After Saving My Possessive Best Friend, I Couldn't Escape (GL) - Chapter 30

The two words, “Xiaole,” were that person’s exclusive name for her.

Every time Ye Yu uttered them, the corners of her mouth would curve up, her tongue lightly tapping her palate, the final syllable soft and gentle, like she was singing a light-hearted ballad. In the fractions of a second that Ye Yu called out, Fang Zhile suddenly felt transported back to the past.

In that instant, the person in front of her almost perfectly overlapped with the Ye Yu in her memory.

Except for the true Ye Yu, no one would call her that. Even the demeanor and tone were so similar.

But the Ye Yu in the book did not have the memories from before transmigration, a fact Fang Zhile had confirmed countless times. So, in this very moment, was the person in front of her truly her best friend, Ye Yu?

“Ye Yu,” Fang Zhile remained still. After Ye Yu finished the kiss, she gently pulled back, face-to-face with Fang Zhile, their breaths mingling, almost intimate. “Are you awake?”

Ye Yu gave no response. Her eyes were open, but she was trapped in a fractured stream of consciousness. She didn’t know what she had just done, and she had lost her sense of self-awareness.

She only suddenly felt incredibly thirsty.

So thirsty that her heart was scorching and her lungs felt on fire, needing to consume something to find a little relief. So she painfully opened her mouth, her fingers unconsciously clenching and unclenching, and a small, whimpering sound escaped her throat, like a distressed animal.

“Don’t be afraid,” Fang Zhile’s voice seemed to come from beyond the heavens. “Don’t be in pain.” Fang Zhile patted her back, soothing her softly.

Fang Zhile did not question why Ye Yu had suddenly kissed her; she just assumed Ye Yu recognized her, and she felt both heartbroken and helpless.

The voice soothing her to sleep was like an antidote, strangely extinguishing the inner heat and curing her ailment instantly. Ye Yu felt herself sinking into a deep sleep again.

At six in the evening, the clamor of students leaving school sounded outside the dormitory. Ye Yu slowly woke up.

“What time is it?” She opened her eyes and saw Fang Zhile hunched over her desk, writing homework.

Fang Zhile turned her head, but didn’t walk over, looking at her with an unreadable gaze. Ye Yu tilted her head in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Fang Zhile stared at her for several seconds. There was no longer any trace of the familiar look in Ye Yu’s eyes. Fang Zhile lowered her gaze and said calmly, “Nothing.” She checked the time and brought over a cup of water. “It’s just six. The ginger soup has cooled; I’ll go borrow the dorm mother’s microwave to heat it up. Drink some warm water first.”

Ye Yu, not understanding, propped herself up and sat. She took the warm water.

A memory of Fang Zhile feeding her water flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t remember it clearly.

Ye Yu held the cup blankly, taking intermittent sips, her eyes unconsciously fixed on the door, her ears perked up, listening for Fang Zhile’s footsteps drawing near.

“Did you take care of me at noon?” Ye Yu asked. “I passed out from the pain and can’t remember clearly. Thank you.”

Having confirmed that Ye Yu didn’t remember what happened, Fang Zhile shook her head and slowly instructed, “It’s what I should do. Your condition is premenstrual syndrome. You need to watch your diet and avoid getting cold before your period. You got rained on the day before yesterday, so you have cold in your body. When your period started, your stomach and intestines reacted to the cold stimulation.”

As Fang Zhile spoke, she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote: “These are things to note. Keep them in mind, or you’ll feel terrible every time.”

“What you said makes so much sense,” Ye Yu listened for a while, blinking. “But how do you know all this?”

Fang Zhile’s expression didn’t change, and she deflected with an explanation about their shared gender. “I’m a girl too.”

“Besides,” Fang Zhile lifted the glass on Ye Yu’s desk, placed the note beneath it, and took the opportunity to change the subject and reinforce her point, “Your symptoms were very obvious: clutching your stomach, hunching over, pale face, and cold hands and feet. You absolutely must pay attention to what I said.”

Ye Yu murmured “Oh,” defeated by Fang Zhile’s logical argument.

“Would you like something to eat?” Fang Zhile asked. “The cafeteria still has food. Should I get you some millet porridge?” Ye Yu thought for a moment and said, “Yes.”

Not long after Fang Zhile left, Zhou Meize pushed the door open.

She looked like she had just returned from off-campus, carrying several boxes of beautifully packaged food, which she placed on Ye Yu’s desk.

“I’m much better,” Ye Yu thanked her. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

Zhou Meize glanced at the untouched painkillers and said disapprovingly, “Next time you feel that bad, go straight to the hospital. Don’t just bear it.”

Ye Yu nodded, feeling the scene of the two of them sitting opposite each other was unusually awkward. “I know.”

Seeing that Ye Yu was fine, Zhou Meize sat for a while and then left; she had a party that evening.

When Fang Zhile returned, she saw Ye Yu staring worriedly at the food on her desk.

“Zhou Meize brought this for you, right?” Fang Zhile said as she set down the millet porridge. “She came to see you?”

Ye Yu felt a sudden, inexplicable guilt, and looked at Fang Zhile nervously. “Ah.”

“Ah what?” Fang Zhile smiled, lifted the lid of a food container to peek, then closed it. She said naturally, “It’s all seafood and meat. You can’t eat that right now; it’ll cause indigestion.”

Fang Zhile matter-of-factly confiscated the food Zhou Meize had brought, which made Ye Yu sigh in relief. She immediately gave a sweet smile and acted adorable. “Then you eat it.”

Fang Zhile accepted cheerfully. “You drink the millet porridge, and I’ll eat the yummy food.”

“Oh, right,” Ye Yu took a sip of porridge and suddenly remembered something. “Why didn’t you go to work at the milk tea shop?” She remembered Fang Zhile had to work in the evenings and on weekends.

Fang Zhile shook her head. “I asked the boss for a day off today. It happens to be some anniversary she’s celebrating with her wife.”

“Wedding anniversary?” Ye Yu asked casually.

“No,” Fang Zhile thought for a moment. “I think it’s their ‘first movie date’ anniversary.”

Ye Yu was stunned for a second. “Then their way of celebrating the anniversary won’t be to watch a movie again, right?”

“That wouldn’t be the case.” Fang Zhile’s tone of denial wasn’t firm. She took out her phone to check her Moments to confirm the answer. Six seconds later, Fang Zhile let out a “tsk” and showed Ye Yu Wei Youqing’s latest post, which featured movie stubs. “You guessed it.”

Ye Yu looked, then looked again, lowered her head, and her shoulders shook.

“Sigh,” Fang Zhile swallowed a piece of sea cucumber carved into a radish flower and sighed. “Just laugh if you want to.”

Ye Yu tried to hold it in, stubbornly refusing to laugh out loud. Glancing sideways, she asked Fang Zhile curiously, “What are you commenting?”

Fang Zhile’s fingers flew, angrily tapping the phone screen, not looking up. “There’s a photo of the end-credits scene in the Moments post. That’s a screen shot taken in the theater, which is illegal. I’m going to expose their illegal behavior.”

“She’s your boss,” Ye Yu murmured. “Also, I suggest you double-check if that photo of the end-credits scene is a network screenshot or if she took it herself.”

Ye Yu’s point was valid. Fang Zhile quickly restrained her immature and irrational rebellious act and waved her phone dismissively. “Forget it.”

The two chatted intermittently while they finished their meal.

Fang Zhile told Ye Yu to lie down and rest, then, to Ye Yu’s wide-eyed shock, pulled out a daunting stack of comprehensive science test papers.

Ye Yu instinctively shrank back onto the bed, hugging her knees. “My homework is calligraphy, not test papers.”

“Writing homework today?” Fang Zhile disapproved. “If you’re uncomfortable, just lie down. Why write homework?”

Ye Yu breathed a sigh of relief, cautiously glancing at Fang Zhile’s expression. “I thought you good students liked to drag others into writing homework.”

“I don’t. It’s useless,” Fang Zhile spoke the truth, a kind of compromise after years of internal struggle, stating plainly, “You really don’t like writing it.”

From kindergarten to college graduation, in over twenty years, Ye Yu had never voluntarily studied.

Ye Yu murmured “Oh,” propped herself on the rail of the lower bunk, and asked her, “Hey, I noticed something.”

Fang Zhile waited for her to continue.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’ve known you before,” Ye Yu said, a little embarrassed. “I’m not trying to be familiar; I really mean it.”

Fang Zhile’s pen tip paused on a physics variable.

The ink bled over a piece of data, making the entire problem unsolvable.

“Since you brought it up, I can teach you two idioms,” Fang Zhile casually skipped the problem and continued flipping through the papers. “‘White-haired strangers, old friends at first sight’.”

“It means some people grow old together but remain as distant as strangers, while others, though they’ve only just met, feel as familiar as old acquaintances.”

Ye Yu’s literary background wasn’t bad; she would have known the meaning even without Fang Zhile’s explanation.

But Fang Zhile’s profile as she wrote under the lamp, accompanied by her gentle, soft tone, made Ye Yu very willing to listen to her speak more.

“It’s true,” Ye Yu lowered her head to watch her write, her long hair lightly brushing Fang Zhile’s hand. A few strands fell across the back of Fang Zhile’s hand. “We’ve only known each other for less than a month.”

The back of Fang Zhile’s hand tingled slightly. With a slight movement, those few strands of hair slipped into the spaces between her fingers, their playful manner very much like their owner.

“Oh my,” Ye Yu’s tone suddenly turned disdainful. She widened her eyes, looking at Fang Zhile’s handwriting. “Your handwriting is so ugly.”

Fang Zhile: …

So blunt, so impossible to refute.

Fang Zhile’s pen tip moved smoothly, not pausing at all because of Ye Yu’s words, as if she had heard this countless times before.

Just as Ye Yu had disliked studying for twenty years, Fang Zhile had struggled with bad handwriting for twenty years.

This scene of “your handwriting is ugly” occurred as frequently as Ye Yu saw it, and Fang Zhile almost felt nostalgic for it.

“I won’t lose presentation points anyway,” Fang Zhile calmly explained, trying to save face. “My handwriting has a mind of its own. As long as it can be understood, I don’t demand anything else.”

The few strands of hair on her hand resolutely retreated. Ye Yu majored in calligraphy and disagreed with Fang Zhile’s “won’t lose presentation points.” “You’re only talking about math scores, right…”

Fang Zhile: …

After thinking for a moment, Ye Yu leaned over again. Her bed headboard was right next to the desk, so when she looked up and Fang Zhile looked down, their eyes met.

“I have a proposal,” Ye Yu said secretively. “How about this: I teach you calligraphy—not brush calligraphy, just regular penmanship—to help you practice your handwriting, and then you teach me to write homework? What do you think?”

This was a strange proposal. Fang Zhile laughed. “Aren’t your scores already high enough?”

“I’m also thinking of improving myself,” Ye Yu felt a little put out. “Besides, who would complain about having higher scores?”

Fang Zhile restrained the urge to reach out and pat her head. “Alright, I’ll teach you.”

She had long guessed Fang Zhile wouldn’t refuse, but the feeling of having her request immediately met still made Ye Yu’s heart swell with joy.

“I’m done,” Fang Zhile put down her pen after a while and checked the time. “It’s a quarter to nine. If there’s nothing else, I’m heading back to my dorm.”

Ye Yu had been in a cheerful mood all evening, and hearing this made her inexplicably unhappy. It was like a child who hadn’t finished playing being pulled home by an adult.

“Um,” Ye Yu looked left and right. “I still feel a little uncomfortable.”

Fang Zhile immediately looked over. “Where are you uncomfortable? Is it serious?”

Ye Yu stammered, “It’s alright, but I’m worried I’ll suddenly feel bad tonight. How about you stay here? I’m a little scared by myself.”

Fang Zhile considered it and nodded. “Okay, then I’ll continue working on my test papers, and you go to sleep.”

Ye Yu’s eyes widened. “You’re not sleeping?”

“I’m going to pull an all-nighter,” Fang Zhile said. “I have a lot of course work I need to catch up on.”

Ye Yu sat up and asserted herself, “No, all-nighters are bad for your health.”

Ye Yu put on her shoes, got out of bed, and pulled a new set of bedding from the closet.

“You sleep in the opposite bunk.”

The two dance students who shared the dorm with her had been away for over half a year for training and had taken their bedding with them to prevent dust.

Now, the opposite bunk was just a bare wooden frame.

The mattress, quilt, and pillow Fang Zhile had used last time were still in the cabinet, ready to be used.

Ye Yu’s movements getting out of bed were swift and neat, showing no signs of discomfort. Fang Zhile instantly saw through her intentions and was utterly helpless.

Fang Zhile sighed with a look of resignation. “Pulling an all-nighter to do homework and taking care of a sick classmate is an act of mutual aid and love of learning. But sleeping in someone else’s bunk when you have your own dorm to return to is dorm-hopping, which is a different matter.”

Ye Yu clapped her hands, having finished tidying up, and said without turning back, “Don’t worry about it. The dorm mother won’t check my dorm.”

Then Ye Yu pouted, remembering the day Fang Zhile was locked out of her door, left alone in the hallway, looking utterly miserable.

“The dorm mother doesn’t want to deal with us anyway. The girls upstairs are all rich kids. Haven’t you noticed the dorm mother never comes up to this floor?”

The dorm mother doesn’t care. The girls upstairs are all rich kids.

So, does that mean that even if something happened, or there was a noise, the dorm mother wouldn’t come up to check? Something suddenly flashed through Fang Zhile’s mind.

“Okay,” Fang Zhile ran her hand through her hair. “Then I’ll go back to my dorm and grab a change of clothes.”

Back in her own dorm, the three girls were gone, likely at a party.

This had happened before—the three rich girls would stay out all night without any reprimand from the dorm mother.

In fact, the dorm mother would even get up in the middle of the night to open the door for them.

Fang Zhile reflected on the past half-month, feeling increasingly that something was wrong.

After a moment, she locked the door. Fang Zhile’s gaze swept over the dorm’s various furnishings, inch by inch. Then, without touching any of their belongings, she opened her own drawers and cabinets, going through her own things one by one.

Finally, in a bag of old clothes, she found a pair of pants stained with grease. She sniffed them; there was a fishy smell that wouldn’t wash out.

Fishy smell. Seafood.

Ye Yu didn’t like seafood, but Zhou Meize did. So Ye Yu had never voiced her preference. She just wouldn’t eat what she didn’t like; there was always more than one dish on their dining table.

This suggested that the bullying directed at Fang Zhile, besides the hidden camera on her bed and being pushed on the stairs, also involved physical confrontations like shoving and verbal abuse.

Throwing leftovers at her desk, or even dumping them on her?

Fang Zhile returned with the change of clothes. Ye Yu was standing behind the door, apparently waiting for her.

“Why did you get out of bed?” Fang Zhile closed the door. “I wasn’t not coming back. Hurry up and get back in bed.”

Ye Yu stared at her, sizing her up, and only muttered “Mhm” after a long pause.

By the time they finished washing up, it was already past lights-out.

Fang Zhile tidied up her homework and lay down.

In the darkness, their breathing was even and slow.

Fang Zhile had something on her mind and couldn’t fall asleep immediately. She quietly spoke up, “Ye Yu, are you asleep? I want to ask you something.”

Ye Yu had slept too much in the afternoon and was a little restless now. “No, I’m awake. Go on.”

“Did you ever notice ‘me’ before?” Fang Zhile asked. “I mean, our classrooms are across the hall from each other. During breaks, before and after school, did you have any impression of me?”

Ye Yu thought for a long time. “No.”

“My first impression of you was in the water room,” Ye Yu recalled. “And if you hadn’t fallen in front of me and asked me to lead you back to the dorm, I wouldn’t remember you.”

Fang Zhile thought she was too marginalized, but then Ye Yu added, “It’s my problem.”

“I find it hard to remember people,” Ye Yu said slowly, a hint of melancholy in her tone. “It’s not face blindness, nor is it the arrogance and superiority they talk about. I just can’t remember. It’s like the hard drive in my brain refuses to record information about these people. I don’t know why.”

Fang Zhile was silent for a long time before humming a quiet “Mhm.”

Ye Yu was probably affected by the book’s setting, making it difficult for her to remember people who weren’t involved in the main plot.

However, Ye Yu remembered her.

Her attitude towards her was completely different from her attitude toward others.

This meant her intervention had affected the whole book, and at the very least, Ye Yu wasn’t indifferent to her.

Fang Zhile carefully chose her words, asking casually, “Those people who talk behind your back, Li Zi, Sun Li, and Liu Mei—do you remember them? Do you know who they are?”

Ye Yu’s tone was unchanged, showing neither obvious disgust nor enthusiasm. “My impression of Li Zi and Liu Mei is very faint. I can only say I remember the names. I remember Sun Li quite clearly, but I’ve never interacted with any of the three. They represent the Li, Liu, and Sun families, respectively, and are subordinates of the Zhou family, relying on them for their standing. That’s why they’ve been cozying up to Zhou Meize since they were little.”

“Don’t they know your relationship with Zhou Meize? Don’t they know about the engagement between the Ye and Zhou families?” Fang Zhile was puzzled. “Given their attitude towards you, the Ye family isn’t inferior to the Zhou family. Aren’t they afraid of you getting back at them for talking behind your back?”

Ye Yu chuckled. “Our engagement is only known within our two families for now. As for whether they’re afraid of the Ye family… the Zhou family is wealthy, and the Ye family is distinguished.

When they were young, they considered me to be like their own families and wanted to attach themselves to the Zhou family, so they were hostile to me everywhere.

Later, as they grew up and became somewhat sensible, we stopped talking much when we met, and I couldn’t be bothered to look for trouble with them.”

“Hostile everywhere,” Fang Zhile murmured. “What kind of behavior was that?”

Sensing that Fang Zhile seemed to be bothered by this question, Ye Yu frowned.

In the darkness, she turned her head, looking across the open space in the middle of the dorm at the person in the opposite bunk.

But she didn’t stop talking. “Throwing away my homework, splashing water on me—mostly childish tricks.”

Childish tricks wouldn’t cause substantial physical harm. And what was subtly hinted at in the book was definitely not this kind of casually described “trick.”

After speaking, both fell silent.

A few minutes later, Ye Yu couldn’t help but say, “Fang Zhile, are you asking these questions because they bullied you again?”

Ye Yu remembered that day when Fang Zhile said they tore up her textbook and broke her stool.

These were tricks Ye Yu was all too familiar with—all things those three had done to her before.

However, back then, someone stood up for Ye Yu, but now, the dorm mother wouldn’t even care about Fang Zhile.

A few seconds later, Fang Zhile’s relaxed voice came from the opposite bunk. “Of course not. I haven’t seen them for days.”

“Tell me honestly,” Ye Yu didn’t believe her. “What did they do to you before?”

Fang Zhile laughed. “Didn’t you see it? I went to your class and even called Zhou Meize out.”

“You even stood up for me then,” Fang Zhile said softly.

Ye Yu was suspicious. “Only that time?”

“That’s the only time I can remember,” Fang Zhile thought to herself that she wasn’t lying; she genuinely couldn’t remember anything else. “I’m not deceiving you.”

The person opposite fell silent, likely pondering the truth of Fang Zhile’s words. After a long while, so long that Fang Zhile thought she had fallen asleep, a complaining request came from the opposite side.

“Then you’re not allowed to lie to me.”

It wasn’t that Ye Yu was overly sensitive; anyone in her position would feel it was their fault.

Targeted by Li Zi and the other two because she got close to Ye Yu; becoming a target because she stood up for Ye Yu on the sports field; likely facing retaliation for arguing with Zhou Meize face-to-face over the unfair treatment.

Ye Yu’s heart felt blocked by a piece of waterlogged cotton, making her feel stuffy, short of breath, and extremely uncomfortable.

Fang Zhile’s laughter came through, carrying her uniquely playful tone. “Okay.”

As the sound rang out, Ye Yu seemed to picture Fang Zhile’s adorable smiling face. Sleepiness surged over her just like that. Her heart slowly settled, and she slept dreamlessly through the night.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, in stark contrast to the strict and orderly high school campus, there were many places that appeared respectable during the day but turned into frenzied dens of debauchery at night.

Loud music, twisting crowds, a mix of various perfumes, alcohol, and smoke. Crossing through the polluted air, a few people were having a blast in a private room at the end of the hallway.

The center of the crowd was a luxurious leather sofa, where a brightly dressed girl with an intense beauty but a weary face sat.

“Sister Meize,” Sun Yangyang sat on her left, busy serving her tea and water all evening. “Are you tired? Should I massage your shoulders for you?”

Zhou Meize lifted a hand, her expression tired. “Your strength isn’t enough. Let’s go to a massage parlor later and try a Thai massage.”

A few people were sitting on the side sofa. One of them laughed upon hearing this. “Let her try. Her mom is a masseuse; she’s probably learned a thing or two.”

Zhou Meize raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Is that so?”

Sun Yangyang lowered her head and replied obediently, “Mhm.”

The person spoke again, “Well, hurry up and go.”

Zhou Meize pointed at the speaker across the room, smiling and scolding, “Sun Li, you’re the only one who bosses people around.”

Sun Li laughed, leaning back on the sofa, her tone casual and attitude uncaring. “I’m just speaking the truth. She’s not good at anything else, but she’s decent at serving people.”

Sun Yangyang got up and went behind Zhou Meize. Her soft, boneless hands rested on Zhou Meize’s temples, gently massaging them.

Zhou Meize closed her eyes, her entire head relaxing. She inhaled deeply and sighed contentedly, “What perfume are you wearing?”

“A calming incense,” Sun Yangyang said. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Zhou Meize, eyes closed, held Sun Yangyang’s hand and patted it lightly. “That’s thoughtful of you.”

Sun Li stood up with a drink in her hand and walked over to Zhou Meize. “I’m the oldest here, so I’ll speak first.”

Zhou Meize opened her eyes and laughed at the sight. “Putting on such a show, what are you trying to do?”

Sun Li raised her glass. “I’m apologizing for my sister. She’s young. If she’s done anything ignorant, I apologize on her behalf.”

Zhou Meize held her hand as they clinked glasses and sighed, “Why be so formal? She didn’t offend me.”

“But you’ve been indifferent to her for the past few days,” Sun Li chuckled. “I thought she’d messed something up.”

“You’re overthinking it,” Zhou Meize gestured to the sofa. “Go sit back down.”

“It’s mainly that I was in a bad mood after dinner at home this weekend. I couldn’t be bothered to find anyone to hang out with for the past few days.” Zhou Meize frowned. “I just feel suffocated.”

Sun Li gave Sun Yangyang a look. Sun Yangyang immediately continued massaging.

Her fingertips moved from Zhou Meize’s temples to her shoulders, and in a few movements, she had Zhou Meize comfortably lying back on the sofa.

“It’s still early,” Sun Li said. “It’s just past eleven. If you’re tired, sleep for a while. That place doesn’t open until after one.”

Zhou Meize naturally knew what she was referring to. Before high school, they mostly hung out in KTVs, ate dinner, or went to parties.

After starting high school, they began to frequent bars. Sun Li’s family had extensive connections and owned several clubs.

The place she mentioned was one of their dance floors, where beautiful women would dance after one o’clock.

“Fine,” Zhou Meize rubbed her temples. “Call me at twelve.”

After Zhou Meize fell asleep, Sun Li called the other two girls to wait outside. As soon as the three stepped out, Li Zi stopped Sun Li and lowered her voice. “You’re just letting Sun Yangyang stay in the room with her?”

Liu Mei was also worried. “You’re also taking Meize to that kind of place.”

“What kind of place is that?” Sun Li raised an eyebrow and warned quietly, “Let me be clear, Zhou Meize wanted to go herself. Her family is strict, and I finally found an opportunity to bring her. Keep your mouths shut. If you let any information slip, you’ll be grounded by your families.”

Li Zi looked conflicted. “Fine, although I still have a bad feeling about this. You want to build connections, fine, but you don’t need to bring her to this kind of place. The Zhou family is not to be trifled with.”

Sun Li sneered, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just wait and see. After this, we’ll all be in the same boat.”

Liu Mei stared at the closed door and suddenly said, “The three of us should go in.”

Sun Li stopped her. “Not so fast. Wait ten more minutes.”

“Haven’t you always looked down on Sun Yangyang?” Li Zi didn’t understand. “Why are you elevating her?”

Sun Li said indifferently, “What is she? Her mother was just a climbing masseuse, and the daughter she bore isn’t any good either. But… she’s useful to me right now. I told you to wait a few minutes, so wait a few minutes. I’m not going to do anything to Meize.”

Seeing her firm attitude, Li Zi and Liu Mei exchanged a look and reluctantly said, “Fine.”

Not long after, the door opened from the inside. Sun Yangyang walked out with her head down. “I’m leaving first.”

Sun Li asked calmly, “Did you get the thing?”

“Mhm,” Sun Yangyang clutched her backpack strap, her other hand tightly clenched in her pocket. “I got it.”

“Go,” Sun Li said meaningfully. “Be quick about it.”

It wasn’t until Sun Yangyang had walked far away that she unclenched her hand. A key to a dorm room had left a vivid red imprint on her palm.

The next day, at the milk tea shop.

“Isn’t this considered cutting class?” Wei Youqing was sprawled on a rocking chair, asking the person grinding tea powder. “Even if the last period is P.E.”

Fang Zhile said, “No, this is my precious use of fragmented time.”

Wei Youqing narrowed her eyes. “Hey, you’ve over-ground it. The tea shouldn’t be too fine.”

“I’m drinking it myself,” Fang Zhile’s hand didn’t stop. “I’ve been low on energy lately, so I need to drink more tea.”

Before Wei Youqing could launch into a lengthy teasing about “low energy,” a few people walked into the milk tea shop, the opening of the curtain triggering the wind chime above. Hearing footsteps, Fang Zhile instinctively put on her signature waitress smile and looked up.

“Fang Zhile, why are you here?”

The target of the smile clearly wasn’t appreciative. Zhou Meize, her face showing the exhaustion of an all-nighter, instinctively frowned the moment she saw Fang Zhile.

The curve of Fang Zhile’s eyes and brows didn’t change. She maintained a professional demeanor, saying gently, “Welcome.”

Li Zi laughed, folded her arms, and walked up to the counter, her tone mocking. “I wondered why you’ve been so bold lately. Turns out you’re working to earn money.”

Fang Zhile didn’t respond to their comments about her “boldness” and “working.” She said with neither humility nor arrogance, “You can scan the QR code to order on the mini-program. There’s a discount on Tuesdays.”

“Oh, we’re all classmates,” Sun Li stepped right over the counter and draped her arm over Fang Zhile’s shoulder, acting like they were best friends. “Shouldn’t this be free for us?”

Fang Zhile let her arm rest there.

She had seen too many girls like this. If Fang Zhile’s guess was correct, the victim of their bullying would be suffering internally, feeling immense fear from being watched, approached, touched, or even hearing the voices of her abusers.

The smug and triumphant look of Sun Li and Li Zi, reflected in Fang Zhile’s eyes, held no deterrent power, only profound disgust. Playing mind games with her? Still too green.

Fang Zhile’s expression remained completely unchanged. Dressed in her uniform behind the counter, she looked like a professional employee, neither responding to their teasing nor showing anger or embarrassment. This attitude, in turn, made Sun Li, whose arm was on her shoulder, lose face.

Zhou Meize waved her hand. She was too tired to wait for them to dilly-dally. She broke the tense atmosphere, telling Fang Zhile briefly, “A cup of coffee, double-shot espresso.”

“I’m sorry,” Fang Zhile said. “We only have instant coffee, not hand-ground. I recommend our signature milk tea, or the fruit tea is also good.”

Upon hearing it was instant coffee, Zhou Meize immediately looked disgusted. “Fine, just a random cup of milk tea, sugar-free.”

Li Zi and the other two ordered the same as Zhou Meize.

While waiting for the milk tea, Wei Youqing slowly drifted over behind Fang Zhile, saying pointedly, “See that? She’s the one who’s truly ‘low on energy’.”

Fang Zhile smiled but didn’t speak. Zhou Meize looked like she had been hollowed out by a hangover, capable of playing the role of a late-stage cancer patient leaving the hospital.

Fang Zhile wasn’t blind; she just couldn’t be bothered to deal with her.

Wei Youqing suddenly asked, “When did the shop start stocking instant coffee?”

Fang Zhile pointed to her backpack. “I bought it. I picked it up at the convenience store this morning.”

“Since you bought it,” Wei Youqing examined her carefully, pressing for details. “Why did you say it was the shop’s?”

Fang Zhile’s hand movements slowed. Wei Youqing continued to ask, her tone winding and carefully probing. “Are you… afraid of them?”

As if hearing something funny, Fang Zhile lowered her head to hide her smile. After the mockery in her eyes faded a little, she whispered, “Do you believe me if I say they would cause a scene if I said we had no coffee?”

Fang Zhile’s speaking speed was very slow and deliberate, carrying an inexplicable power of conviction. “But if I said we only had instant coffee, they definitely wouldn’t order it.”

Wei Youqing frowned, thought for a few seconds, and firmly supported her. “Human nature is cheap. You’re right.”

The milk tea was quickly prepared. Led by a weary Zhou Meize, the group took their drinks and left without causing any further trouble.

After a while, Fang Zhile shouted loudly, “Boss, wake up!”

Wei Youqing was startled, her gaze still fixed on the place where the group had left. “Why are you shouting!”

“What are you spacing out for?” Fang Zhile complained. “Let me tell you first, those girls are indeed good-looking, but they’re rotten on the inside, if you know what I mean.”

“Are they good-looking?” Wei Youqing looked confused.

Fang Zhile glanced at the carrot-shaped lens of the camera and said helplessly, “The boss’s wife is at work now. You don’t need to pretend.”

Wei Youqing followed her gaze to the carrot and understood what Fang Zhile was laughing at. She suddenly straightened her face, beckoned seriously. “Come here. I need to ask you something.”

Seeing that she wasn’t joking, Fang Zhile composed herself and moved closer. Wei Youqing hesitated for a few seconds, carefully considering her words. “I’m not lying to you, I honestly didn’t notice if they were good-looking… Do you know them?”

“Yes,” Fang Zhile said. “They go to my school. Those three are my classmates and… roommates.”

Wei Youqing frowned again, seemingly falling into a recollection and doubt. “What is it?” Fang Zhile joked. “Don’t tell me you know them too?”

Surprisingly, Wei Youqing didn’t refute the joke but fell deep into thought. After a long pause, Wei Youqing said vaguely, “My memory has always been pretty good. Listen to me, stay away from them.”

Wei Youqing didn’t give a reason. Fang Zhile inexplicably felt she must know something and pressed her. “Why?”

“No reason,” Wei Youqing was about to say not to ask so many questions, but upon meeting Fang Zhile’s suspicious gaze, she couldn’t maintain her composure and dodged. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

Wei Youqing said, “A while ago, maybe half a year, it was late spring, and it was particularly cold at night. The heating had been turned off. I closed the shop early and was walking home. I passed the alley behind your school and heard someone crying.”

Hearing this, Fang Zhile had a guess.

“When I went over,” Wei Youqing’s expression was grim, a little hesitant to speak. “I only saw their profiles and backs. They must have heard my footsteps and shoved a little girl away. That girl was only wearing a single shirt, barefoot, crying as she walked.”

“They were the three girls who just came in and mocked you.”

Fang Zhile was silent for a moment, then complained, “And you just let them walk away?”

“No, I didn’t,” Wei Youqing scratched her nose, looking awkwardly at the sky and the ground. “I called the police.”

Fang Zhile turned her head, rolling her eyes where Wei Youqing couldn’t see.

Wei Youqing patted Fang Zhile’s shoulder, advising earnestly, “Listen to your big sister, stay away from them.”

Fang Zhile wanted to ask: Do I look close to them?

“Look at them,” Wei Youqing pulled up the in-store security footage, took a screenshot of their faces, and sent it to someone. She spoke in a world-weary tone, “They probably came from some shady place. Look at the time. They must have skipped class all day. Oh, you’re in the same class. Did they not go to school today?”

“I didn’t notice,” Fang Zhile spoke the truth. She was busy catching up on test papers and making soup for Ye Yu. Ye Yu hadn’t eaten much yesterday, and when she saw her crawl out of bed this morning, she felt her face had gotten a size smaller, which broke her heart. “Who cares where they go? They can go wherever they want.”

Wei Youqing gave her a thumbs up. “Exactly. The best attitude is to ignore them.”

Fang Zhile sometimes thought Wei Youqing was a well-nurtured rich girl, completely sheltered from the world, always doing what she liked.

She studied her preferred major in college, and when she couldn’t find a job, her family gave her money to open a milk tea shop.

Even with only one employee, her hours were flexible, and though she only barely broke even without making much profit, she lived a very comfortable life.

But sometimes, she thought Wei Youqing was quite mature.

For instance, when she calmly told her to stay away from them.

It was exactly like many bystanders.

Fang Zhile frowned fiercely. Fine, very few people intervene when they see bullying. At least Wei Youqing called the police.

“Oh… right, where’s the gadget?”

“Sister Zhishu said she’ll send a software compressed file first. It can monitor wireless cameras, and it can also shield external signals to protect phone privacy,” Wei Youqing almost forgot.

“Don’t share the software with anyone casually. It’s a new development and hasn’t been released yet.”

Fang Zhile agreed readily. After confirming she could share it with a classmate, Fang Zhile immediately forwarded it to Ye Yu.

[laugh]: Employee benefit. The boss’s wife’s company’s newly developed software. It’s super good at protecting privacy.

Ye Yu, who was practicing calligraphy, put down her brush, rubbed her wrist, and smiled.

The second joints of her slender, strong fingers were wrapped in protective bandages.

The elasticity of the bandages supported her finger muscles during the two-hour practice, preventing her wrist from aching as it usually did.

Ye Yu looked at the words “protect privacy” on her phone, her brow furrowing slightly.

With modern technology, the most advanced security systems could practically defend against 100% of real-life harassment, but given her current identity as a high school student, there wasn’t really a place where she would need this kind of thing.

Generally, high school students, and average people in society, wouldn’t think to install professional privacy protection software on their phones.

At most, they would just increase their awareness of privacy protection and guard against leakage.

Though she thought this, Ye Yu quickly downloaded and installed the software.

[叶]: Installed!

She also sent a sticker of a little rabbit nodding obediently.

[叶]: What time do you finish work tonight?

[laugh]: Not early today. The boss wants me to stay until nine.

[laugh]: But you can come over now to get your drink and relax your wrist.

When Ye Yu saw Fang Zhile’s last sentence, her wrist, which hadn’t felt tired before, immediately became sore, as if suddenly weighted with lead, making her not want to lift the brush again. Ye Yu looked at the Ode to the Luo River Goddess on her desk. She only had a few lines left, so it wouldn’t be too late to finish after getting the drink.

She picked up her phone, put on her jacket, and headed out.

It was evening now.

The sunset cast a faint shadow over the sky. As the door opened and closed, it cast a fan-shaped shadow.

“Creaaak—”

The old and deteriorated dorm room door squeaked, covering the warning sound emitted by the newly installed software.

At the same time, the phone in her pocket flashed a faint red light.