The next morning, when Xia Mengxi opened her eyes, she slowly closed them again—awake, but not fully.
The reason she did this wasn’t because she didn’t want to get up, but because she was pretending to sleep, waiting for Lin Xue’er to arrive.
A few minutes later, she heard footsteps outside the room growing closer until they stopped by the door. The next moment, the doorknob was turned, and the footsteps resumed as the person approached her bedside.
“Xiao Xi, get up!”
At the familiar voice, Xia Mengxi felt her body being gently shaken by a pair of hands. She feigned discomfort, frowning and weakly saying, “Mmm… don’t shake me… it’s uncomfortable…”
As soon as she finished speaking, the shaking stopped immediately. She slowly opened her eyes and met the worried gaze of the person standing beside her bed.
“Xiao Xi… what’s wrong? Should I call an ambulance?”
Xia Mengxi shook her head and said slowly, “Xue’er, it’s nothing serious… I just had trouble sleeping last night, so… ha… I’m really tired.”
Lin Xue’er seemed to relax at these words, then she made a suggestion to Xia Mengxi.
“If that’s the case, why don’t you take the day off, Xiao Xi? Um… I also…”
“Xue’er, wait a moment…”
Before Lin Xue’er could finish, Xia Mengxi hurriedly interrupted.
“I’ll just take a half-day off to catch up on sleep. You should go to school as usual.”
“But…”
“Xue’er, I know you’re worried about me, but if you stay here, what about the morning classes? Who’s going to take notes for me? Besides you, I don’t know anyone else.”
Lin Xue’er opened her mouth but found herself speechless. Her expression showed she was already wavering at Xia Mengxi’s words.
Seeing this, Xia Mengxi spread her hands and pouted, acting cute.
“Xue’er~ please?”
Lin Xue’er lifted her knee onto the bed and responded to Xia Mengxi’s request for a hug, but her tone remained hesitant.
“But I’m worried about you being home alone, Xiao Xi…”
“Hmm… then I’ll go with you to school and rest in the infirmary.”
After saying that, Xia Mengxi thought to herself that since she was already going to school, she might as well attend classes.
“Xiao Xi! No… I won’t ask for leave anymore.”
Seeing Xia Mengxi struggling to get up with all her strength, Lin Xue’er felt a pang of pity and gently stopped her, laying her back on the bed.
“I’ll go to school and take notes for you. You just lie down and rest at home.”
“Hmm… Xue’er, I still want to go with you. Otherwise, you’ll feel uneasy.”
“I’m fine! Xiao Xi, just be good and stay home, okay?”
Xia Mengxi hesitated for a long moment before reluctantly nodding.
“All right, I’ll catch up on sleep at home then. Thanks for the notes, Xue’er. Oh, and you have to come back at noon to pick me up, okay?”
“Okay! Xiao Xi, just keep sleeping. If you wake up before noon and feel hungry, go to the kitchen and heat up breakfast. I’ll put it in the microwave later—you just press the start button.”
“Got it~”
Seeing Xia Mengxi slowly close her eyes again, Lin Xue’er’s worry didn’t lessen in the slightest. She tucked the blanket around her and, taking several glances back, finally left the room.
After everything was prepared, Lin Xue’er walked out the front door and out of the yard. Then, she took out her phone and opened an unfamiliar app.
The app’s interface was very simple, showing only numbered options from one to four. Surprisingly, the labels beside these numbers were locations like “Left side of yard,” “Right side of yard,” “Front gate,” “Entrance,” and so on. When Lin Xue’er selected the option labeled “My Room,” the screen displayed a live feed of her bedroom.
It was clear this app was for monitoring the house’s security cameras.
“This way, there won’t be a problem. If something happens to Xiao Xi, I’ll know immediately.”
Lin Xue’er relaxed a little as she stared at the phone screen. But just as she was about to reach the school gate, she noticed that the girl who had been lying down in the camera’s view was now awake.
Being awake wasn’t a problem, but looking so energetic after waking up was.
“…Xiao Xi.”
Lin Xue’er’s face darkened as she stopped walking. Without hesitation, she turned around and headed back the way she came.
“Xiao Xi… why did you pretend to be sick and lie to me? Are you trying to get me out of the way? Why? Haven’t you already gotten what you wanted? Or is your goal not just to learn about my past? What… exactly are you trying to do?”
Muttering to herself, Lin Xue’er anxiously hailed a car. After telling the driver her destination, her eyes gradually lost their light.
Meanwhile, after waiting a long time for Lin Xue’er to leave, Xia Mengxi originally planned to make a smooth, graceful leap out of bed but lacked the strength. Instead, she flailed like a fish stranded on land.
“What the heck am I doing!”
Xia Mengxi hadn’t forgotten the task she needed to accomplish while on sick leave today. She hurriedly got out of bed and started rifling through the books on the shelf.
Unfortunately, after spending quite some time, the result was clear—the missing pages from Diary Volume Three were not here.
“I knew it wouldn’t be this easy. Oh well, I’m starving, so I’ll have breakfast first. I still have all morning to look.”
After washing up and eating breakfast, Xia Mengxi began a thorough search of Lin Xue’er’s house.
Since she had already searched the second floor, this time she planned to investigate the first floor. The layout of the first floor was as follows: the Entrance Vestibule between the Main Hall and the Living Room; the Understairs Storage Room northwest of the Living Room; the Kitchen north of the Living Room, with the Back Entrance Vestibule on the kitchen’s right side; and a Sub-passage on the east side of the Living Room leading to the Study, Servant Room, and Restroom.
“Hmm… As for search priorities, I’ll check the two rooms and the Understairs Storage Room that leads to the second floor first. Compared to other places, these three spots are more likely to hide something.”
After some thought, Xia Mengxi first entered the Study, which was near the Living Room.
The Study was simply arranged, with open bookshelves along both side walls. The shelves held only a few books, and in every other cubby, there were decorative items, making it look more like a display cabinet.
Between the two bookshelves stood a Cherry Wood Desk about one meter long and half a meter wide. Behind the desk was a floor-to-ceiling window.