“Fine, fine, fine. So it’s just a coincidence that we’re heading the same way, is that it?”
“I didn’t expect that after not seeing you for half a year, you’d become so sharp-tongued. Is it because you spent a few months lying in bed, had a mental breakdown, and talked to yourself so much that you unlocked a talent for being a chatterbox?”
Clenching her five fingers, she crushed the pebbles in her palm into powder. Xu Yinsheng gave a fake smile, gently pulled her arm away, and stretched her wrist.
She raised her hand, tapping her fingertips twice in the air.
Two Wind Blades appeared out of thin air. Instead of attacking Zhao Yicheng, they struck the ground directly, leaving two intersecting gouges about 1 inch deep between them.
One end pointed toward Zhao Yicheng, while the other pointed toward Xu Yinsheng.
“Do you know what this is?” Xu Yinsheng pointed her fair finger at the two gouges on the ground, looking at the man not far away with a mocking smile.
Zhao Yicheng remained silent for a moment before speaking. “A… cross.”
“Wrong!” Xu Yinsheng sneered.
“This is us!”
“The two of us are like these two intersecting parallel lines. Aside from the intersection —” Her slender finger pointed to the spot where the two lines crossed, her lips curling into a cruel arc. “— there can never be any other point of contact between us.”
Xu Yinsheng spoke very slowly, but every word was crystal clear, as if each one were striking the man’s heart.
To this, Zhao Yicheng had only three words.
“I don’t believe it!” he said in a deep voice.
“You don’t believe it?” Xu Yinsheng chuckled. She took two light steps forward, and thanks to her powers as a magical girl, she was in front of Zhao Yicheng in an instant.
Her small hand pressed against the back of his head, forcing him forward. Their noses touched, and their foreheads bumped together. The distance between them was less than 3 centimeters…
The refreshing body fragrance inherent to a magical girl flooded Zhao Yicheng’s nose. His heart skipped a beat before suddenly accelerating.
Ignoring the “little tent” pressing against her, Xu Yinsheng stared into those bright black eyes. Her voice was cold, and her tone was icy.
“What does your disbelief have to do with me?”
“Zhao Yicheng, I just want to tell you that my life does not need your participation!”
“And you are destined to never get what you crave!”
With that, Xu Yinsheng let go and gave the man a heavy shove to the side.
Then, she turned and walked out of the alley. The night wind blew her hair into a mess, accentuating her beautiful profile. She looked as cold as a winter moon, carrying a heart-chilling frostiness.
“Wait.” The man behind her suddenly called out. Xu Yinsheng turned her head impatiently. The lower part of her white Shrine Maiden Battle Uniform was rapidly being dyed ink-black, and a dark, sinister fire flickered in her eyes.
Xu Yinsheng didn’t notice the changes in her attire. From her perspective, the Shrine Maiden Battle Uniform was still just the Shrine Maiden Battle Uniform; she only felt her magical girl powers becoming a bit more riotous and scorching.
As for Zhao Yicheng?
He had seen enough of her transformations that no matter how many forms she changed into, he wouldn’t find it strange.
“You dropped your keys.” Zhao Yicheng took a set of keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.
Xu Yinsheng looked down. A miniature Doraemon hung from the keychain, which also displayed the villa’s door number.
She felt her pocket; the villa keys were indeed missing. She didn’t know when they had fallen out.
“Thanks.”
With a perfunctory remark, she took the keys and turned to leave. However, the man took a step forward and blocked her path.
With a gentle smile still on his handsome face, Zhao Yicheng looked at the magical girl in front of him and bowed slightly.
“Miss Xu, since I helped you retrieve your keys, as a reward, why don’t you treat me to a cup of milk tea?”
Xu Yinsheng felt like she might be going crazy.
She should have kicked this man—the one who had backstabbed, humiliated, and imprisoned her for 2 years—away. Yet, under his incredibly sincere gaze, she actually surrendered and nodded as if possessed.
Even she didn’t know what kind of nerve she had struck!!!
Perhaps this was the meaning of the saying that a gentleman could be led astray by his own virtues.
“Here is your milk tea.”
The staff member’s voice pulled Xu Yinsheng back from her thoughts. She handed over the paper bills and took the two cups of milk tea—one honey pomelo and one Oreo.
She shoved the honey pomelo cup into the man’s hand. Ignoring his hesitant look, Xu Yinsheng didn’t say another word and turned to leave.
The night market was very lively, with crowds surging. Within a few breaths, Xu Yinsheng disappeared into the noisy throng.
The cold wind whistled, but the milk tea in his palm was still hot. Zhao Yicheng stared in the direction she had left, his eyes growing deeper. He followed her with his gaze until she was out of sight before finally looking away.
He took a sip of the milk tea. The mellow aroma filled his mouth; it was sweet but not cloying.
True, intersecting parallel lines might never meet again. However, the world they lived in was elliptical.
Through one intersection after another, their future still held infinite possibilities.
***
Xu Yinsheng felt she had made a mistake.
A huge mistake!
Completely absurd!
Utterly ridiculous!!
Back then, why did she only break Zhao Yicheng’s limbs?? Why did she only use a measly crowbar??
She should have chopped him up with a knife and turned him into mincemeat to feed the dogs!
That damn Zhao Yicheng! He came over every few days, acting all familiar as if he were the male master of the house.
Did he really think Xu Yinsheng’s villa was his own house!!
Every time she saw Zhao Yicheng show up with fruits and vegetables, Xu Yinsheng’s teeth itched with rage.
Damn it! Where was your overbearing nature? Where was your aggression? Where was your previous madness?
I’m begging you, hurry up and carry an axe to chop down my door!!!
If you did that, I could bypass the magical girl code and give you a good beating. ‘That was Xu Yinsheng’s little plan.’
But Zhao Yicheng seemed determined to be a man of integrity. He was hardworking and tolerated any abuse or beatings, even if Xu Yinsheng burned the fruits and vegetables he carefully prepared into ash right in front of him.
The next day, he would return with a smile and gifts, ringing her doorbell.
Xu Yinsheng felt like she was Squidward now, and Zhao Yicheng was SpongeBob SquarePants.
You couldn’t stand him, yet you couldn’t get rid of him.
Ding-dong!
The doorbell rang yet again. At this moment, Xu Yinsheng was lying on the sofa, swinging her fair little feet. The pale light from a screen reflected on her face; it wasn’t hard to see she was focused on playing a game.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong!!
The doorbell outside kept ringing repeatedly, as if intentionally trying to ruin her game.
Watching herself give up another kill in the game, Xu Yinsheng frowned with annoyance. Her small hand swiped to force-quit the game. She put on her slippers, walked to the door with great irritation, and yanked it open.
“Zhao, have I given you too much face? This is already the third—”
The door swung open, and piercing sunlight flooded into the villa, casting a long, slender shadow from the sturdy figure standing at the door.
Xu Yinsheng’s greeting came to an abrupt halt.
Because the person outside the door was not Zhao Yicheng.
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