I Miss You Even in the Daytime [Rebirth GL] - Chapter 19

Xu Liming led Lu Baitian away from the rooftop, away from that biting wind, and into the warmth of the hallway.

Lu Baitian walked behind her, silent and still, like a shadow.

Xu Liming brought her all the way back to her dormitory. When they entered, Lin Wan and the others were eating. They stopped their movements and looked at each other in surprise upon seeing Xu Liming.

Lin Wan’s gaze was particularly intense. She stood up as if to say something, but stopped when she saw Lu Baitian following behind.

Xu Liming acted as if the others didn’t exist, only turning to ask, “Where are your ID documents?”

“Here.” Lu Baitian crouched down and took her things from the bottom drawer, clutching them to her chest.

“Let’s go.” Xu Liming turned and opened the door, pulling Lu Baitian out of the dorm.

Before the door closed, she saw Lin Wan open her mouth as if to speak, but she ignored it and slammed the door shut.

Xu Liming took her to the nearby police station and showed the officers screenshots of the post, the website, and explained the situation.

They both skipped their afternoon classes. By the time they returned to school, twilight had fallen.

Xu Liming walked ahead, her shadow stretched very long by the streetlights. Lu Baitian watched silently; the flood of terror that had persisted for days seemed to be held back by a dam at this moment.

She felt a sense of peace, like hiding in a closet as a child.

Her phone kept ringing. Lu Baitian jolted and hurriedly cut the calls, but they kept coming one after another. She frantically tried to power off the device, but Xu Liming took it from her.

It was a very old model, but it had been well-protected.

“Have these harassment calls been coming in all these days?” Xu Liming asked.

“Yes,” Lu Baitian nodded. “I didn’t turn it off because I was afraid my family wouldn’t be able to reach me.”

Xu Liming looked through the call logs. Almost all were local numbers; some were virtual. She ignored the virtual ones and recorded the local numbers into her own phone.

After finishing this, Xu Liming took off the phone case, pulled out the SIM card, replaced it with her own secondary card, and handed the phone back to Lu Baitian.

“This card is my secondary number. Use it to contact your family for now,” she said.

Lu Baitian took the phone with both hands and whispered a thank you.

“When no one is protecting you, you have to learn to protect yourself,” Xu Liming said. She immediately realized the words sounded a bit condescending, as Lu Baitian’s face instantly flushed crimson and her gaze darted away in panic.

Growing up in that environment, doing this well is already an achievement, Xu Liming thought.

Besides, at 19, she’s still just a kid.

“Come back to my dorm with me first,” Xu Liming sighed.

Because Xu Liming had given them a heads-up, Sun Muya and Tao Ning weren’t surprised to see Lu Baitian enter timidly.

“You’re finally back! Have you eaten? I ordered BBQ again, from the same place as yesterday.” Tao Ning smiled as she laid out the skewers on the table. “Baitian, come eat.”

Lu Baitian was flattered as she was pulled to the table and sat down. She instinctively looked to Xu Liming for guidance. Only after Xu Liming gave her a gentle look did she dare take a skewer from Tao Ning.

This feels so subtle—as if I am the only person in the world Lu Baitian relies on. Xu Liming unzipped her jacket, puzzled by the feeling.

Sun Muya poured a glass of water for Lu Baitian and placed it in front of her.

Before getting to know Lu Baitian, her impression of her was the same as everyone else’s. But since the girl had spent a night in their dorm, Sun Muya had realized how good Lu Baitian was.

She was simply too obedient—so obedient it made one’s heart ache.

“Thank you, thank you,” Lu Baitian held the bamboo skewer, taking small bites of the charred lamb.

“How did it go?” Sun Muya looked up at Xu Liming.

“About as expected. Since there’s no concrete evidence yet, there’s no real result,” Xu Liming hung her coat on the door, sounding exhausted. “Brother Cong said the person who made the post was found, but it’s an out-of-town IP, not from our school.”

“Ah, then what do we do?” Tao Ning asked.

“What matters now is figuring out who exactly is spreading the rumors and who has been leaking Lu Baitian’s information,” Xu Liming said.

“Where would we even begin to look?” Tao Ning sighed, reaching out to pat Lu Baitian’s head. “Poor kid.”

When touched, Lu Baitian nearly dropped her skewer.

Xu Liming smiled but said nothing.

After Lu Baitian finished eating, Xu Liming put down her phone, pulled up a chair to sit opposite her, and asked, “Do you have anyone you suspect? For instance, those who bullied you before.”

Lu Baitian’s eyes wavered as she shook her head.

“I’ve thought about it,” Lu Baitian said. The reflection of the desk lamp glittered in her eyes as she eventually looked down.

But this matter was so vicious. If it really was them… did they truly hate her that much?

Xu Liming saw her dazed state and skipped the topic.

“These photos look like they were taken intentionally, but if you look closely, they are definitely candid shots,” Sun Muya said, zooming in on the photos. “Look at this one, it’s blurry. The background is a classroom. It might be someone in our class.”

“This one is even scarier. It was taken with a telephoto lens from an upper floor,” Tao Ning pointed to one of the photos showing Lu Baitian walking on the road in a white dress.

It was the night they had the film appreciation elective.

“That’s terrifying. Isn’t this stalking?” Sun Muya’s hair stood on end; she rubbed her arms and looked down. “Looking at the angle, it must have been taken from the Broadcasting Building.”

“Can we check the surveillance footage?” she asked.

“I’ll ask tomorrow, but it’ll be difficult. Several floors of the Broadcasting Building have terraces; many people go there, and there are no cameras,” Xu Liming shook her head.

Lu Baitian listened silently, her hands instinctively gripping the edge of the table.

She was afraid.

Being followed for so long by someone unknown would scare anyone. Xu Liming reached out and held her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

However, the gesture caused the girl’s entire body to tense up.

Xu Liming had to let go.

Just then, Xu Liming’s phone rang. She looked down at WeChat. A newly added contact with an anime avatar had sent several messages.

「Wanna meet up, baby?」

「Found you on the app. How old are you?」

Tao Ning, with her sharp eyes, saw the messages. She grabbed Xu Liming’s hand. “No, Xu Liming, what are you doing?”

Xu Liming looked at her flatly and shook her off. “I added these using the numbers that were calling Lu Baitian. I added over a dozen, and finally, one took the bait.”

“Impressive,” Tao Ning and Sun Muya exclaimed simultaneously. The three heads huddled together to stare at the screen.

「Which app?」 Xu Liming replied.

「** [App name], obviously. You posted it yourself, don’t you know?」

「Send me the link to the post.」 Xu Liming typed quickly.

The person on the other end hesitated before typing again: 「What are you playing at? If you don’t want to meet, I’ll delete you. No one has time to waste.」

Xu Liming didn’t waste words. She swiped the screen and sent a screenshot of a Weibo profile. 「This is your wife, right?」

Tao Ning and Sun Muya’s eyes widened, and they shook Xu Liming in excitement.

The person on the other end clearly couldn’t keep his cool. The “typing” status flickered for a long time before the message came: 「Holy crap, sis, I was joking. What do you actually want?」

「I’m a friend of the girl you’re slandering. Give me the link to the post. Otherwise, your wife will find out what you’re doing immediately.」

「Giving it, giving it! I was just asking!」

A screenshot was sent quickly. Below several revolting images, Lu Baitian’s phone number was displayed clearly. Xu Liming didn’t show the content to Lu Baitian, but instead used the username to find the poster’s homepage.

“Ugh, I think I’m getting eye sties!” Tao Ning couldn’t bear to look and covered her face.

The account content started in March of this year, mostly consisting of suggestive close-up shots interspersed with a few photos of Lu Baitian.

Xu Liming looked at the comments below and felt a surge of nausea.

The earlier posts were mainly images. The leaking of the phone number and personal information had happened in the last two weeks.

“The account was updated as recently as yesterday,” Sun Muya took the phone to browse. “Baitian, there’s a photo here. You must have taken this yourself, right? I remember seeing it on your Q/Q.”

It was a photo of the lake at dawn, reflecting the morning glow after the rain.

“Yes,” Lu Baitian said softly. She stole a nervous glance at Xu Liming.