Page 24

Xiang Changge yawned, looking a little worried. "Is it going to rain again over the next few days?"

The system didn't answer directly. Instead, it began reciting the original text.

[In an instant, a dazzling white flash lit up the sky, its blinding brightness illuminating Shangguan Min's face, dark as a raincloud.]

[The deafening thunder that followed the lightning exploded in Chu Keke's mind. The next second, she felt a warm touch on her lips. Stunned, she stared ahead. Behind Shangguan Min's handsome face was the astonished face of the neighbor who had helped her so much.]

[The moment she thought about what they were doing, Chu Keke wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. How could she? How could she do this in front of Brother Wei—]

[Chu Keke struggled with all her might to break free of Shangguan Min's grip, but the more she resisted, the tighter he held her. Finally, she steeled herself and bit down hard. The taste of blood spread between their lips and teeth—]

[Yet even then, Shangguan Min didn't let go. Blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.]

[Wei Quan left in despair. The torrential rain that had been building for so long crashed down with stinging force, drenching them both. Rainwater ran down their cheeks and into their mouths, leaving a bitter taste...]

Xiang Changge: "Stop."

She squeezed her eyes shut, at a loss for words.

After a long while, she said just one thing to the system: "Send me the time and place ahead of time."

The system, which had been reciting the original text in an emotional electronic voice, sounded confused when she stopped it. "...8802, what are you planning to do?"

"Listen, this is a civilized society. Murder is against the law!"

Xiang Changge ignored it and walked briskly into the employee dining room on the first floor.

She could already smell the seafood. Tonight's menu featured the feast she'd arranged with the chef last night!

Scallions-and-garlic baby octopus, crispy fried shrimp, salt-baked sea snails, and crab and pork rib soup with winter melon. Xiang Changge almost cried as she ate.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd tasted food this good.

Xiang Changge had borrowed a little from her unpaid wages in advance and asked the kitchen to buy the ingredients and make these three dishes and a soup just for her. The table also had the staff meal prepared for everyone that evening.

Xiang Changge ate to her heart's content, feeling as if she'd gotten her strength back.

"What's Yu Qing doing?"

Xiang Changge asked as she wiped her hands.

After enjoying the happiness Yu Qing had brought her, Xiang Changge planned to keep working on her mission.

The system said, "Sleeping."

"..."

At this hour, in this weather, she was sleeping? What a waste.

-

After sleeping for three hours last night and another two or three in the morning before being woken, Yu Qing finally felt drowsy sometime after three in the afternoon.

She hadn't eaten lunch, either. She'd only had a few pieces of fruit before going to sleep.

It seemed she could no longer get a long stretch of sleep at night. She could only sleep for a decent amount of time during the day.

But the day-night reversal had left her with a poor appetite and fading memory. Even her sense of time had grown sluggish.

Yu Qing remembered that she'd had a dream, but not what it was about.

When someone pulled open the heavy curtains again, the glaring light and the swish of the fabric forced her to wake.

She squinted toward the light. Her eyes weren't used to it yet, and they ached so badly that tears welled up without her meaning to.

Through her blurry vision, she made out a tall, slender figure standing not far from her bed. Behind the figure, the sky blazed orange-red, her silhouette caught between light and shadow.

"...Xiang Changge?"

The name slipped out instinctively, and the figure froze for a moment.

Xiang Changge lowered her eyes to the person lying beneath a white blanket patterned with green leaves.

Black hair spilled across the pillow. The slender woman squinted as she kept wiping at the corners of her eyes. Her voice was muffled and soft, still rough with sleep.

Like a fluffy little rabbit.

Especially with those red-rimmed eyes.

Xiang Changge said nothing. She was thinking.

Had she really been that mean? All she'd done was wake Yu Qing up. Why—why was she crying like this?

And she was crying while calling Xiang Changge's name, as if making an accusation, or asking a wounded question.

While Yu Qing was still wondering why the woman who'd woken her wasn't saying anything, a soft tissue suddenly covered the corner of her eye.

Yu Qing instinctively moved her hand away.

Her aching, stinging eyes felt better only when closed, but then she couldn't see.

Xiang Changge knelt beside the bed and gently dabbed away the tears that kept welling in the corners of Yu Qing's eyes.

Up close, everything about her was clearer.

Her pale face, the ear reddened from being pressed against the pillow, her long, damp lashes, her dry, pursed lips, and the hot tears.

They were all within Xiang Changge's gaze and beneath her fingertips.

The bitter scent of mugwort grew stronger. When Xiang Changge spoke, she realized her own voice had gone hoarse.

"Why are you crying? Are you that upset?"

She wasn't a child anymore. Why was she so fragile? Even more fragile than a bubble.

All Xiang Changge had done was wake her, and she'd cried enough to use two tissues.

Her eyes finally felt a little better. Yu Qing opened them, still red, and glanced to the side. She found Xiang Changge's expressionless face less than an arm's length away.

She stared at those pale, clear eyes for several seconds, as if processing what she'd just heard.

A few seconds later, Xiang Changge heard Yu Qing's cool, scornful voice. "I have dry eye syndrome."

Who was crying? This was an illness!

"..."

Silence spread through the room.

Two seconds later, the system spoke in her mind. "I can confirm it!"

The female lead really did have dry eye syndrome.

She stayed up at night reading literary works or novels and spent years cooped up at home, always focusing her vision on the same small area. It was only natural that her eyes would have problems.

Xiang Changge ground her teeth and asked the system, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

The system sounded puzzled. "Wasn't it all in the information I gave you?"

Xiang Changge: "..."

Compared with issues involving the heart, liver, kidneys, or mental health, it was genuinely easy to overlook something as minor as dry eye syndrome.

Fine. It wasn't a big deal.

Xiang Changge smoothly got to her feet and tossed the tissue into the nearby trash can. "All right. I'll go get you some eye drops."

Yu Qing: "..."

She couldn't tell whether Xiang Changge was genuinely unembarrassed or just pretending.

"Forget it."

Yu Qing sniffed. Maybe because Xiang Changge had wiped her tears, she couldn't be bothered to hold it against her for waking her up again. She just rolled over, turning her back to the window and Xiang Changge. "Don't bother me unless it's important."

If she said that, then there had to be a reason.

"You should get up and have dinner. If you sleep any longer, you won't be able to sleep tonight."

Still drowsy from waking up, Yu Qing curled herself deeper into the blanket. "You're so annoying."

The annoying Xiang Changge said, "The weather's nice tonight. There's a sunset right now. Don't you want to go outside for a walk?"

The blanket-wrapped spring roll didn't respond. She stayed perfectly still.

Thinking of Yu Qing's literary—no, gloomy—talent, Xiang Changge had eaten her fill and was in no hurry. She decided to try a gentle approach and chose her words carefully. "The sunset is beautiful, but dusk comes soon. Don't you think it's meaningful to watch the colors fade and night fall as time passes?"

The system, which had witnessed everything, crackled with static. "Host, that was so awkward."

Xiang Changge: "..."

What was wrong with what she'd said?

Maybe Xiang Changge had managed to tempt her, or maybe she'd just annoyed her too much. The spring roll on the bed suddenly turned over.

Yu Qing's black hair was a mess, and her dead-fish eyes were full of disdain as she looked at Xiang Changge. "You're terrible at quoting poetry."

Xiang Changge: "?"

-

That said, it really had been ages since the sun had come out.

After getting up, washing up, drinking a glass of water, and changing into a pair of comfortable flats, Yu Qing set off toward the garden.

Xiang Changge wheeled herself out and stopped her. "Miss, the garden is under maintenance. Let's take a walk outside instead."

Yu Qing: "Maintenance?"

Without missing a beat, Xiang Changge corrected herself. "Oh, pruning."

"..."

Yu Qing glanced back at the garden, puzzled, and frowned. "Then we can walk around here."

The villa was huge. There was a fountain, a lawn, and a sweet osmanthus tree out front. She didn't have to go to the garden to take a walk.

"Don't you already know every blade of grass here?"

Xiang Changge had made up her mind to take Yu Qing outside for some fresh air.

To other people, the villa was a dream home. But to Yu Qing, who'd lived there for more than twenty years, it was more like a cage that held her prisoner.

She should see more of the outside world, even if the mountains beyond the villa still belonged to her family.