Qi needed to find a place to hide, and fast…
That was the only thought in her mind right now.
But the silk stockings she was wearing severely restricted her movement, making it impossible to walk quickly.
The moment she thought about Bai Qiaoyu rapidly closing in behind her, her anxiety grew even stronger.
The black-haired girl turned and walked into a long corridor.
Her breathing was a little rushed.
Although she had not been running, the urgency in her heart made her steps unconsciously quicken.
The soft, weak feeling in her legs gradually drained her strength, to the point where she felt like she might collapse to the ground at any moment.
Still, she had no choice.
She did not dare stop.
She had to find a place to hide as quickly as possible.
She probably has not caught up yet, right?
Qi glanced back over her shoulder.
Only after confirming there was no sign of Bai Qiaoyu did she feel slightly relieved.
But when she turned forward again, she walked straight into a warm embrace.
Her already overburdened legs completely gave out at that moment.
They turned soft and boneless, unable to support her any longer.
Her body slid downward like a slime.
Fortunately, before she hit the ground, a hand swiftly wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a steady hold, giving Qi something to lean on.
“Watch where you’re going, Qiqi. Don’t let your mind wander.”
The familiar voice made Qi snap back to her senses.
She lifted her head.
When she clearly saw the person holding her, a hint of pleasant surprise appeared on her face without her realizing it.
“Sister Xiaoli! Why are you here?”
Wait, this was the other party’s home base.
Of course she would be here.
She had been too anxious earlier and her brain had short-circuited, causing her to ask a silly question.
The black-haired girl remembered that Bai Qiaoyu was still chasing her and did not plan to linger here long.
She released her grip on Jiang Wanli’s hand.
“I have to go first. See you later, Sister Xiaoli!”
She had only taken one step when her legs went weak again.
Fortunately, the girl beside her had been paying close attention and reached out to catch her once more.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Mm… N-no…”
Qi’s cheeks flushed slightly.
She closed her eyes in embarrassment and frustration.
These useless legs were now completely unusable…
“Where do you want to go? I’ll help you there,” Jiang Wanli said helplessly.
“Please, just take me somewhere I can hide for a bit.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Wanli did not ask why.
She simply supported the black-haired girl and began looking for a place to hide.
With the girl by her side, Qi felt much less panicked.
She had to admit that Jiang Wanli was currently acting as a source of support, giving her a sense of security.
“Can that spot hide someone?”
Qi pointed at a large storage cabinet beside the corridor.
“It should be able to.”
Jiang Wanli led her over, opened the storage cabinet, and found it empty.
The space inside seemed only large enough for one person.
However, Qi had a petite build, so squeezing in should not be a problem.
Jiang Wanli held her and slipped inside, then closed the cabinet door again.
“Mmph!”
The sensation against her chest made Qi let out a muffled groan.
At the same time, her cheeks grew even redder.
Because she was being held, the black-haired girl was positioned at the front of the cabinet space, pressed against the door.
Jiang Wanli seemed to be worried she might fall out, so her hand naturally rested on Qi’s chest.
Jiang Wanli herself did not seem to notice anything wrong with this at all.
But having her chest touched… let alone after becoming a girl, she had never experienced it even when she was a boy!
Why did Jiang Wanli just place her hand there so casually?
Could she not have any sense of personal boundaries!
The black-haired girl shifted her body slightly, trying to push the other girl’s hand away.
Instead, the pressure became even firmer.
“Stop moving.”
Qi obediently stayed still.
Her legs were already weak; after being handled like this, her body had even less strength.
She strongly disliked overly intimate physical contact, especially to this degree.
It had completely crossed the line of what she could accept.
So why was the president following her inside to hide as well!
Qi was just about to tell Jiang Wanli that it was fine to leave her alone in the storage cabinet when she heard the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.
The black-haired girl instantly held her breath.
She stopped speaking and stopped worrying about the touch on her body.
Instead, she peered through the small holes in the storage cabinet to observe the corridor.
Click… click… click…
The owner of the footsteps walked very slowly.
She did not seem anxious at all, like an elegant leopard calmly searching for her prey.
When the person entered the area visible from inside the cabinet, Qi immediately recognized her.
It was Bai Qiaoyu, who had caught up.
How did she get here so fast?
Qi was extremely nervous.
As Bai Qiaoyu slowly approached, her heartbeat quickened.
All of it was felt by Jiang Wanli’s hand pressed against her chest.
The girl glanced at the person in her arms.
The little one was staring intently outside.
Even when her hand deliberately rubbed a little, the reaction was not as intense as before.
Jiang Wanli looked up again at Bai Qiaoyu, who was walking gracefully forward.
The other woman’s clothing and aura clearly did not belong to a student.
Looking at her, Jiang Wanli fell into thought.
Fortunately, the other party did not pay any attention to the inconspicuous storage cabinet.
She simply pushed open an unlocked door on the side of the corridor, took a quick look inside, and continued forward until she disappeared from the cabinet’s field of view.
After waiting another half minute and hearing no more sounds from outside, the black-haired girl finally let out a long breath and gently pushed open the cabinet door in front of her.
“She’s finally gone. Let’s get out quickly, Sister Xiaoli.”
Once both of them had climbed out of the storage cabinet, Qi irritably moved the hand that was still resting on her chest back down to her waist.
If her legs were not still so weak and she did not have to rely on Jiang Wanli right now, she would have pushed this rude person away immediately!
“Qiqi, who was that? Why were you hiding from her?”
Jiang Wanli asked.
Hearing the question, the black-haired girl paused.
Her expression gradually turned difficult and a little pitiful.
“Do I really have to tell you, Sister Xiaoli…?”
“If you don’t want to, I won’t ask.”
This idiot! If you had just asked one more time, I would have told you!
She had been getting closer to Jiang Wanli, shopping for clothes together and watching movies, all to build goodwill for this very moment, hadn’t she?
Although she was complaining inwardly, Qi’s facial expression remained unchanged.
She seemed somewhat conflicted.
In the end, she lowered her head in frustration.
“If Sister Xiaoli wants to know, of course I can’t hide it from you…”
She told Jiang Wanli everything: how she had been short on money for food and taken a job as a clothing model, only to be asked on the last day to wear extremely revealing outfits.
In the end, she had ended up owing one hundred and fifty thousand yuan in debt and was being pressured into a relationship.
There was nothing worth hiding in these details, and she did not exaggerate anything.
Although in theory it would have been better to make herself sound as pitiful as possible, saying too much could also lead to mistakes.
It was better to use her genuine emotions to win Jiang Wanli’s sympathy.
As she spoke, the little one’s face gradually filled with grievance, as if she had finally found an outlet to release all the sadness she had been suppressing.
In the end, she could not hold it back any longer.
She buried her face in Jiang Wanli’s chest and began to cry softly.
“I know it was my fault. I was too greedy and couldn’t resist the temptation. But… but I really didn’t want to…”
Jiang Wanli raised her hand and gently patted her back, comforting her in a low voice: “This isn’t your fault. The fact that you were able to hold onto your bottom line until the end is already very good. You are also a victim.”
After crying for a while, Qi finally lifted her head from the girl’s embrace.
Her eyes were red, and her gaze kept drifting to the side, as if she felt too embarrassed to look at Jiang Wanli directly.
“I’m sorry, Sister Xiaoli. I shouldn’t have dumped all these negative emotions on you.”
She sniffed hard and tried her best to force a smile onto her face.
“I’ll definitely work hard to pay back the money I owe. You don’t need to worry about me, Sister Xiaoli.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Wanli nodded with a gentle smile.
“You probably haven’t had dinner yet, right?”
“Huh?”
The black-haired girl raised her hand to touch her stomach and gave a tiny, almost inaudible nod.
“Mm…”
“Then let me take you to my office.”