Chapter 54: Not Returning Tonight Part 2

“You know your health is poor, yet you wore so little… If you do this again, I’m not going to look after Sister Ran anymore!”

But her eyes were so full of worry and heartache; how could she ever bear to leave her?

Ji Yan lowered her head, staring gloomily at the bow tied on the gauze of her palm. She was genuinely contemplating the possibility of picking a fight with Bai Ran right now just to rip her wound open again and win some sympathy.

…

In the end, Xu Yinian left with Bai Ran. After Bai Ran played the “weak and sickly” card to the fullest, Xu Yinian couldn’t see anything else.

Ji Yan also knew that she stood no chance against Bai Ran at this moment. She sat alone in the suddenly empty dining room, dazed. The bowls and chopsticks in front of her remained exactly as they were before Xu Yinian left.

Having lived alone for years, this was the first time Ji Yan tasted such emptiness. She instinctively and urgently searched for some trace of Xu Yinian’s warmth. She reached out to touch the chopsticks that had been used to feed her, but they were ice cold, devoid of any of her soft heat.

The bandages on her hand offered no comfort either; they had long been permeated by her own body temperature and scent.

Looking around, she suddenly caught sight of something—the new slippers she had given Xu Yinian. They were tucked neatly into the corner of the entryway. Like the girl herself, they were hard to see if one didn’t look closely.

Ji Yan stepped into them. The fluffy lining still held a familiar, lingering warmth.

She could almost imagine those slender, fair little feet she had once toyed with, looking cramped and shy in the ill-fitting size. The sensation made Ji Yan’s toes curl instinctively, a feeling that traveled from her fingertips to her heart, and through every part of her body.

Someone as obsessed with cleanliness as her was actually seeking out someone else’s warmth and scent like a pervert.

Step by step, she walked to her computer. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she entered the password to unlock it. On the massive digital tablet, the screen displayed a half-finished drawing.

A girl leaned against a sink with one hand for support, the other pressed firmly against the mirror. Her bowed body seemed to be enduring something. Amidst the ambiguous, damp texture of the brushstrokes in the mirror, the girl’s face was obscured by her long, hanging hair, leaving only a faint curve visible beneath the strands.

This was a secret Xu Yinian had never seen. The fantasy scene at the sink was identical to when Ji Yan had pinned her against the wall in the bathroom earlier.

In the art studio, her drawings were somewhat restrained, only showing the side of her “muse” that could be displayed to others. But in this room, Ji Yan created her true inspirations.

A painter’s keen sense of body proportions had allowed Ji Yan to map out every inch of Xu Yinian’s body from the first time she saw her, and even more so after their repeated encounters.

The girl in the drawing had no face or defining features, but the body proportions and parameters were all Xu Yinian’s.

The transition from artistic analysis and appreciation to base, lewd fantasy required only that tiny bit of familiar warmth belonging to Xu Yinian.

***

Since the dormitory curfew had passed, Bai Ran and Xu Yinian naturally couldn’t go back. Fortunately, Bai Ran had her ID with her and could take Xu Yinian to a hotel.

In Xu Yinian’s eyes, Bai Ran was much safer than Ji Yan. This was no different from going out with a female friend or sister and staying together. They lived in the same dorm daily, so she didn’t even need to adjust.

She was completely unaware that Bai Ran’s flushed cheeks, though caused by weakness, now carried a dangerous, sultry hue.

Hotel. Checking in. Sharing a bed…

The suggestive words flashed through Bai Ran’s mind one by one, their meaning self-evident.

Actually, there were chain hotels in the school’s CBD, but Bai Ran wouldn’t give Ji Yan any chance to disturb them. She took Xu Yinian directly to the commercial district outside the school gates. A high-end hotel under the Bai family’s name was located right in that area.

“Is it going to be very expensive…”

Xu Yinian didn’t recognize this famous luxury hotel in City A, but seeing the professional service and extravagant decor as they were welcomed inside, she knew the place the Eldest Daughter chose wouldn’t be cheap.

What she didn’t realize was that besides their famous medical business, the Bai family also invested in hotels. Xu Yinian didn’t want to take it for granted that Bai Ran would pay just because she was wealthy. Fortunately, she would receive her payment for the first episode of her voice acting job soon. Surely she could afford her share…

“I have a VIP membership here. I can stay anytime throughout the year; it’s included in the annual fee. Don’t worry.”

Bai Ran told Xu Yinian to wait in the lobby. When Bai Ran went to the front desk to check in, she didn’t even need to give her name. The staff recognized her as the future head of the Bai family who had appeared at the hotel’s fifth-anniversary celebration over the summer. Her young, beautiful face and gentle, intellectual aura were truly unforgettable.

The receptionist, secretly excited, asked politely, “Shall I open the presidential suite on the top floor for you, Miss Bai?”

“A standard king room is fine. Thank you.”

It was precisely so that Xu Yinian would have no choice but to share a bed with her.

The receptionists looked at each other. Though they didn’t know why the Eldest Daughter was suddenly going for the “commoner” route, they followed the instructions.

Xu Yinian sat on the sofa nearby. Because they had been in a rush and her attention had been on Bai Ran, she only now had the chance to check her phone.

Her face suddenly went pale. Oh no… she had forgotten to tell Shen Ruoshuang she wasn’t coming back tonight.

Shen Ruoshuang had sent numerous texts and made several calls, repeatedly asking where she was, why she wasn’t back yet, and if something had happened.

Her gaze lingered on the most recent message:

[Stay safe tonight. If you need me, I can come pick you up.]

Recalling how Shen Ruoshuang had left her elective course halfway through just to find her before, Xu Yinian’s heart tightened with guilt. She hurriedly and proactively dialed the voice call back.

The call was picked up almost instantly, as if the other person had been holding the phone the entire time, waiting for a response.

“Where are you right now?”

Before Xu Yinian could even offer an explanation, Shen Ruoshuang cut her off. Her voice was taut, vibrating with an exhausted sort of urgency.

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t check my messages in time and made you worry… I missed curfew and couldn’t get back in. I happened to run into Bai Ran while she was out looking for me, so we’re just going to make do at a hotel for the night.”

A long, unsettling silence followed. All Yinian could hear from the other end was the sharp, heavy sound of a deep intake of breath.

When Shen Ruoshuang finally spoke, her characteristically cold voice had turned brittle with stubbornness, like the eerie calm before a storm.

“Where are you right now? I came out to look for you as well, and now I’m locked out by the curfew too.”

She paused, then added, “And I didn’t bring my ID.”