Amnesia Trap (GL) - Chapter 31

Ji Qingfan’s injuries were not particularly severe, and with daily application of medicine, the wounds she sustained on Friday were almost entirely healed by Sunday.

However, even though the wounds were better, Sheng Zhi kept looking at Ji Qingfan and felt that her bangs were genuinely too long.

Didn’t her eyes feel irritated in daily life?

She truly couldn’t stand it. After the family doctor examined Ji Qingfan’s wounds on Sunday and declared them to be inconsequential, she had her private stylist give Ji Qingfan a makeover.

The somewhat gloomy, overly long bangs were layered, and the long black hair behind was slightly trimmed to a length below the chest, just skimming her waist, falling smoothly down her back.

Sheng Zhi stood behind Ji Qingfan, looking at her reflection in the mirror, and praised her generously: “You are really beautiful. Your skin is fair, and your eyes are pretty.”

Ji Qingfan felt a little uncomfortable hearing her words. No one had ever complimented her like this, and she had never gotten a professional styling before. She usually just cut her hair herself and often forgot to trim it because it was too much trouble.

Sheng Zhi smelled so good, as if she carried that sweet fragrance with her all the time.

After a long while, Ji Qingfan quietly said: “…You look good too.”

Sheng Zhi was amused by her words, which were squeezed out like toothpaste, and she burst into laughter. After laughing, she played with her hair in the mirror and said without any false modesty, “Of course. I am incredibly beautiful.”

Although they were both still students, Sheng Zhi had dyed her hair a strikingly high-profile light pink. She was tall, and her long hair cascaded down her back with softly curled ends, giving her an extremely audacious look.

Ji Qingfan noticed the piercing in Sheng Zhi’s left ear, which held a pure black stud. She didn’t know what material it was, but it wasn’t dull; instead, it had a very transparent, glossy texture.

As Sheng Zhi talked, she noticed something, and her tone became very peculiar: “…Wow, no way, Ji Qingfan, your ears are red.”

She looked genuinely surprised, as her impression of the person in front of her was a taciturn mushroom, but it turned out the silent mushroom wasn’t just silent—it was shy?

Sheng Zhi watched Ji Qingfan’s ears turn redder and couldn’t help but blow a breath toward them.

She watched as Ji Qingfan’s cheeks also started to turn red, and her smile instantly widened, “You’re so cute.”

Ji Qingfan nervously pressed her lips together, her heart fluttering chaotically in her chest.

School naturally resumed on Monday.

Sheng Zhi didn’t come in the morning, arriving only in the afternoon.

She arrived just in time, with only five or six minutes left before class started.

Her seat was in the back row by the window.

After arriving, Sheng Zhi scanned the classroom, found where Ji Qingfan was sitting, and a smirk played on her lips. She walked over and knocked on Ji Qingfan’s deskmate’s desk: “I’m trading with you. You go sit in my spot. My spot is by the window; you can look outside when you get tired of class.”

Her tone was pleasant, but it held no hint of negotiation. She was completely informing the other person, and if she’d been any sterner, it would have been a direct order.

Ji Qingfan gripped her pen. She had been keeping her head down all day because, after getting her hair done, many people were staring at her, and she felt both unaccustomed and awkward.

When Sheng Zhi said she wanted to switch, others didn’t have the right to refuse.

Ji Qingfan’s deskmate quickly packed up her books and pens and moved to Sheng Zhi’s seat, which was so clean on the desk and in the cubby that it required no tidying at all.

Having switched seats, Sheng Zhi sat down next to Ji Qingfan. The classroom became eerily silent. Everyone thought Ji Qingfan had somehow offended Sheng Zhi, but Sheng Zhi’s demeanor didn’t seem like she was about to bully her; her tone was surprisingly familiar: “Why do you keep your head down? Your hair looks great; I trust my stylist a lot.”

Ji Qingfan gripped her pen, her lips parting and closing without a sound. Sheng Zhi noticed out of the corner of her eye that everyone was staring at them. She let out an impatient scoff: “What are you all looking at? Class is starting soon, shouldn’t you hurry up and read your books?”

Hearing Sheng Zhi say that with such righteous indignation, several people couldn’t help but twitch their mouths, quickly lowered their heads for fear of being noticed, and pretended to read their books, whether they were truly reading or not.

Sheng Zhi turned her attention back to Ji Qingfan. She looked at her, and instead of keeping her long legs properly under her own desk, she stretched them over to Ji Qingfan’s side, touching her with her leg, her eyes demanding an answer: “Why won’t you look up?”

The summer school uniform skirt usually reached below the knee, but Sheng Zhi always rolled hers up above her knee.

Ji Qingfan visibly flinched at her touch, as if startled, and immediately raised her head.

Sheng Zhi was satisfied with her reaction, but she didn’t retract her leg.

After the school bell rang, she complained that she didn’t have a textbook and insisted on sharing Ji Qingfan’s.

She wasn’t necessarily looking for an answer from Ji Qingfan; she just found her amusing. Seeing her blush was fun, and hearing her speak softly was also fun. She just wanted to tease her.

With Sheng Zhi’s unhidden, special treatment, it quickly became known throughout the entire grade that Ji Qingfan was Sheng Zhi’s new, close playmate.

Jiang Wanyin initially warned Sheng Zhi to be careful and distinguish Ji Qingfan’s intentions, but after realizing Sheng Zhi’s interest in Ji Qingfan was similar to the excitement of finding a new toy, she stopped saying anything.

She felt that Sheng Zhi would probably lose interest on her own before long.

In fact, it wasn’t just Jiang Wanyin who thought this; it was a shared assumption—including Ji Qingfan herself.

She constantly felt that Sheng Zhi’s attitude towards her was unexpectedly kind.

Sheng Zhi seemed completely oblivious to this perception.

She took her out to play, bought her clothes, necklaces, bracelets, good food, fun things, things she had seen, and things she hadn’t…

Noticing that Ji Qingfan seemed interested in nail art, Sheng Zhi dragged her to get a manicure.

The styles were dazzling. Sheng Zhi didn’t like getting manicures herself, but she was enthusiastically picking out styles for others: “Let’s do this one.”

Ji Qingfan said okay.

Sheng Zhi hummed, blinked, and then changed her mind: “That one looks good too.”

Ji Qingfan followed her lead and changed her choice.

Sheng Zhi found Ji Qingfan incredibly interesting. She agreed to whatever Sheng Zhi said, and it wasn’t the fake kind of compliance.

Especially after learning the manicure cost a few thousand yuan, Ji Qingfan looked completely bewildered, “I’ll pay you back later, and the rest of the money too…”

She genuinely hadn’t expected it to cost so much.

A few thousand yuan was an unimaginable concept for her.

Sheng Zhi exclaimed, “Pay back what? We’re friends.”

She stared at her, noticing Ji Qingfan’s fair face slowly turning red again, looking like steam was about to rise from her head.

So much fun.

But Sheng Zhi’s good mood plummeted the next day when she discovered Ji Qingfan had clipped off the manicure.

She couldn’t help but grab her hand to inspect it: “Why did you clip them? Don’t you like it?”

Ji Qingfan looked at her, unsure how to answer.

In truth, even when getting the manicure, she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it for long. She had to cook and do a lot of chores; such delicate nail art wouldn’t survive.

Seeing Ji Qingfan fall silent, Sheng Zhi’s tone became unhappy: “Speaking of which, the clothes I bought you, too. I’ve never seen you wear them, even when you’re not in your school uniform.”

Ji Qingfan moved her lips, but as soon as she opened her mouth to explain, tears began to fall.

They were in the hallway at the time. Ji Qingfan’s sudden tears caught Sheng Zhi off guard. Sheng Zhi hesitated for a moment and then pulled her into an empty classroom.

In fact, before this, Sheng Zhi had never seen Ji Qingfan display such clear emotion.

Through Ji Qingfan’s intermittent apologies, Sheng Zhi pieced the story together.

She learned that Ji Qingfan had a younger brother and a pair of extremely patriarchal parents who treated her like a tool.

The clothes she wore since childhood were all old hand-me-downs from others. If she scored higher than her brother, she would even be beaten.

Sheng Zhi could guess the rest of the details without them being said.

Ji Qingfan’s eyes were very red, “I’m sorry… I really liked them, but I feel like I don’t deserve those pretty clothes and the manicure…”

She had initially approached Sheng Zhi with an agenda, but Sheng Zhi had spent so much money on her. Even though the money meant nothing to Sheng Zhi, Ji Qingfan felt a sense of distress.

Her family had never spent much money on her. They only told her she wasn’t worthy, that it wasn’t necessary. When she was little, she would be scolded and hit even for squeezing out too much shampoo.

Lost in her thoughts, Ji Qingfan didn’t dare to look at Sheng Zhi anymore. She said, “Don’t spend money on me anymore. I really don’t deserve it. You won’t have fun hanging out with someone like me. They are all more fun than I am…”

She didn’t know why she had broken down and cried just because Sheng Zhi asked her a couple of questions today. She didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t stop herself.

In the empty classroom, there were only the two of them.

Sheng Zhi listened to her words. Not having a tissue, she used her thumb to wipe away her tears: “Who said you’re not fun? I think hanging out with you is very interesting.”

“And what’s this about deserving or not deserving? I said we are friends; you deserve it more than anyone else in the world. The only thing I have a lot of is money. You can spend as much as you want and won’t bankrupt me.”

After saying that, Sheng Zhi paused, played with a strand of her own hair, and said: “How about you stop going home? Come live with me. My mom isn’t home much. Besides me, there’s only the maid at home, and we have lots of empty rooms.”

Hearing her words, Ji Qingfan’s tears suddenly flowed even more fiercely.

She remembered the words she had overheard someone say to Sheng Zhi—”People like that, I’ve seen plenty of them. They’d just love to latch onto you.”

She had indeed been thinking that way.

She also protected the puppy because she knew it was Sheng Zhi’s puppy.

But the more she interacted with Sheng Zhi, the more she felt she couldn’t bear the extent of Sheng Zhi’s kindness toward her.

She didn’t even know what to do.

She was used to receiving malice from others and didn’t know how to respond to someone being kind to her.

Because no one had ever been this kind to her before.

So Ji Qingfan explained haltingly, her voice unsteady: “It’s okay. I’ve actually decided already. I don’t want them to suspect anything now, but after the college entrance exam, I’m going to disappear where they can’t find me.” She didn’t want to owe Sheng Zhi anything more, even though the debt kept growing.

Sheng Zhi watched her for two seconds, then finally indulged her: “As long as you have a plan in mind, let me know if you need any help.”

She released the strand of hair.

“…I really thought you hated me just now,” Sheng Zhi’s voice trailed off, sounding like an auditory illusion, “Trust me, I will take good care of my puppy, so you can’t hate me. If you, too, are just like those people, pretending to be nice to me but secretly hating me, I will bully you and never be friends with you again.”