Fake Alpha Daughter's Self-Help Notes - Chapter 29

After school, the students in the International class left the classroom one by one, and soon only Gu Fei and Gu Qingqing were left.

Gu Fei packed up her schoolbag but showed no intention of leaving.

She rested her chin on one hand, staring at Gu Qingqing with dissatisfaction, “Gu Qingqing, didn’t you say you wanted to join the Rocket Class?”

“Yeah.” Gu Qingqing looked innocent, “I regret it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you changed your mind? It’s already been two days…!” Gu Fei said with grievance.

“I wanted to give you a surprise,” Gu Qingqing said softly. “You…don’t want me to come to the International class?”

“I…” Gu Fei paused for a moment, then shook her head, “Why would I want you to come over! We already see each other every day at home, even sleep together, we already spend so much time together. I totally don’t want to be in the same class as you! Totally not!”

Gu Qingqing chuckled softly, “Mhm, mhm, not at all, not at all.”

She made an earnest apologetic gesture again, her expression pitiful, “It was my fault for not telling you right away. Forgive me, okay…Gu Fei?”

Gu Fei let out a humph, waiting for Gu Qingqing to tug at her sleeve and act coquettishly.

After a few seconds, Gu Qingqing still hadn’t moved, maintaining the same pitiful expression as before. Gu Fei felt a bit disappointed inside, but still let out a sigh and said, “Alright, I forgive you.”

Ever since the night the midterm exams ended, Gu Qingqing no longer took the initiative to distance herself from Gu Fei, but she also didn’t approach her as proactively as before. Gu Fei stopped asking about it and no longer felt a heaviness in her heart. The way the two interacted subtly changed, becoming somewhat delicate.

As soon as they walked out of the school gate, they saw Gu Hupo‘s car parked outside.

These past two days, since Gu Hupo and Ju Yan weren’t busy with work, they simply took the time to drop them off and pick them up from school.

After getting in the car, Gu Fei realized something was different than usual, the back seat was piled with a lot of stuff, leaving just enough space for her and Gu Qingqing to squeeze in together.

“Gu Hupo, what about your trunk?” Gu Fei complained, dragging out her words in dissatisfaction.

“Ahem…” Gu Hupo scratched her head. “Isn’t there too much space? Zai-Zai, you and Qingqing will have to squeeze in a bit. Actually, you two are so skinny, it’s not really squeezing. Just behave and sit still, little ones, don’t make a fuss.”

Gu Qingqing sat inside and made room for Gu Fei, letting her sit by the window.

Gu Fei snorted, sat down, and closed the car door.

“Let’s go!” Gu Hupo stepped on the gas, and the car sped up immediately.

“Eh…?” Gu Fei was stunned

Gu Fei was startled, “Aren’t we going home?”

“We’re not going home, we’re going on an outing!” Gu Hupo announced loudly.

Ju Yan turned around and explained gently, “Didn’t we say during the summer break that we’d take you and QingQing out to have some fun? Today’s Friday, and since we happen to have the day off, we thought we’d go camping in the suburbs together.”

Gu Hubo added, “There are snacks in the backseat. Zai-Zai, just help yourselves if you want anything.”

Gu Fei’s eyes lit up. She turned her head and, sure enough, saw a big bag of snacks piled on top.

“Want something to eat? I’ll help you…” Before Gu Qingqing could even finish saying “get,” Gu Fei suddenly leaned over, one hand braced beside her leg, and the other reaching past to grab some snacks.

A warm breath brushed against her face and neck, tickling her in an almost unbearable way. Gu Qingqing instinctively pulled her fingers back toward her leg, only to end up touching Gu Fei’s hand, their fingertips meeting.

Maybe it was because they hadn’t held hands in such a long time, but Gu Qingqing felt a jolt of electricity spread from her fingertips, coursing through every cell in her body, making her feel a little numb, a little ticklish all over.

Gu Fei didn’t seem to notice at all. She rested her chin on Gu Qingqing’s shoulder, stretching hard to reach the snacks beside them.

As a result, Gu Fei accidentally lost her balance, her hand slipped, and she fell right onto Gu Qingqing, her head sliding down from Qingqing’s shoulder all the way to her lower abdomen, “Ow…”

Gu Qingqing instinctively reached out to support Gu Fei’s hand, and Gu Fei reflexively held on, so once again, their fingers interlaced.

The snacks also scattered everywhere.

The two people in the front seat heard the commotion and glanced back through the rearview mirror. Ju Yan smiled helplessly yet gently, while Gu Hupo sighed and said, “Zai-Zai, you’re so clumsy, you can’t even grab snacks properly.”

It was rare that Gu Fei did not refute Gu Hupo’s words.

Her face was buried against Gu Qingqing’s lower abdomen. With an Alpha’s keen sense of smell, just a slight twitch of her nose allowed her to catch a rich, fragrant scent. It clearly wasn’t the smell of pheromones, yet it was overwhelmingly sweet.

At first, Gu Fei didn’t realize what was happening and couldn’t help but take a few more breaths. Then her face flushed a deep red, and the hand clasped with Gu Qingqing’s stiffened, unsure whether to let go or hold on tighter.

Gu Qingqing’s expression gave nothing away. One hand remained interlocked with Gu Fei’s, while the other calmly picked up the snacks that had fallen on Gu Fei. But Gu Fei, lying on top of her, could feel it clearly, she was trembling, trembling quite badly.

It was like that time in the fitting room, when Gu Fei accidentally touched Gu Qingqing’s back, and she trembled with restraint and fear.

Finally, Gu Qingqing finished tidying up the snacks. No one knew who let go of the joined hands first. After lying quietly for a few more minutes, Gu Fei slowly sat up and shifted toward the car window.

“…I’m sorry.” Gu Fei’s voice was very weak.

Gu Qingqing didn’t respond. In the reflection of the window, Gu Fei saw flickering specks of confusion in Gu Qingqing’s eyes.

After a while, Gu Qingqing placed the bag of snacks on her lap, lowered her gaze to the snacks, and asked in her usual calm voice, “What do you want to eat?”

“Potato chips.” Gu Fei whispered.

Gu Qingqing handed her a pack.

Gu Fei opened it and added, “You eat too.”

“Yeah.” Gu Qingqing also opened a bag.

Gu Fei leaned tightly against the window, and Gu Qingqing leaned against the luggage. There remained a small gap between them, and they didn’t speak again. From the back seat came the constant crunching sound of potato chips being bitten into, while Ju Yan glanced at the rearview mirror and furrowed her brows slightly.

An hour later, they finally arrived at the hot spring resort in the mountains for camping.

The resort was quite large. At the front were rows of rocky hot springs, followed by an indoor heated swimming pool. Further in was a grassy field designated for camping. Beside it lay a vast lake, and along the river were a series of giant transparent starry tents where guests could sleep at night while gazing at the stars.

Gu Hupo had reserved two starry tents. As she was placing the luggage inside, she looked a bit disappointed and muttered, “I thought we’d get to set our own tents…”

It was still early, so the four of them had dinner first, then changed into swimsuits to enjoy the hot springs.

Although Gu Fei and Gu Qingqing were sharing a tent, Ju Yan, considering that one was an ordinary person and the other an Alpha, had the staff add a sheer curtain in the middle of the tent to separate them.

The curtain was very thin, squeezed between the two beds, enough to prevent them from crossing to each other’s side, yet still allowing them to see everything on the other side clearly.

When changing into her swimsuit, Gu Fei pulled down the blackout curtains around the tent and sat by her own bed, “Um…Gu Qingqing, don’t turn around while we’re changing, okay? I-I won’t turn around either.”

Gu Qingqing murmured “hmm” softly.

But as soon as she took off her coat, Gu Fei felt a little regretful.

There was only one desk lamp in the tent, and its light radiated outward. She and Gu Qingqing were sitting on opposite beds, and from their positions, they could clearly see each other’s every movement through the shadow cast on the curtain.

…even though it was just a shadow, it was still enough to make someone feel uncomfortable.

Gu Fei swallowed hard, her movements extremely slow, while directly in front of her, Gu Qingqing’s shadow moved much faster.

The slender and delicate figure was outlined clearly on the curtain, with smooth, graceful curves, except for one area that was a little…too lacking.

Gu Fei suddenly bowed her head and covered her face——Gu Xiaofei, what are you thinking! You’re not allowed to look, aaaahhhh!

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, quickly changed into her swimsuit, and wrapped herself in a bathrobe. Meanwhile, Gu Qingqing’s silhouette on the curtain also stopped moving, as if she were lowering her head and playing on her phone.

“Gu Qingqing, are you done changing?” Gu Fei tried her best to keep her voice sounding normal.

“Mm, I’m done,” Gu Qingqing nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

The two of them exited the tent from opposite sides.

“Why are you two so slow, little ones?” Gu Hupo and Ju Yan were already waiting outside, especially Gu Hupo, who couldn’t wait any longer and rushed toward the hot spring pool. “Come on, come on, let’s go soak in the hot spring!”

This hot spring resort wasn’t cheap, and because it operated on a reservation-only basis, there weren’t many people around, making the place feel especially quiet and serene.

As they walked past the heated swimming pool, Gu Hupo’s eyes lit up with a spark of mischief. On a sudden whim, she said, “How about a swim before the hot spring? Shivering in the cold pool first, then soaking in the hot spring after, tsk tsk, now that feels amazing.”

“How about it? Don’t you know how to swim, Zai-Zai? Come with me?” Gu Hupo raised her eyebrows at Gu Fei invitingly.

Gu Fei took a step back, hid behind Ju Yan, and shook her head vigorously, “No!”

“Swimming is so tiring,” Gu Fei muttered.

Ju Yan smiled gently and rubbed her head, “I think so too.”

Gu Hupo blinked pitifully, but with her nearly 1.9-meter-tall alpha build, she just couldn’t manage to look genuinely pitiable. Seeing that neither Gu Fei nor Ju Yan was moved, she turned to Gu Qingqing, “Qing-Qing, how about keeping Aunt Gu company for a swim?”

Gu Qingqing didn’t refuse, so Gu Hupo cheered excitedly and threw an arm around her shoulders as they walked off together.

Once the two had walked off into the distance, Gu Fei and Ju Yan finally continued heading toward the hot spring pool.

They casually chose a hot spring pool in a spot that was easy to see, so that when Gu Hupo and Gu Qingqing came over later, they would be able to spot them at a glance.

“Mommy…” Gu Fei’s voice was a little weak. “Why did you guys deliberately separate me and Qing-Qing?”

Ju Yan smiled gently, “You noticed?”

Gu Fei nodded, “Gu Hupo’s acting is terrible, I saw through it right away.”

“Because Mommy has something she wants to talk to you about.” Ju Yan scooted a bit closer and gently asked, “Xiao Fei, have you been having a disagreement with Qing-Qing lately?”

“Wu…” Gu Fei lowered her head.

Ju Yan touched her head tenderly.

“Not exactly a fight…it’s just that things have been kind of weird between us lately,” Gu Fei said softly.

Ju Yan hummed softly, still smiling gently.

“When did it start?”

“Probably…after the time she got bullied by Chen Xiaoxian. Ever since she left the hospital, she started to grow distant from me,” Gu Fei recalled, her cheeks puffing up slightly. “But it’s not exactly like she’s avoiding me, she treats me really well. She carries my backpack, makes me little desserts, and helps me with games. In daily life, she’s always taking care of the things I overlook.”

“But I just feel like she’s not as willing as before to come close to me or chat with me on her own…”

“Um, I also asked her if she disliked me, but she said no, and I could tell she wasn’t lying. After that conversation, she didn’t deliberately distance herself anymore, but when we’re together…well, it just feels weird somehow.” Gu Fei’s fingers couldn’t help but move, gently splashing the water.

Ju Yan lowered her gaze, deep in thought.

After a moment, she softly asked, “Xiao Fei, in your eyes, what kind of person is Qing-Qing?”

Gu Fei thought for a moment and said, “Gentle, fragile, sensitive…”

She recalled how Gu Qingqing refused to switch classes early and insisted on studying day and night to transfer based on her grades, and added, “…and very proud.”

“That’s right,” Ju Yan said gently. “Qing-Qing is a child with strong pride, yet she’s also sensitive and fragile. So…perhaps all this time, she’s been blaming herself.”

Gu Fei blinked and met Ju Yan’s gentle gaze. In that moment, everything suddenly became clear in her mind.

Ju Yan continued, “Maybe she’s blaming herself for being just an ordinary person without the ability to protect herself, feeling that it was her fault you ended up in a triggered state. Or maybe, she not only feels guilty, but also hurt and insecure because of her gender. She feels inferior, unwilling to accept it. She’s been backing away because she doesn’t dare to face you.”

“I understand now,” Gu Fei’s fingers curled slightly, her voice tinged with sadness.

In other words, Gu Qingqing had actually been feeling very unhappy these past few days, much more unhappy than her, and yet she hadn’t noticed it at all.

“But Xiao Fei, don’t blame yourself or feel sad because of this,” Ju Yan said gently with a smile, “You are a little sun. Since Qing-Qing keeps withdrawing, then you should be the one to approach her, to warm her, to bring her sunlight, and help her come out from the shadow of that incident, alright?”

Gu Fei thought for a moment, then nodded firmly, “Mm!”

“Our Xiao Fei is the best.” Ju Yan smiled gently.

Soon, Gu Fei saw Gu Huo and Gu Qingqing walking over from not far away. Gu Hupo was chatting excitedly with Gu Qingqing, and Gu Qingqing nodded from time to time. It seemed like the two were getting along quite well.

“This way——!” Gu Fei stood up and waved.

Gu Hupo quickly ran over, kicked off her slippers, and jumped into the hot spring pool, splashing water everywhere.

“My eyes——!” Gu Fei complained loudly while bending down to rub her eyes.

Ju Yan gently gave Gu Hupo a glare, making her immediately shrink obediently beside Ju Yan with a pitiful expression, “Wife, I was wrong, I promise I won’t jump next time…”

Gu Qingqing also walked over, took off her bathrobe, and slowly sat down in the hot spring. Perhaps out of habit, though she had just been chatting happily with Gu Hupo, she instinctively sat a little farther away, putting some distance between herself and the other three.

Gu Fei thought for a moment, then overcame the subtle tension between her and Gu Qingqing. She stepped forward and firmly grabbed her wrist, pulling her over without giving her a chance to protest, placing her right beside their two moms.

Gu Qingqing sat in the middle, with Gu Fei right beside her.

By now, the sky was completely dark. Gu Fei looked up and saw a silver moon hanging high above. She couldn’t help but stretch comfortably and sigh, “The moonlight is so beautiful tonight——”

Gu Qingqing looked up at the moon and nodded blankly.

After soaking in the hot springs, the four of them returned to the lakeside. The silver-white lights outside the starlit tent were glowing softly, with tiny lights scattered among the grass. The vast surface of the lake reflected the endless stars above, quiet, serene, and romantic.

The four of them went back to the tent to change into their pajamas, then spent some time by the river enjoying the night breeze. By the time they finally returned to the tent to sleep, it was already past midnight.

Gu Fei was already exhausted after soaking in the hot spring, she fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the bed.

Gu Qingqing, however, quietly sat up. Through the thin veil, she gazed at Gu Fei’s sleeping face, tilting her head in a daze. She reached out and touched the sheer curtain, her fingers gently tracing over it, unconsciously writing the characters for “Gu Fei.”

…

…

It was another self-study period.

The international class was noisy and chaotic, most students had no intention of studying. Only Gu Qingqing remained quietly focused, burying her head in books and exercises, completely unaffected by the noise around her.

Xi Wan walked in from outside with a slip of paper in her hand, looking dejected, “Classmates, comrades, bad news——!”

The class was silent for a moment, and everyone looked at her.

Xi Wan slapped the form onto the podium and sighed, “The sports meet is the day after tomorrow, we have to fill out the registration form today.”

“No way——???”

“Why does it feel like the last sports meet just happened not long ago?”

The classroom was instantly filled with groans and wails.

Haicheng High School held a sports meet once every year, usually right after the midterm exams of the first semester. Officially, it was meant to let students relax a little, and for the transfer students, it was a good opportunity to quickly integrate into the group.

Students from other classes all looked forward to the sports meet, but the International class was an exception. They already had more than enough extracurricular activities on a regular basis, so to them, two days of “rest” felt completely unnecessary.

The worst part was that their class had too few students, and even fewer who were good at sports. Every year, they came in dead last at the sports meet, even ranked below the bookish Rocket Class. To make matters worse, Haicheng High School’s sports meet had an overwhelming number of events, thirty-five in total, covering all sorts of random things. As the class’s PE representative, Xi Wan had to sign up for three or four events herself every time.

Someone asked with a wail, “Big Rep Xi, can you give us a little more time?”

Xi Wan took a deep breath, prompting the whole class to hold theirs as well, eyes sparkling as they waited for her answer.

Who knew Xi Wan would suddenly deflate like a balloon, collapsing onto the podium and weakly saying, “No, I can’t——”

The classroom was once again filled with pitiful, miserable wails.

Class monitor Liu Xiaoxiao suddenly stood up, walked to the podium, and took the registration form from Xi Wan’s hands, then began collecting names starting from the first row. Xi Wan’s eyes lit up instantly and she happily trotted after her.

Gu Fei and Gu Qingqing were seated in the last row by the window on the left side. By the time Liu Xiaoxiao walked over to them, most of the others had already filled out the form.

Gu Fei wasn’t very athletic and hadn’t participated in the previous sports meets. Gu Qingqing, being known as Gu Fei’s “younger sister,” was also usually overlooked. Seeing this, Xi Wan tugged lightly on Liu Xiaoxiao’s sleeve, hinting that they should bend the rules a bit and skip over the two of them.

Liu Xiaoxiao, understanding the hint, nodded knowingly. Just as the two were about to move on, Gu Qingqing, who had been quietly focused on her exercises, suddenly looked up and asked softly, “Are there any events left?”

Liu Xiaoxiao was taken aback, “You want to sign up?”

“Ng.” Gu Qingqing nodded with a serious expression.

Xi Wan instinctively glanced at Gu Fei, and seeing no surprise or displeasure on her face, she then took the form from Liu Xiaoxiao and leapt in front of Gu Qingqing with excitement, “Come, come, take a look! Which one do you want to join? The events that still need people are shot put, high jump, long jump…and the 3000-meter run.”

Xi Wan’s voice was a bit loud, and as she spoke, several nearby classmates were drawn over to watch.

An Alpha male student complained, “Class Rep Xi, that’s really unfair of you, isn’t it? Qing-Qing’s just an ordinary person, her stamina isn’t even as good as Beta’s. How could you recommend so many events to her?”

The boy had clearly meant well with his words, but Gu Fei noticed Gu Qingqing lower her head, her body visibly tensing for a moment. Beneath the desk, her fingers clenched tightly.

How many times had she heard those words, “just an ordinary person”?

Gu Fei reached out and, without a word, grabbed Gu Qingqing’s fingers, intertwining theirs tightly under the desk, locking their fingers together with quiet determination.

Gu Qingqing instinctively spread her fingers, flustered and trying to pull away, but she didn’t dare make any sudden movements for fear of being noticed by the others. Her arm stayed perfectly still, and only her fingers struggled faintly, yet there was no escaping Gu Fei’s firm grasp.

Gu Fei didn’t mind Gu Qingqing’s attempts to pull away. Ever since that night at the hot spring, she had made up her mind, if Gu Qingqing kept retreating, then she would just keep shamelessly moving forward!

As long as her skin was thick enough, she wouldn’t feel embarrassed at all!

Xi Wan rolled her eyes at the boy, “Get lost, get lost, if you’ve got so much to say, why don’t you run the 3,000 meters?”

The boy immediately shuddered and shook his head repeatedly, “No, no…I already signed up for four events. If I add the 3,000 meters r, I’ll die from exhaustion!”

“Then stop talking so much,” Xi Wan snorted, then turned back to Gu Qingqing with a smile. “Qing-Qing, take a look, which event are you interested in?”

Gu Qingqing carefully looked over the remaining events, then finally picked up a pen and wrote her name under the 3000-meter race.

Xi Wan was stunned.

Although Gu Qingqing had always been the first to finish during the 1000-meter runs in joint P.E. classes with the regular students, that was still just a thousand meters! And many of the Alphas hadn’t even been running at full strength. Gu Qingqing looked so slim and delicate, could she really handle it?

Gu Fei also leaned in close to Gu Qingqing’s ear and asked softly, “Are you sure you can do it?”

“Sure.” Gu Qingqing nodded.

Gu Fei shot Xi Wan a look, and only then did Xi Wan snap out of it. She grinned and said cheerfully, “Thanks, Qing-Qing! But honestly, our class isn’t great at sports anyway. You can just run however you like, if you get tired, walking to the finish line is totally fine. The results don’t matter.”

Just as Xi Wan finished speaking and was about to walk away with the form, Gu Fei suddenly reached out her hand and said, “I want to sign up too.”

“You——?” Xi Wan was genuinely surprised this time, her eyes widening, “Gu Xiao Fei, our class might always come in last, but we’ve never scored negative points before…”

“Then let’s get a negative score this year,” Gu Fei said nonchalantly, shifting her gaze to the falling leaves outside the window and pouting slightly. “Can’t let my little Qing-Qing go up there alone, after all.”

Gu Qingqing signed up for the sports meet in order to better integrate into their class.

She couldn’t just leave Gu Qingqing alone.

When Gu Fei said that last sentence, her voice was so soft that almost only she could hear it.

“What did you say?” Xi Wan blinked.

“Nothing,” Gu Fei shook her head. “I’ll sign up for a shot put. What do you think?”

“Got it!” Xi Wan nodded with a smile. What she said earlier about Gu Fei scoring negative points was just a joke. Their class had long gotten used to being last place and truly didn’t care about rankings. The fact that Gu Fei, of all people, suddenly wanted to join the sports meet was already enough of a pleasant surprise for Xi Wan, how could she possibly dislike Gu Fei just because she wasn’t good at sports?

Xi Wan pulled Liu Xiaoxiao along and walked away excitedly to continue recruiting around the classroom. The remaining few events weren’t difficult, so they were quickly snatched up.

Once the people around them had dispersed, Gu Fei finally let go of her hand, pretending it was unintentional.

Gu Qingqing calmly withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened, her expression composed as she continued reading her book.

But Gu Fei accidentally caught a glimpse, Gu Qingqing’s fingertips, and the tips of her ears hidden beneath her hair, were all flushed red.

What Gu Fei didn’t know was that the quiet sentence she had just whispered, “I can’t let my Qing-Qing go up there alone”, had been heard by Gu Qingqing.

The author has something to say:

The classic school-life trope — the sports festival — is here! Getting sabotaged by side characters, injuries, fainting, medical room flirting, dramatic comebacks, face-slapping glory…in the next chapter, none of that will happen (bushi).

But here’s a little teaser: next chapter will be a highlight moment for our Fai-zai. Hehe ovo.

Sunnyshies: Btw “The moonlight is so beautiful tonight” is also a round-about way in Chinese and Japanese for saying I love you…hahaha, it’s very poetic, you guys can use it sometimes.