The next day, the students of Class 14, Year 1, Baiyuan University Affiliated High School discovered that the new beautiful transfer student had taken a leave of absence.
“Do you know where she went?”
The girl sitting next to her spread her hands.
“I don’t know.”
To be honest, after sitting beside her all day, besides knowing she had some seriously cool pen-spinning skills, she knew nothing else about her.
Too mysterious.
At this moment, the mysterious, black-haired beauty Bai Xia was heading toward the subway station with a backpack full of things.
This is how you should handle serious business—alone, silent, invisible, without weaknesses, cold and composed…
Then she saw a beautiful girl with long, snowy white hair and a large chest, leading two other girls into the subway station.
Bai Xia’s eyelid twitched.
Where is Bai Xiaoya going?
Why is she bringing two girls with her?
What are they planning?
But just then, the subway arrived, and Bai Xiaoya and the others had already boarded.
Bai Xia deliberately lagged behind, observing them secretly from across most of the carriage.
She wondered why Bai Xiaoya was on the same train—surely they weren’t heading to the same place, right?
And an even more important question—why bring two girls?
***
Bai Xiaoya and her roommates had planned to take the subway since yesterday, and after a simple morning preparation, they set off.
Everything went smoothly.
As soon as they entered the station, a train arrived, and since they boarded early, there were even seats available.
Bai Xiaoya held her thermos cup, sipping the red date and goji tea inside from time to time.
“Good thing we got on early and got seats,”
She sighed as a big-chested girl.
“If we were any later, I don’t know how we’d survive this ride.”
It was over a dozen stops to Donglu Overpass from here. If there were no seats, she’d be tossed around who knows where.
General Big White Rabbit—the center of gravity is a weakness.
Gu Yun glanced at Bai Xiaoya’s thermos cup, confirmed it was water with floating herbs and not some new Yuanqi Forest drink, and looked puzzled.
“Xiaoxiao, lately, have you been facing some enemy that requires a strong body to defeat?”
She asked tactfully.
“Like, say, a demon of desire in your heart?”
Bai Xiaoya’s gaze drifted.
“I just want to maintain my health. After all, your body is the foundation of everything.”
Why did the big-chested girl want to hide the past of May Day from her roommates?
Because she really had sold herself…for the mission.
That’s a kind of selling too.
Gu Yun saw she had secrets she couldn’t talk about and didn’t press further.
But then He Lili suddenly said,
“Feels like Xiaoxiao has changed a lot.”
Bai Xiaoya’s heart skipped a beat.
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. It’s a vibe I can’t quite describe. Compared to before, you’re more mature and decisive. Also…you smell better.”
He Lili thought seriously.
Gu Yun, sitting nearby, also nodded.
As friends under the same roof, such changes were obvious—especially the last one.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Bai Xiaoya blinked.
“People always grow up…”
Suddenly, a thought came to her.
If, according to the original setting, she was the evil villainess, then her best friend should naturally be her evil right-hand, a den of snakes and rats.
But no one’s fate should be limited to petty mischief.
So, Bai Xiaoya, originally trying to brush off the topic, found herself on a whim elaborating:
“Did you know, in the past I always felt trapped by something—rules, settings, whatever. Like a pupa trapped in a cocoon, trying to break free and become a butterfly.”
The big-chested girl wasn’t one to speak in riddles, but some things couldn’t be said plainly. Literary metaphors would do, and anyway, her sisters were all liberal arts students.
Gu Yun looked at the thermos cup again.
“Xiaoxiao, you focus on health now…is it for this…metamorphosis?”
“Something like that. After all, to break out of the cocoon, you have to face many hardships and enemies,”
Bai Xiaoya grew more excited as she spoke.
“Think about it, all those who succeeded in becoming butterflies—Zhuang Zhou, Liang Zhu, Lady Xiangfei—which of them didn’t risk death for a new life?”
“And Xi’er.”
He Lili interjected.
Bai Xiaoya tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“Fine, Xi’er too.”
He Lili happily rubbed her hands together, looked at her two friends, and tried,
“Actually, Hu Tao as well—”
“Enough already!”
The joys and sorrows of people are never truly shared.
Because of the distance, Bai Xia couldn’t hear what they were saying.
She only saw the girls laughing and joking, their voices of happiness reaching her from time to time.
For some reason, the girl felt annoyed, though she didn’t know why.
The subway crossed half of Baiyuan City, and after dozens of minutes, Donglu Overpass arrived.
Bai Xiaoya and her companions left the station and headed toward their destination.
But soon, as they reached the side of the overpass, they found themselves stuck, unsure how to continue forward.
The roar of traffic, the rumble of engines, and the blaring of horns formed a thick wall of noise, blocking their path alongside the bridge.
Gu Yun checked the map on her phone, then looked up across the overpass.
“There’s a space over there, but nothing shows on the map.”
She raised her gaze, but still couldn’t see anything.
“If there’s a building over there, it must be a low house or a small multi-story at best.”
“And the most important question,”
He Lili said,
“How do we get over there?”
No road.
Bai Xiaoya thought for a moment.
“Whether it’s a road or an entrance, there has to be one. Let’s all search. Gu Yun, start on the far left; He Lili, on the far right. No matter who finds something, don’t act rashly. Regroup first.”
“Okay.”
Gu Yun and He Lili headed in opposite directions.
Bai Xiaoya was about to move as well when she suddenly realized a problem—
Gu Yun went left, He Lili went right, so where was she supposed to go?
Crap, she forgot to assign herself during tactics planning.
At that moment, Bai Xiaoya noticed a few people emerging from a spot under the overpass.
Hmm? Since when was there a door there?
Three people stood there—two adults and one…well, she wasn’t sure if she was an adult, but definitely a girl.
Bai Xiaoya watched in secret.
As the girl turned to leave, she saw her face—innocent and beautiful.
Truly pure.
Unlike Bai Xiaoya, who claimed to be pure-looking but…well, even just looking at her face, she was indeed pure.
Anyway, she was a beautiful girl with a pure appearance, petite and delicate, the type who looked like a sweet and innocent neighbor’s little sister.
The two adults didn’t leave with her.
They just stood there and bid her farewell politely before returning the way they came.
Bai Xiaoya thought, the people on the other side of the bridge seemed quite polite.