Chapter 87: Do you want to read it again?

Shen Xiyan entered quickly—and left even faster.

The long, intense eye contact lasted only an instant in reality.

Lin Ci didn’t hear the sound of flushing, so she glanced curiously and asked, “…Weren’t you going to the bathroom?”

“I’m washing my face in there~~”

Before Shen Xiyan could respond, Su Jin walked out from the bathroom calmly, wiping the water off her hands.

“You can come in, but next time remember to knock. What if I’m actually using the toilet?”

Lin Ci’s heart skipped a beat. Why did this girl seem even more of a “seductive vixen” than Qin Sheng?

Her delicate features were flawless, looking like an elegant and poised little princess, yet that flash of red lips made her appear sultry and provocative.

She was refined and unique, both innocent and enticing.

A very beautiful girl, but definitely not like a student.

Besides, Lin Ci caught a faint, refreshing fragrance coming from her. Even though Su Jin was female, she couldn’t help but secretly steal glances.

“Going?” Su Jin rolled her eyes in a beautifully coquettish way.

“Oh…”

Fortunately, Shen Xiyan’s aesthetic threshold had been honed to an extreme by Aunt and Qin Sheng, so he nodded without changing expression.

He thought to himself: If it weren’t for the lingering blush on her face, I might have actually believed it.

He stepped into the bathroom.

In the toilet bowl was pale yellow liquid, with a piece of tissue floating on top. Su Jin had made quite a sacrifice to avoid others noticing.

Shen Xiyan’s sharp eyes even spotted a curved hair on the edge of the toilet floor…

It was obvious where that came from.

“Finished! Finished! This is the end of me,” Shen Xiyan silently covered his face.

Su Jin’s sacrifice was real, but she was a woman, and women were always petty—she definitely wouldn’t sacrifice her youth (love life) in vain.

My romantic story really has a problem?

In my previous life, why didn’t I have so many Peach Blossom Calamities?

Yes, this was definitely a Peach Blossom Calamity.

If I were a pervert, I should pick up that hair and use it as a bookmark right now.

Huh? That might be a bit too perverted?

But I’m not.

Shen Xiyan pinched it and tossed it into the toilet.

Then, a sudden feeling of “what a pity” arose deep in his heart, and without hesitation, he slapped himself.

Outside the door, Su Jin politely greeted Lin Ci.

Though her mood was nearly broken… she still maintained her elegance.

“My name’s Su Jin. You can call me senior or just Su Jin.”

Lin Ci nodded obediently, “I’m Lin Ci… The one asleep is Shen Wen, Xiyan’s sister. We usually call her Wenwen.”

“Song Wan told me you’d come here to rest from now on.” Su Jin said this as she tossed over two keys, while mentally sizing up Lin Ci.

Because of her sweet, cute appearance, Lin Ci’s outfit today looked very forest-like and well-behaved.

Lin Ci’s adorable facade was the main reason she was such a sought-after figure among classmates.

Confident men thought gentle and pretty girls were easier to handle, while insecure men felt less pressured around such beauties.

The same went for girls… no one liked a seductive vixen.

Lin Ci politely thanked her.

She had originally planned to sleep, but with Su Jin staring at her, sleeping suddenly seemed impolite. So, she just stared at the little goldfish in the nearby fish tank through the glass.

At first, the little goldfish was afraid of Lin Ci, but after staring at each other for a while, it grew bold, bumping arrogantly against the glass.

Lin Ci smiled foolishly.

When Shen Xiyan finally came out of the bathroom,

the three of them exchanged looks. Shen Xiyan saw Su Jin grit her teeth in frustration.

(▼へ▼#)

This girl was way too calm.

Most people would’ve shouted or thrown a fit in such a situation.

Like Qin Sheng: “Oh my god! Xiyan saw all my pearls, abalone, and sensitive spots… So embarrassing~~”

She’d want everyone to know and make Xiyan take responsibility.

But what would shouting and screaming accomplish?

No way to fix things; it’d just make the incident public knowledge.

Su Jin was different—she was “easily” calmed by Shen Xiyan.

Right now, the embarrassment was only in front of him alone…

“Where’s Qin Sheng? Why didn’t she come with you guys at noon?” Su Jin popped a mint candy into her mouth, her left cheek puffed up, the bright melon-seed-shaped face adding a cute, almost adorable vibe.

“She went to the hospital to accompany my Aunt.”

Su Jin stared at Shen Xiyan and said sweetly, “Still playing the little wife before getting married?”

The more her smile hid knives, the more seductive and dazzling she looked—a real fox spirit.

… Shen Xiyan felt uneasy all over.

Damn! Could this girl be a lunatic?

Swallowing her pride to give me a fatal blow?

What’s a lunatic?

Someone who says “I love you, brother” one second and then pulls out a machete to chop off your dog’s head the next, then runs off across the ocean with you.

Shen Xiyan considered himself socially adept, but he couldn’t handle yandere or lunatics, because they didn’t follow logic, and he instinctively avoided such people.

“… No wonder Song Wan disappeared too.” Su Jin suddenly crossed her arms, nodding in realization.

She had stayed so calm earlier because she thought Qin Sheng was outside the door.

She only promised Song Wan to help out, not that she had to do it. If Qin Sheng had seen what just happened, that would’ve been a battlefield.

Su Jin didn’t want to mess with the current Qin Sheng.

“… Senior, are you close with Song Wan?” Lin Ci asked softly.

Su Jin nodded and sighed, “She’s the only person at school I can really speak freely with.”

That made no sense—Song Wan looked serious, so how did she find common ground with a seductive girl like her? Lin Ci thought with some resentment.

She nervously glanced at Shen Xiyan, relieved to see no lust in his eyes…

So he wasn’t driven by his lower body after all.

Makes sense—otherwise, he’d have “surrendered” to Qin Sheng long ago.

“Want me to tell you a secret?” Su Jin gave a mischievous “hehehe” laugh.

You look just like a female hooligan right now… Shen Xiyan thought bitterly.

Lin Ci listened eagerly: “What secret?”

“She’s a total siscon! You’ll be living right under her watchful eyes every day… bad luck!”

Shen Xiyan stared at her blankly. “I already knew that.”

Su Jin giggled again: “Then do you know why she’s a siscon?”

Shen Xiyan frowned. “Why? You know?”

He wasn’t too clear on this—there seemed to be some hidden story.

In his previous life, he had little contact with Song Wan, mostly stopped by Qin Sheng.

This life, he was more “rebellious,” leading to the current situation.

“… Want to know?” Su Jin leaned back arrogantly.

“… Yes.” Shen Xiyan played along with the expression.

Su Jin laughed so hard her chest shook. “The secret is, because it can’t be told, it’s a secret. When you’re close enough, go ask her yourself!”

Lin Ci:

Shen Xiyan:

Tired of dealing with her, he thought silence was the best way to ease the awkwardness. He looked at Lin Ci and asked, “Aren’t you going to nap?”

“… Ah? I am.”

“Then go ahead and sleep. I’m about to nap too. We still have two math classes this afternoon, just thinking about it gives me a headache.”

Shen Xiyan had always thought the schedule was flawed—math, physics, chemistry, biology shouldn’t be in the afternoon, especially the first two periods. They were excellent at inducing sleep.

Lin Ci could sleep; don’t worry about me. Come play a game of Five-in-a-row with me, it’s so boring.

Su Jin waved her hand.

Shen Xiyan twitched his mouth.

Rationally, he didn’t want to move.

Five-in-a-row was a kid’s game—playing it was nothing special, really boring, and the other person was clearly hostile.

Emotionally, he had just seen the situation, so he was out of position.

Emotion won over reason.

“… Black or white?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, I just go first anyway… Asking makes me seem less bossy.”

Shen Xiyan sighed deeply. “Black, then. I like black.”

After he said that, he saw Su Jin’s hand tighten around her cup, deforming the disposable cup. Quickly, he corrected himself, “Never mind, white. I like white!”

It wouldn’t be fun if she threw boiling water on him.

Right now, he really couldn’t mention black in front of Su Jin; it might trigger PTSD.

Then Shen Xiyan realized why Song Wan had beaten her twelve times in a row.

She played casually, not thinking at all, dropping pieces quickly.

Every time near the end, she’d realize she was about to lose and would quietly move her pieces under the cover of pouring water.

Shen Xiyan wasn’t blind. He pointed at a spot. “This piece was here just now, right?”

Su Jin froze, then her expression grew strange. She raised her eyebrows, “… You must have seen wrong?”

“No way, I clearly remember.”

“You saw wrong, didn’t you?” Su Jin emphasized again, crunching something in her mouth.

Shen Xiyan’s face twitched slightly. “… Sorry, I was mistaken.”

“See! Told you!” Su Jin tilted her head and looked up at the ceiling, pretending to be an innocent girl, then placed her piece, earning her “hard-won” first victory.

“Yay! I won, I won! Boring~~”

Shen Xiyan:

Su Jin put down her cup, her eyes sparkling like stars as she stared at Shen Xiyan and asked, “Shen Xiyan, are you nervous?”

“No…”

Shen Xiyan looked puzzled but forced a calm expression. “Why would I be nervous?”

“Yeah, why would you be nervous?” Su Jin smiled sweetly, pressing the issue like a little demon, twirling a strand of hair with her fingers, entertaining herself like a little girl.

“… Maybe because it’s my first time here?” Shen Xiyan glanced at Lin Ci sleeping on the sofa and hastily made up a reason, playing dumb.

“That can’t be the reason, right?”

Shen Xiyan widened his eyes at Su Jin, thinking: What’s wrong with this woman?!

There’s Lin Ci and Wenwen right here—

I understand your urge for revenge, but don’t pick now!

We should tacitly keep silent; you, me, and everyone else will be fine if we all pretend nothing happened… Why are we losing that tacit understanding?

Oh, we never had it to begin with.

But you just have to bring it up now—what are you trying to do?

Shen Xiyan even suspected Su Jin wanted to kill and silence him.

The angrier he got, the more he thought—

“What? Didn’t you see clearly?”

The smile on Su Jin’s lips grew more intense. She also glanced at Lin Ci napping on the sofa and lowered her voice, “Want to see it again?”

“Hm?” Su Jin gave a sly little smile.

If you’re unkind, don’t blame me for being unjust.

Shen Xiyan drank some water calmly. “Is that really okay?”