Chapter 39 Part 1

Under the gaze of two pairs of eyes, Zhu Lexing even had the leisure to take in her surroundings.

When she spotted Qiao Qiao’s figure, she wanted to queue up a rendition of 《Thank Heaven, Thank the Earth》 just for her.

Qiao Qiao didn’t pick up on the vibe between the three of them, but with just a few words, she managed to whisk Xu He away.

That left only Yan Mian staring right at her.

Zhu Lexing pondered for a few seconds and decided this was even worse than dealing with Xu He.

She could only say stiffly, “I don’t know.”

Yan Mian just smiled. “I never said you did.”

“I’m just… a little surprised, that’s all,” Yan Mian added.

Zhu Lexing’s rational side screamed that silence is golden, but her inner gossip hound wouldn’t let it go. “Surprised about what?”

Yan Mian replied, “In their eyes, the two of us get along great.”

Zhu Lexing: “…”

Zhu Lexing suddenly remembered that whole CP name business again and felt a headache coming on. “They’re just spouting nonsense.”

Yan Mian nodded. “Some of it is.”

…What did that mean? Some of it was nonsense, and some wasn’t? So what part wasn’t nonsense?

Zhu Lexing stared at Yan Mian, trying to detect any hint on her face, but Yan Mian remained perfectly composed. She even brought Zhu Lexing a drink. Only now did Zhu Lexing finally adjust to the environment around her. The spotlight always shone on the protagonist, after all—everyone else was just background.

Why get nervous playing a supporting role?

Even though the gift-giving segment had dragged on awkwardly, Zhu Lexing was still pretty satisfied with the outcome.

Halfway through, Song Yingying had gone off alone with three gifts in tow to find Xu He.

According to her, from the windowsill, all she could see were towering skyscrapers ablaze with countless lights, standing shoulder to shoulder in cold indifference.

Zhu Lexing glanced out and said offhandedly, “The moon looks nice tonight.”

After the words left her mouth, Zhu Lexing realized they sounded like a classic pickup line—but that sort of thing probably wasn’t a thing in this world.

Yan Mian blinked. “Yeah.”

A few days later, the intraschool competition officially kicked off.

Song Yingying was there too, leaving an empty seat next to Zhu Lexing. For once, Zhu Lexing felt a twinge of loneliness. With a sigh, she asked the system: 【Done yet?】

The system gave her a live update on which question Yan Mian was working on.

Zhu Lexing: 【Did she get it right?】

The system judged it on the spot.

Two class periods passed. By the time even the system was getting fed up with her prodding, the bell finally rang.

Zhu Lexing wondered why she was more nervous than Yan Mian. Wasn’t that a little weird?

But then she reconsidered. Yan Mian was the female protagonist! If the protagonist thrived, so did Zhu Lexing. It’d be weirder if she wasn’t nervous.

With that self-pep talk, Zhu Lexing hurried to the office in quick little steps.

When she arrived, Yan Mian was chatting with a teacher who was flipping through her scratch paper. Spotting the conspicuous Zhu Lexing peering in from the window, she smiled. “I’ll head back to class then.”

“Zhu Lexing.” The moment she stepped out of the office, she called her name.

A few other students were milling about, watching curiously. They exchanged glances, but the forum post about their “Century Reconciliation” was legendary by now. Shocked or not, no one said a word.

With all those eyes on her, Zhu Lexing took a deep breath. “So… um… how’d it go?”

Yan Mian replied, “Pretty good. I performed normally.”

Zhu Lexing got it. Normal for her meant excellent. She’d nail this for sure.

As they chatted briefly, Song Yingying came running up with a huge sigh of relief. She greeted Zhu Lexing, then dove into a discussion about the problems with Yan Mian.

Zhu Lexing could follow most of their conversation, but not in any depth. She had zero interest in faking understanding, so she just listened quietly from the sidelines. Yan Mian’s gaze, however, kept drifting back to her every so often. It wasn’t until the bell was about to ring that Song Yingying said, “I messed up so many. No chance for me.”

Stars sparkled in her eyes—a look Zhu Lexing found oddly familiar. Then it hit her: this was the same Song Yingying who’d just started warming up to her not long ago.

Suddenly hit with praise, Yan Mian blinked in confusion for a moment before smiling gently. “You never know. Maybe my answers are the wrong ones.”

“How could that be!” Song Yingying protested.

She immediately launched into reasons one, two, three, four, and five.

Watching Song Yingying defend Yan Mian so fiercely, Zhu Lexing felt like she was looking at a mirror image of herself.

After a moment’s thought, Zhu Lexing decided: As expected of Yan Mian. She just had that irresistible personal charm!

Anyone who didn’t adore Yan Mian could say goodbye forever!

Once the spots were awarded, preparations for the preliminaries and league matches began, with results that surprised no one.

Yan Mian took first place by a landslide and secured her spot. Zhu Xing let out a deep sigh of emotion, clapped her on the shoulder, and filled her in on the provincial competition schedule and details. She’d need to head to S City in two weeks for a month-long winter camp.

The first time Zhu Lexing heard the news, she was thrilled for her from the bottom of her heart.

Liu Su’s smile was genuine, but the next second, realization dawned. “A whole month?”

She glanced at Zhu Lexing.

A month apart meant the treatments would fall behind schedule.

Not to mention, over the past few months, Zhu Lexing and Yan Mian had hardly been apart. No one could predict if a sudden month-long separation would cause problems for Zhu Lexing’s health.

Liu Su’s expression turned serious, and even the smile on Yan Mian’s face dimmed, shifting into unease. “I…”

She parted her lips, clearly on the verge of instinctively turning it down. Zhu Lexing saw right through it and cut in. “Don’t even think about it. You’ve outshone everyone else—what does it say if you back out now?”

Sure, it was a great opportunity, but people were different. What seemed like a kindness to one might look like charity to another. And if it came off that way? Instant bad blood.

Yan Mian bit her lip.

Zhu Lexing turned back to Liu Su—

But Liu Su was already speaking earnestly. “How about Lexing takes a month’s leave and goes with Mianmian?”

Zhu Lexing: ?

Yan Mian: “…?”

With one sentence, both of them fell silent.

Zhu Lexing tilted her head, thinking the statement was reasonable on the surface but riddled with countless unreasonable points—she was in senior year three now! Wasn’t every second precious? Though her background with the Zhu Family had made her someone who loved but never fought for anything, wasn’t Liu Su’s attitude leaning a bit too much toward Yan Mian?

But Zhu Lexing was quite satisfied with that bias. Just as she was seriously pondering the possibilities, it was Yan Mian who spoke up to object: “Lexing still has classes.”

Zhu Lexing tried to retort: “My grades are anyway…”

She had originally planned to brush it off by calling herself a poor student, but after thinking it over, half a semester of hard work had already let her brush the hem of the top students’ clothes. Still, compared to Yan Mian’s grades, she didn’t think her own achievements amounted to much.

Yan Mian, however, said solemnly: “Your grades are very good now.”

“If it has to be…” Yan Mian continued, “I can just take Friday off and come back.”

Zhu Lexing thought Yan Mian was being overly optimistic, but she didn’t voice it. Liu Su seemed convinced as well, and the brief family meeting came to an end. Just as they headed upstairs, Yan Mian received two transfer notifications, one from Auntie Liu and one from Zhu Lexing.

Yan Mian fell silent for a long time before sending Zhu Lexing: ?

Zhu Lexing’s reply was short but shocking: Accept it.

-…I have money.

-Clothes, food, housing, and transportation don’t cost money? How much money can you possibly have? You’re already frail and delicate—if…

Zhu Lexing hammered out a long string of words, afraid Yan Mian wouldn’t take good care of herself. But after mulling it over, she thought the phrasing was too intimate, so she deleted it bit by bit. After a moment’s hesitation, she settled on: The cost of living in S City is high—how long can your money last? Even if you eat at the cafeteria, you won’t hang out with friends?

Yan Mian thought to herself that, given her personality, even if she made friends in S City, they wouldn’t get close enough for socializing together.

People as naturally sociable as Li Nian were rare. If not for Zhu Lexing’s sudden change of heart, Li Nian would have been her only friend throughout her school life.

She didn’t say any of that out loud, but she still replied.

-You’re really worried about me.

The tone was unusually certain, leaving Zhu Lexing momentarily at a loss for words.

In the end, Yan Mian still didn’t accept the two transfers.

Faced with her stubbornness, Liu Su didn’t say much, only instructing: “Once you’re there, contact me right away if you can’t adjust or run into any problems. I’ll arrange for someone to take special care of you.”

Yan Mian said: “Thank you, Auntie.”

“It’s nothing,” Liu Su replied. “As long as you and Lexing get along, that’s good enough.”

Before she knew it, Yan Mian’s view of Zhu Lexing had shifted quite a bit as well. It felt like she’d only just noticed the moon that had been hidden away, its light now falling on her—previously, she’d only ever kept her head down and walked her own path.

Recalling Zhu Lexing’s strangely sharp hearing, Yan Mian first consulted a doctor online, one who claimed to have deep knowledge of Alphas. When she asked if differentiation could affect hearing, the answer was affirmative.

Yan Mian followed up: 【Can differentiation cause an Alpha to hear voices from the living room on the first floor all the way up on the third floor, or even conversations from 5-10 meters away?】

This time, the doctor fell silent for a long while, the “typing…” indicator replacing their name.

Yan Mian worked on some problems, and quite some time later, she received a reply: 【I think both the Alphas you’re talking about and you yourself should seek professional mental counseling as soon as possible. Auditory and visual hallucinations are serious conditions that need prompt treatment…】

The message trailed off into an advertisement.

Yan Mian read the reply and closed the chat.

Of course she knew that ordinary people couldn’t do such things. But every instance of Zhu Lexing’s behavior proved that she really could hear and do those things.

In the end, Yan Mian messaged Song Yun, whom she hadn’t contacted in a long time.

Their last conversation had been months ago.

-Have the results of your psychological evaluation come out? Interested in taking a look?

-Been a bit busy lately. Next time.

-Okay.

That “next time” had stretched into three months.

-Do you have time this weekend? Doctor Song, there’s something I want to talk to you about.

Song Yun replied affirmatively.

At some point, the formerly rebellious Zhu Lexing had turned into an outright “mama’s girl.” She’d proactively mention her recent schedule at the dinner table, just to keep Liu Su from worrying.

For instance, that weekend, Zhu Lexing’s plans were to spend the day posing as a model reference for Shi Ruofeng.

Yan Mian paused for a few seconds before asking: “Nude modeling?”

Zhu Lexing nearly choked: “Do I look like the type who’d pose without clothes?!”

And Yan Mian, why did you ask that with such a straight face? How do you even know about nude modeling!

Swept by Zhu Lexing’s stunned gaze, Yan Mian confirmed that this modeling gig was indeed quite proper before giving a light cough. She seemed a little embarrassed but still said: “Um… I was just asking.”

Zhu Lexing: “…” That was asking? You were one step away from slapping the label on my forehead!

The misunderstanding left Zhu Lexing a bit depressed, but she quickly shook it off.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to ask Yan Mian: “What about this afternoon… want to come along?”

Yan Mian just smiled: “I’ll stay home and read for a bit.”

Zhu Lexing: “…Don’t read too long. It’s not good for your eyes. Playing some games would be nice too.”

Though phones were even worse for the eyes than books, Zhu Lexing sincerely hoped Yan Mian would relax a little.

Yan Mian agreed with a “Sure,” and only then did Zhu Lexing breathe a sigh of relief as she got into the car heading to Shi Ruofeng’s house.