Chapter 67 Online Dating with a Bad Beta 20: Inviting You to Dance

Xi Congshuang asked, "Do you want to hear it?"

She didn't give Tan Yicheng a chance to refuse, and continued speaking while recalling the events.

"Then my parents went home. They attended the banquet on behalf of their respective companies and successfully signed contracts in the lounge."

"When I was about to go back, I remembered that I would be passing by my place, so on a whim, I decided to come and take a look."

It was also because Tan Yicheng was restricted by this posture that she couldn't see Xi Congshuang's eyes; otherwise, she would have noticed that her expression was definitely not one of longing.

"That's it?" Tan Yicheng asked.

She didn't find anything strange about it. When she was a child, she would often go to the neighbor's house while her mother was at work, and sit side by side with the neighbor's children on a stool. The neighbor's mother would feed each of them a spoonful of rice, just like feeding little birds.

She slept at her mother's house that night, and her mother took her back to her own home after get off work. The next morning, she rubbed her eyes and saw her mother off to work.

Life was not good in the past, and resources were scarce. It was a world of difference compared to now.

But many things cannot be measured by value. The more you compare, the more disparity there is, and the more unacceptable it becomes. Occasionally, she would think that it would be good to go back to her innocent childhood, at least she would still have her mother.

This time, Xi Congshuang remained silent for a long time. Tan Yicheng moved, but was held even tighter by the hands clasped behind her back. She froze, and from this action, she belatedly sensed a bit of dependence.

Her brain, still reeling from the hug, belatedly began to function again. She reconsidered what Xi Congshuang had just said and finally realized—if she were truly happy, would she use such words to describe her parents?

"Passing by" and "on a whim" don't seem like adjectives that would be used to describe people who live together long-term.

Furthermore, how old can a child who loves to be held in someone's arms be?

When she was in elementary school, her mother would carry her home even if she fell asleep at the neighbor's house. You can't expect someone who is older to ask for a hug, right?

Tan Yicheng slowly raised one hand and, mimicking how her mother used to comfort her when she was held, gently patted her back. She didn't know if it would work, but it certainly did.

"..."

Xi Congshuang seemed like a robot that had been switched on. The silent person chuckled and spoke again: "The couple, still basking in the glow of their success and carrying the scent of champagne that symbolized victory, walked into the children's room."

"The good news is that I'm not asleep; I'm listening to the nanny read a storybook."

"The bad news is that this is the first time they have seen me being held by a nanny and having a storybook read to me. This is a treatment they have never received before."

Tan Yicheng felt something was off: "And then they snatched you away? And flew into a rage and fired the nanny?"

I wondered to myself, if I did this, would this be a child or an object?

Xi Congshuang: "No, they grew up in a privileged environment and value etiquette and manners above all else. How could they get angry so easily?"

"The nanny carried me over. My mother was wearing a diamond-encrusted dress that day, and there was a pearl brooch with a wheat ear on the lapel of her suit, which was pressing right on my face."

"I had just recovered from a high fever a few days ago, and my whole body was still sore, so I didn't want to be held and kept crying."

From that sentence onward, Tan Yicheng found it utterly unbelievable.

Sure enough, Xi Congshuang said, "Then I was handed over to my father. He had been drinking that day, and because he wasn't familiar with the position, he used a bit too much force. I didn't want to anymore, and I cried again."

“The nanny stood to the side with a troubled look on her face. She wanted to go up and instruct the employer on how to hold me, but she didn’t dare to. In the end, the thing she least wanted to happen still happened. They believed that it was the nanny’s indulgence that made me develop such a weak and crybaby personality, and then they set up a series of rules.”

As the hands behind her back loosened, Tan Yicheng, accustomed to Xi Congshuang's body temperature and comfortable posture, subconsciously felt a void in her heart and a sense of inexplicable loss.

She almost reached out to grab Xi Congshuang's hand, but luckily she realized what was happening and forcibly pulled her hand back.

Then she thought, if she, an adult, is so attached to it, what about a child?

"You are not allowed to have any unnecessary physical contact with Miss, you are not allowed to say anything meaningless to Miss, and you are not allowed to indulge Miss's desire for pleasure. She is different from you. She will be the heir to everything we have in the future. Your previous behavior will only make her weak. You need to change."

Xi Congshuang's tone didn't change much as she spoke, and the fluency with which she repeated the story showed that she remembered it very well.

Tan Yicheng: "..." This is utter arrogance.

The child who was forcibly separated into different classes was thrown back into her original place. What would the person who took care of her think when faced with this child who was not her fault but was closely related to her?

Abuse is unlikely, but polite distance is certain. No one would pity a child who has more land than them and risk losing their salary to do something unnecessary.

Someone tapped her forehead with their fingertip, and Tan Yicheng heard Xi Congshuang say, "Actually, I was lying to you."

“You mean this is…” Tan Yicheng turned his head to look, but was taken aback.

Whether it was the hazy moonlight or Tan Yicheng's eyes, Xi Congshuang was exceptionally gentle tonight, as if she had personally shed her thick cocoon and emerged from it.

Xi Congshuang spread her hands, her eyes smiling: "Actually, all of the above was made up by me. In fact, my life experience is the same as what you found."

Tan Yicheng's heart tightened. How did she know that she had already investigated everything she could?

Xi Congshuang didn't seem to care. Instead, she recounted everything she had found out: "Both parents are alive. Her father is a weak Alpha and was diagnosed as having difficulty having children. But unexpectedly, in middle age, he had a wonderful surprise and had a child with his Omega wife."

This is the script that the world consciousness gave to make the grassroots marshal a stumbling block, intending to make her life full of ups and downs and help her survive against all odds.

Who knew that the stumbling block was so stubborn and huge that it tripped up the female lead instead, turning the great marshal into the leader of space pirates. Only then did she realize her mistake and win Xi Congshuang in return.

However, there is one thing that Xi Congshuang didn't mention, and Tan Yicheng couldn't find out either: if Xi Congshuang hadn't been born, the couple's heir would have been Xi Lianghan, the half-brother of the late Mr. Xi.

Therefore, in Xi Lianghan's eyes, Xi Congshuang was also a huge stumbling block.

"..."

Tan Yicheng felt a little dizzy. She had a gut feeling that this might not be a lie, as the other person's tone of voice did not seem to be fake.

However, what was said later was indeed something Tan Yicheng had personally investigated, and there was also proof from Madam Xi's previous accounts that all of this was true.

In every photo of her and her child, they are either holding hands or linking arms, their postures intimate and close, unlike someone who would say the things described above.

Having limited entertainment options growing up, he was busy studying as an adult. He seemed to have mastered online dating, but he was actually a complete novice at surfing the internet. He was better at piloting mechs than playing video games.

So she began to wonder if Xi Congshuang had some mental issues, not in a derogatory sense.

As far as she knew, each personality in a split personality has a roughly defined time of emergence, and each personality has its own life experiences, skills, and gender. Not to mention splitting out an alpha, beta, or omega personality, it's not impossible for someone to split out a personality that believes their gender is a spaceship.

If she spent more time surfing the internet and watching more StarNet dramas, she might be able to ask the other person which planet or era they came from, instead of suspecting that the other person really has a split personality.

Instead, she suspected that the main personality was a person who fantasized about being an omega. Later, for reasons unknown, she gradually became unwilling to appear, and the second personality took over all the affairs in place of the main personality.

Perhaps that really was her life experience.

Tan Yicheng's gaze towards Xi Congshuang instantly changed, filled with boundless concern for a terminally ill patient, unaware that this very thought was fundamentally flawed.

Fortunately, the process was completely wrong, but the result was right.

Xi Congshuang was unaware that in Tan Yicheng's eyes she had evolved into someone with some mental issues; she only had a gut feeling that the way he looked at her wasn't how he looked at a normal person.

She turned around and held out her hand: "Want to dance? Before the ball ends."

"?" Tan Yicheng pointed to himself. "Dancing? Me?"

The figure, bathed in moonlight, raised a hand and beckoned, enticing the other to place their hand in their own, while saying, "So you weren't unwilling to invite an omega to dance, were you? You just can't dance, can you?"

Tan Yicheng, the aloof mecha student who never invites any omega to dance, had her secret exposed, and her ears instantly turned red: "How did you know?"

Since Tan Yicheng entered the school, she has never invited anyone to dance, nor has she ever agreed to dance with anyone.

The omegas at the dance were actually students who entered the school at the same time as her. They all knew her and were curious about why she dropped out of school halfway through. Unable to get an answer, they could only mention that her record of never dancing with anyone had never been broken.

The omegas were instantly fired up, betting on who would be the first to break the record.

Omega thought Tan Yicheng was innocent and aloof and didn't like dancing with others, but she never thought that it was actually because she couldn't dance.

Tan Yicheng never imagined that the first person to discover the long-hidden secret would be Xi Congshuang.

"You don't want to be awkwardly asked to dance by an omega at a party someday, do you?" The person's teasing tone deepened with a smile. "How about I teach you?"

Tan Yicheng sat there, his hands on the bench, and it took him a lot of effort to resist putting his hands on it.

She just stared at Xi Congshuang without saying a word, seemingly refusing firmly, but her eyes betrayed her.

She accidentally made someone angry, but she wasn't angry when her glands were touched. However, she sulked because she was told that she couldn't dance... It's kind of cute.

Bathed in moonlight, the man approached her, gracefully bowing and extending his hand: "Miss Tan, may I have the honor of inviting you to dance?"

Tan Yicheng replied in a muffled voice, "You know I can't dance."

Xi Congshuang translated it on her own initiative, but didn't get the meaning of refusal. She replied, "Then I wonder if Miss Tan would be willing to let me teach you? I have some knowledge and I won't mislead anyone."

As the music from the banquet hall drifted from afar, Tan Yicheng placed his hand in Xi Congshuang's palm, and it was gently held.

Following the pulling force, they stood up, using their clasped hands as a bridge. Under the moonlight, the two figures slowly approached each other, their shadows gradually merging into one, inseparable.

Tan Yicheng looked at her hand that was being held, then at her other hand that was still free, unsure of what to do. She tried to recall the scene she had seen on the dance floor, but could only recall her self-deceptive, pre-existing memories, and had no memory of the dance floor at all.

All I remember is that they moved closer to each other and then spun around and around, spinning until it was dizzying, and then the music stopped and the dancers dispersed.

From beginning to end, Tan Yicheng didn't dare to look at anything more than a few times, and then she was asked if she wanted to go dancing.

She grew up in the slums and taught herself many skills. She could fix robots, plan the electrical wiring for her home, and even pinpoint the most painful spot when punching someone.

If you ask her how to dance, she doesn't even know whether to step with her left or right foot first. She used to comfort herself by saying that everyone has things they're not good at, and after all, learning to dance the waltz won't put food on the table.

Upon receiving Tan Yicheng's distress signal, Xi Congshuang grabbed her other hand, guiding it to rest on her shoulder, and with her other hand around Tan Yicheng's lower back, she gently pulled her dance partner closer to her.

"Stand at about this distance, clasp one hand together, put the other hand on your shoulder, and start with your right foot," Xi Congshuang said, correcting her posture.

After roughly posing the woman, whose body was like steel, into a reasonably acceptable position, the two, whose shadows were almost intertwined, finally began to move as the music started playing again.

Xi Congshuang never imagined that she would have the patience to teach people to dance, like an extremely gentle early childhood educator, constantly reciting the rhythm.

As Tan Yicheng was being swayed by the music, she could no longer hear the melodious music in the distance. Her once-proud hearing had been greatly diminished, and she could only hear sounds not far away.

"Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, then turn around, and do it again."

However, Tan Yicheng, who is quick to grasp everything, suffered a major setback in dance. Even Xi Congshuang's gentle approach couldn't soften her bones, and she made repeated mistakes.

If it weren't for the fact that Tan Yicheng was the one who made the mistake, Xi Congshuang would have left without hesitation when he made the same mistake a second time. Even though she was deeply influenced by her parents and was a perfectionist who couldn't tolerate mistakes.

All standards fail in the face of Tan Yicheng; all that's left is unlimited green light and the option to try again.

Xi Congshuang even had the thought that if Tan Yicheng's physical attributes were exchanged for those of someone born in ancient times, she would be the supreme martial arts master. She shouldn't bother with the martial arts world; she should just stay home and focus on practicing martial arts.

The consequences of being distracted are...

"Oops, I stepped on you again."

"fine."

A few seconds later.

"sorry……"

"...It's okay, try again."

Tan Yicheng made great progress this time, only accidentally stepping on Xi Congshuang's shoe tip a few minutes later.

"I kept thinking about whether the beat was right, and then I stepped on you with my right foot instead of my left."

"I know you didn't mean it. Come on, let's continue."

Seeing that the clean, handmade custom shoes had been ruined beyond repair by Tan Yicheng, she felt guilty. Several times she tried to let go, but her hands were held tightly. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to take the initiative to let go.

Xi Congshuang was unusually patient tonight. She didn't get angry even after being stepped on several times, and continued to teach. Even when she was stepped on, the hand around her waist never let go.

But in order to adjust their posture, the two bodies got closer and closer. Xi Congshuang even suggested that Tan Yicheng step on her toes again, and she would move with him. This request startled Tan Yicheng, who quickly refused.

She was wearing the school's standard uniform, with hard-soled military boots on her feet. Even if they were close to the standard for student uniforms, they would still be hard-soled. With her weight, they were bound to step on the young lady's feet.

Xi Congshuang looked a little disappointed after being rejected again: "You can't?"

Tan Yicheng panicked: "Of course not! You're wearing soft-soled shoes, I was worried that I might have hurt you the last few times I stepped on them."

She truly felt that Xi Congshuang's thoughts often made her tremble with fear.

Xi Congshuang didn't insist anymore: "Okay then, actually I meant to say take off your shoes... right foot first, oh, I stepped on it again."

Tan Yicheng's head slowly emerged from a tangled ball of black lines: "..."

Dance is such a strange thing; it made her movements uncoordinated.

She asked, "Does it hurt?"

Xi Congshuang always dressed elegantly and spoke slowly and deliberately. She shook her head and said, "It's alright."

Based on Xi Congshuang's habit of revealing six parts of the truth and the rest as mere politeness, Tan Yicheng accurately judged the real answer: It hurts quite a bit.

Xi Congshuang said, "I haven't practiced the moves in a long time, so please keep me company and practice for a while longer."

The hand that kept trying to pull away was firmly held, and the crisp sound of the military boots hitting the soles was the best music at that moment, although it sounded a bit incomplete and disjointed.

However, Xi Congshuang admitted that she was deaf in one ear, leaving only the left channel. It was normal for her to feel that things were not quite right, and she could not experience normal surround sound.

Compared to Tan Yicheng, who was determined to master dance, Xi Congshuang seemed to be enjoying this exceptionally peaceful time alone.

No one held any grudges, and no one cared about anything else; they embraced and danced without any distractions.

Their clasped palms gradually warmed each other, becoming indistinguishable in their passion. Tan Yicheng slowed down, his eyes lowered, his gaze falling on the beauty mark under her eye.

Unbeknownst to him, he was becoming increasingly mesmerized by that beauty mark under her eye, and unconsciously moved closer, his breath tickling her cheek—a distance that was either a kiss or a threat to kill.

Xi Congshuang decisively eliminated the latter option, hesitated on the former option, and, as if bewitched, moved closer and closer to it.

She wanted to kiss him.

Suddenly, she heard the person in her arms whisper: "If you really have a mental illness, I hope you never get better."

Xi Congshuang: "?" She tilted her left ear, thinking that her only remaining ear also had hearing problems.

She couldn't help but chuckle, yet was completely bewildered: "What?"

Tan Yicheng lowered her head and said in a low voice, "But you can take medicine, treat it a little bit, preferably something that will make you feel better but not completely cured. I don't like the old you."

I don't want her to be happy, but I also don't want her to be sad, so I'm caught in a dilemma.

"...?" Xi Congshuang finally understood what she was talking about and couldn't help but chuckle.

The words she had deliberately misled Tan Yicheng to lower her guard had actually been taken to heart, and it seems she now believes them wholeheartedly.

Xi Congshuang said, "Don't worry, it will never get better."

She'd rather not take medicine; she absolutely refuses to take any.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I felt that Tan Yicheng breathed a sigh of relief after hearing those words.

Tan Yicheng kept her head down, swaying her body with the dance steps. Suddenly, she felt something was wrong, raised her head and said, "Did you teach me correctly? The dance I'm doing now seems to be an omega's dance."

"..."

Tan Yicheng: "??" Why isn't he saying anything?

Xi Congshuang finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst out laughing. She clenched one hand into a fist and put it in front of her lips, laughing even louder as if she were burying her head in the sand. Her laughter was full of the joy that you, you silly A, have finally discovered it.

"…………"

They're laughing like that; even the dumbest person would realize they've been tricked.

Tan Yicheng felt slightly embarrassed and kept lowering his brows: "You..."

"Ah, um?" Xi Congshuang looked up, and a pair of smiling, smoky gray eyes met hers. The captivating moonlight in her eyes was like tiny starlight. She was very happy; he wasn't mocking her.

Realizing he had been tricked, Tan Yicheng stepped forward and grabbed Xi Congshuang's shoulders, shaking her repeatedly: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Honkai value -3, current Honkai value 39.95."

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Why did the female lead make me take medicine? [Sigh]