Chapter 51

The minute hand slowly crept toward the number nine. Outside the window, a heavy, dusky twilight pressed down.

Seven forty-five in the evening. Since autumn’s arrival, the world had been silently shortening its daylight hours.

The dining table was elegantly set with several dishes that looked exceptionally delicious. Shen Lin and Shen Shuyu sat face to face, eating their dinner in a quiet silence.

“Mom, are you going to that Future Technology exchange conference tomorrow?” Shen Shuyu asked softly.

“Mhm. You’ll stay home tomorrow. I’ll bring back the meeting materials for you to see when I return,” Shen Lin replied succinctly, packing several warnings and implications into a single sentence:

1. I will not be taking you to the conference tomorrow.

2. You will continue to stay home tomorrow. Do not think about going out.

3. I will bring the materials back. There will be a review in a few days.

Shen Shuyu felt both relief and frustration. Because the aftershocks of the last incident hadn’t subsided, Shen Lin had restricted Shen Shuyu’s outings for two or three months now.

But tomorrow was Saturday — the day of Yu Mo’s math competition and also her birthday. Shen Shuyu wanted to see Yu Mo off to the exam venue, and even more, she wanted to attend her birthday party.

“I understand, Mom.” Shen Shuyu nodded slightly. The plan in her mind adjusted according to the clues Shen Lin had just revealed. “The weather might get colder tomorrow. Please take care of your health.”

Shen Lin’s motion of swallowing her food paused slightly. Shen Shuyu rarely offered her this kind of concern. This warmth, so common between ordinary mothers and daughters, made Shen Lin feel a bit unaccustomed. Yet, a warm current rose in her heart at the same time.

Shen Lin picked up a succulent slice of bamboo shoot and placed it in Shen Shuyu’s bowl, saying plainly, “It’s fine. I’m not leaving until nine tomorrow. The sun will be up by then.”

“It’s still good to be careful in autumn,” Shen Shuyu added another reminder for Shen Lin, without changing her expression.

Shen Lin nodded. “I will.”

Silence returned to the dining room. The brief moment of mother-daughter warmth came to an end just like that.

Shen Shuyu’s long lashes were lowered. She chewed the crisp, tender bamboo shoot slowly, but her mind was racing. The situation looked grim. Even though Shen Lin no longer planned to take her to the conference — eliminating the hardest part of the plan, “sneaking away from the conference venue” — the next challenge, “sneaking out of the house right under Shen Lin’s nose,” was still terribly worrying.

After dinner, Shen Shuyu returned to her room. The moonlight wasn’t bright tonight. A thin crescent moon was embedded in the distant sky, and the stars hung sparsely on the night curtain, weary. The wind was also still. Shen Shuyu sat at the bay window. Looking through the bright glass, the outside world seemed like a quiet, lonely modern painting.

Suddenly, a glint of inspiration flashed in Shen Shuyu’s eyes. Holding onto the window frame, she leaned down slightly to look at the floor below. The light spilling from the windows on the lower floor illuminated a patch of ground. The earth, drenched by rain just the day before yesterday, looked especially damp in the night.

A bold, audacious plan suddenly took shape in Shen Shuyu’s mind. But she couldn’t accomplish this plan alone.

So, Shen Shuyu took out her phone and tapped on Li Qingqing’s Sailor Moon pink avatar.

Shen Shuyu briefly explained her plan to Li Qingqing.

After about a second of silence, Li Qingqing bombarded her with a series of celebratory Little Penguin and Little Cat stickers.

Li Qingqing: 【Ohoho, sis, I never thought you’d have such a crazy idea like today?】

【Is that not allowed?】 Shen Shuyu texted back, appearing cold on the surface, but her finger was long-pressing the new stickers Li Qingqing sent, saving them all into her own sticker library.

Seeing Shen Shuyu’s tsundere act, Li Qingqing felt a sense of pride, typing: 【Of course it is. Our little Shuyu is finally a little fairy who dares to love and hate, with a full set of human emotions.】

Shen Shuyu pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. 【What kind of description is that?】

【It means you’re getting more and more human now. Finally not so calm?】 Li Qingqing always spoke her mind, never beating around the bush or flattering anyone.

Shen Shuyu felt the word Li Qingqing wanted to use wasn’t “calm,” but rather “cold.”

Indeed. The old her was the very definition of “cold.” Whether in life or in business, she did everything with elegance and composure, completely in control. So calm and detached that others thought she lacked “emotions,” an essential human function.

But just as Li Qingqing had told her, she was slowly filling in the “emotions” she had buried in some unknown corner. She had dusted them off, reawakened them, and was changing bit by bit. And what was worth celebrating was that her changes were slowly being noticed by others.

One day, Yu Mo would see it too.

Shen Shuyu’s phone buzzed twice more. A small group with a bizarre name popped up before her.

—【Tyrannosaurus Study Group 2.0】

Why 2.0?

Looking at the group name, Shen Shuyu’s brow furrowed like a small, snow-white mountain.

Li Qingqing, seeing Shen Shuyu’s question sent to her private chat window, replied: 【Because 1.0 was the group we used last time to help Yu Mo deal with Sun Qi. And don’t you think this group name is especially cute and domineering?】

【[OK, fine]】 Shen Shuyu sent Li Qingqing a picture of a little cat conceding defeat.

Li Qingqing, seeing the sticker Shen Shuyu sent, slammed the table and stood up: 【You stole my sticker again!】

Shen Shuyu raised an eyebrow and sent Li Qingqing a sticker of a little penguin rolling around and acting shamelessly. — Also stolen from Li Qingqing.

.

The next day. The first rays of morning sunlight had just streamed into Shen Shuyu’s room, casting a shadow on the pure white curtains — the shadow of a person walking back and forth.

Various dresses were spread out on Shen Shuyu’s bed. She was wearing a long, sky-blue dress in a sailor-style cut, turning back and forth in front of the mirror in her walk-in closet. The light blue skirt hem fluttered gently like ocean waves lifted by the spinning wind, revealing glimpses of Shen Shuyu’s well-proportioned, snow-white calves.

Today’s occasion wasn’t grand compared to what Shen Shuyu had experienced in her two lifetimes. It was just going to the exam venue to cheer for Yu Mo with everyone, and then going to Yu Mo’s birthday party after the exam. Yet, Shen Shuyu had been so nervous she hadn’t slept well all night.

She dreamed she missed seeing Yu Mo enter the exam venue. She dreamed that later, when she went to get Yu Mo’s gift, a passerby bumped into it and broke it. She even dreamed that when she arrived at Yu Mo’s birthday party and opened the door, Shen Lin was standing right there. Shen Lin’s face was tight, her dark eyes gazing silently at Shen Shuyu. Not angry, but imposing.

In the dream, the intensely real scent of a Bloody Mary Alpha pheromone emanated from Shen Lin, pressing down on Shen Shuyu until she couldn’t breathe. She woke with a gasp, struggling out of the nightmare. A fine layer of sweat covered her forehead and temples. The scent of Camellia Wine floated in the tightly closed bedroom, every wisp conveying its owner’s inner fear.

“Clang, clang.” Two crisp knocks on the door interrupted Shen Shuyu’s thoughts. Aunt Zhao’s voice followed: “Miss, Miss Qingqing is here to see you.”

“Okay.” Shen Shuyu nodded lightly, smoothed out her dress, and walked to the door to open it for Li Qingqing.

Li Qingqing stood at the doorway, leaning against the frame and sizing up Shen Shuyu today. She praised, “Not Bad.”

Shen Shuyu had deliberately positioned herself slightly behind the door. Hearing Li Qingqing’s compliment, she quickly grabbed Li Qingqing’s arm and pulled her into the room. “Come in, quick.”

“Oh my god, did you take out all your clothes?” Li Qingqing looked at the bed covered in clothes, then towards the messy walk-in closet, her mouth falling open.

“Help me see. Which outfit is more suitable for today’s occasion?” Shen Shuyu didn’t banter with Li Qingqing, asking for help instead.

“The one you have on right now is fine! Look at this waistline, the pleating… although it has a bit of a J-country school uniform vibe, within that student-like feel, there’s a touch of maturity. It’s very nice.” Li Qingqing assessed Shen Shuyu’s outfit, praising it enthusiastically.

Standing in front of the mirror, Shen Shuyu was actually swayed by Li Qingqing’s words. — No wonder she was the future top figure in the fashion world.

As she spoke, Li Qingqing appeared behind Shen Shuyu in the mirror, holding a dark blue bow and gently pinning it to the back of Shen Shuyu’s hair. “See? Isn’t it perfect?”

The bow wasn’t very large, but Shen Shuyu had the advantage of a small head and face. Looking from the front, two blue ribbons peeked out from behind her jet-black long hair, elegant and ladylike, yet carrying a girlishness befitting her age.

Shen Shuyu nodded in approval. “Perfect.”

Just then, Shen Shuyu’s and Li Qingqing’s phones vibrated simultaneously. It was a message from the Tyrannosaurus Study Group.

Wei Lai: 【Ready yet?】

Li Qingqing quickly found a pair of black Mary Jane low-heel shoes and some pure white ankle socks for Shen Shuyu in the walk-in closet, which looked like it had just experienced a war. “Come on, put these on and we’ll head out.” Saying this, Li Qingqing ran to the window to greet Wei Lai, Feng Ruoyu, and Zhou Qin, who were waiting downstairs.

The second floor wasn’t terribly high, nor terribly low. Shen Shuyu sat on the windowsill, her legs dangling in mid-air. The cool wind brushed her ankles. Despite all the mental self-coaching she’d done last night, Shen Shuyu couldn’t help but feel afraid.

“Academic Rep, come on! We’re here to catch you!” Wei Lai shouted at Shen Shuyu as loudly as she could while still being quiet.

Shen Shuyu’s hands gripped the window frame tightly. Her heart pounded as if it wanted to leap out. This time, she was jumping down, and there was no Yu Mo below, reaching out to catch her. It was as if she had lost all her courage.

Yu Mo’s words from after school on Friday echoed in Shen Shuyu’s mind, spoken with indifference: “Doesn’t matter if you come or not. Don’t force yourself.”

But simultaneously, Shen Shuyu’s mind echoed with the words Yu Mo said in her past life, just before the college entrance exam, when Shen Shuyu had already secured A University’s recommendation for studying abroad: “Jiejie, can you come see me off? I think if Jiejie could come, I’d have unlimited strength. Maybe I could even get into A University.”

At that time, Yu Mo’s eyes were full of sparkling anticipation, but Shen Shuyu had chosen to stay home. That day, torrential rain poured from the sky, shrouding all of A City in darkness. Shen Shuyu stood at the floor-to-ceiling window in her living room, watching the rain gradually lessen outside, and only sent Yu Mo a message: 【Can’t go.】

As she finished typing, Shen Shuyu was about to send it to Yu Mo. But she didn’t know why — she paused, her finger hovering over the screen, considering, and then added two more words: 【Good luck.】

In her past life, she had just coldly given Yu Mo an empty expectation.

Not in this life.

Yu Mo was both the spear that could make Shen Shuyu crumble in an instant, and the shield that gave her boundless courage.

Shen Shuyu lightly pushed off with her feet, summoning her courage and jumping from the window. The wind roared past her ears. The feeling of weightlessness squeezed her fragile heart, as if trying to rip her soul from her body.

Although they had rehearsed this in the group chat yesterday, without a proper practice run, several pairs of hands reaching out to catch Shen Shuyu inevitably fumbled a bit. A sharp pain twisted in Shen Shuyu’s left ankle. Still reeling from the fright, she carefully placed her foot on the ground. Pain tugged at her nerves, warning its owner that she was injured.

But Shen Shuyu had absolutely no time to deal with this sprain right now. She slightly loosened her tightly furrowed brow, steadied herself beside Wei Lai and the others, and subtly tried to walk on her own. It was manageable. The sprain wasn’t that severe. She could barely walk alone.

“You okay?” Li Qingqing poked her head down and asked.

Shen Shuyu waved at Li Qingqing. “It’s nothing.”

“Good. Then I’ll clean up the mess here for you and meet you guys at the exam venue!” Li Qingqing said according to plan.

Shen Shuyu and the others got into a taxi as planned. Along the way, Wei Lai urged the driver to speed up several times. Shen Shuyu watched the greenery zipping backward along the road, feeling extremely nervous. She hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. Or rather, she had never been this nervous before.

Even though it was early autumn, the plants already showed signs of decline. Sunlight filtered through the already sparse cypress trees, falling in large patches onto the entrance of A University Affiliated Girls High School.

Yu Mo stood there carrying a simple backpack, looking off in the direction of the Upper City.

She was waiting.

Waiting for Wei Lai and the others to come and cheer her on, as they had agreed last night.

But time ticked away second by second. Those familiar figures still hadn’t appeared on that long uphill road. Just as Yu Mo was about to check her watch for what felt like the hundredth time, far away, amidst the mottled shadows of the trees, a speeding taxi came to a stop. Wei Lai, Feng Ruoyu, Zhou Qin, and even Shen Shuyu emerged from the car in Yu Mo’s line of sight, drawing closer and closer.

“I’m here.” Before she could even catch her breath, Shen Shuyu walked urgently up to Yu Mo and told her.

Yu Mo didn’t know why, but she actually saw a glimmer of bright pride on Shen Shuyu’s face. She had clearly told her yesterday that she didn’t need to come. Was she trying to prove something to her? Yu Mo couldn’t figure it out. She looked at the messy long hair falling in front of Shen Shuyu’s face and only felt it looked disheveled.

Perhaps the wind today made people’s hearts softer. Yu Mo unconsciously reached out to help tidy the stray strands of hair blocking that delicate face. Just like every time Yu Mo had smoothed Shen Shuyu’s hair back into place in the past.

Yu Mo’s slightly cool fingers brushed against Shen Shuyu’s skin, which was still flushed with a layer of heat from exertion. An inexplicable emotion slowly stirred within Yu Mo’s heart. Two hearts beating at different rhythms were simultaneously sprinkled with all kinds of Pop Rocks.

Yu Mo lowered her arm from fixing Shen Shuyu’s hair, saying somewhat unnaturally, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” As Shen Shuyu said this, she took the candy she had been clutching in her palm out of her pocket and placed it into Yu Mo’s hand.

“What is it?” Yu Mo wanted to open her hand, which Shen Shuyu was pressing closed.

Shen Shuyu still held it shut, not letting her open it. “Look at it after you go in.”

Yu Mo didn’t bother arguing with Shen Shuyu over such a trivial point. She nodded. “Fine.”

Then Yu Mo looked at Wei Lai and the other two, still catching their breath nearby, and waved to them. “I’m going!”

“Good luck!”

“Do well on the exam!”

“Go for it, my Yu Mo!!!”

…

The four of them watched Yu Mo’s figure disappear into the massive crowd of people entering the venue, never to be found again.

Then, Wei Lai shifted her gaze to Shen Shuyu. “By the way, Acad Rep, what did you just slip Yu Mo?”

“Hehe, suspicious?” Feng Ruoyu chimed in.

“These. Do you want some?” Shen Shuyu was prepared, taking a few more candies from her other pocket.

“Were you afraid Yu Mo would get nervous and have low blood sugar during the exam?” Zhou Qin took a candy, helping Shen Shuyu explain.

Yu Mo melted into the crowd, thinking: Well, now I can open my hand and see what it is, right? While checking back to make sure she was out of Shen Shuyu’s sight, she opened her palm. A delicately wrapped, blue-packaged candy lay quietly in her hand, slightly damp with sweat. It was the Sea Salt Caramel-flavored candy Shen Shuyu had given her once before.

“Mhm.” Shen Shuyu nodded along with Zhou Qin’s words. She had distributed the yellow-packaged candies to Wei Lai and the other two.