In short, no matter what, the girl had to go back, though she hadn’t expected to get permission so easily.
“I can let you go back today, but you have to come here tomorrow at noon.”
“Eh?”
“No refusing,” Qin Haiyue said indifferently in a tone that brooked no argument, her eyes fixed on the girl’s pink irises.
“O… Okay…”
Under the pressure, the girl had no choice but to agree.
Afterward, the car fell back into a deathly silence. Qin Haiyue scrolled through her phone out of boredom, while the girl sat in a daze, clutching her backpack. The driver sat in the front, shaking his leg to the rhythm of the music in his headphones. The scenery outside the window sped past, and before long, the car arrived at the school’s main gate.
The snow on the side of the road had already melted, and students were gathered everywhere, chatting and laughing. The girl followed Qin Haiyue out of the car, involuntarily looking up at the school building.
Watching those students, she was lost in a daze, feeling as if she were in another world.
“Let’s go.”
Qin Haiyue frowned and took her hand. She quickly gripped it back, afraid of making Qin Haiyue unhappy. The two entered the school gate together; just as they had that morning, they would part at this intersection.
Intense sunlight hit Qin Haiyue’s blonde hair, making it look dazzling. However, unlike her bright hair, this girl’s face was always icy. Even if she occasionally showed a smile, it made people feel a wave of unease.
No one could feel close to such a person; they would only feel compelled to distance themselves.
For a moment, Ye Xingmian looked at her and felt an intense desire for things to continue staying exactly as they were.
‘Like this, Qin Haiyue won’t bully me anymore, even if she always makes strange requests. Liu Yinuo won’t be close to me either, and our relationship will gradually drift apart until I don’t love her anymore. Although Lin Ziyan is a bit weird, staying like she was yesterday is fine—it’s just a bit tiring.’
‘If only it could stay like this forever.’
‘Yes, just like this, until the college entrance exam ends and I leave this place, returning to my mother’s side to live a life that isn’t wealthy, but is warm.’
This was her greatest prayer at this moment.
“…”
Qin Haiyue saw the girl start dazing off again for no reason and tilted her head. “What are you thinking about?”
She patted the girl’s head. It felt very soft. Seeing the girl suddenly startled by her action, trembling like a small animal and looking up with those pitiful eyes, a slight curve formed at the corner of Qin Haiyue’s mouth for some reason.
‘Is this little brat actually quite cute?’ she suddenly thought.
However, after realizing what she was thinking, her hand froze. She awkwardly pulled it back, and her face returned to its icy cold expression.
“No… nothing…”
Shaking her head, the girl subconsciously took two steps back. Looking up at Qin Haiyue, she said, “That… I’ll be going now…”
“Mm, see you tomorrow.”
It was a remarkably calm conclusion. Watching the girl’s retreating back as she fled, Qin Haiyue’s eyes flickered.
She seemed… a bit unsure of what she was thinking.
She had originally only intended to put on an act and try to increase Ye Xingmian’s affection. When the time was right, she would lock her in the basement and treat her like a little pet for her own amusement. However, was something wrong with her now?
Having invested a bit of useless emotion, she actually thought Ye Xingmian might look good when she smiled. Shaking her head, she felt she was becoming more and more abnormal.
This was just a spark, not enough to change her mind. Her goal remained the same, but there was a slight disturbance in her heart. Like a ripple on a calm water surface, it wasn’t enough to pour the water into another pool.
Feeling strange, she shook her head and walked toward her own classroom.
***
Ye Xingmian felt the atmosphere in the class was very strange. Where was the strangeness? If she had to say, it was probably that people kept secretly looking at her for no reason. Whenever she noticed and looked back in confusion, they would quickly avert their eyes. Not only that, but she often saw people whispering with their seatmates. Those looks made her feel very uncomfortable.
But as long as they didn’t come to find her directly, she couldn’t control them. She simply withdrew her thoughts and sat in her seat.
Lin Ziyan had arrived early. The girl noticed she was secretly playing with her phone under the desk. The Class Monitor in the front row had also arrived. When she entered, she was a bit afraid that the Class Monitor would come to find her, after what had happened in the morning. But her fears proved groundless; the Class Monitor didn’t seem to notice her arrival at all.
Sitting silently in her seat, the girl was a bit nervous. She tentatively looked at Lin Ziyan next to her, but Lin Ziyan turned her head and glared at her.
“What?”
“N-nothing…”
Shrinking back, the girl had to look away.
Lin Ziyan didn’t speak again, and the atmosphere between the two fell back into dead silence.
The girl tried looking at Liu Yinuo again, but Liu Yinuo was always busy with her own work. She could only see Liu Yinuo’s back, which made her feel a bit despondent.
But on second thought, she felt she was quite pathetic. When people cared about her, she wanted to hide. Now that they didn’t pay attention to her, she felt disappointed.
‘Truly, humans are such pathetic creatures.’
***
Throughout the entire afternoon, Lin Ziyan didn’t say a single word to Ye Xingmian. And Ye Xingmian, under internal pressure, didn’t speak either. The atmosphere between the two was always deathly silent. Occasionally, the girl would unconsciously look at Liu Yinuo’s back, sometimes hoping she would turn around and look at her, yet fearing she actually would. In this contradictory mood and oppressive atmosphere, the time to leave school arrived.
As the crisp sound of the bell rang, the students scattered in a noisy rush. The blood-red sunset spilled through the window into the classroom, coating the room in an aged atmosphere.
Lin Ziyan left immediately with the crowd after school, while Ye Xingmian chose to wait in her seat for a while. She wanted to wait until Liu Yinuo left before leaving herself. However, unluckily, after packing her bag, Liu Yinuo walked straight toward her seat.
“Class Monitor… is something the matter?”
At this sudden turn of events, the girl was nervous and asked in confusion.
Liu Yinuo stood in front of her desk. The girl looked up, the setting sun reflecting in her eyes. There were complex emotions within them, but her face was cold and devoid of a smile.
“Tomorrow at noon, come to my house.”
After saying those words, she left without giving the girl time to reply. Ye Xingmian was stunned on the spot.
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