Chapter 22: Extra One Part 3

【Bird Outfit: No clue. Woman’s intuition? But yeah, he didn’t do anything, and everyone who knows him says he’s got no issues like that. Probably just me being jaded from too many gross dudes. Whatever, pretend I said nothing.】

Because there was no evidence, the topic was eventually dropped.

—Enrollment—

When Jiang Shiyan started her freshman year, she had once suggested that Xu Zhiyao apply to S University.

S City was full of tourist attractions and sat right next to B City. On top of that, S University’s dorms were excellent, the cafeteria food was delicious, and transportation was convenient everywhere around. It was simply the best choice for spending four years of college.

Xu Zhiyao turned her down without a second thought.

She had already decided to apply to B University.

The two schools were ranked about the same, so either one would have been a great option for her.

Her reason for refusing to join Jiang Shiyan and the others at S University was purely practical: B University was close to home, just one subway stop away, which she found incredibly convenient.

Jiang Shiyan knew her well. Once Xu Zhiyao made up her mind, no one in the family could force her to change it.

After that, Jiang Shiyan never brought up her college choices again.

On the day of freshman orientation at S University, Xu Zhiyao—who was still fast asleep in bed—suddenly got a call from Jiang Shiyan.

Jiang Shiyan rushed over to her door, accompanied her through orientation, and then walked her to the dorm.

While making the bed for her, Jiang Shiyan couldn’t hold back and asked, “Did you come to S University because of Junior Xiangqing?”

Xu Zhiyao asked back with a blank expression, “Who is she?”

Jiang Shiyan let out an “oh.” “You don’t remember? The junior from the Anime Club. I heard she already turned down that guy who was chasing her. I was thinking, if you still like her, you could ask how she feels about it. Who knows—maybe she’d be willing to take a different path for you. But since you don’t remember, whatever. Just wonder which guy will go after our junior next.”

The moment she finished speaking, Xu Zhiyao—who had been calmly fiddling with her phone at the desk just a second ago—bolted out the door.

Jiang Shiyan hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. Knowing she couldn’t keep up physically, she didn’t bother chasing and just called her instead.

Xu Zhiyao picked up right away. As soon as the call connected, the question came flying: “Dorm— which building, floor, room?”

Jiang Shiyan felt a pang of intense guilt. “Um… actually, I was just messing with you. Those two… they got together a few days ago…”

She stammered through her explanation, bracing for a tirade of abuse.

But Xu Zhiyao didn’t snap at her. After about half a minute of silence, she spoke in a flat, emotionless voice: “Mm. Got it.”

Jiang Shiyan could hardly believe her ears. Before she could tease whether something had rattled her enough to change her personality, the call cut off.

Xu Zhiyao stood quietly in the middle of the road.

She hated her sharp eyesight just then. Even without trying to look, she could clearly make out the pair approaching from the distance.

They were very close—close enough to pass for a couple.

The boy’s hand grew restless, reaching toward the girl and grabbing hold of her with eager impatience.

It was the most ordinary scene in the world, yet it stabbed at Xu Zhiyao’s eyes like a needle.

She refused to watch any longer and turned toward the dorm entrance.

Behind her, the girl—who had been yanked hard—stiffened abruptly. With a hint of resistance, she pulled her hand free and shoved it into her jacket pocket, blocking any chance of further contact.

07 Game

Jiang Shiyan figured she understood Xu Zhiyao pretty well.

The fact that she hadn’t cursed her out that day didn’t mean she’d actually changed her ways.

If her guess was right, Xu Zhiyao had probably spotted the junior and her boyfriend out on a date right in the middle of that phone call.

The chances of such a soap-opera twist were slim, but Xu Zhiyao had fallen for someone based on a single photo, so nothing was truly impossible.

With that in mind, Jiang Shiyan felt a rare flicker of guilt.

She didn’t let it show, but deep down, she thought that if this girl ever lost it completely and crashed a wedding to steal the bride someday, she’d go along with it—just this once!

She’d only ever daydreamed about such a clichéd plot in private, never imagining she’d actually have to make good on that guilt one day.

This time, it was Qu Leyin who kicked off the drama in the group chat.

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: Help help help!!! Level-one alert, level-one alert, level-one alert!!! Who’s free next Friday night?】

【Bird Outfit: What’s wrong?】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: I got word that next Friday night, our Qingqing Baby is likely heading to a party with Lu Zimin and his crew of scumbags. Not sure on the odds, but if she shows, it’s a hundred percent. No room for wishful thinking. If I weren’t off campus these past two weeks, I’d go myself. Who’s available? Tail her, make sure nothing goes down.】

【Jiang Sir: Hold on, you’ve got me all confused. What the hell? Lu Zimin? A party? Didn’t he pass all the character checks? You sure he’ll even show?】

【Bird Outfit: See, that’s what I said—men are either rotten or on their way to rotting. Clearly, he’s been down this road too long and is finally about to arrive at the finish line like the champ everyone expected.】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: My cousin’s childhood friend told me. One of the scumbags in their group is a senior who’s desperate for an internship and begged him for help through a mutual connection. He figured what the hell and did the guy a solid since they were on decent terms. That scumbag senior said he wanted to thank him, but instead dragged him to one of those parties. My cousin’s friend was so freaked out he went straight to a urologist that same day—apparently got so rattled he might have some temporary… performance issues. Oops, got off track there. Anyway, bottom line: this pack of scumbags is planning a big bash at the KTV next Friday, and this time their target is the new guy Lu Zimin’s girlfriend.】

【Bird Outfit: New guy?】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: It’s like the old-school “pledge of allegiance” back in ancient times, where you’d bring the enemy’s leader’s head to join the gang. Here, it’s offering up your own girlfriend.】

The group fell silent for a moment, the sheer disgust rendering them too repulsed even to bother cursing, as if it might taint their own hands.

【Jiang Sir: Even if we’ve got the time, how are we supposed to crash it?】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: I’ll handle that part. You all just need to keep an eye on Qingqing Baby the whole time. Oh, and round up a few burly guys too—worst case scenario, you and Qingqing alone as two girls won’t cut it.】

【Bird Outfit: Fine by me. I was gonna throw a party back at the West Suburbs Villa anyway—I’ll just push it.】

【Baa~: I can go too, but can someone reimburse my KTV tab qwq? I just blew through this month’s allowance on food and now I’m down to instant noodles (pitiful.jpg)】

【Jiang Sir: For something like this, do we even need to get involved? A lunatic playing hero to save the damsel—sounds fun already.】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: Oh yeah, almost forgot about her. If she goes, we probably won’t need extra backup, right?】

【Baa~: Nah, remember how I always call her? If she shows, we’ll need even more people.】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: …】

【Beethoven Without Fragrance: Alright then, Shiyan, you wanna fill her in?】

【Jiang Sir: OK, @Bird Outfit, grab me a ticket too. I’m coming back with you—wheee!!!】

Jiang Shiyan relayed Qu Leyin’s message word for word, then tacked on one more line.

【So the job of protecting Junior Xiangqing falls to you?】

Xu Zhiyao didn’t reply that day.

Jiang Shiyan wasn’t worried. She’d bet her head this woman would show up no matter what.

08 Decision

After sleeping on it overnight, Xu Zhiyao finally responded.

【Xu Zhiyao: Tell Qu Leyin if you’re tagging along with me, have her set me up too.】

Jiang Shiyan momentarily forgot her recent guilt toward the woman and fired off a string of question marks to express her bewilderment.

【Xu Zhiyao: You wanna see me commit murder?】

【Jiang Shiyan: ??? Talking like that gives me the delusion I could actually hold you back!!!】

【Xu Zhiyao: If it comes to that, just knock me out cold like old times. Oh, and don’t forget to get her out first—keep her from seeing that mess.】

【Jiang Shiyan: …】

If you’re so worried about your image, then why the hell do you always beat people half to death!!!

Jiang Shiyan had grown accustomed to this thankless life of cleaning up after her, and with her forgotten guilt now flooding back, she ultimately agreed.

But she knew this situation was different. If things blew up, Xu Zhiyao alone might not be able to take on the dozen or so guys in the room.

So she went to Lu Mianmian and asked her to bring some backup.

Lu Mianmian was straightforward about it, agreeing in exchange for Jiang Shiyan covering her next three days’ meals.

Friday rolled around soon enough.

When Jiang Shiyan knocked on Xu Zhiyao’s dorm room door, she was in the middle of doing her makeup.

Spotting something off about her look, Jiang Shiyan asked curiously, “You aren’t planning to disguise yourself as a guy, are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh? Why go to all that trouble? If I read things right, Junior Xiangqing doesn’t seem to like getting too close to guys. Why skip the easy mode for hardcore hell mode?”

“The game’s penalty target is a pair of opposite-sex players.”

Jiang Shiyan caught her drift. “If the game’s that bad, Xiangqing probably won’t agree to it, right?”

Xu Zhiyao’s eyes held no emotion whatsoever. “Not in front of me. Not even a kiss.”

Jiang Shiyan: “Can you guarantee it’ll be your turn?”

She let out a light scoff. “If you can’t stand it, then just beat them up.”

Jiang Shiyan: “…” Don’t make beating people sound as simple as grabbing a bite to eat, sis!!!

After finishing her makeup, Xu Zhiyao pulled the prepared chest binder from her closet.

Jiang Shiyan clapped for her with exaggerated applause. “If I remember right, your period cramps hit hard right before. You can even endure this? The power of love really is something else.”

Xu Zhiyao ignored her teasing. Grimacing, she wrapped the binder tightly around herself, then sat still for a moment until the discomfort eased.

“By the way, there’s this pretty interesting junior who’s been hanging out with me. She was planning to come along to Chi Niao’s villa, but when she found out I had plans tonight, she begged to tag along anyway. I couldn’t shake her off, so I brought her. You want to sit with Xiangqing and the rest of us later?”

“What do you think?”

Jiang Shiyan shrugged. “Fair enough. I forgot Xiangqing’s still got a boyfriend these days. In that case, just stick with her. The junior said she’s already waiting for us at the gate. You all packed up? Let’s head out.”

Just as they were about to step through the school gates, Jiang Shiyan remembered a far more important question.

“Your decision’s still the same as before? You haven’t even considered asking her straight up if she’s willing to walk this road with you?”

Xu Zhiyao stood tall and straight like a pine tree. She strode forward, each step filled with resolve and poise.

“Even heaven tossed the red thread of fate right in front of me—how could I dare not grab it?”

“Maybe I was wrong before. There’s no such thing as a smooth road in this world. Without the right person by your side, even the simplest path turns into a total disaster.”

“So if she’s willing, then no matter how rough the road gets, I’ll walk it with her and make sure she gets through safe and sound.”