It wasn’t until Qin Mingyan suddenly bit her that Bo Liye felt the heartbeat under her palm. She let go as if startled awake.
Looking up, Qin Mingyan was lying on the pillow, a strand of hair covering her eyes. Under the light, Bo Liye could clearly see the pitiful tear stains at the corners of her eyes.
Sensing Bo Liye’s gaze, Qin Mingyan lowered her eyes and reached out to hold her finger.
Perhaps because of her cold personality, Qin Mingyan didn’t know how to be close to people, she smiled very little. But every time she reached out to Bo Liye, she was trying her best to show her closeness.
Bo Liye felt her heart stirred again.
Reason finally took over. She pulled the nearby blanket over Qin Mingyan and helped her tidy up her static-filled long hair.
She originally wanted to say she would make do on the sofa for the night, but the temperature in Shanghai had dropped recently, and Bo Liye wouldn’t mistreat herself. So she said, “Go to sleep first. I’ll go outside and call my family. I’ll be back in a bit.”
With that, she took her phone and left the room wearing Qin Mingyan’s flip-flops.
If she went to sleep with Qin Mingyan right now, she was afraid she would do something again.
The moment the door closed, the entire bedroom fell into silence. It was empty, yet Qin Mingyan’s heart was racing.
Whether it was the sensation on her lips or her body, it felt like it hadn’t fully disappeared. As long as Qin Mingyan closed her eyes, she could feel the marks Bo Liye left on her body slowly heating up, as if a fire had been lit, burning brighter and brighter.
All the cool, innocent, and honest emotions vanished in an instant. All that remained was her curled-up body under the covers, greedily inhaling the scent Bo Liye had left behind.
Qin Mingyan had grown up without a father’s love, and her mother struggled to give her much affection. This environment had taught her to be independent early on. Coldness and isolation became her natural armor, saving her from most troubles in life and at school.
She didn’t care what pretty lollipops tasted like or what colorful dresses felt like. Day after day, she put all her effort into her studies, until she transferred to Haichuan to save money for her mother’s medical bills and met Bo Liye.
The feeling of “caring” that she hadn’t experienced in seventeen years burst through like a flood.
She greedily inhaled Bo Liye’s scent under the blankets, unwilling to let go even though she was sweating.
She was almost unable to endure it anymore.
Tonight, just because Bo Liye sent her a photo of herself in a dress, she couldn’t help but skip her competition class to see her.
She knew she wasn’t normal. She was slowly becoming like her mother, who went crazy over a man, until she completely turned into the person she despised most.
She wanted to make Bo Liye happy, wanted Bo Liye’s attention to be entirely on her, wanted Bo Liye to do anything she wanted to her.
Qin Mingyan suddenly threw off the covers and opened the bedroom window to let in the cold wind. It wasn’t until the heat in her body subsided that her heartbeat gradually slowed down.
The phone on the nightstand rang, which was rare. Qin Mingyan walked over, the caller ID showed a contact name: Yang Siqi.
Qin Mingyan didn’t want to be disturbed and hung up.
A few seconds later, a message from Yang Siqi appeared on WeChat: [Is that bell really so effective that it made you fall in love the same night and you can’t even answer the phone?]
Seeing the word “bell,” Qin Mingyan’s eyes darkened, and she typed coldly: [Something you need?]
Yang Siqi sent a picture of a test paper and detailed answers to several competition questions: [These are the big questions we went over tonight. Teacher Wang specifically asked me to send them to you, saying they’re very important, left by the exam writer before they left. He wants you to study them carefully.]
Qin Mingyan saved the images one by one and replied: [Thanks.]
Yang Siqi seemed dissatisfied with Qin Mingyan’s coldness: [How confident are you about this competition?]
[Don’t ignore me. If you win first prize, you can be recommended to the best universities directly. Aren’t you tempted?]
Qin Mingyan continued to ignore her.
Frustrated, Yang Siqi used her trump card: [Did you use that bell or not? Is it effective? If it is, I’ll go get one for someone tomorrow too.]
Yang Siqi was Qin Mingyan’s former classmate before they chose their specialized subjects. In their first year of high school, their grades were neck and neck, and they often took turns being first in the grade.
Compared to Qin Mingyan, Yang Siqi was outgoing and popular. She was one of the few friends at the No. 1 High School that Qin Mingyan could talk to.
When Qin Mingyan skipped class this evening, she had been spotted by Yang Siqi, who was late because she was getting KFC for a classmate. At that time, an old woman on the street was selling her handmade bells, praising them as if they were as unique as the Red Thread of Fate.
What caught Yang Siqi’s attention wasn’t the bell’s uniqueness, but the fact that Qin Mingyan, who seemed destined to never have a romantic relationship in her life, was actually listening intently to the old woman.
She couldn’t help but lean in, hoping to hear Qin Mingyan give some polite excuse to help the woman’s business. Instead, she heard a very sincere: “Before putting it on her, do I need to wear it first or make some kind of mark?”
In that moment, Yang Siqi felt she might have missed the bell’s secret purpose. Qin Mingyan had a brain that could compete with her for first place, she must know something.
So when Qin Mingyan bought one, she followed suit and bought one too, holding it carefully as if it were the love of her life.
Throughout the entire competition class, she looked at the bell hanging on her backpack’s zipper but couldn’t see anything unusual about it. That’s why she used the excuse of sending the questions to ask about it.
She was dying of curiosity and sent another message: [Tell me, are there results? If you’ve started dating and it affects your studies, it wouldn’t be a fair victory if I beat you next time. I’d have to go find a partner too to make it fair.]
Qin Mingyan expressionlessly clicked on Yang Siqi’s profile, chose “Add to Blacklist,” and decided she would unblock her before the next competition class.
As for her bell…
It was already gone by the time Bo Liye came to find her, it must have ended up in some trash can. But the bell wasn’t entirely useless. At least Bo Liye kissed her several times tonight, didn’t she?
In the future, when Bo Liye completely accepts her, she could consider buying a few more. The sound of the bell ringing every time she took a lick would definitely be lovely, it would surely make Bo Liye so embarrassed she wouldn’t dare open her eyes and would just let her do whatever she wanted.
Just thinking about it made Qin Mingyan unable to suppress her thoughts. She opened the window wider, trying to let more cold air in to soothe her restless heart.
Bo Liye had no idea about the psychological changes Qin Mingyan went through after she left. She sat on the sofa in the living room, replying to WeChat messages one by one to distract herself.
Most were from the people she had newly added tonight. Bo Liye clicked through their Moments and added notes based on her memory of them. The notes all began with their parents’ companies or official titles, she was extremely familiar with this process.
After labeling them, she replied to a few messages, then switched out of WeChat to search for news about the fire in Yancheng.
Her mother’s efficiency was high as always. Right after getting off the plane, she had rushed to the disaster scene. In front of the camera, she wore rescue gear, she was approachable, gentle, and strong. As usual, she received a wave of praise.
Bo Liye saved several photos of Bo Jingxian, staring at them for a long time before walking back to the room.
Qin Mingyan was still in the blankets, in the same position she was in when she left. She seemed to be asleep, quiet, just as she was when she was awake.
As Bo Liye approached the bed, Qin Mingyan seemed to wake up with a start. The blanket slid down as she sat up. The T-shirt fabric was thin around the chest, and Bo Liye could faintly see a beautiful shape.
Bo Liye’s gaze lingered for two seconds before she looked away casually. Her voice was as gentle as when she left: “Did I disturb you?”
Qin Mingyan rubbed her eyes and said, “I used to wake up at night to take care of my mother in the hospital, so I’m a light sleeper. It’s not your fault.”
Her voice had a slight nasality from having just woken up. Even with that cold expression, she still looked very obedient. Bo Liye couldn’t help herself, she walked over and pinched Qin Mingyan’s left cheek.
It felt very soft yet firm.
She couldn’t help but touch the other side as well, casually asking: “How is your mother lately? What did the doctor say?”
Pinched like this, Qin Mingyan couldn’t pull away. Her voice was intermittent: “White blood cell count is normal, other vitals are stable and improving… but she’s resistant to the psychiatrist. I can only try to persuade her more.”
Bo Liye had heard a little about why Qin Mingyan’s mother had attempted suicide multiple times. It wasn’t because of a difficult life or a sick body, it was purely due to emotional heartbreak.
She found it hard to understand and didn’t want Qin Mingyan to get involved in that kind of mess.
“You’re in your third year of high school. The first mock exam is next month, and you have that competition. You should worry less. Let the doctors and caregivers at the hospital watch her twenty-four hours a day, nothing major will happen. Once you’re done with the Gaokao, you’ll have plenty of time to be with her.”
Her words were selfish and cold, as if the person in the hospital wasn’t Qin Mingyan’s mother. But Qin Mingyan only gave a low, “Okay.”
Bo Liye retracted her hand, went around to the other side of the bed, pulled back the covers, and lay down. “Turn off the light.”
Qin Mingyan seemed stunned. “Are… are we sleeping now?”
Bo Liye opened one eye. “Did you want to do something else before bed?”
Qin Mingyan immediately got out of bed to turn off the light.
Bo Liye turned on her side, watching Qin Mingyan’s silhouette, and asked slowly, “Do you even know what else can be done before bed?”
She was certain that a top student like Qin Mingyan, who only knew how to study, knew nothing. She specifically mentioned something she knew Qin Mingyan would understand: “When I touched your waist in the shower today, weren’t you different from usual? You can’t be like that. If I do something to ‘pleasure the mind and body’ later on, you aren’t allowed to cry.”
Qin Mingyan first went to turn off the living room light. When she returned, Bo Liye continued her chatter: “I heard that fingernails can’t be too long, and you have to wear some kind of finger cots. Next time we go to the convenience store, let’s buy a box and see what they are, shall we?”
Qin Mingyan clicked off the light with a bit too much force. Bo Liye burst out laughing on the bed.
As Qin Mingyan climbed back into bed in the dark, Bo Liye suddenly rolled over and pinned her down. She rubbed her nose against Qin Mingyan’s. “You actually know what finger cots are? Does a top student secretly look into those things?”
Qin Mingyan pushed her slightly. “I just figured they weren’t normal gloves.”
Bo Liye laughed even harder. “They’re finger cots, not gloves. I knew you didn’t know.”
“…Then I don’t want to know.”
Bo Liye lay on Qin Mingyan’s shoulder laughing for a while longer, then rolled back and hugged her like a doll. “Keep quiet while you’re sleeping. No snoring, no tossing and turning to wake me up. Do you hear me?”
Qin Mingyan was used to her commanding tone: “Yes, I hear you.”
Bo Liye smiled. She couldn’t help but lean into Qin Mingyan’s ear and threaten in a low voice: “If you wake me up, I’ll take you to buy finger cots and lock you in the room, making you cry all day.