Chapter 31.2

Without Wang Kai and Momo interfering, Xie Shuyun’s condition became even better. The tacit understanding they had trained for so long had also improved quite a bit.

They did not need any pause at all. During the few seconds of handoff, they only had to briefly glance over what the other had written before continuing to write smoothly. Compared with the other teams, they were more like two people merged into one, with no distinction between each other.

After the two-hour relay round ended, Xie Shuyun stretched lazily. Seeing Cheng Lingxue slowly walk out from behind the curtain, she scratched her head and said with full confidence,

“Our condition in the third round was pretty good too. We’re definitely first place this time.”

If Wang Kai had said something like this before, he would only have received mocking looks from others.

But when it came from Xie Shuyun’s mouth, nothing like that happened.

Regardless of how Xie Shuyun herself was, Cheng Lingxue alone was enough to make the other teams feel full of pressure. Not to mention Xie Shuyun’s strength was not weak either. She had ranked third in the individual round this time.

This combination was basically the kind that could kill gods if they met gods and Buddhas if they met Buddhas—specially made to crush other people’s confidence.

“…Mm…”

Perhaps infected by the smile on Xie Shuyun’s face, or perhaps because she [read the original at bailiantales.com]had dealt with a certain troublesome person, the corner of Cheng Lingxue’s mouth curved slightly, giving Xie Shuyun a faint smile.

She smiled!

She really was happy!

Xie Shuyun’s heart shook. If not for the gazes constantly sweeping over them from all around, she would have frozen in place again.

No, no.

No one else saw that, right?

Like a thief, Xie Shuyun looked left and right. Finding that no one had seen Cheng Lingxue’s smile from those few seconds just now, she secretly rejoiced. At the same time, a trace of sweetness rose in her heart.

Did this count as a reward for her?

“So silly.”

A light, drifting sentence suddenly fell beside her ear, making Xie Shuyun freeze.

Looking at the young girl’s slender, straight back as she had already ​read the original at bailiantales.com​walked a few steps away, Xie Shuyun scratched her head.

Was she silly?

Compared to Cheng Lingxue, she really did seem to be.

As expected of the female lead O. Without being messed up by the scumbag A, she immediately revealed the light that belonged to her. Xie Shuyun felt happy for her.

Cheng Lingxue should stand beneath the sunlight, watched by everyone, and become the brightest star.

Not hearing footsteps following behind her, Cheng Lingxue stopped and slightly turned her head to look back.

Once again, she saw that strange smile on a certain someone’s face.

It was just like when she had still been with the Cheng family, like those older maids who had watched her grow up looking at her.

Cheng Lingxue did not know why Xie Shuyun would look at her like that.

Without a doubt, when the maids looked at her that way, she felt it was normal. But when Xie Shuyun did it, it made her feel an indescribable sense of distance.

Overall, it was not very comfortable.

She hated it when Xie Shuyun smiled at her like that.

Cheng Lingxue came to this conclusion.

At the same time, her brows lightly furrowed. She looked at the person still standing in place and said,

“What are you standing there for? Hurry and follow.”

“Oh, oh. Coming, coming!”

Hearing Cheng Lingxue urge her, Xie Shuyun quickly followed.

Just like that, under everyone’s gazes, the two girls left the competition venue one after the other.

Perhaps before long, whether it was their appearances, their results, or the things that had happened during the competition, all of it would spread through these people’s mouths into every school.

===

After the Mathematical Olympiad competition ended, they returned to peaceful school life.

Aside from dealing with Shang Yan’s gossip every day, Xie Shuyun felt that her relationship with Cheng Lingxue seemed to have grown a tiny bit closer.

When she approached Cheng Lingxue, the other girl no longer rejected her too much.

Perhaps the two of them had already become friends?

A short distance away from the Xie family residence, a pet-themed amusement park was being newly built. Visitors could bring their pets to play there. Inside, it did not only provide amusement facilities for people, but also facilities for pets, ensuring that both humans and pets could have fun.

Of course, Xie Shuyun would never have noticed such information herself. She learned about it naturally through Shang Yan.

In Shang Yan’s heart, watching these two interact every day and give off pink bubbles, stuffing her with dog food until she nearly vomited, yet still maintaining this distance that was neither close nor far, was simply an outrage to both gods and men.

So she turned grief and indignation into motivation. Diligently taking it as her mission to matchmake the two of them, after the final monthly exam ended, she once again handed two tickets to Xie Shuyun.

“You… What are you trying to do this time?”

Recalling her previous experiences, Xie Shuyun now had a bit of a shadow toward tickets. Seeing Shang Yan hand over tickets again, her body subconsciously retreated slightly, and a trace of resistance flashed in her eyes.

Isn’t this to bring you two together?

Shang Yan nearly rolled her eyes. Looking at the tickets in her hand, she felt a tiny ache in her heart.

She had originally planned to go with Shang En, but now she was contributing them.

“Didn’t you give the school beauty a puppy before? You can just bring it over to play together. Next year, we’ll be preparing for exams, so just treat it as the last time going out to have fun.”

Xie Shuyun looked at the tickets, then at Shang Yan.

She kept feeling that the other girl’s actions carried some kind of purpose. But in the end, she was still convinced by Shang Yan’s chattering words.

Now, however, she sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at the two tickets placed on the mattress, her face full of conflict.

Propping her cheek on her hand, she sighed.

How should she invite Cheng Lingxue?

But if she went, Cheng Lingxue would probably refuse eighty percent of the time, right?

Scratching her head, she finally stuffed the tickets into her pocket and opened the door.

A small golden figure immediately rushed over, stopped in front of Xie Shuyun, and let out loud barks.

“Aow! Aow aow aow!”

It was none other than Pai Pai, whom Xie Shuyun had given to Cheng Lingxue.

Now, Pai Pai’s fur was even shinier. After several months, he had grown almost three times bigger than before. One could say he was growing very quickly.

Around the little golden retriever’s neck was a black leather collar with a small bone pendant hanging below it. Cheng Lingxue had bought it for Pai Pai, and the little golden retriever liked it very much. In his free time, he liked to use his little paw to hook the bone pendant, playing with it happily.

“Little handsome guy, you’re full?”

Crouching down, Xie Shuyun rubbed Pai Pai’s head, feeling the fluffy, soft sensation in her hand. It was much better than when she had taken care of him.

No wonder the dog had betrayed her the moment he saw Cheng Lingxue!

“Aowu!”

Pai Pai nodded very intelligently. He stuck out his tongue and [Read on BaiLianTales]licked Xie Shuyun’s fingertip. The little tail on his bottom wagged rapidly.

Looking left and right to confirm that no one was around, Xie Shuyun took out Pai Pai’s beef-strip snack from the cabinet nearby. She opened the package and tore off a piece for Pai Pai.

Watching the little golden retriever bury himself in her palm and eat happily, she could not help muttering,

“Hey… Pai Pai… Do you want to go out and play?”

The little golden retriever, licking his mouth, lifted his head. His black-bean-like eyes clearly showed that he wanted more.

His little paws tugged at Xie Shuyun’s clothes. He was not listening to Xie Shuyun at all.

Letting out a long sigh, Xie Shuyun did not expect little Pai Pai to understand. She simply gave the entire beef strip to Pai Pai.

Looking at Pai Pai’s little butt held high, Xie Shuyun could not resist reaching out and rubbing it.

“Do you think if I invite your owner out to play, she’ll agree?”

“Aow?”

This time, Pai Pai reacted a little. But he only raised his head, tilted his little head, twitched his ears, then lowered his head again and buried himself [stolen content]in eating, throwing Xie Shuyun’s words to the back of his mind.

“Little glutton.”

Pinching Pai Pai’s soft ears, Xie Shuyun muttered softly.

Suddenly, the door not far away opened.

A familiar white skirt hem appeared in her field of vision, making Xie Shuyun’s body stiffen slightly.

Pai Pai, who had finished eating the beef strip, instantly abandoned Xie Shuyun and ran toward his owner.

“Aow, aow aow, aow!”

The little golden retriever circled around the young girl’s fair legs, his head rubbing against them nonstop. He also jumped from time to time, until the young girl bent down and picked the little golden retriever up. Only then did Pai Pai settle down, leaning in the young girl’s arms with his tongue out, looking obedient.

“Pai Pai, you secretly ate again.”

The young girl’s pale, slender finger lightly tapped the little golden retriever’s nose. Her voice carried neither joy nor anger, but it still made Pai Pai ingratiatingly rub against the young girl’s arm. His black-bean eyes were full of innocence.

Xie Shuyun, still crouching on the ground, felt a little awkward.

She knew Cheng Lingxue did not like giving Pai Pai too many snacks. It could make the dog overweight and might cause some illnesses.

But Pai Pai, this clever little fellow, used his cute appearance every time to trick snacks out of the maids. As a result, he had gained a circle of flesh, earning Cheng Lingxue’s warning that he could eat at most one snack a day.

At this time of day, Pai Pai had definitely already had his snack.

Xie Shuyun had secretly fed him, only to be caught red-handed by his owner.

“Cough. I won’t do it next time.”

With a dry cough, before Cheng Lingxue could blame her, Xie Shuyun ignored Pai Pai’s resentful gaze and quickly gave her guarantee.

“Aowu…”

Out of his love for snacks, when Pai Pai heard Xie Shuyun say this, he seemingly forgot a certain someone’s existence. He whimpered at Xie Shuyun, only to have his ear pinched by the young girl. The whimper was immediately forced to stop.

“Don’t be naughty. No snacks tomorrow.”

The young girl’s words were like a bolt from the blue. Pai Pai’s ears and tail both drooped, and the whole dog looked listless.

“Um…”

Scratching her cheek, Xie Shuyun was just about to speak when she saw the young girl’s gaze glance over. The words that had been about to leave her mouth immediately got stuck. Her mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.

Only when the young girl raised her brow and spoke did she manage to react.

“Is something the matter?”

“Ah, it’s this…”

Xie Shuyun handed the tickets from her pocket in front of Cheng Lingxue and asked hesitantly,

“Do you want to go together?”

As she spoke, she pointed at Pai Pai in Cheng Lingxue’s hands.

“You can bring him too.”

The young girl reached out, pinched the corner of the tickets, and brought them before her eyes. Her gaze swept over them. For a while, there was no sound.

Just when Xie Shuyun thought the other girl would refuse and pinched the corner of her clothes, saying softly,

“It’s okay if you don’t want to go. I’ll just return the tickets when—”

“Saturday?”

One cold sentence interrupted Xie Shuyun’s words, making Xie Shuyun blink and look at Cheng Lingxue in surprise.

Was she agreeing?

Seeing her dazed silence, the young girl’s brows furrowed slightly. She opened her thin lips again.

“This Saturday, or do you have something to do?”

When the latter sentence came out, the young girl’s brows and eyes seemed to become somewhat sharp, making Xie Shuyun shiver and quickly shake her head.

“No, no. I don’t have anything to do. Then let’s go together this Saturday. I’ll tell Qin Yu when the time comes.”

The young girl nodded slightly. Holding the tickets in one hand and Pai Pai in unauthorized copythe other, she entered her room.

Looking at the young girl’s back, Xie Shuyun’s mouth opened slightly. She wanted to say that the tickets could just stay with her, but before the words came out, the door closed with a click, shutting her outside.

Xie Shuyun: Alright, it’s not a big deal.

On Saturday, a black car drove out from the Xie family villa and quickly headed toward the destination.

Unlike usual, there was one more lively little golden retriever in the back seat besides the two girls.

He ran back and forth across both their laps, occasionally placing his front paws against the car door and looking at the scenery flashing by. His eyes were full of curiosity.

“Pai Pai, sit properly.”

As if she could no longer watch, or perhaps because she was dissatisfied with a certain little fellow constantly wrinkling her skirt with his paws, Cheng Lingxue hooked her fingertip around Pai Pai’s collar and pulled the little golden retriever between the two of them, making him sit down obediently.

Under his owner’s command, the little golden retriever could only sit obediently. He could only twist his little head and wildly wag his little tail to express his excitement.

Very quickly, they arrived at their destination.

From the entrance onward, they could see many visitors, all kinds of facilities, and various animal statues.

To prevent them from being surrounded, the car stopped in a corner of the parking lot. Only then did the two girls get out.

With a swish, Xie Shuyun opened an umbrella for the young girl holding the little golden retriever and led her to a shaded spot not far from the entrance. Only then did she speak.

“Lingxue, wait here. I’ll go line up to have the tickets checked first. We’ll be able to enter in a while. Wait for me, it’ll be quick.”

As she spoke, Xie Shuyun took the tickets and ran toward the ticket-checking line.

Watching Xie Shuyun’s departing back, Cheng Lingxue reached out and rubbed Pai Pai’s head, her gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

The people who came basically all had their pets with them. Most were cats and dogs, and there were also some more unusual pets such as turtles and rabbits.

Of course, judging from the people, most had come as families.

Cheng Lingxue’s gaze landed on a little girl around ten years old.

The little girl held her parents’ hands, a brilliant smile on her face. Her father lifted her onto his neck, making the little girl giggle happily, while her mother placed the small orange kitten she was holding onto the father’s head so the girl could hold it more easily.

It was very warm and enviable.

Cheng Lingxue lowered her head and looked at her own hands.

There had also once been two warm palms holding hers.

But now, they had both already left her.

Her movement of stroking Pai Pai’s head slowly stopped. A faint glimmer appeared in her pupils. Her mood, which had originally been fairly good, became somewhat low.

“Aow, aow?”

Seeming to sense his owner’s emotions, Pai Pai twisted his little body. His head kept rubbing against the young girl’s palm, as if doing this could comfort her.

This action made the young girl lightly press her thin lips together. She said softly,

“I’m fine… Don’t move around. Your fur is all messy…”

“Lingxue!”

A shout came over.

Cheng Lingxue raised her head and saw Xie Shuyun’s smiling face.

The heroic-looking young girl ran to her, waved the checked ticket in her hand, and said happily,

“It’s done. Let’s go in. Here, I’ll hold the umbrella for you. Don’t get sunburned.”

That smile that infected people’s hearts made Cheng Lingxue’s arms tighten slightly around the little golden retriever. The melancholy that had surfaced in her heart slowly dissipated.

She stepped forward into that person’s umbrella shade.

Inside it, it seemed as if all negative influences could be blocked out.

A trace of amusement flashed through Cheng Lingxue’s eyes.

At least this person would still stay by her side, wouldn’t she?