If the World Had No Daylight - Chapter 5

For an entire week, Bai Tian did not speak to her deskmate again.

Although Bai Tian was someone who knew how to protect herself and stay out of trouble, more often than not, she was also bad-tempered, undisciplined, and willful.

Since the other girl had already torn apart the superficial facade of “friendly relations between deskmates,” Bai Tian saw no need to approach her and grovel.

And so, Bai Tian began skipping class again.

She did not skip much—only the final self-study period every day. Old Baldy Li had probably been astonished that Bai Tian had behaved herself for an entire month. Now that she had returned to her old ways, he instead displayed the calm acceptance of someone thinking, As expected.

For Class A, self-study period was essentially time for completing the day’s homework because most students still had various tutoring classes to attend after school. They were genuinely busy and had to seize every second to study. Otherwise, they risked falling behind the overall level of their classmates.

But to Bai Tian, studying had never been something that occupied her entire life, despite the fact that she was still a student.

At nine-thirty in the evening, the restaurant began preparing to close.

Holding a menu, Bai Tian stood before the final table of customers and patiently waited for the woman in the red dress to order.

The customer had already been sitting there for an hour. The person she was waiting for had probably failed to arrive, so she had decided to eat something by herself before leaving.

The woman’s red-painted fingernail traced across the thick menu. After hesitating for a long time, she finally ordered a discounted set meal for one that was currently on promotion.

Bai Tian wrote it down, politely bent forward, and said, “Certainly. Please wait a moment.”

Holding the menu, she walked around the booth and passed the restaurant’s main entrance on her way to the kitchen. Most of the staff had already begun wrapping up their work, making the restaurant unusually quiet.

When the glass door was pushed open, it struck the wind chime and produced a series of clear jingles. Bai Tian had long since grown accustomed to the sound. She turned and said, “Welcome. However, the restaurant is about to close. Is there anything you need?”

“I’m meeting someone.”

The somewhat cool voice arrived together with the cold wind from outside, making Bai Tian raise her head in surprise.

An exceedingly familiar face passed before her and headed toward the only occupied booth in the restaurant.

Bai Tian paused, then continued toward the kitchen without saying anything.

After printing out the order slip and attaching it beside the kitchen window, Bai Tian inconspicuously positioned herself behind a tall potted plant and looked toward the corner.

The young woman, still dressed in her school uniform, sat with her back to Bai Tian across from the woman, making her expression impossible to see. They were also too far away for Bai Tian to hear anything. She indifferently withdrew her gaze, having no interest in continuing to pry.

Time passed minute by minute. The aroma of meat sauce from the pasta gradually drifted out. Bai Tian picked up the serving tray, carefully placed the drink on it, and walked toward the corner.

As she drew closer, the conversation between the two gradually became clearer.

The woman had a strikingly glamorous face. With only light makeup, she did not appear vulgar or overly seductive. Instead, her bearing softened the excessive brilliance of her features.

She looked at the young woman, her eyes slightly red.

“Once I’ve settled down over there, I’ll bring you to live with me.”

The young woman nodded without speaking.

“Excuse me. Here is your drink—freshly squeezed fruit juice.”

Bai Tian picked up the glass and set it down steadily. Without saying anything more, she turned and left.

From beginning to end, she never met the young woman’s gaze.

The girl’s profile was not particularly clear in Bai Tian’s peripheral vision, but it was undoubtedly a face she knew well. Only the expression was unfamiliar—one Bai Tian had never seen on her face before.

Realizing that she might have stumbled upon the other girl’s privacy yet again, Bai Tian suddenly felt powerless. It seemed that the more she wanted to avoid having anything to do with the other girl, the more entangled they became. That was not a good sign.

Fortunately, the meal ended quickly.

The woman barely touched the food on the table. She focused entirely on watching the girl before her eat slowly, an unconsciously tender smile appearing on her face.

But when Bai Tian caught that smile in a hurried glance, she felt an inexplicable wave of sadness.

The restaurant finally closed. Bai Tian changed back into her school uniform, left through the kitchen’s rear entrance, and slowly walked toward the bus stop.

She would probably receive her wages in another week. After calculating it inwardly, she decided to give the manager notice of her resignation a few days early.

Bai Tian had originally intended to work part-time for only one month, which would earn her enough money. However, the restaurant had been at its busiest during this period. She had only been hired because the manager was softhearted; otherwise, where could a first-year high school girl find a legitimate part-time job?

Therefore, Bai Tian had stayed a while longer, until they finally hired another server over the past couple of days.

If only she were a little taller.

After lamenting inwardly, Bai Tian moved her schoolbag in front of her, hugged it against her body, and walked toward the end of the street.

A noisy group of boys approached from nearby. They wore strange clothes, and their hair had been dyed in a chaotic assortment of colors. After glancing at them, Bai Tian quietly moved farther away.

But it was already very late, and there were hardly any people on the street. A girl walking alone in a school uniform was especially conspicuous.

As she looked at the group blocking her path, Bai Tian’s heart slowly sank.

“Little girl, why haven’t you gone home when it’s already so late?” The green-haired leader asked with a grin, sweeping his gaze up and down Bai Tian’s body.

The red-haired boy beside him suddenly whistled. “Isn’t that a No. 7 Middle School uniform? An honor student, huh?”

“Really? I’ve never worn a No. 7 Middle School uniform in my life. Little girl, why don’t you take it off and let your big brother try it on?”

The group burst into laughter as they surrounded Bai Tian, blocking every possible route of escape.

Silently cursing, Nothing’s going right, Bai Tian tightened her grip on her schoolbag strap while rapidly considering how to escape.

But they gave her no more time to think. Someone impatiently reached out, grabbed her shoulder, and asked, “Why aren’t you talking? We only want to borrow your uniform. Don’t be so stingy.”

The person tugged at Bai Tian’s school jacket, trying to pull it off, while Bai Tian struggled and backed away.

She reached into her schoolbag and felt around for her phone while feigning extreme terror, significantly lowering their vigilance.

Another person stepped forward to grab Bai Tian’s clothes. She seized the opportunity, stomped on his foot, then slammed into him while he screamed. Ducking through the opening she had created, she took off running.

The people behind her quickly reacted and chased after her, shouting curses.

Bai Tian ran forward as fast as she could while pulling out her phone and clutching it in one hand.

She tried to run toward open areas, but unfortunately, the surrounding stores had all closed early. Even after running a considerable distance, she did not see a single person. Her strength was beginning to fail after sprinting for so long. Spotting a small shop nearby that was still open, Bai Tian ran toward it without thinking. She did not even see its name clearly before darting inside and hiding.

Only after the group’s scattered footsteps thundered past outside and gradually faded into the distance did Bai Tian reluctantly breathe a sigh of relief.

Drenched in sweat and panting, she cautiously stood up.

Only then did she realize that she seemed to be inside a rather strange shop.

Bai Tian looked around the somewhat cramped space. She did not see anyone, not even the owner. Boxes of products in unusual colors lined the shelves on either side. The lighting was too dim for her to see clearly, so she simply walked over and picked up a box to examine it.

Three seconds later, Bai Tian set the box down with her face bright red and vigorously wiped her hands against her school uniform.

She turned around, only to find a huge, thick, elongated device on a display stand suddenly looming before her. At the same time, the door at the very back of the shop, concealed by a heavy curtain, suddenly opened, and someone descended the stairs.

Bai Tian and the other person stared at each other.

Another set of footsteps came from behind the door, and a man’s hoarse voice sounded from behind the other person. “Why are you standing in the doorway?”

The person dressed entirely in a black hoodie paused before answering, “It’s nothing.”

She stepped out and moved aside, allowing the boy to emerge from behind her.

Bai Tian was about to pretend she had seen nothing, turn around, and leave when the person in the black hoodie called out to her. “Bai Tian.”

The boy revealed a strange expression. He looked at the person before him, then glanced at Bai Tian. Suddenly appearing to understand everything, he said, “I’ll be leaving first, then.”

He walked out and even smiled at Bai Tian as he passed her.

But no matter how Bai Tian looked at it, that smile was utterly inexplicable.

The surrounding environment made Bai Tian uncomfortable to the extreme. She had no desire to exchange pleasantries with her deskmate after encountering her here. They were not close in the first place and had nothing to discuss.

Moreover, the setting was so awkward that Bai Tian had no time to care about how completely different the other girl appeared from her school persona. She only wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

With both hands tucked into the pocket of her hoodie, Ye Wan slowly approached. She looked Bai Tian up and down, then asked with an ambiguous smile, “What did you come here to buy?”

Bai Tian suddenly felt grateful for the dim lighting inside the shop. Otherwise, the heat coloring her face would have been completely exposed.

“I came into the wrong place.”

She was telling the truth, though she had omitted a few details.

The other girl’s expression remained noncommittal. She approached, patted Bai Tian’s shoulder, then quickly withdrew her hand.

“Let’s go.”

Bai Tian left the shop almost eagerly without looking back. She did not need to look to know what was written on the illuminated sign over the entrance. It was bad enough that she had fled in without considering where she was going, but she had apparently gone blind as well.

The person behind her closed the glass door, locked it, then followed Bai Tian.

The two walked one behind the other for ten minutes. Bai Tian finally grew impatient, stopped, and turned around. “Why are you following me?” she demanded irritably.

The hooded girl also stopped. Pulling one hand from her pocket, she pointed at the bus stop not far behind Bai Tian and casually said, “I’m catching the bus.”

“…”

Bai Tian pressed her lips together, refused to spare the other girl another glance, and continued toward the bus stop.

No one else was waiting there at that hour. Bai Tian took out her phone and checked the time. After confirming that she had not missed the last bus, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Her taut nerves finally relaxed slightly. Clutching her phone, Bai Tian leaned against the advertisement board and tightened the collar of her school jacket. She had broken into a full-body sweat before spending a long time in the cold night wind. She began feeling dizzy, and her body gradually grew chilled.

The girl in the black hoodie leaned nearby, her long hair hidden beneath the hood. From a distance, her slender figure resembled a tall, thin boy. Neither of them spoke again or even exchanged a glance, as though they were strangers.

However, the quiet atmosphere was soon shattered by noisy voices.

Hearing a group approaching from behind, Bai Tian turned her head and glanced over warily before quickly averting her gaze.

She tightened her grip on her phone, stood upright, and began searching the surrounding area for somewhere to hide.

Two seconds later, Bai Tian made an immediate decision. She placed her schoolbag on the ground, removed her school jacket, wrapped it up, and stuffed it into her bag. Then she pulled the hair tie from her hair and allowed it to fall loose around her shoulders.

Next, she flipped open her phone, prepared to press those three buttons at any moment.

The noisy footsteps drew closer. Bai Tian held her breath. Just as the group was about to approach, the person beside her suddenly reached out, took Bai Tian’s left hand, and walked quickly away with her back to the group without once looking behind her.

Their footsteps were not particularly frantic; they were merely walking a little faster, so they did not attract the group’s attention.

Bai Tian drew a deep breath and allowed the person beside her to continue pulling her forward. Only after they had put a considerable distance between themselves and the bus stop did the other girl release her hand.

“Aren’t you catching the bus anymore?”

Bai Tian did not look back. She simply asked the question, hoping that speaking would calm her abnormally rapid heartbeat.

Ye Wan returned her hand to her pocket, slowed down, and walked beside Bai Tian. She answered casually, “I can take a taxi.”

The next bus stop was still far away, and even if they walked there, they would not catch the last bus. Bai Tian counted the change in her pocket, steeled herself, then stopped and looked at Ye Wan. Only after the other girl also stopped and met her gaze did Bai Tian feign nonchalance and say, “Since we’re going in the same direction, why don’t we share a taxi?”

The girl in the black hoodie watched her for a long moment. Her eyebrows lifted slightly, and she revealed a knowing, straightforward smile.

“Beg me.”