Chapter 5: Dislocation

Every other word out of Gu Yining’s mouth was “Teacher Ji,” yet her tone was languid, tinged with a touch of coldness. It sounded odd.

The words made the roots of Ji Huaqing’s ears burn. As if that weren’t enough, Gu Yining walked into her room, opened the wardrobe, and pulled out the pajamas. She was more familiar with this place than Ji Huaqing was.

Four sets of pajamas, all newly bought, freshly washed and dried, neatly folded and stored in the wardrobe.

“Four sets” actually meant two styles: the simple kind, and… Ji Huaqing stared at the sheer pajamas, her brow furrowed. Had the world really progressed this far?

Could pajamas be this see-through? Ji Huaqing’s face reddened. She could hardly bring herself to speak, and her eyelids twitched violently. Wearing something like this in front of her student… sorry, she truly couldn’t do it.

Gu Yining hugged her shoulders, one eyebrow arching slightly, a hint of provocative laughter in her eyes. “People can wear this nowadays. One day I’ll take you to a lingerie store and let you pick your own, okay?”

Ji Huaqing grabbed a simple set and tossed the two sheer ones back to Gu Yining, who had retreated to the door. “Wear them yourself.”

“Wear them myself…” Gu Yining looked troubled, her words carrying a pleading, nasal tone. “And who would I wear them for? Wear them for you? Would you look?”

She was lazy, her voice cold, but her gaze at Ji Huaqing shifted, gaining a hint of pitifulness.

With complicated feelings, Ji Huaqing took the sheer pajamas hanging from her and said, “Into the trash.”

“Teacher Ji, these two were expensive—more expensive than your plane ticket.” A faint trace of pleasure surfaced in Gu Yining’s chest, though on the surface she behaved like an obedient little student. “Very, very expensive.”

“Are they made of gold?” Ji Huaqing didn’t care. What sane person would spend so much money on pajamas, let alone pajamas for a dead person…

No, she turned to Gu Yining. “Did you buy these for me, or for yourself?”

Gu Yining stood at the door—tall, a little thin, her thin lips pressed together, faint dark circles under her eyes. The light at the doorway made her already pale complexion look almost transparent. She seemed terribly fragile.

She stood there, smiling at Ji Huaqing, the loneliness in her eyes showing through again. She had always been alone.

Her greatest pastime was buying things for the dead woman, Ji Huaqing. She bought as if Ji Huaqing were still alive. Buy, buy, buy.

When she bought clothes, she could feel that Ji Huaqing was alive.

When she lay in Ji Huaqing’s bed, she could feel that Ji Huaqing was still at school, and that she’d see her living and breathing the moment she returned to Jing City.

When she went back to Jing City, lay in the apartment Ji Huaqing had rented, and sprayed the perfume Ji Huaqing used to wear, she felt that Ji Huaqing had simply gone home, visiting her parents in Hang City, and would return at any moment.

She smiled, a thin, cold smile. “Teacher Ji, when you have time, wear them for me, okay? I did spend a lot of money on them, after all.”

Ji Huaqing’s heart jumped into her throat. “Are you sick?”

“I’m very sick.” Gu Yining’s throat rolled as she slowly let out four words. “I’ll stop teasing you. You know your own bathroom. I changed the water heater—it’s very convenient now. Need me to teach you?”

An ordinary offer, yet coming from Gu Yining’s lips, the tone turned suggestive, each word landing on Ji Huaqing’s pulse.

Ji Huaqing refused to indulge her. A water heater—how could she not know how to use it?

“No need.”

Gu Yining retreated to the living room and sat on the sofa, her long legs utterly mismatched with the shabby furniture.

Ji Huaqing was bone-tired. Clutching her pajamas, she went in—then came back out. “Is there… a towel?”

“There are disposable ones inside. Find them yourself.” Ji Huaqing went back in. After a long pause, she emerged again. “Um… I can’t figure it out.”

Gu Yining went still. Ji Huaqing saw the cigarette pack in her hand, and in an instant, she froze. As if caught in the act, Gu Yining instinctively shoved the pack into the cabinet of the coffee table. But Ji Huaqing wouldn’t let it go. “You smoke? Didn’t you quit?”

Back in her second year of high school, Gu Yining had run with the local delinquents, getting along famously—staying out all night at internet cafés, even smoking.

She was the kind of student every teacher hated, and a girl at that. Who could tolerate it? Ji Huaqing could not. She didn’t like Gu Yining smoking. Poor grades could be fixed, but a rotten character was rotten; once broken, it was hard to pull back.

She’d gone into Gu Yining’s home, searched all night, burned the cigarettes, and thrown them in the trash, warning: “Next time I catch you smoking, I won’t be able to stop myself from hitting you.”

Gu Yining, slouched and carefree, had sprawled on the sofa, cheerfully listing the benefits of smoking.

“Teacher Ji, want one? Cloudy and hazy, total bliss. Are all smokers bad people? Tons of people smoke—so thrilling. It really feels great. One cigarette and you’re an immortal. I heard smoking even cures diseases! Have one. You’ll love it.”

Ji Huaqing had trembled with rage. Confronted with that provocative look, she’d wanted to hit someone—to beat this little wretch to death.

She’d restrained herself, sternly warning Gu Yining: no smoking, never—or she’d transfer her out of her class.

The little thing had agreed sweetly, even sworn an oath. Then turned around and lit up again, clouded in smoke, nearly losing herself.

When she’d caught her smoking again, Ji Huaqing had once more suppressed her anger. Gu Yining lifted the corner of her mouth. “Teacher Ji, I’m thirty-three now. I have a daughter. Are you still going to manage me? Besides, I’m thirty-three and you’re twenty-eight. Who should be managing whom?”

She turned away, snatched up the hidden cigarettes, and looked back at Ji Huaqing with renewed mockery in her eyes.

Ji Huaqing’s face burned as she watched Gu Yining flick open the lighter and pull out a cigarette.

The cigarette was long and slim, different from the ones she’d seen before. Ji Huaqing took a deep breath. “Is your addiction that strong?”

“Not strong. Just one now and then.” Gu Yining lit the cigarette, her gaze suddenly blurring. The next moment, a hand seized her wrist, snatching the cigarette away. “No smoking.”

Gu Yining smiled faintly, reversing the grip to pull her down onto the sofa. With a long, pale finger, she tilted Ji Huaqing’s chin up. “If you won’t let me smoke, my heart aches. All I’ll want to do is kiss you. Over the years, I’ve met countless young women, and none of them gave me the feeling you do—thrilling and pleasurable.”

With her shoulder pinned, Ji Huaqing nearly lost herself in the swirling smoke.

Gu Yining leaned in so close that Ji Huaqing could see the texture of her face, her porcelain-white skin like fine jade, like a trap—step closer, and you’d be pulled in, imprisoned.

Ji Huaqing’s expression froze. The other woman pressed toward her, and she could clearly see Gu Yining’s throat move. In an instant, her head buzzed—and then the smell of scorching filled the air.

They both stood up at once. Gu Yining quickly reached out, grabbed the cigarette that had fallen onto the sofa, and ground it out under her foot.

The old leather sofa had been burned through, leaving a black hole.

Gu Yining looked at Ji Huaqing deeply.

Ji Huaqing stared at the black hole, equally stunned.

Neither spoke. The scent of smoke drifted through the room. Slim cigarettes smelled different from thick ones—especially ladies’ slims, with a captivating, fragrant aroma.

Gu Yining’s gaze turned cold. She turned and headed for the bathroom. “Come.”

What had just happened had merged with memories of the past, completely real. But Ji Huaqing knew—she was no longer the obedient Gu Yining of old.

Ji Huaqing’s whole body was numb as she followed blankly.

The bathroom in the old neighborhood building was small, and the light was dim. Nothing had changed except the newly installed water heater.

Gu Yining waited for Ji Huaqing to step in, took her hand, and turned on the showerhead. Instantly, water sprayed down from above, dousing Gu Yining.

The red dress clung to her skin when wet, revealing a perfect figure. In that moment, her skin took on an unusual whiteness.

A hidden fragrance stirred in the bathroom.

Under the dim light, Gu Yining looked at Ji Huaqing earnestly. “It’s that simple. Cold water comes out first; it takes ten seconds, tops, then it’s hot.”

“Your clothes are soaked.” Ji Huaqing’s gaze inadvertently fell on her vermilion lips.

They were only a step apart. Ji Huaqing quickly looked away, then her gaze drifted to her legs—beneath the hem of the dress, a vision of sensuous allure.

Time meant nothing in this moment. What she’d failed to see in the eighteen-year-old Gu Yining, she now saw clearly.

No one could refuse the Gu Yining before her.

She was impossibly beautiful—but she was colder too. She was an Unattainable Flower, drained of emotion.

Gu Yining paid no attention to the water on her. She turned, grabbed a towel to dry herself, then handed Ji Huaqing a disposable bath towel, a careless smile on her lips. “Good luck, Teacher Ji.”

“It’s just a shower.” Ji Huaqing stressed.

Gu Yining wiped the water from her body in front of the mirror. Her clothes, wrinkled, clung to her waist, showing off its slimness. She tidied herself quickly. Just as she was about to leave, Ji Huaqing appeared behind her in the mirror.

Ji Huaqing was in her old white shirt, buttoned meticulously, her hair black. And beside her was no longer the eighteen-year-old, green Gu Yining—but a Gu Yining in a red dress who seized every eye.

At that moment, the mirror reflected an absurd scene: time out of joint, both of them standing in a time that didn’t belong to them.

A twenty-eight-year-old Ji Huaqing should not have been facing a thirty-three-year-old, seductive, radiant Gu Yining.

Reflected in the mirror, Gu Yining curved her red lips, looking at Ji Huaqing with a smile both serious and cool.

Her smile, the charm flowing from it, set one’s heart fluttering. She laughed and asked Ji Huaqing, “Teacher Ji, here’s a chance for you: would you like to be my girlfriend?”

This time, she said “be my girlfriend”—not “Teacher Ji, I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”

Because she now had the confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder.

The deep night bathroom was eerily quiet.

Ji Huaqing forgot to breathe, as if struck by lightning. She looked at the smile on Gu Yining’s lips—unrestrained and free-spirited.