Chapter 27 Part 2

“No need,” Yan Mian refused on instinct, but the cashier had already scanned them and started bagging.

“Don’t stand on ceremony,” Shi Ruofeng said casually, picking up the two bags and heading out. “I still haven’t thanked you properly for last time.”

Yan Mian’s gaze fell on the bag in Shi Ruofeng’s right hand. Shi Ruofeng glanced down at it. “Li Nian mentioned you’re not feeling well. Let me carry it for you. Where to? Off campus?”

“I can manage,” Yan Mian said.

Shi Ruofeng eyed her for a few seconds, then handed over the bags.

Outside the supermarket, Yan Mian stopped and pulled out her phone, head bowed over the screen. “Add me as a friend? Or scan this—I’ll send you the money.”

Shi Ruofeng said, “I just picked up a part-time gig. Li Nian hooked me up.”

Yan Mian almost said she should thank Li Nian for that. But a quick look revealed the bag was stuffed with Li Nian’s favorite snacks. The words died on her tongue.

They ran into each other often enough in the normal course of things. Li Nian was a great friend; even after making new ones, she’d never dreamed of sidelining Yan Mian. Every time, she tried turning their old duo hangouts into trio outings.

Maybe it was their shared pain that drew them close, yet their differing happiness kept them apart. Both had cool personalities, but they couldn’t bond like people said similar types always do.

Up till now, they were still just on nodding terms.

As Yan Mian pondered an excuse to slip away, Shi Ruofeng asked, “That submission this morning—was it someone else’s work?”

She smiled after asking. “Li Nian wanted me to bring it up. She figured if she asked you straight-up, you wouldn’t answer. Probably embarrassed? Or scared of hearing it’s not what she hoped.”

Yan Mian looked at her steadily, her lashes trembling faintly. “Which do you think it is?”

“Not at all,” Shi Ruofeng said as she slipped on her headphones with casual indifference. “You don’t strike me as the type to joke around. But if you’re seriously telling me you want Zhu Lexing to do her best… well, it’s not just Li Nian—even I can’t make sense of that.”

“Didn’t you just say thank you?” Yan Mian glanced at her. “Wasn’t that thanks for Zhu Lexing? Why should it be so baffling if I’m cheering her on?”

Shi Ruofeng nodded. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Neither did I,” Yan Mian replied. “Li Nian and I are just ordinary friends.”

Yet at that moment, Shi Ruofeng’s already sour expression shifted subtly.

“Did I ever say… that she and I are anything more than ordinary friends?” Shi Ruofeng asked. “You seem to have a bit of a misunderstanding about me.”

Yan Mian shrugged it off. “Then let’s call it a misunderstanding. I’m heading out. Li Nian will get the money to you.”

The conversation had come out of nowhere, but deep down, Yan Mian knew that if she didn’t address it today, it would surface eventually. Omegas during their Differentiation Period always grew fragile and restless, prone to forming deep attachments to whoever was closest to them at the time.

Though Zhu Lexing had met Shi Ruofeng that day, their encounter had been brief. Afterward, for a long stretch, it was Li Nian who had stayed by Shi Ruofeng’s side.

Something similar had happened a few months earlier, when Lin Yang had cornered her after school with a group of people and issued a vague threat. Yan Mian hadn’t understood it then—in fact, she’d found it odd.

But today, with just a couple of ambiguous remarks from Shi Ruofeng, she got it right away and jumped straight into explaining herself.

Yan Mian wasn’t sure if the change was for better or worse, but at least she hadn’t made herself another enemy.

She checked the time, assuming Zhu Lexing was home by now. With no reason to linger, she started toward the school gate. But then, from the bushes beside a nearby palm tree, someone was abruptly shoved into view.

Their gazes locked in the air.

Zhu Lexing: “…”

Yan Mian: “…”

Yan Mian recovered first. “You—”

Zhu Lexing glanced to her side, where Qiao Qiao—having crouched there for ages—stood up as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Yan Mian! Zhu Lexing said she needed to talk to you, so I tagged along. Got things to do—see you tomorrow!”

With that fluid delivery, Qiao Qiao spun on her heel and bolted, leaving no opening for Zhu Lexing to grab her clothes.

Zhu Lexing reluctantly pulled her gaze away.

She figured Yan Mian would just walk off, but by the time she refocused, the other girl was already standing right in front of her. “Is there something you need?”

Zhu Lexing fell silent for several seconds. “It’s not exactly nothing.”

She’d rehearse her lines in her head first, then say her piece in a bit.

Since they were headed the same way and Zhu Lexing stayed quiet, Yan Mian walked alongside her.

Outwardly patient, both were inwardly sizing each other up—each plotting how to speak without showing weakness, how to strike straight to the heart—when a thunderous male voice boomed from behind.

“You two lovebirds up ahead—stop right there!”

Zhu Lexing froze, instinctively whipping her head around. There stood the pot-bellied Dean of Students, hands clasped behind his back, fresh from the supermarket. He jabbed a finger their way and bellowed again. “Yeah, you two strolling under the tree—stay put!”

Zhu Lexing sensed the footsteps around her picking up pace, as if people were scattering.

She tried to call out an explanation, but the dean charged straight toward her and Yan Mian.

Zhu Lexing: ???

Your teacher! Got nothing better to do after scarfing down dinner? What’s it to you if we’re out for a walk—

She glanced instinctively at Yan Mian beside her. Yan Mian looked stunned, lips parting as if to speak, but Zhu Lexing seized her wrist and broke into a run.

Yan Mian opened her mouth to protest, but the warm sunlight and breeze were already whipping past her cheeks. Her lungs filled with rushing air, her breaths coming faster.

Halfway through, Zhu Lexing suddenly remembered Yan Mian’s condition and skidded to a halt. “…You okay?”

Yan Mian pulled up beside her, breathing hard but not gasping. Still, her eyes had reddened slightly. She fixed Zhu Lexing with a cool stare. “You drag me into a sprint, then ask if I’m okay? What kind of sense does that make?”

Zhu Lexing thought: Obviously, because you’ve got a health issue!

“I thought he was chasing us—”

Before she could finish, the Dean of Students blew past them and collared the couple who’d been running ahead. “Got the nerve to hold hands, but not to face the music?”

Zhu Lexing: “…”

Yan Mian looked away. “You could’ve just explained. Why run?”

Zhu Lexing: “…”

What a day.

She squeezed her eyes shut, racking her brain for an explanation that wouldn’t paint her as the dumbest person alive.

But Yan Mian kept staring, then spoke up. “Zhu Lexing.”

“…Yeah?” Zhu Lexing answered on reflex.

“Are you feeling guilty about something?”

Zhu Lexing: “…………”

Why run?

—Because I thought he was after us.

Feeling guilty?

He was obviously busting couples.

So why had she run off with Yan Mian?

Zhu Lexing suddenly craved a hit of pure oxygen.

This was the unbearable lightness of being, or whatever they called it.

She parted her lips to explain, but no words fit. Instead, she lobbed the question back. “Why would you think that?”

Yan Mian studied her, then broke into a sudden laugh. “Zhu Lexing. I’m asking you.”

Zhu Lexing rarely saw Yan Mian laugh—let alone initiate it. When the girl’s lips curved just so, her usual aloof elegance cracked open. Under the warm sun, her beauty shone even brighter, radiant and refined.

Bathed in the purple haze of dusk, they stood beneath the palm tree. Out on the sports field, students still sweated through their drills, gearing up for tomorrow’s match.

Zhu Lexing gripped her drink as the Yan Mian before her asked, “That day—what did you want to say?”

Zhu Lexing recalled the old tale of the thief who plugged his own ears to steal a bell.

Foolish, but it worked.

“What do you think I wanted to say?” Zhu Lexing tossed the question right back.

Zhu Lexing thought, of course she wanted to say it.

“I hope you enter the entertainment industry not because I want to exploit you or leech off you to make money. It’s because I want you to succeed.”

But this was obviously laced with her own subjective desires. Why did it have to be the entertainment industry? In the end, it still came down to the fact that the Zhu Family could offer some help, making things less arduous for Yan Mian.

Not arduous was one thing, but did Yan Mian actually have any interest in that line of work?

When it boiled down to it, this was still her own wish imposed on the situation.

Lately, Zhu Lexing had been replaying this conversation over and over in her mind. She was even a little grateful for Song Yun’s abrupt interruption back then. Without it, blurting out those words might have rubbed Yan Mian the wrong way.

Even now, Zhu Lexing still couldn’t pin down exactly what her feelings for Yan Mian were. No matter how she sliced it, she needed Yan Mian’s goodwill just to stay alive in the literal sense. So wasn’t being good to her still a form of exploitation?

The thoughts spiraled into contradiction, and Zhu Lexing cut them off. After a few seconds’ pause, she finally spoke. “What I wanted to say is this: no matter what, you have the right to choose your own path in life.”

“No one gets to tell you what to do.”

Yan Mian hadn’t expected that answer from Zhu Lexing.

Last time, Zhu Lexing’s tone had made it sound like a done deal that she was heading into the entertainment industry. This sudden backpedal left her momentarily at a loss for words. But she recovered quickly. “…Is that so? That’s all?”

Zhu Lexing nodded.

Unbeknownst to them, their dynamic had subtly shifted.

Zhu Lexing sensed it but had no idea how to flip it back. She changed the subject instead. “That script from this morning—”

She’d barely started when Yan Mian cut in. “That was someone else’s submission. I just read it aloud.”

Her tone flowed effortlessly, as if she’d rehearsed the response a hundred times for prying eyes.

Zhu Lexing: “…Oh.”

She knew full well it might be a lie—that Yan Mian had been the one cheering her on. Still, disappointment tugged at her.

Unsure why, exactly, she just said, “I’ll get going then.”

Yan Mian watched her retreating figure, then called out suddenly. “Tomorrow… good luck in the competition.”

Zhu Lexing froze and turned back, but Yan Mian had already veered off down another path.