Chapter 64
The recovery of a gland is a very long process. After visiting the hospital, Zhuang Chi returned still wearing a tightly wrapped bandage. She had been back at school for some time now. Even though most people didn't know the specifics of what had happened, seeing her like this, they could mostly guess that something was wrong with her gland.
“…What are those people looking at.”
Ling Jing was very unhappy about this. Although she was no longer Zhuang Chi's “servant,” she still liked to stick to Zhuang Chi after class and would glare fiercely back at any inquiring or sympathetic gazes. At this moment, they were gathered in the Presidium to discuss their work progress. Ling Jing slammed her fist on the table resentfully, “Have they never seen someone with an injured neck before! Every single one of them looks at Zhuang Chi as if she's on her last legs… Damn it, maybe I should wrap a bandage around my neck too. Then I'd have a legitimate reason to beat up anyone who dares to look at her like that.”
Zhuang Chi said things like, “Don't be like that,” with a wry smile, and An Chen sighed along with her. “You've already joined the Presidium. If you really start a fight, I don't know what the consequences will be… But it's true, the topic of ‘Zhuang Chi's gland’ has been really popular lately—or rather, rumors about Zhuang Chi have been circulating this whole time. After all, something as major as her kidnapping happened, so she's completely become a celebrity.”
“I heard it too. Someone was saying Zhuang Chi's gland was damaged and that she's the lowest D-class Alpha. I couldn't help but refute him, but I ended up scaring him away…” Olivia puffed out her cheeks, slightly angry, and muttered, “I wonder if he'll correct himself. How can people just spread rumors like that?”
“I knew it! As long as her grade isn't tested, people will definitely gossip!” Ling Jing was furious upon hearing this. “Did the doctor say when it'll recover enough to be tested? Oh, speaking of which, I heard you can forge test results on the black market. Why don't I go buy an A-class report for Zhuang Chi—”
“…While I'm very grateful for your concern, your ideas always sound so dangerous.”
Feeling her sincere, passionate concern and her unrestrained heart, Zhuang Chi could only stop Ling Jing from committing an illegal act first. Although these few had all heard the rumors, she herself hadn't noticed them, probably because people at least knew to gossip behind her back. Therefore, Zhuang Chi didn't think it was a very serious matter and said, “These rumors won't last forever. People will get tired of them after a while. It's fine to just ignore them.”
From Ling Jing's expression, it was clear she didn't think she could “just ignore them.” Just as Zhuang Chi was about to persuade her further, Ling Jing suddenly blurted out, “Then you should manage Gu Ximian first. I managed to hold myself back from confronting those people, but I saw Gu Ximian go and make trouble for them directly!”
“…”
Not expecting Ling Jing to drop this information about Gu Ximian, Zhuang Chi was stunned. She slowly turned her head to look at Gu Ximian, who had been silent all this time and seemed much more composed than the others who were filled with righteous indignation. As it turned out, this seemed to be unexpected for her as well. A trace of unease flickered in Gu Ximian's dark eyes, but her tone was calm. “…What did you see? Did you see wrong?”
…Zhuang Chi felt that her words implicitly carried the message “don't say any more,” but Ling Jing didn't sense it at all and immediately retorted, “How could I have seen wrong! It was definitely you! I saw it clearly! I even heard your voice!”
“Those people were discussing Zhuang Chi's grade, and then you suddenly stood up, walked over, and told them—” Ling Jing paused, then tried to adopt a cold tone as she imitated, “‘Are you that interested? Then I'll tell you. Zhuang Chi is a Z-class Alpha.’”
The few people present all looked bewildered. Even Zhuang Chi, whose knowledge of Alpha grades was the most superficial, knew there were only five grades: S, A, B, C, and D. She asked in confusion, “…What's Z?”
Beside her, Gu Ximian started to fidget, wanting to jump in and explain, but she was cut off by Ling Jing's voice. “Yeah, that's what those people asked at the time, too. I couldn't figure it out either and was wondering about it, when I heard Gu Ximian answer—”
She cleared her throat again and said with a cold face, “‘It's higher than S, and it's my favorite letter.’”
“…”
The few people present were all speechless. After her imitation, Ling Jing continued with her commentary. “After that, she threatened them not to spread any more rumors, saying if she heard them mention any grade for Zhuang Chi other than ‘Z-class,’ they'd better be careful, or something like that… I feel like it was pretty effective.”
Yes, at least in terms of rendering people speechless, it was exceptionally effective. Zhuang Chi felt her face slowly heat up. She carefully glanced at Gu Ximian and saw her leaning back in her chair with her head down. Perhaps sensing her gaze, she even subtly turned a little in the opposite direction.
“…What is it.” She wouldn't look up at her, but she was still willing to speak. Gu Ximian's muffled voice came through, “Can't I say that?”
Suddenly feeling her throat go a little dry, Zhuang Chi hastily turned her head back and squeezed out a sound. “…That's not what I meant, I… okay, thank you.”
In essence, it was just another way of defending her, right? Zhuang Chi tried hard to suppress her restless heart, telling herself not to overthink it—
“Okay, I get it. The matter of Zhuang Chi's grade being discussed needs to be taken seriously!”
Lou Che, who hadn't spoken a word from beginning to end, suddenly spoke up. His single sentence was earth-shattering, making Zhuang Chi tremble. Lou Che's expression was complicated. After rolling his eyes, he took a deep breath and said seriously, “Yes, I have an idea on how to end the trend of discussing Zhuang Chi's Alpha grade at school—and to stop the spread of things like ‘Zhuang Chi is my favorite Z-class Alpha.’”
…What a blunt description! Zhuang Chi was speechless, while Gu Ximian clearly stiffened for a moment and immediately looked up at him. It was unclear what her expression was, but in any case, Lou Che, who was being watched, shuddered and quickly got to the point. “…It just so happens to be related to our meeting's topic today. Let me explain.”
“Today was supposed to be a work exchange meeting. As you all know, the map production has been going very smoothly recently, so An Chen and I were thinking about how to present it to the students of St. Blaisedon in a way that would leave a deep impression. Just spreading it online feels a bit boring…”
“So we thought of something, and the timing is about right,” Lou Che paused for a second for dramatic effect before revealing the answer, “The Christmas Ball. We plan to give it a spot at St. Blaisedon's grandest event of the year.”
Ah, here it is, the Christmas Ball.
Zhuang Chi felt no surprise, only a sense of “so it's still happening” understanding. It was a standard feature of an aristocratic school, a grand costume ball, which of course had a place in her book. Moreover, she had written that St. Blaisedon's Christmas Ball had a theme every year as a basic requirement for costumes. If it followed her plot, this year's theme should be “Vampire”—honestly, thinking back on it now, it was extremely chuunibyou. It was hard to imagine any university choosing such a theme for a ball.
But in this reality, Zhuang Chi felt it wouldn't necessarily be the same as what she wrote. After all, when she wrote it, the theme was meant to fit the original plot. In the plot, this ball, aside from the Alphas' jealous squabbles, was also about Gu Ximian's revenge on the cannon fodder Alpha who tried to kidnap her. Because that person had a good family background, Gu Ximian knew there wasn't enough evidence to send him to prison, so she decided to deal with him personally. In the end, with Lou Che's help, she successfully lured that Alpha and, in an act of self-defense, personally slashed and severely injured his gland. When she reappeared, the blood on her alarmed others, but she managed to explain it away because of the ball's “Vampire” theme, and the matter was ultimately settled peacefully.
…But now, the premise of “Gu Ximian being kidnapped” was gone, the cannon fodder Alpha's role had been taken over by Lily, and the person who got captured had become Zhuang Chi. That entire plotline was simply impossible now.
It'll probably just be a normal ball, Zhuang Chi thought. In that case, it's best not to use that theme. I really don't want to dress up as a vampire…
“Wait a minute, what does any of this have to do with solving Zhuang Chi's problem?”
While she was lost in these thoughts, Ling Jing had already raised her hand with a question. Lou Che looked at her with an “I was waiting for you to ask” expression and responded, “There are two ways to eliminate rumors about someone. One is to present the irrefutable truth to everyone—but Zhuang Chi can't get her pheromone grade tested right now, so we can't do that. Therefore, we can only choose the second option, which is… to overshadow it with a new, more discussion-worthy topic related to that person.”
Ling Jing tried to understand, and after a moment's thought, she exclaimed, “You want Zhuang Chi and Gu Ximian to make their relationship official at the ball?!”
“Shut up, Ling Jing! Don't talk nonsense!”
Lou Che leaped over like an agile flying squirrel and clamped a hand over Ling Jing's mouth. While struggling to restrain her, he said loudly in frustration, “What I meant to say was, let's have Zhuang Chi do the opening for this year's Presidium Christmas Ball!”
“…”
Unsure how to react to the little skit unfolding before her, Zhuang Chi ultimately just asked about Lou Che's last sentence, “…By opening, you mean… being the first to appear? And then announcing the start of the ball?”
“Mhm.” Seeing Ling Jing raise her hands in surrender, Lou Che resentfully let her go and turned to Zhuang Chi. “It's a Presidium tradition. Every year, one person is chosen to dress up elaborately according to the theme as the most suitable character to announce the opening. They are the first to step onto the auditorium stage. It's a very eye-catching role—for example, last year's theme was ‘Alice,’ and An Chen was in charge of the opening. He dressed up as the rabbit with the pocket watch, and his first line was: ‘I'm late.’ People were talking about it until the end of the semester.”
Zhuang Chi looked at An Chen, who immediately turned his head away to avoid her gaze. After a moment of silence, he added, “I was dressed as an anthropomorphic White Rabbit. Lou Che dressed as the March Hare last year. He found a very scary rabbit mascot head to wear, and no one dared to talk to him for the entire ball.”
“That's so mean, I thought it was quite cute… Hey, let's not get off-topic,” Lou Che pulled the conversation back on track and said to Zhuang Chi, “So, will you do it this year?”
Zhuang Chi met his gaze for a moment, then turned to Gu Ximian first. “…Do you want to do it?”
In the novel, of course, Gu Ximian had been the one to play the opening role. Gu Ximian raised an eyebrow and refused flatly, “Not unless it's for two people.”
…Okay. Zhuang Chi turned back. Although she knew Lou Che meant well, the thought of the “Vampire” theme made her a little nervous. In any case, she first asked, “…Can I ask what this year's theme is first?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, it hasn't been decided yet.” Lou Che blinked as if waking from a dream and said decisively, “Why don't we decide it today? According to Presidium tradition, to avoid members' personal biases influencing the theme, it has to be decided by a completely random method.”
“We always have a member who isn't familiar with the library choose which bookshelf, which row, and which book to take. Then we derive a suitable ball theme from the book. It's fun, right?”
Putting other things aside, it really is random enough, Zhuang Chi thought, listening as An Chen continued, “Then let's have Zhuang Chi choose. When she went to the library before, I saw that she didn't seem very familiar with it.”
Not expecting that her encounter with An Chen in the library would lead to this, Zhuang Chi was actually quite worried she would really pick “Vampire.” Gu Ximian let out a light laugh and said, “Why the troubled look? If I'd known, I would have invited you to the library with me more often, wouldn't I?”
Sigh, alright, she'll choose then. After cautiously confirming, “So, we'll decide the theme first, and then I'll decide if I want to do the opening, right? What if the theme doesn't suit me at all?” and getting their agreement, Zhuang Chi casually gave some numbers according to Lou Che's instructions. The group trooped to the library, found the corresponding bookshelf, and took down the book with bated breath.
“Ah, we hit the jackpot.” Lou Che held the heavy book and showed the gilded words on the cover to everyone. “It's Greek mythology.”
Great, it's not vampires! Zhuang Chi let out a long sigh of relief, but then she saw Lou Che think for a moment and say, “But if the theme is ‘Greek Mythology,’ it seems a bit too broad. How about…”
As he spoke, he handed the book to Zhuang Chi and smiled. “Just flip to a random story. Let's make the theme more precise. Let's see if you pick Athena or Poseidon.”
Zhuang Chi took the book. Before opening it, her heart, for some reason, suddenly gave a heavy thump, causing her to pause briefly.
“What's wrong?”
Probably noticing her pause, Gu Ximian came to ask. The strange feeling in Zhuang Chi's heart receded in an instant. She could only suppress her confusion, shake her head, and smooth things over, “…I was just wondering, what kind of theme do you guys prefer?”
The others all said, “Anything is fine,” but only Gu Ximian fell silent, looking as if she wanted to say something but held back. Zhuang Chi looked at her and saw her head was slightly lowered, her eyelashes drooping, hiding the emotion in her eyes.
“…It's nothing,” Gu Ximian answered softly before she could ask. “As long as it's a theme that suits you, it'll be fine.”
Zhuang Chi didn't understand, but she didn't press further. Praying she wouldn't flip to anything strange, she opened the book to the middle in one go.
Several people crowded around to look, making sounds of either confusion or understanding. Lou Che excitedly took the book from Zhuang Chi's hands and nodded in approval.
“This is a very interesting theme,” he smiled. “It's Pygmalion, the king who deeply loved the statue he created and ultimately spent his life with her after she was brought to life by the grace of the gods.”
Post a Comment