Chapter 124
Zhuang Chi wandered casually in the dream world, leaving Gu Ximian space to write on her own. But it didn't feel like much time had passed before she suddenly felt her body become light and airy, and a white light gradually appeared before her eyes.
It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Zhuang Chi knew it was a sign of waking up, and just as she thought, when she opened her eyes, she had returned to reality. The sky outside the window was dawning; it must be early morning. And Gu Ximian lay quietly in her arms, her eyes still closed, her soft breath brushing against Zhuang Chi's neck.
It seemed she had probably been sent out of the dream first. Zhuang Chi had no intention of waking Gu Ximian; after all, she would never tire of looking at her lover's sleeping face. She carefully gathered Gu Ximian's slender form closer into her embrace, obediently waiting for her to awaken. By the time Zhuang Chi realized it, she was already counting Gu Ximian's long, thick eyelashes. Halfway through, she saw her thin eyelids flutter and then slowly open. The morning light streamed in, illuminating the depths of her eyes and making her jade-black pupils shimmer with iridescent light.
She could never see enough; it was a beauty that made her hold her breath every time. Zhuang Chi suppressed the gushing praise in her heart, things like “My female protagonist is truly so beautiful,” and nuzzled intimately closer while Gu Ximian was still a bit dazed. “Good morning.”
“Mmm…” Gu Ximian, her reaction still a bit sluggish, subconsciously lifted her neck to meet Zhuang Chi, giving her jaw a light bite followed by a kiss. When she spoke, her voice carried a morning laziness, as if she were pouting. “Why did you come back before me?”
As if complaining that her lover hadn't waited for her, Zhuang Chi couldn't help but laugh and protest her innocence. “I didn't do anything! I was just waiting in there and was suddenly sent back. If there's really a time difference, then I think it can only be the Notebook's fault.”
But Gu Ximian wasn't quite satisfied with her answer. She snuggled a little deeper into her embrace, tightening the hand clasped around Zhuang Chi's waist, and murmured softly, “It's still because you walked so far away…”
It seemed she was a little dissatisfied because she hadn't been able to see her the whole time. Zhuang Chi's heart felt as if it had been softly nudged. She buried her head and apologized, “It won't happen again. If you're willing, I'll just stand right beside you and watch you write, how about that?”
The person buried in her shoulder spoke, her warm breath brushing against her skin and stirring a tingling sensation that made Gu Ximian's body feel a little hot. She bit her lip, and upon suddenly seeing the morning light outside the window, a flash of shy annoyance rose in her. She raised a hand, pressed it to the back of Zhuang Chi's head, and gave the unsuspecting girl's hair a thorough, messy ruffle. Only after she had vented her feelings did she stop, huffing, “You've lost your chance. I've already finished writing.”
“Wow,” Zhuang Chi, her hair now a mess, abruptly lifted her head, her face filled with disbelief. “You finished that quickly? I thought it would take a long time.”
Her reaction was similar to the Notebook's. Indeed, the object was like its owner. Gu Ximian couldn't help but smile and nodded cheerfully. “Mhm, I didn't write much.”
It wasn't so much that she didn't write much, but rather that she wrote only a single sentence before putting down the pen. The Notebook found this utterly baffling and immediately asked her after she capped the pen: 【Is that it? Are you planning to continue next time?】
‘No.’ Gu Ximian shook her head lightly. ‘I have nothing else to write.’
The Notebook was silent for a long moment, probably trying its best to understand her thoughts. Then it asked in confusion: 【…Are you sure you don't plan to write something like “to be with Zhuang Chi forever”? It would add an extra layer of security.】
‘…I don't.’
She had a feeling that this notebook had been quite certain she would write something like that, and she wondered what kind of impression it had of her. Gu Ximian briefly reflected on her past words and actions before finally explaining to the Notebook: ‘I will make it happen myself.’
For some things, praying to gods and buddhas was fine, but this was different. Gu Ximian felt that this was something that had to be accomplished by her own hands alone.
Meanwhile, her lover, completely unaware of this conversation, was brimming with curiosity and eagerly asking her, “So what did you write? Can you tell me?”
Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi, at the lively and vivid light in her eyes. Her naturally wavy hair, now fluffy and sticking up from the earlier ruffling, tickled slightly when it brushed against her. Gu Ximian reached out again to smooth it down, her fingers stroking through her hair, then caressing her brow and eyes.
“I'm not telling you.”
She replied with a touch of mischief, and when she saw the corners of Zhuang Chi's eyes immediately droop pitifully, she laughed quite happily. Gu Ximian leaned in, gently kissed her eyes, and said softly, “Unless you first tell me about what happened when you originally wrote this book.”
Gu Ximian didn't actually have any wishes.
She only realized this when she took the pen. Or to be more precise: now that she and Zhuang Chi had come to a mutual understanding of their feelings, Gu Ximian had no wish that could surpass this.
At an earlier time, say, before she met Zhuang Chi, if Gu Ximian had been given this power, she might very well have written voluminously. To be sure, the current Gu Ximian still had some ideas, such as teaching some detestable Alphas a lesson or changing the current situation where Omegas were subjugated to their marked partners. But now, she felt these were things she could achieve on her own; there was no need to specifically write them into existence.
In the end, if she would have chosen to write a lot back then, it wasn't because her will was any stronger than the current Gu Ximian's. Rather, it was because she had been pessimistic and disappointed with the world at that time, feeling it was rotten to the core. Therefore, if she had been given another power, she would have used it without a second thought, not wanting to waste a single ounce of her own energy on such matters.
But now that hope had begun to bloom within her, she found herself hesitating as she held the pen. For a moment, she couldn't think of anything. She had flowers, she had hope, she had a future, she had Zhuang Chi. Beyond all that, what kind of world did she still want?
The Notebook had said that the more precise and targeted her writing, the higher the degree of its realization would be. In that case, this sentence would probably be very difficult to bring to fruition, Gu Ximian thought.
She wrote in the notebook: 【The world will operate as usual and become more and more beautiful.】
It was less a wish and more of a blessing. After writing this one sentence, she properly wrote “The End” at the conclusion of the text.
Because for Gu Ximian, this was already enough.
The world did indeed continue to operate normally.
Everything went smoothly, both their romance and their school life. After the four plot-relevant Alphas at St. Blaisedon had all acknowledged Zhuang Chi and Gu Ximian's relationship, the original plot points that were supposed to occur between them and Gu Ximian made no further progress. For a time, there was nothing that required special attention—
“—Speaking of which, what exactly is Zhuang Chi's Alpha grade?”
…Zhuang Chi had nothing in particular to pay attention to, but the Alphas' energy seemed to have gradually shifted from focusing on Gu Ximian alone to focusing on the two of them. This had been apparent earlier, and now it was becoming more and more obvious. For instance, right now, Ling Jing was brazenly using the Student Council Presidium's meeting time to raise such a topic, even explaining righteously, “People have started gossiping about it again recently. They're probably just jealous. Seeing that there's no room for them to interfere with your and Gu Ximian's relationship, they've started making an issue out of this instead…”
“Sometimes I feel like the students at St. Blaisedon really have nothing better to do…” Lou Che sighed to himself and waved his hand dismissively, not seeming to care much. “This is easy enough to resolve now. Isn't Zhuang Chi's gland almost healed anyway? Then just pick a time to get it tested, and that'll be that.”
Zhuang Chi didn't actually think it mattered whether she was tested or not, but seeing that the Alphas were all rather supportive of the idea, she decided she might as well get it over with. However, she didn't expect to hear an opinion leaning toward opposition from Gu Ximian: “…I don't think it's necessary to get tested.”
Everyone's gaze snapped to Gu Ximian. Zhuang Chi was a little surprised, but the others were even more dramatic. Ling Jing's eyes went wide, her shocked gaze darting back and forth between the two of them. “Eh? Eh? Not getting tested? Don't tell me… the honeymoon phase is over? Has the burnout period arrived?”
What was she even talking about? Couldn't she wish them well for once? Zhuang Chi shook her head, half-annoyed and half-amused. Gu Ximian, however, shot a direct glare at Ling Jing, frightening her into silence before retracting her gaze. Her expression was quite cold as she said, “In any case, even without having her grade tested yet, it didn't stop Zhuang Chi from receiving so many chocolates on Valentine's Day.”
“…”
Except for Zhuang Chi, who had sensed this coming and silently lowered her head, the others in the room exchanged a silent, knowing look. Then, they all began to speak one after another.
“Isn't this just jealousy!”
“Wow, Valentine's Day was two days ago. Gu Ximian, you haven't been stewing over it until now, have you?”
“Did Zhuang Chi receive a lot of chocolate? How much? More than me?”
“D-don't worry. Even if it's chocolate, it's not all meant romantically. Your relationship is so well-known, the ones given to Zhuang Chi were probably almost all friendship chocolates…”
…It felt like only Olivia was trying to speak up for them. Zhuang Chi shot her a grateful look, then turned to the seemingly nonchalant Gu Ximian and whispered, “Do you mind that much?”
She hadn't actually anticipated this herself. Giving chocolates on Valentine's Day was an established custom at St. Blaisedon that she had once written into her novel—clearly an influence from Japanese manga at the time. She herself barely remembered it and had been caught completely off guard on Valentine's Day, receiving a considerable amount of chocolate.
In terms of quantity, it was nothing compared to what Gu Ximian received, but Gu Ximian seemed to be quite bothered by it—although she never mentioned it, her attitude made it rather obvious. Zhuang Chi had tried to coax her a few times, but it seemed Gu Ximian hadn't completely let it go. And now, she had spoken in a way that even these Alphas could tell.
And even at this point, Gu Ximian's reluctance to be direct had her maintaining a nonchalant facade. But she couldn't seem to bring herself to say the words “I don't mind,” ultimately just responding in an emphatic tone, “…I only mind a little bit.”
Zhuang Chi heard Lou Che muttering on the side, “What kind of ‘a little bit’ is that? Can't this woman be a little more honest with herself?” She felt an urge to laugh but managed to keep a straight face and replied earnestly, “I'm sorry. I should have refused them beforehand.”
Gu Ximian looked at her, her gaze shifting with a complex emotion. Finally, she sighed in partial resignation, pulled her by the hand to stand up, and announced to the others without preamble, “We're heading back for today.”
Then, before anyone could react, Gu Ximian pulled Zhuang Chi out the door. She led the bewildered Zhuang Chi all the way to a deserted corner before stopping, then turned and said, “—You're probably an S-class Alpha.”
“…S-class?”
Zhuang Chi was stunned. She repeated it dazedly before it finally registered. “Huh? I'm S-class? This… how do you know?”
“I had a slight inkling since your first susceptible period. After we got together… your pheromones have slowly gotten even stronger.” Gu Ximian shrugged and explained, “Perhaps it's because S-class Omegas are more sensitive, but I can clearly feel that you're stronger than those A-class Alphas. That can only mean you're S-class.”
Despite feeling waves of unreality, Zhuang Chi could see that Gu Ximian was being very serious and not joking. She was dazed for a moment, but quickly thought of an explanation for the situation. “Ah, I get it! It's because I became your lover, right? The world consciousness must have decided that only an S-class Alpha is worthy of you, so it raised my grade!”
“It's also possible you were born an S-class. In any case, it's hard to say for sure.”
Gu Ximian didn't seem to care much about that. She sighed softly as she spoke, her voice lowering. “…That's why I felt it was fine not to get tested. After all, if it's really confirmed that you're S-class… there will probably be more trouble in the future.”
So that was it… Zhuang Chi nodded in understanding, then asked, “So, when you mentioned the chocolates earlier, were you just making an excuse for me?”
“…”
Gu Ximian was silent for a long moment, then suddenly took an aggressive step forward, closing the distance to Zhuang Chi. “If the number of people giving you chocolate increases because of your grade, that would also be a huge hassle!”
Zhuang Chi's deliberately straight face instantly broke. She couldn't help but burst out laughing as she pulled Gu Ximian into her arms. After being held for a moment, Gu Ximian came to her senses and said irritably, “You were asking that on purpose just now, weren't you…!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Zhuang Chi readily admitted her fault, obediently nuzzling her cheek. “It's because I thought you were so cute, I just couldn't help myself…”
She had often thought this before, but now she was able to directly tell Gu Ximian that she found her cute. Gu Ximian, who had clearly not been called cute very often in the past, would protest a little each time, as if unconvinced. But as Zhuang Chi watched the blush spread from her face all the way to the tips of her ears, she could only think that Gu Ximian was, indeed, cute in every way.
“…Anyway, I think even if we are to test your grade, it should be done privately. It would be better not to make it public.” Gradually calming down in the face of Zhuang Chi's soft, gentle words, Gu Ximian leaned her weight unceremoniously into Zhuang Chi's embrace and returned to the main topic. “As for those not-so-friendly rumors at school… I'll figure out a way to deal with them later.”
“Deal with them…” The phrase sounded rather intriguing. Zhuang Chi blinked and asked, “How do you plan to deal with them?”
Gu Ximian didn't seem to have a plan yet either. After pondering for a moment, she said hesitantly, “…Be more intimate with you in front of outsiders? To let everyone know that using those kinds of tricks is useless?”
Despite using such an intimidating word, the method she came up with was quite peaceful. Zhuang Chi's eyes curved into a smile. She took her hand, interlaced their fingers, and held them up for Gu Ximian to see. “I think we're already very intimate.”
The matching silver rings on both of their ring fingers glinted faintly. Gu Ximian glanced at them for a few moments before saying softly, “…We've only been wearing them for two days. Perhaps we should walk around in front of people more often.”
Zhuang Chi couldn't help but let the corners of her lips curve into a smile. Then she heard Gu Ximian sigh, “If we had encountered something like this before, my subconscious would have probably just resolved it… as long as I genuinely believed that everyone would think we're a perfect match.”
…But on the other hand, that was also somewhat dangerous. For example, she might have ended up receiving more chocolates because of Gu Ximian's subconscious. As Zhuang Chi was thinking this, Gu Ximian, who had likely arrived at the same thought, continued, “Or perhaps I should have returned the power to you sooner, shouldn't I? I heard from the Notebook that the power is a bit easier to use when it's in your hands—”
“It's not that easy, you know.” Zhuang Chi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. “Besides… even if you did return it to me, you wouldn't actually want to use that power when faced with this kind of situation, right?”
“…Mmm, that's right.”
Her wandering train of thought was reined in by Zhuang Chi's point. Gu Ximian let out a light laugh and replied, “Let's just let the world run on its own like this. That's pretty good, too.”
“As for the small problems we encounter…” Gu Ximian thought for a moment, then snuggled back against Zhuang Chi's shoulder and said peacefully, “Anyway, as long as we're together, there's always a way.”
Zhuang Chi smiled silently. She gently kissed a strand of Gu Ximian's hair. “Mhm. There will be.”
No matter how unknown the world might be, as long as they faced it hand in hand with each other, then it seemed there was nothing left to fear.
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