Gu Lingluo didn’t want to deal with this source of trouble at all. If she hadn’t found out that Liu Xia was the first person to post about the incident, she absolutely wouldn’t have gotten within fifty meters of her.
Liu Xia was frozen for a moment before she finally reacted.
“This… this is you proactively approaching me. It’s not me breaking the agreement.”
“The agreement is that you are not allowed to come within fifty meters of me, not that I am not allowed to approach you. Understand?”
Understood! Perfectly understood!
Patron Mom finally couldn’t hold back and came to find her~
It makes sense; she’s a top student! How could she tolerate a failing grade on her record?
Liu Xia pursed her lips, hopped off her bike, and could barely hide her smile, yet she still tried to maintain a look of nonchalance.
“Ahem! What do you need me for?”
“I just wanted to ask you if you noticed anything unusual when the old locust tree withered?”
Old… locust tree?
The smile froze.
Patron Mom didn’t come to find her about the failing grade?
So, what was the meaning of her painstakingly pulling her hair out to memorize vocabulary? She should have just been squatting by the old locust tree in the middle of the day!
Seeing no response from her for a long time, Gu Lingluo frowned. “Senior?”
“Huh?” Liu Xia snapped back. “What? What did you say? The old locust tree?”
Gu Lingluo was a little speechless. What was with this series of expressions?
Could she have intentionally flunked the exam just to get me to come find her?
Although this person was quite foolish, she couldn’t possibly be that foolish, could she?
“Yes, the old locust tree. I want to know the situation at the time.”
“Uh… at that time…” Liu Xia’s gaze darted around. Suddenly, she took out her phone and covered her ear with it. “Hello? Mom! I just got out of class. My ringer was set to vibrate. What’s wrong? Ah? You didn’t bring the house key? Okay, okay, I’m heading back now.”
Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Liu Xia smiled at Gu Lingluo. “See? My mom is a little spacey and forgot her key when she went out. She’s waiting for me to go open the door for her. The old locust tree thing can’t be explained in one or two sentences. How about this: you come to my place and sit for a while, and I promise to tell you everything and answer any question you have. How does that sound?”
Gu Lingluo: “…”
The smile is too fake, the blinking is too frequent, and the knuckles clutching the handlebar are white…
If you can’t act, don’t act. You’re full of holes.
Especially that phone call just now—the screen didn’t light up from start to finish. Was she answering a ghost call?
Childish!
Ridiculous!
Troublesome and boring!
Communicating with her was a waste of life!
Gu Lingluo walked past her expressionlessly. “Since you have something urgent, let’s talk tomorrow during lunch break.”
Liu Xia pushed her bike and chased after her, quickly saying, “I’m busy tomorrow at noon, seriously! Only today is free!”
“Then the afternoon.”
“I’m even busier in the afternoon. I have to rush off right after school!”
“Then the day after tomorrow.”
Liu Xia immediately blocked her path by holding the bike horizontally in front of her.
“I’m telling you, I’m super, super busy lately! I just… got a cat. I have to rush back after school to feed it, or it will go a whole day without food. How pitiful if it develops a stomach ulcer or kidney stones!”
“Then…”
“Then today! Right now! Let’s go, let’s go! My place is very close. I’ll give you a ride. Come on, get on, my mom is getting anxious.”
Gu Lingluo lowered her eyes.
Why is she so keen on getting me to her place? What is she scheming?
She instinctively wanted to refuse, but then she thought: if she didn’t go with this trouble-maker today, who knew what childish trick she’d come up with tomorrow? Besides, the matter of the old locust tree couldn’t be delayed any longer.
Gu Lingluo held out her hand. “Give me the bike.”
Liu Xia immediately hunched over the handlebars, blocking them completely.
“I’ll give you a ride.”
“I’ll ride.”
Patron Mom’s chilly face made Liu Xia a little nervous. “M-my mom is waiting for the key. I ride fast.”
Gu Lingluo said, “I don’t ride slowly either.”
Liu Xia said, “I know the way.”
Gu Lingluo said, “You can just give me directions.”
Liu Xia countered, “But you still have to direct me, don’t you? If I give you a ride, you don’t even have to point! It’s definitely faster than you!”
Gu Lingluo glanced at Liu Xia’s legs. “My legs are longer.”
Liu Xia: “I…”
This statement, which seemed to leap outside the laws of the universe, instantly left Liu Xia speechless.
Wait, what did she mean? Why look at my legs if she just wanted to say that long legs ride fast?
She was the former campus belle, after all! Even if she wasn’t as good as Gu Lingluo, she was definitely fair-skinned, beautiful, and had long legs compared to most people, okay?!
However, no matter how she argued, her legs were indeed not as long as Gu Lingluo’s…
So infuriating!
Why did she want to curse so badly?!
She was now 100% certain that Gu Lingluo’s family was super rich. Otherwise, with her deadly lack of emotional intelligence, she would have been cornered and taught a lesson eight hundred times over if she didn’t have a background.
Gu Lingluo casually added fuel to the fire. “It’s not your fault that your legs are short, but it wouldn’t be good to keep your mom waiting anxiously.”
Liu Xia took a deep breath.
The world is beautiful. Absolutely do not get agitated.
If she wants to ride, let her ride. At least I weigh a good hundred pounds. Let her tire herself out!
After riding Liu Xia all the way home, putting away the bike, and taking the elevator to the 12th floor, the space in front of room 1209 was empty.
Gu Lingluo calmly scanned Liu Xia. “Where is your mom?”
Liu Xia scratched her nose. Sure enough, one lie requires countless others to cover it up.
She pressed her phone randomly, then covered her mouth and coughed, turning her back.
“Hello? Mom? Where are you? I’m home. Why aren’t you here? Ah? You went to my second aunt’s house? Why didn’t you say so earlier? You had me rushing home! Okay, you stay with my second aunt. Bye.”
Turning back, Liu Xia smiled with an innocent, harmless expression.
“My mom couldn’t wait and went to my second aunt’s house. It’s fine. We can go inside and talk.”
Gu Lingluo returned a smile devoid of soul.
Poor acting, yet so much unnecessary drama.
They opened the door and went in. The living room wasn’t big. Snacks, drinks, cushions, and thin blankets were scattered everywhere. Fortunately, the floor and table weren’t dusty; it was messy but not dirty.
Liu Xia glanced at Gu Lingluo’s scrutinizing eyes, laughing awkwardly as she changed shoes and rushed in. She tidied up briefly: essentially sweeping all the snacks into a drawer, arranging the cushions, and loosely folding the thin blanket twice.
“Haha, the place is a little messy. Don’t mind it. Sit, please sit! What would you like to drink? Tea? Juice? Or an energy drink?”
“Tea.”
Liu Xia grabbed a bottle of iced black tea.
“Drink it straight? Or use a cup?”
Gu Lingluo looked at the brown liquid, a cheap tea powder mixed with excessive sweetener, and frowned. “This is what you call tea?”
Liu Xia looked puzzled, tapping the bottle label.
“Isn’t this tea? The letters are huge. See?”
“Don’t tell me the juice you mentioned is Minute Maid or orange soda.”
Liu Xia blinked. “How could it be? Orange soda is soda. Minute Maid is juice.”
Gu Lingluo decisively gave up communicating. “Water will do.”
Liu Xia didn’t move. “Uh… Water… it’s tasteless… what’s good about it? How about you drink the Minute Maid instead?!”
Gu Lingluo narrowed her eyes. “You don’t even have water, do you?”
Liu Xia scratched her nose, letting out two embarrassed dry laughs, and quickly poured a cup of Minute Maid. “Here, here! Minute Maid! Sweet and sour, you can see the pulp and fruit bits!”
Gu Lingluo said bluntly, “I don’t have a habit of drinking things with unnecessary additives.”
Looking around, Gu Lingluo asked, “Where is your cat?”
“Cat? What mo… Meow~~~ Meow meow~~~ Baby Meow Meow~~~ Mommy’s home~~~”
Heavens! She almost gave herself away!
She couldn’t believe Gu Lingluo remembered the cat she’d casually made up. Luckily, she reacted quickly!
Liu Xia bent over, making a show of calling for the cat in every corner of the apartment: the kitchen, bedroom, balcony, study, and bathroom.
“Hahaha, my baby is a bit wild. It must have sneaked out to play.”
Gu Lingluo looked doubtful. She glanced at the two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. The doors had been pushed open during the cat search. One room was the bedroom; the other… was not.
“You have such a good relationship with your mother.”
“Eh?”
Liu Xia followed her gaze, sweat breaking out on her temples.
This is what you get for talking nonsense! This is what you get for overacting! Finding the cat was one thing, but why did she have to open the doors!
It was abnormal for someone her age to share a room and a bed with her mother. Even if she explained it as deep mother-daughter affection, the key was… where would her dad sleep?!
All three of them in one bed under the same blanket?!
Pah!
She also had a younger sister!
“No, no, I live alone. My mother came over temporarily today because she had something urgent. Ha… hahahaha…”
Whatever happened, just keep smiling.
Gu Lingluo returned a forced, insincere smile. “I thought so. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have water to offer.”
Liu Xia scratched her nose. “He… hehe…”
Hold it together! You must hold it together!
When you don’t know how to answer, just try to maintain an awkward yet polite, silly smile.
Gu Lingluo casually threw another bomb. “Speaking of which, your cat is truly amazing. It can open the door and go out to play by itself. You must let me see it sometime.”
The smile froze, gradually cracking.
No! Don’t let your expression break!
“It… it must have… followed me out when I left! Yes! It followed me out!”
“Oh… I see.”
Liu Xia wiped the sweat. “Heh… hehe…”
Gu Lingluo couldn’t help but let a genuine, unforced smile appear on her face. Even she didn’t notice it.
This woman is truly stupid, silly, and funny.
“Let’s talk about the old locust tree. Did you notice anything unusual?”
Liu Xia slowly scooted over to the sofa, sitting down properly with her legs together. She first took a sip of iced black tea to calm her nerves.
“The old locust tree… uh… I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“How did you know I was the original poster?”
She knew she didn’t really need to ask. It wasn’t hard to trace an IP address these days, especially since she had posted under a semi-permanent ID. It would be even easier to track.
“The original poster? You posted that viral thread?”
Liu Xia was stunned. “You didn’t know?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why did you look for me?”
Gu Lingluo smiled slightly, lying without batting an eye. “Not just you. I asked many people.”
It turned out she was casting a wide net and hadn’t come specifically for her…
Thinking this, hadn’t her effort in pulling her hair out, diligently studying German, and intentionally scoring in the teens been an even bigger waste?!!!
Aargh!!! Give her back her passing score!!!
However… didn’t this indirectly indicate the old locust tree’s importance to Patron Mom? Why else would she ask everyone she met?
While she didn’t understand why Gu Lingluo cared so much, that wasn’t important. The important thing was: the more important the old locust tree was, the greater her chances of success!