Although she had spent a few hundred dollars, these two dishes didn’t taste any different.
While eating, Lin Ziyan couldn’t help asking, “How is it?”
Ye Xingmian hesitated upon hearing this.
“It’s… it’s okay, I guess. It doesn’t feel any different from eating at home.”
“I see…”
For some reason, Lin Ziyan felt a little disappointed.
They finished lunch quietly.
Originally, Lin Ziyan had thought about taking Ye Xingmian out to play for a while, but looking at the balance on her phone and the oppressive atmosphere between them, she thought better of it.
So, Ye Xingmian once again followed Lin Ziyan into a taxi, and they set off back to school.
The tall buildings along the street flashed past, but none of this belonged to them.
Lin Ziyan was immersed in a heavy mood, while Ye Xingmian stared blankly out the window.
They were close in distance, yet seemed so far apart.
After experiencing this morning’s events, Ye Xingmian had to admit that her impression of Lin Ziyan had improved somewhat.
Lin Ziyan was indeed trying very hard to be good to her; she could see that.
But some things couldn’t be made up for by a temporary change.
The help she needed was not something Lin Ziyan could provide now.
She needed someone who could protect her, someone she could temporarily rely on.
Not for too long, just until the Gaokao was over.
‘That’s my thought,’ she thought, ‘and that’s what I want to do.’
She didn’t want to see Qin Haiyue anymore, didn’t want to be locked up by anyone for any reason again.
The car had air conditioning, blocking out the cold outside, but she still shrank her hands, her long lashes trembling slightly.
Although the cold wave had not passed and winter would continue for a long time, midday felt a bit warmer anyway.
And besides, winter vacation would be coming soon, right?
She had to make a choice before winter vacation…
***
The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was time to leave school.
Lin Ziyan stood up with her schoolbag on her back. This time, she didn’t smile, and her tone was a bit stiff.
“School’s over. Want to walk together?”
According to the rotation, it was Ye Xingmian’s turn to do duty today.
“No, I have to help with duty.”
In the past, she was always a little transparency, and in the past few months, she had often taken leave due to her physical condition, so her presence in the duty group was very low. Not many people remembered her.
But no matter what, she still had to do what was her turn.
Lin Ziyan nodded, as if it was something she had expected.
She lowered her head, silent for a moment.
“Okay then. Be careful. Remember to come back early. If you’re too late… I’ll come find you.”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
After seeing off Lin Ziyan, Ye Xingmian couldn’t help silently sighing. ‘When did their relationship become so normal?’
She recalled that not long ago, they could barely exchange a word.
If it were two weeks ago, maybe she would have been happy that Lin Ziyan cared about her, right?
Back then, she was still trying to hide her gender transformation and still thought of herself as Lin Ziyan’s “elder brother.”
But now, things were completely different.
There was nothing to say. Everything always moves forward, whether for better or worse.
Ye Xingmian just sighed a little, then went to the front desk to find her duty group leader.
“Hmm? Classmate, you are… Ye Xingmian, right?”
The duty group leader was a slightly chubby girl who seemed very kind.
Ye Xingmian nodded.
“That’s strange. You’re so pretty, why haven’t I noticed you before…”
“… Group leader, what should I do?”
Ye Xingmian interrupted the group leader, who was lost in thought.
“Ah? Ahem, you… you’re a boy, right?”
“Yeah.”
Her voice sounded a little unsure.
After all that had happened, she didn’t dare to say she was a boy anymore.
Because given the current situation, she might never be able to change back, and she had to try to get used to being a girl.
But for now, to avoid trouble, she would still try to hide it.
“Tsk. Doesn’t look like it. You don’t have any work? Then go take out the trash. After that, you can leave.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Do you know where to dump it? Just into the big trash can downstairs. You’ll see it when you go down.”
After giving the instructions, the duty group leader went back to sweeping.
Ye Xingmian went to the back of the classroom.
Fortunately, there wasn’t much trash inside, and the handle looked clean.
She found a piece of paper in her pocket to use as a layer, then picked up the trash bag and headed downstairs.
It wasn’t heavy, and going up and down wasn’t very tiring.
Ye Xingmian couldn’t help thinking that she had been assigned the easiest task and could leave very early.
‘Maybe the group leader was especially looking out for me?’ She thought that was possible.
But thinking that way seemed a bit narcissistic; Ye Xingmian just thought she was very lucky.
However, just as she went downstairs and reached the stairwell, she ran into an acquaintance.
Unfortunately, that person happened to be blocking her way downstairs.
Ye Xingmian had a bad feeling.
She tried to go right to go around the person, but the person moved with her, blocking her.
She went left, and the person went back to the original position.
She stopped moving, and the person stopped too.
Was this… deliberately causing trouble for her?
“Um… Classmate Li, I need to take out the trash. Can you let me pass?”
Ye Xingmian felt a little nervous and spoke hesitantly.
“Move? Hmph, I still have something to ask you!”
The person blocking her was Li Li, who she remembered as Liu Yinuo’s friend.
But Ye Xingmian felt that this was not an easy person to deal with.
Li Li seemed very hot-tempered, and the way she glared at her right now was an example. She looked very angry.
Ye Xingmian couldn’t help but step back and look around.
No one would come here for a while; it was very secluded, making her suspect that the other had been waiting here on purpose.
She couldn’t help but shrink her head.
“What is it…?”
Li Li stepped closer, leaning down while looking up, staring at her with an interrogating gaze.
“Liu Yinuo took leave today. You know that, right?”
Was it about that? Why…
Was it like before, to interrogate why she was avoiding Liu Yinuo?
But I… I don’t want to do that anymore…
However, maybe this was a good thing, right?
After all, Liu Yinuo had such a friend who was always concerned about her, going through all this trouble to find me or something…
“Hey, hey, I’m talking to you. Why do you like spacing out so much?”
Li Li’s impatient voice pulled her back to reality.
Looking at the face so close to hers, Ye Xingmian was momentarily stunned.
“S-sorry. I was thinking about something…”
After hesitating for a moment, she spoke in her usual soft tone.
“I know that the class monitor took leave…”
“Don’t you want to do something? Like go visit her at home?”
“Huh? She’s usually pretty good to you, isn’t she? Can’t you spare the time?”