Jiangcheng, eleven o’clock at night.
The rental apartment was dark, only a bit of dim yellow light leaking in from the streetlamp outside, dragging a blurry bright patch across the ceiling.
Mu Yan lay flat on the bed staring at that bright patch, had already been staring for two hours.
Doll body, after all, neither tired nor sleepy.
She had even tried not blinking for ten minutes just now; her eyes didn’t feel the slightest dryness.
So I’m just sitting here pulling an all-nighter?
While she was randomly thinking, a dazzling ball of white light suddenly lit up in the corner of the room.
Mu Yan sprang up into a sitting position with a whoosh, grabbed the pillow and smashed it over.
The pillow went straight through the light ball and smacked against the base of the wall.
The white light slowly condensed into a human shape with black robe and scythe, exactly the chief culprit who had tricked her into this state three days ago.
The Grim Reaper put his palms together and bowed at ninety degrees.
“Don’t hit, don’t hit! This is really the last trip! I swear after this matter is done I absolutely won’t appear again!”
Mu Yan ran over to him barefoot with thud thud thud, tilted her little face up and grabbed the hem of his black robe, shaking it for all she was worth.
“You still dare come.”
“There’s something I forgot to say!”
The Grim Reaper’s speech speed was like it was set to 2x.
“After molding the body I figured it wouldn’t be easy for you to suddenly change identity and blend in, so I first found the person closest to you… I went to find your little sister!”
The hand grabbing the robe suddenly froze.
“What did you say.”
“That is, the day you returned to Jiangcheng, I went to find Mu Siyi first thing!”
There was even a bit of “am I not super thoughtful” showing-off feeling in the Reaper’s tone.
Mu Yan’s knuckles instantly clenched white.
Her voice was still as flat as GPS navigation, no emotion could be heard, but the hand grabbing the fabric had already started trembling.
“Three days ago… the first day I just became like this, you told Mu Siyi everything?”
“Y-yeah! This way you don’t have to carry it alone…”
“So these three days,” Mu Yan interrupted him, speech getting faster and faster, “I lay in the rental apartment for three days, racking my brains thinking how to face her, and it turns out she already knew everything three days ago?”
“Uh… y-yes that’s the case.”
“The day she came to pack things, from the moment the door opened she knew who I was.”
“Sh-should be.”
“Asking if I was the girlfriend, asking why I had the same name as her ge, asking what relationship I had with her ge… so it was all asking while knowing the answer, putting on a show for me here?”
“Put that way… it does seem…”
Mu Yan let go, paced back and forth in place two steps, turned back, paced over and turned back again, her whole person a bit agitated.
“Do you know what this means.”
“M-means?”
“Means the time she got the answers was a full three days earlier than I got the questions. Holding the full script she ran in front of me to act opposite me, teasing me for fun?”
Mu Yan’s volume unconsciously rose half a notch. “Can a normal person do this kind of thing?”
The Grim Reaper thought seriously for two seconds, honestly shook his head.
“…A normal person probably wouldn’t.”
“But Mu Siyi would.”
Mu Yan took a deep breath.
“She not only would, she enjoys it. What am I in her eyes? A rabbit on the chopping board? The kind that doesn’t even need to escape?”
The Grim Reaper muttered softly, “Doesn’t this metaphor make you feel sour when you say it…”
“Shut up.”
“Okay.”
While they were talking, the phone by the pillow buzzed once.
Mu Yan picked it up and glanced; it was a message from Mu Siyi.
“Jiejie～ asleep yet?”
Jiejie? You’re calling your own ge Jiejie??
She expressionlessly typed one word: “No.”
Almost an instant reply.
“Jiejie, come to my house for lunch tomorrow～”
Mu Yan’s inner alarm bells immediately maxed out.
My house. She said my house.
Her fingers trembled a bit, typed back: “No.”
“Eh～ why? My mom made braised pork ribs～ specifically told me to call a few more friends over to liven things up～”
Braised pork ribs… call a few more friends?
She typed again: “How many people did you call.”
“Just you one.”
Just me one. Told her mom she’s calling friends, result only called me one.
This isn’t eating, this is torture.
Fingers hovered over the screen for three seconds, then typed another “No.”
“Jiejie is so cold. Then okay, I’ll go tell Mom, just say gege’s girlfriend doesn’t want to come.”
Mu Yan’s brain immediately froze for 0.5 seconds.
Immediately after, her fingers frantically stabbed the screen, so fast she almost poked through the tempered film. “Wait. What girlfriend.”
“Eh? Isn’t it? But Jiejie is living in my ge’s house, wearing my ge’s clothes, using my ge’s WeChat, and even has the same name and surname as my ge… if this isn’t girlfriend then what is it?”
“Besides if it were ordinary friends, how would my ge leave all his things to you? My ge is super stingy, he wouldn’t even let me hold the remote for five extra minutes.”
The volcano in Mu Yan’s heart immediately erupted.
On purpose. This girl is absolutely doing it on purpose.
She gritted her teeth and typed: “Not girlfriend.”
“Mm-mm, not girlfriend～”
“Then since Jiejie isn’t the girlfriend, even more reason to come. Girlfriend being embarrassed to come is normal, ordinary friends what’s there to be shy about. My mom likes entertaining gege’s friends the most, especially the kind she’s never seen before～”
“Never seen before”… she’s doing it on purpose.
Mu Yan was silent for a moment, typed: “What did you tell your mom.”
“I said I have a special friend I want to introduce to her～ someone who had a very good relationship with gege before he passed～ Mom heard it and especially wants to see you, said she must invite you to sit at home.”
“Someone who had a very good relationship before he passed”… this girl really dares to say it.
The phone ding-donged again.
“By the way Jiejie, what are you wearing tomorrow? Last time that white T-shirt was too big, change one～ I remember there’s a light blue dress in your wardrobe, pretty nice～”
Mu Yan stared at this message, temples throbbing.
Isn’t that the one you secretly stuffed in when packing yesterday! And “you remember”?
She typed: “You put it.”
“What～ I don’t understand what Jiejie is saying～”
“But I really do like that dress a lot, it will definitely look especially good on Jiejie～ after Jiejie puts it on take a photo for me okay?”
Fingers hovered for three seconds, typed four words: “…Don’t take photos.”
“Okay～ then tomorrow see the real person directly～ by the way Jiejie”
Ding-dong.
Another one.
“Why do you have my ge’s WeChat?”
Mu Yan looked at the screen, felt the string in her brain snap on the spot.
She’s asking me why I have her ge’s WeChat.
She’s holding her ge’s WeChat ID, sending messages to her ge, asking her ge why he has her ge’s WeChat.
Acting like it’s real.
Fingers trembling as she typed, force so great it was like she wanted to smash the screen: “He gave it to me.”
“Eh～ gege gave it on his own initiative? So rare～ my ge never lets others touch his phone, last time I took his phone to check grades he got mad at me for half a day.”
Mu Yan’s inner world was already scorched earth.
“Maybe he trusts me more.”
“Oh～ trust～”
“Then Jiejie, the person my ge trusts, I also trust～ must come tomorrow, I’ll tell Mom to make a few extra dishes～”
“Good night Jiejie～ (little bear waving.jpg)”
The screen dimmed.
Mu Yan threw the phone onto the bed, slowly squatted down, arms hugging her knees, burying her face into them.
The Grim Reaper had been standing beside her for a long time, cautiously leaned over half a sentence. “That… are you okay?”
“Not okay.”
Muffled and stuffy, coming out from between the knees.
After a few seconds she stood up, walked to the wardrobe and pulled open the door.
That light blue dress hung quietly at the very back, the one Mu Siyi had secretly stuffed in while packing things yesterday.
She had prepared it long ago.
She took the dress out and laid it flat on the bed.
Walked to the window and pushed it open, Jiangcheng’s July night wind poured in, carrying a bit of damp heat.
Mu Yan turned around, picked up the phone, opened the chat box, and typed two words.
“Good night.”
Instant reply.
“Good night Jiejie～ tomorrow noon twelve o’clock, don’t be late～”
She typed three more words.
“Got it.”
The other side sent a little bear covering with blanket emoji.
When she looked up again, the Grim Reaper had already silently disappeared, not even leaving a bit of ash.
Two kilometers away in a residential building.
Mu Siyi lay on the bed, pressed the phone off on the nightstand, flipped over facing the wall, corners of her mouth curling so high they couldn’t be pressed down.
She let out a light hum.
“Good night, idiot.”