The twilight deepened.
The warm golden hues of the setting sun melted into the azure sky, painting rich and magnificent streaks across the horizon.
Shen Juexia leaned against the headboard of her bed, lazily fiddling with her phone.
That afternoon, after receiving glucose at the school infirmary, she had taken leave and returned home early.
“Ji Zhijie, what are you doing?”
“Shouldn’t classes be over by now? Are you ignoring my messages on purpose?”
Tapping the screen, Shen Juexia sent out the messages in a flurry, not particularly concerned about whether Ji Zhijie replied or
not, she simply typed whatever came to mind.
Knock, knock! A rap sounded at the door.
Aunt Xu’s voice came from outside, “Second Miss, dinner will be ready soon.”
“Okay~ I’ll be right down!” she called back, pushing herself up from the bed with her hands.
As she exerted force, she accidentally tugged at the needle mark on the back of her hand, wincing sharply from the pain.
Pouting, she opened her phone’s camera, snapped a photo of her bruised and purplish hand, and sent it over. “It hurts—all because
of you!”
After sending the message, she tossed her phone carelessly onto the bed and leisurely made her way downstairs.
Pulling out a chair at the dining table, she sat down. “Aunt Xu, why’s dinner so early today? What’s on the menu?”
Emerging from the kitchen with a dessert cup in hand, Aunt Xu looked at her with concern. “I heard you fainted from low blood sugar
at school, it scared me half to death. This is honey osmanthus steamed milk pudding. Try it and see if you like it. The main dishes
will be ready soon.”
“Ah, no need to make a fuss. I’m fine now, aren’t I?” Scooping up a spoonful of the pudding, she slipped it into her mouth. The
silky, fragrant sweetness instantly made her eyes narrow in delight.
One spoonful after another, she savored the dessert.
Then, inexplicably, she shuddered.
Gripping the spoon tightly, she walked into the kitchen and repeated her earlier request. “Aunt Xu, you absolutely mustn’t tell
Jiejie about me fainting. I don’t want her to worry.”
Nodding, Aunt Xu replied gently, “You already mentioned it this afternoon, Miss. Don’t worry, I won’t tell the Eldest Miss about
this.”
“Mhm~ Aunt Xu, you’re the best!” Relieved, Shen Juexia returned to the dining table.
Ring, ring! Ring, ring!
The phone’s chime echoed through the empty living room.
Curled up on the sofa watching TV, Shen Juexia turned her head toward the kitchen at the sound. “Aunt Xu, I think your phone’s
ringing!”
“Coming!” Aunt Xu wiped her hands on her apron and stepped out of the kitchen, muttering to herself, who’d be calling me at this
hour?
Pushing open the door to her room, she picked up the phone from the corner cabinet.
The moment she saw the name on the screen, a sense of foreboding washed over her. “Eldest Miss.”
“Where
Suddenly, silence fell.
In those quiet seconds, Xu Qing felt as if someone had gripped her throat, a chill running down her back.
“Let me ask you again—where
“What are you being so fierce for! You didn’t even comfort me when I got hurt, and now you’re giving me this sarcastic tone on the
phone before starting to yell at me!” Tears rolled down in large drops as Shen Juexia pounded the pillow, her voice thick with
grievance.
A flicker of surprise flashed in Shen Tinghan’s eyes.
She hadn’t expected that even now Shen Juexia would still try to evade the issue.
Her fingers resting on the desk tightened slightly. After a few seconds of tense silence, Shen Tinghan cut straight to the point,
“Will you tell me yourself, or should I investigate?”
“Go ahead and investigate then! Why don’t you just install a surveillance camera on me while you’re at it? I finally managed to get
along with my deskmate, and now you’re doing this! You just want me to never have any friends in my life!” Shen Juexia’s voice was hoarse as her suppressed emotions poured out.
For a fleeting moment.
Shen Tinghan genuinely thought installing surveillance sounded like a good idea.
But the next instant.
She reined in her emotions.
She had personally reviewed Shen Juexia’s class seating chart before. The homeroom teacher wouldn’t dare change her deskmate
without permission. If she remembered correctly, “Your deskmate, that girl who transferred from No.1 High to Shengde?”
Shen Juexia’s heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat. She struggled to steady her breathing, forcing her tone to
mimic anger, “Yeah!”
Learning it was a girl, the gloom in Shen Tinghan’s eyes finally eased somewhat. Then, pressing her lips together, she asked, “You
never mentioned her before. How did you suddenly become so close?”
Just as Shen Juexia began to relax.
Tension gripped her again.
If her sister investigated and discovered Ji Jiejie’s problematic background, then followed the trail to expose her as a fraud,
she’d be finished!
Instinctively raising her voice, Shen Juexia shouted into the phone, “You’re not allowed to investigate!”
A look of astonishment flashed across Shen Tinghan’s face.
Though willful, Xia had always been well-behaved around her since childhood, never daring to speak to her in such a tone.
After the words left her mouth, Shen Juexia froze too.
Digging her nails into her palm, she softened her voice pleadingly, “Can’t you just trust me this once, sister? Trust that I can
judge people, trust the friends I choose.”
A subtle emotion flickered through Shen Tinghan’s mind.
Something felt off, but ultimately, she suppressed the strange unease and said quietly, “Alright, I’ll trust you, Xia.”
Perhaps.
She really was being too possessive.
Xia would soon be an adult. It wasn’t just about making friends. Before long, she might even—
Crack! A sharp sound.
Wrinkling her nose, Shen Juexia covered her ear uncomfortably and asked with concern, “Sister, what was that noise? Are you okay?”
A faint pain radiated from her ankle where glass shards had nicked the skin, blood slowly seeping out. Gazing at the shattered
glass at her feet, a twisted satisfaction flickered in Shen Tinghan’s eyes.
“It’s nothing. Just the chair knocking against the desk.” Her fingers curled slightly, but she made no move to tend to the wound,
letting the blood continue to well up.
Would a chair hitting a desk sound like that?
Though puzzled, Shen Juexia didn’t dare press further, afraid of steering the conversation back to dangerous territory. “Are you
still angry, sister?”
“From the beginning, I was never angry.”
“Hmph, you call that not being angry?”
Shen Juexia bit the inside of her cheek and cautiously changed the subject, “Sis, Aunt Liu seems to have dinner ready already.”
Raising her fair wrist to shield her eyes, Shen Tinghan’s voice carried a barely detectable fragility, “Alright, go ahead and eat.”
Having narrowly escaped trouble, Shen Juexia should have been relieved.
Yet, for some reason, an indescribable bitterness welled up in her heart.
After a moment’s hesitation, she didn’t hang up immediately. Instead, she softened her voice and said, “Just thinking about seeing
you next week makes me so happy.”