October 2nd.
Perhaps it was the stubbornness in my bones fighting against the grogginess in my head that made me open my eyes at 7:35 a.m.
Su Liumeng knows better than anyone how much I’ve been able to sleep lately.
Since I didn’t take a nap yesterday, I was already feeling awful by evening and ended up going to bed before it was even eleven.
“Mm…”
I let out a soft whimper and rolled over in Su Liumeng’s arms.
The warmth at my fingertips, coupled with the arm I was pressing down on, all served as undeniable reminders of where I was.
I was—
Nestled right in Su Liumeng’s arms.
And I was even holding onto her arm?
The moment I realized I wasn’t in my own bed, my eyes shot open in an instant.
To make things even more embarrassing, I wasn’t even facing away from her. My entire little face was practically buried right in front of her chest.
Su Liumeng had gone to bed wearing something light, without a bra or any support. The soft dip in the fat under her collarbone made the tips of my ears flush red in an instant.
Worse still, Su Liumeng was cradling my head like she was soothing a baby. In that same gentle tone, she lightly patted my back and asked, “Are you awake? Want to rest a bit more? If you don’t feel like going to class today, we can just skip it.”
How on earth was I supposed to accept that—aaahhhhh!!!
To be fair.
If it had been my actual mom saying something like that to me, I would’ve been thrilled. I might’ve even jumped up in joy.
Who actually likes going to school anyway? Everyone’s fantasized about something like this at some point.
But—she’s not my mom!!!
“School!!”
My brain had gone completely blank. I couldn’t even think straight anymore. I shrank like a startled hedgehog, tucking my head and half my body straight back under the covers.
Su Liumeng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After all that hugging and burrowing, she was now acting like nothing had happened the moment she woke up.
Who was the one whining yesterday about how cold she was? The one who snuggled straight into her arms and wouldn’t let go no matter what?
She swore she really did try to push her away.
But she couldn’t budge her.
“Xiaoyan.”
“Xiaoyan—”
Su Liumeng propped her cheek up with one hand, staring at the small, slightly rounded bump under the blanket in front of her.
This girl was clearly mortified for real.
She was clearly already awake, yet no matter how many times Su Liumeng called her, she didn’t respond at all.
That’s because—
At the moment, I was hiding under the blanket replaying everything in my head, trying to piece together what had happened last night.
Fragments of memory drifted through my mind, slowly coming together into a mostly complete picture.
I had come to Su Liumeng’s room of my own accord, and it had been me who agreed so readily to stay the night.
Not only that, in the middle of the night, I had clung to Su Liumeng like she was a giant warm body pillow—completely unwilling to let go.
What a humiliating series of events.
Even now, I can still remember it clearly.
It must’ve been around three or four in the morning when I woke up briefly for just a few seconds.
…
It seemed like Su Liumeng was shifting positions, which startled me awake for a moment.
Her voice sounded helpless as she whispered, “Xiaoyan, let me turn over, okay? My arm’s completely numb…”
It was Su Liumeng’s first time ever sleeping with someone else.
Only now did she realize: if you’re not used to sleeping with someone, having your arm hugged all night is definitely going to make it go numb—and it gets really hot too.
Yes, hot.
Unlike someone’s slightly cool body temperature, once she’d fully suppressed the cold poison in her system, the dragon blood in her body was always boiling just under the surface. Even in the middle of the night, she’d been jolted awake two or three times from the heat.
Of course, with soft warmth in her arms, and the person she was holding being the one she’d longed for day and night—Su Liumeng had no idea how long the excitement lasted.
This kind of experience was probably best described as painful yet sweet.
She was still savoring the feeling that morning, and knew it was something she’d remember for the rest of her life.
…
And then came the little incident that followed—one that made my blood rush backward and surge straight to my head.
Su Liumeng had been trying to turn over, and I, still half-asleep, only remembered feeling extremely unhappy. I even reached out and slapped her arm.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“No moving.”
Smack—
The sound of that slap echoed sharply in the quiet of the night, as if even the air froze in stunned silence.
*****
“Xiaoyan?”
Su Liumeng called out to me again from under the covers, trying once more.
Then, she suddenly realized—
As long as she stayed here, Si Xinyan would never poke her head out of the blanket.
“I’m going out for a bit,” Su Liumeng said to me.
A minute later.
After confirming that she was the only one left in the room, I slowly poked my head out from under the blanket.
Being smothered under the blanket had left my whole face a little flushed.
“Crap!”
I suddenly remembered something—I’d forgotten to tell Su Liumeng that I seemed capable of absorbing Yin energy. If her cold poison acted up again, she could come find me for help.
Oh well.
I could tell her after she got back—it wouldn’t make a difference.
I pressed my lips together and yawned. The dark circles under my eyes were heavy, and I was just about to get out of bed.
Might as well go to class.
Otherwise, people would start calling me some pampered princess again.
No matter where you go, there are always ordinary people watching. If you enjoy privileges for too long, someone will always be waiting to stab you in the back with a few snide remarks.
Not that I really care about what others say.
It’s just… I think the identity that suits me best now is that of an ordinary person.
After leaving the Su family, if I hadn’t gone through everything that followed, I probably would’ve stayed an ordinary girl—eventually dying a miserable death in a rented apartment, tormented by cancer.
I pushed myself up with my arms, trying to get out of bed.
I’d accounted for every detail—except one: my own body.
No matter how much I wanted to get things done, I still had to consider my limits.
And the result of that oversight was…
Before I even managed to sit up, everything went black. My head fell onto the pillow, and I slipped into a deep sleep once again.
Trying to fight your biological clock with willpower—unless you have something truly urgent—is just asking for failure.
It was still a bit difficult.
Half an hour passed.
Su Liumeng was waiting in the living room for someone to come out, but after a long while, there was no sound from the room.
So she opened the door again—and the sight that greeted her made her burst into laughter.
On the soft pink bed, a girl with a graceful figure was lying flat on her stomach, sprawled right in the center.
Her whole body resembled a simplified “大” character, with thick, dark hair cascading down her back.
Su Liumeng walked over and gently flipped the girl onto her back.
Sleeping like that all night, with her chest compressed, she was bound to feel stifled when she woke up.
Su Liumeng quietly admired the girl’s sleeping face for a moment.
She didn’t allow herself to get lovestruck again and let out a yawn of her own.
Last night had been exhausting, and she’d been woken up early this morning by a certain someone—now she was feeling drowsy too.
Her gaze suddenly landed on a small, exquisite dagger resting on the bedside table.
The silver-white sheath gleamed under the morning light.
Su Liumeng quickly stepped over and hid the dagger in a safe place.
She didn’t want Si Xinyan touching anything sharp again.
She couldn’t help but recall the terrifying moment from yesterday.
If she hadn’t broken free from the cold poison’s control, Si Xinyan really would have dragged that blade down along the veins in her own arm.
The determined glint in that girl’s eyes had left no room for hesitation—she was deadly serious.
Just imagining that dagger slicing into Si Xinyan’s slender arm still made Su Liumeng’s heart race with fear. Who knew how deep the wound would’ve been?
Su Liumeng put the dagger away, though truthfully, part of her motivation was selfish.
She didn’t want Si Xinyan to know what she had done behind her back—those unspeakable things.
Because the girl on the bed had stayed sprawled out sideways, Su Liumeng had no choice but to lie down next to her in the same horizontal position.
Fortunately, the bed was big enough, and she wasn’t tall enough for her legs to dangle off the edge.
Su Liumeng was already quite tired, but she hadn’t been able to close her eyes.
Her mind kept drifting back to last night, replaying the events again and again.
Baby?
That “baby” Si Xinyan kept calling out—who exactly was it?
Su Liumeng had always known that the “baby” wasn’t her.
Because—
Si Xinyan had never once called her that.
Not even once.
Su Liumeng’s brows slowly furrowed.
She could sense it—buried in all this, there was some earth-shattering secret Si Xinyan would never tell her.
This secret might be so shocking that Su Liumeng hadn’t even considered the possibility.