This Deskmate, You Wouldn't Want To...

The moment the thought occurred to him, Jiang Yubai's first reaction was that it was impossible.

No way. What would she gain by pretending to be her own younger sister just to come to school?

He instinctively wanted to dismiss the guess, but the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Whether it held up logically or not, in theory—since they were identical twins, unless someone knew them especially well, it really would be difficult to tell them apart.

Besides... her younger sister's condition was right there. It was practically impossible for her to pretend to be her older sister, since her muteness meant she could not speak at all.

But the other way around, if the older sister wanted to impersonate the younger one, wouldn't she just need to keep her mouth shut?

And that explained why Lin Jianxia had known his name the moment they met yesterday.

After all, the person who had been in the same class as him for over two years was her. It would have been strange if she could not remember his name...

Still, a guess was only a guess. To truly figure it out, he needed to find a way to verify it.

How should he verify it...

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yubai decided to test her again.

He took the draft notebook, grabbed his gel pen, and quickly scribbled down a few lines.

"Sorry, I spoke without thinking just now, and my attitude yesterday wasn't good either. Please apologize to your sister for me."

Yeah, this was called a strategic apology.

Thinking this with a touch of Ah Q spirit, he gently pushed the notebook into the space between their desks.

But "Lin Tingwan" remained motionless, staring at her textbook as though she had not noticed the open notebook at all.

...She was genuinely mad.

Jiang Yubai studied his deskmate from the corner of his eye and suddenly realized something very serious.

If the person in front of him really was Lin Jianxia, then hadn't he just asked her, right to her face, whether she had persecution delusions?

Hiss...

Jiang Yubai's heart turned cold.

After a moment's thought, he took out a pack of Doctor Bear gummies he had bought that morning, gently placed it on top of the notebook, and pushed it a little farther toward her.

This time, the girl beside him finally reacted.

She glanced at the brightly wrapped gummies, pursed her lips, but reached out to pick up the notebook underneath first.

After reading the words on it, "Lin Tingwan" shot Jiang Yubai a glance.

Jiang Yubai responded with an awkward yet polite smile.

Whatever she thought of, the tightness at the corners of the girl's lips eased slightly.

She finally picked up the strawberry gummy, then took up her pen and quickly wrote a few words in the notebook before pushing it back.

Jiang Yubai let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

Good. As long as it worked.

What he feared most was this "Lin Tingwan" completely shutting him out—not replying to notes, ignoring him entirely. If that happened, there would be nothing he could do.

Since she had replied... there was still room to talk.

Jiang Yubai took back the notebook and lowered his head to read it.

"Mm, it's fine. I won't tell my sister what you said just now."

Hah, she certainly would not tell her "sister"... since Lin Jianxia already knew.

Grumbling inwardly, Jiang Yubai carefully compared the handwriting in the notebook with that in the little notebook from yesterday—it was almost identical.

No way. Could twins' handwriting really be this similar? Could I have guessed wrong?

Jiang Yubai suddenly felt uncertain.

Just as he was mulling it over, a faint sound of foil tearing came from beside him.

Jiang Yubai froze for a moment and instinctively turned to look.

"Lin Tingwan" was stiffly frozen in place, still holding the strawberry gummy and about to put it in her mouth.

When she saw him looking, the girl swiftly stuffed the gummy into her mouth, but the tips of her ears turned red at a visible speed.

Jiang Yubai turned back expressionlessly and pretended he had seen nothing.

He was genuinely afraid that if he looked any longer, he would burst out laughing.

...No, he was really starting to doubt his earlier conclusion.

It was hard to imagine that this creature, who blushed just from eating a gummy, could possibly be the prickly Lin Jianxia from yesterday...

After some thought, Jiang Yubai suddenly came up with an idea and wrote:

"By the way, why is your sister so hostile toward me?"

"Your sister said she heard it all from you—that I was stringing Zhao Yun and Li Qiuyue along at the same time, two-timing them, and so on... Where did you hear those rumors?"

Looking at what he had written, Jiang Yubai narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

The moment Lin Jianxia said that yesterday, he had known she was lying.

Not to mention how she immediately changed her story after letting something slip, looking so foolish as she tried to fool him, Jiang Yubai, like he was an idiot. Just based on Lin Tingwan's attitude toward him yesterday, did she look even remotely like she thought he was a scumbag?

Besides, given how fiercely Lin Jianxia protected her younger sister, how could she casually drag her sister's name into it?

That left only one possibility—the rumors had most likely been heard by Lin Jianxia herself. When he questioned her and she could not keep up the lie, she had no choice but to use her younger sister as a shield in her panic.

If his new deskmate really was Lin Tingwan, she should only look confused after seeing those words.

But if it was Lin Jianxia pretending...

At that thought, Jiang Yubai picked up the notebook and gently pushed it to the other side of the desk.

At the same time, he carefully watched his new deskmate's reaction from the corner of his eye.

When the other person saw what was written in the notebook, her body stiffened almost imperceptibly. After hesitating for a moment, she still lowered her head and wrote something before handing the notebook back.

Jiang Yubai had reached a conclusion. He took the notebook, opened it, and immediately found it amusing.

"Mm... Those were rumors heard elsewhere. I've already explained to my sister that they aren't true."

Heh heh heh~

Lin Jianxia, do you know what it means to overcompensate?

Seeing her slightly guilty reaction, along with that explanation that was clearly intended to brush him off, Jiang Yubai was now almost certain.

This silent "new deskmate" was, nine times out of ten, the older sister from yesterday—Lin Jianxia.

No wonder.

He had been wondering why Lin Tingwan's attitude toward him had seemed perfectly normal yesterday, only for her to treat him like an enemy when they met again today.

So they had never switched places at all!

Alright, alright. Yesterday, it wasn't enough for you to think I was some playboy, and today you're pretending to be your sister too?

Now I've got you.

That also explained her opening apology—Lin Jianxia was probably not sincerely apologizing at all. After all, he had just messed with her before leaving yesterday.

She was only afraid that, in a fit of anger, he would demand rent from the sisters again.

If that was the case...

An idea quietly surfaced in Jiang Yubai's mind.

Deskmate, you wouldn't want to offend your big landlord and get yourself and your sister kicked out, would you?

He tried hard to suppress the upward curl of his lips and wrote a few words in the notebook.

"By the way, what does your sister usually like? She seems pretty interesting."