The Christmas Eve snow continued falling until Christmas Day, wrapping A City in a world of pure white.
Although five days had passed, the un-swept patches of white still clung to the rooftops of some houses.
Plump, soft, and fluffy, looking from afar like freshly baked bread.
On the third-to-last day before the New Year, A University Affiliated Girls High School was brimming with festive joy everywhere.
The fourth period morning bell rang, the rare brilliant sunlight slowly moved across the dome, shining on the rooftops where traces of snow had not yet melted.
A second of silence, the melting snow hadn’t even hit the ground before students came out of the Teaching Building in groups of twos and threes.
The Teaching Building side was bustling, and the Little Auditorium side was also clamorous with voices.
For this New Year’s Gala, the Club Department, as the primary organizing club, held the absolute role of overall coordination.
And as the Head of the Club Department, Shen Shuyu had been exceptionally busy since Monday.
Busy planning manpower, busy finalizing the program list, busy arranging the venue.
Now, Shen Shuyu was busy coordinating the final dress rehearsal.
On stage, the acts were rehearsing orderly according to the program schedule, the booming music pouring out from the speakers on either side of the stage.
The closer one got, the more one felt the ground itself vibrating along.
Shen Shuyu had just finished handling the last matter and finally had a moment to walk from backstage to the audience seating area.
She had attended Yu Mo’s group’s performances during the previous rehearsals.
This time, Shen Shuyu didn’t want to miss it either.
The audience lights were dim. Shen Shuyu, keeping a low profile, randomly found an empty seat not too far forward.
She sat down, the soft sponge lightly supporting her body.
Her legs, which had been bustling all morning, slowly released their soreness and fatigue.
Shen Shuyu let out a long breath, enjoying a rare minute of stolen leisure.
But just then, Shen Shuyu’s phone buzzed untimely. Zhao Mingyi had sent a seating chart: 【Shuyu, who arranged this seating? It’s not very good. Look, how did the teachers end up sitting here?】
Shen Shuyu put down the water bottle she had just uncapped and opened the seating chart Zhao Mingyi sent.
Even at a single glance, she could see major problems with the chart. If this were used at tomorrow afternoon’s gala, it would be a disaster.
Shen Shuyu frowned, 【This isn’t the one I finalized with them yesterday. They must have sent the wrong version.】
Seeing Shen Shuyu’s message, Zhao Mingyi pursed her lips discontentedly: 【I just knew you couldn’t have been so careless. Tell me which kid it is, I’ll go talk to her. This work is too sloppy, how could they do this?】
Just reading the text Zhao Mingyi sent, Shen Shuyu knew she was angry.
But what could she do?
Yesterday, after finalizing the seating chart with that young girl, considering they were new to the Student Council, she had repeatedly reminded them in the group chat. They had sworn to her they wouldn’t make mistakes.
Yet such a huge blunder still occurred.
Even if Zhao Mingyi didn’t go find that kid for her this time, Shen Shuyu would still demand an explanation.
Shen Shuyu: 【A kid from the Secretariat. Find Chen Lingyi, she knows.】
【Okay, I’ll go find her.】Zhao Mingyi didn’t say more to Shen Shuyu, immediately calling Chen Lingyi without delay.
But this time, after coldly giving clear instructions, Shen Shuyu looked at her chat with Zhao Mingyi and hesitated, not exiting.
Zhao Mingyi’s tone seemed quite angry.
She had a fiery temper, and her words could be harsh when she was angry.
This kid might be scolded to tears today.
Shen Shuyu suddenly felt unable to bear it.
She deliberated, her fingers tapping lightly on the screen, typing a line: 【Senior Sister, they’re doing this for the first time too, don’t be too harsh.】
Then, Shen Shuyu’s finger hovered over the send button and the text input box.
She didn’t know why she felt this way.
It was indeed the kid’s fault; being reprimanded was completely justified.
“Bzzzt—” A harsh electronic screech suddenly emanated from the left stage speaker, sounding like it could pierce eardrums.
Shen Shuyu’s whole body jumped in fright at the sound.
Her finger tapped, sending that message she was hesitating over.
Looking at the message she had just sent, Shen Shuyu’s regret was gradually replaced by relief.
The hesitation tangled in her heart moments ago vanished abruptly.
For the first time, the heart that was always strict, even somewhat indifferent towards subordinates, had pleaded for leniency for someone else.
The numbing, coldly beating heart was quietly thawing, awakening, without her realizing it.
“Hey, hey, can you hear me?” Wei Lai’s voice, mixed with some static, came through the speakers.
Shen Shuyu looked up at the sound. Yu Mo was already standing at the very center of the stage.
A still-adjusting spotlight flashed down, landing right on Yu Mo.
She adjusted the microphone stand in front of her, her long legs as straight as the stand itself.
The earlier sense of rawness she’d had in previous rehearsals was gone, replaced by a casual, spontaneous air.
The lights were adjusted, the stage brightened again.
Wei Lai held a bass guitar, and amid the prelude music, she plucked its strings with dynamic energy.
Feng Ruoyu’s drum kit followed.
After a highly showy riff from the drum kit and electric guitar, Yu Mo stepped into the beat, pulling the microphone from its stand.
One hand steadying the stand, the other gripping the mic, she began to sing with extreme enjoyment, fully immersed in the music: “Our last day in the…”
Yu Mo’s uniquely endowed, magnetic voice, mingled with the electric guitar’s sharp, piercing tone, ignited the somewhat busy and chaotic venue.
This was the first time Shen Shuyu heard Yu Mo’s group rehearse this song.
The repetitive, simple English lyrics, sandwiched among the passionate, intense music, should have felt discordant.
But under Yu Mo’s interpretation, interwoven with the electric guitar and the somewhat casual drumbeats, they fused together perfectly.
Languid yet passionate.
Spontaneous yet focused.
Yu Mo had chosen this song perfectly for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve atmosphere, easily energizing the people present.
Many students from the Student Council stopped in their tracks, drawn by Yu Mo’s singing.
As the crowd below grew, Yu Mo couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Her eyes swept anxiously across the audience, trying to avoid others’ gazes.
But in an instant, she spotted Shen Shuyu sitting in the audience.
Yu Mo didn’t know how she saw Shen Shuyu in the pitch-black audience seating.
Just at the moment their eyes met.
Her gaze settled on Shen Shuyu.
Shen Shuyu sat upright in the darkness, wrapped in the faint, reflected light from the stage.
Beneath her jet-black, inky long hair, her features were softened by the dim light.
Her crimson lips slightly opened and closed.
Yu Mo watched her mouth shape, as if singing along to her own song.
From afar, Shen Shuyu looked at Yu Mo on stage and gave her a slight smile.
Then with her mouth, she shaped the words: “Don’t be afraid.”
Perhaps that was the source of Yu Mo’s courage.
Yu Mo’s hand gripping the microphone stand gradually relaxed.
She blurred out everyone else who had stopped to watch.
Only Shen Shuyu remained in her sight.
Wei Lai’s impromptu interlude passed, and Yu Mo, clutching the microphone, let her voice become light and bright again: “Our last day! Our last day! Our last day!”
Shen Shuyu’s hands, which were folded on her knees, slowly relaxed.
She had noticed Yu Mo’s unstable breathing earlier, guessing the crowd had made her nervous. She hadn’t hidden it and had looked directly at Yu Mo.
That Yu Mo could meet Shen Shuyu’s eyes wasn’t coincidence.
It was inevitable because Shen Shuyu, from the moment she sensed something was off with Yu Mo, had been looking for an opportunity to make eye contact.
Just as Shen Shuyu breathed a sigh of relief, her phone vibrated, 【Department Head, there’s a problem backstage. Can you come over right away?】
Shen Shuyu glanced towards the stage. Yu Mo had already adjusted from her previous nervousness and transitioned into the second song.
She kind of wanted to pretend she hadn’t seen this message, to finish listening to Yu Mo’s song.
But the person on the other end couldn’t wait for Shen Shuyu’s hesitation and called directly.
Now Shen Shuyu had no choice but to leave.
She put on her headphones and answered the call.
Bowing her body to avoid being noticed by Yu Mo, she quietly slipped out of the audience seating.
.
A dress rehearsal finally ended. Yu Mo casually unbuttoned the first button at the collar of her shirt.
She placed the microphone back and looked towards the audience section.
But the seat where Shen Shuyu had been sitting was now empty.
Yu Mo’s heart involuntarily felt a sense of emptiness.
“Let’s go, what are you looking at?” Wei Lai patted Yu Mo’s shoulder and looped her arm through hers.
“Nothing.” Yu Mo shook her head, withdrew her gaze, and stepped off the stage with Wei Lai.
What had she been expecting just now?
Yu Mo looked at the paper bag in her rest area, questioning herself this question.
Why expect anything from her?
It was just a coincidence.
Yu Mo thought this, but her hands betrayed her.
Her five fingers tightened unwillingly, the crumpled paper bag emitting a pained rustling sound.
Peeking out from the folded-down bag was a flash of red, soft fabric dotted with tiny white daisies.
Inside were the clothes Shen Shuyu had gotten wet while searching for Yu Mo on the day she differentiated, and had changed out of.
Yu Mo, afraid she couldn’t wash them well enough, had specially taken them to a professional dry cleaner that required appointments.
A few days ago, Yu Mo had just gotten the clothes back. Thinking of giving them to Shen Shuyu today, she had even taken them out of the bag late last night and ironed them again herself.
Yu Mo looked at that splash of red, feeling a bit irritated.
She even found the bag somewhat of an eyesore.
She pulled out her phone and sent a message to Shen Shuyu: 【Where are you? The clothes you changed out of at the hospital last time are washed. I’ll bring them to you, or do you want to come get them?】
It didn’t take long for Yu Mo to receive Shen Shuyu’s reply: 【I was just heading to the first-floor lobby. Let’s meet there.】
Yu Mo looked at Shen Shuyu’s reply, suddenly unable to gauge her tone.
It wasn’t a formulaic cold tone, but Yu Mo didn’t want to attribute too much gentle warmth to it either.
She was afraid it would be another false hope.
Yu Mo’s fingers tapped the screen, her tone cool and indifferent: 【Mm.】
The rehearsal continued. Walking down from the second floor, the thunderous music could still faintly be heard.
Carrying the paper bag, Yu Mo strode purposefully through the square-shaped corridors towards the first-floor lobby.
Just then, Yu Mo suddenly caught a faint scent drifting in the air.
It felt familiar, but she couldn’t quite place what it was.
A cold wind slipped through the gap in the corridor window glass, icily suppressing the scent before Yu Mo could distinguish it further.
Thinking of delivering the clothes to Shen Shuyu, Yu Mo didn’t dwell on it and kept walking forward.
But this scent seemed determined to tether Yu Mo’s steps.
As she passed the restroom marked with the Omega symbol ahead, a draft swept past her.
Yu Mo caught that distinctive scent again.
This time, the scent was even stronger than before.
Yu Mo just felt familiarity.
Familiarity so intense she could barely restrain herself.
Yu Mo’s pupils instantly dilated.
If there was any bond between her and Shen Shuyu that even she couldn’t sever, it was their extremely high pheromone compatibility.
Yu Mo’s feet planted themselves right at the entrance of the Omega Restroom.
Within the clean and tidy restroom, the dense scent of Camellia pheromones coiled heavily.
Cautiously and vigilantly, she stepped inside, towards a stall further in.
Under the incandescent lights,
Shen Shuyu sat slumped weakly on the white tiled floor.
An unnatural red mark was imprinted on her bent knees below her skirt.
Her chest heaved violently, a layer of fine sweat covering her forehead, making her look utterly wretched.
Below Yu Mo’s line of sight,
a tube of thick, milky-white liquid injection rolled to her feet.
