Chapter 52
A dreamless night.
It felt like she hadn’t slept so peacefully in a long time. When Zhuang Chi opened her eyes, the sky was already bright. During the days she was locked up, she would basically wake up as soon as it was light, forcing herself to sleep every night, which had indeed taken a mental toll.
Fortunately, there was no need to worry anymore. With this thought, Zhuang Chi turned over and sat up, then felt a little embarrassed when she realized she was at Gu Ximian's home—she had gotten up a bit late; she was quite a comfortable guest.
It seemed Gu Ximian had come to find her last night just to apologize, and she had unexpectedly and obediently accepted Zhuang Chi's words without insisting further, which put Zhuang Chi at ease. She thought that there would be no more problems and that the future was bright. Happily, she washed up, changed her clothes, and went downstairs.
And Gu Ximian was sitting at the dining table downstairs, eating leisurely, though it was unclear if it was breakfast or lunch. Seeing her walk down the stairs, she smiled. “You’re awake. Did you sleep well? Come have something to eat first.”
As she spoke, she arranged for the butler to serve Zhuang Chi the same meal as hers. Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi, who still hadn’t sat down, and half-raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to pull out your chair for you?”
...That would be even more embarrassing. Zhuang Chi silently pulled out the chair herself and obediently started eating.
“Don’t rush. Anyway, even if you had a class this morning, you’ve already missed it, so just skip class with me.” Gu Ximian spoke of skipping class with calm composure and continued to explain the situation, “Besides, we’ll definitely have a lot to do when we go to school today, like meeting all sorts of people... and we can’t guarantee the police station won’t call us again. I was almost detained yesterday—do you want sugar?”
Halfway through her sentence, she gestured toward Zhuang Chi’s coffee. Zhuang Chi was in no mood to care about whether to add sugar to her coffee and hurriedly followed up on Gu Ximian’s unfinished sentence, “Detained? You? Why?”
“...Because that princess claimed I intentionally caused her bodily harm, I suppose.” Gu Ximian shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not like she was framing me. I went there with that exact purpose.”
Zhuang Chi, who hadn’t yet heard what Gu Ximian had done last night, was greatly shocked. For a moment, she even forgot to eat and first asked Gu Ximian about yesterday’s events from beginning to end. After hearing the story, she couldn’t come back to her senses for a long time. Compared to her, the person involved, Gu Ximian, seemed much more relaxed and even comforted Zhuang Chi in return. “It’s fine. If that little princess insists on dragging me down with her, then let her try. We’ll see if she has what it takes.”
Zhuang Chi’s heart felt heavy, and only now did she begin to feel scared in retrospect. “You went to do such a dangerous thing all by yourself... It’s so good that you’re okay.”
“It wasn’t that dangerous. After all, I knew the police would be there soon.” Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi’s slightly furrowed brows and changed the subject. “...When Xiao Ying came to you, why didn’t you say anything about your gland?”
Not knowing what this had to do with the previous topic, Zhuang Chi wanted to honestly answer, “I felt it would have been useless to say anything at that time,” but looking at Gu Ximian’s inexplicably serious expression, she felt she couldn’t say it. In the end, she just said, “There was surveillance in the room back then. I was worried that if I said too much, it would be discovered.”
“Surveillance...” Gu Ximian’s gaze darkened, and she said softly, “Was she watching you the whole time?”
“...She probably watched when she was free,” Zhuang Chi replied. Seeing Gu Ximian’s increasingly cold expression, she added after some consideration, “But aside from that time with the pheromones, she didn’t actually do anything stranger... But I don’t know when she took your school uniform jacket. Could she have entered my room while I was sleeping...”
That’s right, she hadn’t been able to take Gu Ximian’s school uniform jacket with her when she left the villa. When Zhuang Chi opened the closet and saw it was empty, it gave her a fright, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out when it had disappeared. But it wasn’t a situation where she could search other places carefully, so she could only leave that place with her question unanswered.
“Let’s wait for the police’s statement. Anyway, there’s surveillance footage, ready-made evidence.” Gu Ximian put down her chopsticks, which made a crisp sound against the rim of the bowl. “...If she really did something like that...”
Her murmuring voice was soft, yet it was tinged with a dangerous chill. Zhuang Chi looked up, hearing some unspoken meaning, and gave Gu Ximian a reassuring smile. “The police are handling it, it’s fine.”
It was in the past, and she wanted Gu Ximian not to overthink it, and especially not to do anything dangerous again. She thought about changing the topic, and as her gaze wandered, she was suddenly drawn to the beanbag chair in the corner of the hall. To be precise, she was drawn to what was on the chair.
“...Kuma?”
What was lazily slumped there was, by all appearances, the Huggy Bear mascot costume she had once worn for the club recruitment fair. The screen on its chest was a dead giveaway. Zhuang Chi had left it with Gu Ximian when she was pretending to be her, but logically, it should have been returned to the Xin Yan Club by now. She looked at Gu Ximian, a little puzzled, only to see the other person also slightly taken aback, then her gaze flickered away as she looked down.
“I was going to return it to the Xin Yan Club,” Gu Ximian showed a rare bit of hesitation, “and then...”
She had indeed gone to return it. At that time, the members of the Xin Yan Club were anxious about Zhuang Chi’s disappearance. They became even more worried after learning from Gu Ximian what had happened, and one by one, they lost the heart to man their booth. At that time, Gu Ximian couldn’t say anything comforting either. She just silently handed over the costume, her empty gaze falling on the small screen, her mind full of the image of it once lit up. She had seen all three colors, but now only a dark blackness remained.
The club president, who was about to take the costume, probably noticed her expression. It’s unknown what kind of thought process she went through, but in any case, Gu Ximian heard her ask hesitantly, ‘...Do you want to keep it?’
Just like that, as if possessed, Gu Ximian bought the Kuma costume. Although the president repeatedly said, “Anyway, we won’t need it after the recruitment day, so you don’t have to pay anything,” she still paid a sum far exceeding the costume’s actual value. During the days she couldn’t find Zhuang Chi, when she couldn’t sleep at night, she would grope her way to its side in the dark and sit down, pulling the empty costume into her arms. Closing her eyes, she could vaguely recall that warm embrace from the past.
But it seemed she couldn’t bring herself to say these words to Zhuang Chi. No matter how Gu Ximian tried to organize her words, it was no use. Gu Ximian herself felt puzzled. Isn’t it simple to say something like, “Looking at it reminds me of you”? She had always enjoyed saying such things to tease Zhuang Chi before, and she liked seeing Zhuang Chi’s flustered reaction. Why couldn’t she say it now, as if something was burning in her throat?
She attributed this to the unfamiliarity of not having seen each other for a few days. In the end, she chose a concise explanation: “...And then I bought it. I thought it was cute.”
This was also the truth, Gu Ximian thought. She thought Kuma was cute the first time she saw it.
“I see. It is really cute, and the fur is so soft. It feels like a lot of effort must have gone into making it.” Zhuang Chi nodded in agreement, then frowned with worry. “...I missed the second half of the Xin Yan Club’s recruitment. I feel a bit bad about that... I should go and apologize.”
“Let’s go together when we have time today.” Gu Ximian looked at her, the restless feeling she had just now gradually calming down. She said calmly, “We’ll set off after you finish eating. There should be a lot of people waiting for us at school.”
There were indeed a lot of people.
From the moment she got out of the car at the school gate, people kept trying to talk to her. The news of Zhuang Chi’s kidnapping seemed to have spread like wildfire throughout the school, but the news that she was rescued last night hadn’t had time to spread yet. Now that the person herself had suddenly appeared, it set St. Blaisedon ablaze.
If it weren’t for Gu Ximian’s help, Zhuang Chi felt that just breaking through the crowd would have been an arduous task. Gu Ximian, like her manager, turned a deaf ear to the surrounding voices and single-mindedly led her away, all the way to the principal’s office. The principal must have already learned of her rescue from Ling Jing beforehand, so she didn’t look surprised. In any case, she expressed her concern and apologized quite formally. Zhuang Chi was really not good at such occasions and was even more terrified when compensation was mentioned. She wanted to refuse on the spot, but Gu Ximian secretly held her back and negotiated on her behalf, finally reaching a consensus.
“If you didn’t accept it, the principal would probably worry that you’d sue her later,” Gu Ximian explained afterward. “So just take it. It was the school’s security problem in the first place.”
...That seemed to make sense. Anyway, Gu Ximian wouldn’t harm her. With this thought, Zhuang Chi walked out with Gu Ximian. This time, as soon as they left the building, they saw Ling Jing and An Chen. It looked like they had gotten wind of it and were waiting for them outside. They rushed over as soon as they saw them. Ling Jing, whom she had met before, was fine, but An Chen came closer and looked Zhuang Chi over carefully from top to bottom. His gaze finally landed on the bandaged area of her gland, and he frowned as if he could feel her pain. “...You were perfectly fine the last time I saw you...”
“...Yeah.” Ling Jing sighed in deep agreement beside him. “Although you were wearing a blocking collar back then too, and now it’s just been replaced with a bandage... it just looks really bad.”
“Mhm. I can’t believe that princess would do something like this...”
Both of them looked exceptionally somber. Zhuang Chi watched as Gu Ximian’s expression, which had just started to improve, also darkened a little in this atmosphere. She immediately felt this wouldn’t do. Just as she was considering how to turn this bleak atmosphere around, she heard a clear voice that seemed out of place at this moment. “You’re finally back. The club recruitment fair ended days ago.”
It was a familiar youthful voice, with a very normal tone, as if they had simply not seen each other for a few days. Zhuang Chi looked over at the sound and met Lou Che’s eyes. It was unclear when he had started standing there. His handsome face now wore a very serious expression. After staring at her for a while, he continued, “Come by the Presidium sometime in the next couple of days when you’re free. You still haven’t had your interview.”
“...”
...Although this matter did exist, was it really still necessary? She hadn’t even been able to finish her work to the end. But Lou Che simply turned and left after speaking, giving Zhuang Chi no time to speak. And Ling Jing was already getting angry at Lou Che’s retreating back, rolling up her sleeves and berating him, “What’s with this guy! Zhuang Chi just got back and that’s all you have to say? So rude!”
An Chen also looked like he didn’t know what to do with Lou Che and sighed at the side. “...Originally, the rest of the Presidium advocated for ending the recruitment just like that, but Lou Che insisted on waiting until you came back for an interview... I couldn’t get a reason out of him either, sorry. You must not want to deal with him.”
“...” After an uncharacteristically long silence, Gu Ximian interjected at this moment, her voice cool, “I didn’t go for an interview either. If you’re willing, I’ll go with you later. Let’s see what he’s really up to.”
Mhm, her tone felt cold, and one could sense some aggression.
Although Zhuang Chi didn’t know what Lou Che was up to, she was already silently praying in advance that it was something good, and that he wouldn’t make Gu Ximian unhappy again.
As she thought about this, she subconsciously looked in the direction Lou Che had left. But Lou Che was already long gone. Instead, she caught a glimpse of a familiar bright gold, standing far away in a corner.
“...It’s Olivia.” Gu Ximian had also noticed her and said calmly, “I thought she’d be at the police station visiting her sister right now.”
Zhuang Chi was taken aback and heard An Chen and Ling Jing give similar responses beside her. An Chen was a bit more restrained, only murmuring, “That’s right, the elder princess got here fast,” while Ling Jing was much more expressive, her whole body bristling with vigilance as she took a step forward to half-shield Zhuang Chi and said quite directly, “Should we stay away from her?”
...So, Olivia was being viewed with caution because of Lily? Realizing this, Zhuang Chi subconsciously looked at Gu Ximian and saw that she had quietly averted her gaze from Olivia, looking uninterested.
Zhuang Chi hadn’t thought of this before and was a little at a loss. She figured Olivia was probably hesitating for the same reason. She thought for a moment, took two tentative steps forward, and called out, “Olivia?”
Olivia flinched, hesitated for a long moment, then suddenly turned and ran away.
“...” Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi’s slightly stunned expression and sighed softly. “...She probably hasn’t even figured out how to face you herself.”
“She didn’t know what Lily was doing,” Zhuang Chi turned her head and said in a low voice, “...Even if they’re sisters, they’re still two separate individuals. She didn’t do anything wrong...”
“Mhm, you’re right.” Gu Ximian agreed readily, but her tone shifted just as unhesitatingly. “But I can’t help but think, if only Olivia had been a little more suspicious of Lily, if only she had gone to Lily’s place to look for you with suspicion even once in the past few days... She was clearly the one closest to the truth all along.”
“Then you would have been rescued sooner. Maybe you wouldn’t have...” Gu Ximian’s voice trailed off and finally stopped. She took a slow, deep breath, and when she looked up again, there was a hint of self-mockery in her eyes. “...It’s like misplaced anger, isn’t it? Is that a little bad?”
Zhuang Chi didn’t hesitate, shaking her head almost immediately.
“No, you’re not bad.” Only after shaking her head did she start to think about how to express herself. She didn’t want to take too long and seem insincere, so she blurted out the first sentence that came to mind. “You just care about me a lot. Thank you.”
“...”
Gu Ximian’s breath hitched. An unfamiliar sense of panic washed over her. She felt ‘panic’ might not be the right word, but she didn’t know a more appropriate word to describe this peculiar feeling that made her subconsciously curl her fingertips.
“...Did I say something wrong?” Her silence made Zhuang Chi sense that something was off, and her tone also carried some unease. “Sorry, that sounded weird, didn’t it? I didn’t mean it like that...”
“It’s fine.”
She subconsciously cut off Zhuang Chi’s apology. Gu Ximian lowered her eyes and said softly, “...You’re right.”
Being concerned and caring, words that sounded similar, but were fundamentally different.
And Gu Ximian’s concern for Zhuang Chi had gradually escalated into caring. Gu Ximian decided to admit this fact.
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