How could she possibly decide? No matter who she picked first, she was doomed…
“If it’s really that hard to choose, you must at least remember how much contact you’ve had with them, right? Just rank them from the least to the most.”
Someone in the back, who loved nothing more than watching the drama unfold, started egging her on.
Xu Yinian felt even more embarrassed and could only say:
“I—I don’t know…”
“Alright, stop teasing her.”
“How about we go in reverse order of when you met them?”
Jiang Qian, the Class Organizer for the Chinese Language and Literature major, came to Xu Yinian’s rescue.
“Shen Ruoshuang, Ji Yan, Lu Zhou,” Xu Yinian murmured softly.
“Goddess Shuang was actually the last person you met? She was looking for you right from the start, and you were even on the same floor. That’s such a missed connection.”
The Class Organizer from Shen Ruoshuang’s class interjected, completely ignoring Jiang Qian’s frantic eye signals to stop.
Jiang Qian clutched her head and took a deep breath. This completely exposed the fact that they had been spying on Shen Ruoshuang’s group!
Seeing Xu Yinian’s expression suddenly freeze, Jiang Qian realized a possibility: Shen Ruoshuang hadn’t mentioned this to her at all.
Xu Yinian stood frozen on the spot. She suddenly recalled what Shen Ruoshuang had said before the game started—”I’m afraid you’ll be scared”—and a possibility dawned on her.
It… it couldn’t be…
She hesitantly asked the person, “She was looking for me at the start?”
“Yeah, Goddess Shuang came out really early. She went from room to room, knocking on doors and calling your name.”
The Chemistry Class Organizer was completely oblivious, rattling on and spilling everything she knew.
At this moment, Xu Yinian understood everything.
No wonder Shen Ruoshuang knew her walkie-talkie number and her Infected task…
Just because she knew she would be afraid, she had been looking for her this whole time.
Combined with that scream at the start, how worried must Shen Ruoshuang have been to search room by room like that?
If they hadn’t mentioned it by chance, she would have remained as ignorant as she was years ago about what Shen Ruoshuang had done on that movie night.
…Shen Ruoshuang had never mentioned any of this.
Xu Yinian stole a glance at Shen Ruoshuang, her lips trembling, but she couldn’t say a word.
Whether it was because there were others present, or because she was simply overwhelmed by the weight of Shen Ruoshuang’s silent devotion, she was at a complete loss.
A flicker of self-mockery flashed through Shen Ruoshuang’s eyes, her voice sounding casual:
“Didn’t I still end up meeting you last?”
When facing Xu Yinian, she had too many of these “didn’t I’s”—they had no conclusion and no meaning. From beginning to end, it had always been her own one-man show.
Moreover, she had once been so proud; how could she ever use such things to seek sympathy?
Shen Ruoshuang’s words seemed to put a definitive end to the topic, as she clearly had no desire to say more.
This left Xu Yinian’s heart feeling increasingly heavy, an indescribable emotion swelling within her.
Ji Yan and Lu Zhou scoffed, yet they couldn’t stop Xu Yinian from being moved by it. They even suspected that this perfectly timed revelation, “delivered through the mouth of another,” was a calculated move by Shen Ruoshuang.
The two of them had only just had a taste of her methods.
As Shen Ruoshuang was scanned, white light points became clearly visible—there were even more of them than on Xu Yinian herself.
It was one thing for her hands to be covered in it, but… how were there marks on her cheeks as well? And where could the ones on her lips have possibly come from?!
At the sight of such shocking gossip, the entire crowd erupted into a stir.
This could only mean that Shen Ruoshuang had, at the very least, touched Xu Yinian’s skin with her lips.
It was just that no one knew exactly where.
Xu Yinian naturally didn’t want to face it. Fortunately, that device couldn’t scan her tongue or the inside of her mouth; there was no telling how much Shen Ruoshuang had nibbled away back then.
Still, she had to force herself to offer a clumsy explanation to cover her tracks:
“It’s because… of the mouth-covering.”
“Then why do you have some on your own mouth as well?”
Hearing this question, Xu Yinian looked closer and discovered they were actually secretly comparing the two photos!
It was only upon this comparison that she noticed a spot where there shouldn’t have been any powder.
It was on both of their lips…
“I-it was also from covering the mouth!”
Xu Yinian immediately stopped them from speculating further, her cheeks flushing so red they looked ready to bleed.
“Ah~ what a coincidence, on the same hand?”
Although it was just a joke, the reality was that not only was it the same hand, it had even happened at the exact same time!
Without any evidence, Xu Yinian adamantly refused to admit it: “No!”
Shen Ruoshuang remained noncommittal, only letting out a low chuckle, which made the moment feel all the more meaningful.
Only after receiving Xu Yinian’s assurance did Ji Yan manage to stop herself from thinking about the kiss, yet there was no doubt that Shen Ruoshuang had indeed kissed Xu Yinian.
—She hadn’t even kissed her yet!
Suppressing the indignation in her heart, at least the glitter on Xu Yinian’s lips was because of her.
After all, she was the last person to touch Xu Yinian’s lips, and she had glitter on her hands.
…In a way, she had been stained with her “color.”
With the first sensational photo having already sparked the imagination, Ji Yan’s photo followed. Although there were more light spots—with plenty on her palms, neck, and chin—there were none on her lips. With such a “hard act to follow,” this one clearly paled in comparison.
Furthermore, Ji Yan’s expression and temper were notoriously bad, so no one dared to jeer. Eager for the answer, they quickly scanned the next person.
It was expected that she had more than Shen Ruoshuang; after all, the latter had arrived the latest and had endured the entire process. Ji Yan didn’t deign to compare herself to her.
What she cared about was Lu Zhou’s count and position.
When the image of Lu Zhou, who had maintained the lowest profile throughout, was displayed, the room broke into an uproar. The reason was simple… there were just too many!
Not only on her skin, but even her clothes were covered in scattered specks of light.
This was the aftermath of Xu Yinian tripping in the storage room and colliding with her, ending up sprawled entirely over her body.
Furthermore, Lu Zhou had collided full-on with Xu Yinian three times, and had even taken liberties while pressed against her back once in the darkness.
The winner was obvious.
“It really is me with the most. My apologies, then.”
Lu Zhou spread her hands, feigning helplessness.
Ji Yan recalled the smile on Lu Zhou’s face every time she returned Xu Yinian to her, and she suddenly understood.
She knew about her germaphobia.
So it turns out I’ve been eating her leftovers all day!
