Chapter 13: That Delicate Flower (13)

She’d actually fallen asleep.

Song Qi thought for a moment, then picked Gu Si up.

Gu Si stirred uneasily in her arms, frowning. Whatever she was dreaming about, it seemed to be painful.

Under normal circumstances, Xu Yangnuan shouldn’t have been this strong. But with Song Qi’s consciousness influencing her, it wasn’t so strange for her to do things that seemed impossible.

As Song Qi carried Gu Si toward the teachers’ office, people who happened to glance out their windows were startled.

“What happened?” The teachers in the office jumped when they saw them.

“She cried herself to sleep. Could she rest here for a while?”

“Of course,” one teacher said, offering up a reclining chair. The teacher sighed. “I can’t imagine how long it’ll take her to get over what she saw.”

Song Qi didn’t reply. She tucked a small blanket around Gu Si and stood beside the chair, watching her for a while with a frown.

“Teacher, I’m going back to class to do my homework.”

“All right.”

Song Qi left the office and gently closed the door behind her.

“System.”

Yeah?

“Can you blur her memories?” Song Qi frowned.

The system fell silent for a moment. Probably not.

Song Qi scoffed. “You were worried a few stern words from me might make Qin Xiao have a breakdown. Now someone’s actually having one, and suddenly you don’t care?”

Host, she’s just a string of data, the system replied.

A chill entered Song Qi’s eyes.

There was definitely something wrong with this system.

She went back to class, then glanced at Qin Xiao.

He was doing his homework, his brow furrowed and his expression twisted with frustration.

When Qin Xiao saw Song Qi return, he straightened up and leaned toward her. “Is she okay?”

“Not really.” Song Qi picked up her pen and glanced at his worksheet. “That’s all you’ve done?”

Qin Xiao’s expression stiffened as he covered the worksheet.

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me,” Song Qi said evenly.

“No thanks. I can handle it.” Qin Xiao spun his pen.

Song Qi didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have time to worry about him right now. She worked through her homework quickly, while Qin Xiao listened to the pages turning beside him and grew more and more irritated.

Why are these damn questions so hard?

When class ended, Gu Si was no longer in the office. Her parents had picked her up.

Song Qi tidied her things and went back to the dormitory. She pulled her phone out from under her pillow and messaged Gu Si.

Xu Yangnuan: How are you now?

Gu Si: I’m scared. Every time I close my eyes, I see what happened… I don’t even know how I fell asleep just now.

Xu Yangnuan: Make sure you see a doctor.

Gu Si: Okay.

Song Qi wondered whether she should say something else, but she really wasn’t good at comforting people.

The first time she’d seen something that awful, she’d felt terrible and thrown up all night. Later, after she’d seen enough, she’d gotten used to it.

Song Qi held her phone.

Xu Yangnuan: If you can’t sleep, try memorizing some English.

Gu Si: Okay, I’ll try. Go to sleep.

Xu Yangnuan: Okay. Good night.

Gu Si stayed home for three days. When she returned to school, she looked thinner than before, and even more in need of someone to look after her.

Song Qi handed her a bottle of Wangzai Milk. “Are you going home tonight?”

Gu Si shook her head. “No. I feel worse when I go home. I’m all alone in my room, and my parents can’t stay with me every minute.”

Song Qi nodded. “If you get scared tonight, you can come find me.”

“Okay.” Gu Si smiled at Song Qi and pulled open the ring on the bottle.

Song Qi pinched her cheek. This time, Gu Si stayed still and let her.

A moment later, Song Qi let go and looked at the red marks on Gu Si’s face.

She hadn’t even squeezed that hard. How could the girl’s skin be so delicate?

Qin Xiao came out of the staff room and froze when he saw them. His eyes met Song Qi’s.

He stopped, and the air turned awkward.

Qin Xiao cleared his throat twice and glanced at Gu Si. For once, he didn’t look annoyed. “Are you okay?”

Gu Si blinked. Tears immediately began to fall.

“Brother Qin Xiao…”

Qin Xiao stepped back, his face taking on an expression not unlike someone with a stomachache.

I must’ve lost my mind, talking to her.

He glanced at Song Qi, then turned and hurried off.

What is wrong with that guy?

Song Qi looked at Gu Si. Thankfully, the girl had the makings of a proper villainess. She’d stopped crying already, though she was still hiccupping a little.

Song Qi suddenly felt irritated. She took out a tissue and roughly wiped Gu Si’s face. When Gu Si looked up at her in confusion, Song Qi shoved the tissue into her hand.

“Wipe your own face. I’m going back.”

“Okay.” Gu Si nodded and glanced at Song Qi again.

She could tell Song Qi was in a bad mood. Watching her walk away, she suddenly understood and nodded to herself.

Because of the student’s death, the school ramped up its lectures. The first one was that afternoon.

It was part of a series; there would be plenty more, probably one every month.

The student’s parents came to the school gates every day to make a scene, turning the entrance into a mess.

As Song Qi passed the school gate, she could still see the traces left by the paper they’d burned outside.

People said they wanted justice and were demanding what they called two million yuan in compensation.

Song Qi didn’t understand.

After such a terrible thing happened, how could they still be thinking about compensation?

She didn’t want to dwell on it. She had no time for that.

Walking with the crowd toward the auditorium, Song Qi looked at the people around her.

Some walked together, chatting and laughing. Others wore the numb expression of people who thought they’d seen through life and death.

Their faces reminded her of the ones she’d seen while carrying out missions on Barren Star.

Song Qi spotted Gu Si in the distance, walking with a group of people. They were surrounding her like a little princess. She smiled now and then at whatever they were saying.

Since Song Qi had come here, she’d grown more distant from the rest of her class.

It was a little ironic that Qin Xiao was the person she knew best.

“Class monitor.”

“Hm?” Song Qi glanced at Qin Xiao, who had appeared beside her.

“Are you free after evening study?” Qin Xiao looked more than a little awkward.

“What do you want?” Song Qi asked, expressionless.