to Shen Moli during a nationally televised interview.

I turned off my phone and never followed his news again. I once believed losing Zhou Xu would be a rainstorm I could never escape. Then I used that 500,000 yuan to go abroad.

Only there did I discover how generous Portugal was with sunlight. More than three hundred days a year were sunny. Even in winter, long stretches of rain were rare.

I studied and lived there. I cut contact with my family. I forgot Zhou Xu existed. Eventually, I became the best student in my program.

I thought a thousand sunny days across three years had been enough to dry that rain from my bones. Only now did I realize that some dampness seeped too deep.

The moment rain returned, it spread again. Zhou Xu looked directly at me for the first time. “No. 1 High School?” The silence stretched until my heart began to tremble.

Just as I thought he had realized I was Little Fish, he adjusted his glasses.

His expression remained calm. “What was his name? “Maybe I knew him.” I relaxed my hand and forced myself to sound casual. “I forgot. “It was only an online relationship.

There weren’t any real feelings.” He nodded as though he agreed completely. No one truly cared about my answer. They only wanted gossip.

When it became clear they would get nothing more from me, the conversation swung back to Zhou Xu. “Mr.

Zhou, I heard you had an online relationship too! “Tell us about it.” Moli puffed out her cheeks and glared at him.

Zhou Xu laughed and admitted it openly. “Yes, I did. “There weren’t any real feelings.” He stroked the mole by Moli’s eye, tenderness filling his gaze. “I spent years searching for Moli. “When I couldn’t find her, I couldn’t exactly stay single forever. “So I settled for someone for a while.” Someone pressed him. “Then what happened?” His expression paused. “I discovered that settling was exactly what it felt like. “Fortunately, I found her in the end.” My chest constricted.

The classmates around us were still gushing. “That’s so romantic. Who knew Mr. Zhou was so devoted?” Chapter 3 “Princess Shen is so lucky! She’s about to get engaged to Mr.

Zhou, and now she’s been announced as an antibullying campaign ambassador.

Even our school’s official account posted to congratulate her!” Moli waved her hands at once. “Oh, no. “Everyone is giving me too much credit.” Zhou Xu was now a rising figure in Beijing’s elite circles.

Shen Moli was one of the entertainment industry’s most soughtafter innocent sweethearts. I knew all that. Yet I reacted as if the words made no sense.

I tapped the girl beside me lightly. “Is that… true?” She gave me a strange look. “Of course.

It’s trended several times in the past two days. “Our Princess Shen is beautiful and kind. Brands can’t sign her fast enough. “I heard Mr.

Zhou is even planning to propose at the announcement ceremony. I’m so jealous.” I slowly lowered my head. The scar on my palm had faded until it was almost invisible.

But there were other scars on the back of my neck, my arms, and my ankles. Deeper ones had been carved into my heart and memory. Those had never disappeared.

I still remembered the cold water poured over me in a bathroom stall. I remembered the sting of grit scraping my cheek in the alley behind the school.

And I remembered what happened after I finally told my homeroom teacher. Dad collected me in silence.

He said, “You are a murderer, after all…” “So what if you let your sister vent a little?

Did you really have to drag your teacher into it?” Moli and I had not been born on the same date, yet we always celebrated on her birthday. I had only wanted one birthday of my own.

I did not know that a single cake would cost our mother her life. That day, Dad lost his wife. My sister lost her mother. And I became a murderer in their eyes.

Shen Moli bullied me for three long years. But how could a bully become an antibullying ambassador?

When the party ended, Moli offered with a smile, “Sis, let me take you home.” I stared at the fruit platter on the table.

The alcohol was slowly taking hold, and exhaustion washed over me.

Zhou Xu put an arm around her and spoke coolly. “Some people will never appreciate your help, no matter how much you do.” I did not explain.

After everyone dispersed, our class monitor noticed how pale I looked and offered me a ride. I thanked him softly. I was too tired to speak on the way.

My rented apartment was dark and silent when I returned, as though it wanted to swallow me whole. I lay there for a long time before opening the bedroom drawer.

An old phone rested inside. It was the phone I had used when Zhou Xu and I dated online. Back then, he had learned what I was going through.

Again and again, he told me, “Bullying is bullying.” “Her being your sister does not make it a joke.” So the next time Shen Moli called me a murderer, I argued back for the first time.

After that, I began secretly recording evidence whenever she bullied me. But I always remembered the last message Mom sent before she died: take good care of your sister.

The recordings and videos piled up. I never made any of them public. I charged the old phone and turned it on.

Then I opened a recording labeled “6.12.” My own sobs came through the speaker. “I didn’t know Mom would die in a car accident while picking up the cake. “She wasn’t only your mother. “She was mine too!

Do you think I’m not grieving?” Shen Moli’s shrill voice came next. “Shut up! A murderer has no right to call her Mom!” She paused for two seconds. “Same rules as always.

Grab her hair. “Don’t leave any obvious marks.” I killed the screen at once. My breathing tightened.

I could not stop remembering the day I told Zhou Xu I did not intend to expose the evidence. Chapter 4 I had expected him to call me weak and stupid.

Instead, he said, “That’s all right.” “No rule says a person who has been hurt must speak out. “If your mother knew, she would ache for you.” I remembered Mom’s request that I take good care of Shen Moli.

But the sound that rang louder in my mind was my own crying on that recording. Forgiving Moli would mean betraying the helpless girl I had been. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I logged into an anonymous Weibo account.

I uploaded a screenshot with a single line of text. [What gives a bully the right to become an antibullying ambassador?] I posted it.

I had been back in China for less than two days. Between the jet lag, the cold wind, and the alcohol, I woke the next morning with a fever of 39°C. I called in sick to work.

After taking a fever reducer, I fell asleep again. When I woke, my phone was nearly exploding with notifications. The post had gone completely viral.

The comments were full of both ordinary users and fans. [If you were bullied, why didn’t you say anything in high school?

You’re only speaking now because you can’t stand seeing Princess Shen succeed!] [Hahaha. Someone I hate is finally going down.] [I can confirm it! I went to No. 3 Middle School.

She was no innocent sweetheart—she was a straightup school bully!] Shen Moli had a fiercely loyal fan base. They swarmed the account with abuse, reports, and private messages.

Her management studio immediately released a statement denying the school bullying. But public opinion had already slipped beyond their control.

The antibullying campaign had just announced her as its ambassador. They removed her at once. At the critical moment, Zhou Xu personally posted on Weibo. [I believe my girl.

On behalf of Zhou Group, I will hold anyone who spreads malicious rumors fully accountable.] My instinct was still to avoid conflict.

It took everything I had not to delete the post. Before long, a new direct message appeared. [Hello.] [Could you have remembered it wrong?

I’ve never bullied anyone~] [If there has been a misunderstanding, we can meet and talk.] Shen Moli had sent it from her verified main account. I did not reply.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I dragged myself to the door. Xie Qun stood outside. I had not had a chance to see him since returning.

He carried groceries in one hand and medicine in the other.

The moment he saw me, his brows tightened. “How did you get this sick? “Get inside.” I blinked. “Why are you here?” He smiled helplessly. “I was afraid you’d get sick and fail to take care of yourself.” “Who would have thought that after three years as an overseas student, you’d still be just as bad at looking after yourself?” With that, he walked into the kitchen as if he had done it countless times.

He washed vegetables, rinsed rice, and started soup. I leaned against the kitchen doorway, suddenly dazed.

There seemed to be fewer and fewer people who genuinely cared whether I was all right. Half an hour later, he had made two dishes and a soup, all light and easy on the stomach.

I had little appetite, but I still finished a bowl of rice. When I started to clear the dishes, he took them first. “You’re sick. Stop trying to be tough.” I did not argue.

I leaned back on the sofa and watched him wash the dishes. Water rushed steadily into the sink.

As though it had only just occurred to him, he mentioned, “Your sister is getting dragged online.” “I heard several brands have paused their endorsement deals.” My throat burned from the fever.

I murmured an acknowledgment. After a moment, he spoke again in the same gentle voice. “That post… “You wrote it, didn’t you?” There was no reason to hide it.

Shen Moli had not bullied many people in high school. It was not hard to guess that I was the one behind the account. I did not deny it.

Chapter 5 “I couldn’t stand by and watch a bully become an antibullying ambassador.” He handed me the medicine and asked as casually as if we were making conversation. “Do you still have the recordings and videos from back then?” I nodded.

Something flickered in his eyes. “Did you make backups?” I thought nothing of it. I returned to the bedroom and brought out the old phone. “No backups.

Everything is on here.” He stared at the phone for a little too long.

When I looked up, he had lowered his eyes and was smiling faintly. “Back then, I was about to take the recommendationbased admission assessment.

She didn’t want me to go, so she secretly drugged me. “If not for you, I would have missed the assessment. “You endured being bullied for so long, but that time you insisted on calling the police.” His lips curved. “I didn’t expect you to keep the evidence all these years.” It had been only a few years.

Yet it felt like another century. Xie Qun and I had been classmates in high school. With his handsome face, excellent grades, and gentle nature, he attracted plenty of girls.

Shen Moli had once pursued him obsessively. He rejected her. But Moli refused to give up. After that, she kept bringing people to corner and harass him.

I helped him in secret several times. Moli decided that meant something was going on between us.

Desperate to keep him near her, she was willing to drug him over something as important as his admission recommendation. At the time, I wanted to call the police.

He stopped me, saying he did not want the distraction before his exam. After the gaokao, we gradually lost contact.

Only later did I learn that he had given up the recommendation and insisted on attending a Project 211 university beside Moli’s school.

Before he left, I returned the phone to the drawer and locked it.

He reminded me softly, “She probably won’t let this go easily.” “Don’t take the phone out for the next few days—not even for me.” The illness hit hard.

My fever came and went for two or three days. Xie Qun was loyal to his friends.

Even when work kept him busy, he found time to cook for me and remind me, with endless patience, to take my medicine. Warmth flowed through me.

I joked that he really was a good man. His smile faded slightly. “You trust outsiders this easily. What will you do when it gets you hurt someday?” I smiled, unconcerned.

I had avoided news about Shen Moli for days. Xie Qun, however, kept sending it to me. After cooking that day, he passed me his phone again.

On the screen was an announcement that Moli had begun filming a new production. Her eyes were red in the firstdayonset photo.

The comments were full of sympathy for her, and full of accusations that the anonymous whistleblower had acted out of malice.

Xie Qun sat across from me, his tone as gentle as ever. “Her fans are more loyal than I expected. “Maybe… you should stop here. “If this continues, I’m afraid Zhou Xu will set his sights on you.” I studied him for a moment, then relented with a nod. “Fine.

But I won’t make a public statement for her. “Otherwise, they’ll use it to rewrite history and erase what she did.” Xie Qun smiled. “You’ve thought of everything.” I changed the subject. “Isn’t your company busy lately?” “It is.” He lowered his gaze. “But something else is more important.” His company was none of my business, so I did not pry.

My gaze drifted to the side of his neck. A clear, intimate mark stood out against his skin.

My interest sharpened at once. “Did something happen last night? “Has the guy who never dates finally found someone?” The tips of his ears reddened.

He raised a hand to cover the mark without thinking. I could not resist pressing him. Chapter 6 “What is she like?” He was silent for several seconds.

Then the corners of his mouth slowly lifted. “She’s rather spoiled.

She wants me to hold her when she wakes up. “She doesn’t feel secure, so she’s always asking whether I like her. “She gets jealous too and checks up on me every few days.” He was obviously in love.

I was genuinely happy for him. “She—” “She makes small mistakes sometimes too.” His gaze shifted toward the drawer.

Something glinted in his eyes. “But I’m willing to clean them up for her.” My illness had begun to ease. As usual, Xie Qun reminded me to take my medicine.

After he left, the medicine made me drowsy. I wrapped myself in a blanket and fell asleep on the sofa. I did not know how much time had passed when someone knocked at the door.

Still half asleep, I dragged myself up. I reached the entrance, then turned back and grabbed a mask. I did not want to infect whoever was outside. When I opened the door, I froze.

Zhou Xu stood there. His suit was immaculate, as though he had stepped away from an important engagement. The watch on his wrist caught the light with a cold gleam.

He checked the time. “I have only half an hour. “We’ll talk, and then I’ll leave.” My voice was hoarse. “Talk about what?” He frowned at me. “About your lie that Moli bullied you. “She is your own sister.

Can’t you stand to see her succeed? “She’s cried until her eyes are swollen every day this week. Don’t you feel sorry for her?” I stared at him.

My cough sounded muffled behind the mask. I had heard that voice countless times through my earphones. He had explained schoolwork to me. He had coaxed me to sleep.

He had taught me to make peace with myself. Yet now, without asking me a single question, he had decided I was guilty.

I gripped the door handle. “I have nothing to discuss with you.” I started to close the door.

He blocked it with one hand, his gaze turning icy. “I’ll give you two million yuan. “Delete the post and apologize publicly. “Tell everyone it was only a game between sisters.” I laughed in disbelief.

My stomach rolled. I tore off the mask. If this was contagious, then he could catch it.

Let him learn what it felt like to run a fever of 39°C and be unable to get out of bed for days. “Mr. Zhou, I refuse. “Bullying is bullying.

Her being my sister does not make it a joke. “If you want to sue me, go ahead.” The air went still. Zhou Xu said nothing. He simply stared at me.

His gaze traveled from my eyes to the outer corner of my left eye. His breathing turned uneven. I was tired of being inspected. I reached for the door again.

Just before it closed, he wrenched it open. He was far stronger than I was. He stepped into the entryway.

My breath tightened as I searched for something I could use to defend myself. His voice came from just above me. “You’re Little Fish. “My online girlfriend from back then?” The