Page 44

She was here, but her mind had already wandered far away.

Yu Qing furrowed her brow slightly, replaying what had just happened in the restaurant over and over in her mind.

Had she... hit her a little too hard with what she'd said?

I was too on edge.

She had already met far too many people who felt sorry for her and tried to advise and lecture her. They all had one thing in common: they used methods they thought would help to try to manage her life.

They didn't understand her at all. They simply couldn't understand why she was "like this," or why she couldn't be "like that."

Forget it. No one in this world will understand me.

Yu Qing gave a self-mocking smile and closed her sheet music.

When Xiang Changge had first appeared by her side, she'd thought she would be different.

She wouldn't try to change her the way everyone else did, using whatever approach they thought was best.

She would simply do her job as a housekeeper.

She could insist that Yu Qing eat and sleep on time, and encourage her to find things to do to pass the time. But she shouldn't lecture her or urge her to find a purpose and joy in life.

Yu Qing could do something, but not because she was trying to achieve some particular goal.

Her life was already a tangled ball of broken threads, all jumbled together. Though it was a mess, it still existed.

But if someone insisted on untangling it, all they'd find would be useless scraps of thread, broken into countless pieces long ago.

"Maybe I was born to be alone. I shouldn't expect anyone in the world to understand me or stay by my side forever."

Yu Qing leaned her head back against the sofa, gazing into space as she murmured to herself.

As she sat there, lost in thought, footsteps drew closer.

Soon, a figure appeared at the music room entrance and knocked lightly twice. "Good morning, Miss Yu. Steward Xiang asked me to come in to work."

The voice brought Yu Qing back to herself. She froze for a moment, then turned to look. Yao Ningran, who had an artistic air about her, was wearing a sky-blue denim pinafore dress today. It gave her a bright, gentle look as she stood by the doorway, smiling faintly at Yu Qing.

Without thinking, Yu Qing looked past her, toward the space behind her.

Noticing Yu Qing's gaze, as if she were looking for someone, Yao Ningran assumed she was checking whether the other two people who'd been with her yesterday had come too. She hurried to explain, "Steward Xiang said you might want to play music or paint today, so she asked only me to come."

"Mm."

Yu Qing looked away and lowered her eyes to the sheet music in her hands. After a pause, she asked as if it were an afterthought, "...And her?"

Yao Ningran was taken aback by the nameless question. Then she realized who Yu Qing meant. "Steward Xiang didn't come upstairs. It seems she has other things to take care of."

Other things to take care of. Does she always have so much to do?

I wonder how a place this small can have so many things that need doing.

Does she really have work to do, or is that just an excuse? Maybe there's nothing to do at all. She just had a fight with me—or, well, we had something like a fight—so she's staying out of my way.

But she asked Yao Ningran to keep me company. Could that be a way of apologizing, making amends, and trying to smooth things over?

Yao Ningran wasn't as frighteningly outgoing as Ge Bufan, but she wasn't especially reserved either.

Seeing Yu Qing resting on the sofa, she took the fact that she'd come to work seriously and treated herself as an employee.

She naturally went to find the tools and carefully checked all the instruments in the music room. She even replaced the guitar strings Yu Qing had broken earlier.

Only then did Yu Qing realize that Yao Ningran knew how to tune instruments.

As she worked, Yao Ningran occasionally found something to talk about with Yu Qing.

She went from instruments she knew to the origins of instruments, then to funny things that had happened to teachers and classmates she'd known at school, and finally to why expensive, well-known instruments cost so much.

Sometimes Yu Qing didn't respond, but Yao Ningran could keep talking anyway. Little by little, Yu Qing started answering her now and then.

They played music, talked about sheet music, painted, and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of different painting techniques. In between, they had lunch and afternoon tea together on the balcony off the small sitting room.

By the time night fell and Aunt Gong came upstairs to ask whether they wanted dinner, Yu Qing realized the day had simply passed by.

And all day long, the housekeeper who'd supposedly been busy hadn't shown up once.

Yu Qing said nothing. After dinner with Yao Ningran, and after the other woman had left, she remained at the dining table, holding a cup of warm water. Her voice stiffened slightly as she asked Aunt Gong, who was clearing the dishes, "Where's the housekeeper?"

She asked Yao Ningran to keep me company, didn't she? Didn't that mean she was trying to make peace?

And I gave her face by spending the whole day talking about music and art with Yao Ningran. That meant I'd accepted her attempt to make peace, didn't it? So why was she still avoiding me?

"The housekeeper?" Aunt Gong thought for a moment. "I heard she drove out this afternoon. She said she had something to do tonight and would be back late."

"Oh, right. When Aunt Yang's shift ended, she said the housekeeper had told us to remember to make sure you eat on time."

"She went out?"

Yu Qing, who'd thought the other woman was hiding somewhere in the house, abruptly lifted her head and looked at Aunt Gong. "Where did she go?"

Aunt Gong was caught off guard by the question.

"Well, I... I don't know either."

She hadn't seen Xiang Changge since she came in to work. If Aunt Yang hadn't told her, she wouldn't have known the housekeeper had gone out today—let alone what she'd gone out to do.

Yu Qing set down her glass. The water she hadn't finished sloshed inside it.

Where could Xiang Changge have gone?

What could be so important that she had to go out herself?

Yu Qing looked toward the window. Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky, bringing a momentary silver glow.

The sky had been gloomy since morning, a sure sign of heavy rain. Why had she gone out?

Could she have... run away from home?

Was that really necessary? I only spoke a little harshly to her. She didn't seem like such a fragile person. Why would she leave?

All sorts of thoughts raced through Yu Qing's mind as she got up and went back to the third floor.

The small sitting room on the third floor faced the villa's ornate front gate, giving a clear view of the entrance.

Yu Qing stood on the balcony, looking down at the night outside. The wind carried damp air as it swept past. Dark clouds rolled across the sky, and the heavy rain that had been brewing all day was about to fall.

And Xiang Changge still hadn't come back.

At that moment, Xiang Changge, the one who had "run away from home," made a sharp, clean drift and parked a black Bentley on an empty patch of ground beside a rubbish heap.

Watching her maneuver made the system's memory usage fluctuate wildly. "8802, can you be a little more careful? If you scratch the car, my precious Yu Qing will have to pay for the repairs."

Hearing that, Xiang Changge imitated Yu Qing's tone from that morning. "It's fine. She has more money than anything else."

System: "..."

Well, that wasn't entirely unreasonable.

After getting out of the car, Xiang Changge looked around.

This was part of City A's old district. The streets were shabby, and there weren't any new high-rises, but the area had a lively, lived-in feel.

All kinds of shops lined the streets, their neon signs flickering as night fell. But perhaps because a storm was expected tonight, there were hardly any people around.

Xiang Changge came out from the street corner. After walking only a short distance, she spotted the bookstore up ahead.

That was where the heroine was working a part-time job tonight.

Xiang Changge checked the time on her wristwatch. It was only a little past seven—she'd arrived early. The heroine wouldn't finish work until nine.

After looking around, Xiang Changge chose a burger joint where she could see the bookstore entrance. She went in and ordered two meals, then ate her burger while keeping an eye on the bookstore door.

She was still staking out Chu Keke, while the system in her mind made a sound like a mermaid singing and shaped its own—dog body.

"A little dog needs a fluffy coat. Tongtong wants the softest fur, so my precious Yu Qing won't be able to resist petting me."

"And my face, of course, has to be the cutest. The kind that makes my precious Yu Qing want to kiss me the moment she sees me, and wish she could gulp me right down."

"My tail has to be super fluffy, too."

"And my eyes should be round and shiny, like black grapes catching the light!"

"Mm, and my paw pads have to be pink, la la la, la la la~"

Ever since Xiang Changge had taken the system shopping for dog supplies after leaving Xiushan, it had been making those sounds in her mind.

Xiang Changge had gone from being unaccustomed to it to getting used to it in a single afternoon.

Now she could automatically tune out the strange electronic sounds, focus on her burger, and offer her critique: "They were a little stingy with the sauce."

As usual, whenever the bookstore owner had to go out, Chu Keke would come in and mind the shop.