Chapter 31: Sister (Part One) Part 2

Once the sound of even breathing returned, Shen Ruoshuang had gotten up to refill the water for her.

Although her starting point and intentions weren’t malicious, as she stood on the ladder and slid the hot water bottle into Xu Yinian’s covers…

Inevitably, she had brushed against that soft, warm abdomen. The strings of her heart had nearly snapped.

Not daring to linger, she had quickly withdrawn her hand.

She wasn’t afraid of Xu Yinian suddenly waking up; she was afraid of the endless, scorching desire ignited in her own heart.

A desire that, once it tasted a hint of sweetness, would become insatiable and continue to crave more.

Driven by her habitual asceticism and suppression, she had restrained that impulse. She would not cross the line.

At the very least, she would not take advantage of the other person while they were unconscious.

That would be too despicable.

By the time she returned to her own bed curtains, she realized her face had somehow flushed a faint pink, and her fingertips were trembling involuntarily.

And all of this would remain her secret alone.

Shen Ruoshuang suddenly remembered something else—something Xu Yinian likely didn’t know.

When she had gotten up this morning, she had gone down to find Bai Ran sitting in the pitch-black darkness, the lights still off.

Even as a sleeper as light as Shen Ruoshuang, she hadn’t even known when Bai Ran had gotten out of bed.

Bai Ran turned her head. Even in that weak light, the traces of madness in her eyes were apparent.

“You touched her last night,” she said, her voice slow and deliberate.

It was a total sickness—from her fragile body to her morbid psychology.

“Jealous? I’m not some ‘gentle sister.’ Is it so strange that I would lay a hand on her?”

Even though she hadn’t actually intended to cross the line, she chose to speak that way in front of Bai Ran just to provoke her.

“You’d better keep up the act,” Bai Ran replied. “A persona built on a mountain of lies… you know better than I do just how ‘spectacular’ the day it collapses will be.”

Both of them kept their voices very low so as not to wake the sleeping Xu Yinian.

This was the common ground that kept them in check.

They both harbored desires and secrets that Xu Yinian could never be allowed to know.

It wasn’t until nearly ten o’clock, when the art studio was about to close and clear everyone out, that Ji Yan put on her jacket and walked out of the teaching building.

The autumn night wind was a bit chilly, blowing through her shoulder-length hair. It didn’t look messy, only more casual and lazy.

Her phone rang. It was Lu Zhou.

“A-Yan, come to the bar! You’re the only one missing!”

Ji Yan rejected her without a second thought. “No time. Have fun yourself.”

To socialites like them, the stimulation of hormones and “romantic encounters” felt incredibly boring to her. She had grown tired of it long ago.

Since the semester started, she had only gone out once on the first day. She was even less inclined to show up now; even Lu Zhou’s invitation couldn’t move her.

If she had time in the evening, she usually went back to the dorm.

Thinking of Xu Yinian—who was always huddled in the dorm and easy to find—Ji Yan’s heart stirred.

It seemed that ever since she discovered Xu Yinian, a “plaything” who fit her tastes in every way, she hadn’t been going to bars to sleep.

“No, wait! I’ve been dumped! Qin Jiashu dumped me! You’re really not coming for that?”

When Lu Zhou said this, there wasn’t a hint of sadness in her voice.

Her relationship with Qin Jiashu had been fake to begin with. Qin Jiashu was entirely focused on Ji Yan and would only show up to gatherings if Ji Yan was there; she never even looked at Lu Zhou.

However, she hadn’t expected the other girl to bring up a breakup so suddenly. She felt there must be some juicy gossip behind it.

Ji Yan suddenly remembered that Qin Jiashu had been with Xu Yinian today. Her eyelashes lowered, casting a faint shadow.

“Isn’t that normal? She should have dumped you long ago.”

Qin Jiashu treated every relationship as a casual fling.

And she was always the one doing the dumping; she never needed a reason.

“Hey! Don’t tell me you can’t see it! Qin Jiashu only got with me to bait you. Now that she’s broken up with me, did she finally catch you, or has she given up?”

Lu Zhou was indeed just using this as an excuse to get Ji Yan to come out. She was so curious and gossipy that it was as if she wasn’t discussing her own fresh ex-girlfriend.

Thinking of Xu Yinian’s cluelessly intimate attitude toward Qin Jiashu, Ji Yan sneered.

“Her? She’s playing the ‘top’ for love now.”

“Huh?! No wonder! I saw her social media post today—she took off her manicures and cut her nails short!”

Lu Zhou’s exclamation in the bar drew several knowing looks from the people around her.

Then, she realized something was off. “Wait, how do you know? Do you know her… new interest?”

“My territory is being poached. You tell me if I know her or not.”

With that, Ji Yan hung up. She put on her helmet and straddled her black BMW S1000RR—a relatively low-profile replacement for the Fireblade after it had been reported.

No matter how many times Lu Zhou tried to call back, she couldn’t get through.

What did she mean by ‘poached’? Did someone steal Qin Jiashu away?

Or did Qin Jiashu poach her…

Wait, since when did Ji Yan have ‘territory’ like that? How come I didn’t know!

***

The first month of military training for the freshmen had entered its later stages. The tasks were basically just drills and weren’t as exhausting as the beginning.

The weather turned cooler, and they were finally granted a single day of “mercy”—a holiday for course selection.

At X University, major-specific courses didn’t need to be selected, but students had to choose their Physical Education and elective courses.

P.E. classes only lasted until sophomore year and were chosen annually, while elective courses required twelve credits to graduate. These were selected every semester, with a maximum of two courses at a time.

Aside from the course selection that began at seven in the morning, the “Hundred Clubs Recruitment” fair was also scheduled for this rare holiday.

Every club only had this one chance a year to recruit widely and collect membership fees. They definitely had to strike while the freshmen were still “green” to make a profit.

Although Xu Yinian didn’t have a great impression of the Student Club Federation, she had long been interested in the individual clubs under it.