Chapter 98
“…Seriously?”
Lu Man had seen the news on the forum. By the time she saw it, the post had already amassed hundreds of replies, an explosive level of popularity for the usually quiet St. Blaisedon school forum. She clicked in, read it, and stared dumbfounded at her clueless roommate. “…The forum is buzzing about you and Gu Ximian not dating. Did you know about this?”
Zhuang Chi was speechless for a moment, thinking to herself that St. Blaisedon students were truly only interested in gossip. She replied, “Although I don’t know what the discussion on the forum is like… it’s probably because of that interview with the Propaganda Department, right? I was asked about my relationship with Gu Ximian, and I just answered.”
“…” Lu Man quickly flipped to the interview and skimmed through it. She then looked at Zhuang Chi with trembling eyes. “…Let me confirm this, does Gu Ximian know that you two aren’t together yet?”
…What a strange way to ask. It sounded as if she was questioning the validity of Zhuang Chi’s answer. Zhuang Chi guessed the source of her doubt and had no choice but to repeat what she had told Ling Jing and An Chen to Lu Man. After listening, Lu Man fell silent for a long time before slowly speaking, “…And then? Gu Ximian told you ‘I’ll see how you perform from now on.’ What have you done since then?”
Zhuang Chi was stumped. She thought for a long while before answering sincerely, “I heard from Ling Jing before that I shouldn’t be hasty, so I’ve been patiently holding back, thinking of taking it slow.”
What a terrible idea from Ling Jing! Lu Man gasped and blurted out, “What are you holding back for! Your situation is completely different from what Ling Jing was talking about! What time is it now? You should have fired on all cylinders and gone for it. Like this interview—what’s wrong with the Propaganda Department this year! Why did they only ask one question! Don’t they know how to dig deeper into explosive news like Pygmalion kissing Galatea at the Christmas Ball!”
It was rare for someone as slow-tempered as her to deliver such a long speech. She was getting angry as she spoke, while Zhuang Chi, who hadn’t seemed to catch up with her pace, was blushing with embarrassment yet still answering her seriously, “I think An Chen told me he talked to the Propaganda Department people and said they wouldn’t ask questions that were too out of line. But I didn’t expect there to be only one. Maybe the Propaganda Department also felt it wasn’t good to ask too much about our private affairs?”
As if! The Propaganda Department of St. Blaisedon didn’t have such noble sentiments! Lu Man grew even angrier. An Chen! This must have been An Chen’s doing! He was secretly tripping Zhuang Chi up!
Strictly speaking, it couldn’t be considered tripping her up, but it was definitely an intentional obstruction to forming a good atmosphere between Zhuang Chi and Gu Ximian. Lu Man’s temples began to throb. Looking at Zhuang Chi’s innocent eyes, she felt that her roommate’s knowledge of romance was pitifully scarce, and the people around her were all incredibly unreliable—and her love interest was a stubborn one. Ai, Gu Ximian, ah, Gu Ximian, these past few days must have been tough for you, right?
This couldn’t go on. Lu Man grimly scrolled through the post with hundreds of replies. The responses were basically divided into three camps: the shocked (“Seriously? They’re not even together?”), the uninformed (“Didn’t they kiss? Was it an act? Do members of the Presidium have to make such a huge sacrifice? Or was the news about the kiss fake?”), and the eager (“Wow, then it looks like I still have a chance!”).
…Well, the first two types were one thing, but this last type…
“…Did you know, Zhuang Chi,” Lu Man said slowly, looking at her roommate who still showed no sign of nervousness, “I heard that every year after the Christmas Ball, the people who open the dance receive several confessions.”
Zhuang Chi clearly didn’t know this. She just laughed as if it were an exaggerated rumor. “Why is there such a rumor? It must be fake. I haven’t received anything.”
That’s because Gu Ximian kissed you.
But now that this interview was out, it was a different story. Musing on this internally, Lu Man heaved a long sigh. “When you go to class this afternoon… you’d better be mentally prepared.”
“Mentally prepared?” Zhuang Chi repeated blankly, confused. “What do you mean? Mentally prepared to see Gu Ximian?”
…Oh, right. The afternoon elective was the one she took with Gu Ximian.
Lu Man closed her eyes in anguish. “…Something like that.”
Lu Man tried her best to avoid the worst-case scenario, so she brought a clueless Zhuang Chi to the classroom early—before Gu Ximian arrived.
And the situation was pretty much as she had imagined: the students of St. Blaisedon were truly enthusiastic about this sort of thing.
Zhuang Chi had just sat down when she was swarmed. They were her classmates from the same major. They had become familiar with Zhuang Chi over the semester, and taking advantage of the fact that Gu Ximian, whom they usually didn’t dare to provoke, hadn’t arrived yet, they skillfully started probing the easy-going Zhuang Chi for gossip. “Zhuang Chi, Zhuang Chi, I saw in the Propaganda Department interview that you said you and Gu Ximian aren’t together yet. Is that true? They didn’t just make it up, did they?”
Caught off guard by this enthusiastic crowd, Zhuang Chi leaned back tightly against her chair, responding reservedly, “…For now, we’re not together yet…”
The people gathered around her immediately let out “oohs” of surprise. Zhuang Chi, not used to being surrounded like this, was about to ask what they wanted when she saw them nudge someone forward. It was a male Beta. He sat down uncomfortably in the seat in front of Zhuang Chi and started by explaining, “Let me be clear, I’m just running an errand for someone. It’s not me who wants to…”
The group burst into laughter, chattering, “Hurry up, don’t waste time.” Zhuang Chi was completely baffled, only feeling that they wanted something from her. She looked at the Beta, who uncomfortably took out his phone and showed it to her. “…I have an Omega friend, a girl, who’s wanted to get to know you ever since the Christmas Ball, but she’s shy, and… ahem, anyway, could you… add her on WeChat first?”
“…?!”
Zhuang Chi’s eyes widened. As she realized what this meant, her confusion turned to shock. She blinked, bewildered, and cast a pleading look at Lu Man beside her. But Lu Man was just rubbing her brow in frustration, slowly returning a look that said, “I told you so.” She seemed quite helpless—but then again, what could Lu Man do? They were all classmates; she couldn’t just shoo them away for Zhuang Chi…
…But even if they were classmates, she couldn’t give him her WeChat, could she…? Zhuang Chi thought. Getting to know each other… that sounded harmless enough, but…
“…I’m sorry,” Zhuang Chi asked weakly under the gazes of the group, deciding to ask directly about what she couldn’t figure out. “If by ‘getting to know each other,’ you mean your friend wants to pursue a further relationship with me, then—”
She shouldn’t have said anything. The moment she did, the onlookers started jeering ambiguously, not only interrupting her but also attracting the attention of other students who hadn’t been paying attention, who gradually gathered around her. Zhuang Chi thought, This is bad. The Beta, being watched by so many people, looked extremely embarrassed, his face turning red. He stammered, “Well… you have to chat first to know, right? Even if she has that intention, she wouldn’t just—”
“—Which intention?”
Just then, a faint voice came from the edge of the crowd. The voice wasn’t loud, but it startled Zhuang Chi. She whipped her head around to find the source, watching as the speaker, Gu Ximian, slowly walked to her desk. Her cold, exquisite face was calm, but when she placed her textbook on the desk, it made a heavy thud, startling both Zhuang Chi and the Beta.
“Why have you stopped talking?” Gu Ximian said, not looking at Zhuang Chi, but directly at the now-silent Beta. “Was it because I interrupted you just now? My apologies. Please continue. She wouldn’t just what?”
She didn’t say anything harsh, nor was her tone particularly vicious, but it was enough to make the Beta not dare to breathe, let alone say anything more. He stiffly stood up from his seat, waving his hands repeatedly. “N-nothing, I was saying… she doesn’t have that intention, she doesn’t.”
Gu Ximian watched him quietly for a moment before finally turning her gaze to Zhuang Chi. It was unclear who she was asking as she parted her thin lips. “So, are you still adding her on WeChat?”
Zhuang Chi and the Beta shook their heads vigorously in unison.
As the group fled, the people gathered around their seats tactfully dispersed. Zhuang Chi and Lu Man, in a state of high tension, stood up to make room for Gu Ximian. Gu Ximian sat down, crossed her arms, and leaned back in her seat without a word. Her downcast eyes seemed to hold slivers of ice, all but writing “I’m in a very bad mood” on her face.
No matter how dense Zhuang Chi was, she could roughly understand why Gu Ximian was in such a bad mood. She tentatively moved a little closer to Gu Ximian, only to freeze when Gu Ximian turned to glance at her. She said meekly, “…I’m sorry. If I had been faster and rejected him before you came, I wouldn’t have made you unhappy.”
Gu Ximian pressed her lips together, looking like she wanted to refute the “unhappy” part, but in the end, she didn’t. She just lowered her eyes again, her tone a bit awkward when she spoke. “It didn’t look to me like you wanted to refuse. Weren’t you two having a nice chat?”
That was very unfair. Zhuang Chi shook her head earnestly and explained, “I did want to refuse. It’s just that those people started jeering and interrupted me. I was originally going to say, ‘Then I can’t add you, because I already have someone I like.’”
“…” Gu Ximian’s breath hitched. She turned her head to the side. After a long moment, she replied softly, “…Is that so. I didn’t hear you say that.”
Zhuang Chi blinked, thinking Gu Ximian was still talking about her being too slow to speak. She glanced in the direction the group had gone. “But they’ve already left, and they’re sitting so far up front… Should I go talk to them after class?”
Forget Gu Ximian, even Lu Man, who had been pretending to mind her own business while eavesdropping for a while, felt a tightness in her chest. She felt that if she didn’t help, Gu Ximian would sooner or later be driven to internal injury by Zhuang Chi’s denseness.
She grumbled internally that, in a way, these two were a perfect match—it was as if Zhuang Chi had descended from the heavens specifically to be Gu Ximian’s bane. Having failed to avoid the disastrous outcome of Gu Ximian walking in on them, Lu Man decided to make another effort to help. She pulled over her textbook, not caring about keeping it neat, flipped to a blank space, and hastily scribbled a few words. Then she silently poked Zhuang Chi’s shoulder.
Gu Ximian remained silent for a long time, and Zhuang Chi was growing anxious. Just then, Lu Man poked her. She felt she should be paying attention to Gu Ximian, but Lu Man poked her again persistently. She had no choice but to turn around, only to see Lu Man shove the book in her face. On it, in bold, messy handwriting, were a few large words: SAY IT TO HER!!!
The three exclamation marks at the end were startling, but unfortunately, Zhuang Chi didn’t understand. She looked at Lu Man in confusion, about to ask, “What should I say to her?” when Lu Man quickly shushed her and furiously wrote something more direct: CONFESS TO HER!!!
This time, Zhuang Chi understood. She was so startled that a blush spread from her neck upwards. She blinked rapidly, her bewilderment vividly expressed without a word. Confessing in the classroom was a bit too difficult for Zhuang Chi—especially since the teacher had already come in. If it were just passing a note, that would be one thing, but a confession…
…Besides, why bring up confessing all of a sudden? Zhuang Chi was very confused. She looked at Lu Man, who was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, and wondered if Lu Man was worried Gu Ximian hadn’t understood what she’d said earlier. But Gu Ximian definitely knew that the “person I like” she mentioned was her… right?
But thinking about it, Gu Ximian’s behavior just now made it seem like she didn’t know. Zhuang Chi grew worried. She turned to look at Gu Ximian, who was still ignoring her, and leaned closer, whispering, “Gu Ximian, the ‘person I like’ I mentioned earlier is you.”
Perhaps she had leaned a little too close. The ear of Gu Ximian’s that was facing her instantly turned red. The blush was particularly obvious against the jade-like earlobe, but Zhuang Chi only caught a glimpse before Gu Ximian hastily covered it by brushing her hair over it.
“…Mm.” Gu Ximian’s reply was quite nonchalant, steady and calm. It sounded like she was just asking casually, “And then?”
But Zhuang Chi was already relieved. She smiled and said, “Nothing, I was just a little worried you didn’t know.”
The eavesdropping Lu Man closed her eyes in pain.
Honestly, she both sympathized with Gu Ximian and felt that Gu Ximian herself was half—or more than half—responsible for the situation getting to this point. Lu Man thought this as she secretly glanced at Gu Ximian. Sure enough, that beautiful face was filled with a complex mix of emotions. Lu Man didn’t dare say anything more. She just slumped back onto her desk, sincerely praying that Zhuang Chi would wise up soon… or that Gu Ximian would become more honest and be able to speak her mind without faltering, just like Zhuang Chi.
But Zhuang Chi was oblivious to Lu Man’s anxious thoughts. All she knew was that Gu Ximian seemed to be in a bad mood again, which made her extremely worried. The teacher had already started the lecture, but Zhuang Chi was in no mood to listen. She was trying hard to figure out what she had said wrong and what she should do, when Gu Ximian, who had been silent all this time, suddenly grabbed her hand.
“…Zhuang Chi, are you—”
Gu Ximian spoke in a low voice, her grip tightening slightly. Zhuang Chi leaned in with the pull. Gu Ximian was finally willing to look at her now. Her black and white eyes were as deep as the night, a mixture of many emotions. Her mind was clearly not at peace, making her seem at times annoyed, at times dejected, leaving Zhuang Chi unable to read her.
In the end, she didn’t finish her sentence. Gu Ximian just sighed softly and let go of her hand, then unceremoniously pinched her cheek hard, whispering, “…Still with that innocent look.”
Zhuang Chi yelped in pain and raised a hand to rub her cheek, a little unsure why she had been pinched. But Gu Ximian had no intention of explaining and jumped to the next topic on her own. “You still remember that you need treatment for your pheromone addiction, right?”
…She really had almost forgotten. After being a Light Ball for a month, Zhuang Chi had nearly pushed the matter of her gland out of her mind. Now that it was brought up, she nodded in realization. Gu Ximian gave her a deep look, guessing that she had forgotten, and snorted softly before turning her head away.
It wasn’t that she wanted to use this as an opportunity to do something, nor was she impatient. Gu Ximian thought. It was because the day had come. That was all.
“…The second treatment is today,” she said softly. “After class, come home with me.”
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