I Miss You Even in the Daytime [Rebirth GL] - Chapter 18

The act of Xu Liming opening her mouth to bite her skewer froze; she lowered the lamb kebab from her lips.

“You really are completely tuned out from the world,” Sun Muya said, wearily closing her laptop and walking over to sit with them. “The rumors about her have been spreading like wildfire through the college these past few days.”

“Is it the same rumors as before?” Xu Liming asked.

Sun Muya shook her head. “No. This time it’s much more serious. The main issue is the negative impact; it reached the Dean’s ears, and even our counselor was called in for a talk.”

“Forget it.” Sun Muya pursed her lips, seemingly finding it difficult to say out loud. She simply handed her phone directly to Xu Liming. “See for yourself.”

The screen showed the “Campus Wall,” the same forum where Xu Liming had previously posted looking for a script. Right now, a thread was being discussed heatedly, with hundreds of replies stacked up.

Xu Liming initially scrolled down with a look of confusion, but as she read on, her expression turned solemn.

The post featured several photos—all blurry shots from behind, but one could recognize it was Lu Baitian if they looked closely. Interspersed among them were some “thirst trap” selfies of a girl with a small tattoo on her shoulder; it was obvious what kind of narrative they were trying to push.

「What, you guys didn’t know? I saw her photos and contact info on that site a long time ago. Like and share.」

「Holy crap, she’s got some nerve! This is Huachuan! Isn’t she afraid of being expelled for doing that?」

「For real? She’s in our class… with that look, she can actually…」

「To the person above, you never know with these things, Hahaha!」

…

There were even more disgusting comments. Xu Liming couldn’t bear to keep reading and forcefully closed the page.

“Hey, hey, hey! That’s my phone, be gentle!” Sun Muya quickly snatched her phone back, cradling it to her chest to soothe it. “You see now? This kind of rumor has a huge impact. The school has already contacted the forum to delete the post; it’ll probably be gone a bit later.”

“What’s the use of deleting the post? Everyone is talking about it now.” Tao Ning noticed Xu Liming’s expression was off and stuffed a piece of cut fruit into her hand.

“None of us believe it, but there’s nothing we can do. We don’t know who posted it, and we don’t know how Lu Baitian’s contact info and photos ended up on those kinds of websites,” Tao Ning said with rare seriousness.

“These people just love a spectacle; they don’t even know Lu Baitian.” Tao Ning sighed. “Now we can only wait for the school’s investigation results.”

Xu Liming didn’t know what to say. A faint, lingering anger paced through her mind, and Lu Baitian’s eyes suddenly appeared before her.

Those brown, bright, clean eyes.

Xu Liming didn’t sleep well that night.

Images of a frantic woman kept appearing in her dreams. It was perhaps some day after her death; a woman held a photo in one hand and a wine bottle in the other, softly humming a ballad on a freezing street at dawn.

Her voice was beautiful, but her movements were wretched as she stumbled through the deserted night. Snow fell, and crystal-like ice beads formed on her long hair. Her feet, white as spring bamboo shoots, stepped into the snow, leaving bright red marks.

In such cold weather, she wore only a long red dress. She walked all the way back to a dilapidated house, shed all her clothes, and huddled into bed.

Her emaciated yet snowy-white body curled up, hugging the photo tightly as she fell into a stupor, still humming that wordless ballad.

Xu Liming woke with a start.

She sat bolt upright in bed. The sky was barely light. The leftover skewers from last night were still on the table. The dawn light floated like thin gauze, flickering and uncertain.

It was dawn (Liming).

For some reason, her heart ached terribly—a dull, heavy feeling that made it impossible to fall back asleep.

It was a full day of classes today. Lu Baitian was absent during morning self-study but showed up for class. She sat in the corner as usual, reading and listening to the lecture; one couldn’t tell anything was wrong.

But then, she had always been like this—aside from being easily frightened in front of Xu Liming, she was indifferent the rest of the time.

No one in the class mentioned the incident aloud, but their gazes drifted toward the corner from time to time. A few boys at the neighboring table kept exchanging phones, whispering and laughing.

A flash of hostility crossed Xu Liming’s heart.

The bell rang for the end of class. As the teacher left, the laughter of the boys became louder and more piercing. They kept raising their phones toward Lu Baitian, seemingly comparing her to the photos on screen.

Lu Baitian’s shoulders began to tremble.

Suddenly, a patch of black swarmed before their eyes. The boys lowered their phones to see Xu Liming’s black coat and her equally ink-dark eyes.

“What do you want?” Li Yunfeng stood up with a few other boys, trying to huddle together to look down at Xu Liming. “Think you’re so great just because you’re a rich kid? I’m looking at photos—is that your business too?”

“What’s going on here!” Tao Ning, displeased, grabbed Sun Muya and shoved her way over with a chair in hand. Her Dongbei accent was quite intimidating. “Looking to bully someone?”

Seeing that Xu Liming had backup, their bravado instantly deflated. They muttered under their breaths, “Who’s bullying who? We didn’t even make the post. We’re just chatting; what’s it to you?”

Xu Liming didn’t say a word. She snatched Li Yunfeng’s phone out of his hand, deleted the photos with a few taps, and threw it back to him.

“No wonder everyone says you look greasy and have a greasy heart. Turns out it’s true,” Xu Liming said contemptuously, scanning him from head to toe.

Li Yunfeng froze and instinctively looked at the other boys. They all looked bewildered. “Who? Who said that?”

“Who said it? Tell me clearly!” Li Yunfeng was still shouting behind her, but Xu Liming already had her hands in her pockets, turning to stride away.

The three of them had walked quite a distance, but they could still hear Li Yunfeng’s roar. Tao Ning couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Young Miss, where did you learn that? That was a masterstroke of psychological warfare!”

“Online,” Xu Liming said. Her eyes focused on the distance, where a patch of a yellowed shirt hem vanished around a corner.

“Uh, you guys go ahead and eat. I have something to take care of.” Xu Liming handed her backpack to Tao Ning.

She followed behind Lu Baitian. The girl seemed a bit despondent and didn’t notice her presence. Xu Liming didn’t disturb her.

She wasn’t one to meddle, but this situation crossed her principles. Furthermore, Lu Baitian had helped her twice while she was drunk.

Even if they weren’t friends, they were at least acquaintances, right?

Lu Baitian walked all the way to the counselor’s office. She lowered her head and stepped inside. The door closed. Xu Liming tilted her neck and walked to the door, feigning aloofness.

Seeing no one around, she pressed herself against the door to eavesdrop.

“Where did you post those photos?” the counselor’s voice sounded like it had aged ten years as he interrogated her.

“The photos aren’t me,” Lu Baitian whispered.

“Even if these aren’t you, this is definitely you!” The counselor placed a phone on the desk. He seemed to be at his wits’ end. “Your face is right here in this one!”

“I didn’t post that, and I didn’t take it.” Lu Baitian’s voice was much hoarser, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears.

“But…”

With a bang, Xu Liming kicked the door open.

She brushed off her pant leg and walked in with a casual air, scaring the counselor so much he stopped mid-sentence, panting heavily.

Lu Baitian’s eyelashes lifted slightly; her hands instantly clenched tight.

“Xu Liming?” He adjusted his glasses. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh.” Xu Liming came up with an excuse without even blinking. “I’m tired of living in the dorm; I’m here to apply to be a commuter student.”

“No way.” The counselor looked like he was about to crumble. “You just applied to live on campus and now you’re applying to commute? You, you, you… the school won’t approve it!”

“It’s fine, Brother Cong. You stay busy; you can handle me in a bit,” Xu Liming said mildly.

She stood to the side like a guardian deity. The counselor forgot everything he was going to say. He deliberated for a long time before continuing: “Baitian, I’m not saying you’re the one who posted it. A good kid like you wouldn’t do that, right?”

“But the school is putting pressure on me to resolve this quickly. I have no choice but to call you in and ask. Don’t misunderstand.”

Lu Baitian said nothing. The counselor let out a long sigh. “Alright, you go back for now. I’ll notify you to come back once there’s news.”

Lu Baitian gave a stiff nod and turned to leave. As she passed Xu Liming, she instinctively quickened her pace, almost as if escaping.

“You… you want to commute, right?” The exhausted counselor beckoned to Xu Liming. Xu Liming rubbed her head and spoke politely.

“Uh, I thought about it just now, and living on campus is actually quite nice. I won’t trouble you, Brother Cong.” Having finished, she followed Lu Baitian out the door, leaving the counselor alone to rub his scalp, where only a few hairs remained.

Lu Baitian was walking very fast. Xu Liming almost couldn’t keep up and eventually started jogging.

“Lu Baitian! Hey!” Xu Liming broke into a run, but Lu Baitian was incredibly fast and vanished from sight in a moment.

However, Xu Liming eventually found her on the rooftop of the teaching building. She was curled up in a corner away from the wind. Seeing Xu Liming arrive, she hurried to hide at the other end of the roof but was blocked by Xu Liming’s outstretched arm.

“What are you running for? It’s dangerous.” Xu Liming was panting. She hadn’t exercised in two lifetimes and felt like she was about to have a heart attack.

Her block led to her directly encircling Lu Baitian’s waist. Lu Baitian’s body went weak almost instantly. She hurriedly pushed Xu Liming away, leaning against the wall to steady herself.

At that, the tears she had held back for days flooded out, scattering into the wind.

The girl pressed against the wall. Her hair was blown out of its tie by the wind. Her tears soaked her shirt, leaving translucent marks where they touched the skin.

She cried because she saw Xu Liming. She didn’t want to see Xu Liming; she didn’t want Xu Liming to hate her.

She covered her face with her sleeve, keeping her head very low.

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t,” she sobbed. “I really didn’t…”

“Those photos aren’t me…” Finding courage from somewhere, she spoke while pulling open the collar of her shirt. Smooth, un-tattooed skin was exposed to the wind, soon becoming wet.

Seeing the tears spill so heavily, Xu Liming suddenly remembered the woman from her dream, curled up on the bed, soaked through.

“I know,” she said softly. She unbuttoned her windbreaker and draped it over Lu Baitian’s shoulders. “Of course I know.”

“So stop crying, Lu Baitian.”