"Sister...Sister?!" Lin Zhi exclaimed in surprise, her mouth agape.
Ling Keng was so frightened that she stopped eating the cake and grabbed a glass of orange juice to calm her nerves.
A gasp of surprise erupted from the surrounding crowd.
"Does Shi Youxi have an older sister?!"
"No, and I haven't seen anyone else come... Didn't we say it was for that person to see? They should at least come!"
Alyssa Chia choked up halfway through her sentence, and at the same time, everyone seemed to realize something and looked at Cheng Ran together.
Bai Yuning was stunned into silence by Shi Youxi's words "sister." Her face turned pale, she bit her lip hard, and stared at the woman in the crowd.
Without a doubt, the only person Shi Youxi would call "sister" is Cheng Ran!
Why!
Why was it specifically for Cheng Ran?
It was clearly delivered specifically for her!
Of all the people, the most shocked was Mu Yiran, who was called "sister".
She never expected that Shi Youxi would call her name so directly in such a large public setting.
It wasn't Cheng Ran and her aunt, but her older sister!
She stared at Shi Youxi in astonishment. This guy dropped such a bombshell. Ignoring the murmurs from the audience, he picked up his bow and began to play.
As soon as the music started playing, Mu Yiran recognized what kind of tune it was.
It's experience.
She only played a short piece for Shi Youxi once; it was a piece that Mu Yiran helped Shi Youxi choose when he played a solo.
The track was already loved by the music industry when it was released in 2013, and Shi Youxi played a complete experience.
It was exactly the same music that Mu Yiran had heard deep in her memory.
The cello's rich, deep tone resonated in the concert hall, but Mu Yiran couldn't concentrate on Shi Youxi's performance.
Amidst the cello music, a constant murmur of conversation filled the surrounding area.
"Is Shi Youxi calling his stepmother 'elder sister'?!"
"Are you crazy? No matter how young Cheng Ran is, she's still his stepmother. Given their seniority, how can he... how can he call her so intimately!" The girl even changed her wording; she actually wanted to say something ambiguous.
When Shi Youxi called out "sister" in a low voice, it was indeed very ambiguous!
Many girls blushed upon hearing this!
"But calling me 'older sister' isn't a bad idea, Cheng Ran is only 26!"
"If you don't call me 'sister,' what do you call me? 'Stepmother,' you say? That's so awkward!"
“Calling her ‘stepmother’ is better than ‘sister,’ she’s a stepmother! Besides, everyone in this circle knows Cheng Ran—”
"Enough, stop talking nonsense!" one of the students' parents snapped, silencing the girl before she could finish speaking.
But everyone, including Mu Yiran, knew what the student was going to say with the remaining half of his sentence.
Everyone in the industry knows about Cheng Ran's sexual fetishes!
Some sensible people kept quiet, but others weren't afraid of getting into trouble.
Outstanding second-generation heirs like Shi Youxi have always been a thorn in the side of other dissolute second-generation rich kids!
They had long disliked Shi Youxi, but usually, out of respect for the Shi family, they dared not say anything.
But Cheng Ran is different. She is just the youngest daughter of the Cheng family, and it is uncertain whether she will be able to get a share of Cheng's shares.
"Hey, so that's why Shi Youxi looks down on Bai Yuning. Turns out, he's got his eye on his stepmother!"
"Shh, shh, shh, what stepmother? Everyone calls her 'sister'~ Hahahaha!"
Ai Ni and Su Yi glanced at Cheng Ran with concern, but Cheng Ran didn't intend to respond. After all, they were just a group of students; how could she, an adult, argue with little kids?
No matter what she says now, she can't change the original impression of the original owner in everyone's eyes.
He only wanted to send a message to Li Buhuo, asking him to keep a close eye on the various media outlets and prevent them from spreading inappropriate rumors.
But at this moment, Guan Shiyan chuckled coldly, and then said to Cheng Ran, "Sister!"
Mu Yiran turned her head in horror.
Little official, don't you dare follow Shi Youxi's pathological path!
Ai Ni tried to cover her mouth, but it was too late.
Guan Shiyan, caught up in his theatrical urges, began to talk incessantly.
“I’ve wanted to call you that for a long time. Before Sister Cheng Ran got married, Shi Youxi and I called you ‘sister’. It feels so awkward to have to call you ‘auntie’ all these days.”
“You always call me ‘Auntie, Auntie.’ My distant cousin is five years older than you, Sister Cheng Ran, so I can’t call her ‘Auntie,’ I have to call her ‘Sister.’”
"Sister Cheng Ran, you're only a little older than us, yet we have to call you 'Auntie' out of respect for seniority. Isn't that against our conscience?"
"Follow my heart, okay!"
"…………"
God, follow your heart!
But Guan Shiyan's expression was so sincere that he actually made his fallacies sound quite plausible.
Su Yi listened to Guan Shiyan spouting nonsense without stopping him, since he was talking about the officials and had nothing to do with her.
“That’s right. My aunt is only a year older than me, but I don’t call her ‘aunt.’ What’s so strange about calling her ‘sister’?”
Although Lin Zhi didn't know what Cheng Ran was like before, she knew that Cheng Ran had brought them afternoon tea last time and apologized to them afterwards for interrupting their rehearsal!
Because she has an extremely strict brother who is like an iceberg, Lin Zhi's greatest wish since childhood has been to have a gentle older sister.
Cheng Ran is the perfect fit!
Although they had only met once, Lin Zhi had an exceptionally keen eye for people.
Therefore, it was only natural for her to side with Cheng Ran and Shi Youxi.
"They're a family, they can call each other whatever they want, it's none of anyone else's business! Some people see everything as dirty!"
Lin Zhi wasn't afraid of those spoiled brats. The Lin family was a military and political family, and Lin Zhi's brother was an army colonel in the Third Military Region of the capital.
Everyone in the grade knew how much Lin Zhi's brother doted on her. Especially Ling Keng, who had been scared away by Lin Wenjing several times. Not to mention that Old Master Lin was a founding father of the nation, and these spoiled brats couldn't afford to offend this feisty young lady of the Lin family.
Lin's mother's family was also a noble family in the late Qing Dynasty. Seeing that her daughter spoke up for Cheng Ran without any objection, she had a look of helplessness and doting on her face.
Lin Zhi gave a sarcastic and fierce look, then turned to Cheng Ran apologetically and said, "Sister Cheng Ran, um... the afternoon tea last time was delicious, we finished it all! I've been wanting to find an opportunity to thank you."
Lin Zhi gave Ling Keng a hard elbow, and Ling Keng swallowed the cake whole, shaking his head and saying, "Mmm! Thank you, Sister Cheng!"
Mu Yiran was surprised that these students would speak up for her. Wealthy families are all self-interested, and who these younger generation associates with is related to the family's interests.
The Cheng family currently does not have any children of that age, which breaks a layer in their network of relationships.
She was somewhat flattered to have someone other than Guan Shiyan speak up for her.
"With such a sweet tongue, I'll have that shop deliver to your school every afternoon from now on," Mu Yiran winked and chuckled at Lin Zhi.
Lin Zhi's face flushed red, and she shrank behind her mother. She didn't care about one or two afternoon teas, but no young girl would be unhappy to hear such words.
And when the beautiful woman flirted with her, her legs went weak!
Seeing that they were all calling Cheng Ran "sister," the people around them also shut up.
These things should only be taken as a joke. If you really use this to mock Cheng Ran, wouldn't you be deliberately trying to cause trouble for the Shi family?
The few troublemakers who had just been mocking him quickly realized that none of the people in front of them came to their senses and could afford to offend any of them, so they shut up and pretended to be dead.
The surrounding noise subsided, and everyone's attention returned to Shi Youxi. Because of that "sister," everyone's attention was on Cheng Ran, and no one noticed the white, plump seaweed in the corner anymore.
Bai Yuning leaned against the corner of the wall, glaring resentfully at Cheng Ran.
I should have been the one receiving all the attention just now!
She exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down.
It's okay, it's okay!
There's also a duet!
That was just Shi Youxi thanking his stepmother; Cheng Ran must have threatened him! She threatened Shi Youxi to pretend that his stepson and stepmother had a good relationship!
Absolutely, absolutely not, he doesn't like Cheng Ran!
She's in the prime of her youth, while Cheng Ran is an old woman—how can they be compared?
Mo Yifan, who had the opposite idea, was also muttering to himself.
Sure enough, Cheng Ran is still the same Cheng Ran.
He knew best what kind of person Shi Youxi was. If he wasn't willing, why would he address Cheng Ran as "sister" in such a possessive and assertive tone?
Oh.
Cheng Ran really has some clever tricks up her sleeve.
The aloof and restrained demeanor she displayed in front of him is probably quite different from her flirtatious and unrestrained self in front of Shi Youxi.
Thinking of what the silver-haired man had given him earlier.
Mo Yifan stared at Cheng Ran's slender back and curled his lips into a smile.
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