As soon as Band-Aid spoke up, Song Wuli covered his face, leaning heavily on the table.
He knew it was already too late. This all happened yesterday, and no matter what was said now, it was useless.
When Jin Luan said that, the few people inside the shop reacted differently.
The store manager obviously knew about it, so he just smiled and kept making milk tea, sighing, “Youth is truly wonderful.”
The regular customers also sighed, “Young people sure are bold. Back in our day, we didn’t have all these tricks.”
Zhou Fatty clearly knew what was going on and excitedly looked at his friends.
Some classmates who saw the scene were both surprised and confused.
One of them asked, “What’s up with Band-Aid? I don’t get it.”
Zhou Fatty hurriedly made a few hand gestures, tapping twice on his own chest.
That classmate understood: “Oh~~”
The other classmates followed with odd sounds: “Oh~~”
They all burst out laughing.
Song Wuli’s face flushed red all the way to his ears.
If he were an Original Sister, it would have been easier to accept, but as a 34-year-old man, his shame doubled.
It was like an old man dressing in women’s clothes and accidentally revealing himself—double the embarrassment.
Thankfully, his true identity wasn’t discovered; if it had been, that would have been twenty times the shame.
Zhou Fatty kept joking, even went to find fan-made images and shared them with his friends.
Just one night later, Huang P had already made plenty of fanart, and Huang P had even written a Script overnight based on Band-Aid’s play, which was already in production.
Old Song kept his head down, drinking his milk tea fiercely, finishing it in just a few sips, leaving only the not-yet-melted ice cubes behind.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice someone entering.
Until he heard familiar footsteps.
Suddenly, he looked up and saw it was Xia Shiyao.
That woman walked by with her head held high, passing right next to Song Wuli without even glancing at him.
Xia Shiyao was like this most of the time—arrogant, looking down on everyone.
She sat at table number 3, just behind Song Wuli.
He could smell the faint scent she carried—not perfume.
After seeing her come in, Zhou Fatty and the others froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to hide their tablets.
A few seconds later, they realized Xia Shiyao wasn’t Jin Luan and went back to watching their tablets without worry.
Sometimes, Yao Ruoning and Xia Shiyao were truly puzzling, almost giving the illusion that they were magical girls.
Xia Shiyao looked unwell; dark circles ringed her eyes, clearly lacking sleep.
Unlike before when she would order everything on the menu, this time she only ordered a watermelon juice.
She slowly drank it—half of it—before asking the manager if he had seen Yao Ruoning today.
The manager answered honestly that he hadn’t.
She then asked if there was any other contact information.
The manager shook his head again.
Xia Shiyao ordered several more fruit juices, clearly intending to stay for a while.
Song Wuli left. With nothing to do today, he went alone to the KTV to sing for a while, then wandered the amusement park, sitting on the Ferris Wheel, looking down at the world from above.
It was his first time on the Ferris Wheel. It should have been exciting, but he felt no joy.
Patting his own cheek, he muttered to himself, “Come on, Old Song, you can’t keep being so dispirited.”
He gave himself some encouragement.
In the end, he had to look forward. Even Jin Luan knew this truth—he, a 34-year-old man, shouldn’t be so clueless.
His mind understood, but putting it into practice was difficult. It would take time, relying on time to slowly dull the pain.
Before heading home that night, he stopped at the ramen shop near the milk tea place for dinner—a seemingly ordinary bowl of ramen.
The chef was impressive.
Song Wuli carefully picked up a slice of beef and examined it; the beef was so thin it was translucent, even thinner than tissue paper, allowing him to barely make out the blurred shapes behind it.
The knife skills were extraordinary.
After finishing, he looked up at the shop sign: Static Field Ramen House.
He memorized this place—purely a hidden gem.
Walking toward the subway, he couldn’t help but take a slight detour to the number 8 milk tea shop.
From afar, he saw the black car still parked by the roadside.
Song Wuli stopped at the entrance, watching inside.
There were only a few people now; Zhou Fatty was gone, replaced by a new batch of customers.
Yet Xia Shiyao still sat at table 3, quietly drinking juice, staring at the front door.
Their eyes met briefly.
She only glanced at him, with no hesitation or pause.
It was as if her gaze only held the image of one person.
Song Wuli didn’t enter and turned to the subway, going home.
The next day, he came here for milk tea again, and at noon saw Xia Shiyao arrive.
On the third day, he still saw Xia Shiyao there.
Still sitting at the familiar table 3, ordering milk tea, lost in thought.
“Miss, the Old Master’s complaints are growing serious.” That night, after Xia Shiyao got into the car, the driver, while driving, couldn’t help but try to persuade her.
“I believe my results will convince him. He said, as long as I meet his requirements, I can do whatever I want.” Xia Shiyao stared at her phone. That gray avatar seemed as if it would never light up again. She was scared.
“The Old Master agreed because he wanted you to relax and improve your health. But what you’re doing now goes against what he hopes for.” The driver cautiously glanced at the rearview mirror, saw it was safe, then turned onto the city highway.
Xia Shiyao said nothing, staring blankly out the window.
Half an hour later, the car arrived at the famous wealthy district. At the gate stood a tall, thick wall, and every ten meters at least one security guard was posted.
After passing the inspection at the gate, they were allowed in.
The car drove a few more minutes inside the community, arriving at the largest, most luxurious mansion at the very back.
The owner of the estate was clearly no ordinary person—acquiring such a large plot in a land-starved city would require some serious influence.
They got out and approached the main house. Servants passing by bowed repeatedly to her.
“Miss, do you want to eat?” a servant asked.
“No, I already ate.” Xia Shiyao continued through the hall.
“The Old Master said if you return, you should go to the study.”
“I know.”
Xia Shiyao didn’t go to the study but went upstairs to her room.
She locked herself inside, lying on the huge bed, trying to close her eyes and rest, but her mind was filled with one person’s face.
She got up, took a large box from under the bed, and dusted it off.
Inside were several old diaries.
Flipping through the first few pages, they contained very ordinary entries written in shaky handwriting, recording everyday events.
School, meals, rest, exams, tutoring. All very dull.
She continued reading. Among the five diaries, three contained nearly identical entries, as if copy-pasted.
Until the middle of the fourth diary.
【Today, Dad brought me a cat.】
【A cat, so cute.】
【I like it very much.】
【Dad asked me to name it.】
【I named it Xiao Ji.】
After that, the diary entries became a bit more interesting, recording many events related to Xiao Ji.
Then came the fifth diary. The beginning was similar—growing up with Xiao Ji.
But complaints gradually appeared.
【Today is a day off; I decided to play with Xiao Ji all day.】
【I took Xiao Ji out to eat, played, then gave Xiao Ji a bath. Then Xiao Ji pooped in my room.】
【I’m starting to dislike Xiao Ji.】
【Why does Xiao Ji poop?】
【I don’t like Xiao Ji anymore. Xiao Ji is not a Perfect Creature. I like Perfect Creatures. I want to find a Perfect Creature.】
Yeah, why don’t she come back to you after you destroyed her social life like that, really a wonder.
No but seriously author, don’t have them have any sort of relation other than nearly friend, her diary push this thought even further here
You never have anything nice to say, huh? Every comment is complaining about her as if she’s the sole character here
+1, complaining like she killed your family, can’t be that serious