Chapter 57: Sensitive
“Hehe, sister, what do you think of my outfit?”
An Zhi twirled around, the delicate lace of her skirt blooming like a flower.
Between girls, An Zhi seemed to have lost her shyness. She even playfully curtsied, like a small animal waiting to be praised, leaving Su Yu standing aside.
Xia Qian Ge smiled gently and patted An Zhi’s head, then smoothed her messy hair. The scene looked amusingly like a mother taking care of her daughter. She didn’t hold back her praise for An Zhi. “It’s beautiful, of course it’s beautiful.”
She looked up at Su Yu, the smile still on her lips. “Long time no see. How have you been?”
“I’m fine. And you? How is your aunt?” Su Yu’s tone was calm, as if he were just making small talk with an old classmate he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“I’m fine, of course. My family is doing well too.”
“I didn’t know you and Su Yu were high school classmates, sister. What a coincidence.” An Zhi chimed in, smiling even more happily, clinging to Xia Qian Ge’s arm. “Sister, do you know what Su Yu was like before? Let me tell you, this guy can be so annoying sometimes.”
“Hmm…” Xia Qian Ge lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. She raised her long, soft eyelashes and smiled at Su Yu, her tone carrying an inexplicable depth. “He’s changed… changed a lot. I’m not so sure anymore.”
Before Su Yu could decipher the meaning behind Xia Qian Ge’s smile, an arm was slung around his shoulder from behind, an armband identical to Xia Qian Ge’s on the sleeve.
“Su Yu? An Zhi? What are you all doing here?” Lu Siyuan greeted An Zhi, then his gaze shifted to Xia Qian Ge, and he nodded politely. “You’re here too. Su Yu’s old classmate, right? I saw you during military training, and I think I’ve seen you at the student union. I was just about to say hello.”
“Yes, I’m Xia Qian Ge. You must be Lu Siyuan, Su Yu’s roommate.”
“Huh? You know my name?” Lu Siyuan was surprised. He didn’t remember telling Xia Qian Ge his name.
Xia Qian Ge’s expression was calm as she smiled and said, “Didn’t you speak at the student union meeting? I remembered it then.”
“Oh, I see.” Lu Siyuan nodded, not giving it much thought.
“Old Lu? What are you doing here?” Su Yu regained his composure and looked at Lu Siyuan, his voice deliberately lowered. “You knew about Xia Qian Ge and didn’t tell me?”
Lu Siyuan looked innocent and shrugged helplessly. “It’s not that I didn’t tell you. I didn’t think you cared about her. And I only noticed when I was arranging the patrol schedule today.”
Su Yu wasn’t surprised that Xia Qian Ge and An Zhi knew each other. Xia Qian Ge was a gentle person and would leave a good impression on people even at first glance, let alone a naive girl like An Zhi.
But she wasn’t the type to like being in the spotlight. In her previous life, she had been busy with part-time jobs and hadn’t even joined any clubs. Why would she suddenly join the student union now?
An Zhi suddenly clapped her hands, attracting everyone’s attention. She blinked her big eyes and looked at Lu Siyuan mysteriously. “Class monitor, are you free during National Day?”
“Me? I might go out with my girlfriend somewhere in Qingchuan.” Lu Siyuan thought for a moment and replied.
“That’s great! Want to go hiking together during National Day?” An Zhi’s eyes lit up, full of expectation as she looked at Lu Siyuan.
“Uh… well, I don’t mind. My girlfriend is happy as long as there’s something to do. But…” Lu Siyuan glanced at Su Yu, asking for his opinion.
“You didn’t even ask me?” Su Yu, feeling left out, poked An Zhi’s smooth forehead. “Why did you suddenly think of this?”
“Oh, what’s there to ask you? You’re always cooped up in your dorm anyway.” An Zhi stepped back, rubbing her flushed forehead, and stuck out her tongue. “Hmph, my sister told me. You’re just like me, you like to stay at home.”
“Alright, this was originally my idea with An Zhi. I just thought it would be more lively with more people.”
Xia Qian Ge interrupted the argument. She looked at Su Yu and asked softly, “Su Yu, if you don’t have anything important to do, you can come with us. Your roommates can come too.”
“I…” Su Yu didn’t care about the National Day plans. What he really wanted to ask was who had proposed this trip. But in the end, he just nodded, silently chiding himself for being too suspicious. Xia Qian Ge’s every smile and frown was filled with beautiful memories. Why should he be so suspicious?
“Alright then. But I might not be free on the first day of National Day. Leaving a day later should be fine, right?”
“Okay, it’s a deal then.”
An Zhi cheered. She had been secretly planning this for a while. She had wanted to go home for National Day, but her brother, An Lin, was going to be with his girlfriend and didn’t have time to pick her up. So she had to stay in Qingchuan for the holiday. Her roommates were all from Qingchuan and had all gone home for the break.
She was worried and had complained a little to her newly made, kind-hearted sister. To her surprise, her sister had said she would spend National Day with her and even take her out. An Zhi felt so touched, she was almost in tears. She trusted this kind sister, who was only a few months older than her, from the bottom of her heart.
“Alright then. Xia Qian Ge, you can chat with Su Yu and the others. I’ll take care of the student union patrol myself. You can catch up with your old classmate.”
Lu Siyuan, seeing that the matter was settled, waved and left.
“Flyers? You joined the same club?” Xia Qian Ge looked at An Zhi in surprise.
“Yeah, yeah, the Volunteer Association. It sounds pretty impressive, although I didn’t really want to join.”
“I see. Then I’ll stay and help you hand out flyers.”
Xia Qian Ge took the stack of flyers from An Zhi’s hand. “An Zhi, you can go back and get some more. We might not have enough.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll go right away. Wait for me here for a bit.”
An Zhi was still immersed in the joy of the National Day trip, her face flushed with excitement. She readily agreed, and the sound of her leather shoes on the ground faded into the distance.
Xia Qian Ge silently watched as the girl’s delicate and lovely figure disappeared into the distance, reflected in her dark pupils.
The girl was really beautiful, her innocent and romantic nature simple and cute. A beautiful dress would attract countless gazes. She would smile sweetly at everyone who approached her, even if they had desires other than friendship. She would take it as a hard-earned friendship.
But the girl’s purity made her feel disgusted. They were not the same kind of people.
She no longer wanted to think about whether the girl and the boy were innocent or not. Her already frayed nerves were overly sensitive when it came to him, almost to the point of being morbid.
So… it didn’t matter.
When the blade truly fell, it wouldn’t be precise enough to separate these things. It would cut through flesh and sinew, and the warm blood gushing from the wound would dye everything the same color, a sea of red.
She was already covered in sin. A little more blood wouldn’t make a difference.
…
“Qian Ge… be careful.”
Xia Qian Ge looked up, her eyes clear and bright. She glanced at Su Yu’s hand holding her wrist. The crisp ringing of a bicycle bell, fading into the distance, still lingered in her ears.
She lowered her eyelashes and whispered, “Thank you.”
