Hearing her words, Qi Qi felt somewhat fortunate that she had the foresight to quickly drag the other girl into this secluded garden. Hidden behind the lush, dark green bushes that remained leafy even in autumn, no one would notice two people were hiding here as long as they kept their voices down.
On the way over, when they were spotted by others, Bai Zhi still had the leisure to respond to several students who greeted her and asked where she was going. It was clear she was very popular among the students, actually knowing so many people.
During that walk, if Qi Qi hadn’t been quick on her feet and covered her mouth, this person, who possessed zero sense of contractual obligation, would have blurted out the truth about their relationship in the very next second.
“I almost accidentally let it slip. Is Student Qi going to punish me?”
The girl gazed at her with a pair of passionate, honey amber peach-blossom eyes. A faint blush rose on her cheeks, giving her a deeply bashful and innocent appearance, though her words were anything but pure.
At least this somewhat distant form of address had been retained.
Facing Bai Zhi’s blatant question, Qi Qi chuckled coldly. “Nope.”
What a convenient “accident.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhi looked somewhat disappointed.
The corners of Qi Qi’s lips curled up slightly. She simply had no intention of indulging her desires.
Seeing that Bai Zhi wanted to entangle herself in this point and keep going, Qi Qi immediately changed the subject. “So, what did you leave behind at my house?”
Last night, after Bai Zhi left, Qi Qi had specially checked the place. A cleaner came during the day as well, and if there were anything that didn’t belong to her, the cleaner would definitely inform her unless it had been hidden intentionally.
Recallings last night’s memorable encounter with Bai Zhi by the roadside, Qi Qi couldn’t help but let her thoughts stray toward a dark, suspenseful direction, even though she knew it was mostly just her overactive imagination.
She completely failed to notice that the person who had been a distance away from her just a moment ago was now drawing closer and closer.
Bai Zhi tentatively approached until their shoelaces were almost touching. All she had to do was tilt her head up to touch the younger girl’s jawline, intimate to an unusual degree.
Seeing that although Qi Qi was frowning, she showed no intention of stepping back, Bai Zhi happily curved her eyes and pursed her lips into a smile. The outer corners of her eyes narrowed, making her look like a little fox that had just stolen a treat.
“Did you forget? The kiss we didn’t finish last night.”
Bai Zhi stood on tiptoe, naturally wrapping her arms around the girl who was a head taller than her. She made a move to kiss her, stopping just short of touching, carefully observing every single subtle shift in her expression.
She didn’t close her eyes because she didn’t want to miss Qi Qi’s reaction.
She thought it would be like the initial green, panicked response from last night, or a cold rejection. But once again, she had guessed wrong.
Pulled downward by her, the girl lowered her neck slightly, looking down with half-lidded eyes.
Only then did Bai Zhi realize that the girl, who usually looked like she had single eyelids, actually had delicate, deeply hidden double eyelids. Her eyelashes were long, and her pitch black pupils against the faintly blue tinted whites of her eyes looked somewhat cold as she stared at her, yet it aroused an even deeper obsession in someone like Bai Zhi.
“Why not continue?”
The girl smiled casually. One hand pressed against the small of Bai Zhi’s back to support her, completely erasing the distance between them and pressing her tightly against her body. Her nose lightly brushed against Bai Zhi’s, while her other hand tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, taking advantage of the movement to lightly trace the outer curve of her earlobe.
The sequence of movements was so skilled it was as if she had done it countless times, frivolous, unhurried, and completely natural.
Yet her gaze remained fixed on her, making Bai Zhi feel an odd tenderness unique to her being watched. It was faint and light, like the cool, thin mountain mist during an early morning climb, hazy and mysterious, impossible to see through no matter how hard one looked.
Or like an extraordinarily clear mountain spring deep in an unfrequented forest, one would shiver from the cold upon touching it, but the aftertaste was just the right amount of sweetness, making one sink deeper and deeper into it, unable to extricate oneself.
However, immediately following that fleeting tenderness was an attack that could only be described as fierce. In stark contrast to her lazy exterior, it was a searing passion that seemed capable of melting a person down.
Bai Zhi felt the heat of the hand pressing against her, as if it were going to melt her into a small pool of sticky, sweet honey. The forceful pressure on her lips made her unconsciously forget her initial curiosity, and she slowly closed her eyes.
A sharp sting came, followed by the faint taste of rust, yet it felt as if it had unlocked her pleasure switch.
It was a violent intensity, as though she were being chewed, torn apart, and swallowed whole. The upper hand was completely claimed by the other person, instinctively instilling in her a fear of the unknown.
The oxygen she relied on for survival was completely snatched away. Driven by biological instinct, she began to struggle unconsciously. For a brief moment, she actually experienced the spine tingling thrill of standing on the edge of life and death.
It was far more intense than any sensory experience brought on by the extreme sports she had tried before, carrying a far greater sense of losing control than hunting in the wild.
It felt amazing.
“Does it hurt?”
Panting, Bai Zhi wore a brilliant smile as she stared at her and murmured in a low voice, “It’s fine if it hurts a little more.”
Pain served as a catalyst of sorts.
Bai Zhi allowed herself to indulge in all the sensations Qi Qi brought her.
She didn’t dislike it.
No, it would be more accurate to say she liked it.
Bai Zhi had always been true to her own desires.
When the kiss finally ended, Qi Qi looked down at Bai Zhi, who seemed to be leaning weakly in her arms. Her feelings were complicated, to say the least.
The reality that she now had a girlfriend and that she had actually skipped a class because she was mesmerized by a woman, sank in once again.
“Time to go eat.”
Qi Qi took a tissue out of her pocket and wiped the lower lip of Bai Zhi that she had bitten until it bled, pretending not to see the dazed, yearning look in her eyes.
Indulging in daytime desires ought to have its limits.
At noon, Qi Qi went back to her exclusive lounge to have lunch as usual. She hadn’t expected Bai Zhi to be so vastly different from her previous demeanor, turning out to be extraordinarily clingy.
The process of exerting immense effort to reject Bai Zhi’s invitation to eat lunch together will be set aside for now.
The cafeteria at Minde High School was quite famous, but Qi Qi was used to being picky. Naturally, the meals prepared by her personal chef according to her tastes and preferences suited her far better than the cafeteria food.
And ever since she picked up that emaciated little monster, the daily meals prepared at home had also been doubled.
Today, due to Bai Zhi’s badgering, she had arrived a bit late.
Qi Qi thought about whether she should simply catch up on sleep this afternoon. Opening the door, she saw Shen Lu sitting inside with her back straight, staring fixedly at her.
The little monster had been waiting for her in there since early morning. But looking at the unopened lunch boxes on the table, she hadn’t eaten yet either.
Qi Qi couldn’t help but knit her brows.
After a period of nourishment and care, the little monster’s terrifyingly thin frame had begun to look much healthier. She no longer looked like the fragile girl who could be blown away by a gust of wind as she used to be. But what was going on today? Why hadn’t she eaten yet?
Seeing her arrive, the little monster first offered a somewhat stiff smile, the gloomy color in her eyes softening slightly. She then began to open the lunch boxes on the table one by one.
As for why she hadn’t opened them in advance, it was naturally because she was afraid the food would get cold.
“Why were you… so late today?”
Shen Lu held her chopsticks, hesitating for a long time without picking up any food. Only after weighing her words carefully for quite a while did she open her mouth to ask timidly.
She tried her best to make her tone sound casual.
Qi Qi gave a casual response and sat on the chair opposite Shen Lu. “Had some stuff to take care of. Why didn’t you eat first? It wasn’t easy to put some meat on those bones, don’t go starving it away again.”
“I won’t! I’ve been eating well! It doesn’t feel bony to hold me anymore… I just wanted to wait for you so we could eat together…”
Shen Lu’s voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke, her head lowered completely.
“Next time, just eat first. I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I might come late or just eat somewhere else. You don’t need to wait for me specifically. Scumbag as I am, I wouldn’t punish you just because you didn’t wait for me to eat. Besides, without me around, wouldn’t you feel more at ease by yourself?”
Thinking that she needed to keep her distance from Shen Lu for a while, and then thinking of how strangely clingy Bai Zhi had been acting, Qi Qi wanted to give her a heads-up in advance. Although unlikely, if the little monster didn’t dare to eat because she didn’t return and ended up starving herself thin again, all previous efforts would go to waste.
The chopsticks in Shen Lu’s hand slipped, falling onto the table with a somewhat jarring sound.
“What’s wrong?”
Qi Qi looked up at the little monster, who was acting remarkably strange today.
“…S-sorry.”
The girl lowered her head and apologized in a quiet voice. Picking up her chopsticks again, she mechanically picked up food, stuffed it into her mouth, and chewed.
Food she used to love most, which she could never refrain from devouring ravenously, now tasted completely flavorless.
She sensed Qi Qi’s coldness toward her.
Am I no longer fun?
Are you tired of playing with me?
Why haven’t you come to… bully me lately?
She couldn’t bring herself to say such words aloud no matter what.
Shen Lu’s face flushed red. She opened her mouth, then slowly closed it again, unable to utter a word. The complex, surging emotions inside her were like an underwater volcano, even though the depths were already boiling and churning, the surface remained calm and still.
In the end, she merely clenched her palms tightly in silence.
Is she… in love with someone else?
At the mere thought of this possibility, she could barely suppress the negative emotions inside her. Without her even realizing it, her eyes gradually darkened into an obscure, murky shade, until even her lighter colored eye seemed to turn into pure black.
In places invisible to Qi Qi, countless negative emotions flowed and surged, ultimately coalescing into pure malice.