“Hey, isn’t the shop assistant different today? Did they change?”
“But, you gotta say, that girl is really pretty. It’s just her skin is too pale, almost doesn’t look like a living person. And those lines all over her.”
“Maybe it’s a skin condition? Not a problem, though. Makes her look like a morbid beauty, you know!”
“You said it, that’s exactly the vibe. I’m totally into this half-dead look.”
“Lolicon, drop dead!”
“You better take that back right now! If you don’t, we’re not best bros anymore. What do you mean, lolicon? That girl is totally a teenage girl, alright!”
The conversation between the young men faded into the distance. Standing behind the counter, Bai Yu let out an almost imperceptible sigh, especially when she glanced at Zhao Mingyue, slumped over the counter, snoring loudly and even drooling.
Listening to the girl mutter in her sleep about red envelopes and wages, Bai Yu didn’t know what to say.
Earlier, no matter how she called her, there was no response. Thinking it over, she decided to just let her sleep. She really was exhausted; her body couldn’t handle a sleepless night.
Using her blood threads, she pushed away the security cameras in the shop that could see this spot, then materialized to help with the work. Once the customers left, she returned to Zhao Mingyue’s shadow and moved the cameras back. A seamless, fluid set of actions.
Zhao Mingyue remained completely oblivious. It was already 10:30 in the morning, and the third wave of customers had arrived, when she finally groggily opened her eyes.
Noticing the drool at the corner of her mouth, she snatched a tissue at lightspeed, wiped it away, then pressed the tissue onto the small puddle on the counter, pretending nothing had happened. With a cheerful smile, she asked the customer in front of her what they needed.
The customer was young, around twenty or so.
Dressed stylishly, especially the suspender pants, though he seemed somewhat effeminate.
The young man glanced left and right, hesitant and looking a bit embarrassed.
He held his mobile phone, which was open to the popular chat app of the moment.
He had come back to find Bai Yu. He’d walked quite far before stopping to think; no, he had to go back and ask for her contact info.
That girl looked young, but since she could work as a shop assistant, she had to be an adult. And if she wasn’t…
Wouldn’t that be even better?!
However, looking around, he couldn’t find her. Behind the counter was another shop assistant, who looked like she’d just woken up.
But upon closer inspection, the young man’s eyes widened.
His immediate thoughts could be summed up in one sentence.
He never used to believe in the words “love at first sight,” but now, he did.
What kind of divine convenience store was this? Were all the shop assistants this good-looking?!
He couldn’t tell if this assistant suited him better or the previous one. To him, they were both fantastic.
“Um, I… I was actually looking for the other shop assistant from before, but never mind that now. Could I ask, can I add you as a friend?” The young man raised his phone, showing his QR code page.
“No.” Zhao Mingyue was fully awake now and shook her head. “If you need something, you can tell me. But as for contact details, I’ll pass. I already like someone.”
“Ah, okay, sorry to bother you.”
The young man left helplessly. Just as he pushed open the glass door in front of him, the wind chime behind him gently swayed three times. But perhaps still lost in the pain of rejection, he didn’t notice this detail at all.
Only after the young man had left the convenience store did Zhao Mingyue murmur to herself, “Why did the wind chime ring? Does he have a ghost on him?”
“Wait a minute, ‘the other shop assistant’?”
Rubbing her chin, Zhao Mingyue took out her phone to check the time. It was already 10:30.
“Yu, that ‘other shop assistant’ he mentioned… wouldn’t have been you, right?”
“It was me. It’s not like a dead-asleep, can’t-be-woken-no-matter-how-you-call-her person could do the job,” Bai Yu’s voice sounded in her mind, carrying a hint of resentment.
Hearing this, Zhao Mingyue laughed sheepishly, her pretty face blushing slightly. “Ahem, I didn’t do it on purpose…”
“I know. If you had, you wouldn’t have drooled all over in your sleep.”
“I did not! What drool? I didn’t see any. You must be remembering wrong!”
After cleaning up the nonexistent drool mark, Zhao Mingyue took out Miss Rabbit and tugged at the doll’s little cheeks.
“Speaking of which, thank you this time. Just now, I really felt like my eyelids had never been so heavy.”
Having a ghost cover her shift in broad daylight, and even getting hit on by a customer—Zhao Mingyue felt a bit embarrassed.
She was silent for a long moment, then went to wash her face. When she came back, she saw the rabbit doll looking up at her and knew in her heart that Bai Yu had entered the doll’s body again.
“Yu, after my quest was completed, the phone gave me a chance for a lucky draw. Should I try it?”
“Sure. Try it when we go back tonight.”
“Mm. Oh, right. What do we do about not finding Xiao Lian’s child?”
Zhao Mingyue hadn’t forgotten the purpose of going to Thirteenth High School. The quest was just one part of it. The main issue was still the female ghost, Xiao Lian.
If they didn’t deal with Xiao Lian, she would be a permanent problem. She lived in Sunshine Apartment; she didn’t want to open her eyes one day to Xiao Lian’s terrifying ghostface.
“It doesn’t matter. Lu Liangting will take care of it.”
“Oh, I see. That works too.”
“…”
Another long silence passed. Zhao Mingyue fiddled with the rabbit doll’s body and suddenly asked, “Last night… your state seemed really off. Did something happen there? Mm… was it something about your past?”
She knew nothing about Bai Yu’s past and didn’t dare ask too much. She was afraid that asking too deeply might shatter the relationship they had so painstakingly built.
“It wasn’t my past. It was that person’s past.”
“Shen Shuyun?”
“Yes, hers. That school was her memory. And she is one of my old friends. I have many friends like her. So, I just wanted to know… if all my ‘friends’ have a location like that… including me.”
Zhao Mingyue was very smart. Hearing Bai Yu’s explanation, she instantly understood what she meant.
She wants to see her little sister again?
She knew it in her heart, but didn’t know how to say it. After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Mingyue spoke: “Mm… I don’t really know how to comfort people. But I think there definitely will be. And when the time comes, if you still need me, I’ll go with you. We’ll face any danger together.”
“That place… it’s very dangerous. And there’s a high chance I won’t be able to help you then.”
“It’s fine. I’m getting stronger, right? As long as I complete more quests and my body gets stronger, I’ll be able to help you.”
Having finished two major main quests—one at Sunshine Apartment and one at Thirteenth High School—Zhao Mingyue’s overall physical fitness had improved by a huge leap.
“Mm… mainly… I want to hand Miss Rabbit to little Bai Sisi personally.”
At these words, the rabbit doll’s red eyes flickered softly for a moment. Then it lowered its head and said nothing more.
~
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